NBC started this story last yr: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/how-safe-artificial-turf-your-child-plays-n220166Interesting talk with Abby Wambach. Never heard anything about field turf having links to cancer.
Google it.
You mean all those articles on Yahoo about how so and so hired a personal trainer and worked out really hard for 3 months to put on 30 pounds of quality muscle aren't true?My point was that I don't think it's particularly something that Simmons concocted on his own. It's pretty well known and some actors have pretty much admitted it, like Tom Hardy. So I found it odd you used the word "notion". But you knew that.
Only for Bale who went from the Machinist to Batman in six months. That dude just ate a lot of pizza and ice cream.You mean all those articles on Yahoo about how so and so hired a personal trainer and worked out really hard for 3 months to put on 30 pounds of quality muscle aren't true?
And I took "Google it" as dickish, so I guess we are square. I'll take the blame for starting the cycle by not explaining why I took question with the insinuation.I did not understand your point, so I appreciate the dickish explanation of your parsing of my phrasing.
Any actual insight into my original question, though?
FieldTurf is bad because it gives you cancer, yet if all those headers give you dementia, oh well, that's life. The interview with Wambach is great as a whole though.Interesting talk with Abby Wambach. Never heard anything about field turf having links to cancer.
FieldTurf is bad because it gives you cancer, yet if all those headers give you dementia, oh well, that's life. The interview with Wambach is great as a whole though.
Probably not very much. Wambach didn't just become a big mouth in the last couple of days.I can't help but wonder what Sydney Leroux thought about her comments on foreign-born players.
Thanks for posting this. Completely agreed - Jalen and BIll are gold together.Bill posted a video today that his Grantland video editors made for him when he was fired:
I'm really sad because it reminded me that we can't see Jalen and Bill together.
Way too early. Simmons was a relative nobody in 2001— ESPN was a huge step up in terms of exposure. Also, 2001 was an eternity ago. The internet as a whole was basically a money loser at that point— a technological phenomenon without a revenue model.What would have happened had Simmons stayed independent in 2001 and spurned ESPN? Would the guy that everyone complained was fat and happy stayed sharp, or would he have gotten fatter/happier as he built a media empire? Or, was 2001 just too early to strike out on his own and he would have just ended up as the sports version of Maddox?
Calling his 2001-2006 writing ragged (if that is what you're saying, not sure of your "ragged" time frame there) is a gross misrepresentation and saying it was inspired doesn't cover for it. His writing back then was fresh, copious, hilarious, and unique. It is literally what caused him to become the phenomenon he is today.Way too early. Simmons was a relative nobody in 2001— ESPN was a huge step up in terms of exposure. Also, 2001 was an eternity ago. The internet as a whole was basically a money loser at that point— a technological phenomenon without a revenue model.
Also, it's not like the 'fat and happy' phenomenon coincided with his joining ESPN. And his writing in those years— while inspired— was often ragged and needed a lot more reps. I don't see, in short, how the ESPN association held him back in the early years. The move to second-guess is his decision to start Grantland and launch a media channel rather than just focusing on his own output. His apparent return-to-sharpness is just the result of shedding all these editor-in-chief responsibilities.
I agree, and was a big fan of his work during those years. "Ragged" probably sounds more negative than what I meant to convey. I only meant that he improved a lot on the technical nuts-and-bolts level as a writer during those years— his pieces from 2001 and 2002, say, seem a bit... I dunno, amateurish?... in re-reading them now. Whatever he lacked in polish was more than made up for by the great material he had to work with during those years— covering the Pats history as a whole, for example, or the Levels of Losing column, etc.Calling his 2001-2006 writing ragged (if that is what you're saying, not sure of your "ragged" time frame there) is a gross misrepresentation and saying it was inspired doesn't cover for it. His writing back then was fresh, copious, hilarious, and unique. It is literally what caused him to become the phenomenon he is today.
After that, his writing was certainly ragged probably because he didn't need to write as he once did (he was already famous) and he also had more responsibilities.
