Is Simmons going too far?

I wouldn't turn around to read a Simmons column -- oddly enough, that's not really a knock, simply not my thing -- but my son, who was born in Fountain Valley, California, and grew up in South Florida and goes to college in Orlando and has absolutely zero ties to Boston or its sports teams, thinks Bill Simmons is the finest, greatest, funniest, most entertaining, most interesting writer in the history of "journalism," and loves to remind me. Whatever I think, that's a fact, I'm sure it's a fact among a large segment of the 22-year-old sports fan demographic, and there's nothing I can do about it. Just is.

 

Simmons is what he is. I have more of a problem with the people who are, or claim to be legitimate journalists, who are in bed with players, agents, coaches or whatever.

 

I understand Bill Simmons is far from a journalist, and after reading him for a number of years, don't expect him to stay impartial. He's gonna push the Sox, Celtics, Pats and Bruins. I've come to expect that, and continue to actually enjoy him as a light-hearted, time-killing read. But imploring fans to mock and distract a Celtics opponent? For ESPN.com, I think that's way too far. I think it's sophomoric, petty and something I'd fully expect my 15-year-old nephew to try.

It's almost like CNN running a piece on its site that asks readers to chant "foreigner" (or some such thing) during an Obama speech.

 

ESPN is not CNN.

Not even close.

 

CNN is more biased.

 

That's a good point ... poor analogy on my part.

 

It's par for the course with Simmons. This is his schtick. It works for some readers, doesn't work for others.

I also used to be firmly in the "we all must behave the best for the readers who can't tell the difference" but I've learned in the last couple years readers are a helluva lot smarter than we give them credit for. They can tell who the buffoons are, who the serious journalists are, who mixes whimsy with facts, etc. Very few will read Simmons and paint everyone with the same brush.

 

Very creative. Wonder how long it took for Simmons to come up with that one?

 

It would be better if his chants weren't stolen from Duke.

 

Yeah, it was pretty weak. He eschewed the more vulgar chants, not sure if it was a higher-up decision. Probably mutually agreed upon.

 

Here's my problem with what Simmons is doing.
For years he has whined and bitched about NBA arenas telling people what to chant and when to do it. He hated when they'd show the "De-Fense" chant on the JumboTron.
How is this different?