Grantland.com (1 Viewer)

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Kind of bs that they can totally silence him though. No Twitter. No Facebook. No podcast. No communication with the outside world. 3 weeks for saying in his opinion Goodell is a liar (which he is). I'm not a big simmons fan at this point, but espn is a joke. It's as if Goodell himseld called espn and gave the order.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Kind of bs that they can totally silence him though. No Twitter. No Facebook. No podcast. No communication with the outside world. 3 weeks for saying in his opinion Goodell is a liar (which he is). I'm not a big simmons fan at this point, but espn is a joke. It's as if Goodell himseld called espn and gave the order.

I would kind of expect that Goodell/NFL has been in touch with the bigwigs at ESPN before this happened

 

[jonessed]

Kind of bs that they can totally silence him though. No Twitter. No Facebook. No podcast. No communication with the outside world. 3 weeks for saying in his opinion Goodell is a liar (which he is). I'm not a big simmons fan at this point, but espn is a joke. It's as if Goodell himseld called espn and gave the order.

He went on a profanity-laced rant where he dared his employer to do something about it. He's pretty lucky to get off as light as he is.

 

[whoknew]

Kind of bs that they can totally silence him though. No Twitter. No Facebook. No podcast. No communication with the outside world. 3 weeks for saying in his opinion Goodell is a liar (which he is). I'm not a big simmons fan at this point, but espn is a joke. It's as if Goodell himseld called espn and gave the order.

He went on a profanity-laced rant where he dared his employer to do something about it. He's pretty lucky to get off as light as he is.

Not really. He's the talent. He can get away with a lot. Moves like this will make him want to take his talents elsewhere (say, like Fox Sports - where someone like Clay Travis can pretty much do whatever he wants).

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Kind of bs that they can totally silence him though. No Twitter. No Facebook. No podcast. No communication with the outside world. 3 weeks for saying in his opinion Goodell is a liar (which he is). I'm not a big simmons fan at this point, but espn is a joke. It's as if Goodell himseld called espn and gave the order.

He went on a profanity-laced rant where he dared his employer to do something about it. He's pretty lucky to get off as light as he is.

And by doing so espn just confirms they're goodell's #####.

 

[culdeus]

Kind of bs that they can totally silence him though. No Twitter. No Facebook. No podcast. No communication with the outside world. 3 weeks for saying in his opinion Goodell is a liar (which he is). I'm not a big simmons fan at this point, but espn is a joke. It's as if Goodell himseld called espn and gave the order.

He went on a profanity-laced rant where he dared his employer to do something about it. He's pretty lucky to get off as light as he is.

And by doing so espn just confirms they're goodell's #####.

Why did they let KO go off then?

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

I wonder what his rights are to Grantland and if he has the right to keep the site if he decides to jump ship from ESPN when his contract is up. I'm sure another media outlet would love to gain his followers.

I'm pretty sure ESPN owns Grantland. They registered the domain name before Simmons had even been hired for ESPN.com.

Simmons started working for ESPN in 2001, pretty sure Grantland was his idea. I'm not sure how the ownership of the site works but I think it is wrong to think of it as an ESPN vehicle that Simmons is attached to.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

I wonder what his rights are to Grantland and if he has the right to keep the site if he decides to jump ship from ESPN when his contract is up. I'm sure another media outlet would love to gain his followers.

I'm pretty sure ESPN owns Grantland. They registered the domain name before Simmons had even been hired for ESPN.com.

Simmons started working for ESPN in 2001, pretty sure Grantland was his idea. I'm not sure how the ownership of the site works but I think it is wrong to think of it as an ESPN vehicle that Simmons is attached to.

The concept may have been his, but his wiki page says that it is owned by ESPN.

Simmons also serves as the editor-in-chief of Grantland, a website owned by ESPN covering sports and pop culture that launched on June 8, 2011.[38] The website's name is a reference to deceased sportswriter Grantland Rice,[38]though it was reportedly not Simmons' choice for the name.[39] Sports blog Deadspin had previously reported in 2010 that Simmons was working on a "top secret editorial project."[40]

 

[Kev4029]

I wonder if this is deliberate sabotage on Simmons' part, and he wants out. Deadspin had stories on how he was being frozen out on the NBA telecasts; his contribution to Grantland seems to consist mostly of mailbag columns. His NBA Draft column was not very good at all--it was half unoriginal and half unfunny. His "Trade Assets" column was sloppy and full of contradictions. He has had the whiff of "phoning it in" for awhile now.

