When you constantly read a columnist you become friends with them. You laugh at their stupid jokes, you applaud their valiant points and you learn a lot.
If you’re a writer, you seem to pick up some of their techniques.
Such is the case with Bill Simmons, an ESPN columnist who has written thousands of articles for ESPN using a style that makes sports even more entertaining than before.
With pop culture references and new slang, Simmons manages to turn every sports situation into something worth laughing about.
Simmons, who is a die-hard Boston fan, doesn’t hide his allegiance. In fact he flaunts it as he openly taunts rival teams and acts as a voice to the common man who has an opinion on sports.
He has special features and editions like the “Mail Bag” where he takes users E-mails and answers 20-30 of them in a way only the elite can answer.
Questions range from: “If the Boston Red Sox were a TV show, what would they be?” to “Name the overall best year in sports history?” And his answers either end up being comedic gold or information that you never really thought of.
His knowledge on sports is undeniable and his ability to cross sports with pop culture is what makes him relatable and humorous. In all, Simmons is a guy who sits around, watches TV and writes about sports – Not a bad gig.
When you read a writer for a certain amount of time you learn their dislikes and Simmons repeatedly brings back his dislikes randomly and at the perfect time as it draws a laugh to his regular readers every time.
He hates the WNBA, New York and male insecurities but often writes about his trips to Las Vegas.
An example of his sports mind comes from an article he wrote about being at the blackjack table in Vegas.
He compared the dealer to a starting pitcher, but once the dealer began losing every hand and the gamblers began winning, the pit boss would go to the “bullpen” and bring in a new dealer – one who doesn’t speak English.
This “relief” pitcher would be cold, foreign and unfriendly and eventually cause everyone at the table to go broke.
Analogies are key to Simmons’ success. He knows enough about everything to have his writing effect everyone, not just sports fans. Of course sports fans would get more of the jokes but he has the friendly writing that invites you to read.
Especially in this day, reading about the box score last night or hearing on Sportscenter about another athlete getting in trouble with the law is mundane. But reading Bill’s take on the situation as he writes fluently and allows the reader to understand the situation and then laugh about it is something not a lot of people can do.
Simmons has recently been getting into Podcasts to stay up with the times, however, nothing can compare to reading the columns.
What makes Simmons as good as he is isn’t just his ability to make jokes; it’s his uncanny knowledge about sports. He constantly drops references to past events and countless sporting debacles in every column.
However, it’s easy nowadays to fake it. Just google a topic and within two minutes you’re a genius. However, the amount of sports he claims to have watched and his endless amount of references and stories should be enough to prove that he knows his stuff.
You can’t pick up the name “The Sports Guy” for being average.
And that is what makes him and every other good columnist out there worth reading – The knowledge they have on their topic.
You want to read something that you can learn from, you want to be entertained and you want to laugh.
It’s not a big secret that only the best have access to. It boils down to whether or not you have the passion for what you’re doing or following. If you’re heart is in it you can make it worth reading and you can make it, period.
Bill Simmons was born and raised on sports, he can tell you who the point guard was for the Boston Celtics in 1983. He can also tell you all the character names on Beverly Hills 90210.
He’s more than just a sports guy, he’s the sophisticated thinking that it takes to become a great columnist.
He’s Bill Simmons.
No comments:
Post a Comment