Straight Shooter
eBook - ePub

Straight Shooter

A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes

  1. 288 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Straight Shooter

A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes

About this book

AN NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE

America’s most popular sports media figure tells it like it is in this “raw, deeply authentic, and immensely entertaining” (Bob Iger, #1 New York Times bestselling author and CEO of The Walt Disney Company) book, not only dishing out his signature, uninhibited opinions but also revealing the challenges he overcame in childhood as well as at ESPN.

Stephen A. Smith has never been handed anything, nor was he an overnight success. Growing up poor in Queens, the son of Caribbean immigrants and the youngest of six children, he was a sports-obsessed kid who faced struggles, from undiagnosed dyslexia to getting enough cereal to fill his bowl. As a basketball player at Winston-Salem State University, he got a glimmer of his true calling when he wrote a newspaper column arguing for the retirement of his own Hall of Fame coach, Clarence Gaines.

Smith hustled and rose up from a reporter on the high school beat at Daily News (New York) to a general sports columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer before getting his own show at ESPN in 2005. After he was unceremoniously fired from the network in 2009, he became even more determined to fight for success. He got himself rehired two years later and, with his razor-sharp intelligence and fearless debate style, found the show he was destined to star in: First Take, the network’s flagship morning program.

In Straight Shooter, Smith writes about the greatest highs and deepest lows of his life and career. He gives his thoughts on Skip Bayless, Ray Rice, Colin Kaepernick, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Cowboys, and former President Donald Trump. But he also pulls back the curtain and talks about life beyond the set, sharing authentic stories about his negligent father, his loving mother, being a father himself, his battle with life-threatening COVID-19, and what he really thinks about politics and social issues. He does it all with the same intelligence, humor, and charm that has made him a household name.

A provocative and moving “blueprint of tenacity” (Fat Joe), this book is the perfect gift for lovers of sports, television, and anyone who likes their stories delivered straight to the heart.

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Yes, you can access Straight Shooter by Stephen A. Smith in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Social Science Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Introduction
  5. Chapter 1: My Dad Was No Hero!
  6. Chapter 2: ā€œThe Boy Just Ain’t Smartā€
  7. Chapter 3: A Liar to My Momma
  8. Chapter 4: ā€œYou Got Gameā€
  9. Chapter 5: ā€œGoddamnit, That Boy Wants to Be Somebody!ā€
  10. Chapter 6: ā€œYou’re Gonna Be the Biggest Star in Sports Media!ā€
  11. Chapter 7: I’ve Got Plans for You
  12. Chapter 8: Quite Frankly
  13. Chapter 9: Persona non Grata
  14. Chapter 10: The Beginning of My Resurrection
  15. Chapter 11: The Blessings—and Perils—of Fatherhood
  16. Chapter 12: Skip Bayless and ā€˜First Take’
  17. Chapter 13: No Safety Net
  18. Chapter 14: Buried by a Curry (Not Named Steph)
  19. Chapter 15: Natural-Born Contrarians
  20. Chapter 16: ā€œWhat Is Your Point?ā€
  21. Chapter 17: Finish the Job
  22. Chapter 18: Lessons Learned
  23. Chapter 19: Come Hell or High Water!
  24. Chapter 20: When Taking Things for Granted Nearly Killed Me
  25. Chapter 21: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
  26. Afterword: I’m Officially a Brand Now.
  27. Acknowledgments
  28. About the Author
  29. Copyright