Recorded: February 9th 2024 | In this weeks episode, we got both Will and Taylor back for the intro. They start off recapping some of this past weeks latest news including Dana White walking off the Howie Mandel podcast and The Rock being all the way back in the WWE. Taylor's addiction ended up landing us a new sponsorship and we hit everyone's favorite segment, shout out no free shoutout. Following the intro, the boys were able to sit down with leader at ESPN, the one that put the entire network on his back, Stephen A Smith. Stephen chops it up with the boys and gets into his start of broadcasting as well as how he feels comfortable critiquing professional players. He also gets into some of the relationships he has with athletes and some difficulties that has brought up in the past. Finally Stephen A gets into how he knows he will remain number one even with ESPn bringing The Pat McAfee show. There is some really good conversation and insight into what the life of Stephen A Smith looks like, enjoy fellas, TIMESTAMP CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 4:00 Dana white walking off 7:06 the rock is back 13:52 grocery store 16:26 Taylor’s addiction got us a sponsorship 24:12 shoutout no free shoutout 38:22 Taylor had another shot with MGK 47:39 the dynasty has been released 56:12 pseudo tier talk 1:04:55 diving into new shows 1:08:44 twisted question and the boys get deep 1:17:35 Stephen a preview 1:29:39 STEPHEN A INTERVIEW STARTS 1:22:00 how does he keep the same energy with everything 1:23:30 how does he feel about judging people even though he hasn’t played professionally 1:26:01 getting the close relationships with athletes and having to critique 1:30:13 He will call guys if he is going to say something about them 1:31:32 his relationship with Allen Iverson 1:36:44 Balancing relationships with players while remaining unbiased 1:38:26 As a beat writer, you know everything about everyone 1:42:50 learning the “code” as a beat writer and what lines not cross 1:48:55 his first big break 1:53:35 what is the North Star for him 1:57:55 his thoughts on Pat McAfee Theme Song: Some Of Adams Blues by Quaker City Night Hawks You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/bussinwtb