In December of 2011, a coworker of mine emailed me a link. I work in the field of education and the link was for something called Grantland. I filed it away for when I had more time to look at things like grants.

A few weeks later, I realized my silliness. For the next five or so years, Grantland was a go-to for when I needed something interesting to read about sports or entertainment and the BS Report podcast was in heavy rotation for my bike rides, long drives, and lawn mowing.

The Ringer is going to be awesome!

This week, Bill Simmons, former Editor in Chief of Grantland, announced he’s starting up a new site: The Ringer. In his latest Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons talks in general terms about what he’s gone through

I’m a way bigger and better consumer of sports information than source. When I first read a Simmons column, he was dissing the Lakers in ways I had never heard. Before long, I came to realize was a master troll — someone who could get a reader’s blood boiling. He was the perfect sports writer for the dawn of the Internet age. His podcast was and is earnest and intriguing. His YouTube platform with Grantland was underrated.

Over time, I came to respect his views more and more. Writers and sports personalities without a rooting interest tend to bore me. I’m a big fan of, well, fans — and Simmons is one of the all-timers.

When ESPN let Simmons go and eviscerated Grantland, it left a gaping hole in the online sports and entertainment landscape. We should all be glad that Simmons is building something new with the knowledge he’s gained from his time with Grantland. Simmons said on his podcast that he’s not trying to make The Ringer the same site that Grantland was. It will be different. Hopefully it will be better. I just hope it starts to fill the hole that Grantland’s death left.

Here’s to great content ahead. Here’s to The Ringer.

The Sports Guy spoke his mind and gave a great take on the frustration fans feel about the NFL. He’s been smacked down for it. By David Shankbone (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

When Bill Simmons became an ESPN employee, I think all reasonable sports fans who follow the Sports Guy were excited. Simmons does a fantastic job of toeing the line between being a journalist and a sports fan with an opinion. Simmons’ strong takes bring readers who are passionate and excited about their teams. Simmons is able to make deep analysis of multiple sports easily digestible and has one of the most popular sports podcasts out there.

When I first read Simmons years ago, I thought he was an unrepentent Laker-hating troll. I still pretty much think that, but he’s grown on me because he, for the most part, has done a nice job of being transparent about who he actually is. He doesn’t have any kind of fake pretense, which is where he departs heavily from his current employer.

ESPN has gone from becoming something I thought was hip in the late 1990’s to being something that makes me feel icky for consuming.

Here’s a confession: I haven’t had cable at any time over the past two years or so, and I’ve still kept up with sports. In fact, I get my sports news more efficiently than ever. AND, I’m in charge of what’s important in my sports world. I consume sports how I want to, through sources I feel give me the best information. I think I’m pretty savvy about where I get this information and can tell the difference between something being actually reported on versus an agenda a network like ESPN tried to push on me.

I’m pretty sure only ESPN employees I follow at this point are ones related to Grantland. Aside from live sporting events, which ESPN does a great job with, Simmons’ Grantland is the last bastion of content worth consuming on ESPN’s platforms.

Simmons was reprimanded for not living up to ESPN’s sometimes-enforced standards of journalistic integrity. In a weird way though, he held tight to his real morals. Simmons expressed the anger of so many fans of the NFL, ripping into Roger Goodell and expressing the bad feelings every fan has about the league right now.

By suspending Simmons, ESPN showed itself again as an organization that’s not in touch. ESPN hired Simmons, empowered him to do things like exactly what he did on his podcast this week, and then suspended him. Suspending Simmons is not what’s good for consumers of sports or the NFL and I don’t think that it’s good for the network either.

So, here’s to Bill Simmons. Good job Sports Guy. I hope that when you come back, you can still keep being who you are. Even though I’ll probably read it less now (the site is owned by ESPN after all), I hope that Grantland can still be a thing that I can actually respect — there are some really great people there and the content is still fresh and readable.

ESPN and the NFL are giants of the sports industry. They have both once again failed me as a fan. I’m a fan of neither tonight.

"It's not like Ray Rice bad-mouthed his wife on a PODCAST." — someone high up at @espn, apparently. #FreeSimmons

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) September 25, 2014

Worldwide leader in cowardice and hypocrisy @espn #freesimmons

— A.J. Shearon (@PATSbasketball) September 25, 2014

Here's the excellent OTL piece @BillSimmons was talking about. Read it before ESPN disappears it too. #FreeSimmons http://t.co/adau8Av2Nm

— Ted Friedman (@tedfriedman) September 25, 2014

This @BillSimmons suspension is mind blowing. He's the best talent @espn and deserves to be heard. #freesimmons http://t.co/W58BqtezvL

— Tanya (@MissTanya) September 25, 2014

WILD SONG OF THE NIGHT FOR #BillSimmons: "Gimme Some Truth" by #JohnLennon #FreeSimmons

— David Wild (@Wildaboutmusic) September 25, 2014

There has just been too much material.

