Stephen A. Smith is a Hypocrite!

I’d like to thank Simon on Sports for bringing this to my attention, for without him, this journalistic gem from the MoonDog would not have been possible.

About six weeks ago I posted an article at Fox Sports regarding comments made by Stephen A. Smith during an interview with L.A. Times columnist Tom Hoffarth.

If you haven’t read the original article, “All Bloggers: Stop Writing Immediately!” I would kindly suggest you read that first and then continue reading this follow up article. (Incidentally, that same article is posted here at Bleacher Report, but has been re-titled “Memo To All Bloggers: Stop Writing Immediately!”)

You're back? Good, because this one's a bombshell: 

Stephen A., it seems, has decided to become one of us.

And by that I mean the same low-life blogger he ranted about during the interview with Hoffarth.

Smith has started his own web site, which he fashions as a blog, and apparently came to this conclusion upon listening to his loved ones suggest he needed to do so.

He offers his reasons, albeit badly, for coming over to the Dark Side of the Force.

“In the interest of being real, although I’ve been a journalist for more than 14 years, therefore intimately accustomed to writing, especially on the fly, I’ve never desired to have my own website, let alone write my own blog. But things change when your loved ones notice your notoriety more than you do, when they aspire for your voice to expand, when they’ve grown tired of the countless times they’ve heard critics rain venom without compunction because they sensed my voice was limited.”

Let me get this straight. Stephen A. thinks his voice was limited? Limited by whom? I’m having trouble understanding this man, not because he doesn’t speak or write well (which he doesn’t) but because his reasoning is so illogical and irrational, I simply can’t follow along.

If you think the above quote didn’t provide me enough fodder, here’s a directly quoted outtake of Smith’s radio program on ESPN bemoaning the fact he had to purchase an already claimed domain.

Stephen A: “Mike, did I tell you I got my own website?”

Mikey Miss: “Yeah, I heard about that.”

Stephen A: “StephenA.com.”

Mikey Miss: “How about that?”

Stephen A: “You read my blog, I'm gonna write a weekly blog. I got my own email address. My own guest list. All that stuff. My events. You know what I'm saying? My bio. All of that stuff. I decided, my family convinced me to do it. So I decided to do it. StephenA.com. You know I had to fight for months to get ownership of my own daggone name? Somebody else got StephenASmith.com. I had to get StephenA.com. Is that ridiculous?”

Mikey Miss: “Common name.”

Stephen A: “That's ridiculous. No people were doing it and holding onto it so they could make money off of me.”

Mikey Miss: “You didn't buy it back?”

Stephen A: “I had to buy it back for 5 but I only paid 500 dollar, they tried to charge me like 20 thousand. I was like, 'You must be on drugs.' I was gonna sue 'em. But then I said to expedite the process [mumbles] you take it for 500 dollars, I'll give you the 500 dollars that's all you're getting. That's what I ended up doing. To get my name. MY NAME. MINE. ITS RIDICULOUS. I was ready to sue 'em. You know there's laws against that. Don't get me started with the court system.”

I’m curious to know if Smith listens to himself, because everyone I know doesn’t listen to him at all.

In fact, I’d rather have a plumber perform open heart surgery on me, using nothing more than a pipe wrench and a jig saw, without being anesthetized, rather than listen to the incessant ramblings of Stephen A.

Just to refresh everyone’s memory, this is a man who railed against those of us voicing our opinions in a public forum. We weren’t “professional” journalists, and therefore, didn’t have the right to avail ourselves of the First Amendment. This is the same man that has professed he has the utmost respect for the journalism industry.

Yet he was fired from his position with the Philadelphia Inquirer for not having enough respect for the journalism industry. Go figure.

I’d like to offer Stephen A. some advice. If you think you’re lowering yourself by joining us, the Evil Empire, the lowly bloggers you thought weren’t capable of uttering a complete sentence, let alone an entire article, don’t.

Upon reading this, my fellow bloggers are going to be outraged our profession has been joined by the likes of you.

Thanks, Stephen A., for contaminating the blogosphere, perhaps irreparably. What a hypocrite.