buried in that hbo story i linked to is a pretty good scenario for the next home for the most popular sportswriter/podcaster/tvhost/documentarian bill simmons who was recently fired from espn. hbo is a time warner property. he could have a weekly show there and curate a documentary series as he did at espn. time warner also broadcasts baseball on tbs and basketball on tnt which would greatly appeal to him and they own a popular sports but still raw site called bleacher report. his columns and podcasts would bring some welcome traffic and credibility as the site is built on the back of amateur writer enthusiasts. that actually fits well with simmons brand as he ushered in the era of columnist as fan subjectivity. whether he would try to recreate his grantland project, a sports-pop culture amalgam is another question to ponder. are you pondering?

simmons signs on with hbo as speculated included in which is a weekly "talk show." thing is -- he is not especially good on camera. radio/podcasting format is far more forgiving. no mention if any of the other time warner properties will be availed to him but he will be able to produce other content like documentaries for hbo as well.
- dave 7-22-2015 12:34 pm