I had no idea this guy had such a following. This deadspin thing has caused some buzz and Simmons wrote this whole article to explain himself:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100303
He is interesting. I love this blurb from the story above:
The 2008 U.S. Open catapulted Tiger to a different level. Winning it on one leg did for him what the Foreman fight did for Ali and the 72-win season did for MJ: It made everyone say, "We're now at the point that I'm going to be telling my great-grandkids that I watched this guy. So let the winning continue!" As long as we don't have a hometown favorite involved, we're always going to root for greatness over anything else. That's the best place to be as an athlete -- people pulling for you, always, week after week, with the athlete feeding off their strength. Can he win that back?
Here are a couple of reviews of his book, which I just might have to give a try:
The Book of Basketball is a 700-page work of hoops genius that would make Dr. James Naismith beam proudly – and probably blush. Author Bill Simmons, best known as ESPN.com's "The Sports Guy," explores the NBA with hilarious insight, brilliant analysis, and a bevy of irreverent footnotes. Simmons is a fan first – a fact best explained in an entertaining foreword by Malcolm Gladwell – and writes from the stands, not the press room. His knowledge and passion for the game provide him with few peers, yet his voice represents those who stick by their teams through thick and thin. As a result, The Book of Basketball is not just a tribute to hardwood heroes, but also a celebration of yelling at TV sets, revering lucky jerseys, and holding our breath until the final buzzer sounds. Throw in pages of nearly-insane statistical breakdowns (including a projected boxscore from the movie Teen Wolf), and it's easy to see why fans of all levels should clear shelf space for this instant classic. --Dave Callanan
There is only one writer on the planet who possesses enough basketball knowledge and passion to write the definitive book on the NBA.* Bill Simmons, the from-the-womb hoops addict known to millions as ESPN.com’s Sports Guy, is that writer. And The Book of Basketball is that book. Nowhere in the roundball universe will you find another single volume that covers as much in such depth as this wildly opinionated and thoroughly entertaining look at the past, present, and future of pro basketball.From the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time, Simmons opens–and then closes, once and for all–every major pro basketball debate. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind, five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, as he uses a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: The Secret of Basketball.Comprehensive, authoritative, controversial, hilarious, and impossible to put down (even for Celtic-haters), The Book of Basketball offers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler.
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Maybe this explains why you like him so much. The quote on "basketball knowledge to write this book." You have the same knowledge base in multiple sports.
It is your mind on baseball, football and basketball. The difference is obvious to me, you would remove qualify your emotional side when writing the article.
Another example, Woods broken leg. He sounds like the butt kissing media pundits that were surprised he is a piece of crap. Please, from someone that has had MRI's to verify micro fractures on both knees, their are worse things with an injury to the knee to overcome.
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