The Bill Simmons Thread
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
http://www.si.com/tech-media/2016/11/06/bill-simmons-hbo-tv-future-media-circus
more thoughts from Deitsch...not surprising ESPNer ripping into BS on background
more thoughts from Deitsch...not surprising ESPNer ripping into BS on background
Simmons never had a chance on TV. Most popular TV hosts have had a ton of experience performing in front of crowds. Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Bill Maher, Trevor Noah, all of them did standup or had a smaller job with a TV show. Or both. Or bit parts on TV shows. It doesn't matter, except for the fact they all had experience.
Simmons has never hosted a TV show (outside of his very limited spots during the NBA playoffs) and never had a chance to learn what works and what doesn't. And, damn, he was uncomfortable in front of the camera, with no charisma. The show was doomed from the start, despite getting the most A list of guests. Simmons' guest roster was insane.
Simmons has never hosted a TV show (outside of his very limited spots during the NBA playoffs) and never had a chance to learn what works and what doesn't. And, damn, he was uncomfortable in front of the camera, with no charisma. The show was doomed from the start, despite getting the most A list of guests. Simmons' guest roster was insane.
Nope.
He mentioned off the top that he was upset but put himself on the Trump media short leash and said his public statement would be all he would have to say about it. In short, he was avoiding saying anything to piss of his new boss. Also, I'm sure he was dying to go on a rant about how Skip Bayless is making piles of money for his Hot Takez but his HBO show couldn't get to episode 20. He never said that but I'm sure he's thinking it.
Skip Bayless is a joke but at least he appears to be comfortable in front of a camera. Simmons' biggest problem on his show was Simmons. He was so stiff and cold and befuddled looking. He just didn't look good on camera, mainly because he has very little experience with it.
He was so bad on camera, kinda makes you wonder if he's all that relaxed in real life. Maybe he's a shitty listener and rushes his jokes all the time.
He's perfectly cromulent on his podcasts. But put a camera on him and he's Cindy Brady.
kind of sucks that AGW is going out this way...BS was good at using Twitter to publicize the show the days before its airing...at the very least something about all the crew and producers on the show?
Richard Sandomir has a write-up on the failure of AGW and the struggles of the Ringer. His new site is getting about a tenth of the visitors that Grantland did. http://nyti.ms/2fOoNDw
Think it is fair to say/predict that Simmons is trying to figure out how to right the ship behind scenes but simply doesn't have the power to put the world on pause while he does it. Unfortunately for him IMHO he's taken on too much responsibility corporate wise and his knowledge/analysis sports content he creates himself( which some have never liked) has suffered markedly for those who did like him. In a way one could argue it's Chip Kelly esque demonstration of the Peter Principle .
1)Write Books/ Become huge sports voice via content and unique POV- success
2) Run/produce a highly intelligent but arguable on blunt( read money making) success indicators in Grantland/the podcast network/ 30 for 30. Check but the gig ends due to arrogance and personal tifs with both sides taking blame not proportionately.
3) Be CEO of his own Corp supporting a podcast network, a tv show that failed horribly on biggest stage, and a website that is distinctively different( id say in a worse way) with less star power and less content from the main money maker ( him) compared to Grantland. - serious red flags cropping up with the future looking iffy unless he resells himself to HBO.
On a side note I think he has three kids now. I highly doubt he consumes as much sports as he used to. I know on at least one podcast I was listening for a specific nugget he'd plugged and he went on a 5 min ish tangent about his daughters soccer game in middle of nowhere Cali.
Also like Deitsh I want him to succeed but he needs help and fast.
Bill Simmons and Cris Collinsworth in Media on Media Crime:
Harsh takedown by Collinsworth. I know Simmons has no problem making a living but that was a good smackdown.
Harsh takedown by Collinsworth. I know Simmons has no problem making a living but that was a good smackdown.
Last edited:
That's savage. I mean, I'm no Collinsworth fan, but he just unscrewed Simmons' head with that one. I look forward to the Trumpian ten tweet reply.
Imagine if Simmons and Trump ever had beef? There'd be no characters left for anyone else to tweet with.
Imagine if Simmons and Trump ever had beef? There'd be no characters left for anyone else to tweet with.
Came here just to post that. Collinsworth seems like a dink but that is cleaning a guy's clock. Cyber-ly.
Yowza. Here's hoping Simmons'' thin skin provides more entertainment on this than his show did.
Holy shit.
Collinsworth just gained a little bit of respect out of me for that one. He immediately lost it when he deleted the tweet. But he posterized Simmons.
Collinsworth just gained a little bit of respect out of me for that one. He immediately lost it when he deleted the tweet. But he posterized Simmons.
I assume Collinsworth is not happy about Simmons (still) calling him out for talking about Deflategate during the Pats comeback in the Super Bowl? Seems somewhat out of left field.
Here are the top ten quotes from 'Teen Wolf' that capture how badly Collinsworth just emasculated Simmons...
