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Stephen A. Smith Giving Back To His Alma Matter

Jason Barrett

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Stephen A. Smith — yes, that Stephen A. Smith — doesn’t mind talking about what Winston-Salem State means to him.

Smith, the often-polarizing ESPN commentator and a man with 2.5 million followers on Twitter, rarely mentions WSSU on his national show, but he hasn’t forgotten his alma mater.

“Without Big House Gaines and Winston-Salem State, who knows where I’d be?” he said in a telephone interview last week.

Smith attended WSSU on a basketball scholarship in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“I tried to play for coach Gaines, I just couldn’t after I got hurt,” said Smith, referring to an injury-riddled career that included a cracked kneecap that forced him to miss a semester because of the recovery time. “I can’t say enough about that school and what it did for me and especially the late coach Gaines and all of those professors of mine.”

Smith absorbs daily hits on social media for opinions he voices. But as a former thick-skinned sportswriter, he can take it.

He also has been criticized for not doing enough for his alma mater, but he’s trying to rectify that.

Smith, 48, will be in Winston-Salem on Saturday as the main speaker for a fundraising breakfast at the Embassy Suites.

The program, called “Bond, Score, Win,” is an effort to raise money for men’s athletics scholarships at WSSU, and school officials hope to bring in as much as $40,000.

James Dubose, WSSU’s director of corporate sponsorship and fundraising, was the point man in securing Smith, who is flying in on his own dime and paying his own expenses.

“We’ve been communicating a lot through the last three months, and he’s excited,” Dubose said. “This is a big deal for us, and when it comes to fundraising for scholarships, I have this crazy idea that one day we can do enough where every athlete on our campus has a full scholarship.”

That might seem like a crazy idea for a Division II school, but with WSSU’s tradition and large alumni base, it might not be that crazy. Having Smith involved is a good start.

“When I heard what the premise was about and how it raises money for athletes, it was a no-brainer to help them out,” said Smith, a 1991 graduate of WSSU and a member of the Big House Gaines Hall of Fame for service to the university.

Smith will talk about his time at WSSU and about his early years in media. He worked at the Winston-Salem Journal as a part-time sports clerk, answering phones while he was still a student.

One of Smith’s instructors at WSSU was John Gates, also an editorial-page writer for the Journal.

Smith said Gates invited him to lunch one day. Although it wasn’t actually a lunch.

“Instead, (Gates) takes me into the Journal offices, and I meet the sports editor, Terry Oberle, and he gave me a job as a clerk,” Smith said.

Smith said that about two months later Oberle assigned him his first feature story, on the Wake Forest soccer team.

“So I go over to Wake not knowing a thing about soccer, but the coach at the time, Walt Chyzowych, took me aside, and we talked,” Smith said. “I told him I didn’t know anything about soccer other than seeing Pele play. And he was so nice to me and called the team over and told them to give me anything I needed so I could learn the game. I spent three days with them and learned a lot.”

Smith wrote a long feature story and said Oberle gave his approval.

“That meant a lot to me,” he said of that pat on the back. “It was my start in the business as far as I’m concerned.”

After graduation, Smith worked at the Greensboro News & Record’s High Point bureau, lived in Archdale and said he made $15,000 a year.

“I lived in a small place and survived on tuna fish and Kool-Aid,” he said with a laugh.

Smith, who was born and raised in New York City, also found time to send clips of his articles to the New York Daily News, with the hope of moving back up north to be a full-time sportswriter. He eventually landed a job with the Daily News, then later moved to the Philadelphia Inquirer and became an award-winning columnist.

Smith started working for CNN/SI in the mid-1990s and was an NBA insider before getting more into TV work at Fox Sports. He eventually landed at ESPN and hit gold with good friend Skip Bayless and their debate-style show “First Take.” Smith and Bayless have battled each other on air since April 2012.

“He’s just different than me, and that’s what makes the show,” Smith said.

