Bill Simmons Suspension

[Ass Dan]

3 weeks without his Podcast.

ESPN finds new levels of shittiness, corporate f*cking shills, I sincerely hope Simmons, Kimmel and Carolla start their own media company when Simmons' contract is up next year.

F*ck the worldwide follower.

[Dresta]

Sounds like you've got a real hard-on for Simmons there buddy.

[StephHamann]

...

[joe]

Yeah, it felt so good to hear someone go after Goodell like that. Just call it like it is.. he is lying. We dont need to pretend there is some other possible explanation for this, or that the truth is somewhere in the the middle. It is yet another case of Goodell acting like a dictator, making up bullshit, and making ridiculous decisions.

Kimmel is not going to leave his ABC situation. Not sure if Bill Simmons would ever leave ESPN. As popular as he is, ESPN really gives him a bunch of opportunities.

[Shade8780]

Bill Simmons = GOAT

[DukeDelonte13]

im pissed that those bill and jalen NBA previews will be delayed.

[Shade8780]

im pissed that those bill and jalen NBA previews will be delayed.
I loved that last season.

Give the people what they waaant.

[DukeDelonte13]

I loved that last season.

Give the people what they waaant.


i think simmons is a cavs-hating d-bag but i thought those previews were excellent. Very well done and entertaining.

[joe]

rantl
I honestly feel a lot of these columnists and sports outlets in general don't even need ESPN. Grantland, Deadspin, Sherdog, Yahoo sports, and many more. And look at Sherdog, UFC and Joe Rogan, all these guys made their MMA sport a household name by themselves.

They didn't need ESPN, ESPN jumped on their bandwagon. Most of the times, ESPN steal reports from these online sources.

Grantland is funded by ESPN, but I see your point. It is not impossible to make it without a giant corporation behind you. But in a lot of peoples eyes I think it gives you credibility. Joe Rogan is just some guy doing a podcast in the eyes of many. If it was the official podcast of subway and ESPN, I think it gives it this official feel. Plus, if Bill Simmons left ESPN on bad terms, who knows what they might do to try and marginalize him. Especially if he has any anti-ESPN views.

If Bill Simmons leaves ESPN I will be a fan of him no matter where he goes. Been reading his articles since I was like 14.

[Ass Dan]

Kimmel wouldn't need to leave ABC, and he really wouldn't be that valuable anyways minus being a 'big name'.

These guys in a day could start a Podcast network and round up commentators and contributors like:

Simmons
Carolla
Sal Iacano (cousin Sal)
Kevin Hench
John Salley
Dave Damashek
etc.

and get tons of SI, NFL, NBA, TNT network guys to make weekly call ins etc.

Simmons had no trouble recruiting writers for Grantland, can't see why it would be different at another website he ran. It's not like his brand is intrinsically linked to the world wide follower, he's not a business man as much as he is a BUSINESS, man.

[chips93]

I honestly feel a lot of these columnists and sports outlets in general don't even need ESPN. Grantland, Deadspin, Sherdog, Yahoo sports, and many more. And look at Sherdog, UFC and Joe Rogan, all these guys made their MMA sport a household name by themselves.

They didn't need ESPN, ESPN jumped on their bandwagon. Most of the times, ESPN steal reports from these online sources.

i cant remember where i read it, but i definitely read that grantland doesnt make money. espn funds it for the prestige it brings them.

[DeuceWallaces]

Yeah, I like Grantland and 30 for 30 but from what I understand they don't make a profit, or at least enough to make worthwhile without ESPN writing the checks.

[SpecialQue]

He basically dared his bosses to punish him. If he left that childish shit out of his podcast, he either would have gotten a shorter suspension, or just a warning.

