Bill Simmons: Good Luck With Your Life.

[Three10toLeft]

The axe some of you people seem to carry to swing against Simmons is fucking amazing.

For a writer that many feel has lost his fastball, you guys seem to hang on his every word ready to pounce.

 

[grimshaw]

 
I hope he does. Just to see who posters would support. 

30 second mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu1Rl32RDK8

 

[Infield Infidel]

It's not about the criticism, it's about the reaction.  Simmons can't criticize ESPN without some repercussions while Simmons feels others aren't held to similar standards. I have no idea about the merit because I don't particularly watch or listen to ESPN anymore outside of 30 for 30 and events.   

Simmons isn't Golic's boss. Golic wasn't criticizing ESPN. 
 
Plus, back when I watched ESPN, Golic used to criticize Bayless and SAS types all the time. No one gave a crap. It's Mike Golic. He's a buffoon. 

 

[kenneycb]

Sorry, ESPN personnel.

 

[DJnVa]

The axe some of you people seem to carry to swing against Simmons is fucking amazing.

For a writer that many feel has lost his fastball, you guys seem to hang on his every word ready to pounce.

 
Death, taxes, and someone that doesn't get what a message board is all about.
 

 

 

[ifmanis5]

Huge get for Bill- a one hour sit down podcast with Lorne Michaels. It's a great listen. Marc Maron must be pissed.

 

[CarolinaBeerGuy]

https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/535531492148256769

 

[Rook05]

Huge get for Bill- a one hour sit down podcast with Lorne Michaels. It's a great listen. Marc Maron must be pissed.

That was a pretty damn entertaining 70 minutes. Bill deserves credit for not Chris Farly-ing over that interview.

That said, <<tin foil hat on>> it's interesting that Bill interviewed Lorne in New York. Why is Bill there this week? Is it possible that he's talking to NBC Sports Men in Blazers-style? It seemed like he built some good will with Michael Davies during the MiB podcast run <<tin foil hat off>>.

 

[JimD]

That said, <<tin foil hat on>> it's interesting that Bill interviewed Lorne in New York. Why is Bill there this week? Is it possible that he's talking to NBC Sports Men in Blazers-style? It seemed like he built some good will with Michael Davies during the MiB podcast run <<tin foil hat off>>.

 
Lorne Michaels oversees SNL and The Tonight Show in NYC - pretty sure he's not dropping everything to fly out to L.A. for a 70-minute interview.

 

[johnmd20]

 
Lorne Michaels oversees SNL and The Tonight Show in NYC - pretty sure he's not dropping everything to fly out to L.A. for a 70-minute interview.

 
But is there more to it than just the interview? 

 

[mascho]

 
But is there more to it than just the interview? 

 
Yes. "Weekend Update" with Bill Simmons and John from Complex Litigation.

 

[DanoooME]

Big rant in his mailbag column this week.  Here's the link:
 
You know he's got to be on suspension watch again and he probably doesn't give a crap any more.  Here's an excerpt
 

And now, Peterson is suing because the NFL prevented him from playing football for four straight months because (a) he committed amisdemeanor,4 and (b) he didn’t show enough public remorse about it. You know where I stand on Peterson — I wrote about it before Week 3’s games. But no sports commissioner should be able to prevent employees from working for four solid months and/or change the CBA rules on the fly, especially when that same commissioner is already dealing with major credibility issues over the way he handled another complicated issue that — by the way — required a two-day appeal hearing THAT STILL HASN’T YIELDED A VERDICT 15 DAYS LATER EVEN THOUGH THAT VERDICT IS ALMOST DEFINITELY GOING TO REVEAL THAT THE COMMISSIONER ACTED INAPPROPRIATELY AND PRETENDED HE DIDN’T HAVE EVIDENCE THAT HE ACTUALLY HAD.
I mean, are you freaking kidding me???? Why do you think NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith gave such a scathing interview, in which he summed up his players’ feelings about Goodell like this: “There is a growing discontent. There is a strong questioning. There is confusion, and then the anger sets in, and then [they ask], ‘What is he doing?’ All we have ever heard is, We have to protect the integrity of the shield. I think guys are starting to ask themselves now, how can we protect the integrity of the shield if you are not going to act with any integrity?”
 

