The silly online feud between fellow millennial sports talk hosts Pablo Torre and Nick Wright spilled over into uncomfortable territory last week when the two appeared together in-studio for an incredibly tense professional spitting contest.
The spitting contest might be better referred to as The Dan Le Batard Show, where the investigative podcaster Torre and the debate host Wright took turns flexing their professional bona fides. The central question was which host could do the other’s job better.
Wright argued that his newsbreaking around the Adrian Peterson investigation while he was a radio host in Houston proves that he can do the type of reporting Torre does. On the other hand, Wright said, Torre’s failed High Noon TV show at ESPN would seem to indicate that he cannot match Wright’s prowess as a sports talk host, which he now does as the star of First Things First on FS1.
The argument spilled onto social media, where Torre insistently challenged Wright’s reporting on the Peterson case before Wright checked out.
Turns out, the bickering was not just a work. In an appearance on longtime radio industry colleague Damon Bruce’s YouTube show this week, Wright indicated his problems with Torre run deeper than on-air entertainment.
“I think if people listen to that interview we did, I think it speaks for itself,” Wright explained. “I don’t know if feelings were hurt. If they were, it wasn’t intended. But if people are asking, did I say anything in there I don’t believe or wouldn’t say again? The answer to that question is no. This kind of is what it is. Maybe I think too highly of my abilities or not highly enough of other people’s, but as I said, I think that 30 minutes speaks for itself and I think it’s pretty clear where I stand on it.”
Pressed by Bruce to acknowledge that there is some real “static” between he and Torre, Wright did not deny it.
“It’s not like when you and I used to go on each other’s radio shows (and play up arguments),” he said. “That’s what I would say. It is not like that.”
Because Torre and the Meadowlark crew enjoy the kayfabe of sports content, it can be hard to tell when their spats with industry colleagues are real or fake. Wright is a frequent guest of the Le Batard Show and plays along with the silliness, but in this case it clearly became personal.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.