bill simmons IS bill simmons IN the book of BASKETBALL

agreed 100%

Idk what's goin on or where I'd post this on ilnfl but I enjoyed this http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2014/09/23/3571146/bill-simmons-epic-rant-against-roger-goodell/

Simmons seemed to anticipate that his comments could rankle his employer, ESPN, which is an NFL broadcast partner (but has reported that the Ravens knew of the tape shortly after the incident). “I really hope someone calls me or emails me and says I’m in trouble for anything I said about Roger Goodell because if one person says that to me, I’m going public. You leave me alone. The Commissioner is a liar and I get to say that on my podcast.”

lol

he got suspended ~_~

three weeks lol

m/l for daring espn to suspend him

protect the shield

if he gets into a big protracted fight w espn i will let him back into my heart

What's he threatening to go public with??

prob just some ol behind closed doors bs no one but media obsessives will care about that he will never actually even say anyway since hes the most conventional man in the world but im still curious tbh

either that or it was just a weird turn of phrase

yeah i think he just meant he would say something publicly if his bosses told him to cut it out.

i hope he gets back on twitter and just rages.

Ha I was just waiting for this thread to get bumped with the inevitable suspension

P incredible that he got more than Stephen a smith got for implying mrs rice basically deserved it but I guess money talks

ESPN probably more afraid of the amount of inlfuence that he weilds

wonder what the contractual obligations regarding grantland/its writers are

im sure he cld get out of his contract if he wanted and espn wld happily keep grantland humming along

i dunno -- it's not like they could jettison nate silver and keep 538

they cld, not sure theyd want to

I'm fairly sure the worldwide leader owns grantland and simmons is just founder/ed in chief, and p sure both sides wanted it that way bc simmons can just walk away if he gets bored

I mean grantland basically exists as a perk to get him to sign his last contract so I doubt this suspension ends up anything bigger than "don't call an important business partner a liar until it's completely inevitably public knowledge and/or proven in a court of law"

yeah espn owns grantland and 538, silver gave them the name as part of his deal, grantland is the placeholder name their web designer used lmao

didn't the otl report basically call the nfl liars, if in less inflammatory terms? simmons wasn't even bashing espn, just daring them to fuck with him for showing a wee bit of journalistic integrity

I saw a grantland rice book in someone's recycling the other day and was half tempted to pick it up

yeah he was m/l paraphrasing espns reporting

The otl report used a little purple prose but definitely avoided asserting concretely that anyone knew anything that wasn't tied to a specific on the record quote

But yeah the point of the otl report is that any reasonable person immediately concludes that goodell is at best thoroughly incompetent or most likely incompetent and also a liar and also now engaged in a coverup to hide some lies

never read grantland rice but ive heard hes the ultimate old school mythologizer of athletes god amongst men etc various tedious bs, kinda ironic considering simmons made his name bringing everything down to the fans eye view

like larry bird?

larry bird is genuinely godly tho anyone can see that

http://i.imgur.com/fyPIxK5.jpg

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--nXGwr4j---/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/y96ncgfvinl6xmtvcfub.gif

yeah it's not like olbermann hasn't gone absolutely volcanic about this pretty much every night. i guess it comes down to you can't threaten espn or they will shut you up for awhile.

lol that gif is the best

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByV9oqqCEAA3_wz.jpg

guess they figured ethics out good enough and they don't need one anymore, good work fellas

but you maybe be interested in the content below

oh i love content!

I'm proud of ol' Bill!

this is a great reminder that if you're going to flame out, you should do it using the phrase "fucking bullshit" as much as you can.

otm it is the ultimate flame out expression

Robert Lipsyte's espn ombudsmen column is back up. espn is claiming that there was a technical issue that brought down several blogs, including his.

lol ok guys

http://www.businessinsider.com/gossip-bill-simmons-wants-out-of-espn-2014-10

Best for last:

Tim Armstrong should also email Simmons — if only because AOL is where the "Sports Guy" got his start and because he still uses an @aol.com email address.

seems to me he wants to be on tv too much to leave espn so unless turner wants to buy up a flagship digital journal for him to slap his name on he's not going anywhere

i'm still in "believe it when i see it" mode with this shit, lebron-style.

otm

In some quarters, there's skepticism that Simmons is worth so much money. ESPN executives apparently gripe that Simmons' pet project brands on the web — Grantland and FiveThirtyEight — aren't doing very well.
uh

Grantland has been pretty weak lately - with the redesign they seem to put out a lot less content than Deadspin.

When did the guy from Rancid take over AOL?