 
I think he's just begging to get fired at this point.

 

[Orel Miraculous]

This isn't remotely germane, but the whole "shield" bullshit...my God, the NFL is so fucking pathetic. The whole damn enterprise.

 

[LondonSox]

It's tricky. His complaints and issues raised are valid and are increasingly in the media elsewhere too.

It is turning into a bigger story and espn is going to have to cover it.

 

[Cellar-Door]

How did they put today's podcast up, Simmons' end is a full of sound gltiches for a good 20 minutes.
Shelf it and re-record later in the week.

 

[nattysez]

How did they put today's podcast up, Simmons' end is a full of sound gltiches for a good 20 minutes.
Shelf it and re-record later in the week.

All evidence suggests that ESPN could not care less about the sound production of their podcasts.

 

[Shelterdog]

All evidence suggests that ESPN could not care less about the sound production of their podcasts.

 A couple of years ago he had a podcast with Malcolm Gladwell and he told Gladwell that podcasts are much better than writing articles because they're so easy--he said you just call someone up and talk and an hour later you've banged out a podcast.
 
A craftsman who takes pride in his work he is not.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

 A couple of years ago he had a podcast with Malcolm Gladwell and he told Gladwell that podcasts are much better than writing articles because they're so easy--he said you just call someone up and talk and an hour later you've banged out a podcast.
 
A craftsman who takes pride in his work he is not.

 
I listen to more than a few podcasts and pretty much all podcasters say the same thing. I think that's a bit unfair to heap that criticism solely on Simmons. 

 

[luckiestman]

 A couple of years ago he had a podcast with Malcolm Gladwell and he told Gladwell that podcasts are much better than writing articles because they're so easy--he said you just call someone up and talk and an hour later you've banged out a podcast.
 
A craftsman who takes pride in his work he is not.

 
 
As someone who listens to a lot of podcasts (commute, walking dog, insomnia) I only really care if it is understandable and the volume levels arent all over the place. I'm in it for the content. I'd rather Simmons, or whoever, pump out content instead of focusing on production once some threshold is reached. Really well produced stuff like radiolab is nice, no doubt, and better production value is well...better. But better production will have some cost I imagine (maybe fewer podcasts or more ads).

 

[epraz]

 
I listen to more than a few podcasts and pretty much all podcasters say the same thing. I think that's a bit unfair to heap that criticism solely on Simmons. 

 
Certainly there are a lot of podcasters who do that, but the ones who do it professionally put time into both the content and the technical aspects of production.  Mixing and editing takes time, not that Simmons would know.  What a lucky bastard.

 

[ifmanis5]

Waiting for the gloat Tweet from Simmons today.

 

[mascho]

Waiting for the gloat Tweet from Simmons today.

They have begun:

https://twitter.com/billsimmons/status/538427901821992960

https://twitter.com/billsimmons/status/538427901821992960

link to tweet

https://twitter.com/billsimmons/status/538427766278856704

https://twitter.com/billsimmons/status/538427766278856704

link to tweet

 

[ifmanis5]

Not gloaty enough. He can do better.

 

[ifmanis5]

Yeah, that's more like it...

As I predicted in my 11/21 column - the verdict for the Rice appeal came out on Black Friday. What a coincidence. http://t.co/ggeOcjpD6T
&mdash; Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 28, 2014

 

[nattysez]

Doesn't he deserve to gloat? He almost exactly predicted when the NFL would try to sneak out the appeal result and his repeated claims that Goodell is a liar are being borne out.

 

[Clears Cleaver]

Doesn't he deserve to gloat? He almost exactly predicted when the NFL would try to sneak out the appeal result and his repeated claims that Goodell is a liar are being borne out.

