So mad that ESPN deprived us of Bill Simmons' reaction to the four Celtics draft picks last night...
The Bill Simmons Thread
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
deanx0 said:
Jay Williams didn't win you over? There were times I wasn't sure if he was even awake.
DrewDawg said:
Saw the Miami tweet, but I just think his facial expression as the three additional guard picks were announced, and he didn't have time to prepare a measured response, would have been priceless.
Have to admit it, I would love me a Bill Simmons emergency DeAndre Jordan soap opera podcast today. No interest in his writing or TV work but his podcast is missed.
some yeah.Detts said:
It also feels like they've been a bit slow. Lowe is pumping out pieces, but a lot of the other writers it feels like their output has slowed down.
I've reduced it to almost nothing.Detts said:
I really miss the podcast. I do miss his writing at times as well, but not as much as the podcast.
Detts said:
Yeah. Although, honestly, I didn't read many Simmons articles, and missed out on a huge chunk of his podcasts, the whole thing left a sour taste in my mouth and I didn't visit for a while. By the time I didn't care anymore, I realized I didn't really miss it that much. I figure anything really worth reading will get linked to me somewhere along the way, and there were other, more interesting places to sink my downtime. So I have, but it's not due to Simmons anymore.
As long as they have Browne, Greenwald, Lowe, and Keri, and do decent 'real-time' coverage of bigger pop culture things like the GoT article series, it's still got a place for me, but overall it's indeed become a strong use case argument for author-based RSS feeds instead of site-based.
The NFL podcast has gotten bizarre and Mays was hinting at some type of change for him, although it may be in his personal not profesional life.tmracht said:
I was never a podcast guy, so Simmons leaving hasn't changed my patterns much yet, but it seems a lot like Sports On Earth when Pos left - the overall quality seems to be dropping. As someone mentioned, Brown, Lowe, Keri, Pierce and (sometimes) Greenwald will keep my attention, but it seems like the supporting cast is weak and/or lazy. For instance, I can't stand Ben Lindbergh. He is lazy and sloppy with his work and either doesn't know or doesn't research enough to talk about individual teams. Today's column:
Does it really take all that much to know that the Sox just frigging kicked AJP off their team exactly a year ago today? I don't expect him to know the transaction log of every team, but if you're going to be a baseball writer and cover the league, I'd think you'd know he was on the Sox last year. And then maybe find out how that turned out. I dunno, maybe I'm asking too much, but I find him saying stupid shit like that a lot.
Does it really take all that much to know that the Sox just frigging kicked AJP off their team exactly a year ago today? I don't expect him to know the transaction log of every team, but if you're going to be a baseball writer and cover the league, I'd think you'd know he was on the Sox last year. And then maybe find out how that turned out. I dunno, maybe I'm asking too much, but I find him saying stupid shit like that a lot.
God I fucking hope so. I really miss the podcasts and I'll REALLY miss them when NFL season comes.
HBO?
HBO?
“@richarddeitsch: Bill Simmons will be hosting a weekly television show for HBO starting in 2016. Details to follow later today.”
https://twitter.com/richarddeitsch/status/623888481333420032
https://twitter.com/richarddeitsch/status/623888481333420032
link to tweet
https://twitter.com/richarddeitsch/status/623888481333420032
https://twitter.com/richarddeitsch/status/623888481333420032
link to tweet
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/07/22/bill-simmons-signs-with-hbo/n2NkBr92QjJbPixHUOgZGO/story.html
This is where he could easily lose someone like me. I hope it very largely sticks to sports.
Great fit, I'm sure he will have involvement in their sports docs and be integrated into HBO Now.
Hoya81 said:
If they were going to do that, it would be over Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. An overwhelming majority of the stories they do on football make it the scourge of the Earth. Simmons is at least a fan of the product.
Although I'm not the world's biggest fan of Bill Simmons the writer, Bill Simmons the enabler is fantastic. If this is a vehicle for a more advanced version of a weekly BS report with multiple impressive guests, I think this is something I'll watch with some degree of frequency. Also more interested in where HBO's documentaries go. Hell, I'm even interested in whether or not he has a hand in the mockumentaries they do. Maybe not on the execution, but the concept for 7 Days in Hell absolutely seems like something that would have been in Simmons wheelhouse.
That being said, I hope his first guest is Olbermann. Regardless of how I feel about him, he was, PSU incident aside, reportedly a good soldier during his most recent ESPN tour. Getting dumped as unceremoniously as he did with reports that corporate was trying to control his criticism of Goodell means those two, uncensored, going after Goodell would be must-see TV for me.
