Stephen A. Smith at UConn

[Walker11]

Stephen A Smith is Skip Bayless wearing better clothes.

Yes, provided he is dressing to impress at at 2003 NBA draft.

 

[UConn66]

I think once you don't take Stephen A. seriously and realize the fact that he is a television personality and entertainer, first and foremost, over an objective sports analyst, you can appreciate him. Especially since he admitted tonight that his main goal in his career is to keep ratings up.
Or you can just find him to be obnoxious.
But I enjoy him.

In saying he is obnoxious, you are being kind. He's a bigmouthed jerk whose schtick of screaming and demeaning has become his trade mark.

 

[MattMang23]

When I went to UConn, Spring Weekend featured ratings winners like Kanye West and Ludacris performing in packed arenas. Now Failing Spring Weekend features giant loser Stephen A. Smith. Sad!

 

[Waquoit]

When I went to UConn, Spring Weekend featured ratings winners like Kanye West and Ludacris performing in packed arenas. Now Failing Spring Weekend features giant loser Stephen A. Smith. Sad!

We had Max Creek playing in the quad.

 

[UCFBfan]

I find it funny that he says we need to go back to the Big East because when we played teams like GTown, Samson Johnson, and Cuse it was great. Too bad Cuse isn't there anymore..... It's this thinking why I feel like when people say we need to go back. The teams we really enjoyed playing aren't in the BE anymore. Pitt, Cuse, BC are all gone. We have just as much of a connection with Xavier, Butler, and Creighton as we do with Witchita, Memphis, and SMU.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Bayless hasn't been on ESPN for 2 years. Stephen A no very little about college hoops, and less about UConn. Nature of the beast. He is an entertainer. BE not in the cards unless they want to scrap football.

 

[uconnphil2016]

You kinda gotta love the troll game. Calls out for the players, tells them he will go easy and then obliterates the program. Cant teach that level of a hole

 

[raf46]

I attended the Stephen A. Smith lecture at UConn this evening

-He came out immediately with "Let me start off with this, are there any UConn basketball players in the house?"
I was sitting in the same section as Cobb and Onuorah. Cobb shouted something like "Yeah, whatchu want?"
Stephen A. responded "Alright I'll go easy then. There was a time when you hear UConn basketball and you think 'national championship'. Ben Gordon, Okafor, Kemba and the crew. Those days are over, sorry to say. And it will be a long time before you get back there."

-He also went on multiple occasions saying that he loves Ollie, and although he had to go, the root problem is the conference affiliation. He says they have to get back into the Big East.
He said something like-
"I didn't even know where Wichita was until I did a College Gameday there. The interest in UConn basketball, for me, is when they play the St. Johns, Georgetowns and Syracuses. You can't be playing Wichita, Cincinnati, UCF."

-Thinks if there is anyone that can do the job, Dan Hurley is capable.

A self promoting gas bag. He is Jeff Jacobs, with a microphone.

 

[Stinger92860]

Does he realize that Cuse is not in the big east? What a tool. Somehow Cinncy is getting over the conference issue.

 

[HooperScooper]

I used to hate Stephen A. but he's grown on me. As others have said you don't take him seriously and just enjoy the rants. I find him amusing now.

I still hate Bayless though. His schtick is just annoying as heck. I haven't seen him since he left ESPN.

 

[goskis2018]

I went to the lecture and I loved it. He started off with UConn related sports talk and ended with some Q/A on sports that was entertaining to watch. The majority of the lecture was on being competitive out there in the real world. He spoke about a lot of the values you hear about in the business school, for example "make your boss money and you'll make money", " make yourself valuable or you'll be unemployed", "everything you want someone already has and you have to earn it", "networking" etc. Etc. Talked glowingly about capitalism and so on. I came in pretty skeptical but honestly a great lecture.

 

[StoweD210]

It's safe to say Stephen A. Smith isn't a big fan of this song:

 

[sledog]

Cobb is still at UConn??

 

[Rocktheworld]

Stephen A Smith is Skip Bayless wearing better clothes.

Meh I’d take Skip’s wardrobe over Stephen A’s hairline

 

[ARIDE]

I attended the Stephen A. Smith lecture at UConn this evening

-He came out immediately with "Let me start off with this, are there any UConn basketball players in the house?"
I was sitting in the same section as Cobb and Onuorah. Cobb shouted something like "Yeah, whatchu want?"
Stephen A. responded "Alright I'll go easy then. There was a time when you hear UConn basketball and you think 'national championship'. Ben Gordon, Okafor, Kemba and the crew. Those days are over, sorry to say. And it will be a long time before you get back there."

-He also went on multiple occasions saying that he loves Ollie, and although he had to go, the root problem is the conference affiliation. He says they have to get back into the Big East.
He said something like-
"I didn't even know where Wichita was until I did a College Gameday there. The interest in UConn basketball, for me, is when they play the St. Johns, Georgetowns and Syracuses. You can't be playing Wichita, Cincinnati, UCF."

-Thinks if there is anyone that can do the job, Dan Hurley is capable.

SAM IS A BLOW HARD..

 

[Kemba429]

Did you see the players reaction to him saying those days are over? Im glad we have all these doubters though, gonna be great when were “back there.”

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Didn’t attend but I could hear it all the way in Manchester

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Did you see the players reaction to him saying those days are over? Im glad we have all these doubters though, gonna be great when were “back there.”

I looked over immediately at Cobb and Onuorah and they didn't react, certainly didn't find it funny though.
Then again, it's not like either figure to be a significant part of the future of UConn basketball.

 

[nycorange]

If we don’t win a championship for the next 25 years, we’ll still have more than 99.9% of all schools to have played the game. Took Nova 31 years to win their second. So, he can shove it.

The math nerd in me, not the syracuse fan I promise , felt compelled to note that you currently ONLY have more championships than 98.2 percent of D 1 schools. Pretty impressive, as much as I hate to admit, but not 99.9%. There would have to be 1000 D1 men's bb schools for that even to be a mathematical possibility.

 

[gtcam]

Weird spring weekend event but spring weekend isn't like it was in the mid 70's
Never was a fan of SAS but he is entertaining at times
While folks may love to say he doesn't know sports but I think he does to an extent - it's usually the people who don't agree what he says who make that claim
He is not wrong about the conference
Wonder what the reaction would have been if he said KO sucked - both here and there
At least he is all for Coach DH

 

[TheChamps990411]

SAS knows the NBA as good as any talking head but he doesnt know the college game and i cringe when he tries to talk boxing. Jeesh! What a trainwreck he is.

 

[UconnU]

Did people actually PAY to hear him speak?

 

[Towney007]

Part of the reason I like it when exciting rebuilds happen is because guys like Smith... their opinion just doesn't matter. It's about keeping the nose to the grindstone - getting better, focusing on your own as a program. Focusing on kids that fit, keeping a long view of where things are at. Enjoying the progress, chuckling at the growing pains....

Smith isn't the only guy who's said this and won't be the last for a while. Oh well. He can say whatever.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Did people actually PAY to hear him speak?

No. Free and open only to students.

 

[KemBaller]

I used to hate Stephen A. but he's grown on me. As others have said you don't take him seriously and just enjoy the rants. I find him amusing now.

I still hate Bayless though. His schtick is just annoying as heck. I haven't seen him since he left ESPN.

Skip and SAS are the same thing though. I also don't love SAS calling out college kids essentially to their face.