Cinemetrics: Quentin Tarantino’s History Lesson

The 2012 Year-End Blowout

Greg M. Cooper/US Presswire Paul Pierce

The Year in Simmons

Anything and everything written by the Sports Guy in 2011-12

HHere’s everything I wrote (columns and blog posts) and recorded (podcasts) in 2011-12.

2012

JANUARY 6
• NFL Playoff Mailbag (Round 1)

JANUARY 13
• NFL Playoff Mailbag (Round 2)

JANUARY 20
• NFL Playoff Mailbag (Round 3)

JANUARY 30
• NBA Season In Review: Time For A Change

JANUARY 31
• NBA Season In Review: 20 Questions (Part 1)

FEBRUARY 1
• NBA Season In Review: 20 Questions (Part 2)

FEBRUARY 3
• The Half-In-The-Bag Super (Mail)Bag

FEBRUARY 6
• The Day After Super Bowl XLVI Searching for Silver Linings

FEBRUARY 10
• Sports Guy’s NBA All-Star Team

FEBRUARY 16
• The All-Linsanity Mailbag

FEBRUARY 23
• The Five-Year Anniversary Party for Danny Ainge’s Last Good Move

MARCH 9
• NBA’s Highest Trade Value List, Part One

• NBA’s Highest Trade Value List, Part Two

MARCH 13
• Favorite Traditions: The Annual Clips-Celtics Game

MARCH 21
• Trading Red Sox E-mails With Michael Schur

MARCH 22
• The Warriors: How To Annoy A Fan Base In 60 Steps

APRIL 3
• Handicapping the NBA’s MVP Race

APRIL 5
• On Concussions & the NFL’s Ongoing Hypocrisy

APRIL 11
• The Rebirth of the Celtics

APRIL 13
• 33 Reasons To Be Excited About the NBA’S Stretch Run

APRIL 20
• Fenway 100 & The Return of the Mailbag

APRIL 28
• 25 Most Intriguing People of the 2012 NBA Playoffs

MAY 3
• Rose’s ACL Injury & the 20 Biggest NBA Footnote Titles

MAY 9
• Welcome to the (New) Clipper Nation

MAY 11
• The Truth, The Whole Truth & Nothing But The Truth

MAY 18
• Handing out NBA Playoff Awards

MAY 22
• The Playoff Eclipse Chronicles: 75 Hours, 6 Games, 1 Arena

MAY 30
• Retro-Diary: The Zombies & The Invincible Spurs

JUNE 6
• The Exchange: Gladwell vs. Simmons IV (with Malcolm Gladwell)

JUNE 8
• The Consequences of Caring: 2 Losses, 2 Coasts, 24 Hours

JUNE 13
• NBA Finals: Thunder Family Values

JUNE 15
• NBA Finals: The Mandatory Power Rankings

JUNE 20
• NBA Finals: “That Boy Competed” (on Westbrook)

JUNE 22
• NBA Finals: LeBron Makes LeLeap

JUNE 27
• NBA Mock Draft: Simmons vs. Ford (with Chad Ford)

JUNE 29
• NBA Draft Diary XVI: Starring the Notorious DJS

JULY 20
• NBA Summer Review: Game of Thrones, Part 1

• NBA Summer Review: Game of Thrones, Part 2

JULY 25
• The Fantasy Legend of LaDainian Tomlinson

SUMMER OLYMPICS (7/27 to 8/15)

• London Chronicles, Vol. 1: The 10th Checkpoint

• London Chronicles, Vol. 2: Handball! (Handball?) Handball!

• London Chronicles, Vol. 3: Swimming vs. Gymnastics (The Dr. Jack Breakdown)

• London Chronicles, Vol. 4: Great Britain Lives Up To Its Name

• London Chronicles, Vol. 5: Olympic Hoopapalooza (a Quadrupleheader)

• The London Chronicles, Vol. 6: Wait, Dwight Howard Got Traded??????

