Bill Simmons Leaving ESPN

[gordontrue]

Surprising news. The guy has some crazy ideas and thoughts at times... but I've always found him entertaining. The show he does with Jalen is pretty cool.

 

[chappee11]

Surprising news. The guys has some crazy ideas and thoughts at times... but I've always found him entertaining. The show he does with Jalen is pretty cool.

Huh. I don't think he's going to be able to make the same money elsewhere. He's carved out a nice niche for himself over the years, so he'll be in-demand.

 

[logic]

YAWN!

 

[podsox]

pretty sure the suspension over his goodell comments was the end of that relationship

 

[BobGnarly]

Suitors already lining up

 

[Davis_Mike]

This was a long time coming. The guy is a great writer & content provider, but is a terrible on camera personality. He runs his mouth too much. Not only is he leaving ESPN, but he is also cutting ties with Grantland.

 

[trojanfan12]

pretty sure the suspension over his goodell comments was the end of that relationship

Yeah, the NFL is very protective of "the shield" and ESPN is very conscious of not upsetting one of it's "major partners." The original ESPN series Playmakers was cancelled after 1 very successful season because it upset the NFL, even though the NFL logo, colors and team names, logos, etc. were never used and all characters were fictional, because the NFL wouldn't allow the use of any NFL property.

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

Meh

I am not sure how this is really much of a story.
He is probably the 40th best talking head at ESPN and easily replaced.

He didnt really translate on the air that well.
He came off like a weasle who likes the sound of his own voice.

Nobody on the entire planet will miss him.
He is a guys who needs to stick to writing and off-air stuff.

 

[DJ]

This was a long time coming. The guy is a great writer & content provider, but is a terrible on camera personality. He runs his mouth too much. Not only is he leaving ESPN, but he is also cutting ties with Grantland.

This.

 

[Sgt Brutus]

Why ESPN Fired Bill Simmons

 

[lakersrule]

Dude was making some nice cash at ESPN. I didn't mind him, except for the blatant anti-Lakers sentiment he exhibited.

 

[Clayton]

Excellent writer

Bad everything else

 

[Clayton]

Grantland can survive without him but theyll need someone to replace him that currently doesn't exist on their site

 

[podsox]

apparently he found out he was being let go the same time we did. classy move bristol

 

[wildturkey]

ESPN is turning into a dumpster fire anyway. They've sold their soul to chase money by appealing the lowest common denominator layers of intelligence. Instead of promoting some of the truly excellent content Simmons helped produced at Grantland and other platforms, they'd rather pimp out Stephen A Smith with some racist troll garbage or bust out a 12 athlete panel to talk about Tebow or RG3 with all 12 guys saying the exact same trivial talking point over and over. ESPN basically axed him because he wasn't putting up with their shit. He and his crew wanted to tell the stories they wanted to tell, not whatever corporate shill garbage ESPN mandated. He made no exceptions to call them out on their bullshit. What's funny is ESPN hired and empowered him to do just that, be a free thinker. But, like I said, they've sold out and no longer care about employing various people that offer differing opinions.

Simmons is a solid, entertaining writer. He blends sports with entertainment in a way so people can actually enjoy it, instead of what older sports writers did acting as if their sport(s) was some godlike alter above everything. That's why he built a huge following. He was able to talk sports like you would with your pals, never taking himself too seriously (and if it seemed like he did, it was more in a jokeish sort of way).

He also has a knack for identifying great talent and content. He popularized the "blog" medium before people knew what blogs were. He started using Youtube clips, gifs, Twitter, podcasts with his content before they became more mainstream. He was a major part of creating 30 for 30, which is the best thing ESPN has done in years. And the talent he's employed at Grantland is fantastic, giving actual analysis you won't find anywhere else on ESPN. Their NBA coverage is hands down the best on the internet.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in the coming months. ESPN won't suffer greatly because they're so huge but I bet they have a larger sting than they anticipate. His readers are very loyal and from what I've read, so are all the people he's worked with (tv/podcast producers, writers, website editors) because they enjoy the creative freedom he gives them. My guess is many of those people follow him to his new venture because ESPN is too nearsighted to continue to allow that environment on their own.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Bill Simmons is an asshole

Enough said!

 

[FantasyBelowZero]

This was a long time coming. The guy is a great writer & content provider, but is a terrible on camera personality. He runs his mouth too much. Not only is he leaving ESPN, but he is also cutting ties with Grantland.

Dang that sucks. Grantland was like his baby and I loved the personality he put into his posts. Hopefully, he will start anew with someone else (Fox maybe?) and succeed.

 

[wildturkey]

Dang that sucks. Grantland was like his baby and I loved the personality he put into his posts. Hopefully, he will start anew with someone else (Fox maybe?) and succeed.

My guess is Grantland dies without him and most everyone involved with the site follows him. I was thinking about it and ESPN may have messed up in regards to this and Grantland. I've heard on numerous podcasts from Grantland that Bill is their (the people at Grantland) boss. Grantland is a separate entity under the Disney/ESPN umbrella. Bill and his management team make the decisions for Grantland. Well ESPN announced that they aren't renewing Bill's contract, meaning he's still employed until it runs out. So if those employee's contracts are under Bill and not directly to Disney, Bill could fire everyone at Grantland, wait till his contract runs out, and then start fresh with the same crew elsewhere some time late 2015/early 2016. That would actually be quite comical to see ESPN bungle it that way.

 

[gordontrue]

Apparently ESPN bought Grantland from him (previous to this news) and plans on retaining it. Grantland is ESPN's now.

 

[thunderc]

He can now devote all his time trying to get the Sonics back.