Sports

Horrible Sports Takes That Aged Like Sour Milk

Darren Ryding - September 18, 2023
Sports

Horrible Sports Takes That Aged Like Sour Milk

Darren Ryding - September 18, 2023

Almost every sports fan has strong opinions about their favorite players and teams. Once in a while, fans produce some takes that are well-thought-out and relevant. But more often, they’re just incredibly dumb. It’s even funnier when so-called expert analysts deliver horrible sports takes that age like sour milk. The Internet ensures those horrible takes come back to haunt them because it never forgets.

Maybe those ‘experts’ talking about a rookie player they think will be the next Hall of Famer. Sometimes they put their foot in their mouth by inadvertently insulting fanbases. In any case, it’s just not a good look, but ultimately they’re paid to be talking heads who offer hot takes. Check out these garbage hot takes right here because they’re hilariously bad.

Sports Illustrated

The Worst Thrower

Everybody knows that if Pat Mahomes retired now he’d undoubtedly walk right into the NFL Hall of Fame. But in 2022, Skip Bayless decided that the Kansas City icon wasn’t that great. He misrepresented statistics to make out that Mahomes was one of the league’s worst passers (via Essentially Sports).

Marca

Bayless ranted: “He’s a transcendent thrower of the football? Baloney he is. He is one of the worst throwers of football I have ever witnessed. And he has the worst footwork this side of Aaron Rodgers, throwing the football.” The grossly overstated take had fans wondering why this man has a job in sports.

AP

A Piece of Metal

Everybody knows the Astros cheated to a World Series title in 2017. Major League Baseball fined them but never stripped them of their title. Meanwhile, laughably poor MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred had one of the worst takes ever. His perspective on the World Series trophy aged like sour milk.

New York Times

Manfred said: “The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act.” This went down like a lead balloon in the baseball universe. Several high-profile players slammed the commissioner because they thought he should show more respect (via USA Today).

New York Times

Hamlin’s Cardiac Arrest

Skip Bayless had yet another one of his worst takes ever in 2022. Usually, we’re talking about dubious predictions but this was simply bad taste. This was when Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field in the Bills’ 2022 season-ending game against the Bengals. Bayless thought that the players should continue playing.

CNN

Bayless tweeted: “No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.” People called on Bayless to delete the post because it was a terrible thought. 

Larry Brown Sports

Doncic Is Overrated

Luka Doncic is one of the NBA’s most dependable players and a perennial MVP contender. Yes, Dallas never supports him properly but the Slovenian is still one of the best basketball players on the planet. However, so-called NBA expert Chris Palmer had a different perspective in 2018.

Variety

Palmer tweeted: “Not buying this Luka Doncic hype at all. Unmoved by it.” It’s safe to say that this one aged like sour milk because Doncic has been brilliant. The former Rookie of the Year has been an All-Star every season and made a mockery of Palmer’s statement (via Covers.com).

Fox News

Speak English

Shohei Ohtani is arguably baseball’s biggest star right now. But talking head extraordinaire Stephen A. Smith didn’t see how he’d connect with the American public. Smith emits more garbage than a plastic bag factory but this was special. He shared his dumb perspective on First Take (via USA Today Sports).

San Diego Union-Tribune

Smith said: “The fact that you got a foreign player that doesn’t speak English, believe it or not, I think contributes to harming the game to some degree when that’s your box office appeal.” This hot take aged like sour milk because he was completely wrong. Ohtani speaks English.

SportsWire

The Modern Game

Trent Dilfer is one of the most average quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl. He delivered the mother of bad takes about the position in 2023 as he criticized Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Dilfer alleged that the modern game doesn’t impress him despite playing for six seasons when Brady was active.

CBS Sports

The former Ravens Super Bowl winner said (via CBS News): “It’s super easy when you don’t get hit as a quarterback, and when you can’t reroute receivers, and when you can’t hit guys across the middle. I love Tom Brady, I love Aaron Rodgers, I love these guys. It’s not impressive.”

GOAL

Stick To Football

NFL analyst Josina Anderson should stick to her area of expertise. She commented on French star Kylian Mbappe’s form in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. She wrote: “I’m still waiting for Kylian Mbappe to impress me. Yes, he attracts defenders, but speed and scoring potential are not enough (via Sportskeeda).”

New York Times

The PSG star was the tournament’s top scorer and also got two goals in the final against Argentina. It’s safe to say that this was one of those hot takes that aged as well as sour milk. The Twitterverse was unforgiving as they gleefully roasted her egregious mistake.

