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RJ Young Writes: ESPN’s Father Passes: Chet Simmons 1928-2010

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Yesterday, though, should be remembered as the day a pioneer in sports broadcasting was loss. Chester “Chet” Simmons, the first president of ESPN in 1979 and the USFL in 1982, is one of a select few to which we can attribute the way we watch and report sports today.

Because of Simmons, sports was no longer a part of the nightly news, it became its own brand, style and feel. He helped to create a niche for guys like me who desire to do intelligent and grounded sports journalism and broadcasting. Such jobs were scarce, especially in sports broadcasting before ESPN, but with Simmons at the helm change was inevitable.

Simmons helped NBC secure rights to the Moscow Olympics, was the driving force behind the television show, Wide World of Sports, and for the first time evertelevised the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and NFL Draft all in 1980. He was the principle behind arguably the greatest sports broadcasting show of all-time, Sportscenter. 24/7 sports coverage was presumed to be impossible before he did it.

He is responsible for hiring iconic anchors including Chris Berman, Greg and Bryant Gumbel, Dick Vitale, Cliff Drysdale, Dick Ensberg, Bob Ley and many other notable sports commentators. Ley, told ESPN.com “I will forever treasure the trust that Chet placed in all of us at the beginning in 1979. He brought this young network immediate expertise and credibility. His legacy is seen in his family and his grandchildren, and professionally in the foundation he laid so well and profoundly with those of us who now celebrate his life.”

For those of you under 35 with sports addictions akin to a crack head, a world with Chet Simmons is like the dopeman moving out of town. We would have been deprived us of some our favorite 10pm friends. The great sports anchors we know may not have had the role in shaping our ideas about sports on television and the many virtues they possess.

Imagine, Stuart Scott relegated to NBC Nightly News. You really think they would have let words and phrases like “BOO-YAH” or “Cool as the other side of the pillow” come out of his mouth when describing President Obama? Or Neil Everett mention a shot of whiskey every time Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, or Vladimir Guerrero hit a homerun? What if Linda Cohn and Kenny Mayne actually had to compose a story completely devoid of humor? Disastrous stuff, I know.

The sports world is forever changed for the better because of Simmons influence.

Before ESPN, Simmons functioned president of NBC Sports and was involved in yet another sports milestone, the creation of instant replay.

From 1957-1985, Simmons was to sports broadcasting, what William Randolph Hearst was to the newspaper industry. He remained innovative, open to all types of ideas and constantly kept the organization signing his check on the cutting edge. He died of natural causes Thursday, March 25, 2010 at his home in Atlanta, Georgia. He was 81.

26 March 2010 • reblog: makegoodart • sports news espn american football chet simmons

StinkBall.com’s 2009 Season Contest Top 10 Winners

As we get ready to welcome spring (and hopefully warmer weather), the team at StinkBall.com is finally releasing the 2009 Top 10 winners of its season-long contest.

What will these fine folks win you ask? Money of course!!! Cold, hard cash.

The first place winner gets $1,000, 2nd place receives $500, 3rd place nets $250 and teams four through 10 get a Benjamin each (that’s a $100 for those of you not up on the lingo of the kids today :)

So without further ado I present the first ever Top 10 winners of StinkBall.com’s season-long contest:

10) Sarah Benoit from Asheville, NC with her SuckFest2009 entry

9) Don Millirones from Westerville, OH for his Killer Moes entry

Don Millirones (again) from Westerville, OH whose his 2nd top 10 entry,Go Moes, wins him the 8th place prize.

7) Justin Belleme from Asheville, NC with his “Bloated” team

6) Dave Zoll with his 1st of 2 teams in the Top 10: “The Plankton”

5) Dave Zoll (notice a theme here? Well pay attention because its going to happen once more…) with “TheFerociousPlankton” (who knew that plankton were this “bad” at fantasy football?)

4) David Boyer from Queen Creek, AZ with his “Buttkicker57″ team (Mr. Boyer was also the winner of the first week of the 2009 Vernon Davis-StinkBall playoff challenge. Congrats David on a great year!! You really do “stink”).

3) Richard Sedivy of Glenview, IL. Richard also has 2 entries that placed in this year’s Top 10. His first team, “Las Vegas Evolvers”, nets Richard the $250 prize and the first runner-up is…….

2) Richard Sedivy’s second team, “Death Valley Kanenites”, which will give Mr. Sedivy an additional $500 in winnings.

And then there was one….One player who “stinks” so bad, all the other members of StinkBall must yield the crown to him and bow down to “His Stinkiness” and the name of “His Stinkiness?…..