Yes. Yes he does.

 

[LuckyBen]

Doesn't he deserve to gloat? He almost exactly predicted when the NFL would try to sneak out the appeal result and his repeated claims that Goodell is a liar are being borne out.

Yeah, he really went out on a limb there.....

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

Big rant in his mailbag column this week.  Here's the link:

* * * *  
 
I think he's just begging to get fired at this point.

Interesting, he edited the column. What was formerly, "he committed a misdemeanor" went to "he was accused of what was eventually a misdemeanor".

Two comments.

First, he needs more legal training. AP was prevented from playing, not from working. Employers have every right to ask employees not to show up if they are being paid. You can always pay someone for doing nothing.

Second, I mentioned this in the AP thread, but it's funny how when Goodell allowed the legal process to dictate the punishment in the Rice case - probation - he was ripped, because he didn't consider the actual evidence of the video. But now Simmons is saying Goodell should do the same thing - focus on the fact that AP pleaded down to a misdemeanor and ignore the actual evidence of the pictures.

Goodell doesn't give a rat's ass whether Ray Rice is playing or not, so long as the decision to let Rice play wasn't his. No one can say that Goodell didn't do enough, so when 2015 rolls around, the only protests that will come are from the people who think Rice and AP shouldn't play at all, which I gather are a pretty small minority of interested people.

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

Today's podcast with Cousin Sal contains a tongue-in-cheek assertion by Simmons that the Giants threw their game against the Jaguars yesterday, followed after a few moments by a lot of furious backpedaling and clarification that he was joking. Later, when the subject of Ray Rice comes up, the same piece of elevator music is inserted three times to edit out the commentary which Simmons may or may not have made (I thought that bit was rather well executed).
 
Say what you will about the decline of Simmons' writing, but I think it's pretty clear that being a national figure with his profile means you just can't say or write deadpan/throwaway lines like "I think the Giants threw their game yesterday" without drawing excessive opprobrium on yourself. That alone makes me long for the good ol' days of the BSG.

 

[shlincoln]

The most recent podcast with Don Van Natta is an hour+ of incinerating Goodell. It's amazingly damning.

 

[Merkle's Boner]

Today's podcast with Cousin Sal contains a tongue-in-cheek assertion by Simmons that the Giants threw their game against the Jaguars yesterday, followed after a few moments by a lot of furious backpedaling and clarification that he was joking. Later, when the subject of Ray Rice comes up, the same piece of elevator music is inserted three times to edit out the commentary which Simmons may or may not have made (I thought that bit was rather well executed).
 
Say what you will about the decline of Simmons' writing, but I think it's pretty clear that being a national figure with his profile means you just can't say or write deadpan/throwaway lines like "I think the Giants threw their game yesterday" without drawing excessive opprobrium on yourself. That alone makes me long for the good ol' days of the BSG.

Or you could look at it from the standpoint that Simmons, even knowing his stature, and possibly due to his stature, is choosing to speak outwardly about an issue that a lot of people feel strongly for. I I think it's pretty damn impressive that he keeps pushing this envelope. Not a lot of other national guys are willing to speak their minds in this way. I hope it doesn't bite him in the ass. Again.

 

[milfordsoxfan]

The most recent podcast with Don Van Natta is an hour+ of incinerating Goodell. It's amazingly damning.

 
Thanks for pointing this out.  This was an excellent podcast.  And you're right, it is entirely damning.  I hope he keeps taking it to Goodell on this issue.  I'd love to see that smarmy fuck go down over this whole mess.  

 

[Shelterdog]

The most recent podcast with Don Van Natta is an hour+ of incinerating Goodell. It's amazingly damning.

