Also, isn't there a flip side to "honor the contracts" i.e. the writers cannot jump ship to Simmons' new project until their contracts are up?
There are heaps of sportswriters out there that are as famous and make as much money as Simmons that I adore and talk up endlessly. Why is it that when I call Bill Simmons out for being a prat that suddenly it's about jealousy, and not an editor leaving his hires high and dry because he's upset that his favorite football team is being picked on? How does that make any sense, Anonymous Dude?
espn is going the way of instead of spending money on staff and journalist, theyd rather spend the money on tv deals. Its a simple concept.
You bring up a great point that while this started with the handling of the Ray rice case, Simmons really started blatantly going across the line once his beloved Boston team was involved. Had Simmons been let's say an Eagles fan, this whole arc possibly never happens.
Hah, struck a nerve? You've taken shots at Simmons before (on this board, in fact) and professed that you're not a fan; tough not to connect the dots, given that record.
I don't see what your point is other than to senselessly antagonize. He has a valid point of why you could perceive Simmons as deserving of some blame here. The fact he has said he didn't like Simmons in the past doesn't somehow make his point any less credible.
Yea you are coming across as quite dumb. He clearly doesn't like Simmons and he made his case in a clear and concise manner, which is a reasonable position. Grow up.
That's mostly what I'm doing, in light of the fact that over the past several years KD has for some reason decided to transition from quality NBA writer to insufferably sanctimonious *******.
....i don't see how you can expect to expose someone for being an insufferable sanctimonious ******* by behaving like an irrational, insufferable sanctimonious *******. Previous poster is right - grow up or move on....I know I am.
Not trying to expose a thing; follow him on twitter if you want to be exposed to that. I just don't like him.
The shutting down of TMZ is a reminder that sports journalists are in no way more important than the sport and the athletes themselves. With a choice between spiralling costs of live coverage on one hand and ego masturbation for and by hipsters on the other, ESPN, itself no shining beacon of intelligence, for once chose wisely. I hope that the sanctimonious moral crusaders masquerading as commentators and spewing bien-pensant liberal platitudes are next on the chopping block.
Simmons stopped caring about sports some time ago and went full-on GHollywood. His ego is out of control and he now sees himself an arbiter of culture. Sports are only interesting to him if a vehicle for another sanctimonious diatribe. Well, at HBO he will eventually have to deliver measurable ratings, something I predict will never happen. Simmons is unlikable on camera and he has no intention of allowing the camera to be on anyone else.
You know what, I was going to walk away from this, as most of my trolling was out of my personal disdain for the direction Dwyer's chosen to go in as a writer, but now that I'm awake again and sober, I might as well attempt to offer some legitimate points. You decide to point fingers at Bill, whose work you've in the past professed a distaste for and whom you've previously accused of laziness, when meanwhile the decision to shut down Grantland came from the same people who just laid of 350 of their staffers. Not Simmons. Whatever your personal feelings about Bill (and clearly you have some personal feelings about him), whatever issues you have with his decision to burn bridges in Bristol, if you honestly think that holding BS solely accountable for Grantland shuttering (as opposed to the Bristol higher-ups who, you know, actually MADE THAT DECISION) doesn't smack of professional animosity -- animosity which, IMO, is more than likely born at least partly out of professional jealousy -- then I'm going to choose to disrespectfully disagree. Bottom line, ESPN had options beyond shutting down Grantland. They chose not to pursue them, no doubt influenced by the exodus that had already begun. That should be primarily held against ESPN. Not Simmons. P.S.: As for that 'Anonymous Dude' crap, how 'bout you broadcast these sentiments on Twitter, Mr. Transparent? P.P.S: And just to be clear, I no longer actually follow KD on Twitter or read his material on Yahoo, so the only time I'm really exposed to his writing is when he posts here. And frankly, he now ONLY posts here when he feels like getting preachy about something. Which may explain why I REALLY don't care for him these days. P.P.P.S.: Kelly, I apologize for being drunk last night and coming after you to troll without any real substance. I still disagree with whom you've chosen to blame here, and I still don't like you.
Repped. I remember when I first started read to Lowe his articles were like Barnwell's, no-nonsense basketball breakdown and education. I think he was first guy I read who broke down the 'elevator doors' set. Lowe and the rest of the Grantland Bball staff (except the Goldsberry, the map guy) had completely gone overboard with their sorry attempts at humor and pushing their own personal agendas. The meat of Lowe's articles is still pretty good but the personal attacks on players is stupid. (Can this dude write a Rockets-related article without mentioning Dwight farting?) Andrew Sharp sucks. Juliet Litman sucks. Grantland fell apart pretty qucik w/o Simmins or maybe this was inevitable either way.
I seems like the sports media community feels that crapping on players is how they get viewership. Everybody is doing that.
I agree with this. Lowe WAS damn good but then it was as if he started reading his own press. Once he made his niche in the mainstream internet sports community he seemed to just start echoing their point of view. I think thats when he started riding with the Houston Sucks mantra. He stuff became unreadable to me with all of the back handed compliments he would hand out to the Rockets.
I seriously am floored by the ire directed at Lowe who is one of the best basketball writers out there. He has a through understanding of the cap, X's and O's, and a handle on all 30 teams. Yet ClutchFans hates him because he doesn't like watching the Rockets even though he respects them, has written intelligently and complimentary about them, and has been talking them up all summer as a credible title contender. I just hope he lands somewhere soon. Losing Lowe on the fourth day of the season is a devastating blow to well read basketball fans. And people please lay off Dwyer, who is also a great writer as well as a long time member of this community.
CLutchfans told you in the posts above why they don't like his writing. read it next time. Personally I thought Lowe sucked as well.
It's just fine if you don't like me. I didn't even mention Clint Capella in my Rox preview. But when you start describing my feelings to me, when they're not actually my feelings, you come off like ... well, exactly how you came off. And, as stated, I blame ESPN just as much as I blame Bill Simmons. As someone with a knowledge of what actually happened in there over the last six months, however, I'm going to point out what I know about. This may come off as dickish, but I actually KNOW the people involved. We do things like, y'know, talk to each other. He left his vanity site prone because he wanted to chase down his (absolutely spot-on) thoughts about a football league that paid his salary. Grantland may not have lasted in perpetuity with Bill Simmons in charge and playing nice, but it sure would have lasted a hell of a lot longer than Oct. 30.