No. You're right, Simmons' work back when he started for ESPN was ragged. And his stuff for Digital Cities wasn't polished either. But he was young and he worked hard to be a competent writer, especially once he found his niche. For a couple of years in the mid-00s, Simmons was a very good (rarely great) writer and I think that may have been his ceiling. Which is fine, BTW, not everyone who picks up a pencil or bangs on a keyboard is Bob Ryan.I agree, and was a big fan of his work during those years. "Ragged" probably sounds more negative than what I meant to convey. I only meant that he improved a lot on the technical nuts-and-bolts level as a writer during those years— his pieces from 2001 and 2002, say, seem a bit... I dunno, amateurish?... in re-reading them now. Whatever he lacked in polish was more than made up for by the great material he had to work with during those years— covering the Pats history as a whole, for example, or the Levels of Losing column, etc.
He also got absurdly lucky to rise to prominence pretty much right as Boston started taking over the major sporting landscape. Curious to see what would happen if the Pats and Sox, and C's and B's, to a lesser extent, didn't achieve the same degree of success.Calling his 2001-2006 writing ragged (if that is what you're saying, not sure of your "ragged" time frame there) is a gross misrepresentation and saying it was inspired doesn't cover for it. His writing back then was fresh, copious, hilarious, and unique. It is literally what caused him to become the phenomenon he is today.
After that, his writing was certainly ragged probably because he didn't need to write as he once did (he was already famous) and he also had more responsibilities.
Honestly, I'm not sure what this has to do with it. He was a compelling read for Boston sports fans (speaking personally, at least) before Boston teams started winning. Meanwhile, if you live in another market and root for a non-Boston team, I feel like it would be more annoying to read someone writing about their perennial champion team than about a random also-ran. I think he would have had more national appeal if he was producing columns about the frustration of rooting for a loser than the chest-beating Pats columns he wound up writing.He also got absurdly lucky to rise to prominence pretty much right as Boston started taking over the major sporting landscape. Curious to see what would happen if the Pats and Sox, and C's and B's, to a lesser extent, didn't achieve the same degree of success.
The Red Sox losing to the Yankees in 2003 and then beating them in 2004, 3 years after the Pats upset the Rams, was an extremely lucky series of events for Simmons. It did add a lot of attention to his material. Like, a TON of attention.He also got absurdly lucky to rise to prominence pretty much right as Boston started taking over the major sporting landscape. Curious to see what would happen if the Pats and Sox, and C's and B's, to a lesser extent, didn't achieve the same degree of success.
Yep. Great touch that it's only airing on the screens on the gas pumps at Shell stations.I can't stop laughing at "Burfict Strangers".
It's a niche show.Yep. Great touch that it's only airing on the screens on the gas pumps at Shell stations.
I believe it was when he got into a snippy exchange with someone here over the then-just-traded Edgar Renteria's performance in the '04 World Series.Am curious. When was the last time Bill checked in as a longtime SoSH member?
My memory's a little hazy on this, but didn't he leave in a snit when someone got on his case about something? He did, as I recall, praise this site in one of his early columns as a good one, given the generally evil nature of message boardsAm curious. When was the last time Bill checked in as a longtime SoSH member?
Yes, he can confirm but it was Smiling Joe.A few of people (led by SJH I believe) refused to let Simmons get away with his typical off the cuff analysis, and then a pile on ensued and he quit in a huff.
This has been my favorite ongoing gag of the show. Sometimes I wonder whether it's intentional comedy.I'm looking forward to hearing what beyond useless "angle" House invokes this week as analysis to support one of his bets. My favorite one from last week, justifying his pick of the Vikings: "Home underdogs coming off back-to-back wins: 26-5 in non-division games since 1980 if they're coming in with a better record than their opponent."
I love House's conversations with Simmons, but he's thisclose to making me start a thread called "Misuse of Statistics by the Media". Because the average fan can't or won't distinguish between intelligent statistical analysis and random storytelling-related noise, and every time I hear a line like this, a puppy owned by a sabermetrician dies.
I'm looking forward to hearing what beyond useless "angle" House invokes this week as analysis to support one of his bets. My favorite one from last week, justifying his pick of the Vikings: "Home underdogs coming off back-to-back wins: 26-5 in non-division games since 1980 if they're coming in with a better record than their opponent."
I love House's conversations with Simmons, but he's thisclose to making me start a thread called "Misuse of Statistics by the Media". Because the average fan can't or won't distinguish between intelligent statistical analysis and random storytelling-related noise, and every time I hear a line like this, a puppy owned by a sabermetrician dies.