Skip Bayless debuted his revamped Undisputed Monday morning on FS1 and the show’s new format didn’t go unnoticed over at ESPN.
Monday morning on ESPN’s First Take, Ryan Clark chided Stephen A. Smith for being “captain obvious,” after Smith attempted to offer a sensible answer to a topic meant to spark debate about the NFL’s best QB-WR duos. “I see now why ESPN can’t make any First Take decisions without you,” Clark said sarcastically. But after taunting Smith for the power he holds inside ESPN, Clark eventually complimented the First Take host, while subtly trolling Skip Bayless at the same time.
Still trying to figure out who Ryan Clark is referring to at the end of this clip pic.twitter.com/YpcD5v8sp3
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“This is what we do know,” Clark said. “As Stephen A. is doing things, pulling from other shows, other shows are also taking pages out of Stephen A.’s book. But we’re not gonna talk about that today. Maybe that’s a topic for a podcast conversation.”
Who and what are those other shows that are taking pages out of Stephen A.’s book? That would be Skip Bayless and Undisputed.
Two years ago, Smith gave Max Kellerman the boot from First Take, choosing to build the show around himself and a rotating cast of people to argue with. And after Bayless went one-on-one with Shannon Sharpe for nearly seven years on FS1’s premier debate show, Undisputed has now relaunched as a carbon copy version of Smith’s First Take. Clark isn’t the only person who noticed the similarities, according to Front Office Sports, people inside Fox weren’t thrilled to see Bayless rebuild Undisputed by copying First Take.
Sharpe departed Undisputed in June, and to fill the void, Bayless opted to recruit a cast of analysts led by Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin, and Richard Sherman, mirroring the way Smith revamped First Take two years ago. The difference, however, is that First Take undisputedly remains Smith’s, whereas, in the debut episode of the new Undisputed, Bayless seemingly handed the reins over to its new contributors.
[ESPN]
