Back in October 2012, former Tennis Channel reporter Cari Champion made her debut as the new moderator of ESPN First Take. And ever since then, she's been situated between Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless every single morning, which is, depending on who you ask, either the best or worst job in the world. On the one hand, most ESPN viewers hadn't heard of Champion prior to her joining the First Take team, so the show provided great exposure for her. But over the last two and half years, Champion has also had a front-row seat for some of the most asinine sports arguments of all time (see here and here).
With that in mind, there are quite a few Cari Champion fans celebrating an announcement that was just made by ESPN. According to TheWrap, today will be Champion's final First Take show. Effective immediately, she will be promoted to SportsCenter anchor and will join ESPN's flagship program. She will work alongside a handful of other female SC anchors on the show, including Linda Cohn, Sage Steele, Sara Walsh, and others.
"I grew up watching SportsCenter," she told TheWrap. "It is the flagship show so I am living the dream. When I first started working here, I would casually petition for it—but there's always a long line."
Now, Champion is at the front of it. And at the moment, there are many people reacting to the news about Champion leaving First Take on Twitter. Some are saying that they'll like First Take better with her gone. But the majority are agreeing with Sports Illustrated writer/reporter Richard Deitsch, who went as far as to say that Champion "has finally escaped Shawshank." They're thrilled that Champion won't have to work with Stephen A. and Skip anymore.
Scroll down to see some of those reactions. What's your reaction to the news?