Smith said returning to Winston-Salem, even if it’s for less than 24 hours, will be good.

“Coach Gaines would always preach to us about giving back, and he always said, ‘Nobody owes you anything,’” Smith said. “He used to tell us that every day. If you want to do something in this world, you have to work for it.”

To read the rest of this article visit the Winston-Salem Journal where it was originally published

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Final ‘Good Morning Football’ Episode from New York Studio Airs Before Hiatus, Move to LA

After today, ‘Good Morning Football’ will take a brief hiatus, then move to LA. But outside of host Jamie Erdahl, who else will join the show on the West Coast?

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Today marks the last Good Morning Football episode to air from its New York studios on NFL Network. After today, the show will take a brief hiatus, then move across the country to Los Angeles. But which of the shows beloved cast members will move along with it?

We already know host Jamie Erdahl will be there once she gives birth to her child. The newest GMFB show member gave an emotional send-off to the show’s New York studios before announcing she was headed for maternity leave and would see everyone in LA.

Host Kyle Brandt delivered this message late last night, saying that viewers should tune in to he and his colleagues and that “he has a lot to say.”

Earlier this week, however, host Peter Schrager delivered his own goodbye message — one that may sound like a man who’s not ready to move his family across the country at a moment’s notice:

However, no hosts outside of Erdahl have given confirmation that they’re either staying or going.

The NFL’s move to take the show from New York to Los Angeles has been widely criticized by fans and media members alike. Bill Simmons wondered if the move wouldn’t spell just the end of GMFB but the NFL Network as a whole. It has some wondering if this is the end of football’s best show.

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ESPN Coverage of Men’s NIT Tournament Quarterfinals Up 33% vs. 2023

Viewership of the Men’s NIT Quarterfinals on ESPN were up 33 percent compared to last year and featured two games that averaged over one million viewers.

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Even the NIT is riding the recent hot streak of live sports viewership numbers. According to data provided by ESPN, the 2024 NIT Quarterfinals are up 33 percent compared to last year’s tournament. Perhaps more surprisingly, two NIT quarterfinal games topped one million viewers.

The network’s Georgia/Ohio State matchup averaged 1.03 million viewers, while the Cincinnati/Indiana State contest averaged 1.02 million viewers. These two games were the most-watched NIT games since 2017 — including title games. Both Georgia and Ohio State have rabid fanbases, while many thought Indiana State was unjustly left out of the March Madness tournament, which could be a reason why viewers tuned in.

Much of the focus this season has been on the women’s game, thanks to Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks, led by Dawn Staley. ESPN just had its most-watched women’s college basketball season since 2008-09 because of the increased interest in the women’s game. The men’s game, however, hasn’t been heralded as much this season for whatever reason, mostly because numbers seem to be holding steady compared to previous years. However, if the NIT is posting viewership wins, that should bode well for the NCAA Tournament’s incoming viewership totals.

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Report: NFL to Put Christmas Day Doubleheader Up For Bids

Bidding is expected to start at $50 million among the current NFL media partners but some think the games could sell for $75 million to $100 million apiece.

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The NFL will reportedly put its Christmas Day games up for auction, allowing its current media partners to bid for the games. Now, it’s up to CBS, FOX, ESPN, NBC, and Prime Video to pay up for rights to one of these two marquee games.

According to Front Office Sports Michael McCarthy, preference will be given to linear networks, so Prime Video and Peacock may sit this one out. Bidding is expected to start at $50 million but McCarthy and his sources expect that number to rise. John Kosner, the former ESPN executive, thinks the new Christmas Day games could sell for $75 million to $100 million apiece.

The NFL announced a Wednesday Christmas Day doubleheader during its annual league meetings. The league originally said it wouldn’t force games on Christmas Day if the holiday fell on an odd day of the week, though as the NFL continues to put games on days outside of Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and sometimes Saturdays, we’re running out of days that don’t feature NFL football.

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