When Mariotti attacks Simmons, everybody loses, part 2 of 2
The network has only itself to blame, enabling Simmons and turning him loose to the point he was uncontrollable.
Except that the only thing that finally got him shitcanned was his direct and pointed insults towards the NFL, the biggest revenue producer (and probably the most powerful entity) in American sports. It's not like ESPN is looking back at how they enabled and supported Simmons and saying "My God, we should have seen this coming! This was obviously the way this would end!" He picked what is probably the one and only insult target that would get him canned, and even still, it took multiple incidents for ESPN to decide they'd had enough.
There is a difference between covering sports with fierce independence — my philosophy —
Hahahahahahahahahahaha. Go play in traffic, you twatmunch. It's pretty easy to be "independent" when no one will hire you because your own misconduct makes you toxic as fuck.
and being a megalomaniacal jackass like Simmons,
No argument here.
who never took a law class
Jay Mariotti, Esq., here to opine on defamation jurisprudence. Oh wait, never mind, he's just got his head up his own colon as usual.
and, thus, didn’t understand why the company suspended him for referring to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as “a liar.”
I'm sure he understood. Also, it takes about 90 seconds on Wikipedia to learn that under 1st Amendment caselaw, since Goodell is inarguably a "public figure," Simmons’s remark would only create liability if it 1) was incorrect, which, with a generic insult/accusation like “He’s a liar” is very hard to prove, and 2) was made with "actual knowledge" of the fact that the statement wasn’t true (or "reckless disregard" for the truth, which is inapplicable here since Bill doesn't, like, work in the NFL executive offices and have access to Roger's personal files or whatever). But Simmons (and anyone in America with a brain) legitimately felt that Goodell really WAS a liar. Bill’s mistake wasn’t failing to stay within the boundaries of defamation law. It was publicly insulting a gigantic cash cow that helps make ESPN into a gigantic cash cow.
Goodell may have lied about what he knew in the Ray Rice case, but Simmons did not have incontrovertible proof,
This is not how libel works. At all. ESPECIALLY with public figures. You don’t need “incontrovertible proof” to accuse your fucking neighbor of being a liar. If that were the legal standard (especially for public figures) that would lead to no one ever bringing scandals to light due to fear of owing large sums of money if a court deemed the proof of the scandal to fall short of “incontrovertible.”
which means the league could have sued the network for megamillions —
No. Also, I think you should just say “millions;” Megamillions is the popular multistate biweekly lottery, and really, that’s just good clean fun.
and may have done so if ESPN wasn’t a broadcasting bedfellow.
Yes, they may have sued, but they’d know they didn’t have a case. They’d do it just to rattle ESPN’s cage, because if there’s anything that would make ESPN panic, it would be the possibility of lost profits resulting from a deteriorating relationship with THE SHIELD.
Simmons also was unequipped to be editor-in-chief of Grantland.com — his insensitivity was appalling when he approved a piece that unnecessarily outed a transgender person, who, because of the outing, committed suicide.
Well, I’ll take Jay’s side here. I still can’t believe he can’t find (or perhaps correctly read) a Wikipedia page about libel.
Anyone else would have been fired after the Goodell and transgender mistakes.
Probably not, actually. Definitely not the Dr. V putter story, anyways. And he got suspended for the Goodell remarks. A pretty big deal for a guy with his profile.
Simmons kept his job both times only because ESPN president John Skipper doesn’t acknowledge his own errors until he must.
This is true—Jay knows firsthand. He probably waited about five years too long to ban Jay from appearing on Around the Horn.
Friday was that day, hours after Simmons had appeared on the radio show of another ESPN pariah, Dan Patrick, with another over-the-top rip job of Goodell.
There is no such thing as an over-the-top insulting of Goodell. Goodell and his dumb shiteating fat fucking face are immune to hyperbolic vitriol.
Simmons destroyed the commissioner because he didn’t immediately announce a suspension in the Tom Brady deflated-balls scandal, and while it’s fair to wonder why Goodell is waiting, his weekend pause doesn’t warrant a nuclear explosion.
No, it probably doesn’t, but 90% of everything else he does.
Clearly, Simmons is immature.
Time for one of my favorite old gags—post a hilariously moronic comment multiple times because it’s so enjoyable to read.
Clearly, Simmons is immature.
Clearly, Simmons is immature.
Clearly, Simmons is immature.
Clearly, Simmons is immature.
Clearly, Simmons is immature.
An excellent point from Jay, paragon of maturity.
Once a fanboy, always a fanboy.
