Bill Simmons interview at AVClub
 

Thought people might be interested, candid.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/bill-simmons,35319/

NO ONE DENIES THIS

I had never heard of this guy until this interview. It is definitely worth the time to read, a very candid and apparently honest interview from a sports insider on multiple topics.

Thanks for an interesting Friday morning read.

Never heard of Bill Simmons? Blasphemy!!

The Sports Guy column - http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index

Two podcasts, 30 for 30 and The BS Show.

All eminently worth checking out.

I dont want to read it. Can I just download it from somebodies head?

Come on people we need more seeds, this is taking too long.

Bill Simmons wants a Snuggie made out of Tom Brady's cock.

Hey Baby Lee, did you read the article on the AV Club about the best 30 TV shows of the 2000s? I thought it was a pretty good list, but East Bound and Down shouldn't have been on there.

When you have 6 episodes in an entire decade, you don't belong in the top 30.

Actually, more like Larry "The Basketball Jesus", but whatever.

What would your position be on LT if he'd brought home multiple championshps, I wonder, instead of, you know, zero SB trips, much less wins?

Right.

Yes, but I'm not a sports writer who works for the biggest Sports Company in America, who needs to write his articles in a neutral-tone.

It is certainly fodder for conversation. Strangely, in almost every case, I've either seen every episode or none whatsoever of the shows listed. Haven't seen a single second of Venture Brothers, Tim and Eric, or Friday Night Lights.
I've seen the first episode only of Dexter and Battlestar Galactica [though I have DVD sets for each pending on the media shelf]. And I'm about 8 episodes behind on Breaking Bad [on the DVR, waiting for me]. And I'm pretty sure I've seen every bit of everything else on the list [though, with the spotty airings I probably missed a Wonder Showzen or two].

Though I'm not vociferous about it, inclusion of BOTH Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared is a bigger affront than Eastbound, and a little twee. F&G is undeniably a little gem for hipster douchebags to fapfapfap over for at least another decade, but it's 18 episodes BARELY in the time frame, and Undeclared, while a lot of fun is not transcendant of the sitcom genre.

The only sport I watch is NFL (really Chiefs only until playoffs), then maybe the finals of NBA, MLB, NCAA FB and BB. So not really interested in national sports writers unless their writing about the Chiefs. Not everyone is glued to sportscenter all day everyday you know.

I didn't REALLY think you were contemptuous of the sacred. ;)

I like Freaks and Geeks (I haven't finished the series yet), but wouldn't put it so high, but I think it deserves to be there more than Eastbound and Down.

Never saw The Sopranos (the complete series will be my big purchase this holiday season), Mad Men, Breaking Bad (I saw the first episode of season 1 which was great, but I never got into watching the rest of it), The Shield, Veronica Mars, Friday Night Lights, Big Love, Tim and Eric, Six Feet Under, Undeclared, or the West Wing.

I cant comment on any of those shows, but for the most part, all the other shows on there are pretty much all of my favorites.

Mad Men is a must, and in particular would be a very satisfying counterpoint to viewing The Sopranos [first off, the creator of Mad Men was central to the direction of Sopranos. Second, they both address big issues in much the same way in wildly divergent settings]. In a related note, Betty Draper has written a child rearing book, it's called 'Sally go to Your Room'

Ah, I see. You fundamentally misunderstand who Bill Simmons is.

His history is that he's a Boston sports fan who started his own website. I started following him back then. He's a "Page 2" guy, not a mainstream reporter. He isn't, and doesn't pretend to be, a Clayton or Mortensen or Peter King. He's just a regular guy -- a fan -- and an unabashed BOSTON sports fan who moved to LA.

Somehow, he's done what 99% of us can only dream of -- taking an intense love of sports and turned it into a well paid career, without having to get inside scoops or be well connected or any of that stuff.

I can't outright disqualify either of them on their own. It's just that, with everything that's been on [and with the inclusion of The UK Office, that opens up British TV of the aughts, Top Gear, Spaced, Peep Show, Life on Mars, etc], it's a little much for two short lived series to get the Apatow bump.

Seriously, I think I'd take Summer Heights High over all three.