Enjoy this feud while it lasts, it'll be over more quickly than his feud with Doc Rivers.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/nbcs-cris-collinsworth-eviscerates-bill-simmons-in-a-now-deleted-tweet/
http://www.mediaite.com/online/nbcs-cris-collinsworth-eviscerates-bill-simmons-in-a-now-deleted-tweet/
Oh it's already over, that was a fatality. And any comeback someone could come back with in a normal circumstance is obviated by the fact that Simmons is just a fan while Collinsworth was a pro athlete, Collinsworth is still on TV, and he's probably more famous than Bill.
Oh, he's clearly more famous than Bill. Guy calls Super Bowls. I mean, a single Super Bowl exposes him to more people in one night that Simmons has been exposed to, ever. Full stop. And that's not even considering his Pro Bowl NFL career, his 15 Emmys, and his other assorted work like doing the Olympics and Inside the NFL.
Next to Bob Costas, he's the most famous sports commentator out there. Which is why, of course, he's probably been dying for the chance to put Simmons in his place.
Next to Bob Costas, he's the most famous sports commentator out there. Which is why, of course, he's probably been dying for the chance to put Simmons in his place.
You're right. I haven't really stopped to consider it, because I guess I just take him for granted being there every Sunday and he's pretty milquetoast as background noise, but the dude has had a tremendous amount of success. Man, that tweet belongs in a hall of fame somewhere.
He's certainly more famous than Simmons, but can this possibly be true? My first guess would be Charles Barkley. Collinsworth has a ton of exposure but doesn't seem very memorable. Al Michaels? Marv Albert? Joe Buck? Troy Aikman?
I'd be willing to bet that if you asked the average sports fan to name 5 commentators, Collinsworth wouldn't make many of their lists.
#Wrong
Arguing rank order of something that is not a competition is about as appropriate as it gets for a Simmons thread
I'll gently explain it to you later.1. Cris
EDIT: That was the joke, wasn't it?
For 2016 Bill owns The Belt of high profile sports shows being canceled.
Took it from Jay Mohr who took it from Max Kellerman who took it from Keith Olbermann.
Took it from Jay Mohr who took it from Max Kellerman who took it from Keith Olbermann.
Can't wait for Bill's column, "First Annual Atrocious Sports Talk Show Host Summit."
How many more shows did Magic Johnson last as a host? How many more seasons did Isaiah get as a GM? This must be so delicious for so many people.
Chickens, home and roosting.
HBO should make Bill should write a column on The Ringer about himself not being an Alpha Dog TV host and how that always doesn't work as penance. 'Take us home, champ...'
You called it
"Doing 3 BS Podcasts this week - taping with @CollinsworthPFF later this afternoon my time. Here's yesterday's podcast..."
What I thought was interesting about the whole thing is Simmons has usually been Pro-Collinsworth in the past and has said some pretty nice things about him generally. And although I did enjoy the jab from CC and think Bill getting some humble pie is a good thing, Bill's initial tweet that started all of this was pretty tame.
That's probably why Cris took it down so quickly. I don't think he was actually offended or clapping back. I know I've jumped on opportunities to really zing someone even when it was unmeant and unwarranted just because it was too juicy to pass up.
Guys, Bill watched a lot, I mean A LOT of "The Larry Sanders Show" and was a huge, I mean HUGE, fan of David Letterman*. If that isn't a pedigree to get him his own late night talk show, I don't know what is.
* BTW, he used to talk about this a bunch when he would rip on Magic's and other's late night shows. It was almost as if he was listing a resume. This was prior to him writing for Kimmel.
Magic lasted from the beginning of June to the beginning of September, 1998, and the show was an hour long. Simmons show lasted from the end of June this year to November 9th. 17 episodes vs about 12 for the Magic Hour. But Any Given... was a half hour show. I can't find an episode count for the Magic Hour, there may have been a week or two off in there, but Magic Johnson may have actually had a longer total time on air than Simmons did. Does this put Simmons on the Mt Rushmore of bad late night hosts? Who else would be there? Magic of course, but then maybe Pat Sajack and Chevy Chase?
Wasn't Magic's show five nights a week?
IIRC, it last maybe six weeks. I want to say that Stern and his band were on the Thursday before the Fourth of July holiday and Magic got a bump from that (Stern had been ripping Magic's show daily and when he was invited on, pimped his appearance just as much). I'm not sure how long he lasted after that, but I would be shocked if it was even a month.
This is going off memory from 20 years ago, so I may be off. I do recall where I was though, when I saw the Losers play Wipeout and then Stern literally taking over the entire show from a shell-shocked Magic Johnson. It was actually really painful.
IIRC, it last maybe six weeks. I want to say that Stern and his band were on the Thursday before the Fourth of July holiday and Magic got a bump from that (Stern had been ripping Magic's show daily and when he was invited on, pimped his appearance just as much). I'm not sure how long he lasted after that, but I would be shocked if it was even a month.
This is going off memory from 20 years ago, so I may be off. I do recall where I was though, when I saw the Losers play Wipeout and then Stern literally taking over the entire show from a shell-shocked Magic Johnson. It was actually really painful.