What does it say about me …that I enjoyed the Sports Gal’s column on ESPN.com more than I’ve enjoyed anything from Bill Simmons in the last year? (For those of you not in the loop, Bill Simmons — a.k.a. The Sports Guy — writes regular sports/pop culture columns for ESPN. He’s notorious for his love of all things Boston, his fixation on Tom Brady and the fact that his wife has beaten him head to head picking NFL games against the spread two years running.)
Some of my favorites:
| Look at the bright side, O.J. Mayo: You are the first star athlete whose name combines a drink and a condiment. Just writing “O.J. Mayo” makes me hungry. |
I can honestly say that this never occurred to me, but is strangely hilarious for anyone whose wife has ever tried to feign an interest in sports for her husband’s sake.
I also liked the following for obvious reasons:
| Tennessee (2) over Butler (7): Bill was watching Memphis play Tennessee recently and said they were the two best teams, so I remember that one. He doesn’t think I pay attention, but I do. Unless he’s having an annoying sports call with his friends. Then I start slamming cabinets and thinking of ways to make the dogs bark. |
And this one:
| USC (6) over Wisconsin (3): This is the real-life matchup and result if Bill takes the Milwaukee Bucks GM job: I will be choosing Southern California over Wisconsin and living off 50 percent of Bill’s salary. |
One of the things that I find the most obvious about her column is that besides the running patter about how she hates sports, doesn’t get her husband’s obsessions, etc., her column is very savvy with references to his former columns and some of his running jokes. It’s pretty obvious that she reads most of his columns and despite the playful grouchiness, is deeply, genuinely supportive of her husband and his work. I find that tremendously touching.
I don’t know if she could crank out two or three entertaining sports columns a week, but she has a very intimate and engaging style of writing. Somebody needs to offer her a job writing stuff like this for a living.
Filed under: Miscellany Tagged: | Bill Simmons, ESPN columns, Sports Gal
Dude, your Sports Gal link doesn’t take me to her column. Are you just taunting me? Are you going to taunt me a second time?
Damn it!
Link should be working now. Thanks, E.
Good thing I don’t maintain mission critical websites for a living, eh?