LA Story

So, yeah, lots of stuff happened in LA last weekend. And Grantland's Bill Simmons and SI's Lee Jenkins both dropped 3,500 words on the experience.

Simmons: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7960136/the-playoff-eclipse-chronicles

Jenkins: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1198736/1/index.htm

I hope this is an interesting discussion because, clearly, they went at it in completely different ways, but neither mailed it in. These are serious attempts to do good work on essentially the same deadline (Jenkins' might have been earlier). Simmons did Simmons - and this time, I don't mean that as a slag, but as a description; I suspect Simmons would say this story is indicative of what he does best. Jenkins did something else, and threw in the Dodgers for good measure, with a football stadium overarching the whole thing. Both used first person to some extent, so that stylistic device is similar.

Give me your verdict and reasoning.

 

I read the SI story longer than I read the Grantland story. No way am I going to read the entire thing right now, but I have no desire to finish the Simmons story. I may print out the SI story and read it at home.

I liked the way the SI story used people that I knew, and Simmons somehow typed "b-o-s-t-o-n" in the story before you even had to scroll.

 

damn it, I was hoping this thread would be about the quirky Steve Martin movie from the early 90s.

 

My thoughts exactly. That movie is always a treat.

 

I was at LA Live Sunday working with the Amgen Tour of California...and when it was over, some of the cyclists and me sat on the patio at Wolfgang Puck's...some of the riders were still in their kits, the rest were in their team travel gear, and the Kings game was just underway and the people milling about, some in Kings gear, some in Clippers gear, the rest cycling fans from Europe or Australia made for a scene I haven't witnessed as a SoCal resident in my 20 years here.

One of the bikers I was with -- Tom Boonen -- is the winningest single-day rider on the planet at the moment, and is ranked world No. 1...After sitting in the throng for about a half hour, someone finally came to the rail and asked for his autograph. He looked at the table and said, "I've been here all day and this is the first one! Maybe I need a Lakers jersey?" Oddly enough, the cyclists assumed LA Live was that busy eveyr day.

 

I've never read a whole Simmons column, probably because I don't care about the NBA, and I don't care about Boston, and I don't care about what Boston writers think about anything, especially Boston writers who now live in L.A.
That said, I read his first because I know Jenkins and I know how talented he is. I will read that one later.
I thought Simmons' was a pile of crap (if he can use shit in a column, I can use crap in a post). It was all about him, not what he was reporting on. And since when does being a big-shot columnist mean you can bring your friends and your kids to games you're covering? I also wonder if all the quotes he used from his friend and kid were actual quotes or things he made up to embellish his story.
I'll come back after I read Jenkins.

 

I have never read a Bill Simmons story ... and I never will.

 

Ugh.

 

Indeed. Holy fuck.

 

He is a season ticket holder to both the Kings and Clippers.

 

Wow -- Jenkins in a rout. Simmons should be carrying his briefcase.

 

Jenkins going away.

May I say on a personal note that, as someone who's now lived in LA for 17 years, the breathless 'wow can you believe how many people/games/how can it all get done/what if it doesn't-ness' of last weekend actually made me cringe? Like the city was finally going to prove it was worthy of holding big events and not just a bunch of rubes - which is all anyone talking about this stuff sounded like?

Maybe I feel that way because of my NYC youth, but MSG every April was circus-Knicks-circus-rangers-Knicks matinee-circus-rangers matinee-circus ... You get the drift. I just felt a little embarrassed last week for the whole 3 games 3 days thing.