Once a man who is convinced that Ozzie Guillen is responsible for all the evils of the world, always a man who... that.
I’ve had my squabbles with corporate management.
OH HAVE YA
But my complaints were legitimate —
/dying
a Chicago radio station demanded I sign a sheet of paper that I wouldn’t criticize the Bulls or White Sox, which would have painted me into an ethical corner had I agreed.
I’m sure that is about 25% of the story, or possibly less, but I do have to agree that working in sports media probably loses a shitload of its appeal once you get muzzled.
When I refused, I was fired the day after Christmas.
If only you could have been fired while eating dinner with your family ON Christmas, via an in-person visit from your boss, like the end of Christmas Vacation except without the boss changing his mind.
My bosses at the Chicago Sun-Times had business ties with certain sports owners in town, and when they asked me to soften my opinions about those owners, I said no.
Partly because of the whole ethics issue, but mostly because Jay is a petulant baby who hates Jerry Reinsdorf like most people hate Hitler.
Had Simmons used another description for Goodell, he’d probably still be working at ESPN.
No, he would not.
By calling him a liar, and then challenging the network to reprimand him after doing so, Simmons no longer was fighting a free-speech war.
Actually, he was, but it was also a war of “which of these relationships is worth more money to ESPN,” and he lost, badly.
He was leaving himself vulnerable to a mountainous lawsuit.
No, you fucking retard. No. And were that the case, the NFL could just sue Bill directly and bleed him dry, but that’s not happening even though the NFL is endlessly insecure and vindictive, because that’s not how libel law works.
Before he works again, the fanboy needs to take a law class or two.
/still dying
The Internet has enabled recklessness by idiot entrepreneurs — such as the assclown at Gawker Media — who think they can publish lies about anyone because it’s difficult for a public figure to win a libel suit against a web publication.
Wait—what??????? I thought Goodell had an AIRTIGHT case against Simmons! How is Gawker publishing (true) things about Mariotti any different than Simmons saying (true) things about Goodell, then?
So the entrepreneurs hire clueless kid losers for $15 a story and order them to drive traffic, resulting in sleazy techniques and wild inaccuracies.
Hey, much better than paying Jay whatever he made at the Chicago Sun-Times while using sleazy techniques to publish wild inaccuracies. Speaking of wild inaccuracies, Jay needs to take a law class or two.
I told a college journalism class
shortly before being removed by campus security so the professor could continue their lecture
that you’d be better off cleaning sewage plants than working for something called Deadspin.com,
True from an income standpoint, I’m sure, but those sewage-cleaning plant jobs are probably union and difficult to get unless you know someone. You can probably work for Deadspin, at least on a freelance basis, based solely on your own skills and merit.
where you’re being paid less than a janitor to basically pick up garbage and place it on the Internet. Another website, Bleacher Report, has somewhat higher standards yet also pays peanuts to kids who don’t know what they’re doing. Why? Because entrepreneurs think you don’t have to pay for good sportswriting.
And sadly, as Bleacher Report’s content continues to get less shitty (I know, I know) and Deadspin continues to occasionally publish cool shit alongside all its terrible unfunny shit, they’re right! This is a systemic problem in the journalism industry, driven by supply and demand in both the media and journalism labor markets, and has very little to do with DURR HURR BILL SIMMONS WASN’T ONE OF THE COOL KIDS IN THE PRESS BOX.
The Bleacher Report entrepreneurs, too, are sports fans, making them fanboys much like … Bill Simmons.
OH MY GOD! CONSPIRACY! ALL THE PIECES FIT! JET FUEL CAN’T MELT STEEL BUILDING SUPPORT BEAMS!
One of America’s best sportswriters, Bob Kravitz,
Bob Kravitz is a shitty writer with shitty opinions. We should have posted much, much more about him when this blog was still quasi-active.
broke the Deflategate story in his new position at an Indianapolis TV station/website.
Did he? Did he "break" it? Maybe he did (I’m sure he has sources galore in the Colts organization, which, good for him), and guess how many sports fans give a flying cunt about that? This isn’t the 20th century, Jay, when one newspaper might get a scoop and be the place to read about a story while another has no idea about it until the first newspaper publishes. It doesn’t matter how much you hate the internet—it has reduced the value of breaking a story to essentially nothing. Deal with it, or GTFO of the industry and stop bothering people.
After the Ted Wells report was issued, Kravitz wrote of unprofessionalism he encountered in the New England media the last few months:
Well, come on, what do you expect? It’s the Boston media.
