Bill Simmons is leaving ESPN

It's funny because I remember reading somewhere a few years ago that when DVRs came of age, the industry actually thought sports would be something that would be very popular to watch on delay, for some reason.

I wonder how much that texting has made sure that won't happen. When there's a big game, my friends and I belly up to the digital sports bar together. The texts were flying fast and furious during last night's Stanley Cup game.

 

Football and basketball are the only sports I can watch on DVR delay because of the predictable commercial breaks. In other major sports - soccer, baseball and hockey - the scoring is so infrequent that I prefer to watch live.

I do watch Sunday NFL on NBC and the Thursday night games at midnight as I work those nights. I stay off Twitter and, in the newsroom, colleagues know not to tell me the score and I avoid glancing at the screens the game is on.

This delay works for me as I zip through the NFL game in about 90 minutes when the ads are taken out. My me time.

 

Saying he's more of a journalist than Simmons isn't exactly setting the bar too high. But does he have the draw Simmons does?

He's certainly talented enough to do it. The question is simply how many readers will they lose because of Simmons and how much of a difference will that make? Hardcore Grantland fans, and I consider myself one, will stay.

 

Which sites are you comparing it to? I'm not arguing, I'm just asking. I would be curious to see how it compares with a site like MMQB. While MMQB is specific to one sport, it's also an example of a website, taking its most popular columnist and spinning it off to it's own site.

 

Chris Connolly has two brands to me: being Kurt Loder's backup on MTV News 30 years ago and doing every "kid with 7 toes or 3 heads who likes sports" feature story on ESPN.

 

I don't think SB Nation is a fair comparison at all. It's its own entity. I put Deadspin in its own category with TBL and EDSBS and those other sites.

I look at it as a spinoff. It's a very expensive spinoff. I would compare it to MMQB. I would certainly hope Grantland is crushing MMQB. But I'm sure SB Nation and BR and those sites crush Grantland.

 

Who's the guy who does all of the "dying kid meets his favorite athlete" pieces. Every time I hear his voice, I turn the channel. I'm sure the pieces are great, I just have no desire to watch manufactured tear jerkers, especially when I'm just trying to watch SportsCenter.

Again, not saying they're not well-done, just not for me.

 

Tom Rinaldi

 

I've always been sickened at the amount of traffic that SB Nation and Bleacher Report get.

Bleacher Report: Here is a story we stole and 10 pictures to go with it. Please click all of them. Some of the recent hires have helped their credibility a little bit. I get google alerts for my favorite teams and some of the stories are written by people who have never covered a practice or a game. Others are written by people with 20 years experience covering the sport. 95 percent of the people who read it don't know the difference.

I don't think Grantland appeals to the casual sports fan. I think that's why some of us like it.