ESPN and Bill Simmons have "worked out an agreement that officially ends his tenure as a front-facing employee" for the net in the wake of its decision not to renew his contract, according to Richard Deitsch of SI.com. Simmons last week sent an e-mail to Grantland staffers "informing them that he would no longer be working for the site" that he founded in '11. Simmons will also "no longer do podcasts or appear on television for ESPN" (SI.com, 5/15). In N.Y., Richard Sandomir noted ESPN "must now replace Simmons at Grantland." The site was "built around Simmons, so ESPN must now decide whether to pick one of its stars to be its leader or to hire a new lead columnist while keeping the current editorial leadership in place" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/16). Simmons in his e-mail to the Grantland staff wrote, "Can’t say much here for obvious reasons, at least for now -- I know you understand. In the short-term -- don’t let this bullshit affect you. Just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s a job. We tried to make it feel like it was more than a job these last four years, but right now, it’s still a job and Grantland is still being consumed and judged by the general public. ... The best way to 'respond' right now is to keep putting out a great site" (DEADSPIN.com, 5/15).
LASTING IMPACT: SPORTS ON EARTH's Will Leitch writes it is "sort of amazing" that Simmons "isn't going to be on ESPN anymore." Authors Jim Miller and Tom Shales in the '11 release "Those Guys Have All The Fun" make a "solid argument that Simmons might have been the most important ESPN personality of the last decade." Simmons might not have been the person "who made the network the most money, or brought in the most viewers, or even did the best work, but he was the one who mattered the most" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 5/18). Indiana Univ. assistant professor of sport communication Galen Clavio in a special to THE CONVERSATION wrote, "In many ways, Simmons altered the traditional sports writing model, bringing the questions and debates of living rooms, bars and dormitories to the computer screen." Balancing "sports insights with pop culture references, his opinion writing was distinctive and entertaining." Simmons' "fan-centric approach to columns personalized sports writing for the average reader." While many traditional columnists "often seemed to be talking down to the sports fan," Simmons has "always seemed to be talking with the sports fan." While Simmons is "not a traditional journalist, his use of columns, podcasts and -- more recently -- video has been highly influential." Much of sports commentary has "evolved to match the model that Simmons popularized, blending established fact with opinion, speculation and intuition" (THECONVERSATION.com, 5/12). Meanwhile, in Chicago, Phil Rosenthal wrote ESPN "will make do without" Simmons, whose bosses "deemed his considerable contributions on multiple media platforms inadequate to offset the challenge his empowered independence posed in a tightly regimented organization." He may "have success away from ESPN, but ESPN will endure" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/16).
