Blogs With Balls Radio, Episode 7

This week’s Blogs With Balls Show on the JoeSportsFan Radio Network is now available.

Download Episode 7 Here.



Once again, we get into an in-depth conversation with our guest and have to cut the beginning of the show short.

We have a phenomenal conversation and go "Skyped Up" with ESPN.com Editor-in-Chief Rob King, who talks about his role, True Hoop, NFL Blog Network, ESPN Local, "What does Bill Simmons have to do to get fired," and more.

You can catch Rob alongside Jalen Rose, SB Nation's Jim Bankoff and SLAM Magazine's Lang Whitaker in Vegas next week at Blogs With Balls and the BlogWorld & New Media Expo.

Tickets are still only $100 for the whole shebang.







If you're out there and are interested in joining us at an exclusive, space-limited ESPN after-party featuring free booze, food and game cards courtesy of the WWL, drop us a line. The party will be co-hosted by Rob and Who Killed the USFL? director Mike Tollin.

This week's links of interest:

• Blogs With Balls
• BwB Tickets
• BwB Charity Poker Shootout
• BwB ESPN After-Party
  
• Blog World Expo
• ESPN.com
• Twitter.com/rfking
• True Hoop
• NFL Nation

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Separated At Birth: Bill Simmons Conspired to Provide Anna Nicole Opiates

Howard K. "Sports Guy" Stern’s arraignment date has been moved up to April 7 from May 13.

Follow us on Twitter @HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Have You Gotten Your BlogsWithBalls Tickets Yet?

Bill Simmons Estatic About C's Win

Now he can die in peas.

Who's Fooling Who?

I haven't followed the whole Bill Simmons/ESPN story very closely - because frankly, it doesn't interest me.

However, it seems many of you have.

Today, I brushed up at The Big Lead and saw this...

And how’s this for timing: Simmons says he’s going to be writing less for ESPN, and a day later, he posts what appears to be a 15,000 word story on his blog. We have no clue as to the backstory here, but the reader who directed us to it says that Simmons has said there was reader interest in the piece (which is from 1996), and it never got published. Looks to us like a, ‘I can write, dammit!’ piece. It sort of makes us want to rummage around our computer for this piece we did on John McEnroe being an asshole to us about seven years ago that never got published by the last newspaper we were at …

I figured it's something worth keeping an eye on. So I went to put it in my Google Reader and noticed that there was no RSS button in the address bar which is common with Blogspot.

So when I manually entered it into my Reader, I was directed to another blog/message board.

I won't ruin the fun, but try it for yourself.

So the questions are:

1. Is the blog legit (ie it is in fact Bill Simmons)
2. Is Bill Simmons a SOSH?
3. Is the joke on us?

Someone track down House and June Bug or whatever the hell their names are and get me some answers.

Humble Pie, Eat It

It's 10:15, Super Bowl Sunday Night. Sports Guy is on the clock. Let's see how long it takes for him to get a column up.

We give him at least till Friday, in which he will unleash a 2,000 word essay about something NBA related,lie for two paragraphs about how he is happy the Sox didn't get Santana, and then tell a funny little story about J-Bug and House and that time he won $11 in Vegas.

Hopefully we can get the Sports Gal's take on the game, and how silly and clever the commercials were and how often she says the word 'poo-poo' in a day.

Bet he doesn't dip into the mailbag for a long, long time.

Yup, we used to be your readers.
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Update:
February 4, 2008, 8:57 AM ET
Simmons posts about the Super Bowl.

I give him credit for this article. I realize it's his job and the reason he makes the money he does but I am sure he had to write it as soon as the game ended. It's one thing to see your team lose but it's another to have to sit in front of a computer and make sense of it all.

Did you know Bill Simmons has a column?

Photo: webbyawards.com

I can't honestly say I've read the Sports Guy much over the last 3 years. But last night, I made a rare exception, if only because it was linked in an email from the chief titled "look who also 'discovered' the warrior's blog."

It linked yesterday's Simmons column and its following bullet point:

• Did you know the Ultimate Warrior started his own blog?

I ask you something, jacknob. First, how did you discover this? I'll bet you don't read HHR, as much as I'd bet you don't normally frequent the Warrior's site. But maybe you check out a small blog called Deadspin every once in a while? Bet you never heard of it. Brooks perhaps (now that you are a West Coast big shot)?

Last week TMZ also "discovered" the Warrior's post, which prompted Fat Willard to write the following:

I am just going to call a spade a spade. Earlier this year, right around the time of the Benoit murder/suicide, Ren threw the Warrior's blog into his blog feeder. Never thinking anything would come of it but just because the guy is a lunatic, a legend in his own mind, and is good for a laugh once in a while. Anyway, this week the Warrior posted his Ledger comments and both Ren and I knew we were sitting on a gold/land mine.

The story got picked from our site by a few other sites, the biggest being from Deadspin. Every single site credited us for the find and gave links and kudos.

The next day, while surfing through my blog feeder, I noticed that TMZ.com had a story posted about the Warrior and the Ledger blog. Never mentioning how they just happened to come across it. I am sure it's in their list of daily pages to check for celeb gossip, right after Perez Hilton and E! Online. I am sure every available TMZ staff member, upon hearing of Ledger's death, ran straight to their computer to get the reaction of a washed up, ex-juicing wrestler.

Second, Mr. Simmons..."started?" Started his own blog? Did he just do this? Do you even know? Because, really your bullet should have read:

• Did you know the Ultimate Warrior started his own blog AT LEAST OVER A YEAR AND A HALF AGO?

I'm not so full of myself or this site to think we are the end-all, be-all of breaking obscure, yet newsworthy stories. But this isn't the first time we've gone unmentioned in certain cases when we actually do break something. The last time it was over the Trentonian cover - which after we popped it up around 9:30 in the morning the day it was published, soon spread like wild fire. So much so it ended up in SI's print edition.

Tell me what other site has writers that frequent the Warrior's blog or a local Trenton, NJ tabloid? But the difference is, you work for the World Wide Leader. One that shuns the blogosphere, yet apparently has no qualms ripping it off.

You wonder why a good number of readers have grown tired of your work. Your columns used to speak for the "everyman" and frankly used to be relevant. Now they are simply self-serving. How far you've fallen, friend.

Wonder why the Mottrams have re-energized dying outlets? Wonder why Leitch is on a book tour? Wonder how long you'll be around?

Misleading Headline: Comedian Gone Soccer Hooligan

Dane gets jail sentence for attacking referee in Euro 2008 qualifier

"I imagined he was that sissy pants Bill Simmons"
(photo: hbo.com)

Quote of the Day

We won't pretend we haven't killed hours of work over the last 7 years or so reading the Sports Guy. But we also won't pretend that we haven't tired of his shtick, particularly this post-2004 Bostonmania world of sports we live in.

In this blogger's eyes, however, he remains the gold standard, even if Ariel saw him commentating on TV once and couldn't get over how effeminate he comes off. But still.

I did a double take when I read this line this afternoon from BS:

"I think we've reached a stage in sports when you have to have an opinion on EVERYTHING, even if you come off like an ass in the process."

Seriously, folks. I can't even comment on that line. I would do it no justice. Just let it sink in and enjoy it.

Simmons/Cook Feud Takes Ugly Turn

Read this nice little re-cap by Gilbert at Obscure Sports Quarterly, only to come across this:



Red Sox Nation, must be none-to-happy about this turn of events. I can see the blogs blowing up any minute with how classless Cook is. I think he needs to be fined heavily and offer this poor lad an apology.