How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox

Liked Bill Simmons' writing in the past. There was no pretentions, it was straight forward stuff. Low brow humor intermingled with pop culture references. It was funny, despite his biases which were always a tad tiresome. However, something happened along the way, specifically the last year or two. He has tried to become something he wasn't, and he is now straddling the line between low brow and high brow stuff. He writes eulogies for Hunter Thompson?? Say it ain't so Bill. This guy performed the ultimate act of selfishness in the most selfish way. Don't make Hunter Thompson a hero. Bill Simmons has also flashed more political views and sounds like a dyed in the wool boston lib, following the paths of his idols Peter gammons etc. etc. He gives book recommmendations to an audience that would rather watch sportscenter, Fletch movies, and read Maxim. He has become somewhat without a true identity. And now that he has a book, he is something all together different.

About the book....horrible editing (though Simmons said he read it countless times to make it perfect), and a rehash of old articles from his website with addendums. This passes as literature? Save the money. The book is a poor first effort, and only profits because his legion of fans. It is the last in the line of a litany of Red Sox books which by the time it came out....been there read that.

Simmons writing slipped quite a bit when he started whining about Jacksonville during the Superbowl like a spoiled child who didn't get what he wanted for Christmas. And then he really went overboard when he claimed that the NFL has essentially rigged this year to help Indy get over the top. Really?? You mean the fact that every playoff game with N.E. was a late game (rather than an early time) in the snow and mostly everytime indy plays NE during the regular season is up in New England, is rigging it for Indy. Bill forgot how to call a strike a strike and a ball a ball.

I read Simmons' ESPN articles quite frequently, and I must say that his book was a boring read. Yeah, there are a few laughs here and there, but it's more like "Ha...I heard that one before." I would highly recommend that if you're going to read this non-entertaining book just out of curiosity that you just take a few minutes to sit down in a bookstore, read a few pages, forget that you just wasted your precious time, and move on with your life. And why pay $15-$20 for a book that is archived on his ESPN page? This book isn't nostalgic, and it isn't orginal.

This book pales in comparison to other books on the sox championship. If you're already a sports guy fan, then chances are you've read most of this online on ESPN. So, why buy this writing when there are many other MUCH better books on the red sox 2004 title? I felt like I was reading a third grader's essays as I went through this piece of "work" (quotations because it couldnt have been too hard to transfer from online to print).

This book is as horrible as his ESPN writing..not surprising since most of it is from his site. The only people who would like Bill Simmon's writings are the fickle sports fans who dont know much about sports and get entertained by Saved by the Bell analogies.

Examples of his horrible NBA writing from the past:

Two years ago, he predicts the Celtics will finish 3rd in the East because they had a great offseason. Nothing wrong with making a wrong prediction, as we all are wrong from time to time. But what does he do when the Celtics start doing horribly? He says "all those moves were so obviously bad from the beginning". Hey Bill: if it was so "obvious" from the beginning, then why did you predict they were such great moves? Own up to your mistakes when you make them.

Other examples: predicting Yao would be horrible even before he had seen him play (what are you, Simmons, a psychic?). same with Darko, Isiah Thomas as a GM, etc.

Overall, if you're a Sox fan and want to read a Sox book then buy this. Otherwise if you want remotely intelligent sports writing, dont waste your money.

Can someone please write a column about funny writers who become so self indulgent they lose all of their non-local fans within weeks by writing article after article about the same topics except instead of being critcal and edgy, replacing that with "excuses for not being allowed to be edgy". Also, Boston just lost and didnt make the ALCS...not a peep out of Simmons...instead he wrote a boring boring boring article about a new movie called "Two for the Money"...you dont need to tell people not to see it....no one saw it except for you b/c it looked awful.

Firstly, is it just coincidence that Bill Simmons' initials are BS?

For the average person (including sox fans who dont want to read junk on the sox' championship): do you want to read a book by someone who is only popular because he plays to the crowd? do you want to read a book by an impostor? do you want to read a book by a sellout who claims to "speak for the fans" but then turns his back on them by charging for espn articles after he originally claimed he would never do that?

the only reason why Simmons is "popular" is that he appeals to the non-sports fans of ESPN who like to think they know sports. Cases in point: remember when he wrote many articles bashing Joe Dumars for taking Darko over Melo? He wouldnt stop (come to think of it, has he ever praised a non-white GM?) Then when the pistons won the title with Tayshaun at SF, simmons turned around and said "good thing they didnt pick melo and start him over tayshaun! i knew it". And then he recently wrote an article bashing Melo and saying how he better step up. Hello people--- this is entertainment? Did I miss something funny? Well, I guess I found it funny that "Sports guy" would change his words like that and pretend he was right the whole time. Just admit you're wrong when you're wrong, no need to pretend and play to the crowd. Remember when he bashed Eli last year but now he's been singing his praises and saying how he knew it all along? This is good writing, entertainment, etc? I fail to see it.

