Quite Frankly with Steven A. Smith

You may have read Rell's Preview and/or Jeff's endorsement of the Steven A. Smith's new show on ESPN, Quite Frankly. And I have to admit, after hearing such good things about Steven A.'s hosting The Jim Rome show better than Jim Rome, and seeing the commercials for Quite Frankly, I was quite excited about the show.

I just finished watching the first show, and I'm turning in mixed reviews. First of all, I'm not a big fan of the format. I didn't want Steven A. do what everybody is already doing (ie, the sports arguing show for people with ADD, where each topic is done in 2 minutes), but I'm just not crazy about a true talk show. He had one guest, Allen Iverson (who I will touch more on in a minute), whom he interviewed over the course of the hour.

I really didn't like Steven A. when he first burst onto the ESPN screen as a sports writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. I found him obnoxious. But over time, he mellowed (slightly), and I got more used to his style, and now I am a big fan. This format, I feel, in a way, under utilizes his personality. I was excited to hear Steven A. talk, and instead I more just got him leading AI.

That being said, despite the fact that I was really down on the show when I first saw the format, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Much of this was due to AI. I had never really paid much attention to AI before the Pistons/Sixers series in this years NBA playoffs first round. I left that series with a true respect for Iverson for the way he truly cares about playing hard and leaving it all on the court. After this interview, I respect Iverson even more. AI gets a bad rap through the media because he has a lot of the outward traits that white, middle-upper class America associates with "thug": his cornrows, his diction, his Tupac camo shirt and baggy shorts, etc. He has had run-ins with the law, and the entire "practice" fiasco. Despite this, Iverson is a (relatively) humble guy, who over the course of the show discussed how much he loved his mother, came to tears when they played a clip of (his former coach) Larry Brown talking about him, and talked about how the media will grab onto anything, and draw their own conclusions to the ends of producing a hot story.

I left the show with a couple questions:

• AI is one of the most interesting/misunderstood/lightning-rod characters in sports. Can the show stay interesting for an entire hour as the guests become less interesting (which they must, as it is a daily show)?
• Will the show adjust the format to compensate for less interesting personalities?
• Can it maintain a daily interest?
• As the guests are less controversial, will we get to see more of Steven A.?

Overall, I found the show entertaining, and I will definitely tune in again to figure out the answers to these questions...