FS1 Has Reportedly Found the Man Who'll Save Skip Bayless from Ratings Oblivion: Paul Pierce

I'll confess I've never been the biggest consumer of the Hot Takes Industrial Complex that is basic cable sports talk. Unless I'm stuck in the waiting room at a car dealership or waiting to get called into a doctor's appointment, my time is too precious to be spent listening to Sports Shouting. Like with late night talk shows or SNL, actually watching these things is a relic of a bygone age. And if anything in that world is said that achieves escape velocity enough to become blog worthy, I'll find it from other sources. 

So it's no surprise it escaped my attention that Shannon Sharpe managed to go over the wall at FS1 and escape the insufferable twat that is Skip Bayless until he appeared on the bank of screens at my gym talking to Stephen A. Smith on ESPN. And a small amount of digging revealed it hasn't been working out well for Skip:

And in a desperate attempt to find another human being on Earth willing to share a studio with Bayless for five hours a week, they've reached out to a man with no filter and an unlimited supply of fucks to not give:

Source - Paul Pierce is likely joining FS1’s “Undisputed” in a contributor role as the NBA season heats up, The Post has learned.

Sources said the deal is not finalized but could be as soon as this week.

A Fox Sports spokesperson declined to comment.

Since Shannon Sharpe left the program last summer, “Undisputed” has pivoted to be more of a panel show than being centered on one-on-one debate. …

As a talking head, he co-hosts the “Ticket & The Truth” podcast with his former teammate Kevin Garnett and does not shy away from giving strong opinions. 

Pierce appeared on “Undisputed” a couple of times last fall, and the spots clearly went well enough that there was an appetite for more. 

My first reaction is that I want better for Paul Pierce. He's meant too much to the city I was born in and the franchise I care about to deserve this in his retirement. But second, even more relevant reaction is "Bring. It. On." Like Skip, I've got bills to pay. Blogs to write. Clicks to bait. And Pierce is a content factory operating at full capacity for all three shifts. Just a few recent examples of what we can expect?

Sex:

Violence:

The full drama of the human experience:

This is exactly the kind of material I was referring to when I discussed blog-worthiness. The nuclear fuel that will burn right through the typically boring clutter of networks having to fill 24 hours of content every day. By all mean, let's put this man in front of a camera and behind a microphone and just let The Truth speak the truth. 

Frankly, I give Pierce about a month before he's hitting Sharpe-levels of frustration:

I just don't see him being able to resist coming over the desk and slapping the words out of Skip's mouth. Either way, Pierce, America, and the members of our blogging community who serve this great nation will be the big winners.