That's what happens when you get caught up in just playing to the crowd and writing whatever would make them happy. If you want to be played, then read this book. I almost feel like he saw Jose Canseco make money off a book and decided "wow I can do that too!". and then did it the easy way by throwing his overrated website together.

For sox fans who will read anything about the sox, I guess you can get this if it makes you happy to read something about your championship. Otherwise, there are books that are BOTH more amusing and entertaining on the sox' ride to the 04 world series championship.

You can probably get everything you want out of this book by a quick glance, rather than wasting your time going through each page.

In true Bill Simmons fashion, I'll review this book with a hypothetical conversation between him (SG) and his dad (D) before this writing came out...by the way, has anyone else noticed that whenever he runs out of material, he brings his dad into the article..i guess to get sympathy points? and whats with always talking about his buddies and what they think. do we care about what Buddy A or B thinks? whats the over/under on him bringing up a buddy or his dad in the next article?

SG: Yo Simmons!

D: Hey kid, what a year for the sox eh.

SG: Yeah. This is a great conversation I can put in my next article. at the least i'll get sympathy from my readers by including you in. Keep on talking senior.

D: Have you ever heard of Phil Jackson, Jose Canseco, etc? Books make money, Bill.

SG: That's awesome!

D: Just remember, the less substantial stuff you put in your book the more money you can make.

SG: That's awesome! There's nothing less substantial than my ESPN articles.. maybe i'll just throw that into a book and charge my readers money to pay for stuff they've already read?

D: What can I say, You truly are living up the Simmons name and upholding tradition of excellence.

Simmons is like your school cafeteria...pretty good the first time but then you just get sick of it after getting the same ol' same ol' every day.

Case in point: today's cowbell on his site. Coming off the Pats' loss this weekend, you'd think he would write about them. Or even about an exciting NFL playoff weekend. Instead, he writes about Isiah Thomas (yet again) for like the millionth time. There are many other GMs out there to be criticized and yet he only constantly picks on one. Why? He's not even a Knicks fan and yet he continuously takes cheap shots at their GM for some reason. Message to Bill: get over yourself. People care about other things besides your personal vendetta against Isiah and the Knicks.

His stuff is just getting too old and predictable, someone wake me up when it's new.

Bill Simmons is like the annoying sports fan at your local bar and the overreacting fans on your favorite team's message forum. Outside of Boston sports teams, he knows very little about the topics he discusses but tries to pretend that he's a sports know-it-all. Instead of providing a true fan's perspective, his site and writings are more of a personal forum for him to bash the sports individuals or teams that he doesn't like. Every now and then, he cracks a great analogy. But as everyone knows, sifting through a lot of waste to find a nugget of gold just isn't worth it. If you really want to hear annoying rantings of an uneducated sports fan, why would you waste your time reading this book when you can at least pretend to be social and talk to the fans at your local bar (or message forum)?

This title has the shelf life of mayonnaise during a heat wave. The Red Sox, those plucky rebels who defeated the Evil Empire, took about 10 minutes to become even more loathsome than the haughty Yankees. Can you say "over-exposed?" Now, almost a year later, and seemingly even longer, comes this syrupy ode to Boston's one magical season in 80+ years. As any of the so-called "stars" of Bill Simmons' adored teenage soap operas on Fox would say, "Get over yourself, New England (Like, totally)." This book is fit solely for the mooks in the bleachers at Fenway, assuming they can read. I'm always amused by the hatred between Yankees fans and Red Sox fans, when they're distinguishable only by their abundant tattoos. It's sad that someone as fluent with the language (or at least its slang) as Simmons, a man with flashes of taste in film (e.g., "The Shawshank Redemption"), would waste his talent on simplistic home-town fanaticism. Great sportswriting is about why these children's games sometimes strike a chord within us, and not just among a bunch of poorly-educated simpletons from a single metropolitan area.