Stephen A. Smith and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo may be pure entertainment when the bicker about sports, but Wednesday they were in lockstep agreement about something much more important.
The two opened Wednesday’s “First Take” on ESPN calling for lawmakers to enact legislation that would put an end to the mass shootings that have plagued the country.
Smith calmly and eloquently called on lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican, to enact change to stop the senseless mass shootings that occur, most recently in Uvalde, Texas where at least 21 were killed at an elementary school.
Russo also offered a plea of his own in a more emotional and loud manner, as he ripped into politicians who have sat back and watched shooting after shooting since the Sandy Hook massacre and have continued to do nothing about it.
It was a very non “stick to sports” moment but it is a tragedy that currently hangs over the country as a whole and even made it difficult for them to do their show as Smith and host Molly Qerim caught themselves using language while discussing basketball that they realized was insensitive.
While discussing Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors, Smith repeatedly used the term “sniper” while others used the term “shooter.”
“I’m not gonna sit up here and say their chances at multiple championships are better than those snipers in the Bay Area,” Smith said to JJ Redick. “I’m not going that far, my brother. And I’m shocked that a sniper such as yourself would actually go against your own brotherhood.”
However, Smith — or a producer in his ear — recognized the poor choice of words before the start of the next segment and Smith made sure to quickly apologize to viewers.
“We were talking about basketball and I used the word ‘sniper,’” Smith sad. “That’s inappropriate on a day like today. So I apologize for that. That was insensitive on my part. I just got excited talking about basketball. That’s my mistake, so I own that. I apologize for that.”
Host Molly Qerim followed with an apology of her own, and also on behalf of Redick, about what was presumably the word “shooter,” although she did not repeat it.
“JJ and I also had a poor choice there, and it was in a sports context,” she said. “And we never, ever want to be insensitive to the tragedies that have happened. So I just want to be clear on that and we will be much better moving forward.”
Obviously, discussing the sport of basketball may be difficult without using a word like “shooter,” but in light of recent events it is probably best to go about things more sensitively.
And it should not deter from the fact that Smith and Russo gave strong monologues demanding for action.
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