Simmons' latest ...

[Rhody31]

... and no mention of Boston.
I'm far from a "hater" of Simmons. I've been reading him since is days on AOL but have calmed as I've gotten older.
I thought things were going well, then he totally refocused the end from this tragedy to comparing it to the Wire.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080312

It's good to see him expand, but the last section - IMO - ruined this story.

 

[Starman]

A horse already flogged into dust by Albom, among many others.

 

[More hideous than Ben Seaver]

Invoking The Wire was an unnecessary attempt to tie in pop culture to a story that didn't need it, but otherwise I thought this was a solid piece. Not great by any means, but definitely above average.

And I give credit for Simmons trying something different, for going to the funeral instead of just sitting on his couch.

 

[Webster]

Section 1-3 were pretty good (although he didn't need the first person perspective, as it added nothing). Section 4 was awful.

Still, a nice change up for him, even if he makes fun of Gary Smith for doing the same type of story .

 

[Appgrad05]

That was awful. Proof that Simmons can do nothing but "I know this, I know that, movie cliche No. 1, TV cliche No. 2"-writing.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Stay out of the deep end, Bill.

 

[sirvaliantbrown]

I just came here to post about it. I went from "Why is Simmons doing actual reporting/serious essaying?" to "This is admirably heartfelt, if cliched" to "WHY IS THIS NOW A REVIEW OF WIRE SEASON 5??? " and "HOW DID THIS GET PAST AN EDITOR?"

Like...why?

It reminded me of that guy who listens to a conversation about terrorism and jumps in with a comment about 24...as if to intentionally demonstrate his lack of real-life knowledge of the subject.

A LINE about The Wire might, perhaps, have been okay. But a de facto review? In the middle of THAT story? (K, I'll stop using caps.)

This line was particularly awful: "There was a certain symmetry to Jas' funeral occurring two days after the final episode of 'The Wire.'"

No, Bill, there was not.

 

[mustangj17]

Does anyone else dislike Bill Simmons because of how he dismisses college football?

Enough about Stephon Marbury's expiring contract.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Does anyone else dislike Bill Simmons because of how he dismisses college football?

No; people can dismiss whatever they want. I dismiss most of the NBA season. There is a whole generation of columnists (thankfully retiring and dying out) who dismiss soccer.

 

[Starman]

Just another hand-wringing sad-story-about-dreams-dying-young, the likes of which Albom, as noted above, has turned into a cottage industry. Pass the hankies.

Tying it into the plotlines of Billy's favorite TV show simply lowers the intellectual content of the entire exercise by 30 IQ points.

 

[Joe Williams]

Even I had a problem with The Wire stuff.

 

[Michael Echan]

I have to say, overall, I was impressed by Mr. Simmons' foray into actual journalism. But I also agree that all the Wire references needed a good hatchet-job by his editors, save for the last three graphs. One, two, MAYBE three references to the show would have been great, but good Lord, that was typical ESPN-style overkill.

Like I said, though, it was a good (not great) article and the effort coming from Simmons makes it a little more memorable.

 

[doubledown68]

More focus on the father's message, and what enabled him to deliver it, would've been pertinent, and far more insightful than the Wire (which I admit I've never seen).

 

[Appgrad05]

More focus on the father's message, and what enabled him to deliver it, would've been pertinent, and far more insightful than the Wire (which I admit I've never seen).

Nor has most of America. But don't let that get in the way of "good writing."

 

[playthrough]

I've never seen The Wire either, so any references fall flat with me. Not that a writer making a pop culture reference has to pick something that 90 percent of the audience knows, but IMO there's no way more than 20 percent of his readers get HBO and watch The Wire. That would give me pause as a writer, never mind that in this type of story it's unnecessary already.

EDIT: yeah, what appgrad said.

 

[Jim Tom Pinch]

Just another hand-wringing sad-story-about-dreams-dying-young, the likes of which Albom, as noted above, has turned into a cottage industry. Pass the hankies.

Are you saying this story shouldn't have been written?

 

[mustangj17]

Does anyone else dislike Bill Simmons because of how he dismisses college football?

No; people can dismiss whatever they want. I dismiss most of the NBA season. There is a whole generation of columnists (thankfully retiring and dying out) who dismiss soccer.

Soccer? What's that?

 

[93Devil]

Am I wrong to think that at one time the star high school athletes were off limits from crime and gangs?

Was there a street code about this?

Obviously, that is not true anymore, but I thought I read that somewhere once.

Maybe it was in Heaven is a Playground?

Oh, the Wire stuff should have been in a separate column, IMHO. He could have referenced the death, but to meld the two was just too much for me.

 

[mustangj17]

I've never seen The Wire either, so any references fall flat with me. Not that a writer making a pop culture reference has to pick something that 90 percent of the audience knows, but IMO there's no way more than 20 percent of his readers get HBO and watch The Wire. That would give me pause as a writer, never mind that in this type of story it's unnecessary already.

EDIT: yeah, what appgrad said.

That's why pop-culture references don't belong in stories like this. They would have been better off to let someone else write this story. Like one of the investigative reporters who write more newsy features, and do it well.

Stick to the mailbags Bill, and not the crappy one you "MAILED IN" this week.

 

[Starman]

Just another hand-wringing sad-story-about-dreams-dying-young, the likes of which Albom, as noted above, has turned into a cottage industry. Pass the hankies.

Are you saying this story shouldn't have been written?

Not that it shouldn't have been written, but unfortunately, there is rarely anything unique or newsworthy about any of these stories any more.