Simmons Slams Lupica

I had read the latest Bill Simmons piece and I had chuckled at the slam at Mike Lupica but after reading this post at The Big Lead - I started thinking about it some more. First here's the slam at Lupica:

Watch the end of 61* sometime, or reread Mike Lupica's gushing book, Summer of '‘98. (Note: Lupica now argues that Big Mac doesn't belong in the Hall. He never says anything about returning the profits from his book, however.)

The slam reminded me of two things:

1. What made Simmons great in the first place was that he came out and said what many of us were thinking. I've thought that exact same thing about Lupica and how he was a whore for the longball race in 98 but all Joan of Arc today. If Simmons takes off the gloves - then that is a reason to start going back to ESPN's Page 2 (none really exists currently).

2. Mike Lupica is like Mike Tyson who was fine until his mentor Cus D'Amato passed away. Then Tyson just started spinning out of control with nobody to reign him in. Dick Schaap was Mike Lupica's Cus D'Amato. When Dick Schaap died - Mike Lupica lost all sense of propriety and his ego ran more wild than Mike Tyson at a Playboy Mansion party on ecstasy. ESPN's show The Sports Reporters has become the Mike Lupica Show (at least in Lupica's mind) and that explains why many people like me have stopped watching it.