Matt Tracker
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|  #2 Posted on 8.5.15 1018.58
Reposted on: 8.5.22 1019.44 | Fox Sports is right there, desperate for a big name. They have pro football, but no basketball, for which he lives and breathes. He doesn't talk baseball outside of the Sawx, and he's never shown any interest in NASCAR.
TNT could bring him on for their basketball coverage too, but FOX offers a larger platform.
ESPN also parted recently with with Gregg Easterbrook, the pedantic Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
30 for 30 might be his greatest legacy at the network, although he claims to have invented and pitched Pardon the Interruption.
| El Nastio
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|  #3 Posted on 8.5.15 1030.14
Reposted on: 8.5.22 1031.57 | 1) Bleacher Report & SI.COM are both owned by Turner, no? Turner also has NBA rights.
2) Fox will drive up a truck full of money.
3) Start his own platform with private investors.
I'm curious if anyone will follow him. | It's False
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| #4 Posted on 8.5.15 1128.22
Reposted on: 8.5.22 1128.39 | Originally posted by El Nastio
3) Start his own platform with private investors.
I'm curious if anyone will follow him.
This is the most curious option. Simmons has money. If he took his podcast private, I think he has enough of a following that people would find him. He obviously wouldn't have the ESPN numbers, but I think he would do it.
Also, the potential of an UNLEASHED Simmons, without fear of suspension or reprisal, hosting a podcast is just too delicious. Alright, Bill, tell us how you REALLY feel about Roger Goodell, Chris Berman, and Mike Tirico! | thecubsfan
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| #5 Posted on 8.5.15 1133.01
Reposted on: 8.5.22 1133.26 | Originally posted by Matt Tracker
he's never shown any interest in NASCAR.
He once did an awful painful podcast with Tony Stewart, I'll never be able to forget.
30 for 30 might be his greatest legacy at the network
30 for 30 is really good, but Grantland might be better. Especially if he's the one picking out the writers. If that continues on without him, then it's going to be his legacy at ESPN.
He's talked about wanting his own independent site prior to his last contract signing, and Grantland came out of ESPN wanting to give him that independence while keeping him on their payroll. Simmons may partner with an existing network, he may ally with a TNT to keep doing basketball, but he's going to get that 100% independence where ever he ends up next. | Matt Tracker
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| #6 Posted on 8.5.15 1216.36
Reposted on: 8.5.22 1219.31 | Originally posted by thecubsfan
Simmons may partner with an existing network, he may ally with a TNT to keep doing basketball, but he's going to get that 100% independence where ever he ends up next.
Then I think he has to go fully private, because TNT or FOX or anyone with a major league contract will eventually balk at his criticism of sports management or protocol. The NFL will mishandle another legal matter, and he will let fly, and the league will clear its throat in that network's direction.
Dan Patrick did well when he landed with NBC, but his radio demeanor remained more formal than anything Simmons has aimed for. There's Olbermann too, of course now back with ESPN and occasionally bowing his head after Tweets or on-air comments.
But I think FOX would gladly give him a show like Katie Nolan but make it more like Beadle's SportsNation. It wouldn't be on the mainstream channel, and he can be as cross-pollinate as much as he wants.
The FOX football pre-game show can call him up for the weekly gambling predictions (because gambling is his second favorite passion). And he can then be on the network that gave him 90210 and Melrose Place and HIS FATHER IS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY. | It's False
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| #7 Posted on 8.5.15 1235.55
Reposted on: 8.5.22 1237.00 | Oof!
http://deadspin.com/espners-bill-simmons-found-out-he-was-fired-on-twitter-1703112625
Four sources tell us there’s a rumor going around ESPN and Grantland that Simmons found out about the move via Twitter. (A fifth source denies this). “Cold-hearted/hilarious,” one person says. “Guy is a massive dickhead. But he’ll just land at Fox Sports with Horowitz now for the same money. Yay.”
From everything I heard, [Grantland] was only viable due to Simmons traffic and sponsorship $.
One ESPNer points us to Simmons’s appearance on the Dan Patrick Show yesterday morning. (He took to the show to talk about Ballghazi.) Here’s the clip in question. On its face, nothing he said was too offensive, though he did take a couple shots at NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, saying the handling of the scandal was “pathetic” and that Goodell lacked the “testicular fortitude to do anything until he gauges public reaction.” Not even wrong! Speaking about Ballghazi on another network, however, may have been a final, final, final straw.
