The 10 Most Annoying Current ESPN Personalities

By Brian Kalchik

10 Most Annoying Current ESPN Personalities

Bill Walton ESPN — Since its inception in 1979, ESPN has been the major network for all major sports news in the United States and around the world. There have been many good and great commentators over the years, but there also are many terrible ESPN personalities in every possible department which have made the network unwatchable at times. Here are the 10 most annoying ESPN personalities.

10. Colin Cowherd

Colin Cowherd ESPN

10. Colin Cowherd

Colin Cowherd ESPN — I actually like Cowherd to a degree, but most of the time, his broad, sweeping generalizations are terribly misguided. This past week, Cowherd blamed southern culture for the death of Kevin Ward Jr. In the past, he helped shut down an entire website out of true spite and claimed Sean Taylor's past led to his death when it really was a home invasion gone bad.

9. Dan Le Batard

Dan Le Batard ESPN

9. Dan Le Batard

Dan Le Batard ESPN — I view Dan Le Batard as more of a sideshow character than an actual sports personality. Many of his antics in the past include selling his Hall of Fame vote to Deadspin, being an obvious Miami Heat homer and last week, he was suspended by ESPN for purchasing a billboard in Akron, sending a message to former Miami Heat star LeBron James.

8. Darren Rovell

Darren Rovell ESPN

8. Darren Rovell

Darren Rovell ESPN — A sports business reporter, Darren Rovell is easily the most hated man on the Internet. He has frequently feuded on Twitter, even being suspended over a mean tweet about a fan sitting courtside during a Chicago Bulls game. Rovell also managed to tattle on a college student who sent him a mean tweet this past year.

7. Bob Knight

Bob Knight ESPN

7. Bob Knight

Bob Knight ESPN — Mostly because of name recognition, former Indiana and Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight got a college basketball analyst job at ESPN. His basketball mind is one of the best the game has ever seen, but so far hasn't translated into being a good broadcaster. He once fell asleep on the air, he swore on College Gameday and refused to say the word "Kentucky" after having a personal vendetta against Kentucky coach John Calipari.

6. Mark May

Mark May ESPN

6. Mark May

Mark May ESPN — A fixture on College Football Final, May's work as an analyst is rather comedic and he feuds with anyone and everyone just to make himself relevant. He is at his worst when Pittsburgh plays Notre Dame each and every year. That whole week turns into nothing more than May and his partner, Lou Holtz, defending their alma maters even though both have been irrelevant on the national scene for years.

5. Lou Holtz

Lou Holtz ESPN

5. Lou Holtz

Lou Holtz ESPN — May's partner on College Football Final, Lou Holtz helps contribute to what can be called the College Football version of First Take. In 2008, Holtz, in his analysis of former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, sarcastically stated that a former German leader (who I won't mention) was a great leader too. His spit-spewing rants and analysis don't carry nearly as much weight as it used to.

4. Bill Walton

Bill Walton ESPN

4. Bill Walton

Bill Walton ESPN — Walton first started with ESPN in 2003 and his commentary has been so bad that it's actually fun to watch what stupid thing he says next. Walton's commentary includes plenty of hyperboles and nothing that actually is pertinent to the game itself. When he was with NBC in the early 1990s, Walton called out Marv Albert once to get into a cage match with him.

3. Bill Simmons

Bill Simmons ESPN

3. Bill Simmons

Bill Simmons ESPN — A multi-platform personality for ESPN, Bill Simmons is a great sportswriter, but his work as an actual broadcaster is not up to par. His love for the Boston Celtics was so evident in this past year's draft that he was caught clapping on-air as the Celtics selected Kentucky's James Young. Simmons was also suspended from Twitter after criticizing a First Take interview between Skip Bayless and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.

2. Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith ESPN

2. Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith ESPN — In his second stint at ESPN, Smith is the same as he was in his first, an analyst who thinks he's smarter than you just because he yells louder. Since becoming a main contributor on ESPN First Take, Smith has had some controversial moments. During the Ray Rice saga, Smith said that women should stop provoking domestic assault, gave two terrible Twitter apologies and another terribly recorded apology on First Take.

1. Skip Bayless

Skip Bayless ESPN

1. Skip Bayless

Skip Bayless ESPN — A former sports columnist, Skip Bayless still holds the title as the worst ESPN personality. Bayless is the face of ESPN First Take, which is one of the worst shows ESPN has ever produced. The show is nothing more than Bayless lying on air, baiting guests into fights and trolling LeBron James while praising Tim Tebow. He has often taken credit for any team's victories and is an obvious Dallas Cowboys and San Antonio Spurs homer.

Brian Kalchik is a Detroit Lions writer for www.RantSports.com. He also adds to the site’s NBA, NCAA Football, Fantasy and NFL content. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google+.

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