2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Hey Skip, you're wrong
Chris Hine
Issue date: 2/5/08 Section: Viewpoint
As a San Francisco 49ers fan, I didn't have a rooting interest in this year's NFL playoffs. Then Skip Bayless opened his mouth.
Just after New England defeated the New York Giants 38-35 in Week 17, the loudmouth ESPN "analyst" went on TV and called out Giants coach Tom Coughlin for playing his starters the entire game in an attempt to beat the then-undefeated Patriots. Bayless called Coughlin's decision one of the worst coaching decisions he's ever seen and said the Giants stood no chance in the playoffs because they were injured. He said Coughlin missed an opportunity to heal some of his players.
Only Bayless didn't articulate his argument as calmly as I made him sound. Arms flailing, temper flaring, Bayless screamed that Coughlin was an idiot and had no chance to beat Tampa Bay in the first round, much less win the Super Bowl. Well, despite what Bayless would have you believe, Tom Coughlin knew his team pretty well.
He knew if the Giants were going to make it through the best the NFC had to offer, and win the Super Bowl a few weeks later, they should see how they stack up against a team that was 17-0 and supposedly one of the best ever. And they almost won the game.
So when the cantankerous Coughlin told his team in the locker room before every playoff game they could beat anyone, and they were the best team in football, they believed him. His words weren't just hollow preaching that had no substance to back it up. When everyone in the locker room truly believes they are the best, that can overcome any injury. But Bayless failed to see that logic. Instead, Bayless decided he would use airtime to slam Coughlin. Even after the Super Bowl, Bayless failed to admit he was wrong. How arrogant can one man get?
Skip, you were wrong. Admit it. Congratulate Tom Coughlin, who clearly knows more about football than you do, and move on. It's people like Skip Bayless who give sports journalists a bad name and makes young people consider turning away from the profession. He's confrontational just for the sake of being confrontational. He says people should be fired without even so much as an ounce of regard for their families, who just might be watching his program at home or who might hear about it later. And he criticizes in an unnecessarily over-the-top manner. It's one thing to be critical of someone, it's another thing to be just plain mean about it.
I hope Bayless is able to keep his façade of self-worth going the rest of his life, because if he ever catches a glimpse of what he has become, it will easily surpass the horror of having to admit he's wrong.
Just after New England defeated the New York Giants 38-35 in Week 17, the loudmouth ESPN "analyst" went on TV and called out Giants coach Tom Coughlin for playing his starters the entire game in an attempt to beat the then-undefeated Patriots. Bayless called Coughlin's decision one of the worst coaching decisions he's ever seen and said the Giants stood no chance in the playoffs because they were injured. He said Coughlin missed an opportunity to heal some of his players.
Only Bayless didn't articulate his argument as calmly as I made him sound. Arms flailing, temper flaring, Bayless screamed that Coughlin was an idiot and had no chance to beat Tampa Bay in the first round, much less win the Super Bowl. Well, despite what Bayless would have you believe, Tom Coughlin knew his team pretty well.
He knew if the Giants were going to make it through the best the NFC had to offer, and win the Super Bowl a few weeks later, they should see how they stack up against a team that was 17-0 and supposedly one of the best ever. And they almost won the game.
So when the cantankerous Coughlin told his team in the locker room before every playoff game they could beat anyone, and they were the best team in football, they believed him. His words weren't just hollow preaching that had no substance to back it up. When everyone in the locker room truly believes they are the best, that can overcome any injury. But Bayless failed to see that logic. Instead, Bayless decided he would use airtime to slam Coughlin. Even after the Super Bowl, Bayless failed to admit he was wrong. How arrogant can one man get?
Skip, you were wrong. Admit it. Congratulate Tom Coughlin, who clearly knows more about football than you do, and move on. It's people like Skip Bayless who give sports journalists a bad name and makes young people consider turning away from the profession. He's confrontational just for the sake of being confrontational. He says people should be fired without even so much as an ounce of regard for their families, who just might be watching his program at home or who might hear about it later. And he criticizes in an unnecessarily over-the-top manner. It's one thing to be critical of someone, it's another thing to be just plain mean about it.
I hope Bayless is able to keep his façade of self-worth going the rest of his life, because if he ever catches a glimpse of what he has become, it will easily surpass the horror of having to admit he's wrong.