Bill Simmons Does Not Hide His Ignorance Under a Bushel Basket

Bill Simmons is still playing the uninformed, whiny, spoiled brat card when it comes to the basketball program at Holy Cross. Here's his latest display of not knowing what he's writing about:

Note to any readers from Holy Cross who admonished me for being "embarrassed" that the Crusaders stunk out the joint in the NCAAs: When our school shoots 14-for-42 for the game, our best two players combine to go 1-for-19 when the game's still in doubt, a backup forward's career night (6-for-6) keeps us from dipping under 40 points for the game and we play like a team that didn't deserve to be a 13-seed in the NIT, much less the NCAAs ... sorry, I find this to be embarrassing. We haven't won an NCAA game in 30 years, we've been bounced in the first round four times this decade, and the only reason we even get invited is because they were dumb enough to give the putrid Patriot League an automatic bid every year. I'm supposed to feel good about this? Whatever happened to Holy Cross becoming the "Gonzaga of the East Coast?" What's the estimated year for that happening ... 2035? Have expectations really been lowered to the point that we're supposed to take solace in the fact that we have good kids and a good graduation rate every time we stink out the joint in March Madness? Since when did the campus turn into a bunch of soccer moms? I want to throw up. More on this next week.

Let me tackle this point by point.

1. Simmons whines about the Crusaders poor shooting against Southern Illinois without ever giving credit to the flip side of the equation. The Salukis have one of the best defenses in all of college basketball. Sure the Crusaders only shot 14-42 (33%) but the Salukis held Virginia Tech to 19-46 shooting (41%) but at least Holy Cross outscored the Hokies (51-48). Hell Southern Illinois held high powered Kansas to 30% shooting in the first half last night and just 61 points overall. Simmons just won't admit that he knew nothing about Southern Illinois (or college basketball in general).

2. Staying on the same subject of low scoring games - the Sports Guy likes to think he's some sort of gambling demi-expert yet this game helps expose his ignorance (as if losing a NFL game picking contest to a dog wasn't enough proof). The Holy Cross - Southern Illinois game's over/under line opened at just 108 points (by game time it was up to 112). That's a tiny number. In other words - the real betting experts in Vegas expected a low scoring game with lots of missed shots and turnovers. The final ended up being 112 points. Those Vegas guys know what they are talking about - Bill Simmons? Not so much.

3. How dare he try and put this loss on the shoulders of Keith Simmons or Torey Thomas. Keith Simmons was the MVP of the Patriot League in both the regular season and the playoffs. The Crusaders don't sniff the NCAA's without either of these players. How dare he use his position at ESPN.com to even hint at blaming these two young student-athletes. Hey Bill - ever stop to think that maybe Southern Illinois were keying on Simmons and Thomas and that was part of the equation? Ever stop to think before spouting off at all?

4. Putrid Patriot League? OK - its clear that you are one of those guys who are still pissed that Holy Cross did not join the Big East when it was formed. I've covered this ground before but Father Brooks has been proven correct by time that he made the right choice. Holy Cross's academic reputation is as high as it ever was (witness the close to $30,000 per year they get from each student as proof). Think about that the next time you make a BC gambling scandal joke or the next time you look at Mike Jarvis and remember what he did to St. John's reputation. In your mind Holy Cross should somehow be ashamed of being associated with colleges like Navy, Colgate and Bucknell? In my mind its just the opposite.

5. You want Holy Cross to be the Gonzaga of the West Coast? How do I put this? I know - you are a jackass. You say you graduated from Gonzaga and people say "hey that's where John Stockton and Adam Morrison went to school." You say you graduated from Holy Cross and people say "hey - you must be pretty smart." There is a reason it costs about $10,000 more per year to go to Holy Cross than Gonzaga. If basketball was so important to you - why didn't you apply to North Carolina State or Cincinnati? No you went to Holy Cross because of the education you'd receive.

6. You think the campus at Holy Cross has turned into a bunch of "soccer moms"? What do you want - a bunch of whores who are willing to drop academic standards and bend rules to make it to the Sweet Sixteen? You want Bob Huggins and lower admission requirements? You want someone risking turning your diploma into a punchline? You are such a dope. I bet right now the Jesuits up on the hill are ticked off that they didn't force you to take some classes in logic.

I read your complaining about the Holy Cross basketball program and the voice I hear is from Captain Quint talking about rich kids with soft hands from counting money all their lives who aren't smart enough to admit they are wrong. Simmons is wrong about Holy Cross but you won't hear him admit it. I fully expect Simmons to hit bottom and keep digging when it comes to this subject.