[gts]

Grantland is actually owned by ESPN they don't just fund it.. everyone involved with Grantland is under contract with ESPN and is paid by ESPN including Simmons...


there was actually a decent article the other day about the Simmons ESPN relationship and their love hate relationship.. i'll see if I can dig it up

[DeuceWallaces]

Grantland is actually owned by ESPN they don't just fund it.. everyone involved with Grantland is under contract with ESPN and is paid by ESPN including Simmons...


there was actually a decent article the other day about the Simmons ESPN relationship and their love hate relationship.. i'll see if I can dig it up

Lol I'm pretty sure everyone here knows that.

[gts]

WILL LEITCH
September 25, 2014

[QUOTE]There's an old political theory among economists that says everything we obsess about during presidential campaigns is pointless. We can spend all the time we want tracking the horseraces, poring through polls, analyzing every second of every debate, and none of it makes a bit of difference. Like everything, the economists say, it comes down to money. If the majority of Americans are happy with how the economy is going (or think the person who best represents the status quo will best address the economy going forward), they will keep the incumbent in charge. If they're not, they'll go with change.


Everything else, the entire political analysis megacomplex, it's all stagecraft, empty theater. All that matters is the money. All that ever matters is the money.

I thought about this last night, when word came down that ESPN had suspended Bill Simmons for three weeks after he had basically dared them to do so. On his podcast, Simmons called Roger Goodell a "liar," but many believe the real reason he was suspended was because of his dare afterward: "I really hope somebody calls me or emails me and says I'm in trouble for anything I say about Roger Goodell, because if one person says that to me, I'm going public. You leave me alone. The commissioner's a liar and I get to talk about that on my podcast ... Please. Call me and say I'm in trouble. I dare you."

Not that whether it's an internal ESPN policy matters or not: The suspension -- in large part, one suspects, because of the irony of it being one week longer than Ray Rice's initial suspension for domestic violence -- immediately became national news; Lena freaking Dunham was Tweeting about it, and it got its own feature on the "Today" show this morning, right after UN ambassador Samantha Power explained current American policy on ISIS and Ebola.

What Simmons said about Goodell isn't different than what other ESPN employees have said about Goodell, namely Keith Olbermann (though he was a bit more eloquent about it). Everyone's calling Roger Goodell a liar these days. It's the hip new rage. Look, check it out: Roger Goodell is a liar. It feels good, doesn't it? I can say that without the slightest worry about being suspended by Sports On Earth or MLB Advanced Media (the owner and operator of Sports On Earth). Liar, liar, liar! Weee!

But why can I say that? Because no one at Sports On Earth and MLB Advanced Media has a business deal with the NFL, and thus I would never think that calling Roger Goodell a liar would put me at any danger with my bosses. It wouldn't even occur to me. There are things that I could say that would put me in trouble with the brass, or (more likely) at least get me a call asking me to explain myself. This does not mean I would not say them (and have not said them, and have not gotten calls about them). It's just that I know what those things are, and you know what those things are: They're things that affect the business interests.

There was once a wall between editorial and business at every publication in the country. Those days are gone. When you criticize a business interest of your controlling company, you do so knowing full well what you are doing. It's why Simmons felt compelled to put his dare at the end of Goodell criticism. He knew the business people would be angry with him. That's what gave his criticism extra bite in the first place.


That's why ESPN's claim that this is an "internal matter" rather than a reaction to what Simmons said about Goodell doesn't hold up to any scrutiny. The list of human beings Simmons could have called a liar without consequences is basically infinite. Gary Bettman, commissioner of the NHL (a league the network has no deal with): Go ahead! Character actor John C. Reilly? Fire away! Miss Cleo? Sure! Your Uncle Terry? Go get 'em, Bill! What mattered was not necessarily that Simmons had called Goodell a liar: What mattered was that Simmons knew this was a sore spot, a stress point, for the network. That's why the dare happened. And that's why ESPN had to act. All that Twitter noise this morning, and Carson Daly explaining it on the "Today" show while Syria burns? That's all ephemeral -- soft, unquantifiable media. None of that compares to a call from the NFL's Park Avenue headquarters. (Ask PBS.) That's cash.


