SabBill Simmons: The Best!
February 28th 2007 12:57
Bill Simmons, aka the sports guy from ESPN page 2, is clearly the best sports writer in the business. You either love or hate the sports guy and I definitely favour the former.
Simmons is not a traditional journalist. You could hardly even call him a journo, really he is an entertaining sports writer. But what a damn good writer he is. Simmons is funny, witty and more accurate than the so-called ‘conventional journalist’.
The sports guy calls it as he sees it. Yes you don’t have to agree with him on everything but it’s great that in this age of conservative journalism, there are people like Simmons who are not afraid to call things as they see it. One of the rare things I don’t like about him, is his constant bagging of Patrick Ewing- one of my favourite ever players.
Simmons articles are extremely long, generally around 3000 words, with recently one nearing 7000! The thing I love about his articles are his references to popular culture- especially from the 80s/90s. His analogies are hilarious and he makes me laugh every time.
I suppose I’m a bit biased because like Simmons my favourite basketball era is the 80s, though mine stretches into the 90s because of my love for the Bulls golden era. Many readers are sick and tired of his columns about his native Boston teams, but his old school Celtics stories are my personal favourite. He idolises the great Larry Bird, with good reason, but I find his stories about the death of Len Bias the most compelling reading- in true Simmons style.
Even when he is writing on the NFL, or Baseball- sports I don’t really care about, I still find myself hooked on his writing style and his ability to provide laughs and thouroughly entertain. Simmons style is similar to one of my favourite ever writers- Hunter S. Thompson. No Simmons doesn’t go around to sporting events high or with a flask of rum in one hand (I don’t think anyway), but they both share the same unique talents of ranting and raving in an entertaining fashion. Both rightly criticise the ‘rat pack’ known as the media and are independent writers, not influenced by the common viewpoint like most other journos. Before Thompson died he wrote for ESPN page 2, so there is a good chance he passed some tricks over to Simmons.
There are some good basketball journalists in the States- my favourite being Sam Smith. Smith, who writes for the Chicago Tribune, is famous for his stunning book The Jordan Rules. That book is my all time favourite sports book. It is simply brilliant, following the Bulls behind closed doors. Many thought Smith was portraying Jordan in a negative light, but it was true and he was sympathetic to the bizarre life Jordan had found himself in. The book is a masterpiece and I only hope Smith can write a new book about the current NBA. Smith is different to Simmons in that he is a journo, but his stories are always interesting and being an old Bulls fan, I love his constant references to the old glory days of the NBA.
I think all us sport junkies should feel lucky that in such pc times, we have such a unique writer such as Simmons. I love nothing else than to sit back, with a drink in hand, and laugh and learn something new from the master of sports writing: Bill Simmons.
Simmons is not a traditional journalist. You could hardly even call him a journo, really he is an entertaining sports writer. But what a damn good writer he is. Simmons is funny, witty and more accurate than the so-called ‘conventional journalist’.
The sports guy calls it as he sees it. Yes you don’t have to agree with him on everything but it’s great that in this age of conservative journalism, there are people like Simmons who are not afraid to call things as they see it. One of the rare things I don’t like about him, is his constant bagging of Patrick Ewing- one of my favourite ever players.
Simmons articles are extremely long, generally around 3000 words, with recently one nearing 7000! The thing I love about his articles are his references to popular culture- especially from the 80s/90s. His analogies are hilarious and he makes me laugh every time.
I suppose I’m a bit biased because like Simmons my favourite basketball era is the 80s, though mine stretches into the 90s because of my love for the Bulls golden era. Many readers are sick and tired of his columns about his native Boston teams, but his old school Celtics stories are my personal favourite. He idolises the great Larry Bird, with good reason, but I find his stories about the death of Len Bias the most compelling reading- in true Simmons style.
Even when he is writing on the NFL, or Baseball- sports I don’t really care about, I still find myself hooked on his writing style and his ability to provide laughs and thouroughly entertain. Simmons style is similar to one of my favourite ever writers- Hunter S. Thompson. No Simmons doesn’t go around to sporting events high or with a flask of rum in one hand (I don’t think anyway), but they both share the same unique talents of ranting and raving in an entertaining fashion. Both rightly criticise the ‘rat pack’ known as the media and are independent writers, not influenced by the common viewpoint like most other journos. Before Thompson died he wrote for ESPN page 2, so there is a good chance he passed some tricks over to Simmons.
There are some good basketball journalists in the States- my favourite being Sam Smith. Smith, who writes for the Chicago Tribune, is famous for his stunning book The Jordan Rules. That book is my all time favourite sports book. It is simply brilliant, following the Bulls behind closed doors. Many thought Smith was portraying Jordan in a negative light, but it was true and he was sympathetic to the bizarre life Jordan had found himself in. The book is a masterpiece and I only hope Smith can write a new book about the current NBA. Smith is different to Simmons in that he is a journo, but his stories are always interesting and being an old Bulls fan, I love his constant references to the old glory days of the NBA.
I think all us sport junkies should feel lucky that in such pc times, we have such a unique writer such as Simmons. I love nothing else than to sit back, with a drink in hand, and laugh and learn something new from the master of sports writing: Bill Simmons.
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