LA Story

[Alma]

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.

 

[93Devil]

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.

 

[ColdCat]

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

 

[exmediahack]

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.

 

[TigerVols]

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.

 

[SoCalDude]

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 **** 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.

 

[SockPuppet]

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

 

[YGBFKM]

Hitting L.A. Live for six playoff games over the course of four nights? Harder than it sounds. You need connections. You need money. You need to be single.

Or, you need to be me.

Ugh.

 

[Double J]

Hitting L.A. Live for six playoff games over the course of four nights? Harder than it sounds. You need connections. You need money. You need to be single.

Or, you need to be me.

Ugh.

Indeed. Holy ****.

 

[JC]

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 **** 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.

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

 

[SoCalDude]

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

 

[maberger]

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.

 

[TigerVols]

Hitting L.A. Live for six playoff games over the course of four nights? Harder than it sounds. You need connections. You need money. You need to be single.

Or, you need to be me.

Ugh.

Indeed. Holy ****.

Wow. That's the worst line I've read since "Go, Patch!"

 

[Ace]

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

Me either. Thought I gave this one six grafs before tiring.

 

[SockPuppet]

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

Judging from the posts that have provided a hint of Simmons' Steaming Pile Of Words, I'm confident that I have taken a stance which I can defend for as long as Bill Simmons' fingers touch a keyboard.

 

[SoCalDude]

When I first opened this thread last night, Jenkins led, 3-2. Now it's 14-2. Leads me to believe Simmons got in early voted ... and so did his daughter or friend.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

OK, I'll jump in...

The Jenkins piece bored me to tears. I have no need to read about a history of LA sports, "fans leave early" cliches or the role of the Staples Center. And if Simmons had written this:

Not to name-drop, but since this is Los Angeles.... I sat in the dugout with Magic Johnson, the booth with Vin Scully, the tunnel with Penny Marshall, the front row with Jeanie Buss, the club level with Luc Robitaille and the 46th floor of the Ritz Carlton with the people I'd like to be when I grow up. I compared schedules with Ice Cube and received bar recommendations from the Cocktail King.

...this board would have collective **** its pants, then imploded.

Having said that, the Simmons piece was nothing special. It was what he does. I liked it more than the Jenkins piece, but I didn't find either one noteworthy on any level. Simmons approached the games as a fan and Jenkins approached them as a sportswriter, and to me the Simmons approach worked better in this case, simply because I don't find it remarkable that a city like Los Angeles had a lot going on last weekend. The more detached style took away what little interest the story held for me.

In general, the reaction to Simmons on this board is predictable and silly. He's good at what he does, and what he does is different from what you do. Really, that's OK.

 

[YGBFKM]

Define good.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Well, I think the "what he does" part is more the key to it. He writes a sports and pop culture column from a fan perspective aiming for a broad audience of guys, roughly 20 to 45. That, he's good at. He's not striving to add any insight from behind the scenes, which is a big part of why sportswriters exist. He's merely giving one perspective from a fan's view, and obviously, it's a perspective that a hell of a lot of people connect with. (He also knows the NBA better than a large percentage of people who make their living writing about the NBA.)

There are big shortcomings to this -- not the least of which is his style wears thin after a while, because you know his perspective going in. Some days the only question is which pop culture reference he will use. (For this column, if you had "The Wire," you win!)

I absolutely get why a lot of people don't enjoy reading what he writes, but the hostility is silly. The whole "I've never read a word!" badge of honor thing just makes me roll my eyes.

 

[SoCalDude]

OK, I'll jump in...

The Jenkins piece bored me to tears. I have no need to read about a history of LA sports, "fans leave early" cliches or the role of the Staples Center. And if Simmons had written this:

Not to name-drop, but since this is Los Angeles.... I sat in the dugout with Magic Johnson, the booth with Vin Scully, the tunnel with Penny Marshall, the front row with Jeanie Buss, the club level with Luc Robitaille and the 46th floor of the Ritz Carlton with the people I'd like to be when I grow up. I compared schedules with Ice Cube and received bar recommendations from the Cocktail King.

...this board would have collective **** its pants, then imploded.

Having said that, the Simmons piece was nothing special. It was what he does. I liked it more than the Jenkins piece, but I didn't find either one noteworthy on any level. Simmons approached the games as a fan and Jenkins approached them as a sportswriter, and to me the Simmons approach worked better in this case, simply because I don't find it remarkable that a city like Los Angeles had a lot going on last weekend. The more detached style took away what little interest the story held for me.

In general, the reaction to Simmons on this board is predictable and silly. He's good at what he does, and what he does is different from what you do. Really, that's OK.

Yes, but Jenkins wrote that as a setup and came back later to expand on why it was significant in each instance. If Simmons had written that, it would just have been to show that he was with those people and he's cool.