Jace, Extat Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I thought he got Grantland because ESPN fired him before and he sued for wrongful termination or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Nah. He got Grantland because he wanted to be able to do more pop culture and more swearing and more adult content away from ESPN. But it's owned by ESPN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mack Kilimaro Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Given Simmons' long-stated conspiracy theory about how Michael Jordan playing baseball was actually because the NBA secretly suspended him for a year for gambling, I hope ESPN is secretly suspending Simmons for gambling. I read some writer on Sports Illustrated calling it the Obi-Wan Kenobi suspension. Strike him down, more powerful than you could ever imagine, etc. etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Given Simmons' long-stated conspiracy theory about how Michael Jordan playing baseball was actually because the NBA secretly suspended him for a year for gambling, I hope ESPN is secretly suspending Simmons for gambling. Since the podcast where Simmons ranted about Goodell was his weekly "guess the NFL lines" podcast, he publishes a weekly column predicting games against the spread, routinely talks about the results of bets, and he has always been wink-wink nudge-nudge about NFL gambling, that would be a pretty funny secret reason to suspend him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Also, I love that Bill Barnwell goes out and bashed Trent Richardson in that 2012 draft thing when he was saying how good a guy he was in this article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime L Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Seems like Simmons is pissed off enough to take his ball and go home. Isn't Grantland essentially his? I'd have to imagine there's another network who would take him on anyway. I have to imagine Grantland is becoming one of the more valuable ESPN properties. Even if its core readership (and listenership) is still dwarfed by the zombie hordes who love First Take, Grantland has carved out a prestige niche that both reflects well on ESPN and also draws in a wider audience than just typical sports fans. And hell I'm not even sure it's less - Simmons alone had a huge readership back in the day. Think ESPN has to take care not to piss off this golden goose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mack Kilimaro Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Since the podcast where Simmons ranted about Goodell was his weekly "guess the NFL lines" podcast, he publishes a weekly column predicting games against the spread, routinely talks about the results of bets, and he has always been wink-wink nudge-nudge about NFL gambling, that would be a pretty funny secret reason to suspend him... I mean more along the lines of Simmons secretly making some kind of like $1,000,000 bet that got him in trouble or something. Obviously he's kind of a gambling addict and makes no bones about that publicly. Anyway, it was mostly a bad joke. :p On the subject of Simmons getting fed up and leaving ESPN, I think he likes the cachet too much to do that. Not that I know the guy personally. It just seems like ESPN offers him something he can't get anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperry Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I mean more along the lines of Simmons secretly making some kind of like $1,000,000 bet that got him in trouble or something. Obviously he's kind of a gambling addict and makes no bones about that publicly. Anyway, it was mostly a bad joke. :P On the subject of Simmons getting fed up and leaving ESPN, I think he likes the cachet too much to do that. Not that I know the guy personally. It just seems like ESPN offers him something he can't get anywhere else. I'm actually not sure if he could do it. I think ESPN runs grantland at a loss in order to associate themselves with some kind of legitimate journalism and prestige. I doubt Simmons could make it a profitable endeavor without ESPN bankrolling it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I have to imagine Grantland is becoming one of the more valuable ESPN properties. Even if its core readership (and listenership) is still dwarfed by the zombie hordes who love First Take, Grantland has carved out a prestige niche that both reflects well on ESPN and also draws in a wider audience than just typical sports fans. And hell I'm not even sure it's less - Simmons alone had a huge readership back in the day. Think ESPN has to take care not to piss off this golden goose. Simmons is also the co-creator of the 30 for 30 series. Pretty amazing how much value one obnoxious Boston sports fan brought to the Worldwide Leader. ;) I mean more along the lines of Simmons secretly making some kind of like $1,000,000 bet that got him in trouble or something. Obviously he's kind of a gambling addict and makes no bones about that publicly. Anyway, it was mostly a bad joke. :P On the subject of Simmons getting fed up and leaving ESPN, I think he likes the cachet too much to do that. Not that I know the guy personally. It just seems like ESPN offers him something he can't get anywhere else. On the gambling: I wondered if I was over-reading your post. Fair enough. :cheers: As for cachet -- I don't think he enjoys being associated with the ESPN brand, as he does a lot of on-the-sly sniping about them, but I have to imagine he likes the access and resources ESPN affords him. Listening to talk radio this morning, someone said that it should be a no-brainer for Fox Sports One to try and poach Simmons. I had mixed feelings about that. Sure, I think he'd enjoy giving ESPN the middle finger as he rode out the door, but I don't think Fox is any less awful as a corporate daddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I'm actually not sure if he could do it. I think