Bill Simmons suspended 3 weeks...

[Big Bear]

Really hope Simmons goes bananas after this. Fukk Goodell and espn

yeah fukk espn

[Sledge187]

Espn really sucks for this.

[opie1988]

Not that hard to figure this out.

The NFL is ESPN's single biggest client. When an employee calls your biggest client a "fukkin liar" on your own website, you're going to have to do something about it. Has nothing to do with whether or not Goodell is a fukkin liar. It's simply business.

Simmons made the mistake of thinking he's bigger than the company. He's not.

[daneblazer]

twitter is a strange place

[EaglesPhan36]

Right on. You also don't dare your employer to suspend you. They can plug another chimp into Simmons seat any day.

[convick]

Right on. You also don't dare your employer to suspend you. They can plug another chimp into Simmons seat any day.

Fans for the most part dont care. The blowhards making the most noise are ex-nfl players and guys like Simmons.

Probably about a third of fans are "outraged" or disappointed with how the league handled the fiasco but they will watch more NFL games, make more posts about it on twitter/instagram/facebook and talk non-stop about their fantasy teams.

[Soxsfan9]

This is great PR for them. Everyone is talking about ESPN and they get clicks and the Simmons fans will only grow in numbers. Its a win-win and the machine keeps on turning!

[DrStale]

Not that hard to figure this out.

The NFL is ESPN's single biggest client. When an employee calls your biggest client a "fukkin liar" on your own website, you're going to have to do something about it. Has nothing to do with whether or not Goodell is a fukkin liar. It's simply business.

Simmons made the mistake of thinking he's bigger than the company. He's not.

It's definitely not that simple. Yes, ESPN and the NFL have significant ties but ESPN is also a news organization that has the responsibility to report everything significant in the sports world, both positive and negative. Censoring those who speak truth to power sets a dangerous precedent for the company and personally is enough for me to move on to other places in acquiring my sports news.

[DrStale]

This is great PR for them. Everyone is talking about ESPN and they get clicks and the Simmons fans will only grow in numbers. Its a win-win and the machine keeps on turning!

Everyone is talking about how ESPN is garbage. yeah I know any publicity is good publicity but for many people who have been seeing ESPN's news quality slide further and further down this may very well be enough to turn them off. At least it is for me.

[opie1988]

It's definitely not that simple. Yes, ESPN and the NFL have significant ties but ESPN is also a news organization that has the responsibility to report everything significant in the sports world, both positive and negative. Censoring those who speak truth to power sets a dangerous precedent for the company and personally is enough for me to move on to other places in acquiring my sports news.

That all sounds noble...but that whole unbiased "responsibility" was lost when espn agreed to pay 15.2 billion to broadcast NFL games.

You can't have it both ways.

[jjgold]

I believe in censorship

Freedom of speech has hurt our nation actually

a mix of democratic facism would be very good for usa

[pavyracer]

Who is Bill Simmons?

Never heard of him either.

[DrStale]

That all sounds noble...but that whole unbiased "responsibility" was lost when espn agreed to pay 15.2 billion to broadcast NFL games.

You can't have it both ways.

Why? ESPN has been showing sports and reporting on sports scandals for decades. Is it simply the amount of money? Where do you draw the line at being able to pay for broadcasting right while still being a reputable news source?

And just because ESPN may be beholden to the NFL doesn't mean it's beholden to it's employees. Goodell is an assclown who's position within the league is doing massive damage to the organization and thus hurting ESPN as well. If anything ESPN should be clamoring for this guy's job so that someone semi-competent can take over.

[zola]

It was on his weekly podcast where he and Cousin Sal discuss the upcoming NFL lines.

He said it was "fukkin bullshit." Those were the expletives which were bleeped out on the podcast. BUT then he said "I dare anyone to call me about saying this. I dare you." Aiming it at the ESPN big wigs. I guess they took him up on his challenge.

Word is the ESPN President felt like he was calling him out and took a lot of offense to it.

[opie1988]

Never heard of him either.

This is Bill....
[IMG][/IMG]

I spoke with him today. He's still in good spirits.

[jjgold]

Good one Opie!!