Report: Simmons split with ESPN gets ugly

[hawkfan]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/sports/bill-simmons-will-get-paycheck-but-no-role-at-espn-through-september.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

No more role for Simmons through the rest of the NBA playoffs.

[ILLsmak]

Like I said before, I side with Simmons on this one. Not because I like him but because I'm tired of the way the world is. The dudes with the talent are getting bossed around by execs. That's dumb shit.

It works, but then they get to the point where they are like WE DONT NEED U. And it's like arite then. **** it.

-Smak

[Done_And_Done]

Your Hawks advance to the ECF and this is what you post???


YOU'VE CHANGED!

[JohnFreeman]

No more Bill don't lie

[PleezeBelieve]

Like I said before, I side with Simmons on this one. Not because I like him but because I'm tired of the way the world is. The dudes with the talent are getting bossed around by execs. That's dumb shit.

It works, but then they get to the point where they are like WE DONT NEED U. And it's like arite then. **** it.

-Smak
This

[305Baller]

Grantland is going to be strange without Simmons and his clones.

[Sarcastic]

He criticized Roger Goodell too much, and the NFL got mad. Not a hard choice for ESPN. NFL millions or Simmons shitty commentary.

[305Baller]

oh shit.

http://uproxx.com/smokingsection/2015/02/did-bill-simmons-hint-that-lebron-james-took-a-steroid-vacation/

[ISHGoat]

oh shit.

http://uproxx.com/smokingsection/2015/02/did-bill-simmons-hint-that-lebron-james-took-a-steroid-vacation/

thats retarded

if youre going to take a vacation to juice, going to miami is the most suspect thing you can do. he can do whatever he needs to do in miami in cleveland. except the weather is different

ever think that he actually just took a vacation for the weather and chill?

[hawkfan]

He criticized Roger Goodell too much, and the NFL got mad. Not a hard choice for ESPN. NFL millions or Simmons shitty commentary.

ESPN is effectively the NFL Network part II.
So going after Goodell the way he did was giving himself the hook.

[Timmy D for MVP]

So you're telling me that Bill Simmons was suspended right at the beginning of the NBA season and we missed a ton of content like his breakdown of every team coming into the season?

And now during the playoffs he's not going to be producing anything again!?

Poor timing. Couldn't they do this in August?

[RoseCity07]

:roll:

[305Baller]

Should Thibs sue LeBron if he gets fired?

[enayes]

What's the big deal here?

I've always found this guy annoying to watch/listen to

[ZeN]

Should Thibs sue LeBron if he gets fired?
:oldlol:

[Genaro]

What's the big deal here?

I've always found this guy annoying to watch/listen to
I would probably like him if I wasn't a Laker fan while he's a Laker/Kobe big hater.
Zach Lowe is the guy that makes me go to Grantland.

[jimmy77x]

Called out too many people in high places. Cant call out the frauds in charge of things without getting fired. Hinting about lecrybabys factual steroid/hgh use was one of the final nails in the coffin for LESPN to fire.

[HOoopCityJones]

I would probably like him if I wasn't a Laker fan while he's a Laker/Kobe big hater.
Zach Lowe is the guy that makes me go to Grantland.

Funny part about this is when Kobe was on Grantland a few months back Bill had his head so far up his ass I thought I was watching Time Warner Cable.

[hawkfan]

I could see him going to a website like yahoo or hulu. where he would get more freedom.

[Draz]

Guys working for Chipotle now

[DCL]

people might hate him for his opinions, but the dude knows how to tell stories. he did a pretty good job with 30 for 30.

[Timmy D for MVP]

people might hate him for his opinions, but the dude knows how to tell stories. he did a pretty good job with 30 for 30.

I've also noticed he's a great interviewer. Keeps his guests engaged.

[The_Yearning]

I could see him going to a website like yahoo or hulu. where he would get more freedom.

Him and Woj would run the tables.

[Akrazotile]

ESPN is effectively the NFL Network part II.
So going after Goodell the way he did was giving himself the hook.


It was also a tired reach against an "easy" target.

Acting like Goodell is some nefarious villain. When in fact, he's just trying to run a business while appeasing the dumb, goyish mob masses whose hypocritical moralist ire changes capriciously depending on what teapot tempests the media decides to drum up on a given day.

Criticizing Goodell is such easy, lazy, tired old hat.

[The_Yearning]

oh shit.

http://uproxx.com/smokingsection/2015/02/did-bill-simmons-hint-that-lebron-james-took-a-steroid-vacation/

LeBron and his boy D-Wade been on the juice since '08 Olympics.

[305Baller]

LeBron and his boy D-Wade been on the juice since '08 Olympics.

I think Wade stopped around 2012. If he did at all. Theres no proof.

[FreezingTsmoove]

They didn't want casuals to get him confused with Ben Simmons, next years #1 pick who is the second coming of Lebron

[navy]

He criticized Roger Goodell too much, and the NFL got mad. Not a hard choice for ESPN. NFL millions or Simmons shitty commentary.
Everyone criticizes Goodell on ESPN. He's not popular in any medium. Keith Olberman called for Goodell to be fired right around that time. The reason Simmons got in trouble was because he took shots at ESPN.

