Stephen A. Smith is not hesitant about making his opinions known on First Take and The Stephen A. Smith Show throughout the week. The featured commentator recently took time out of his schedule to record a new episode of a video series with GQ Sports titled “Actually Me,” where guests go undercover on the internet and respond to comments or questions pertaining to them. Throughout the 10-minute segment, Smith logged on to X, Instagram and YouTube among other social media platforms under the pseudonym, “ActuallySAS,” and gave his opinions on commentary from viewers and fans.

On TikTok, a user repurposed an old clip of Smith discussing former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who played three years and 31 games in the National Football League after being selected first-overall by the team in 2007. After Russell spoke with Sports Illustrated and insinuated that sleep apnea and lack of support from coaches and players were behind his struggles, Smith appeared on ESPN and likened him to a thief. Throughout his rant, he proceeded to call the No. 1 overall pick a “disgrace” and a “fat slob, no-good, lazy bum of a quarterback,” parlance that one user noted would be looked at differently in today’s society.

“How much has ESPN changed from then till now?,” user “yoshimitchell” asked on TikTok. “This seems so unhinged, LMAO.”

Smith replied by saying that ESPN has not been the entity that has changed; rather, the network has had to adapt to changing societal conditions and standards of what is considered accepted. Being able to give an opinion on television without avoiding incessant levels of scrutiny has augmented in difficulty, according to Smith, especially in an era when commentary is rapidly documented.

“Our level of sensitivity has been heightened to an alarming level; the slightest offense could cost you your career, not just your job,” Smith said. “I can’t go to work every day, be on national television or be on the radio or be on the airwaves of my podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show, telling you lies. I’ma let you know where the hell I stand; I don’t give a damn what anybody says.”

Another clip later in the video posted to Reddit demonstrated one of Smith’s rants about marijuana and how athletes being paid millions of dollars should be able to resist use of the psychoactive drug. The question left in the comments section of the video by user “No-Elderberry-3743” asked if Smith plans out his rants or if he improvises what he is going to say live on the air. Smith answered the question by pointing to his preparation as being the reason he can elocute points in different ways wherefore he does not pre-script the way he goes about delivering a take.

“I always do my homework before I speak publicly,” Smith said, “but I don’t definitively know what I’m going to say until it’s time to speak.”

ESPN will broadcast the Major League Baseball Wild Card Series for the second consecutive year and is bringing fans a lineup of experienced, versatile commentators in the booth. While the specific series that they will be calling has yet to be announced because of the ongoing Wild Card battles, the “Worldwide Leader” will bring comprehensive coverage to matchups with heavy implications.

The lead Sunday Night Baseball announcing team of Karl Ravech, David Cone and Eduardo Pérez will remain together for one of the Wild Card series with Buster Olney reporting. Sunday Night Baseball has attained viewership milestones throughout the 2023 regular season, and the team has also had the chance to call tentpole events such as the MLB Little League Classic and the Home Run Derby.

Michael Kay and Álex Rodríguez move from the studio to the broadcast booth to call a Wild Card Round series together for the second consecutive season. The duo recently wrapped up the second year of Sunday Night Baseball with KayRod, which reports have indicated could be its final year on the air. Rodríguez is reportedly set to agree to a new broadcast contract with FOX Sports that would grant the network exclusivity over his on-air rights. Joining Kay and Rodríguez as a reporter is Alden González, who has been with ESPN since 2016 where he started as the Los Angeles Rams team reporter for ESPN’s NFL Nation.

Jon “Boog” Sciambi, the television voice of the Chicago Cubs on Marquee Sports Network and ESPN Radio voice of Sunday Night Baseball, will deliver the play-by-play of another one of the league’s four Wild Card series. He will be joined by radio partner and nine-year MLB veteran outfielder Doug Glanville, with Jesse Rogers featured as a reporter.

The commentator lineup is rounded out by Sean McDonough as the play-by-play announcer, ending his year calling baseball as the National Hockey League prepares to begin its third season on ESPN. McDonough is expected to call his second Stanley Cup Final for the network at the end of the season alongside analyst Ray Ferraro and reporter Emily Kaplan. Working alongside McDonough for the Wild Card Series will be Jessica Mendoza and Tim Kurkjian, with Coley Harvey as the reporter.

The MLB Wild Card Series begins on Tuesday, Oct. 3 with matchups for all four best-of-three series. The higher-seeded club retains home-field advantage throughout play, and the first team to win two games will advance to the divisional series round. Coverage of the MLB Wild Card Series is exclusively on The Walt Disney Company’s family of networks – ABC; ESPN and ESPN2, and will be available to stream on ESPN+.

The media landscape is constantly changing for every sport and that includes Major League Baseball. This year, two teams (San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks) had their broadcasts taken over from Diamond Sports Group by the league.

Commissioner Rob Manfred was a guest on The Marchand And Ourand Sports Media Podcast on Wednesday. When Andrew Marchand asked him about the blackout situations that still occur for local audiences.

The commissioner said that ending any blackouts that it can is the league’s top priority, but that doesn’t mean every one will be resolved at once.

“The reason it has taken a long time to get at this blackout issue is when clubs make long-term RSN agreements, they historically have granted exclusivity that covers both sides of the house to that cable provider. If the cable provider doesn’t get distribution in a particular area, you have a blackout. That’s beyond our control. That’s one that has been hard to deal with.”

Manfred knows that the media landscape is in constant change, but in that change, he views the opportunity to improve the reach for teams from a digital perspective while not abandoning the old way of doing things.

“I see an ecosystem that is in a period of really rapid change. I think it is particularly focused at the local level, but I also see it as a landscape that presents opportunity if you guess right and manage the change appropriately.”

For the time being, Manfred sees MLB using a hybrid model to reach fans with a traditional cable bundle and those who watch games on streaming services.

While some sports such as MLS have gone strictly direct-to-consumer, Manfred thinks thatwould be a mistake for baseball because the linear TV audience is still significant.

“I do believe there are going to be people who persist in that model for a period of time that’s long enough to make it worthwhile to hang in there and reap those economics. I think that to abandon that piece of the landscape is a mistake. I think the better approach is to try to expand the places where the content is available.

“The nice thing about some of the newer digital platforms is that they are not all that concerned about allowing us to continue in the traditional bundle side-by-side.”

Speaking of Apple, as MLB finishes year two of having Friday night games on the streaming service, the commissioner said he has enjoyed the way Apple has presented the game in a different way.

“I think in a sport that has a very traditional broadcast history, that that’s a really good thing. I think the relationship with Apple has re-confirmed our view of the fundamental value of content and it makes me optimistic about where we are heading in the future.”