WFAN-AM's Mike Francesa yesterday during an interview with HBO's Bill Simmons announced that he "has agreed to participate in a '30 for 30' documentary on the old 'Mike and the Mad Dog' show, as has his former partner, Chris Russo," according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. The timing "was a bit awkward because Simmons is one of the founders of the '30 for 30' project in 2009 and recently left ESPN -- which was what freed him to be on Francesa's show in the first place" (NEWSDAY, 10/15). SPORTS ON EARTH's Joe Delessio notes Simmons, who is "obviously no longer involved" with the series, "seemed stunned by the news" of Francesa's upcoming documentary. He said, "Get out of here. Are you trying to hurt me?" Simmons "was the force" behind "30 for 30," which itself "was a response to how HBO had cornered the market on quality sports documentaries." ESPN is now a "major player in that game." But Simmons told Francesa, "I think it's pretty easy to take back" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 10/15).
STILL GOING STRONG: Simmons yesterday said the formation of Grantland was the thing he was most proud of during his time at ESPN. He said, "We built a site from scratch. We found a ton of quality writers, a ton of quality young writers. And we created something that I think was really starting to resonate" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 10/15). ADWEEK's Tim Baysinger noted the 4-year-old website "is coming off a strong summer" despite staffers "jumping ship as if Grantland were the Titanic." According to comScore, the site had 6.87 million unique visitors in June, while July "saw 7.2 million, making them two of Grantland's top three months ever." August "was strong as well with 6.59 million uniques, the sixth-highest in the site's history." In May, when Simmons departed, the site "had its best month ever with 7.23 million uniques, though some of that could be attributed to rubbernecking over Simmons' ouster." But with "so many popular staffers heading for the door, it's still fair to wonder if a downward spiral isn't on the horizon" (ADWEEK.com, 10/14).