Betwen Manti Te’o and Lance Armstrong, last week was filled with an over-hyper media, once again simultaneously covering a story and covering themselves as part of a story in a sort of snake eating its own tail kind of a way. Weeks like this are the stuff legends are made of.

As consumers of sports, the last seven days have, like a political race, either opened our eyes to new and fresh ideas or further cemented our sports media allegiances.

Bill Simmons’ “malibag” columns were made for situations like Manti Te’o. By David Shankbone (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

For some, a daily dose of Grantland.com is necessary even in a pre Te’o scandal world. Post Te’o, I would argue that there are few things more salacious or tasty to read than a Bill Simmons Manti Te’o mailbag post. Sure, the sports guy runs Grantland.com and had a podcast bigger than his ego, but the way he got to the top of that mountain was through columns like the mailbag he put out on Manti Te’o last week. This scandal was made for Simmons.

If you’re looking for someone with a strong alternative opinion, I recommend Jason Whitlock. Whitlock describes himself as “agenda free, honest, and unpredictable,” and if you like someone who tries to “stick it to “the man” on a regular basis, Whitlock is the guy to read. His twitter feed is constantly updated and his views, while extreme sometimes, are usually healthy to have in the sports ether. If you want someone who is not afraid to criticize anyone, Whitlock is your guy.

The Te’o story provided lots of targets for Whitlock’s wrath including mainstream media, ESPN, and Notre Dame. His take on Manti is one that I think lots of people didn’t know they had until they read the article, and that’s probably the biggest compliment I can give Whitlock.

More local writers, like Bill Plaschke of the LA Times, pondered a specific part of the story — namely the media’s inability to do it’s job as watchdogs. Perhaps this was a more mainstream, less intense version of Whitlock’s view, but it was a solid piece for a west-coast paper.

In the midst of Te’o “tooling out” (as C.J. Silas would put it), Lance Armstrong remained in the midst of a 15-year “tool-out.” For Armstrong, TJ Simers of the LA Times wrote a nuanced Lance Armstrong column. Simers is more the king of sarcasm and making himself a story usually, but it’s gems like the Armstrong column that keep bringing me back.

I guess, this time, it’s because I have mostly the same opinion on the matter as Simers. Does what Armstrong says now have the ability to take away all the people who found some inspiration or positive message in what he did?

I would argue that Armstrong’s consecutive Tour de France wins put more people on bikes than Tiger put on golf courses. Those people have burned millions of calories and, I would argue, are probably healthier than they were before Armstrong put the Tour de France at the top of SportsCenter. An entire industry has gone from something that was a niche sport to something more mainstream. I have ridden 3 century (100 mile) rides over the past two years and rode over 2000 miles in 2012 while losing a little weight and getting my astronomical cholesterol numbers in-check, all of which came from having a bike — and I can’t be the only one. Without Lance Armstrong’s rise I think it would have been unlikely that I would have ever gotten into cycling in the first place.

As Simers said regarding Armstrong’s confession:

… But what difference does it make today to those who found hope so long ago in his own cancer story?

His story was alive and brimming with inspiration when those afflicted at the time needed it the most.

How many took what Armstrong had to say as the gospel, finding common resolve in their own yellow wristband, only now to have to watch Oprah?

I have no interest in watching. Who cares what Armstrong has to say now? Who cares how this story plays out, with his athletic career over and his influence now old news?

Like so many other athletes and celebrities, he had the ability to uplift, did so for a time, but ultimately wasn’t up to the task.

None of it changes the power of inspiration and what it means to some — even if under false pretenses.

Would you lie to someone dying if you thought it would bring them some peace?

Where someone gets their news and opinion says something about their fansmanship. By Cortega9 (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

Point made. I wasn’t dying, but I did use Lance as an inspiration at some level and that’s not something that even his confession can take away from me — and I’m not ashamed of it either.

So what website did you visit last Wednesday when the Te’o story broke? Even though the Te’o story was only related to sports and the Armstrong story potentially outdated in its relevance, we can learn something about our fansmanship by thinking about where we look for our information about sports and about which outlet has the information in its most relevant and useful form.

While the LA Times and Grantland are staples for me already, I think I’ll be reading a little more Whitlock and a little less ESPN.com this week (and yes, I know ESPN owns Grantland…). Whatever I’m reading about though, I just hope it has a little more to do with what’s happening on the field than off it.