Editing Skip Bayless (section)

==Early years==
John Edward Bayless II was born and raised in [[Oklahoma City]], Oklahoma.<ref name="rt"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Bracht |first=Mel |date=2012-05-10 |title=Bayless Stands by His Comment |work=[[The Daily Oklahoman]] |page=2C |quote=I'm obviously a native Oklahoman, born and bred...}}</ref><ref name="wapo" />  His father, John Sr., immediately began calling him Skip—his father also had called his mother "Skip", as in "skipper of the ship". The name instantly stuck, and Bayless was never called John by his parents, to the point that he eventually had his name legally changed to Skip.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Skip Bayless Interview Part I: Colorful, Conscious And Of Course, Controversial - The Starting Five |url=http://thestartingfive.net/2009/02/24/the-skip-bayless-interview-part-i-colorful-conscious-and-of-course-controversial/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225142009/http://thestartingfive.net/2009/02/24/the-skip-bayless-interview-part-i-colorful-conscious-and-of-course-controversial/ |archive-date=February 25, 2009 |access-date= |work=The Starting Five}}</ref> His parents owned and operated the Hickory House restaurant in Oklahoma City, which specialized in barbecue. Bayless worked in the restaurant in his youth, but never considered it as a career path. His younger brother [[Rick Bayless]] carried on the family tradition and became a chef, restaurateur and television personality. He also had a younger sister.<ref name="wapo">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/skip-bayless-espn2-first-take-co-host-may-be-the-most-hated-man-in-sports/2013/09/13/c001a7c2-170a-11e3-804b-d3a1a3a18f2c_story.html Rick Maese, "Skip Bayless, ESPN2 'First Take' co-host, may be the most hated man in sports", ''The Washington Post'', September 13, 2013]</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=LuAnn Tucker Obituary |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/oklahoman/name/luann-tucker-obituary?id=11836840 |access-date=4 December 2024 |work=The Oklahoman |date=22 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204034824/https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/oklahoman/name/luann-tucker-obituary?id=11836840 |archive-date=December 4, 2024}}</ref>

Bayless's interest in sports began at an early age. He played baseball and basketball. Bayless was the salutatorian of Northwest Classen's graduating class of 1970. He was a two-year member of the [[National Honor Society]] and president of the school's [[Fellowship of Christian Athletes]] chapter. He was also an officer in the letterman's club. At the urging of one of his English teachers, Bayless became the primary sports columnist for the school newspaper his junior and senior years. Prior to his senior year, Bayless represented Northwest Classen at Oklahoma [[Boys/Girls State|Boys State]]. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Grantland Rice Scholarship (named for the [[Grantland Rice|sportswriter of the same name]]) to attend [[Vanderbilt University]] (Rice's alma mater).<ref>Frank Boggs, "Skip's B proves Nobody's Perfect", ''The Oklahoma Times'', May 21, 1970</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tra-online.com/scholarship.html|title=Welcome to the Thoroughbred Raci|access-date=April 26, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421041748/http://www.tra-online.com/scholarship.html|archive-date=April 21, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> While at Vanderbilt, he majored in English and history, and graduated ''[[Latin honors#United States|cum laude]]'' in 1974. He was a member of [[Phi Kappa Sigma]] fraternity, serving two years as the chapter's "rho" (sports director).<ref>[http://www.pks.org/maltese_cross/mc2012.pdf Christopher M. Hanes, "Alumnus of the Year: Skip Bayless", ''Maltese Cross'', Spring 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924073803/http://www.pks.org/maltese_cross/mc2012.pdf |date=September 24, 2015 }}</ref> He was also the sports editor of ''The Hustler'', the university's student newspaper, and spent the summer of 1969 interning under sports editor Frank Boggs at ''[[The Oklahoman|The Daily Oklahoman]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thestartingfive.net/2009/02/24/the-skip-bayless-interview-part-i-colorful-conscious-and-of-course-controversial/|title=The Skip Bayless Interview Part I: Colorful, Conscious And Of Course, Controversial - The Starting Five|work=The Starting Five|access-date=April 26, 2016|archive-date=February 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218005616/http://thestartingfive.net/2009/02/24/the-skip-bayless-interview-part-i-colorful-conscious-and-of-course-controversial/|url-status=dead}}</ref>