Like it or not, a person flipping through sports programming during football season is bound to find ESPN superstar Stephen A. Smith inciting Cowboys fans after their latest stumble, or at the very least assuring them that there's no point in enjoying any success because it's all going to come crumbling down once the calendar turns over to the postseason. It's a predictable bit and much of the remaining intrigue centers around how big and audacious his cowboy hat will or won't be as he twists the knife. That's just the way things are, and the intentional animus is now backed into the First Take formula.

Based on comments made on Friday, one should expect that to continue. With the Cowboys sitting at 3-3-1 and harboring a halfway decent shot of making the playoffs, Smith was once again asked for his thoughts.

"I am not sad about the Cowboys," he said. "You gotta remember, last year they stunk up the joint very, very early. There was nothing intriguing about them."

"And their fans," he continued. "The disgusting, nauseating fanbase that gets on my last damn nerves. It's all trolling. I love trolling them. I want to see them crying. I want to see them miserable."

Smith went on to express how much he enjoyed watching fully grown adult Cowboys fans crying before getting to the heart of what sparks his joy.

"I don't want you falling off the curb, I want you falling off the roof," Smith said. "So go ahead and win these games. Get to the playoffs. Be exciting. Hell, go ahead and win the NFC East. Knock yourself out. Just as long as you live up to form once the playoffs arrive, I am good."

Mileage may vary on your own enjoyment of this little play. But it really is the best-use of a little trick punditry leans into with increasing regularity. Only one team can win the title in each sport and it's become acceptable to paint every team that doesn't as a failure. Regular season triumphs can easily be dismissed as immaterial because they don't ultimately matter. So each season that goes by without a team being crowned champion allows another 11 months of using past results to justify current opinions. Dallas has not, even on paper, been serious Super Bowl contenders for years and they aren't right now. So Smith can be brash and poke America's Fan Base without fear of ever having to eat his words.

It's pretty brilliant. It must be good for ratings. And it must be enjoyable to do as a performer because it keeps finding its way into the script.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Stephen A. Smith Admits Wanting to See 'Disgusting, Nauseating' Cowboys Fans Suffer.