Simmons, for all the good he has done, remains an unlikely martyr for corporate interference on press freedom. This is yet another chapter in an ongoing Simmons-vs.-his-bosses drama that has gone on for more than a decade now. Simmons began his ESPN career as an insurgent -- remember, he was first noticed by Page 2 editors because of a running diary he wrote making fun of the ESPYs -- and he has worked hard to fortify that reputation even as he has become more entrenched within the company.

Shortly after he signed a four-year contract extension in 2007 he said "I didn't want to leave. I didn't shop myself around." Soon after, he recommenced grousing about the network and even once told me, when I was at Deadspin, that "I'm not writing for ESPN.com as much -- my choice, not theirs. That's just the way it will be from now on, unfortunately. I still love writing my column and only re-signed last year because I really did believe that we had hashed out all the behind the scenes bullsh-t and come to some sort of agreement on creative lines, media criticism rules, the promotion of the column and everything else on ESPN.com. Within a few months, all of those things changed and certain promises were not kept. It's as simple as that."



Two years later, he re-signed with ESPN again and almost immediately became the network's biggest star, with Grantland, "30 for 30" and his work on the NBA pregame show. Simmons served a few Twitter suspensions in that time -- and there is something inherently strange about suspending an employee from Twitter; "for three weeks, you are not to provide free content to a third-party Website

[Timmy D for MVP]

I'm just bummed that it came now when he would be gearing up for the NBA season. I love Simmons but his summer shit just gets old after a while, he needs to talk about the NBA.

Hopefully this just means Zach Lowe will pick up the slack and do like 3 Lowe Posts a week.

[Jailblazers7]

I'm just bummed that it came now when he would be gearing up for the NBA season. I love Simmons but his summer shit just gets old after a while, he needs to talk about the NBA.

Hopefully this just means Zach Lowe will pick up the slack and do like 3 Lowe Posts a week.

I love his random pop culture stuff. The Action Hero Championship Belt article, the SNL series, and the romantic comedy tribute week was all pretty cool.

[Thorpesaurous]

Thanks for the article GTS.

There was a thread on this last week in the NBA forum if anyone is interested. There's some good stuff in there.:

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=354643


And just my thoughts from that thread:

So that means three weeks in the middle of football season where we don't get to hear him and Cousin Sal guess the lines. That's one of my favorite podcasts.


He really should've splintered Grantland off on his own instead using the ESPN money as a crutch and letting them stay tied on. It may have been harder to get off the ground, but at this point he's be making more and have total authority.



I know that when Grantland was founded, it was as a contract negotiation between Simmons and ESPN. He had gone from being the main attraction on their old Page 2 format. To basically being Page 2. To finally getting his own tab. In fact I remember it being a big deal when Cowherd came and he got his own box on the ESPN home page, and Simmons didn't have one yet, and then he got it.

So when his contract came up, this was his idea to leave. To create this other blog. And while I'm sure he could've done it, he just didn't want to leave the ESPN money behind. I'm sure they did great things for him in setting it up. He was given authority to hire his own staff, and I'm sure he's outpaying other similar sites, and as such, he's built a really good stable of young writers. Maybe that process would've taken longer without ESPN's money. I'm sure they also helped a great deal with the production quality he enjoys. And I'm sure it's a big asset just with the connections ESPN has (I listen to Francesca from time to time, and he complains all the time about how ESPN keeps it's people from appearing on other stations to talk about stuff, because for years he'd do segments with Peter Gammons, and Gammons had sort of been grandfathered in, but he couldn't get other people).

But with the relationships he has, I'd be surprised if he couldn't have gotten the site up and going without latching onto the ESPN teet. And I wonder what it would look like now without it.

[DeuceWallaces]

I don't think Grantland even turns a profit based on what I've read so breaking off would not be a good idea. That and 30 for 30 are both money sinks that ESPN keeps up for its professional image or integrity, but they don't directly generate a profit.

[Thorpesaurous]

I don't think Grantland even turns a profit based on what I've read so breaking off would not be a good idea. That and 30 for 30 are both money sinks that ESPN keeps up for its professional image or integrity, but they don't directly generate a profit.