He quit Jimmy Kimmel's writing staff years ago to focus on his ESPN stuff. Yet, he seems fixated on the deal-making, backstage Hollywood scene. Maybe he wants to go back to that kind of life.

He didn't even do a trade assets column this year and he has said in the past that it is by far his most popular thing he does each year.

I'm too lazy to fact check this but I could have sworn he did one.

Nope, he did a worst contracts column in February but no trade value.

 

[Tom Hagen]

Kind of bs that they can totally silence him though. No Twitter. No Facebook. No podcast. No communication with the outside world. 3 weeks for saying in his opinion Goodell is a liar (which he is). I'm not a big simmons fan at this point, but espn is a joke. It's as if Goodell himseld called espn and gave the order.

He went on a profanity-laced rant where he dared his employer to do something about it. He's pretty lucky to get off as light as he is.

And by doing so espn just confirms they're goodell's #####.

Any chance he taunted ESPN management intentionally to show how subservient to the NFL they are? Too Machiavellian?

 

[jonessed]

Kind of bs that they can totally silence him though. No Twitter. No Facebook. No podcast. No communication with the outside world. 3 weeks for saying in his opinion Goodell is a liar (which he is). I'm not a big simmons fan at this point, but espn is a joke. It's as if Goodell himseld called espn and gave the order.

He went on a profanity-laced rant where he dared his employer to do something about it. He's pretty lucky to get off as light as he is.

Not really. He's the talent. He can get away with a lot. Moves like this will make him want to take his talents elsewhere (say, like Fox Sports - where someone like Clay Travis can pretty much do whatever he wants).

Apparently he can't get away with this.

 

[Joe Summer]

Kind of bs that they can totally silence him though. No Twitter. No Facebook. No podcast. No communication with the outside world. 3 weeks for saying in his opinion Goodell is a liar (which he is). I'm not a big simmons fan at this point, but espn is a joke. It's as if Goodell himseld called espn and gave the order.

Simmons didn't say "In my opinion he's a liar."Simmons said, "the Commissioner is a liar."

Then he called out his bosses.

If he had only done one of those things, he probably wouldn't have been suspended. But doing both and then not having the brains to edit your podcast afterwards? The suspension was inevitable.

 

[Joe Summer]

I wonder what his rights are to Grantland and if he has the right to keep the site if he decides to jump ship from ESPN when his contract is up. I'm sure another media outlet would love to gain his followers.

I'm pretty sure ESPN owns Grantland. They registered the domain name before Simmons had even been hired for ESPN.com.

Simmons started working for ESPN in 2001, pretty sure Grantland was his idea. I'm not sure how the ownership of the site works but I think it is wrong to think of it as an ESPN vehicle that Simmons is attached to.

Grantland.com was registered by ESPN in 1997. It may have been Simmons' idea to create a spinoff website, but ESPN provided the internal resources as well as the domain name.

 

[B-Deep]

Simmons and ESPN like him being a renegade

Hell this could have been planned, many people prolly feel like simmons does, he is the avenue ESPN has to say it. Then they give him some punishment for saying it and it sparks outrage

he's in bed with ESPN, he is there to be a more credible S.A.Smith

 

[Willie Neslon]

after listening to the rant I felt he was daring someone from the nfl to tell him to be quiet, not espn. I don't think he felt espn would say anything to him as that kind of rant has been his thing.

 

[Brony]

I hope this story doesn't lead to more people listening to the Cousin Sal BS weekly picks podcast. I follow their 3 team teasers for mad profits and I don't need more people on board. #FreeSimmons

 

[17seconds]

Just listened to it. I see no reason why ESPN would suspend him unless they were pressured by the NFL.

They say this kind of thing all the time on First Take about athletes, coaches, etc. But, oh, it's the COMMISSIONER OF THE NFL, don't say it about him.

I hope he does go public with how he was suspended. He should just get away from ESPN and do his own thing. He's established himself enough as an individual sports talk personality that he doesn't really need the ESPN label to get people to pay attention.

 

[TobiasFunke]

Just listened to it. I see no reason why ESPN would suspend him unless they were pressured by the NFL.

They say this kind of thing all the time on First Take about athletes, coaches, etc. But, oh, it's the COMMISSIONER OF THE NFL, don't say it about him.

