For the last three years, Cari Champion has undertaken the monumental task of moderating ESPN’s First Take. Sitting in the fire between Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith’s HOT TAKE rhetoric every morning will prepare any broadcaster for their next career choice, and now Champion is headed down the hall at ESPN to work as an anchor for the morning edition of SportsCenter. She explained her decision to leave First Take on her ESPN W podcast.
First Take has not named a successor to Champion, but whoever it is should be prepared for the sports opinion furnace. Moderating Smith and Bayless is tough, but Champion’s toughest challenge actually came in the form of a bad comedian. In November 2014, Artie Lange targeted Champion in a series of gross Tweets.
The move to SportsCenter for Champion is well-deserved. She’s a very talented broadcast journalist who certainly deserves better than First Take.
(Via Awful Announcing)
