As you may or may not know already, ESPN in its infinite wisdom has suspended Bill Simmons for 3 weeks in light of negative comments he made about the NFL. Yes, the NFL. Not ESPN. However, someone in the NFL must have been angered by these comments and must have subsequently made an angry call to ESPN, who bent over as usual and took it.
If you recall, ESPN once ran an article on LeBron but then took it down hours later because LeBron's team didn't like it (here it is in full if you are so inclined).
Simmons is a very large proportion of what is 'good' about ESPN, for me anyway. Sure, he is New England everything, or at least he used to be, but his articles are entertaining and generally pretty knowledgeable. He is definitely a well meaning guy, and his heart is, by and large, in the right place. For me, he has every right to call foul on the NFL, and the fact ESPN has suspended him does nothing but make a further mockery of the site.
For the record, Simmons said
ESPN 'retaltaited' by suspending him and saying this
I am disgusted by this cowardly action, ESPN should be standing by it's journalists, not throwing them under the bus. However the key to understanding this stab in the back is, as is so often the case in corporate America, money. ESPN has invested over 15 billion dollars in the NFL and they are clearly going to protect that investment quite aggressively.
Even if it means suspending their own talent, should they dare to besmirch the name of the NFL.
Well, screw you ESPN. You want to suspend one of the chief reasons I bother visiting your site? Okay so, I will avoid your site for the duration of that suspension.
I invite my readers and friends to do same, and spread the word on Twitter with #DontVisitESPNFor3Weeks and of course #FreeSimmons
Simmons was brave enough to speak his mind on how the NFL has run out of control, and he deserves our support.
 |
| Bill Simmons suspended |
If you recall, ESPN once ran an article on LeBron but then took it down hours later because LeBron's team didn't like it (here it is in full if you are so inclined).
Simmons is a very large proportion of what is 'good' about ESPN, for me anyway. Sure, he is New England everything, or at least he used to be, but his articles are entertaining and generally pretty knowledgeable. He is definitely a well meaning guy, and his heart is, by and large, in the right place. For me, he has every right to call foul on the NFL, and the fact ESPN has suspended him does nothing but make a further mockery of the site.
For the record, Simmons said
"I really hope somebody calls me or emails me and says I'm in trouble for anything I say about Roger Goodell. Because if one person says that to me, I'm going public. You leave me alone. The commissioner's a liar and I get to talk about that on my podcast. … Please, call me and say I'm in trouble. I dare you''
ESPN 'retaltaited' by suspending him and saying this
"Every employee must be accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN's journalistic standards. We have worked hard to ensure that our recent NFL coverage has met that criteria. Bill Simmons did not meet those obligations in a recent podcast, and as a result we have suspended him for three weeks."
I am disgusted by this cowardly action, ESPN should be standing by it's journalists, not throwing them under the bus. However the key to understanding this stab in the back is, as is so often the case in corporate America, money. ESPN has invested over 15 billion dollars in the NFL and they are clearly going to protect that investment quite aggressively.
Even if it means suspending their own talent, should they dare to besmirch the name of the NFL.
Well, screw you ESPN. You want to suspend one of the chief reasons I bother visiting your site? Okay so, I will avoid your site for the duration of that suspension.
I invite my readers and friends to do same, and spread the word on Twitter with #DontVisitESPNFor3Weeks and of course #FreeSimmons
Simmons was brave enough to speak his mind on how the NFL has run out of control, and he deserves our support.
Comments