Bill Simmons was fired by ESPN on Friday, and Jason McIntyre over at The Big Lead has speculated that Simmons was fired partly because ESPN didn’t want to set a salary precedent with him when they’ve got contracts for other on-air talent coming up later in the year, most notably Skippy Bayless and braying donkey Colin Cowherd.
I find this theory unlikely for many reasons, namely that no one outside of Colin Cowherd could possibly think that Colin fucking Cowherd is worth $6 million a year. Colin Cowherd was a nobody until ESPN plucked him out of obscurity and pushed him into every local market in America, without America asking for him. A talking llama would get the same goddamn ratings, or perhaps do even better. Oh, but he’s a painter.
Anyway, there’s a rumor going around ESPN that Cowherd wants out of ESPN anyway, so that he can take his career in an inevitably more political direction. That’s right, kids. When you bitch about John Wall’s daddy, red state America has a cushy media gig ready and waiting for you and your takes. That little tidbit, along with the Simmons firing, is the subject of this week’s Deadcast.
So join Marchman and me as we wallow in this trough of sports media handjobbing. If you have anything you’d like to hear discussed on the revived podcast, just send it in to tips@deadspin.com with the subject line DEADCAST. You can listen to the show here or download it over at the iTunes store.
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