Simmons is an annoying guy. It's not hard to see why someone wouldnt like him as an employee or one of the highest paid employees at that.

[funnystuff]

Like I said before, I side with Simmons on this one. Not because I like him but because I'm tired of the way the world is. The dudes with the talent are getting bossed around by execs. That's dumb shit.

It works, but then they get to the point where they are like WE DONT NEED U. And it's like arite then. **** it.

-Smak
Unfortunately this is what Capitalism is, AKA America.... not the whole world.

[Ancient Legend]

I never liked Simmons on TV, he always seemed unprepared and uncomfortable, in a holier-than-thou sort of way.

His writing is another matter.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

Pretty frustrating for someone who enjoys his stuff, I'll still go to Grantland for NFL and Zach Lowe but I get absolutely nothing else from ESPN. Not even happy I get their UK channel as part of the BT Sport package here. I hope he makes his own site and takes the good parts of Grantland with him.

[Taller than CP3]

He thinks he's bigger than the entire sport of Basketball.

I, for one, will not be looking forward to his bootleg version of Grantland.

[Eric Cartman]

Maybe he'll go the Russell Brand route, go rogue and spit some mad truth.

I'd follow Bill Simmons to the deepest circle of hell.

[Spurs5Rings2014]

ESPN is boring besides him and a few others. This sucks.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

Maybe he'll go the Russell Brand route, go rogue and spit some mad truth.

I'd follow Bill Simmons to the deepest circle of hell.

He'll probably make a film about why people shouldn't vote in the ESPYs, then Steph Curry will go to his house, Simmons will tell everyone he's voting Curry, then when Curry loses, he'll backtrack and say that actually he's "just a sportswriter" and shouldn't be taken as authority on who to vote for in minor sporting award nights

[R.I.P.]

ESPN is effectively the NFL Network part II.
So going after Goodell the way he did was giving himself the hook.

Pretty much. I mean a legit sports leader would have been all over the Donaghy scandal, but ESPN kept it under wraps, probably for a $100M discount on the next NBA rights.

[R.I.P.]

I think Wade stopped around 2012. If he did at all. Theres no proof.

Does your head and jaw grow and shrink every twelve months? Cause mine doesn

[Smook A.]

ESPN can suck a dick. Their soft asses fired Simmons because he spit out the TRUTH all the time. Unlike other journalisms who are too ***** to speak their minds, Simmons said whatever he wanted to and that’s what I found entertaining about him. Im really sad he's leaving the whole Grantland network. No more podcasts, or clairvoyant Bill :(

**** you, ESPN.

[iamgine]

Don't get fir... oh crap Bill :(

[Rolando]

I remember reading his stuff when he was just starting out. What a great and entertaining writer! (Boston homer too).

When he started doing podcasts and also got some video time, I was skeptical. The guy just didn't have a good voice and spoke too much like a teenager. But, surprisingly, he made it through that awkward phase. Everyone got used to him even though he didn't seem to belong.

Then Grantland got launched and was really the only interesting part of the ESPN website aside from the box scores and replays. However, Simmons never seemed to belong. It always felt like he was an outsider and now that all came crashing down on him.

I won't be clicking on Grantland anymore. Hopefully Bill will start something up fresh where he has complete freedom. I will definitely be on board.

Screw You ESPN!

[JtotheIzzo]

It sucks, a full summer without his podcasts (which are excellent). Car rides won't be the same.

I think there was a thread about him going to VICE in the OTC last week.

This is brilliant IMO, they are taking over the H2 channel, let Simmons run the sports like he did Grantland, there is no doubt he can attract talent. Maybe they can bring back something like CNN's old 'sports tonight' (which starred Fred Hickman, Vince Cellinni, Nick Roberts, Van Earl Wright, and it is where Stephen A. first debuted). Edgier(swearing), more commentary, cool guests, put Sportscenter's corny old formula out on their ass.

With VICE he can continue writing on their website, and he can pump out podcasts, basically the best of Simmons (podcasting, writing, setting up, and attracting talent). He isn't great on TV, but at VICE he doesn't need to be.

It would be much more entertaining then to just shift gears over to Yahoo or Fox.

[Collie]

Say what you will about his biases, but Simmons was damn entertaining. You always read his articles because they were enjoyable. I'll miss the guy, and I'll follow him where he goes. There's no other sports journalist like Simmons, and guys like Lowe and a whole host of other writers are influenced by Simmons, who was influenced himself by Halberstam.

[Spaulding]

Guys working for Chipotle now

Not if he's getting paid through September, looks like you didn't read.

Also lets not pretend he won't have his own podcast or radio show.

[Brokenbeat]

Funny part about this is when Kobe was on Grantland a few months back Bill had his head so far up his ass I thought I was watching Time Warner Cable.

:oldlol:

[SpecialQue]

It's hilarious that we live in a world where people are legitimately confused why someone who openly criticizes their employer would get fired.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

It's hilarious that we live in a world where people are legitimately confused why someone who openly criticizes their employer would get fired.

