Bill Simmons ended his gilded run at ESPN on bad terms, and the war of words has continued since he left.
That acrimony surely raised the profile of -- and helped with the promotion for -- his multi-pronged deal with HBO, which the sports personality kicked off with "Any Given Wednesday," a play on the well-worn adage about an underdog being able to win on "any given" day. Simmons actually isn't much of an underdog -- he capitalized handsomely on his success at ESPN, where he also launched the website Grantland -- but he did embrace the role of David to the sports behemoth's Goliath. He attributed his exit to his harsh commentary about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (for its part, ESPN chief John Skipper refuted that, citing Simmons' "repeated lack of respect" for ESPN and its employees). The weekly half-hour show that premiered Wednesday was a relatively unimpressive affair, despite being front-loaded with top-notch guests. After Simmons delivered an extended ode to LeBron James for his latest NBA championship, Simmons brought out analyst Cha...