I am sure ESPN management was thrilled over his comments. Hopefully his agreement, or any sort of buyout, didn't/won't include a non-complete clause similar to Rick Riley.

Come on, Brian. We all know that "Who's Now" provides most of their online readership.

John R: I thought NFL Power Rankings in May drove ESPN.com. Besides, this gives ESPN ample time to prep Skip Bayless to take Simmons' place.

Who's Now? I thought it was for ESPN Travel?

I think it's very interesting that there's an empty blog set up at sportsguy.blogspot.com.

He has to censor himself so often at ESPN that I think an independent blog would lead to better, funnier columns, and that's all I care about. And the more people criticizing ESPN, the better.

I've been reading Simmons for 10 years and the worst piece he ever submitted for publication was the mini-mailbag for ESPN magazine from 2 weeks ago. The definition of mailing it in, and he knew it. Honestly, wouldn't he be able to sustain himself if he went out on his own through ad-revenue? Although, he wouldn't have an expense account anymore...

i wonder if crunch and k-dog (or whatever their names are) and his old man approve of this.

-dan

Good for Bill. He's one of the main reasons that people still go to their site, he should demand a little creative control.

he needs to go on Dameshek's radio show and complain.

of course, it's an ESPN station...

TAS: Yes, the May power rankings and the '09 mock drafts are what keep me coming back.

He'll still be a douchebag no matter where he writes, and that's coming from a Bostonian.

junker23:

Is that the way it works? If you're from a guys hometown you get to pronounce on his douche status? That's all it takes?

Let me say this then...Danny Ainge, douche! Chris Miller, non-douche! David Ogden Stiers? The jury is still out, although he seems like a decent fellow.

I don't care if ESPN tortures his kids, anything they can do to lessen his posting frequency is a righteous act. I was talking to my buddy Boing Boing about chess gambling the other day and he agrees. Insert stupid pop culture reference here.

>> Besides, this gives ESPN ample time to prep Skip Bayless to take Simmons' place.

I thought Bayless's columns went straight to the Eighth Circle of Hell.

Maynard: Last I checked, there wasn't anyone holding a gun to your head demanding that you read every one of his columns. If you don't like them, don't read them. It really is that simple.

Spartandan: Since there are some people who don't care for Simmons, a Bayless column might be the only way it could be worse. Doesn't the E in ESPN stand for Eighth Circle of Hell anyway?

Spartandan:

I haven't read a Simmons column in at least six months. But their very existence cheapens our status as a thinking species. They have a chilling effect upon the intellect of the Internet as a whole.

He must be stopped at all costs, as well as anybody who finds his "gambling, pop culture, friends with stupid nicknames, Sox this, Sox that" nonsense entertaining or informative.

We will bury you.

Who is going to miss him? Not ESPN. They will still get views because they are ESPN.

The Sports Dork will not be able to come close to the ad revenue to make up for his six-figure salary.

ESPN should make him sit on the sidelines until 2010 and then watch him flush the rest of his career down the toilet.

He makes 1.5 mill/year with ESPN. I read that somewhere.

he makes 1.5 mil to write that bullshit? it must be nice to be white and dopey. because hes not that good.

"this gives ESPN ample time to prep Skip Bayless to take Simmons' place."

I just threw up in my mouth.

There's no way he's making $1.5 mill. That's just nonsense. I could see $1.5 mill over the four year deal, but no way that's the annual rate.

"There's no way he's making $1.5 mill. That's just nonsense. I could see $1.5 mill over the four year deal, but no way that's the annual rate."

ESPN pays their commentators far better than one would expect. Bob Davie, one of their second-tier college football analysts, is being paid close to three-quarters of a million (that bit of information comes from the Texas A&M defensive coordinator search back in January). If Davie is getting paid that much annually, $1.5 million isn't unreasonable for their most popular columnist.

"I haven't read a Simmons column in at least six months. But their very existence cheapens our status as a thinking species. They have a chilling effect upon the intellect of the Internet as a whole."

Wow, Maynard, do you often overdramatize every other aspect of life, too?

I don't know if it's ESPN censoring (I don't think it is), but Simmons just hasn't been as funny over the past few years. I remember back in 2002/2003 when I would save articles that he had written. I don't do that anymore, since they just aren't as memorable. Don't get me wrong - I still read everything he does. However, it's not something I get excited about reading anymore.

it's != its

Seriously, I'm really tired of otherwise well-written articles getting that wrong. Apostrophes should not be this hard to understand.