Is anyone in this thread surprised? Seems more like they're all telling ESPN to **** off. At least let him leave early, don't stop him from producing content.

[Clifton]

Simmons never seemed to belong. It always felt like he was an outsider and now that all came crashing down on him.
Exactly.


It's hilarious that we live in a world where people are legitimately confused why someone who openly criticizes their employer would get fired.
I agree. But, it's also rather sad that we live in a world where everybody is owned by an employer.

I for one look forward to his work as an entrepreneur. Do your own thing Bill, it suits you.

He's the Conan O'Brien of sports analysis. A legit genius who doesn't fit into the corporate framework which celebrates mediocrity by its very nature.

[Jameerthefear]

It was also a tired reach against an "easy" target.

Acting like Goodell is some nefarious villain. When in fact, he's just trying to run a business while appeasing the dumb, goyish mob masses whose hypocritical moralist ire changes capriciously depending on what teapot tempests the media decides to drum up on a given day.

Criticizing Goodell is such easy, lazy, tired old hat.
Man this is ****ing douchey

[Charlie Sheen]

This is brilliant IMO, they are taking over the H2 channel, let Simmons run the sports like he did Grantland, there is no doubt he can attract talent. Maybe they can bring back something like CNN's old 'sports tonight' (which starred Fred Hickman, Vince Cellinni, Nick Roberts, Van Earl Wright, and it is where Stephen A. first debuted). Edgier(swearing), more commentary, cool guests, put Sportscenter's corny old formula out on their ass.


I don't think placing a huge bet on simmons on tv would work in 2015 and beyond. Most people I know are getting their sports recaps and highlights from gifs off reddit or threads on a sports forum like ish. Huge chunk of television viewers are my parents generation. Most my friends are looking for ways to dump cable packages.

I like you will miss the podcasts

[Collie]

Exactly.


I agree. But, it's also rather sad that we live in a world where everybody is owned by an employer.

I for one look forward to his work as an entrepreneur. Do your own thing Bill, it suits you.

He's the Conan O'Brien of sports analysis. A legit genius who doesn't fit into the corporate framework which celebrates mediocrity by its very nature.

I was actually surprised he was given Grantland to run and he managed to make it work. He never seemed like "the establishment" type of guy.

No doubt he'll be getting offers from just about every major sporting media outlet not named ESPN.

[ralph_i_el]

I'm pretty sure I've read every single thing Simmons has written for the past 4 years. I'll be following him wherever he goes. He and Lowe are the two best basketball writers out there.

[rhowen4]

I'm pretty sure I've read every single thing Simmons has written for the past 4 years. I'll be following him wherever he goes. He and Lowe are the two best basketball writers out there.
Agreed

[ILLsmak]

Unfortunately this is what Capitalism is, AKA America.... not the whole world.

I dunno because everyone entertainment wise is emulating us. That's why art is so shitty now.

It's like they said in that simpson's dude article... "This is a dream offer for anyone else in the world." It's like well... ok.

People don't understand what it's like to be an invaluable commodity. Since distribution is controlled by the people with money, and they are strangely more arrogant than the people with talent, we get wack art ( and yea I consider sports journalism a form of art) because they just plug in 2nd or 3rd level guys and people don't really care. They might be mad at first, but not overall.

Again, I don't think Bill Simmons is that interesting at all. He does things very formulaic-ly. He's got it how he drops movie quotes. I don't find him interesting to read or listen to, BUT he has made himself into someone who is invaluable. He also has underlings now. It's like a divorce... espn is like **** that we're taking grantland, too. Probably, while dudes talk about loyalty, the true loyalty is money so it's hard to say if dudes will follow BS or not.

I wish we could all stop going to ESPN. It's hard though because there's not really another site that is like espn. There's like nba.com or cbssports... but all of those are also wack. I want a site that has a better interface. If they put some money into bballref and improved it so it was easier to get to shit like today's games and track games in progress, it would be better than espn.

Now espn's got it where you can't even look at last night's games. At least I dunno how to...

But yea, you right capitalism... the thing is, I can't believe people knew that it's the claw and scrape psychopaths that would take over... beating the intelligent, talented dudes. They wrongly forecast who was going to rise to the top, and it ****ed everything.

-Smak

[chazzy]

I was talking to Jalen at a bar last night and got the impression a lot of people at ESPN are pisssed about this split. Said he's gonna try to do basketball hour etc without him lol we'll see

[Optimus Prime]

Oddly enough, his name and photo are still next to Grantland.

I guess this explains why the Grantland Basketball Hour only had a new episode about once a month or so. :confusedshrug:

[SpanishACB]

It's hilarious that we live in a world where people are legitimately confused why someone who openly criticizes their employer would get fired.

we're confused because it implies selective use of freedom of speech, and human rights should be universal

guy can only be judged for the job he does by his employer, which was a good one, his sexual orientation, religion and opinions are no grounds for firing someone, even if that means criticizing the hand that feeds you.

now, I'm totally aware of capitalism, there's a hundred ways to get a guy fired etc etc. But, in an ideal world, he wouldn't have been fired. And that's why I guess most people hate on ESPN.