So, over the past 3 years or so, Bill Simmons has been getting more and more drawn to soccer. Especially the U.S. Nats. However, I was completely shocked during his recent (8/14) podcast. While talking to his Yankees fan Jack-O, the conversation turns to soccer. Listen starting at the 25:56 mark. Jack-O is not a fan of the sport, but Bill Simmons valiantly defends soccer's virtues, and shows some relatively decent knowledge, like Jozy joining Hull City. Or that Seattle draws well in MLS. He actually was arguing for soccer over baseball, albeit only partially. Anyway, I was just surprised by how much more and more involved he's getting.
not that i agree with his methods (seems a bit forced) but check out his twitter feed - among them (in reverse chronological order): Sorry, Liverpool - you lost the unofficial "Sway Simmons From Tottenham 1-Game Playoff." I need a No. 6 Huddlestone jersey. 15 hrs ago via web Halftime: Spurs 1, Liverpool 0. I'm good luck! Reason No. 53 to watch soccer: No sideline reporters or 5-man halftime shows. 16 hrs ago via web Another option: I pick a player (like Jozy) & follow him wherever instead of picking a team. Basically, like soccer stalking. 1 day ago via web Going to follow this EPL season & let the team find me instead of vice-versa. Although Jozy w/ Hull City... very intriguing. 1 day ago via web FYI: In 2006, I spent a kajillion words picking an EPL team. [link] - changed my mind on Spurs, want to do it organically. 1 day ago via web New EPL Team Update: Ruling out Aston Villa cuz they suck + I hate their uniforms. Sports Gal just called unis "pretty" & that says it all. 1 day ago via web
I listen to his podcasts and it seems more often than not over the past couple of months he will mention why soccer appeals to him or say something about soccer positively. He talked about it most recently with his buddy John from Connecticut in the midst of Yankees-Red Sox talk.
I thought his article on the US-Mexico match was quite good today. To me, he's a good example of men in my generation (boomer's children) - who are there to be taken by soccer. Right now, they are happy to call themselves fans of the Premier League and International play. It's not obsession, but they're willing to tune in. I also think the ESPN rights aquisition is perfect for this demographic (men 30 to 45). They get up early on Saturday mornings, don't hunt and usually want some peace and quiet on the couch. So why not a bit of Manchester United-Wigan early on a Saturday?
Kids too. When I was a kid, I'd watch just about any sport on TV. I remember watching quite a bit of Aussie Rules Football on some channel or other despite not knowing a dang thing about the game. I just enjoyed watching athletics. Same theory goes for the Olympics, too -- people turn into huge [fencing/swimming/diving/etc] fans when they normally wouldn't give any thought to it at all. All it takes is a quality TV presentation and boom! - you're a fan. I did like the Aussie Rules line judges by the goal posts. Cool hats and trench coats, and they would snap those flags just so.
Quite good? I have never even heard of Simmons before but I thought that article was exceptional. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090817
He's the consummate generation x sports columnist, incorporating pop culture and humor into his love for baseball, basketball, and football. He's very stats-driven and didn't make his way the typical way. Not through newspapers, but the Internet.
yeah - if you're a sports fan and 80's/90's enthusiast you should read some of his older columns. He pioneered the Ewing Theory, described the 13 levels of losing and made/published 2 of the best cross-subject comparisons I've ever seen: ESPN.com: Page 2 : Attack of the Super Blog ESPN.com: Page 2 : Mailing it in to Sports Guy the ONLY issue i have with him - and it's because of his passion - is that his columns are too damn long! good problem to have, i guess!
just read it - must agree. he has a gift of painting the picture relative to other sports. interesting that he mentioned the lack of passing in basketball and losing the love for it. I've never heard that point mentioned by true basketball fans before as a reason to leave (like the strike in baseball). Lamented - yes, but not as a trigger for leaving.
