I’m a bit late on this one, but tonight I read on Deadspin how ESPN.com has punished Bill Simmons for negatively Tweeting about a “certain WEEI talk show.” From now on, according to Deadspin, Simmons is limited in what subjects he can Tweet on.
Rob King, ESPN.com’s editor, issued a truly inane statement that read, in part, “We have internal guidelines designed to inform how we discuss the topic of sports media. These guidelines are important us, because they help maintain the credibility with which ESPN operates. No one knows the guidelines better than Bill Simmons, and he customarily works within these standards. He also understands, as does everyone else at ESPN, that we regard these guidelines as being equally important when participating in social media.”
My take: I would absolutely, positively love to see ESPN take a stand against Simmons. Or, let me rephrase (because I like and respect Simmons): ESPN would never, ever, ever take any real action, because if they were ever to fire The Sports Guy, SI.com or Yahoo.com would swoop him (and his 10 gazillion readers) up in about three seconds. No one is irreplaceable. But the guy is pretty darn close.
I truly hate ESPN’s Big Brother approach to Twitter, Facebook, individual websites, etc. It’s ludicrous, arrogant, insufferable bulls•••. The paranoid fear that runs through that place … pathetic.
