Would you trade jobs with Skip Bayless?

A brief Twitter spat between SI.com’s Richard Deitsch and Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Mac Engel has prompted an interesting question: Would you trade your job for Skip Bayless’ job, hosting a hot-takey but lightly watched show on FS1 called Undisputed?

After Deitsch mocked Bayless and his ratings (as he is prone to do), Engel responded saying Deitsch, and everyone else in sports media, would “kill for Skip’s job.”

Make fun of it but there is not one person in sports media who would not kill for Skip's job. Especially those mocking the #s https://t.co/B9T4h5rP2u

— Mac Engel (@MacEngelProf) December 19, 2016

Deitsch took great umbrage to this, calling it “absolute bullshit.”

This is absolute bullshit. I wouldn't trade places with that hockey goon under any circumstances. Same with thousands of my fellow media. https://t.co/ZQxoGpqVVZ

— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) December 20, 2016

Now, we can’t get inside Deitsch’s head, so we have to believe him when he says he’d turn down the pay raise and Q Score boost that would come with an FS1 talk show. But what about YOU, person reading this article, who, by virtue of visiting this website, probably loves sports but dislikes Bayless?

Here are the pros and cons:

Reasons NOT to take Skip Bayless’ job:

Given that Undisputed‘s calling card is fiery debate and contrived disagreement, you’d probably have to dumb down your sports opinions a bit. You’d have to develop a really strong opinion on everything Tim Tebow does and likely have to pretend LeBron James isn’t the greatest athlete of the 21st century. If you happened to agree with your debate partner, Shannon Sharpe, about a given issue, you’d either change your opinion or change the framework of the debate to ensure dissent.

So yeah, you would likely have to demean yourself a little bit. Snarky people like the staff at Awful Announcing would probably make fun of you a little, and Richard Deitsch would certainly make fun of you a lot. Some people would say you’re everything that’s wrong with sports media.

On the other hand…

Reasons to take Skip Bayless’ job:

Ummm you’d get paid millions of dollars a year to sit in a studio and banter about sports.

From a reliable source: Fox Sports is paying Skip Bayless in neighborhood of $5.5 million per for four years, plus a $4M signing bonus.

— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) April 28, 2016

Your preparation for a day of work would be watching sporting events and reading about sports news. No one could tell you to turn off the game because it’s dinnertime, since watching that game is basically your homework. Your life would have as much sports in it as you want.

And while you’d have come up with some phony opinions on Tony Romo more often that you’d like, you’d also sometimes get a chance to talk about things you believe in. If you passionately believe sports leagues should do more to combat domestic violence, you’d get a chance to say so. If you think guns should be allowed in stadiums, you’re probably out of your mind, but you’d get a chance to say so. If you deeply believe that “Ignition (Remix)” by R. Kelly should be played before sporting events instead of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” you could tell the world.

So basically could immerse yourself in sports, channel your hot-take powers for good and get paid $5.5 million a year for it.

Would I trade MY job in sports media—writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback—for Bayless’ job on FS1? I probably shouldn’t answer that within earshot of my bosses.