We Had Our First Weekly Stephen A. Smith Vs. Chris "Mad Dog" Russo Showdown On First Take And It Went EXACTLY Like Everyone Thought It Would

February 16, 2022 will be a day that lives in infamy. No, Russia didn't invade Ukraine since wars apparently rarely start on Wednesdays.

Instead, the war between Stephen A. Smith and The Mad Dog officially kicked off, which will no doubt lead to countless clips where Stephen A. hits octaves that only Mintzy can hit and no actual winner can be declared in the smoldering rubble of hot takes that were just launched. Once Skip left for Fox's blank check, there was relative peace in the sports media kingdom as Stephen A. punched down to Max Kellerman who decided to die on the hill that Tom Brady would fall off a cliff. However, all that did was up the ante for ESPN to bring in a worthy opponent who can not only match Stephen A. Smith decibel for decibel but also rose to fame arguing with the only person outside of Stephen A. Smith that has never been wrong in a single argument his entire life.

The result of all this? Lots of clips like the one above, people declaring First Take is #BACK when Mad Dog inevitably becomes the full-time cohost, and the accelerated demise of sports media if not media as a whole. But hey, at least Wednesdays just got a whole lot more interesting!

P.S. As a Giants fan, I cannot stress how much I love that this video of Kirk Cousins being declared better than Dak Prescott is going viral, especially since the lone criteria appears to be winning a playoff game on the road, which just so happened to be my old QB1's specialty.