I agree with this, but I also wonder how much they're really trying to monetize those things.

I pay for subscriptions to a couple of things. I pay for ESPN Insider. And I recently paid 60 bucks for a year subscription to Anthony Cumia's site for his podcasts, something I probably won't renew. And I even pay for XM radio. If Grantland were to splinter off and make itself a pay site, and if they were continueing to produce 30 for 30 work that you could only get from there, I'd probably be willing to pay for a subscription, and I'm not sure how much. They may be able to turn it into a profitable enterprise. I'm sure ESPN is more than happy to write off what are probably fairly small production costs (relatively speaking), for the buzz and advertising and prestige the site generates for them, so they're probably not even really trying to generate profit from it.

[DeuceWallaces]

So you guys listen to this guy talk and think "this is nice, I enjoy this" and not "whaaaat an insufferable tw@Tttttt"

Very different people

Surprisingly, I feel the same way about your posts.

[Orlando Magic]

Surprisingly, I feel the same way about your posts.

For me, it's improbable that you will ever live down the fact that you argued incessantly for years that Joe Dumars was a good GM instead of just admitting he fell ass backwards into a shit ton of lucky situations, hahahaha.

Time tells all brah.

[DeuceWallaces]

For me, it's improbable that you will ever live down the fact that you argued incessantly for years that Joe Dumars was a good GM instead of just admitting he fell ass backwards into a shit ton of lucky situations, hahahaha.

Time tells all brah.

Who are you and what the **** are you talking about? Joe D traded, signed, and hired his way to a championship and was a bad double team from a second. He made bad coaching decisions and was ill-advised to sign Gordon and Charlie V which I never denied.

I must have brought you significant butt-hurt however many years ago, and for that I apologize.

[Crown&Coke]

I think Simmons is biased as hell. But he called out ESPN and they suspended him. I don't think it's right to call a guy a liar without proof

I would love for it to come out the NFL lobbied for this, now that would be something

All that being said, I think Simmons was right about Goddell, they can find out minute details about a prospect but couldn't get their hands on a tape? Didn't know they would be allowed to have the tape? With all their lawyers they didn't know? Too much shit for it not to stink imo

ESPN, giving no ****s since the turn of the century, probably even before

[Kungfro]

He basically dared his bosses to punish him. If he left that childish shit out of his podcast, he either would have gotten a shorter suspension, or just a warning.

By punishing him they've brought far more attention to it then it would have gotten otherwise.

[bagelred]

Yeah, this whole BS thing feels like a work rather than a shoot. This controversy simultenaously helps ESPN brand and the Bill Simmons brand. ESPN protecting their "journalistic integrity" and Simmons building his "sports rebel" brand. Win, win.

Or maybe it's a shoot that feels like a work, or ESPN turned it into a work even if originally a shoot.

Ah shoot, back to work....

[Thorpesaurous]

Yeah, this whole BS thing feels like a work rather than a shoot. This controversy simultenaously helps ESPN brand and the Bill Simmons brand. ESPN protecting their "journalistic integrity" and Simmons building his "sports rebel" brand. Win, win.

Or maybe it's a shoot that feels like a work, or ESPN turned it into a work even if originally a shoot.

Ah shoot, back to work....


Somebody listens to the Masked Man podcast.


I'll be honest, I read a follow a lot of this stuff, and I had no idea this was going on, so to me it doesn't feel like this was a play to me. I just started to notice this when there was no usual Monday morning pod.

[Kungfro]

I wish negs were back really bad right now.

They are back.

[bagelred]

I wish negs were back really bad right now.

My posts take work, dude. Don't shoot the messenger.

[JtotheIzzo]

WILL LEITCH
September 25, 2014




http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/96333578/bill-simmons-espn-suspension

Will Leitch is so full of shit.

I heard on a podcast like a month ago going about how the NBA offseason and player movement drama was more interesting and followed more closely than the games by him and many casual and hardcore fans.

Then he spews this crap.

What a hypocrite.