Simmons vs. Pierce?

Then he should have modified his goals, because he's in a place where a lot of others would like to be. Many journalists probably wouldn't have minded going from phone/agate boy to being as widely read (and well-compensated) as Simmons.

Oh, they'd never admit that. But like the whole "I'd NEVER work for ESPN!!!!" chorus (that seems to have died down in recent months), it's usually self-righteous crap. Produce work that a lot of people genuinely enjoy reading, make a boatload of money doing it, and basically do whatever you want? Yeah, that sounds just horrible.

Anyway, a lot of people are well-read. Doesn't necessarily mean they wish to emulate those writers. As for his DFW footnotes in the Manny story, I thought it was just a blatant self-indulgence to try to make the piece into something bigger than it actually was.

I think maybe at some point he admired those writers, but if he hasn't moved way past that and realized the great success he's had (and his whining about his editors and his station at ESPN indicate he maybe hasn't), then he's really dumb.

 

The, "I'd NEVER work for ESPN!!!" chorus died down conveniently when two of the boards favorite writers signed up with ESPN.

 

I don't know Pierce personally, so I base this purely on his writing and the way he has acted in his interaction with Simmons... but I think Simmons' success drives Pierce nuts, and Simmons knows that, which is why he made the crack about Pierce's "red hot career."

The insult that launched their pissing match was not Pierce telling Simmons that a joke was out of line; it was Pierce telling Simmons he should "stay out of the deep end of the pool." Pierce recounts that in his response to Simmons so we can all nod at how wittily he insulted Simmons in an email.

If I was Simmons that line would piss me off, too.

There is no question at all that Pierce would never, ever trade his body of work for what Bill Simmons has done. Having said that, don't write off jealousy so easily. If Simmons isn't the best-paid sportswriter in America, he's on a very, very short list. He has a national platform. He can write anything he wants, live anywhere he wants, and his book was an instant best-seller.

That success drives a lot of people in the industry completely batshit, and from everything I've seen, Pierce is right there at the head of the list. There was a time here when every single time Simmons posted a new column there would instantly be a new thread with three pages of "he sucks," "he's just mad that he couldn't cut it at a newspaper," "he's so thin-skinned," blah blah blah. Pierce can't help himself but to take shots too. And the biggest motivation there, from what I can see, is jealousy. It doesn't mean that all his critics in the business wish they were writing columns peppered with Karate Kid references, but they sure as hell wish they had his forum and his paycheck.

Simmons is not without flaw here, but to me he comes across as a guy needling a cranky old man because he knows his existence makes the cranky old man froth at the mouth.

 

The "I'd NEVER work for ESPN!!!" chorus died down when it became clear the WWL was one of the few organizations left still hiring. But your theory is cute.

 

Do you want links?

 

If you can provide links proving causation between two of the board's favorite writers, whoever they may be, joining ESPN and reduced instances of posters on this board claiming he or she would never work for ESPN, I'd love to see them.

 

God, please don't.

 

Yeah, who were those guys?

YankeeFan, some help here, please.

Also, I'll steal BYH's take from a previous Simmons thread. This sums it up.

 

Can I get a caramel macchiato and a chocolate-chip muffin instead?

 

Otherwise known as splurging on a meal for many journalists.

 

That's not very original, you know.

And, besides, I'm not a barista.

And, that's kind of a sissy drink. I'd figure you for more of a straight espresso drinker. Maybe a ristretto.

 

Shit. He's a vodka drinker.