Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Bill Simmons could be a free agent at Spotify

- Intel is laying off 15,000 and stopping all non-essential work. They currently employ over 125,000. (HT Steve Landry)

- Detrimental effects of UBI (Universal Basic Income)

- Could actually be true!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Serious question - in a secret ballot do you think the athletes of the MLB, NBA or NFL would vote to make Joe Biden the head of their players' associations or unions? Honestly do you think with their own financial well-being in the balance they would vote to elect Joe Biden as their leader of their unions?... How people view me... "Sir, there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern." - Samuel Johnson. I really miss going out to a bar... I wonder if on his deathbed it pissed Christopher Hitchens off that Henry Kissinger would outlive him. My guess is that Hitchens made peace with his situation but I always wonder... I want this painting... Saw that Bill Simmons was trending on Twitter and it turns out it is because of a lack of diversity at The Ringer (read the whole Twitter thread). Simmons has become increasingly political on his podcasts which has made them largely unlistenable. Zero black editors and zero full-time black writers covering either the NBA or the NFL reinforces the dictum of watch what a person does not what they say. It will be interesting if he goes the sackcloth and ashes route or goes into hiding like his friend Jimmy Kimmel. Don't get me wrong I give Simmons tons of credit for his success and that of The Ringer but his constant virtue signaling makes this schadenfreude train wreck tough to turn away from. I'm sure Bill is confused by all this I mean didn't people listen to his podcast with Jalen Rose? Somewhere Kyrie Irving is chuckling...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- This makes me sad. The last candlepin bowling alley in Worcester is closing for good.

- Ernest Hemingway on symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea.

- How to plan your day like Marcus Aurelius

- Wow - Joe Rogan bringing his podcast exclusively to Spotify. This really does seem similar to Howard Stern moving to Sirius XM.

- And speaking of Spotify and podcasts - an update on Bill Simmons and The Ringer

- Great Robert Parrish / Michael Jordan story

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Spotify pays $250 million for Bill Simmons' The Ringer

- Betelgeuse may go supernova (selfishly I want to see a supernova)

- Jeez - Scotland cut down almost 14 million trees to make way for windmills during a 10-year period.

- Outside magazine's best hikes in all 50 states

- If Pete Buttigieg is the Democratic nominee for President then there could be an historic exodus of black voters from the Democratic Party.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The Earth could be heading towards a "mini-ice age"as the Sun enters a decades long Grand Solar Minimum. The scientists saying the Earth is warming must be pissed at this news.

- How awesome would this be if it were true!

- Spotify is buying Bill Simmons The Ringer.

- Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas passes away aged 103. I did not know that Douglas hired Stanley Kubrick to direct Spartacus. If the Golden Age of Hollywood was the 1940's and 50's then Kirk Douglas is the last of that breed. If it also includes the 60's then Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood are still kicking.

- Steven Pressfield: Resistance = Fear

- Thomas Mann's American Democracy Lecture Tour. A bit of history that I was unaware of. Agree wholeheartedly with the idea that our democracy and history need to be cared for but I find it ironic that the author states "It is a lesson we are in dire need of today as we watch democracy slip away in Trump's America." Whereas those on the right would argue "It is a lesson we are in dire need of today as we watch democracy slip away as the Democratic party embraces socialism." Maybe the fears of both sides can help protect and defend the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and our historic legacy. (HT The Happy Curmudgeon)

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- This story of Robert Mueller's past is chilling. Shameful!

- I admit I love this shirt! I'm going to have to buy one.

-  Navy's first female jet pilot dies at 65

- Interesting - Bill Simmon's Ringer made $15 million on podcast revenue last year

- Holy crap - the lure of the spider-tailed horned viper

- This 72-year old makes me feel guilty for not going to the gym

- Wow!

Bill Simmons

Today is Bill Simmons (the artist formerly known as the Boston Sports Guy) 49th birthday. Happy birthday Bill!

As a reminder here's a column Bill wrote back in September of 2009 where he basically gave up on the New England Patriots. Since that column was written these Patriots have been to 4 Super Bowls and won 2 (both in historic fashion).