 
What's damning about it? Maybe I'm just inured to what corporate executives do but it is incredibly unsurprising to me that that Goodell  lied about what Rice said in the Goodell-Rice meeting in order to justify walloping him with a new harsh punishment after the TMZ video got out, that Goodell is running NFL discipline in a way largely driven by PR concerns, or that Goodell doesn't give a fuck about the well being of NFL players or getting along with the NFLPA.  Goodell's job is to make 32 rich dudes richer, period. Hell, the NFL owners and Goodell probably doesn't even mind Ray Rice getting reinstated all that much because to many core NFL fans the NFL is now tough on domestic violence and it's the union and some Judge from New York who are letting a wife beater play pro football. 

 

[shlincoln]

Well not damning in that ownership will get rid of him, but damning in the sense that yes, the man being paid 45 million dollars a year to run the league is an inconsistent boob when it comes to rules enforcement. Nothing we didn't know, but Van Notta lays it all out from Spygate to Adrian Peterson.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

If you're gonna be a henchman, be a good henchman. Van Notta lays out that the previous commissioner of the league, who had the same remit Goodell does, likely thinks he's an incompetent moron. Every time a grownup gets involved Goodell gets egg on his face, so if he's truly carrying the owners' water then they need a better waterboy.
 
Pro football is not predestined to be America's most popular sport. Nobody gave a shit about pro football 60 years ago and I would bet a good sum of money pro football will be in decline 40 years from now as other sports (cough soccer cough), the dangers of the game, and the completely locked in relationship with TV networks turns people off the game. Pro football doesn't need to be combating that decline with Bud Selig at the helm when they can finding another Pete Rozelle.

 

[Gunfighter 09]

The Klosterman CFB podcast was as height of stupidity. 

 

[Remagellan]

Oh, you didn't think it was a brilliant idea to have the CFB playoff field decided by people who don't watch college football?  
 
There are times when I listen to his podcasts that I imagine how much more interesting it would be to listening to the sniggering conversations of his crew after doing one.  
 
I guess Greenwald must stare at his paycheck to keep from snickering every time Simmons suggests something as stupid as The Walking Dead producers approaching David Simon to buy Wire characters to put on their show, or how the problems with every show could be solved if the women on it were replaced with hotter women.  
 
But I did find it interesting that a guy who has made the most of his meager schtick and is now basically living an "Entourage" life still wonders if things could have been better if only he had gone to Georgetown.  

 

[mgoblue2]

Since when does Simmons respond to mailbag questions with just pictures? No effort with some of these responses, there are memes involved, there are two answers that are pictures without accompanying words. I knew he would occasionally just put up a YouTube video or something but I had no clue he used memes.

 

[LuckyBen]

Since when does Simmons respond to mailbag questions with just pictures? No effort with some of these responses, there are memes involved, there are two answers that are pictures without accompanying words. I knew he would occasionally just put up a YouTube video or something but I had no clue he used memes.

The guy has completely mailed it in and yet people here consider him the authority on the NBA. Talk about wolf in sheeps clothing.

 

[pappymojo]

A wolf? He's more like a terrier in a rat outfit.

 

[ifmanis5]

The Klosterman podcast was pretty frustrating. There were actually some interesting ideas in there but Bill missed them. For example, Chuck brought up a great point with his "people just aren't interested in rock music anymore..." and he was kind of expecting Bill to say "interesting, please explain." Except Bill merely agreed and the moved on to 'what if Boy George was the lead singer for Wham?' or some stupid shit. I wanted to hear Chuck's fully fleshed out idea and I think Chuck wanted to go there as well but he deferred and the moment was gone.

 

[southshoresoxfan]

The Klosterman podcast was pretty frustrating. There were actually some interesting ideas in there but Bill missed them. For example, Chuck brought up a great point with his "people just aren't interested in rock music anymore..." and he was kind of expecting Bill to say "interesting, please explain." Except Bill merely agreed and the moved on to 'what if Boy George was the lead singer for Wham?' or some stupid shit. I wanted to hear Chuck's fully fleshed out idea and I think Chuck wanted to go there as well but he deferred and the moment was gone.

