ESPN Suspends Bill Simmons

[Hockey Guy]

Gotta admit I'm a little surprised by this but considering the way the NFL made that concussion piece go away I shouldn't be. I really thought Bill Simmons would be safe because of all the public sentiment on the issue but apparently not.

ESPN has suspended Grantland editor-in-chief Bill Simmons for three weeks after he repeatedly called NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a "liar" during a profane tirade on a podcast.

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/1...s-nfl-comments

I've seen what he actually said but can't find it now or I would have posted it. Maybe the NFL made that go away too. Usually they put a link to relevant stories, like his comments, but it's somehow absent on this one.

[chinamaniac]

more or less he swore a few times called goodell a liar etc

he basically just hopped on the bandwagon of everyone who was saying fire goodell only he was like the last person to say this

[Hockey Guy]

more or less he swore a few times called goodell a liar etc

he basically just hopped on the bandwagon of everyone who was saying fire goodell only he was like the last person to say this

Yeah, I found it but not where I originally had seen it. I couldn't find it anywhere on ESPN even though I read it just this morning. Here's what was said:

“I just think that not enough is being made of the fact that they knew about the tape and they knew what was on it,” Simmons said. “Goodell, if he didn’t know what was on that tape, he’s a liar. I’m just saying it. He is lying. I think that dude is lying. If you put him up on a lie detector test that guy would fail. For all these people to pretend they didn’t know is such f*****g bull****. It really is — it’s such f*****g bull****. And for him to go in that press conference and pretend otherwise, I was so insulted. I really was.”

“This is the thing – when you’re the leader, you’re in charge and that’s it. And you take accountability. People work for you and ultimately they represent you, and if you screwed up as an institution in some way, take accountability for it.

“The best point that a lot of people have made about this is that this is exactly why he fined and suspended Sean Payton for a season,” Goodell continued. “Sean Payton was like, ‘I didn’t know.’ (Goodell’s) like, ‘Well, ignorance is not a whatever,’ and suspended him for a year. This is the same exact situation, and it’s worse because he knew. And he’s a liar.”

http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos/...goodell/29893/

[Sloppy Joe]

He basically called Goodell a liar and then dropped some lines about how all of this is fucking bullshit, bleeped on his podcast but obvious to all. He then dared 'someone' to come after him, and ESPN did.

Grantland also had his tirade transcribed on their website afterwards, which I assume is now gone.

Is he suspended because of the bleeped out profanity, goading ESPN or calling Goodell a liar?

I've grown a bit weary of his schtick over the years but he is massively popular and knowledgeable about the NBA.

What a bad move by ESPN, whom I thought was doing a good job covering Goodell despite the corporate interests. #freesimmons was trending on Twitter last night and I saw his suspension on CNN.com.

Stephen A. Smith saying females shouldn't provoke attacks = 1 week suspension
Ray Rice lays out his wife, Garrett style = 2 game (2 week) suspension
Bill Simmons calls Roger Goodell a liar, something that probably 96% of people agree with = 3 weeks

[Crowe Diddly]

When something happens at/to ESPN, don't look to ESPN for the news. Go straight to Deadspin.

http://deadspin.com/espn-suspends-bi...6/+kevindraper

[jsearles22]

Suspended for what? Calling a spade a spade? How do you give a guy his own uncensored space (Grantland) and then try to muzzle him?

[Crowe Diddly]

How do you give a guy his own uncensored space (Grantland) and then try to muzzle him?

Whatever gave you the silly, silly idea that it would be uncensored? I doubt anyone in the entire ESPN/ABC/Disney/Globochem family is allowed total creative control/editorial control over any website, podcast, radio show, tv show, public appearance, hell, even social media.

[jsearles22]

How do you give a guy his own uncensored space (Grantland) and then try to muzzle him?

Whatever gave you the silly, silly idea that it would be uncensored? I doubt anyone in the entire ESPN/ABC/Disney/Globochem family is allowed total creative control/editorial control over any website, podcast, radio show, tv show, public appearance, hell, even social media.

I'm naive. I assumed since they allowed curse words it was nothing is off limits. I realize thats absurd. The billion dollar industry that is the NFL can do whatever they want I suppose

[jsearles22]

#FreeBillSimmons and #FreeSimmons already trending on twitter. My favorite comment so far:

Bill Simmons: Suspended by @espn for saying what LITERALLY every person was already thinking and saying. #FreeSimmons

[PLOL]

They suspended him from making tweets for 3 week too, which is pretty hilarious. Apparently he has nearly 3 million followers.

#FreeSimmons

[chinamaniac]

He called out his bosses on the podcast saying whoever wants to come after me can come after me. Guy is a clown, he was about 2 weeks late on the fire goodell thing and he is terrible on TV and is as uninteresting personality as there is on tv.

[SrslySirius]

When something happens at/to ESPN, don't look to ESPN for the news. Go straight to Deadspin.

http://deadspin.com/espn-suspends-bi...6/+kevindraper

A thousand times this. Actually, when anything remotely scandalous happens in sports, just go to Deadspin.

I'm surprised that this surprises you, Hockey Guy. The NFL and ESPN are business partners. Many of the people who write for ESPN, most notably Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen, heavily depend on the goodwill of league executives. Here's an interesting piece on how chummy Schefter in particular is with front offices: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...742_story.html

Speaking of Deadspin, here's a hilarious comparison of other ESPN suspensions. http://deadspin.com/how-do-other-not...ill-1639013821

As one commenter sums it up, badmouthing Roger Goodell is:

worse than dick picks, moderate sexual harassment, victim blaming, flagrant misogyny and trashing your bosses, but not as bad as racist jokes, repeated sexual harassment, or boning/punching your coworkers?

[herbertstemple]

[gut]

The lesson here is to be a snarky, passive-aggressive idiot like Olbermann; then you are fine in this country now. Speak your mind like Simmons, bam! 3-week suspension.

It doesn't matter what you say anymore, it's how you say it.

[lewfather]

Really surprised China's taking this side, I'm not saying that he is wrong but Bill is obv a huge Boston guy. I actually like some of the stuff on grantland, even got me listening to nba stuff and I'm not a hoop guy at all.

I still think that China is probably mostly in the right here, the guy should know better at this point in his career. Yes Grantland is a little looser but you can't expect nothing will happen when you sound off like that. Likely his producers recommended that he don't do it and told him what the repercussions would be. Maybe he held off on doing it for so long and then finally had his blow up after the Goodell presser?

3 weeks suspension for just SAYING things does seem a bit firm though and like was previously stated in this thread, it wasn't like he was saying shit that the public wasn't already thinking.

The cruel irony of all this is that words speak louder than actions, kid gets 3 weeks when Rice was only going to get an initial 2 game suspension.

that's fucked....