I fully expect Simmons to recycle many of the same arguments soon in saying it's time to give up on these 2018 Patriots. He's basically become the West Coast Dan Shaughnessy (and no that's not a compliment).

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The best explanation of why Trump won I've seen

- The Trump Election aftershocks!

- Well that's one question from my childhood answered

- Who is today's reigning King of All the Taverns?

- A few thoughts on the cancellation of Bill Simmons' Any Given Wednesday

- ESPN is hemorrhaging viewers

- The best explanation of why the Democrats lost I've seen

Clancy Brown - That Guy Hall of Famer

Bill Simmons (the artist previously known as the Boston Sportsguy) came up with the idea of "that guy" - you know the actor you would see on TV or in a movie and you would know some of his roles but not his name. Well Clancy Brown is a "That Guy" Hall of Famer. 

Be honest - did you ever hear of Clancy Brown? Some of you may have said yes but I bet the vast majority said "Clancy who?" Take a look at some of his roles and I'd bet that even if you don't know his name (ergo the "that guy" appellation) you can picture him in your head. 

- Viking Lofgren - Bad Boys 
- The Kurgan - Highlander 
- Captain Byron Hadley - The Shawshank Redemption 
- the voice of Mr. Krab - SpongeBob SquarePants 

Clancy's had many, many more roles but I think you can see my point. Clancy Brown - That Guy Hall of Famer.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I can understand Tim Tebow having a dream of playing pro baseball but can you imagine how much Social Media would have melted down if Tebow announced he was trying out for the WWE instead?... Jay Cutler ladies and gentlemen... Next challenge for Michael Phelps - cage match vs ManBearPig...  It makes me sad that so many NFL fans today associate the Patriots uniform number 81 with Aaron Hernandez and not All-World tight end Russ Francis... So true... So wasn't Mike Lombardi supposed to have signed with Bill Simmons and The Ringer by now? There must be more to the story of why he wasn't retained by Bill Belichick and the Patriots... Speaking of Michael Phelps - how Americans watch men's swimming...

Bill Simmons / The Ringer

Hard to argue with this assessment of Bill Simmons and his new media platforms:

There’s no buzz. 

How long until HBO cancels Bill Simmons? It’s gonna happen, hell, the new regime scrapped the second season of “Vinyl” after the show had already been picked up. You see the ratings sucked. And TV lives by statistics, they trump friends every time.

There is no buzz. Am I alone in being surprised by that realization? I admit that I've watched all four episodes of Any Given Wednesday (Simmons' HBO Show) but other than people wondering if Ben Affleck was drunk when he ranted against Deflategate - there's been no buzz about the show. None.

My guess is the HBO gives Simmons plenty of runway because his audience is for the most part technically savvy and the type HBO wants signing up for HBO Go. But would anyone be surprised if HBO cancelled his show and instead asked him to work on half-hour 30 for 30-type sports documentaries instead?

I listen to his podcast regularly and I've added Keepin' It 1600 to my rotation as well but could care less about the half-dozen or so other podcasts Simmons' group has launched.No interest whatsoever! And The Ringer itself? I admit that I've never even been to the site. Just as damning is on Twitter I've never even seen a link to any articles I felt were worth my time Tweeted out. Just no buzz whatsoever.

To be fair - I'm going to add The Ringer to my blogroll and give it a fair chance to win my traffic (not like that's going to make or break their site). I've just found myself surprised this morning that after all that speculation about what Bill Simmons would do next after ESPN - there has been no actual buzz for his new media platforms.

No buzz at all!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Wow - Ty Cobb could be the most misunderstood athlete of all-time. Really changed my mind on the man.

- Chart to help determine risk of bear attack.

- How funny would it be if the Laugh Factory asked the ACLU to file a First Amendment complaint against the Clinton Campaign? Just another reason to vote against Hillary.

- Could blueberry powder help with memory?

- Heh heh

- Really enjoyed this Bill Simmons interview with billionaire investor Chris Sacca

Grantland

Grantland was shut down today by ESPN. This was a move you could see coming a mile away yet the Internet was abuzz today with the gnashing of metaphorical teeth. This opinion may be unpopular but I won't miss Grantland. Yes I feel awful for the writers, editors and others who lost their jobs today but I'm guessing Disney is handling out pretty generous separation packages.