ESPN runs grantland at a loss in order to associate themselves with some kind of legitimate journalism and prestige. I doubt Simmons could make it a profitable endeavor without ESPN bankrolling it. Yeah, Grantland doesn't seem to run nearly enough ads to be a profitable operation. I think if Simmons went on his own, he could probably live pretty comfortably off the revenue of a site that was just him; but I don't think he could afford any of the full-time writers or staff he has now*. Maybe one assistant/producer, but that would be it. A replacement Grantland would require a corporate overload willing to run a loss to gain the prestige (and there's certainly some really good writers over there; just not Simmons himself). On the other hand, he could probably become a sports documentary producer for Netflix incredibly easily if he wanted. Or maybe he'd seriously push to get that NBA GM position (hey, Hollinger managed do it) and try to live up to all his talk. *I heard once that another popular podcast had $3,000 as their going rate for an ad from squarespace, stamps.com, audible, etc. If so, I'd imagine Simmons could command the same amount, maybe more; if he averages two podcasts a week, after expenses that's still a pretty nice income. But I doubt someone like Zach Lowe, Bill Barnwell, Chris Ryan, or Wesley Morris would get nearly as much as that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sivin Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Saw the Southpark, it was pretty funny. Think it'll matter? I feel like the Rice situation has started to simmer down, and that's not a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kairparavel Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 WaPo? I think touches on the fact that his contract is up in 2016/2017 and he'd be willing to go wherever the NBA signs their next TV contract. End of this article. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/09/25/bill-simmons-suspension-what-espn-was-really-saying/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l2 0 5 5 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Interested to see if the opportunistic and "gutsy" Phil Simms decides to stick with his fence-sitting statement about 'might not say Redskins' during the broadcast tonight. Oh, and he apparently said "Redskins" three times during the Bucs-Falcons broadcast last week. His subconscious hates him just as much as I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Arryn Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Does anyone know anyone who likes Simms?Couple weeks back someone surprised me by hating Collinsworth. I didn't think there's much there to hate, and wondered if this was the voice of Phil Simms' fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l2 0 5 5 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Does anyone know anyone who likes Simms?Couple weeks back someone surprised me by hating Collinsworth. I didn't think there's much there to hate, and wondered if this was the voice of Phil Simms' fan.I thought I was escaping the insufferable Mike Mayock, but was forced into the arms of Phil Simms instead this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdyphillip Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I thought I was escaping the insufferable Mike Mayock, but was forced into the arms of Phil Simms instead this year. As a person who is ready to lead a crusade against Phil Simms and all he represents, let me just say that Mayock is worse. He is the biggest blow hard know nothing that I have ever had the displeasure to hear call an NFL game. Give me 50 more years with Dennis Miller and Tony Kornheiser on the mike before ever having to listen to Mayock again. That said, Phil Simms really does suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l2 0 5 5 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 As a person who is ready to lead a crusade against Phil Simms and all he represents, let me just say that Mayock is worse. He is the biggest blow hard know nothing that I have ever had the displeasure to hear call an NFL game. Give me 50 more years with Dennis Miller and Tony Kornheiser on the mike before ever having to listen to Mayock again. That said, Phil Simms really does suck. I'm with you. Can't stand Mayock. I like the Greg Gumbel/Trent Green, Tirico/Gruden, and Fouts/Eagle duos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Arryn Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 As a person who is ready to lead a crusade against Phil Simms and all he represents, let me just say that Mayock is worse. He is the biggest blow hard know nothing that I have ever had the displeasure to hear call an NFL game. Give me 50 more years with Dennis Miller and Tony Kornheiser on the mike before ever having to listen to Mayock again. That said, Phil Simms really does suck.His schtick worked when he was just the combine/draft hard-working specialist. Since he's added 'personality' and adopted an air of omniscience, he's hard to take. Not sure I'd prefer Simms flavourless but emphatic observations on the obvious.Kills me to say thus, but I really enjoy Aikman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Kills me to say thus, but I really enjoy Aikman. Say what now? His thinly veiled hatred of the Niners combined with his Dallas homerism (which I can somewhat understand) drive me nuts. Mix in that he's always paired with Joe Buck. Whenever I see it's going to be that crew manning the booth, I do my level best to find a radio simulcast and hit the old mute button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperry Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I like Aikman, but hate Joe Buck. Agreed about the Tirico Gruden team. Gruden is kind of a space cadet, but he's likable. And Tirico is the best play by play guy in the business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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