• The London Chronicles, Vol. 7: Olympic Mega-Mailbag, Part 1

• The London Chronicles, Vol. 8: Olympic Mega-Mailbag, Part 2

AUGUST 27
• Red Sox Nation Hits the Panic Button

SEPTEMBER 7
• 2012 NFL Preview: The New Quarterback’s League

SEPTEMBER 14
• Week 2 Mailbag: The Combo Platter

SEPTEMBER 21
• Week 3 Mailbag: Referee Armageddon

SEPTEMBER 27
• The GoldenGate/Replacement Ref Mailbag

SEPTEMBER 28
• Week 4 Mailbag: The Elaborate Chat

OCTOBER 5
• Week 5 Mailbag: The Island of Dr. Simbeau

OCTOBER 11
• Oklahoma City & The Harden Dilemma

OCTOBER 12
• Week 6 Mailbag: Something to Trust

OCTOBER 18
• Goodell & The Hierarchy of Hypocrites (plus Week 7 Picks)

OCTOBER 24
• 30 for 30 Short: Jake (An Appreciation)

OCTOBER 26
• LeBron’s Quest for Immortality

OCTOBER 30
• The Harden Disaster (OKC Cuts Bait)

NOVEMBER 2
• The Polarizing Michael Vick (plus Week 9 picks)

NOVEMBER 9
• Going All Out with the Week 10 Picks

NOVEMBER 16
• Just Go Away, Gary Bettman (plus Week 11 picks)

NOVEMBER 21
• The Mailbag: Special Thanksgiving/NFL Edition

NOVEMBER 30
• The NFL’s Year of Living Cautiously

DECEMBER 7
• Thoughts on Bill Russell, Kobe Bryant and Leadership

DECEMBER 14
• The Sports Movie/NFL QB Power Poll

DECEMBER 21
• Mayan Apocalypse Holiday Mailbag

BLOG POSTS

A Staples Center Hoops Doubleheader (3/12) … The Re-Throning of the Kings (3/14) … Pushing Around the Kings … Down Go The Bruins (4/25) … Drew Brees Signs (7/13) … Russia Beats Spain (8/10) … Sequeltology: Breaking Down the Brackets (9/4) … Down Goes Granger (with Zach Lowe, 11/6)

Skunk of the Week Picks: Week 1 … Week 2 … Week 3 … Week 5 … Week 6 … Week 7 … Week 8 … Week 11 … Week 12

B.S. REPORTS

Flea (1/12) … Jonathan Kraft (2/3) … Larry Bird (2/7) … Bob Ryan (2/13) … President Barack Obama (3/1) … Sloan Conference: Mark Cuban, Daryl Morey, Eric Mangini, Jeff Van Gundy & Bill James (3/6) … Magic Johnson (3/12) … Steve Nash (3/24) … Bill Hader (3/25) … Dustin Penner (5/29) … Lena Dunham (6/12) … Louis CK (6/26) … MLB All-Star Week (7/10): Matt Kemp, Kevin Millar, Sean Casey, George Brett … Cousin Sal, Vegas + NFL Over/Unders (8/29): Part One and Part Two … Jack Black (9/5) … Seth Meyers (9/12) … Jimmy Kimmel (9/19) … Arnold Schwarzenegger (9/25) … Malcolm Gladwell (10/5) … Brian Scalabrine (10/23) … NBA Over/Unders with Joe House: Part 1 and Part 2 … Adam Carolla (11/6) … Nate Silver (11/29) … Half-Baked Ideas with Kevin Wildes (1/7), (2/3), (12/10) … Chuck Klosterman (2/15), (7/18)


2011

JANUARY 7

• Dissecting The Brady/Manning Rivalry

JANUARY 13

• Solving the Carmelo Trade Dilemma

JANUARY 14

• Round 2 NFL Playoff Picks

JANUARY 20

• The Most Loaded NBA All-Star Game Ever?

