Movies •Books •Music •Food •Tv Shows •Technology •Politics •Video Games •Parenting •Fashion •Green Living •more >

Lunch » Tags » Sports » Reviews » Bill Simmons » User review

Bill Simmons

Sports columnist and podcaster also known as "The Sports Guy"

Edit Topic

< read all 3 reviews

He is "The Sports Guy"

Jun 18, 2009

by drogoff

Rating:

Bill Simmons is my favorite columnist and his columns provide critical analysis and deep humor. He writes for ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine and you can find his writings at the Sport's Guy's World. Prior to being hired by ESPN, he ran his own site called The Boston Sports Guy. Part of what makes him so great is that his success highlights the meritocracy of the internet. He was a guy blogging about sports who was so funny that he was hired by the preeminent sports brand and is now one of its biggest draws.

Bill's writings sit at the intersection of sports and pop culture. He also details many aspects of his personal life. While his writings get publicity for their humor, his analysis is extremely thorough and he calls attention to often overlooked themes. For example, in writing about the 2009 NBA Finals he explored the following theme: Did the '09 Lakers really like each other, or was it like a Bill-Hillary thing?

My favorite columns are the draft diaries (he keeps a running journal as he and his father watch the NBA draft commenting on the players' clothes, entourages, awkward hugs with David Stern and the ridiculous commentating by the announcers who use phrases like tremendous upside potential), his travel recaps (where he details his weekend in Vegas with friends or trips to the Super Bowl or All Star Games, and mailbags (where readers submit questions and hypotheticals and he answers them eg. Q: Did your Clippers just win the draft lottery or did Blake Griffin lose it?
--Chris, Brooklyn

SG: Both)

His pop culture references are hilarious as he weaves asides about The Karate Kid, the Real World/Road Rules Challenge or The Hills into thoughtful analysis of sports topics. He has also introduced certain themes which have entered into the sports consciousness like The Ewing Theory (when a team improves by losing its best player who had never won a championship) The Levels of Losing (quantifying how painful a loss is) and The Tyson Zone (where an athlete's behavior is so crazy that people would believe any story about him) In addition he has been threatened by Isiah Thomas who objected to Bill's skewering of his general manager abilities. For those of you who like sports and like laughing…check him out.

What did you think of this review?

Helpful

Thought-Provoking

Fun to Read

Well-Organized

Post a Comment

Butter June 18, 2009

Good review. I've been meaning to write a review on Simmons for a while. His analysis is so good and his writing is so funny, its crazy. Apparently, during football season the Sports Guy, Adam Carrolla and a host of funny characters go over to Kimmel's house on most Sundays to watch football. I can only imagine the conversations that go on. BTW, have you ever listened to his podcasts? He may have the top sports-related Podcast on iTunes. I prefer to read his articles, but I downloaded some of his podcasts for some flights recently and it was a great way to pass the time.

drogoff June 18, 2009

I tried to listen to a podcast, but couldn't get into it. They would be a good way to pas the time on a flight though. Didn't know that about him , Carrolla and Kimmel...that must be a really funny gathering.

show text editor

reply to this comment

Follow this review

jrjohnson June 18, 2009

i didn't realize that he got his start like that. very cool. that gives a lot of perspective to his unique style. he's on my list of guys that i'd like to have over to watch a game.

drogoff June 18, 2009

Yeah...my brother in law was following him as the Boston Sports Guy. He moved out west to work for ESPN and to be a writer for Jimmy Kimmel. I would definitely like to watch a game with him...but I think getting on a hot blackjack or craps table with him would be fun too.

jrjohnson June 18, 2009

true, but getting on a hot blackjack or craps table with Gloria Allred would even be fun... that's kind of a low bar.

drogoff June 18, 2009

Good point...I would like to get on a hot craps table with Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Obama and Mike Tyson. Don't you think that would totally unify the country. I could see Cheney and Rush playing the Don't Pass line however.

show text editor

reply to this comment

Follow this review

More Bill Simmons reviews

review by Butter. June 18, 2009

Bill Simmons, aka The Sports Guy - movies, tv, sports - he does it all

Bill Simmons, aka the "Sports Guy" is the best and funniest sportswriter in the nation. While he's known as the Sports Guy, that name really doesn't do him justice, as he's an excellent commentator/critic of movies, television, celebrity, and wannabe celebrities. In fact, I'd say he's one of the nations leading commentators on all things pop culture. If it wasn't illegal, he'd be an expert on gambling (table games, as well as sports gambling). What sets him … more

Comments (4) Compliments (85)

Quick Tip by Butter. August 20, 2009

A Quick Tip by Butter

Been catching up on some Sports Guy. Can't wait for his new book to be on the Kindle.

Comment Compliment

see all Bill Simmons reviews (3)

About the reviewer

drogoff
Ranked #87

I am a fan of healthy living, science fiction, the opinion page, Korean food, UCLA basketball and oatmeal. I like to read reviews of restaurants, recipes and cooking products … more

Consider the Source

Use Trust Points to see how much you can rely on this review.

John Madden

Surfing

Will Ferrell

Red Playground Ball

rate more to improve this

Recent reviews by drogoff

Pretty good ribs...weak beans
a review of Mr. Cecil's California Ribs

Not to be Confused with Katsuya...More Mellow and …
a review of Izaka-ya by Katsu-ya (Manhattan Beach)

Jay Robb Vanilla Whey is My Favorite Protein Powder …
a review of Jay Robb Protein Powder

see more reviews

About this image

Wiki

Bill Simmons has a Twitter account with over 384,000 followers and is the host of The B.S. Report Podcast hosted on ESPN.com

He is also a columnist and podcaster for Page 2 on ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. He was formerly known as "The Boston SportsGuy" but, is now known simply as "The Sports Guy". He uses extended analogies to pop culture throughout his sports reporting.

HIGHLIGHTS OF BILL SIMMONS' CAREER:

On October 1, 2005, he released his first book, Now I Can Die In Peace which is a collection of his columns leading up to the 2004 World Series victory of the Boston Red Sox.

On April 19, 2006- Simmons defeated Bernie Mac in the NBA Cares Celebrity Fantasy League with a score of 1028-852. He said that he won due to his extensive NBA knowledge and acknowledged Kobe Bryant as part of the reason he won.

In July 2008, he announced that he would be taking time off to finish his second book out, The Book of Basketball, The NBA According to the Sports Guy which will be released October 27, 2009.

view wiki