TalkSport

Cowboy Gave Up

In 2020, Conor McGregor defeated Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith roasted Cerrone’s performance on the broadcast. But the MMA community reacted badly because they thought he was being extremely unfair. They also believed that he didn’t have an educated opinion.

ESPN

Smith said: “Here’s the deal: 15 seconds in, ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone was done. He got hit with those shoulders in the clinch, and he was done. It looked like he gave up, it was just an atrocious performance on his part.” Even Joe Rogan criticized Smith’s comments because they aged like sour milk (via Bloody Elbow).

AP

Tebow is No. 1

Stephen A. Smith was on the other side of a bad take when he was working with Skip Bayless. Smith walked off the set because Bayless frustrated him so much. Bayless tried to argue that Tim Tebow was a bigger star than basketball legend Kobe Bryant.

TMZ

This was one of the dumbest moments in sports broadcasting history. Allegedly, ESPN intervened and told Bayless to tone his Tebow hype down because he took it too far. He also bizarrely had vendettas against Bryant and LeBron James (via Sportskeeda).

The Hollywood Reporter

Piers Spews Bile

Simone Biles had a traumatic Tokyo Olympics. The pre-tournament favorite suffered from the ‘twisties’ during the event and spoke about her mental health. Many fans praised her openness and bravery but Piers Morgan had a horrible reaction (via The Mirror).

Reuters

He said: “Are ‘mental health issues’ now the go-to excuse for any poor performance in elite sport? What a joke. Just admit you did badly, made mistakes, and will strive to do better next time. Kids need strong role models, not this nonsense.” Remember, he once walked off a set when a weatherman stood up to him.

New York Times

The “It” Factor

Jay Glazer decided that Matt Cassel was the second coming of Joe Montana in 2009. This came after the quarterback filled in for Tom Brady.  He wrote: “OK, I’m sold. Matt Cassel has “it.” Can’t teach “it.” Teammates rave about how he throws at the break. Coaches rave about how he’ll get after guys.”

Boston Globe

We’re not sure what “it” was because Cassel didn’t do anything when he joined Kansas City. He managed 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions during his first season. This was a terrible take and one that embarrassed Glazer. Cassel became a perennial backup in the NFL after that (via New Arena).

ESPN

Better Dead Than Red

Rose Namajunas fought Weili Zhang for the UFC strawweight title in 2021. However, she attracted criticism when she used the phrase ‘better dead than red’ about Zhang. This is an old Cold War expression that relates to the grim living conditions of Soviet communism.

CBS Sports

Namajunas expanded: “I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Weili is red, that’s what she represents. It’s nothing personal against her, but that’s a huge motivating factor of why I fight” (via SCMP). Many UFC fans thought she was unfair and disrespectful to her Chinese opponent.

Sky Sports

Toe The Line

People find every reason to hate LeBron James or to deny his all-time great status. In 2023, the Lakers had an interest in Christian Wood. One NFL insider told Dan Woike: “If LeBron can get him to toe the line, it cements LeBron as the greatest player of all time. That’s how hard it is.”

Sky Sports

This makes zero sense because James has nothing to do with Wood’s personal decisions. It’s frustrating enough to make someone punch their TV screen. We could feel our IQ points drop because this was one of the worst takes ever (via Fansided).

Bleacher Report

The Next Great

In 2012, Cameron Wolfe wrote: “You heard it here first, Tyler Bray will be the next great QB in the NFL.” The veteran NFL reporter has some good opinions and takes. But this was one of the worst ever because Bray only made two backup appearances with no touchdown passes.

Bleacher Report

Bray had a good college career with the Tennessee Volunteers. But no team drafted him in 2013 before the Chiefs signed him as a free agent. He warmed the Kansas City bench for four seasons before he finally made his only appearance for the franchise (via Heavy).

Forbes

Kobe Isn’t Clutch

Mex Kellerman tried to say that Kahwi Leonard is a better clutch player than Kobe Bryant was. He said: “Kobe was the best bad shot maker who ever lived. He would take a lot of bad shots under pressure because he knew he could make them. Just look at how often he made them compared to what Kawhi is doing.

CBS Sports

This was like saying that Coca-Cola is better in a plastic bottle than a glass bottle. It might be easier to get but it doesn’t make it better. Needless to say, Twitter wasn’t kind to him and they couldn’t understand why ESPN continued to pay his salary (via Complex).

Sky Sports

Famous Last Words

You can’t win anything with kids” became one of the Premier League’s most infamous hot takes. Alan Hansen said these words about Manchester United’s team in 1995. But United’s young roster made a mockery of his words when they won the title that season.