Get your popcorn ready, folks, because whenever Simmons DOES pop up again, things are going to get ugly. | BigDaddyLoco
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| #8 Posted on 8.5.15 1253.32
Reposted on: 8.5.22 1259.01 | I don't consume all things Bill Simmons like I used to and actually like his NFL stuff better than his NBA stuff, but I will still seek out his work wherever he ends up. He is going to be fine, even if he just freelances for awhile.
ESPN on the other hand is a place I go to less and less these days. Obviously losing Bill Simmons won't kill them, but it certainly won't help them.
It's gotta hurt leaving Grantland behind though. | thecubsfan
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| #9 Posted on 8.5.15 1919.40
Reposted on: 8.5.22 1919.58 | Jim Miller, who wrote the ESPN book and still covers it, wrote the "testicular fortitude" line caused this to be announced today, but neither side had really talked about doing a deal since he was suspended.
because I'm a wrestling dork who's writing on a wrestling message board, this reminded me a lot of the time WWE was switching networks (Spike to USA) and the network they were leaving announced they weren't bidding on WWE anymore. It served no real purpose except to spitefully kill the negotiating power of WWE, and this doesn't really help ESPN besides the (obviously many) people who don't like Simmons getting to see him embarrassed on the way out. This was a bridge burning situation.
Which is really odd given he's still under contract! Until September! Including to do more TV shows in the next few weeks. One of Simmons last public act at ESPN being interview (the surprising engaging) Diana Taurasi is hilarious given his history, but are they going to have five hours of Jalen Rose and his baseball bat hosting shows now? | texasranger9
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| #10 Posted on 8.5.15 2007.39
Reposted on: 8.5.22 2011.14 | So will his response to this be better than CM Punk on the Art of Wrestling podcast? At least in the JTG E-Book ballpark?
(edited by texasranger9 on 8.5.15 2008) | Big Bad
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| #11 Posted on 8.5.15 2245.40
Reposted on: 8.5.22 2246.30 | The problem with Simmons is that he really wanted to be an all-encompassing guy at ESPN who could be called on for anything (writing, site-running, TV producing, TV appearances, podcasting) when he's only actually good at a couple of those things.
* As a gatherer and nurturer of talent, Simmons is excellent --- Grantland and 30-for-30 speak to that.
* As a writer, he's kind of fallen into his same old schtick for a while now.
* As a podcaster, he's pretty good since he gets excellent guests and is usually wise enough to just let them talk, though there's certainly more than a few awkward moments when he'll make some dumb suggestion and Zach Lowe/Bill Barnwell/Wesley Morris/Chuck Klosterman/whomever has to find a nice way to say "no, that would be idiotic."
* As a TV talking head, nooooope. He's better than when he first started, but he brings nothing to the table that a thousand better broadcasters couldn't.
This all being said, Simmons is popular enough that he can afford to be this ambitious, even though I suspect he'd best be served by settling as Ray Allen (a specialist) rather than thinking he's Paul Pierce (who can do a bit of everything). NBA analogy!
I'm sad to see Simmons go because I've been reading his ESPN stuff for the better part of 15 years now, and Grantland is a daily read for me thanks to all of the awesome writers he's hired for that site. I really hope Grantland itself isn't shuttered when Simmons leaves (unless many of those writers follow him to his new destination). | JustinShapiro
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| #12 Posted on 10.5.15 1155.35
Reposted on: 10.5.22 1158.01 | | (image removed) | StaggerLee
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| #13 Posted on 15.5.15 1340.37
Reposted on: 15.5.22 1349.56 | | SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is now reporting that he has been banned from appearing on any ESPN platform until his contract runs out. | DJ FrostyFreeze
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| #14 Posted on 15.5.15 1420.36
Reposted on: 15.5.22 1421.12 | Originally posted by StaggerLee
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is now reporting that he has been banned from appearing on any ESPN platform until his contract runs out.
Pretty sure that's the norm for any soon-to-be former ESPN talent. I think Dan Patrick was the only one they allowed to appear on his own radio show after it was announced he was leaving way back when. | Packman V2
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| #15 Posted on 15.5.15 1433.09
Reposted on: 15.5.22 1434.51 | Originally posted by DJ FrostyFreeze
Originally posted by StaggerLee
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is now reporting that he has been banned from appearing on any ESPN platform until his contract runs out.
Pretty sure that's the norm for any soon-to-be former ESPN talent. I think Dan Patrick was the only one they allowed to appear on his own radio show after it was announced he was leaving way back when.
Agreed, and even then, Dan Patrick had planned to do a farewell week of episodes, and that got scaled back to just 2-3 I believe. | | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
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