At some point, you have to move on before people stop appreciating you.  For one of ESPN’s most popular writers, it might be time to move on.  Once upon a time, Bill Simmons was the hottest star of ESPN, and no amount of corporate suspensions could slow down his acerbic wit and his unwillingness to blink in the face of corporate pressure.  Now he’s ready to take off for greener pastures, be it a traditional media company, another sports network, or something else entirely.  Bill Simmons is leaving ESPN, the company that made him famous and that he made into a media powerhouse.

That’s not hyperbole.  Prior to signing with ESPN and heading to Page 2, Simmons wrote for AOL Sports as the Boston Sports Guy, then just Sports Guy.  After growing his audience, Simmons used his clout to launch Grantland, which replaced ESPN Page 2 as the place to go for interesting sports writing through the lens of pop culture.  While with Grantland, he wrote the number one best-selling Book of Basketball.  As if that wasn’t enough, he made regular appearances on ESPN’s NBA programming AND he was the mastermind behind the award-winning 30 For 30 series of sports documentaries.  Oh yeah, he also hosts the incredibly popular and influential BS Report podcast, which has had an appearance from none other than President Barack Obama.

ESPN says they failed to find a compromise with Bill Simmons’ agents.  It’s probably not just money, given Simmons’ desire for creative freedom and creative control over his words and his choices.  Still, it’s going to be a loss for both parties.

Tags: sports, sports journalism, grantland, espn, bill simmons, bill simmons leaving espn, bill simmons is leaving espn, bill simmons leaving grantland, 30 for 30, the book of basketball, sports guy, bs report

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]