That being said, I hope his first guest is Olbermann. Regardless of how I feel about him, he was, PSU incident aside, reportedly a good soldier during his most recent ESPN tour. Getting dumped as unceremoniously as he did with reports that corporate was trying to control his criticism of Goodell means those two, uncensored, going after Goodell would be must-see TV for me.
Good fit for both sides. There's lots Simmons can sink his teeth into beyond the show itself, particularly with their documentaries and miniseries. I personally hope he his podcasting doesn't get reduced to the show only. And HBO has been making a big push in upping the amount of content--with HBO Now, having a deep catalogue is more important than pure quality. Like Last Week Tonight, I can't imagine Simmons' show is going to cost them a ton, but it definitely broadens HBO's appeal.Rudy Pemberton said:
I'd be interested to hear Spike's take.
Agree with the parts mentioned about the podcast and it hopefully not just being the TV show only. Overall, I thought his audio podcasts were a good, easy listen. But it seemed like the quality declined with his video work -- they seemed more rushed. But unfiltered Simmons will hopefully be interesting, especially given the last year.
Here's the full HBO release: http://hbob2b.vo.llnwd.net/u/mr_twitter/July2015/billsimmons_ann_final.pdf
Here's the full HBO release: http://hbob2b.vo.llnwd.net/u/mr_twitter/July2015/billsimmons_ann_final.pdf
My question is whether this means he's totally abandoning the print format. 30 for 30 is great, but Simmons the Enabler's signature achievement is nicely harvesting a crop of seriously talented millennial writers with strong, distinct voices. His paths to influence new talent are much murkier now.
Vanity Fair spins on the Simmons announcement: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/07/bill-simmons-hbo
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/bill-simmons-lands-mega-deal-808227
says think he launches another Grantland-style site
I bet he's getting $10M per
says think he launches another Grantland-style site
I bet he's getting $10M per
Clears Cleaver said:
That would be nice. I kinda think the boutique/vanity site model could really work much better for an HBO than ESPN. It's stunningly awesome that they went ahead and tried it, but it never actually made the most sense with how they like to run things.
kenneycb said:
No, I get that, but uncensored for me should be reserved for someone with a bit more balls than Goodell is an idiot and SAS ain't so bright either. At least Maher called the 9/11 terrorists brave when he called his show Politically Incorrect. It's not a thing, just reading the name of the show made me snort a bit.
Great fit for both Simmons and HBO. And I certainly hope he launches another Grantland type site, because I really do think he's very good at curating and providing a platform for talent
Simmons has long been against paid subscription-based content (especially his own). I wonder if any part of this deal allows for some free content. And if he does start another Grantland, will that also be housed on HBO, with a price attached?
NatetheGreat said:
With previous reports intimating that most Grantland writers have contracts expiring in the fall or winter of this year, it'll be very interesting to see if anyone makes the leap with Simmons.
I'm reading this news the same time as all of you.
From HBO's standpoint, this is clearly aimed at trying to replicate the success of John Oliver on a sports/pop-culture angle.
Oliver plays very well with a younger demo than HBO normally pulls. I suspect (don't know, just suspect) that Simmons does well in that regard too.
HBO Go/Now is a massive priority for the company and this looks tailor made for those platforms.
I do note two things in the press release that seem interesting:
HBO will be his exclusive TV home (no more NBA games? not sure)
He will be doing a "video" podcast for HBO.
I think the fact that only TV is mentioned as exclusive could indicate that he held back the right to work in other formats (print, online, podcasts) beyond his HBO deal (my speculation). The specific reference to a video podcast indicates that he might have held back the right to do his own audio podcast.
I'm not a big Simmons fan personally, but this is a great get for HBO.
From HBO's standpoint, this is clearly aimed at trying to replicate the success of John Oliver on a sports/pop-culture angle.
Oliver plays very well with a younger demo than HBO normally pulls. I suspect (don't know, just suspect) that Simmons does well in that regard too.
HBO Go/Now is a massive priority for the company and this looks tailor made for those platforms.
I do note two things in the press release that seem interesting:
HBO will be his exclusive TV home (no more NBA games? not sure)
He will be doing a "video" podcast for HBO.
I think the fact that only TV is mentioned as exclusive could indicate that he held back the right to work in other formats (print, online, podcasts) beyond his HBO deal (my speculation). The specific reference to a video podcast indicates that he might have held back the right to do his own audio podcast.
I'm not a big Simmons fan personally, but this is a great get for HBO.
I don't really care about Simmons much either but LOVED the 30 for 30s. I really hope HBO produces these - there are so many great stories that could benefit from this treatment they have enough ammo for one a month for years and years.