May 17, 2004

Simmons-Wiley All-Day Hoops Summit. : This morning ESPN/Page2 called it "blogging about the NBA playoffs" (or something like that). Now, they are referring to it as a "first-ever" all-day summit or debate. Whatever it is, I like it. It is not a blog, but it borrows the casual, off-the-cuff style (or maybe it is borrowing the style of PTI). Is this the future of online sports journalism? Also, Simmons asks some questions worthy of some SpoFi reflection (e.g., "Is Phil Jackson the most overrated coach of all time or the most underrated coach of all time?")

read story | posted by jacknose to Basketball at 7:37 PM CDT (7 comments total)

I started to read it and liked the format, but I have never liked Wiley. Maybe it's because too many of my students speka in the same ebonics way.

posted by msacheson at 7:50 PM CDT on May 17

Simmons throws down more ebonic style references than Wiley I find sometimes. Though I'm not sure Simmions actually knows that much about sports - he's a funny guy - but 90% of his column is about Boston sports teams and sitcoms. Insight seems rare - whereas I find Wiley to be kinda a blowhard sometimes, but he genuinely has a bit of a journalist in him for sure.

ESPN perhaps suffers a little bit by having its staff enamored by the sound of their own voices, but it is occasionally entertaining.

Is Phil overrated? No idea. Talk to his players and they swear total allegiance for the most part. Talk to other players and they call him an ass. Other coaches hate him. Sounds like a pretty good coach to me.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 12:33 AM CDT on May 18

ESPN perhaps suffers a little bit by having its staff enamored by the sound of their own voices, but it is occasionally entertaining.

Isn't that the entire point of the column format?? Don't we do the same thing here, albeit usually in 150 words or less per post?

I really liked this format. I did feel that they slipped too much into TV show references, but otherwise they fire in enough clever little insights that I don't get as a casual TV watcher. I think they need to find a better balance of content in something like this, but it is a very promising start.

BTW, Phil Jackson: neither overrated or underrated. He has the ability to manage these complex egotistical personalities, he brings an almost academic approach from beyond the game, he is smart enough to surround himself with great assistants that fill his weaknesses, he has managed his career very well, and he is wheeling the boss's daughter. Does that make him the greatest coach ever? No more than Bill Gates is the greatest CEO ever.

posted by smithers at 7:36 AM CDT on May 18

At the sake of derailing this thread with a non-sports related post, I like this format. I've been reading these two guys on Slate email about the Sopranos every Monday morning.

And I caught some of Max Kellerman's new show on FoxSportsNet last night, "I, Max," and at first glance it looks like a rip-off of PTI. I would link to the Fox web site, but I just got more pop-ups than should be allowed and my cursor turned into something that looked like a razor or a severed arm. I'm guessing it is a shameless Schick or Gillette plug.

See for yourself. And let me know if it's just me when you scroll over links.

posted by usfbull at 8:12 AM CDT on May 18

I thought it was a self-indulgent mess. I love Simmons but Wiley dragged him down to his standard annoying level. Do I care about their favorite TV shows and Top 10 Hottest Honeys? No, I don't. And they're both morons for saying that Kevin Garnett should have retaliated against Peeler. Yeah, it would be true MVP behavior if he had gotten himself suspended for Game 7.

posted by Scott Carefoot at 8:18 AM CDT on May 18

Every once in a while, Slate will let Allen Barra and Charlie Pierce do a thing on sports, similar to the Sopranos thread. Seeing as ESPN.com is connected to Slate, it wouldn't be surprising if that's where the Wiley-Simmons thing came from.

On second thought, didn't ESPN.com do the same thing with Writers Bloc feature. As for Wiley, his style is pretty polarizing. I happen to like his stuff more often than not, though it's obvious that a lot of people don't necessarily agree. What a country!

posted by jackhererra at 11:14 AM CDT on May 18

What amazed me about it was that Simmons, not Wiley, was the first person to bring up race.

posted by Bernreuther at 12:23 PM CDT on May 18

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