JANUARY 28

• How Kobe, Dirk & Other Oldies Are Defying the NBA’s Age Curve

FEBRUARY 4

• The Super Mailbag + My Super Bowl Pick

FEBRUARY 17

• The 2011 NBA Trade Value List, Part One

• The 2011 NBA Trade Value List, Part Two

FBERUARY 25

• Part 1: NBA Trade Deadline Grades

• Part 2: The Perkins Trade (And The Death of Ubuntu)

MARCH 4

• Greed is Good in the NFL Labor Talks

MARCH 11

• Running Diary: Lakers-Heat

APRIL 1

• The NBA Power Poll, Part 1

APRIL 8

• The NBA Power Poll, Part 2

APRIL 11

• The Gift of Tiger Woods

APRIL 26

• The Maloofs & the NBA’s Small Market Woes

MAY 3

• Part One: Handing Out “The Wire” Quotes as NBA Playoff Awards

• Part Two: Handing Out “The Wire” Quotes as NBA Playoff Awards

MAY 13

• Lunch with the Zen Master

MAY 24

• Remembering the Macho Man

JUNE 8

• Welcome to Grantland

JUNE 8

• LeBronDown II: LeBron Melts Down Again

JUNE 9

• The Bruins, My Dad & The Stanley Cup Finals

JUNE 10

• The Red-Hot NBA Might Be Going Away

JUNE 13

• NBA Finals Game 6 Retro-Diary

JUNE 16

• The Bruins Finally Get the Hot Goalie

JUNE 20

• Hate-Watching “The Killing” Season Finale

JUNE 22

• Painting the NBA Trade Picture

JUNE 24

• Welcome to NBA Draft Diary XV

JUNE 29

• The Movie Star, Part One: Ryan Reynolds

• The Movie Star, Part Two: Will Smith

JULY 8

• How to Solve the NBA Lockout

JULY 15

• Sports Book Hall of Fame: “The Game,” by Ken Dryden

JULY 22

• CM Punk & the Art of Wrestling Entrance Music

JULY 27

• Breaking Down the 2011 Red Sox

AUGUST 5

• Summer of Mailbag, Vol. 1: Rucker Park, A-Rod & Pippa

AUGUST 12

• Summer of Mailbag, Vol. II: Curbing Enthusiasm about Mustache Jokes

AUGUST 17

• The 2011 Sports Collectors Convention: A Mega-Photo Essay

AUGUST 19

• Summer of Mailbag, Vol. III: Brawling in China

AUGUST 25

• Summer of Mailbag, Vol. IV: Kobe & Politically Incorrect Sports Movies

AUGUST 30

• E-Mail Exchange: Keri & Simmons on Desmond Jennings

SEPTEMBER 2

• Summer of Mailbag V: Should Verlander Win the MVP?

SEPTEMBER 9

• 2011 NFL Preview: It’s All About Continuity

SEPTEMBER 16

• NFL, Week 2: The Volatile Stock Market

SEPTEMBER 23

• Summer of Mailbag, Vol VI: Why Tom Hanks Rules All

SEPTEMBER 27

• Breaking Down the NBA’s Amnesty Clause (with Jonathan Abrams)

SEPTEMBER 29

• MLB Running Diary: Game 162, The Wheels Come Off

OCTOBER 4

• Creating a Renegade Basketball League: The Oracle (with Jay Kang)

OCTOBER 7

• NFL, Week 5: Picking Anything & Everything

OCTOBER 14

• Bitching About the Red Sox & the NBA Lockout

• NFL, Week 6: Lessons from the First 5 Weeks

OCTOBER 19

• How the NBA Pushed Me To Buy NHL Season Tickets

OCTOBER 21

• Mourning a Possibly Lost NBA Season

OCTOBER 28

• The NFL Quarterback Power Poll

OCTOBER 29

• The Career Arc: Eddie Murphy

NOVEMBER 2

• Jay & Bill’s YouTube Adventure: Mariah Carey

NOVEMBER 8

• Joe Frazier’s Death & The Ghosts of Manila

NOVEMBER 11

• NFL E-Mails & Week 11 Picks

NOVEMBER 14

• TV Recap: A Superior “Homeland” Episode

NOVEMBER 18

• Business Vs. Personal: The NBA’s Nuclear Winter

NOVEMBER 23

• The Case For the Grantland Quarterly

NOVEMBER 25

• A Black Friday Half-Mailbag + Week 12 Picks

DECEMBER 2

• NBA X-Mas, Day 1: “Road to Groundhog Day”

DECEMBER 5

• NBA X-Mas, Day 2: “The Donut Dilemma”

DECEMBER 6

• NBA X-Mas, Day 3: “Is Arron Afflalo Really Worth $50 Million?”