1) Jeremiah Payne from Middlesex, NJ whose team “House of Payne” sets the gold standard for all future StinkBall teams by winning the first ever StinkBall season contest. Congrats Jeremiah!!! What will you do with your $1,000? If I may offer a suggestion…Mother’s Day is just around the corner. Why not buy something nice for your Mom because without her, you wouldn’t be here to say to the world: I know how to “Stink” like no one else.

Well whatever Jeremiah Payne does with his winnings he will definitely be able to say: If You Stink, You Win at StinkBall.com!!!!

Thank you to everyone who helped make the first year of StinkBall a romping success and stay tuned because….the best is yet to come

Jason McCoy aka “The Real McCoy”

15 March 2010 • fantasy football fantasy sports nfl news stinkball stinkball.com play football online games winners contests

Fallacy Sports: A New Genre of Fantasy Sports

The Fantasy Sports Phenomenon

Fantasy sports are fast becoming a popular topic in the media today. Popular fantasy sports web sites like Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, CBS Fantasy Football, ESPN Fantasy Football and FOX Fantasy Football have all been created by internationally recognized media names and new ideas are being developed throughout the year by small and medium sized fantasy entrepreneurs as well.

In a March 2009 article titled “Best Startup Markets for 2009” by Karen E. Spaeder, a writer for Entrepreneur.com, Spaeder reports, “The Fantasy Sports Trade Association estimates that upwards of 20 million (primarily male) North Americans participate in fantasy sports leagues, with a market size of more than $1.5 billion, including sponsorships, endorsements, contest management and advertising.” As more people flock to fantasy sports the need for continued innovation and new ideas increases. There are a few fantasy sports experts making an effort to offer fantasy diehards new challenges and more niche oriented products.

Innovation and Imagination

Over the last few years a number of unique, fantasy sports web sites and online tools have been developed including fantasy football web sites, baseball web sites, racing web sites, draft tools, cheat sheets and more. One new, imaginative take on fantasy football comes from Jason McCoy of Asheville, North Carolina, the creator of a points-based, loser league style fantasy football contest on Stinkball.com. McCoy calls this genre of fantasy football “fallacy sports.”

McCoy attended the 2009 FSTA (Fantasy Sports Trade Association) Summer Conference and shared his new idea with FSTA members and experts. He received a welcoming response. According to Andy Behrens of Yahoo! Sports the fallacy sports concept behind Stinkball.com is “fabulous”*. Scott Swanay of FantasyFootballSherpa.com states on a Stinkball.com video, “I like it a lot. I think it is a unique take on things. It’s fun to think, okay, who would be on my Stinkball team?”* So, what is “fallacy sports” and what inspired Jason McCoy to take this seemingly backwards approach to fantasy football contests?

What is “Fallacy Sports”? An Interview with Stinkball.com Creator Jason McCoy

According to the online version of the Encarta World English Dictionary the word fallacy means:

“1. Something that is believed to be truth but is erroneous.
2. An argument or reasoning in which the conclusion does not follow from the premises.
3. The condition of being misleading or deceptive.
4. A mistake made in a line of reasoning that invalidates it.”*

McCoy called his web site Stinkball.com “Fallacy Sports” because members have to do their best to predict the NFL’s worst performances. The contests are points based so there is no draft. Members choose from a pool of all NFL players and follow specific rules regarding the times when individual players are available for inclusion in a team lineup.

“Essentially, I see fallacy sports like Stinkball.com as fantasy sports turned on its head,” states creator Jason McCoy, “It challenges experienced fantasy players to expand their thinking and make predictions based on an entirely new set of stats not often considered in traditional fantasy football.” “ My vision is to use the concept of fallacy sports to carve out a new direction in the fantasy sports industry,” continues McCoy, “Why only focus on the best players? In sports, like in life, nothing is perfect. We must consider ALL aspects of the team if we intend to play the game to win. Why not have fun while you are doing it?”

The Future of Fantasy Sports

As the fantasy sports industry continues to grow many experts predict fantasy players will see more niche marketed products and services, as well as new sports added each year. Whether it is fallacy sports or new drafting tools, you can expect there to be new, exciting ideas on the horizon each season. If you want to expand and enhance your fantasy experience be sure and stay up to date on the latest developments. For more information about the concept of Fallacy Sports visit www.Stinkball.com or check out our fantasy football blog.

*Sources
1. Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
2. Stinkball.com Fantasy Football Video www.stinkball.com