I really can't stand this guy and to think he lived in Boston one of the most miserable places on earth during the winter. Yet another crappy day in Houston By Bill Simmons Page 2 columnist HOUSTON -- Remember the movie "Insomnia," when Al Pacino investigates a series of murders in Alaska, then slowly starts to turn crazy from the lack of sunlight? That's how I'm starting to feel. That's right, you're not gonna believe this ... it's another crappy day in Houston. Nobody seems to care. In fact, after the roaring success of this week, Anchorage has just been chosen to host the Super Bowl in 2010. Who needs sun during a week of leisure? Sun is overrated. Sweeping fog, gloomy skies, a wind that's just cold enough to make you want to wear a jacket, but just warm enough that you feel like you should take your jacket off half the time ... now that's a vacation. It has been interesting to watch the city transform during the course of the week. You get the nagging feeling Houston wasn't quite ready to host the Super Bowl, like they needed six more weeks to get everything together. The light rail has been the running joke of the trip -- people are telling apocryphal stories about these accidents, and you never know what to believe anymore. It's like a cross between Billy Joel's Mercedes and the Boogey Man. Some hotels opened within the last few weeks, including Icon, which had workers running around with giant buckets of paint as recently as Tuesday. And the traffic situation -- generally a debacle for events like this, no matter which city you're in -- has been particularly abysmal. I always thought L.A. was the most sprawling city in America -- Houston could be twice as big. I'm usually like a mouse in these situations; spin me around and I always know where I am. Not here. I still can't figure it out. You feel like you're drunk, but all the time. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/blog/040131.html
early in the week before he arrived in houston he said he has always hated the city and didn't want to be there. So, nothing in this article is surprising. He works for Jimmy Kimmel, what does he know
I love Bill Simmons. His column is one of the most entertaining on any sports site. Sure, he doesn't like Houston, but come on, is it really that great of a city?
You do realize this is a board for the HOUSTON Rockets, right? It isn't a matter of whether it is that good of a city. As Blatz pointed out, is it that bad? I love the fact that Simmons conveniently ignored the three beautiful weather we had Monday - Thursday morning. It's like calling New York a **** hole because it rained for nearly a week of the US Open. Oh, and as I'm writing this, it is 60 degees, the sun is shining and there is barely a cloud in the sky. I don't mind him having some fun, but you get the sense he made his mind up before he got here that he would hate it and he's spent the entire week slamming it for fun. I love the Yahoo sports writer who essentially called guys like Simmons "wussies" for complaining about the city they are in when they are really here to see the Super Bowl. And, I LOVE the fact that Jim Nantz has said he will personally get the last word tomorrow.
Bill Simmons is the best sportswriter working today, bar none. His columns are hilarious and almost always entertaining. But his Houston-bashing is a little tiring. There's nothing wrong with ribbing Houstonians (c'mon, we have a sense of humor, too), but an entire week's worth of "Why Houston sucks" is too much.
His act is getting old. If he's so funny can't he think of something original? If I was mayor of Houston, I'd kick him out of the city.
What difference does it make what negative reviews these out of town columnist write? Is it going to cost you money? Will it effect your significant relationships? The dude is writing to sell newspapers back home. If he said Houston was shangri-la everyone freezing their ass off back there would get so depressed they would move here and he would be out of a job. Houston is what it is , a lot positve, some negative. I'm sure most of us that live here live here because it's where our job or loved ones are. If you could work anywhere, cost of living was no object and you could take everyone you love with you, I doubt you would stay here. Whether Houston gets to donate their volunteer time to pamper fatcats for another super bowl or not probably depends a lot more on whether the CEO of Citicorp gets sit with Gerge Bush in Bob McNairs suite, than what some reporter says about our weather. Although our plethora of topless bars is probably a positive factor.
And those topless bars are doing pretty well, since Treasures was charging $90 a head ENTRY last night....and getting it, from what I heard. Simmons is hysterical. So he doesnt like Houston, who cares? I hate mushrooms and I think Soy or Rice Dream "Milk" tastes like piss, but my vegetarian sister doesnt get mad at me because of it. Heading downtown now, thank god I have prepaid parking in two buildings (switched offices, still "own" two spots)
First off this is from his super bowl blog so he isn't selling any newspapers just writing about the experience on the net. Second the weather isn't as bad as he is describing, he is exaggerating for some sort of effect. Third back home for Bill is LA so I don’t think they would ever be upset about a positive report about the weather. Lastly have some pride in your hometown it’s one thing if we complain about it because we live here, but for someone to roll into town and just start ragging on us is insulting (and he is ragging on more than the weather in his other reports). If you look back at his entire blog he has been very negative about everything from the start. I don’t think there is any need to be submissive about what Simmons has to say about Houston.
I was going to point it out if no one else did. It kind of set the tone for the rest of the article...eg. he doesn't know what he is talking about.
Why do people continue to b**** about the "sprawl" and size of Houston? It's not as if you have to buy your groceries in Sugar Land and your clothes in Kingwood. Everything you need is this great city can be found within a tight radius. I think that is the beauty of this city. The weather in Miami and Tampa, popular Super Bowl sites, has been worse this week. They've had a lot more rain than we've had. I'm guessing New Orleans hasn't been much better.
There was a great comment in a Chron column. A friend of the columnist said that the impression of the city comes down to weather and, "If you get some sunny, warm days, your city is beautiful. If it is gray and raining, it's a ----hole."
negativity sells. thats how all news stories are. if you or your parents are from another country, then youre probably used to reading such negative news portrayals of places that you or your parents call home. read the houston chronicle or the nytimes or any other local newspaper -- whenever they describe other countries or have stories on other countries -- its always negative. if the only exposure you had to the world outside the US was through newspaper articles, you would think that most of the world is poor, starving, overcrowded, unhappy, diseased, and pathetic. yeah, its bad in places, but it isnt as horrible as the newspapers make it out to be. and if the only stories you hear about the place are negative, chances are that you would never think about going there. and thats whats happening to houston this week. is there some truth to what they say about houston? yes, some but is it really as bad as they make it out to be? hell no.
Any chance that he will mention the absolutely perfect football weather that is now prevalant for today's game? It's beautiful outside today.
