It doesn't matter how you feel about longtime Philly beat writer and current ESPN talking head Stephen A. Smith. He will always express his opinions with hysterical passion, thunderous conviction and aggrieved astonishment that the rest of the world could possibly fathom a line of thinking other than his own.
Last night's mega-bout between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Conor McGregor surprised some critics not because of the final outcome, but because McGregor managed to battle with the tactical Mayweather into a tenth round. Few thought McGregor had a real chance. From a media perspective, the assignment was to describe how and to what extent the UFC fighter made things interesting.
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Now that the circus is over and both men are obscenely richer than they already were, the only thing left to do is enjoy this absolutely crazy exchange between Stephen A. Smith and ESPN boxing commentator Teddy Atlas. They're basically drawing an analogy between Saturday's fight and the habits of a culinary maestro, which really does not make sense, needless to say.
We've seen Stephen A. Smith engage in all manner of verbal gymnastics and hyperbole in order to get his point across. Smith will often go for the slow, methodical build that crescendoes with cries of disbelief. Interruption is one of his most highly developed skills, and yet here he has seemingly met his match.
If this were "First Take," if Atlas replaced Max Kellerman, heads would be exploding all across this great land.
But in the interest of generating meme material? Smith and Atlas have done a mighty job. Someone should strongly consider cutting this up and giving it the Charlie Rose/Samuel Beckett treatment.