ESPN's first foray into smart sports writing was 15-years ago with Page 2. They fielded an all-star line-up of Ralph Wiley, Hunter S. Thompson, David Halberstam and a young Bill Simmons. Ralph Wiley and Hunter S. Thompson passed away. David Halberstam lost his enthusiasm for writing about sports after 9/11. That left just Simmons.

He was a hot property and he felt ESPN did a poor job with Page 2 so he leveraged his contract negotiations with the World-Wide Leader to let him create Grantland. His vision was to create a place where young hot writers could write what they wanted about sports and culture. He brought in and nurtured some very talented writers - that cannot be denied. But the problem was too much hipsterism. In many cases these hot young writers seemed to be writing to impress each other (and Simmons) instead of the general sports-loving public. The page views for Grantland just weren't there. The site wasn't close to being as successful as Deadspin or The Big Lead - but that was OK with the Grantland staff because they looked down their noses at those base sites that catered to the unwashed masses.

I was a regular at Grantland for a while but mostly for articles by Simmons or Charlie Pierce. Once Simmons was let go - I basically just read Pierce's brain droppings at the site (and I'm guessing Charlie will be just fine after today). Sure I gave many other Grantland writers a chance but to be honest I found most of their articles pretentious. Sorry - that's just my honest opinion.

Today many people are comparing the closing of Grantland to the similar fate of The National. No offense but this is like comparing the 27 Yankees to the 1987 Pawtucket Red Sox. Ironically Grantland did a great job of chronicling "The Greatest Paper that Ever Died".

Bill Simmons' hands are not clean with today's closing either. His understandable wish to get some measure of revenge on ESPN played a part in today's shuttering of Grantland (a situation Deadspin did a nice job of describing).

So Grantland has closed it's doors today. But it honestly won't be missed by me.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Yesterday was the Ides of March - famous because it is forever connected with the murder of Julius Caesar back in 44 BC. Less well known is the fact the Caesar was only murdered because Lucius Vorenus wasn't there to protect him... Interesting behind the scenes look at the making of Mad Men... Maybe the worst part of Saint Patrick's Day is the fat guy in a kilt - you run into one every year. You know the guy who talks about the "breeze" no matter the weather and of "dangling shillelaghs" all in an attempt to get you to ask if the guy is wearing any underwear. You know the guy...  Bad family structure defeats good economic numbers... How come ham has a pinkish color while pork sausage is brown? Same meat different colors. Why? How come I never thought about this before?... 15 back-stabbing facts about Brutus. What was compelling to me was how many of those historical facts were woven into the HBO series Rome... If feel like I've missed something important having never read Terry Pratchett. Maybe time to order the first Discworld book?... Interesting interview with Bill Simmons... Would you eat the moon if it was made of ribs? Harry Caray would...

Bill Simmons - A Modest Proposal

Here's a modest proposal for what Bill Simmons should do during his forced 3-week vacation from all things ESPN - he should go full Rainbow Head Guy (well not full, full Rainbow Head Guy since that would entail doing Angel dust and taking a hotel maid hostage). What I'm suggesting is that Simmons use the 3-weeks and his Platinum Visa card to go to as many televised sporting events as possible. Wear the Rainbow Head Guy wig to make it impossible to miss him in any crowd. Get the announcers to say, "Hey is that Bill Simmons?" How great would that be as a not so subtle middle finger to his suspension?  Go to a Saturday college football game, Derek Jeter's final game at Fenway Sunday, Monday Night Pats vs Chiefs, etc, etc. He could bring Cousin Sal with him and have a blast! He could wear a "Fire Goodell" T-shirt instead of John 3:16 - how great would that be?

ESPN couldn't even say anything! All Simmons would have to say is, "Hey I'm on vacation!"

So let it be written - so let it be done.

Top 5 - Thoughts on Bill Simmons Being Suspended by ESPN

So Bill Simmons was suspended for 3 weeks by ESPN for calling Roger Goodell a liar. Here's 5 thoughts on the situation.

