The Sports Guy

Yesterday - Bill Simmons "The Sports Guy" announced that he "left" The Jimmy Kimmel Show two weeks ago and that he was back full-time with ESPN (I imagine ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine). This of course leaves us to speculate on what happened (until Tuesday when I'm sure Simmons will write 10,000 words on why he's back at ESPN).

When I read that Simmons "left" the Jimmy Kimmel Show - I couldn't help but hear the announcer voice from the opening of The Odd Couple (you know where the announcer says - "that request came from his wife"). I couldn't help but wonder if Simmons decided to leave the show or if the move wasn't really his idea.

I've been a big Bill Simmons fan for a long time and one of my favorite things used to be reading his reader email Mailbag columns. I found it kinda funny that Simmons chose to announce his return to ESPN with a mailbag column because it kinda confirms one of the suspicions I've long held. This is something I wrote about Simmons in December 2002:

You have to believe that the really good reader emails will wind up as the source of jokes for Jimmy Kimmel instead of as a Page 2 Mailbag - same for the Ramblings. Do you think his interesting observations will go to his paying job or his moonlighting Page 2 job? Page 2 will be lucky to get the scraps (Exhibit A: Yesterday's mailbag.).

This can come back to bite Simmons because many people liked the idea of sending a funny thought or observation to "The Sports Guy". I don't think sending an email to "Kimmel's Butt Munch" will have the same appeal. Simmons may find the source of much of his humor slowly but surely drying up.

Yesterday was the first Mailbag column from Simmons in eight months. Eight months! Are we to believe that his readers stopped sending him emails? Or is it more likely that (as I predicted) Simmons was using his reader emails as his one big contribution to The Jimmy Kimmel Show but slowly but surely the readers stopped sending him emails (maybe they started posting on FARK.com or maybe started their own blogs). Once the well of reader driven inspiration dried up - how useful do you think Simmons was to the Jimmy Kimmel Show?

I have this picture in my head of the writers for the show gathered in a room to work on material:

Head writer: OK - we need to do something on the Iraqi prison scandal.
Bill Simmons: I just threw up in my mouth.
Head writer: Umm - thanks Bill. Maybe we should do something on the last show of Frasier instead.
Bill Simmons: Remember when Brandon drove away on his motorcycle with just the one duffel bag? God - I love 90210.
Head writer: Yeah Bill we know. You tell us at every meeting that you love 90210. You are aware that it's no longer on the air - right? OK moving on - how about something on Kobe? Bill you must have had some pretty good emails on Kobe from your fans right?
Bill Simmons: No. For some reason my fans have stopped sending me funny emails. Damnedest thing.
Head writer: You're kidding right? No more reader emails?
Bill Simmons: I will now set myself on fire.
Head writer: No Bill - I will now set myself on fire. Jimmy! ...JIMMY!... [Kimmel pokes his head into the room]... Jimmy I NEED to speak to you about something that has been bothering me for quite some time now. Can I speak to you in private? Can we meet with the head of human resources in say 15 minutes?
Bill Simmons: I'm an excellent driver.