DECEMBER 7

• NBA X-Mas, Day 4: “Where the Hell is Chris Paul Going?”

DECEMBER 9

• NBA X-Mas, Day 6: “The Day David Stern Stayed Too Long”

DECEMBER 13

• NBA X-Mas, Day 8: “The Chris Paul NBA Hostage Continues”

DECEMBER 14

• NBA X-Mas, Day 9: “The Might of Dwight”

DECEMBER 15

• NBA X-Mas, Day 10: “The Black Sheep Little Brother’s Revenge”

DECEMBER 16

• NBA X-Mas, Day 11: “The Day After The Day The Market Crashed”

DECEMBER 22

• NBA X-Mas, Day 12: “The Day I Unveiled the Greatest Fantasy League Ever”

DECEMBER 23

• NBA X-Mas, Day 13: “The Day This Gimmick Wouldn’t Die (Plus, 2012 Predictions)”

DECEMBER 30
• Breaking Down Week 17: Who Knew It Would Matter?

NFL QUICK PICKS

Round 3, 2011 Playoffs … Week 4 … Halloween Costume Rehash … Week 11 … Week 14 … Week 15

YOUTUBE HALL OF FAME SUBMISSIONS

July 6 … July 20 … Aug. 3 … Aug. 10 … Aug. 24 … Sept. 8 … Sept. 14 … Sept. 28 … Oct. 5 … Nov. 2 … Nov. 30 … Dec. 21

SIGNATURE BS REPORTS

David Duchovny (1/7) … Adam Carolla (1/14) and (1/14) … Patton Oswalt (1/19) and (1/19) … Half-Baked Ideas with Kevin Wildes & Joe House (2/10 …
Friday Night Lights w/ Alan Sepinwall (2/11)
… David Stern (2/14) … Jimmy Kimmel (2/17) … Jason Sudekis (2/21) … William Goldman (2/28) … Chris Nowinski on concussions (3/8) … Jalen Rose on Fab Five (3/9) … “Drive Angry” with Adam Carolla (3/11) … Jackie MacMullan (3/11) … Jeffrey Ross (3/25) … Chuck Klosterman (3/2) and (4/6) … Norm McDonald (4/12) … “Fast Five” with Adam Carolla (4/24) … Chuck Klosterman & Charles Barkley (5/24) … David Kahn (6/24) … Chris Connelly (3/1) and (7/6) … Seth Meyers (7/11) … CM Punk (7/27) … Alex Gibney (9/27) … Sugar Ray Leonard (10/4) … Al Michaels (10/14) … Blake Griffin (10/19) … Ticketmaster’s Nathan Hubbard (10/20) … David Stern (8/12) and Billy Hunter (10/24) … Jane Leavy (10/26) … John Walsh on Hunter Thompson (10/27) … Chris Herren (11/2) … Adam Carolla (11/3) … Louis CK (12/15) … Mega-NBA Preview w/ Joe House (12/19)

Bill Simmons is the Editor in Chief of Grantland and the author of the recent New York Times no. 1 best-seller The Book of Basketball, now out in paperback with new material and a revised Hall of Fame Pyramid. For every Simmons column and podcast, log on to Grantland. Follow him on Twitter and check out his new home on Facebook.

Filed Under: Bill Simmons, People, Simmons

Bill Simmons is the founding editor of Grantland and the author of the New York Times no. 1 best seller The Book of Basketball. For every Simmons column and podcast, click here.

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