Back Porch Espn

I loved Jimmy the Greek. I was 4 or 5 when I became obsessed with football and saw in Jimmy the Greek -- whom I watched each Sunday on The NFL Today -- a fellow obsessive. I was 11 when he was fired in 1988 after a bizarre, rambling television interview in which he assuredly explained that "The black is a better athlete to begin with because he's been bred to be that way."

One of the fascinating things about Without Bias, the ESPN documentary about Len Bias that debuts Tuesday night (review here), is the frank, matter-of-fact way that Bias's friend Brian Tribble talks about the night that Bias died. Some people said Tribble killed Bias by providing him with the cocaine that he overdosed on, but Tribble was acquitted when he went on trial for charges relating to Bias's death. Now, nearly a quarter of a century later, later, Tribble talks openly about that night.

Bill Simmons is becoming like Brett Favre in the sense that ESPN is shoving him down our throats.

(Except in Simmons' case, it's for his new book, not for his annual coming-out-of-retirement announcement. Unlike Simmons, however, Favre doesn't block random bloggers from following his Twitter account. Moving on...)

And last night he landed on the Colbert Report to talk about his new 700-page basketball book with the world's favorite "fundit."

What resulted was a pretty fantastic interview, particularly when you consider that Simmons managed to stop Colbert in his Air-Bud-mentioning tracks with an "I've got two pages comparing Teen Wolf to Kobe Bryant" line. You could even tell that Colbert was asking if that was real as they cut away, and he somehow managed to let the interview run long, which almost never happens.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was on the Hill Wednesday talking to Congress about "Legal Issues Relating to Football Head Injuries." So, naturally, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) used the forum as an opportunity to grill Goodell about Rush Limbaugh's interest in becoming part owner of the St. Louis Rams.

Video after the jump, but here's all you need to know: After King warmly welcomed the commissioner he got right down to business.

In case you've had your head under a rock the last couple weeks, ESPN columnist Bill Simmons has a new book out. The Book of Basketball is some 700 pages, which makes it quite a large (and expensive) read.

Since this is kind of a big deal for Simmons, he's been all over the place promoting the book. Besides his tour and an bit with Kenny Mayne that Mike Francesa didn't like, Simmons also stopped by ESPN2's SportsNation Wednesday afternoon. It was there that his book was put through a rather, um, unique test.

WASHINGTON -- No one covers book signings. There is probably a reason for this. But with the second Bill Simmons book tour commencing in Washington on Monday, it seemed like a good enough idea. At the least, 15-year-old, Page 2-gobbling me would be quite delighted.

I called a friend of mine to inform him of my ever-bloggable plan. "You mean like Deadspin did for his first tour?" came the reply. Pause. Google search. Well, then.

Despite this inauspicious start, I buckled up and headed out with another buddy. The Sports Guy was waiting.

ESPN.com's Bill Simmons is currently on his book tour (more on that here), but on Monday, he and his Beverly Hills mansion were featured on "Mayne Street."

Kenny Mayne has made a career out of his deadpanned quirkiness. That, along with the fact that Simmons doesn't have much of an acting resume, figured to make for an uncomfortable four or five minutes that included me wincing as Simmons stumbled through his lines while Mayne got all the laughs.

Didn't happen. In fact, Simmons stole the episode. Jenn with two n's, the Doug Christie Clippers jersey, Stacy Keibler calling Mayne "Lenny", business associate Scott -- all hilarious. Well, to everybody but Mike Francesa, who was railing about Simmons' performance on his radio show.

(UPDATE: "Mayne Street" segment, Francesa's comments,and Simmons' response all after the jump.)

Len Bias has now been dead longer than he was alive, and yet his life and death don't feel like an old story in Without Bias, the documentary that will debut on ESPN on Tuesday. Instead, the story of Bias, who died of a cocaine overdose at age 22 less than 48 hours after being drafted by the Boston Celtics, feels like something that is still unfolding.

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I'm not a Redskins or Eagles fan, but I watched the Monday Night Football telecast because, like most people, I wanted to see how a guy who was calling bingo games a month ago might do as a play-caller. Turns out, better than you might think. But as ESPN's Ron Jaworski reminded us every 15 seconds: IT'S MORE ABOUT THE EXECUTION THAN THE PLAY CALL.

Duly noted, sir.

Anyway, as Jaws, Jon Gruden and Mike Tirico came on the air to preview the game, I noticed what looked like a fly on Tirico's head. And thanks to Hot Clicks, that was apparently the case.

Video after the jump.

ESPN fired baseball analyst Steve Phillips Sunday after learning of his affair with 22-year-old production assistant Brooke Hundley (who was fired a day later).

Phillips, who had a history of infidelity dating back to his days as the Mets general manager in the late 1990s, has now entered sex addiction rehab treatment facility, according to his agent.

Steve Lefkowitz, who represents Phillips, told the New York Daily News that "This was planned in advance. It has nothing to do with him getting fired. He's trying to save his marriage."

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