“The people who disappointed me most were the folks at The [Boston] Globe’s website, Boston.com. They are renowned pom-pom wearers, so it wasn’t a surrpise.
Typo is [sic], left in because Jay is such a big fan of professionalism.
But I was struck at the enthusiasm they displayed while carrying the Patriots’ water. It shocked me that a great newspaper like the Boston Globe would employ such rank amateurs and cheerleaders. Sad.”
Because it’s not the 20th century, Bob and Jay, and pretty much all newspapers are shit and are desperate for access. They’ll cut their own dicks off to curry favor with popular local teams. I know it’s hard for you fucking dinosaurs to understand that times have changed, but maybe if everyone else seems out of touch, you’re the out of touch ones.
Where did Simmons grow up? Boston.
HOLY SHIT ANOTHER LEVEL TO THIS WHOLE THING! NO ONE IS SAFE! THE CLOCK STRIKES AT MIDNIGHT! THE ILLUMINATI ARE ABOUT TO TAKE OVER!
From who did younger Boston.com sportswriters learn? Simmons.
And I’m sure it was only the young Boston.com writers carrying water for the Pats. I’m sure that Dan Shaugnessy, Jackie MacMullan, etc. were NOWHERE near that practice.
Shame on ESPN for empowering Simmons for so many years.
Oh wow, that’s got to sting. “Shame on you.” Go easy, Jay!
ESPN also killed sportswriting when it gave a major platform to a statistics geek, Nate Silver, failing to realize that sport is best covered via the exploration of human emotion, not the joyless crunching of numbers.
BWAHHHHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
SHUT IT DOWN
I DON’T THINK WE NEED TO GO ANY FURTHER
True from an income standpoint, I’m sure, but those sewage-cleaning plant jobs are probably union and difficult to get unless you know someone. You can probably work for Deadspin, at least on a freelance basis, based solely on your own skills and merit.
where you’re being paid less than a janitor to basically pick up garbage and place it on the Internet. Another website, Bleacher Report, has somewhat higher standards yet also pays peanuts to kids who don’t know what they’re doing. Why? Because entrepreneurs think you don’t have to pay for good sportswriting.
And sadly, as Bleacher Report’s content continues to get less shitty (I know, I know) and Deadspin continues to occasionally publish cool shit alongside all its terrible unfunny shit, they’re right! This is a systemic problem in the journalism industry, driven by supply and demand in both the media and journalism labor markets, and has very little to do with DURR HURR BILL SIMMONS WASN’T ONE OF THE COOL KIDS IN THE PRESS BOX.
The Bleacher Report entrepreneurs, too, are sports fans, making them fanboys much like … Bill Simmons.
OH MY GOD! CONSPIRACY! ALL THE PIECES FIT! JET FUEL CAN’T MELT STEEL BUILDING SUPPORT BEAMS!
One of America’s best sportswriters, Bob Kravitz,
Bob Kravitz is a shitty writer with shitty opinions. We should have posted much, much more about him when this blog was still quasi-active.
broke the Deflategate story in his new position at an Indianapolis TV station/website.
Did he? Did he "break" it? Maybe he did (I’m sure he has sources galore in the Colts organization, which, good for him), and guess how many sports fans give a flying cunt about that? This isn’t the 20th century, Jay, when one newspaper might get a scoop and be the place to read about a story while another has no idea about it until the first newspaper publishes. It doesn’t matter how much you hate the internet—it has reduced the value of breaking a story to essentially nothing. Deal with it, or GTFO of the industry and stop bothering people.
After the Ted Wells report was issued, Kravitz wrote of unprofessionalism he encountered in the New England media the last few months:
Well, come on, what do you expect? It’s the Boston media.
“The people who disappointed me most were the folks at The [Boston] Globe’s website, Boston.com. They are renowned pom-pom wearers, so it wasn’t a surrpise.
Typo is [sic], left in because Jay is such a big fan of professionalism.
But I was struck at the enthusiasm they displayed while carrying the Patriots’ water. It shocked me that a great newspaper like the Boston Globe would employ such rank amateurs and cheerleaders. Sad.”
Because it’s not the 20th century, Bob and Jay, and pretty much all newspapers are shit and are desperate for access. They’ll cut their own dicks off to curry favor with popular local teams. I know it’s hard for you fucking dinosaurs to understand that times have changed, but maybe if everyone else seems out of touch, you’re the out of touch ones.
Where did Simmons grow up? Boston.
