SMITH SCREAMIN’ FOR ATTENTION; TALKS “RETALIATION“? Sports media gossip hound Tom Hoffarth of the LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS has a sitdown with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and coaxes some unintentionally amusing comments out of the recently inquisitioned Inquirer columnist.

Of his “Screamin’ A. Smith” nick, he lamented to Hoffarth, “I detest that.” So much so that he also admitted, “I do get a little loud on the airwaves sometimes, there’s no question about that. And I do need to tone it down. Sometimes I don’t even know how loud I sound. That’s something I’m working on - literally.”

“Literally“? So does that mean he’s using something like this to help along in the process?The most predictable weirdest part of the interview came at the end of Hoffarth’s piece, when Smith reminded us of the Isiah-Stephon spat, with his own smattering of vague, idle threats: “And not only that, but I could hurt these people anytime I want with retaliation, but I won’t. It’s not my style. I’m in a blessed position. Why hurt someone else and their credibility? You’d just wish that someone would recognize that, listen, we’re all supposed to be family. I challenge anyone to come to talk to me about if I talk about my colleagues in a negative fashion. Doesn’t happen. Just doesn’t happen.”

Like you, we have NO IDEA who Smith is talking about (and no word if Hoffarth was able to talk him off the ledge).