By April MacIntyre Sep 12, 2006, 13:55 GMT
Simmons is a bit of an American institution, an ESPN columnist who began in 2001 and built a rabid following, the Bostonian native is known for marrying sports fact, opinion and pop culture trivia.
Simmons perspective is written from the viewpoint of a fan rather than an objective journalist. His book, “Now I Can Die in Peace” is his ode to the long suffering Boston Red Sox who recently busted the curse of the Babe (Ruth). His own sales pitch from the ESPN website goads his readers, “but you can find the paperback in any bookstore, or you can order it on Amazon.com for a measly 10 bucks. So get the thing already. Come on. I don't ask for much.”
Some complain he obsesses too much about Beantown teams and Boston-related topics with the NBA favored over other newsworthy sports.
FIFA World Cup piqued his interest in soccer, leading him to pick an English Premier League team, he selected the lowly Tottenham Hotspur.
For obvious reasons, Simmons is a passionate fan of the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Holy Cross Crusaders, and Boston Celtics. He also roots against certain teams, specifically the New York Yankees, Boston College Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, and Los Angeles Lakers. Now a Los Angeles native, he is allegedly a proud season ticket holder of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Now Simmons is adding a whole new view to his column. Simmons is allowing his long suffering “sports gal” wife to have her say in the wide world of sports.
According to Simmons: “Now I'm wondering: Can I even pick games better than someone who doesn't know ANYTHING? That's why I'm adding a wrinkle to this year's picks column: Every week, we're running a related story with picks from someone in my life who doesn't follow football. At first, I considered having a different handicapper each week -- in Week 1, my mom; in Week 2, my stepmother; in Week 3, Jimmy Kimmel; in Week 4, the foreign guy who runs my neighborhood newsstand -- but having that many would be too confusing. I needed to settle on one. And since she started this whole mess, why not the Sports Gal?”
Simmons elaborates that his sports picking spouse “knows nothing about football. More importantly, she hates football. She's been counting down the weeks to the 2006 season the same way somebody looks forward to hernia surgery.”
ESPN.com will run her commentary alongside Simmons, under certain conditions: “Along with her picks, she gets one paragraph to rant about something each week.
And I can't edit it. In fact, nobody can edit it….Her exact words were, "You've been making up quotes from me ever since we started dating, I want complete creative control."
“We struck a deal and that was that. Her picks will run in a sidebar near the end of this column. My picks will run below like always. May the best spouse win.”
The Sports Gal Speaks:“There's a new commercial where Lindsay Lohan claims that she uses Proactiv a few times a week for healthy skin. This made me laugh because she lives at the Chateau Marmont and probably gets a facial and massage every other day.
Also, this girl can't even show up on a movie set on time, now I'm supposed to believe she remembers to take her Proactiv every day? I don't think anyone who's famous or wealthy should be able to go on TV and endorse skin products unless they divulge the other "keys" to their beauty routine, like acne extractions every week, microderm abrasion two times a month, two facials a week and La Mer moisturizing products at $200 a pop.
These celebrities spend at least $2,000 a month keeping their skin "healthy." In Lindsay's case, she's a chain-smoking, club-hopping tramp who spends her spare time getting tanning sessions, shopping and forgetting to eat. She's going to look like a leather purse in 25 years no matter how much Proactiv she takes. She should have to mention that too. I hate that commercial.
Here are my picks for Week 1: Denver, N.Y. Jets, New England, Baltimore, Kansas City, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans, Dallas, Green Bay, Arizona, N.Y. Giants, Washington and Oakland.
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