I hope he does go public with how he was suspended. He should just get away from ESPN and do his own thing. He's established himself enough as an individual sports talk personality that he doesn't really need the ESPN label to get people to pay attention.

I have to think ESPN has him under contract for a while and has some decent non-compete protection. He's pretty much the only media figure who could affect their bottom line in significant way by leaving. If he went to Fox or NBC and took his podcasts and documentary producing and legions of fans with him it would be huge. Wouldn't bump them up to ESPN status but it would their first significant inroads.

 

[John Bender]

Just listened to it. I see no reason why ESPN would suspend him unless they were pressured by the NFL.

They say this kind of thing all the time on First Take about athletes, coaches, etc. But, oh, it's the COMMISSIONER OF THE NFL, don't say it about him.

I hope he does go public with how he was suspended. He should just get away from ESPN and do his own thing. He's established himself enough as an individual sports talk personality that he doesn't really need the ESPN label to get people to pay attention.

He's also got the same agent as a guy who went off on his own and now has one of the most popular podcasts ever (Carolla)

He really could be the leader in following that model with Sports as Carolla did with comedy.

Do a daily pod cast about anything and everything that you release every morning and make millions.

Hope he builds a pirate ship here.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I'm not a fan of Simmons (he's a really good writer, albeit long-winded, but I can't stand listening to him talk), but I'm glad ESPN is getting crushed over this.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Kind of bs that they can totally silence him though. No Twitter. No Facebook. No podcast. No communication with the outside world. 3 weeks for saying in his opinion Goodell is a liar (which he is). I'm not a big simmons fan at this point, but espn is a joke. It's as if Goodell himseld called espn and gave the order.

Simmons didn't say "In my opinion he's a liar."Simmons said, "the Commissioner is a liar."

Then he called out his bosses.

If he had only done one of those things, he probably wouldn't have been suspended. But doing both and then not having the brains to edit your podcast afterwards? The suspension was inevitable.

Exactly. It's fine line, but there's a difference between expressing that you believe someone is lying and calling then a liar.

 

[thecatch]

Apparently Simmons's espn contract expires this year. Interesting twist.

 

[17seconds]

OK, I guess I can see him being suspended because he called out ESPN and basically dared them to suspend him.

 

[B-Deep]

Apparently Simmons's espn contract expires this year. Interesting twist.

he'll sign a new one

ESPN pushes grantland pretty well, they both benefit

 

[mphtrilogy]

i see him gone after his contract is up, listening to his podcast with Michelle beadle he kept referring to his half italian side and not forgiving type...

that being said, i don't know what place is a good fit for him other than espn,

he should try to be like mcenroe who does tennis on every channel this way he can do some tnt hoops talking head stuff, write on yahoo or deadspin, do his own podcast, do a show on NBS sportsnet... etc..

grantland is comical right now, the very thing they like to kid around about and get jokes on is the kind of thing they CANNOT write about right now, so how are we supposed to care about there own website when they wont critique the very thing they like to critique other sites about.

 

[Brony]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

 

[rockaction]

i see him gone after his contract is up, listening to his podcast with Michelle beadle he kept referring to his half italian side and not forgiving type...

that being said, i don't know what place is a good fit for him other than espn,

he should try to be like mcenroe who does tennis on every channel this way he can do some tnt hoops talking head stuff, write on yahoo or deadspin, do his own podcast, do a show on NBS sportsnet... etc..

grantland is comical right now, the very thing they like to kid around about and get jokes on is the kind of thing they CANNOT write about right now, so how are we supposed to care about there own website when they wont critique the very thing they like to critique other sites about.

Ding, in a way. ESPN has to be corporate culture -- and you can't make jokes either left or right, nor speak truth, nor offend anyone if that's the deal. And I don't think he can intellectually justify that, even if they take away his NBA platform. This isn't a soliloquy to him. I wonder, like many other commenters, whether the pull of corporate money for 30 for 30 and the promise of NBA/Disney/ABC exposure can sway him. And the money and exposure are intermingled, of course.

Maybe he can Glenn Beck it. But that's a tough model.

Also, Grantland is so predictably left-wing corporate, it's boring. The writing is predictable, and generally awful. He may agree with the political overtones, but it's gotta be killing him, from one side or the other.

 

[thecatch]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

apparently he's already been canned from the NBA studio gig.

 

[hxperson]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

apparently he's already been canned from the NBA studio gig.

I hope so, because he was awful.