1. OK we get it - the Simmons suspension was longer than the 2 weeks the NFL first gave Ray Rice. Proving just how ridiculous this whole scenario has become. However, I thought if Simmons was to be deservedly suspended by ESPN for something NFL related it would have been for his lousy picks against the spread.
2. I'm not a conspiracy guy who thinks the NFL is behind this suspension. This is not good for the NFL. In fact it drags the issue out for at least another month (the 3 weeks Simmons is suspended and the week he gets back). The NFL wants this issue behind it - not dragged out (no pun intended).
3. Part of me feels sorry for ESPN. Simmons comes off as a bit of a petulant spoiled child testing the boundaries of how much the parent will take. The swearing on his podcast has become more frequent much like a child seeing how much he can get away with and now the "I dare someone to say something to me about this!" Petulant child whose punishment is to get paid for 3 weeks and not have to work. Really hard for me to work up any sympathy for Simmons on this.
4. We will know how serious this is if Cousin Sal doesn't do his NFL picks on SportsCenter. If the situation is a joke - Sal does them. If not then either ESPN says "OK Simmons we can't punish you so we'll punish your friends" or Sal thinks the punishment is so unfair he quits the ESPN segment in protest.
5. Roger Goodell is a liar. When will he be on the BS Report to air this all out? That's the ratings win that might be the endgame of this whole situation.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

At least in the Clinton Administration when we bombed another country it was preceded by a sex scandal... It is the reaction of the "adults" that make this really funny... It has been 73-years since that magical 1941 season when Ted Williams finished with a .406 batting average becoming perhaps the last man in history to ever reach .400 for a season. It should be recalled that Williams didn't even win the MVP that season with voters instead preferring Joe DiMaggio and his 56-game hitting streak... Worms on TV - the opposite of HypnoFrog?... Just a reminder - 5-years ago Bill Simmons gave up on the Patriots. They have gone 72-19 in the regular season since he pronounced their run was over including 3 AFC Conference Finals games and 1 Super Bowl appearance... BoJack Horseman is a pretty funny show. If you haven't watched it yet you should give it a try... In the 2007 NFL draft there were 11 QB's taken - all of them sucked...

Joe Rogan and Podcasts

Interesting interview with Joe Rogan. A lot of the information wasn't new to me because I'm a fan of his podcast - The Joe Rogan Experience. It got me thinking about podcasts. Here's the list of podcasts I listen to on a regular basis - am I missing out on any good ones?

Adam Carolla
WTF with Marc Maron
The BS Report (Bill Simmons)
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Common Sense with Dan Carlin
The Rich Eisen Podcast
Penn's Sunday School (Penn Gillette)
Stuff You Missed in History Class
RadioLab
Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast
Fitzdog Radio (Greg Fitzsimmons)

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Justified returns on Tuesday night - the show reflects on the loss of Elmore Leonard

- Frank Sinatra getting out of a helicopter with a drink in his hand. Cool!

- Interesting profile of Freddy Mercury's longtime girlfriend

- Epic take-down on Jerry Jones and what he's done to the Cowboys

- Richard Nixon - man of the people!

- I mean come on - who hasn't been upset by the lack of beer?

- Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee - Jerry Seinfeld and Louis CK. Awesome!

- Interesting interview of Bill Simmons on his experience in podcasting

- Cool photo of Mount Fuji circa 1920

Rock Documentaries

Bill Simmons today devoted a lot of words to Showtime's documentary The History of the Eagles directed by Alison Ellwood (who also directed a 30 for 30 feature for ESPN which may explain in part some of the effort by Simmons). I've watched this documentary a couple of times and fall prey to watching it pretty much each time I see that it is on. I enjoyed Simmons' piece but The History of the Eagles - as good as it is may not be even the best rock documentary I've seen in the past 24 months.

Other titles I'd put in the running include:

- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream (directed by Peter Bogdanovich). Very interesting history but 239 freaking minutes long.

- Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten. Very under-rated flick about a man with more charisma than all the members of the Eagles combined.

- George Harrison: Living in the Material World (directed by Martin Scorsese). This was a two-part HBO special. Harrison was always my favorite Beatle. I would have to place this at the top of my list just because I found Harrison so fascinating a person.