I think the marriage between ESPN and Bill Simmons might need counseling

They aren't already?

To improve on my original question: To what extent did he breach his contract by posting just the picks? I'd say it's not a huge hit to ESPN, because few readers -- if any -- go to Simmons' column to see who he picked.

 

Here's the deal, he'd need 100,000 to pay $5 a year to keep in his ballpark on salary. That's not including what he would spend on site hosting and upkeep, plus the ridiculous expenses he has on occasion.

 

How ridiculous?

 

It's clear that he wants to join Mad Dog on Sirius. He might want to take Cash over Stock Options, though.

 

To me, his current stuff is sorely lacking when compared to "The Tuna That Shagged Me" and other quality work from the Digital City days. The trouble with dealing in snark is, when Krafty Bob got rid of Petey "Fredo" Carroll and his team started winning, and when the Sawx finally broke through, there was nothing left to attack.

True, Bostonfan may still dig the act enough to pay for it, but I'm not sure the stereotypical sports fan would.

 

Well-played. Well-put.

 

i wonder if the Simmons-ESPN marriage will be overturned by Prop 8.

 

The only thing I know is, ESPN mailed me, at my house in Ottawa, a very long, strict list of unacceptable displays of political side-taking. I'm not saying Simmons broke any of the rules laid out in that list, but the list definitely existed, and it was crystal clear. Basically, no talking politics.

 

Oh for God's sake. If Simmons wanted to write a political piece, there are zillions of op-ed sections who would have been happy to have him, and I don't think ESPN would mind if he spoke for himself on a different forum. If I ran ESPN, I'd have the same damn rule. Republicans like sports, too.

 

Chicken dinner, etc.

 

Or (if your math is right) 50,000 people to pay $10 ... or 25,000 to pay $20 ... Hell, I bet he could get 15,000 to pay $40 ... Though he's lost his fastball for sure, the people who still read him regularly are diehard.

 

He could easily make a decent living like this, but he'd have to produce a lot more, and as someone with a family, there would be significant long-term uncertainty. That being said, if his handcuffs were taken off, I think he'd really enjoy himself again. (A downside, of course, would be that his stuff would likely be even less edited than it is now)