As many of you noticed yesterday, our friends at ESPN.com have discontinued ESPN Conversation on its Page 2 columns. They're calling it the end of the "Beta" testing, though we're not sure how much sense that makes: Why would you test something on the most easily-commented upon stories just to push it off to the "news stories" section when you're actually "ready" to launch? What's fun about commenting on news stories?

We can't help but think Bill Simmons had something to do with this. The only column he ever wrote that had comments was this infamous one; after that unfortunate bombardment — in which most just considered Simmons the guy who got caught in the crossfire — there have been no comments on any Simmons story. We can't imagine he was pleased with that, particularly while he was on the road in Miami. We understand the sentiment, but commenting on"headline" news stories, and commenting on articles by ESPN personalities, are two radically different things. It's hard to have a conversation with a wire story.

All-Star Diamond In The Emerald City [ESPN]
The Day ESPN.com Stood Still [Deadspin]

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