Bill Simmons Checks in on the Jason Whitlock Fiasco
Bill Simmons, ESPN, Jason Whitlock, Media Gossip/Musings September 28th. 2006, 2:31pm
Friends or foes? You make the call. Yesterday, the face of ESPN.com�s Page 2, Bill Simmons, had a marathon chat session in which he clowned on us, talked about his former Page 2 cohort, Jason Whitlock, and mentioned Laguna Beach. The fellas over at Kissing Suzy Kolber have already killed him for it. Full details and our analysis after the jump �
Just four questions into the chat, Simmons was kind enough to work us in.
Jason: (Boca Raton, FL): What do you make of the talk that Tom Brady’s body language during games demonstrates how unhappy he is with the organization for letting key players go and that it is rubbing off on his teammates?
SportsNation Bill Simmons: here’s my question: is he supposed to have good body language? The guy took less money to stay and his starting WR’s last Sunday were Reche Caldwell and Troy Brown. Putting myself in his shoes, I would be flipping out right now. I think he’s handled everything pretty well actually. Let’s hope he doesn’t snap and give an interview about his co-workers to the Big Lead.
Duly noted, Bill. But we�re a step ahead of you � ever since we heard Brady spent some of his offseason executive producing a show for MTV, we�ve wanted to ask him about it. But his agents brush us off like Jay Marrioti does.
Then came the good shit from South Dakota. Heard they just got high-speed internet up there:
Brent (South Dakota): As a media person, what are your feelings on Jason Whitlock’s departure? Did he destroy himself, or should a media person be allowed to criticiize his work associates without fear of retribution?
SportsNation Bill Simmons: I like Jason a lot, I’ve enjoyed exchanging emails with him and I liked having his column on Page 2, so I’m disappointed in what happened. But I don’t see what he had to gain by venting to a blog. What’s the benefit? So you win the respect of the 3,000 people who spend 8 hours a day posting on sports journalism message boards and blogs because you were “shooting from the hip”? Congratulations. What is this, wrestling? I just feel like there was a better way to handle it. I will really miss having him on the website, I always enjoyed his perspectives on things. And I still plan on reading him at AOL. But I’m disappointed with how everything went down.
Billy Boy, three thousand is being overly generous. Before you name-dropped us, we had fewer readers than Scoop Jackson. Have you already forgotten what it�s like to be a blogger? Working for the man occasionally will do that to you. We�re agree with the rest of the nation on Whitlock�s stance � he turned down the cold, hard, cash to stand up for what he believed in. Martyrdom? Why not?
We asked the right questions, and Whitlock spoke the truth. Anyone can see it � ratings or not, ESPN�s TV product has been deteriorating for years. And the .com is so clogged with talent that outstanding writers go there and get lost in the shuffle (Pat Forde, Chris Broussard, Wright Thompson, to name a few).
What�s surprising is that more newspapers haven�t run an �ESPN backlash� story yet.
And for the Laguna Beach in you �
Scott (NY, NY): What is Cameron’s problem on Laguna Beach? Can’t he see that Trish is a thousand times hotter than that wet blanket Jessica?? And yes I am 26 years old and watch a show about high school kids . . .
SportsNation Bill Simmons: The funniest thing about Cameron is that he has no discernable personality at all. There’s just nothing there. He’s a complete zero. And yet, every girl is falling over themselves for him. Hey, guess what, ladies? In 15 years, he’ll be a bald guy with a huge head and no personality! Enjoy!
Her name is Tessa. Learn. Love it. Live it.
Chat with Bill Simmons (ESPN.com)
Bill Simmons – The Kurt Warner Of Boston Sports/Reality Show Writing (Kissing Suzy Kolber)
4 Responses to “Bill Simmons Checks in on the Jason Whitlock Fiasco”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
September 28th, 2006 at 7:33 PM
Dude, you get some good interviews. Maybe the Sports Dork will step up and answer a few questions from you.
September 28th, 2006 at 8:54 PM
what a world we live in today.
September 28th, 2006 at 11:39 PM
Thing is, Simmons is right. If Whitlock is the person he says he is, what good does it do him to burn his bridges in such a “public” fashion? He can maintain his dignity and his principles, JW, by not running to a blog and handing out public pronouncements like TO’s doctor hands out painkillers.
He may have AOLSports and the Star column to fall back on, and if that satisfies his quest for being a martyr and holds true to who he is, fine by me. But professionally, if the bottom falls out of his career, insight and ability be damned, who’s going to want to hire someone who’s so eager to cut down his colleagues in public or in a blog that plenty of folks read?
I don’t disagree with some of the things he says or writes about—I thought the Flava Flav comment in the interview was dead-on. But if he suffers fallout because of this, he should accept responsibility for the statements that are attributed from him, and not blame Lupica, Scoop, ESPN,Vince Young, a vengeful god, the Washington Huskies head coach or anyone else. It’s easy to vent, but a lot tougher to back it up and accept the blame for what comes of it.
October 11th, 2006 at 2:09 PM
Like school on Saturday….no class. This bickering is about the dumbest shit I have heard in a while. Both Simmons and Jackson, gave Whitlock props for being good and what he does…he has no right to publically trash either one of them, just because he is jealous.