HOLY SHIT ANOTHER LEVEL TO THIS WHOLE THING! NO ONE IS SAFE! THE CLOCK STRIKES AT MIDNIGHT! THE ILLUMINATI ARE ABOUT TO TAKE OVER!
From who did younger Boston.com sportswriters learn? Simmons.
And I’m sure it was only the young Boston.com writers carrying water for the Pats. I’m sure that Dan Shaugnessy, Jackie MacMullan, etc. were NOWHERE near that practice.
Shame on ESPN for empowering Simmons for so many years.
Oh wow, that’s got to sting. “Shame on you.” Go easy, Jay!
ESPN also killed sportswriting when it gave a major platform to a statistics geek, Nate Silver, failing to realize that sport is best covered via the exploration of human emotion, not the joyless crunching of numbers.
BWAHHHHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
SHUT IT DOWN
I DON’T THINK WE NEED TO GO ANY FURTHER
Oh wait, yes we do:
In the process, the network chased off Rick Reilly, only the greatest sportswriter of his generation
Rick Reilly couldn’t sportswrite his way through a wet piece of toilet paper. Fuck him and fuck Jay for cheerleading for him. Die, both of you.
and someone who broke news responsibly,
HEY YOU’RE GONNA SAY I HAD THIS ON TWITTER FIRST, RIGHT???????
covered games and press conferences on site, interviewed subjects, understood libel law and carried the profession with savvy.
/dead
Next, ESPN is trying an African-American site with an editor, Jason Whitlock, who isn’t liked by many African-American writers and is more comfortable in a strip joint than in any mentoring position. The site’s marquee hire so far was a white journalist, Mike Wise.
Come on Jay, don’t half-ass it. Tell us how you really feel. Heat up that taek, it’s a little lukewarm for you.
I appreciated my eight years at ESPN; the TV show was fun,
I’ll bet he signed a settlement agreement with ESPN that prevents him from saying the show's name.
and when I was on, the ratings were much higher and the banter much livelier.
Kill yourself.
But the culture is not conducive to doing one’s best work. It’s a political loony bin where Skipper, like Goodell, can’t maintain consistency in issuing disciplinary punishments. Seems he finally got one right Friday.
Again, as in the case with Jay, it was a mere five-to-ten years late.
And, no, I would not hire Bill Simmons at this news organization if he applied. Our standards are too high.
Aw, you mean the San Francisco Examiner, the country’s 58th most important newspaper, wouldn’t hire Bill? Pity. My guess is he lands at Bleacher Report and continues to grab a whole fucking shitload of eyeballs and pageviews.
Jay Mariotti is sports director and lead sports columnist at the San Francisco Examiner. He can be reached at jmariotti@sfexaminer.com. Read his website at jaymariotti.com.
Never. Never ever ever.
In the process, the network chased off Rick Reilly, only the greatest sportswriter of his generation
Rick Reilly couldn’t sportswrite his way through a wet piece of toilet paper. Fuck him and fuck Jay for cheerleading for him. Die, both of you.
and someone who broke news responsibly,
HEY YOU’RE GONNA SAY I HAD THIS ON TWITTER FIRST, RIGHT???????
covered games and press conferences on site, interviewed subjects, understood libel law and carried the profession with savvy.
/dead
Next, ESPN is trying an African-American site with an editor, Jason Whitlock, who isn’t liked by many African-American writers and is more comfortable in a strip joint than in any mentoring position. The site’s marquee hire so far was a white journalist, Mike Wise.
Come on Jay, don’t half-ass it. Tell us how you really feel. Heat up that taek, it’s a little lukewarm for you.
I appreciated my eight years at ESPN; the TV show was fun,
I’ll bet he signed a settlement agreement with ESPN that prevents him from saying the show's name.
and when I was on, the ratings were much higher and the banter much livelier.
Kill yourself.
But the culture is not conducive to doing one’s best work. It’s a political loony bin where Skipper, like Goodell, can’t maintain consistency in issuing disciplinary punishments. Seems he finally got one right Friday.
Again, as in the case with Jay, it was a mere five-to-ten years late.
And, no, I would not hire Bill Simmons at this news organization if he applied. Our standards are too high.
Aw, you mean the San Francisco Examiner, the country’s 58th most important newspaper, wouldn’t hire Bill? Pity. My guess is he lands at Bleacher Report and continues to grab a whole fucking shitload of eyeballs and pageviews.
Jay Mariotti is sports director and lead sports columnist at the San Francisco Examiner. He can be reached at jmariotti@sfexaminer.com. Read his website at jaymariotti.com.
Never. Never ever ever.