 

[Brony]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

apparently he's already been canned from the NBA studio gig.

I didn't know that. I didn't think he was very good as NBA talking head. Fish out of water.

 

[coyote5]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

apparently he's already been canned from the NBA studio gig.

Thank god.

 

[culdeus]

I wonder if this was a planned publicity stunt. Early into the NFL season and pre-NBA. Gives some hype to him and fuels controversy now that Tebow and Sam are gone and Manziel is quiet.

3 weeks off in the least important time of the year.

Just saying.

 

[Sammy3469]

i see him gone after his contract is up, listening to his podcast with Michelle beadle he kept referring to his half italian side and not forgiving type...

that being said, i don't know what place is a good fit for him other than espn,

he should try to be like mcenroe who does tennis on every channel this way he can do some tnt hoops talking head stuff, write on yahoo or deadspin, do his own podcast, do a show on NBS sportsnet... etc..

grantland is comical right now, the very thing they like to kid around about and get jokes on is the kind of thing they CANNOT write about right now, so how are we supposed to care about there own website when they wont critique the very thing they like to critique other sites about.

Ding, in a way. ESPN has to be corporate culture -- and you can't make jokes either left or right, nor speak truth, nor offend anyone if that's the deal. And I don't think he can intellectually justify that, even if they take away his NBA platform. This isn't a soliloquy to him. I wonder, like many other commenters, whether the pull of corporate money for 30 for 30 and the promise of NBA/Disney/ABC exposure can sway him. And the money and exposure are intermingled, of course.

Maybe he can Glenn Beck it. But that's a tough model.

Also, Grantland is so predictably left-wing corporate, it's boring. The writing is predictable, and generally awful. He may agree with the political overtones, but it's gotta be killing him, from one side or the other.

He doesn't have to fully Glenn Beck it. I'm sure TNT or NBA would love to have him producing content.

 

[B-Deep]

I wonder if this was a planned publicity stunt. Early into the NFL season and pre-NBA. Gives some hype to him and fuels controversy now that Tebow and Sam are gone and Manziel is quiet.

3 weeks off in the least important time of the year.

Just saying.

and espn actively pushes grantland, they are in bed ttogether

espn can handle the bad press, and it may win some people over to simmons

i can completely see it

and as i said, some people at ESPN may wish they could say what simmons did, well they can through him. I think that's the setup in general and would not be at all shocked to find out this was cleared in advance

 

[Joe Summer]

I wonder if this was a planned publicity stunt. Early into the NFL season and pre-NBA. Gives some hype to him and fuels controversy now that Tebow and Sam are gone and Manziel is quiet.

3 weeks off in the least important time of the year.

Just saying.

For Simmons, this is far from an ideal time to get suspended. He's going to miss at least 2 podcasts with Cousin Sal and his NBA preview is going to be delayed.Not being able to talk about basketball just as NBA training camps are starting? That's gonna be brutal for him.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

apparently he's already been canned from the NBA studio gig.

I didn't know that. I didn't think he was very good as NBA talking head. Fish out of water.

a. He was too much of a cheerleader. Rooting for the Celtics is fine, but when you are doing a national telecast, you should at least try to pretend to be a little impartial.

b. He likes the sound of his voice too much. He always had that "Can they please stop talking so I can start talking?" look on his face.

 

[Daywalker]

Will be interesting to see if BS addresses the suspension with an apology of some sort. He should probably just stay quiet. Putting out a disingenuous statement to protect your job is exactly what he crushed Goodell for.

 

[pollardsvision]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

apparently he's already been canned from the NBA studio gig.

I didn't know that. I didn't think he was very good as NBA talking head. Fish out of water.

a. He was too much of a cheerleader. Rooting for the Celtics is fine, but when you are doing a national telecast, you should at least try to pretend to be a little impartial.

b. He likes the sound of his voice too much. He always had that "Can they please stop talking so I can start talking?" look on his face.

I agree he wanted to talk too much and that was a problem, but I really don't see the problem with him being a Celtics homer. Even on a national telecast.

I think we've reached a level of access with public figures that it really seems stupid to expect things to be the same as they always have. He's a Celtics fan. Everyone knows it. Who gives a ####?

20 years ago, everything that happens on Inside the NBA would've been considered completely inappropriate and unprofessional, but we'e evolved.

Yes, he's a fish out of water, but that's not a bad thing. 99.9% of sports studio shows suck, and the tendency is for networks to want to find ways to make them suck more. Being a fish comfortable in the typical studio show water really isn't a good thing.

