Sports Media Twerp — the kind of individual lambasted at Fire Joe Morgan who is self-important, utterly certain of his predictions, unaccountable for anything stupid or wrong he says and sets the common fan’s understanding of the game backward rather than forward.

The defining traits of the SMT are: 1) overconfidence (“Ohio State is clearly the best team in the nation!”); 2) condescension (“See, he moved the runner over. That’s what wins championships!”); 3) ignorance (their ability to ignore a key block on a big run, or Kobe’s blatant travelling); 4) star-worship (MNF’s endless worship of celebrities, the inability to criticize obvious mistakes, such as a launching a three-point shot with 20 seconds left on the shot clock and a ten-point lead).

It’s easier to define an SMT by who isn’t one than who is since they are very common. Greg Easterbrook isn’t. Rob Neyer isn’t. Most of the boys at Baseball Prospectus aren’t. John Sickels isn’t. Ron Jaworski isn’t. Mark May isn’t (Chris will disagree). Chris Berman and Tom Jackson aren’t, except in self-mocking humor. Keith Jackson and Vin Scully aren’t. One sign of someone who isn’t an SMT is that they will admit to having been wrong and usually be more excited when they’re wrong than when they’re right. All the above qualify.

Where can you find the best example of SMT’s? Monday Night Football is loaded with them to the point of being unwatchable. Rush Limbaugh is, big time. Or was. Bill Simmons can be, especially on the subject of Payton Manning. Bill Walton. And much of the crew of Baseball Tonight.