I didn't watch the game against Hull, but the commentator made it seem like (first half especially) it was a real cracker. The Liverpool match was very intense too. Surely he must be fairly captivated into the EPL already?
I've been a longtime reader of Simmons, but two things do come to mind here: 1. The cynic in me wonders whether his newfound soccer fandom is just a part of ESPN's marketing machine. They had Euro 2008, they will have the WC next year, and they are now showing PL matches. Seems convenient that they've got their most popular writer doing pieces on the sport 2. I'm glad to have Simmons talking about soccer, but he might want to hold off on some of his regular analysis until he starts watching more regularly. He does occasionally make "observations" which would be easily refuted by someone who has been watching the game for a number of years. That said, it's still entertaining to hear his take on things from the point of view of someone just getting into it. He has a gift for writing, no doubt.
To your first point I thought about it as well, though him and Cowherd seem to be the only ones really drinking the soccer cool-aid. As far as as his some of his observations being well newbish, it's to be expected; I don't want him to stop making observations because he's not an expert of the game; as long as he doesn't hide the fact that he's new to this and never pretend to know much about it, it will be OK.
I totally agree. To think that Simmons would be influenced to write about soccer due strictly to corporate influence is to not know much about him as a writer. He writes about what interests him, period. And his approach has always been that of a regular guy giving his perspective on sports, never as an expert. Although I would propose that he shows more insight into the sports world than most writers, typically. He has never claimed to be a soccer expert, but I appreciate observing his maturation as a soccer fan.
On point 1, I would say that he has battled with ESPN more than he has taken their marching orders. I think Cowherd's is more disingenuous than Bill's. On point 2, I personally think, who cares? Like the others said, that is part of his appeal. And soccer fans, as a group, need to develop a thicker skin about how people approach the sport. Not everything said or written about the NFL or NBA or MLB is perfectly ono target. Soccer should not be immune from idiots saying their piece. Lord knows with the small tent we have now there are enough of them already.
1. His fandom isn't that new. He live blogged the US-Poland WC match in '02 and enjoyed it. He's been following the sport off-and-on for years. True, his interest seems to be picking up, but I seriously doubt it has anything to do with any emphasis from the mother ship. 2. Get over it. All pub is good pub. He's not writing for us, he's writing for general sports fans. On that wavelength, he's got more knowledge than many and more than is generally necessary for the amount of coverage he's going to give the sport.
Has he battled much with ESPN? The only thing I really remember was that they wouldn't let him interview Obama on the podcast last year. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's exactly a network shill. But if ESPN wants to get the sport into their viewers minds a bit more, it wouldn't be a bad method. I doubt, for example, that his trip to Mexico was paid for out of his pocket. Right, and he wrote columns about it after the 2006 World Cup as well. He was going to "get into soccer" and follow Spurs and all that. Then football and basketball season came around and it was all forgotten (though in the case of Spurs, that's probably a good thing). It would be nice to see him stick with it rather than just have it as something to write about when there isn't much else going on in the sports scene here. Eh, maybe for the popularity of the sport here overall. But like many other writers he feels the need to criticize MLS without really having given it a fair chance, other than whatever they hear that's Beckham-related. Anyways, like I said, I'm glad they're covering more soccer via their various outlets. It's certainly a far cry from what we had 20 years ago.
Every 2-3 months Simmons gets into some spat with ESPN. At one point, I think he was basically on the verge of leaving and going on his own. He had another issue with ESPN where they made him add the disclaimer about mature subjects on his podcast.
He has been in a long battle with them over appearing on other podcasts. They won't let him be on anything except other ESPN podcasts. He also has bitched about them silencing him when he tries to criticize ESPN or ABC coverage of anything. Deadspin has written about it. Maybe ESPN did pay for him to go, but I think it was more him pushing them to leverage their property than the other way around.
People who listen and read him on a regular basis are not gonna blow smoke on this topic. If he's following soccer, it has nothing to do with ESPN.