And he calls himself a F&#^ING journalist

Mark - Did Phil just tell you to sit down? Matt - How bout them apples?

Ok, it's time to launch my maiden voyage as a contributor to this site and I can think of no subject more deserving of my attention than Mr. Simmons' (I'm going to call him Mr. because he's older than me and that's how I was raised, despite his appearance suggesting he's still in middle school and his voice suggesting that puberty is still years from approaching) sudden rash of using celebrity observations and opinions as credible sources to support his pathetic excuse for ethical journalism.

Everyone has heard/read/seen Mr. Simmons' reference to Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's blog entry after game 2, in which Schilling, drawing upon his vast experience as a citizen journalist (because we all know having a blog makes you a professional whose thoughts and opinions matter) blogged about what he saw from his courtside seats in game 2, specifically focusing on Kobe Bryant's demeanor towards his teammates.

Now don't get me wrong, I've got no grievance with Schilling blogging about whatever the hell he finds interesting. It's actually kind of cute, like when the kid puts on his dads tool belt and pretends like he's a construction worker. Luckily for Schilling, he's not going to seriously injure himself by messing with compound modifiers and semicolons, although he isn't doing himself any favors. No, my problem lies with Mr. Simmons, a so called professional journalist, actually using someone's blog as a source to further a point he's trying to make. Look, blog posts are find to show someone's opinion on a matter, but they cannot be used as concrete evidence or proof of something happening. Last time I checked, Schilling played for a Boston team, was wearing a Celtics jersey at the game in question, and just might have an agenda behind what he's posting. Funny how his blog revolved around Kobe and his inability to smile at his teammates when they had fallen behind by 24 points in the NBA finals, yet when they were in the midst of the comeback, there was nothing written about the lack of smiles on the Celtics bench or the absence of encouragement from Doc Rivers. I guess we're to assume that Schilling simply forgot to look over there, seeing as how he was so enraptured by the the facial expressions of #24.

-On a side note, I can't wait for Schilling to take the mound this season and have that first horrible outing. I will be inches from my television, watching his every move and expression, wanting to experience the expert in teamwork at work.

Fast forward three games and Mr. Simmons is doing it again. In his post from Game 5, in which the Lakers won and the Celtics, aside from Paul "The Miraculous Healer" Pierce, played like crap, he once again uses someone elses perspective and observation to make a point.

A friend of mine sat courtside with Matt Damon in seats to the left of the Lakers bench. During the third quarter, with Damon cheering on the Celtics in a green Celtics cap -- great job by him, by the way -- Phil Jackson barked at Damon, according to my friend, "Sit down and shut the f--- up." After getting texted that story, I spent the rest of the game rooting for a Boston comeback win, followed by Damon pulling a Will Hunting and asking Jackson, "Hey, Phil, do you like apples? (PAUSE) Well how 'bout them apples!!!!" Didn't happen.

Now I could take exception to almost all of the Game 5 post, mostly because it's an out and out Laker bash, something that occurs whenever the Celtics play bad because Mr. Simmons must replace his blind love fest with not very subtle criticism of everything about the other team. But my biggest exception comes from the paragraph above.

"A friend of mine sat courtside with Matt Damon..."?? Aside from the obvious name drop and attempt to make himself seem cool for having friends who sit next to celebrities, who the hell cares? Who's the friend? Does he have a cool, hip nickname like all of your other childhood bed buddies? "Phil Jackson barked, according to my friend..." Wow, not only does he have the gall to post this unverifiable and incredibly uncredible story, but he actually sells out his friend by putting it all on him. It's as if he's saying, "So here's something that will make the Lakers look bad, so I'm putting it up, but hey, my friend said, that he heard, that Phil said such and such, so if it turns out this never happened, I'm just relaying what I was told, so I'm not responsible.

Look, internet journalism and blogging is a different beast compared to traditional newspaper and print journalism. Different rules apply and the standards for acceptable writing are extremely lax in comparison. That being said, certain ethics and codes should still be followed. Mr. Simmons is not some no-name blogger who writes from his home about his favorite teams and includes his friends opinions as expert advice and talks about his dad all the time (or is he??). He is a writer for ESPN.com, the self-proclaimed world wide leader in sports, and is supposed to act and write with an air of professionalism befitting someone of such a position. It's bad enough that he gets away with being a biased homer whose sole purpose on this earth is to give me an ulcer and cause me throw up in my mouth with his every post, but for him to do it with total disregard to ethics and journalistic practices cannot go unnoticed.

Hey Mr. Simmons, I watched Game 5 and have an opinion. Why don't you quote my blog in your next article?