To be fair this sums up Klosterman in a nutshell. Some good ideas or for some reason or another he never gets there.

 

[ifmanis5]

To be fair this sums up Klosterman in a nutshell. Some good ideas or for some reason or another he never gets there.

More like sums up Bill. If you read Chuck's books or his own articles you'll find his ideas are more fully realized.

 

[southshoresoxfan]

I read the sex drugs and cocoa puffs book. To be fair its a smaller sample but I feel he always had a good idea and drifted throughout the articles.

It could very well be Simmons dragging him down.

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

Q: In the event of a zombie apocalypse, which NFL player would you want to be the “Rick Grimes.” Its gotta be J.J. Watt, right?
—Ben K., Long Island

BS: Are you crazy? It’s definitely Peyton Manning. The dude just came back from four neck surgeries! He’s indestructable! Also, he’s great at ordering people around, he loves coming up with complicated strategies, he’d do anything to win, and he’s unbelievable in every regular season. That’s the thing about the zombie apocalypse. There’s no playoffs. You just survive day after day after day. As long as nobody ever said, “We only have to win one battle with the zombies and we’ll end the apocalypse, but we HAVE to win this battle,” we’d be in perfect hands with Peyton Manning. My second choice: Ben Roethlisberger. Finishing last: Jay Cutler.

I can't believe I'm even responding to this but his logic is ass backwards. Every day is do or die in a zombie apocalypse, just like every game in the playoffs

 

[Ralphwiggum]

Christ, it was a stupid answer where (as a an admitted unabashed Pats homer) he took the opportunity to shit on Peyton Manning. This is a good thing, and I enjoyed it.

I think if this is the level of criticism you are bringing you probably need to just not read the stuff he writes. The NFL mailbag columns are dumb but also the closest that exists now to the old Simmons. It isn't meant to be classic literature or even good NFL gambling advice.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

The Klosterman podcast was pretty frustrating. There were actually some interesting ideas in there but Bill missed them. For example, Chuck brought up a great point with his "people just aren't interested in rock music anymore..." and he was kind of expecting Bill to say "interesting, please explain." Except Bill merely agreed and the moved on to 'what if Boy George was the lead singer for Wham?' or some stupid shit. I wanted to hear Chuck's fully fleshed out idea and I think Chuck wanted to go there as well but he deferred and the moment was gone.

I heard that too and I'd like to have heard his take. But Bill was too busy acting like U2 is still remotely relevant.

I'd love to know what percentage of his listeners under 30 tune out when he goes on about U2. I don't think there's a more loathed dad rock band in existence.

Also, I'd love to know what Klosterman thinks of the idea that one reason nobody's interested in rock anymore being that the musicians themselves aren't into it. Bands that play a straight up genre of rock are shrinking fast. Most critically feted shit you hear these days is really post-rock.

 

[nattysez]

http://www.si.com/more-sports/2014/12/14/media-circus-walking-dead-nfl-ratings-bill-simmons-future?page=2&devicetype=default
 

1. One of the biggest sports media parlor games in 2015 will be guessing what Grantland's Bill Simmons does when his ESPN contract expires later next year. Starting this month, we’ll offer monthly odds for Simmons’ next landing spot:
 

 
Staying at ESPN currently the favorite at 2-1, with the "Glenn Beck model" of creating his own thing in second at 4-1.

 

[JimD]

I would love to read an unleashed Bill Simmons on his own website.

 

[DegenerateSoxFan]

I would love to read an unleashed Bill Simmons on his own website.

I hope that if this does indeed happen, he puts some effort into some old-style columns. The weekly mailbag/hodgepodge shtick hasn't, for the most part, been bad. It's decent bathroom reading. But I'd like to hear his thoughts on the Pats & NFL in a long form essay, and without any of the constraints imposed by obligations to his corporate overlords. Whatever you might say about him, he's obviously watched a shitload of football this year, and can turn a phrase very well when he puts his mind to it.

Edit: Grammer