Chicago Loves Bill Simmons and The Book of Basketball

Look out Richie Daley, Chicago loves The Sports Guy. After seeing the amount of fans that showed up for a Bill Simmons book signing, there is no question Simmons could make a run for King of Chicago (for those not familiar with Windy City politics, Daley did away with the position of Mayor, appointing himself King.)

Bill Simmons was at ESPN Zone to sign copies of his new book, “The Book of Basketball“. I tricked my pregnant wife into showing up to this, figuring Simmons might attract a 5-10 minute line. Boy, was I wrong……

Last week, on his podcast, Tony Kornheiser states that Simmons was, by far, the most popular employee of ESPN. Tony was right, outside of ESPN Zone, fans of The Sports Guy snaked around the block. Ironically, the line ended at one of my favorite bars. So, doing the logical thing, I took my wife to the bar to watch the World Series…… Double Black Label and a cranberry juice, please.

After earning a healthy buzz, my pregnant wife made it clear it was in my best interest to get her home. Swinging by the book signing, there was still an intimidating line waiting to get their 15 seconds with Bill. People leaving ESPN Zone said it took them 2 hours to make it through the line.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but only a dope would wait 2 hour for to meet Simmons. If you want to do it right, head to the ESPN Zone bar, get blacked out, and when the line finally dies out, get a few drunken moments with the most popular sports writer on the net.

Check out Simmons book tour here