Bill Simmons

Sometimes, I love Bill Simmons. Sometimes, I hate him. He's lived such a charmed life and has a "job" so many people would love to have. He's become a celebrity from just watching sports and celebrities.

He can be really funny. And Really smart. And just evil at times. His love affair with Boston sports is nauseating.

But ya know, I do read most of his columns and mostly enjoyed this book. If you do like basketball, sit down and read this book. He comes across as a know-it-all that you want to just beat in your fantasy league. But as long as he's not picking on you like Isiah Thomas or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, you will find some of his ideas great and some ideas that make you want to punch him in the face.… (more)

Gift from Jim while I was in college. Read on the trip to Portland with the Dordt basketball team. Loved almost every minute of it. Would read again if he does an updated version every 10 years. Definitely agree with his idea of doing a complete overhaul of the basketball hall of fame and utilizing the pyramid scheme. Also explains in detail why Lebron is not the GOAT based on what Bill Simmons calls, "the secret.". This was also my first introduction to Bill Simmons. I enjoy him as a writer, not as much as a commentator.… (more)

Simmons is, of course, a biased commentator, so don't come to this book as if he's even trying to be fair. His loves--the Celtics, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan--and his hates--Wilt Chamberlain, the Lakers, Kareem--he wears on his sleeve. But most prominent of all is his deep love of the game itself, and that's what really makes this book worthwhile. Simmons is someone who is passionate enough about basketball to make even his blind spots fun. I say this as someone who despised his beloved Celtics (being from Philly).

He knows a great deal. He wonders about many things. And he combines the two to make even the silly stuff interesting.… (more)

Each summer we in the United States go from having 3 great sports to watch and talk about, to having one okay sport. But sports television keeps going for 24 hours a day. I watch sports TV with lunch, but in summer, it's so boring that I often end up doing the dishes instead.

For the last three years, I've spent my summer lunches going through this book. Simmons is better than most sports journalists inasmuch as he can write more than one sentence without making me cringe, and he has a sense of humor. Is that worth 700 pages? It if you're reading it over three years. It is not if you think these sorts of things should be 'objective,' which is ridiculous.

Well, this is not objective, and who cares, it's *freaking sports people, one small step up from daytime soap operas in terms of importance*. One fairly embarassing problem with this book, though. Allow me a digression.

I had a friend in high school who, for some reason, had an extremely upper class English accent. Was he English? No. He wasn't faking it either. But it made him stand out among the rest of us, all proud strines ('Australian'). To fit in, he tried to swear a lot. It was even worse than the original accent. Imagine if someone in the middle of a BBC mini series suddenly started calling the women bitches.

I bring this up because Simmons, too, tries to fit in, only in his case he's trying to fit in with a very blokey sports culture. So every second page has a story about a strip club, or how women should stay in the kitchen, or how WNBA isn't basketball. Bill Simmons: any WNBA player could beat you at basketball, and any WNBA player could beat you in a fight. So could any stripper. Please stop with the "I'm just one of the guys" shtick. It's embarrassing for you, and more than a little demeaning to, well, all women.

But as I mentioned, this is a book about basketball. It is entertainment, and that is all. No need to get too upset.… (more)