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Tweet of the Night: Bill Simmons’ Suspension Incites Impassioned Twitter Response

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The 2010 New Yorker Festival: In Conversation With Malcolm GladwellNever one to mince his words, Bill Simmons has built a large following for himself — primarily as a writer and sports personality for ESPN — because he freely speaks his mind. The very brash, opinionated and honest traits that make him so popular became his undoing Wednesday as he received a three-week suspension from ESPN due to comments he made regarding NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on his podcast.

At the heart of the issue is whether or not Commissioner Goodell had knowledge of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s domestic abuse incident in Atlantic City. The commissioner claims that he did not see the security tape from within the elevator and was not aware of the severity of what occurred in the elevator.

Rice has maintained that he was completely honest and forthright about what he did with both the Ravens and Goodell, which contradicts the story the commissioner continues to state.

Simmons doesn’t buy what the commissioner is selling. It doesn’t make sense that he wouldn’t know anything, nor does it make any sense that the league would have no way of obtaining the tape to make an informed decision if TMZ was able to acquire the tape with just one phone call.

There are only a few possible conclusions that can be drawn from this situation: 1) Rice is lying — though he had nothing to gain by doing so. 2) Goodell is lying in an attempt to cover up for his own ignorance, having only given Rice an initial suspension of two games, even thought he knew exactly what Rice had done. 3) Perhaps the worst yet, is that Goodell truly didn’t know, but was both irresponsible and negligent in how he punished Rice, having failed to exhaust league efforts to obtain the truth.

If Rice isn’t lying, the NFL commissioner definitely is. At least, according to Simmons, that is the precisely what happened.

 

A number of other journalists have shown support for Simmons in response to the news of his suspension.

Apparently, Simmons will now be joining a “suspension science panel” at this year’s Sloan Sports Conference.

Utah Jazz radio commentator David Locke also chimed in on Simmons’ suspension.

As alluded to in the Sheridan Hoops blog, ESPN responded with a statement which insinuates that Simmons did not “operate within journalistic standards” in his podcast. Though one must ask, it being a podcast comprised of his opinions, when has he truly ever utilized such standards?

He isn’t a journalist, nor has he ever claimed to be. He is a sports fan and a writer. Seriously, his original Twitter handle was “sportsguy33.”

It will be interesting to see what happens going forward from here. What exactly did Simmons mean when he suggested that he’d go public should anyone attempt to get him in trouble? Was he implying that he may break away from ESPN and start working independently of the network? Or was he suggesting that he might go public with more of his frustrations, perhaps, in a campaign to end Goodell’s reign as NFL commissioner?

What will the popular Grantland founder and editor-in-chief do?

 

 

Previous Tweet Posts:

Tweet of the Night: Nazr Mohammed Appreciates Derrick Rose’s $1 Million Donation Story

Tweet of the Day: Magic Johnson Meets With Danny Ferry

 

Michael Brumagin writes the Tweet of the Day for SheridanHoops.com and is also a correspondent for BleacherReport.com.

Comments

  1. What an outrage. I won’t be watching ESPN as much now, except for games. I’m not just saying it. I really won’t be. Disgusting. I won’t forget this either.

    • I believe you. I avoided ESPN during the week that Stephen A. Smith was being punished, for speaking the truth (about women also sharing blame for contributing to Domestic Disputes – some of which lead to Domestic Violence).

      Its funny how ESPN will bow down to Special Interest groups, but they don’t believe that there is a large percentage of sports fans that don’t like aspects about BSPN and can do without the Network if they go too far. I can’t wait until the competition for ESPN grows. They are still a monopoly.

      • Glad you feel the same as me. Yeah I wish Sports Illustrated (owned by TIme Warner I think) would get into more broadcasting – The Sports Illustrated channel or whatever. Monopolies are never a good thing.

  2. I don’t like Simmons. He makes too many nasty jokes about NBA players/teams and his audience passes them along as fact.

    I have to believe that ESPN suspended Simmons because it would have been embarrassing if they didn’t, after using foul language and deliberately challenging ESPN not to punish him. He also stated opinion as fact, regarding Goodell, which is unprofessional and is a violation on SBN for ordinary posters (he should have a higher standard).

    Others at ESPN have been suspended for far less, including Stephen A Smith (he got pussy-whipped) and Tony Kornheiser (taught to never make jokes about a woman (Hannah Storm) – also pussy-whipped)

    Simmons will be back before the start of the NBA season, with higher ratings, which may be what he wanted all along.

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