As a general rule, middle-aged sports commentators sound most authoritative when they comment on sports.
Alas, when they veer into cultural topics, they often come across as preachy in the most cringe-inducing way.
For instance, on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” podcast on Friday, host Stephen A. Smith, 56, defended pop music megastar Taylor Swift against legions of exasperated sports fans who — truth be told — have done little more than express frustration with the tabloid-style coverage Swift received during the 2023-24 NFL season.
“She’s earned it. She really has,” Smith said of the respect he believes Swift deserves.
The longtime sports writer, radio host and television personality made those comments as part of a rambling set of loosely connected observations related to other prominent female celebrities, including Kim Kardashian.
In other words, it did not exactly ooze gravitas.
To give Smith his due, in recent weeks he has offered semi-reasonable takes on a number of subjects unrelated to the current sports landscape, including Hillary Clinton’s repellent statement about Democratic voters disgusted with their choices in November, the death of O.J. Simpson and the Democrats’ ongoing persecution of former President Donald Trump.
The bombastic sports commentator’s Swift-related segment, however, produced nothing quite so semi-reasonable.
Smith began by noting that, early Friday morning, Swift released her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Do you think sports hosts should stop talking about Taylor Swift?
That album has already generated controversy. One track, for instance, has called forth ignorant and self-righteous comments about racism in a bygone era. And another song featured Swift comparing herself to Jesus Christ.
A third controversial song, in which Swift apparently dredged up an old dispute with Kardashian, caught Smith’s attention.
“Now I don’t understand why the hell she going after Kim Kardashian. I don’t understand that. You know, going after Kim Kardashian, I’m gonna have to say somethin’ — I’m gonna have to say something ’bout that,” Smith said in a gibberish-filled style of speaking that grew increasingly irritating coming from a 56-year-old man.
Smith then offered a few irrelevant observations about how rich and successful both women are.
After noting that Swift on the album “alluded to being a functioning alcoholic” (the lyrics to the album’s song “Fortnight“), Smith finally acknowledged the entire topic’s tangential sports context — Swift’s highly publicized (to put it mildly) romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
“She looks pretty happy with my boy, Travis Kelce. He looks pretty happy as well,” Smith said, referring to three-time Super Bowl champion.
“She’s been a good thing for him. And she’s doing her thing because she’s highly successful,” Smith later added.
Then came the part where the celebrity simp, who shills for much more famous celebrities than he, scolded the paying customers without whom neither he nor Kelce would earn a living by playing or talking about sports.
“But we gotta stop hating on this girl,” Smith insisted.
As evidence for the respect he believes Swift has “earned,” Smith again cited her net worth.
In sum, a minor celebrity told an audience presumably of sports fans that they should not object when a major celebrity, famous for something other than sports, begins to dominate coverage of the most popular sport in America.
And he reasoned — at least insofar as one could discover a reasoning process — that she has earned their respect because of her success in music and spectacular wealth.
Really?
Stephen A. Smith should stick to sports.