Simmons/Jalen/Coach/Burke was leaps and bounds better than the terrible Wilbon/Magic show.

 

[culdeus]

Will be interesting to see if BS addresses the suspension with an apology of some sort. He should probably just stay quiet. Putting out a disingenuous statement to protect your job is exactly what he crushed Goodell for.

what would he apologize for? Losing his cool? Calling Goodell a liar without any facts of his own, or lying about this source he has himself?

Trying to see where he'd lean as a olive branch.

 

[No. 16]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

apparently he's already been canned from the NBA studio gig.

I didn't know that. I didn't think he was very good as NBA talking head. Fish out of water.

a. He was too much of a cheerleader. Rooting for the Celtics is fine, but when you are doing a national telecast, you should at least try to pretend to be a little impartial.

b. He likes the sound of his voice too much. He always had that "Can they please stop talking so I can start talking?" look on his face.

I agree he wanted to talk too much and that was a problem, but I really don't see the problem with him being a Celtics homer. Even on a national telecast.

I think we've reached a level of access with public figures that it really seems stupid to expect things to be the same as they always have. He's a Celtics fan. Everyone knows it. Who gives a ####?

20 years ago, everything that happens on Inside the NBA would've been considered completely inappropriate and unprofessional, but we'e evolved.

Yes, he's a fish out of water, but that's not a bad thing. 99.9% of sports studio shows suck, and the tendency is for networks to want to find ways to make them suck more. Being a fish comfortable in the typical studio show water really isn't a good thing.

Simmons/Jalen/Coach/Burke was leaps and bounds better than the terrible Wilbon/Magic show.

If Simmons, Rose, Lowe, and Jacoby did a basketball show that would give Chuck,Kenny, and Ernie a run for their moeny.

 

[Sinn Fein]

ESPN is such a mess - they were running a promo on the local espn radio for SVP & Russillo and whoever the guest was in the blurb - said almost the exact same thing as Simmons (minus the daring ESPN to do something) - said the NFL investigation was pathetic and that Goodell had to be lying about seeing the tape.

 

[Billy Bats]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

apparently he's already been canned from the NBA studio gig.

I didn't know that. I didn't think he was very good as NBA talking head. Fish out of water.

a. He was too much of a cheerleader. Rooting for the Celtics is fine, but when you are doing a national telecast, you should at least try to pretend to be a little impartial.

b. He likes the sound of his voice too much. He always had that "Can they please stop talking so I can start talking?" look on his face.

It's not just a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=wKynBzWpsrY

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Shark move for ESPN mgmt. is to ignore it.

 

[Sinn Fein]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

apparently he's already been canned from the NBA studio gig.

I didn't know that. I didn't think he was very good as NBA talking head. Fish out of water.

hmmm...so he'll be back in time to be up and running with the new show, and lots of publicity coming off the suspension. Doesn't seem like a set-up at all.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

I would think he stays too. The NBA analyst gig he has is a wetdream and he'd only leave that to be the GM if they started an NBA team in Vegas.

apparently he's already been canned from the NBA studio gig.

I didn't know that. I didn't think he was very good as NBA talking head. Fish out of water.

hmmm...so he'll be back in time to be up and running with the new show, and lots of publicity coming off the suspension. Doesn't seem like a set-up at all.

Mark Titus is brutal.

 

[17seconds]

Suspended on his 45th birthday

 

[Sammy3469]

ESPN looks even more comical with the new AP story out.

 

[Sweet J]

ESPN looks even more comical with the new AP story out.

The one where the cop confirms sending the tape to the NFL?

 

[Good Posting Judge]

ESPN looks even more comical with the new AP story out.

The one where the cop confirms sending the tape to the NFL?

Already out, the difference now is that he named its recipient. Wonder if that was bill's trump card.

 

[Sammy3469]

ESPN looks even more comical with the new AP story out.

The one where the cop confirms sending the tape to the NFL?

Already out, the difference now is that he named its recipient. Wonder if that was bill's trump card.

These guys (and by guys I mean all the talking heads) know "things" that they can't report. If you listen to Jalen and Jacoby, Jalen frequently has tidbits he couches as hypotheticals he has heard from agents or players . I don't think it's far fetched to think Simmons knows things about this which aren't being said since they can't be corroborated especially if the NFL is playing dumb.