GOAL

They had a clutch of starlets including 20-year-old David Beckham and 19-year-old Paul Scholes. This was also the beginning of a dynasty as United dominated over the next two decades. Hansen’s words aged like sour milk and they came back to haunt him (via Sky Sports).

New York Post

Johnny > Lebron

Here’s another of Skip Bayless’s infamous takes but this one is a doozy. In 2014, the broadcaster wrote: “Johnny Football will one day be bigger in Cleveland than his buddy LeBron ever was.” He was writing about Johnny Manziel after the Browns drafted the former Texas A&M star (via AP News).

New York Times

However, to say that this aged like sour milk is the understatement of the century. Manziel partied hard until the Browns threw him away like yesterday’s garbage. The quarterback suffered horrendous substance abuse problems and became irrelevant until a Netflix documentary in 2023.

Esquire

Women Shouldn’t Fight

Everybody knows that Stephen A. Smith’s mouth and rear are interchangeable. But he infuriated the MMA fanbase when he began offering hot takes about the sport. In 2021, he said that he didn’t want to see women fighting. Several high-profile UFC champions instantly shredded him (via USA Today Sports).

ESPN

Smith said on the Black on the Air podcast: “Where I jump off the bandwagon is when they try to engage physically. For example, I don’t ever want to see a woman boxing a man. I don’t want to see women fighting in the octagon and stuff like that, but that’s just me.”

Pro Football Network

Where’s Larry?

Max Kellerman had one of the worst takes ever when he spoke about Larry Fitzgerald’s Hall of Fame credentials. He said: “Larry Fitzgerald is like a Vince Carter. He might make the Hall of Fame because of longevity and the way he was willing to keep playing without being an MVP kind of level guy anymore (via 12 News).”

AZ Central

This made no sense because Fitzgerald was an outstanding player. The 11-time Pro Bowler is second all-time in receiving yards. He also has more tackles than drops and played brilliantly with 19 quarterbacks. Kellerman’s hot take aged like sour milk because it was so dumb.

The Guardian

Why Claudio?

Didi Hamann was a great player but that doesn’t mean he knows everything about soccer. In 2015, Leicester City appointed Claudio Ranieri as their new head coach. This didn’t impress Hamann who tweeted his opinion to the masses. Unfortunately, this came back to haunt him because it aged like sour milk.

Premier League

The German predicted their relegation as he wrote: “Can’t believe Leicester appointed Ranieri. Great club, great fanbase but I’m afraid MK rather than Old Trafford season after next.” Leicester duly won the Premier League in one of the biggest fairytale stories ever (via Planet Football).

Houston Chronicle

Check Swing Rule

Jon Heyman had one of the worst baseball takes ever in 2021. He said on MLB Now: “If a guy starts to swing it should be a swing in my opinion. I think they should revamp the whole thing.” His words related to check swings, a common practice in the sport.

Bleacher Report

This was one of the dumbest ‘educated’ conversations that baseball fans ever heard. The sport has plenty of problems but no one is complaining about check swings. Heyman was talking for the sake of it and it aged as well as sour milk (via Outkick).

AP

Heads-Up Messi

Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest soccer player ever but former England coach Terry Venables disagreed. He believed that Cristiano Ronaldo was a superior player when they met in the Champions League Final. In the end, his hot take did not end well as Messi ran riot.

AFP

Venables told Sky Sports: “Messi is wonderful on the right but Ronaldo is terrific on the right, the left, and through the middle as well. He also scores goals with his head, which Messi couldn’t do even if they put a top hat on him.” Karma struck because Messi scored the game-winning header.

Sporting News

Tebow Time

We don’t know how Skip Bayless says some of these things with a straight face. In 2011, he tried to say that Tim Tebow would be a better quarterback than Cam Newton. Bayless tweeted: “Again, I think Cam can be a good NFL QB. But I think Tebow (given Cam’s opportunity and support) can be a little better.”

Sports Illustrated

This is one of the dumbest things that we’ve ever read. Newton became an NFL MVP as he helped the Panthers to a rare Super Bowl appearance. Meanwhile, ‘Tebow Time’ fizzled out and he eventually turned his attention to baseball. This was bad even by Bayless’s poor standards (via The New York Post).

Variety

Fall Off A Cliff

In 2016, Max Kellerman made an infamous statement on a ‘First Take’ segment. He said: “Tom Brady’s just about done. It could be his next game, it could be a year from now, but he is going to fall off a cliff. Tom Brady is going to be a bum in short order.”

Marca

Kellerman’s words came back to haunt him because Brady won two more Super Bowls. Father Time didn’t touch him until his retirement in 2023. One of those victories came when he completed a fairytale move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (via Boston.com).

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