What happens when you give a loose cannon like Bill Walton a live mic in Las Vegas?

A couple of cringe-worthy moments for the suits at ESPN.

Walton was calling Oregon vs. Washington at the Pac-12 tournament Thursday night and dropped a couple of broadcasting bombs that had Twitter buzzing.

First up, Walton on Ray Lewis:

Walton is making a reference to Lewis’ 2000 arrest following a Super Bowl party in Atlanta. The retired linebacker officially joined ESPN as an analyst on Wednesday. Maybe the murder joke was just hazing on Walton’s part? Welcome to ESPN, Ray.

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After a false start, ESPN has finalized their ESPN/ABC KIA NBA Countdown show by adding Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose, the network formally announced on Thursday.

Originally, Simmons was reportedly going to join Stan Van Gundy on the show, but when FishbowlLA contacted ESPN last month, they were unable to confirm the news. The former Orlando Magic head coach explained last week the reason why he didn’t get the job had to do with NBA commissioner David Stern, who reportedly nixed the idea. Read more

Arnold Schwarzenegger has pretty much turned into a punch line at this point in his life.

But before he nearly destroyed the state of California and acting as we know it, Schwarzenegger was part of the Austrian Army as a teen.

Arnold’s Blueprint, as part of Grantland’s 30 for 30 Shorts, touches on this topic in a 12-minute film that was released on Wednesday. If you ever wondered how Schwarzenegger got involved in bodybuilding, then this is the film for you.

Michael and Jeff Zimbalist, the two men responsible for the incredible 30 for 30 film The Two Escobars,  directed the short.

The 30 for 30 Shorts will air monthly on Grantland and Schwarzenegger will join Bill Simmons on The B.S. Report podcast on Tuesday.

On June 8, Bill Simmons published a piece at grantland.com titled “The Consequences of Caring.” It’s all about the juxtaposed emotional layers of his daughter’s newfound love for the LA Kings and dad’s die hard support of the Boston Celtics.

Over the weekend, that essay garnered Simmons a well-deserved prize for Online Commentary, Large at the 2012 Online News Association (ONA) convention in San Francisco. Here’s how Simmons frames his decision to fly cross-country and back within a 24-hour span. All so he can watch his Celtics take on the Heat in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, right after nursing his daughter through a Kings Game 4 Stanley Cup Final loss at Staples:

Because it’s my favorite Celtics team in 25 years. Because there was real history at stake — the LeBron/Wade era hanging in the balance, the Big Three possibly playing their final home game, the distinct possibility of either LeBron’s greatest game or LeBrondown III (with no in-between). Because I wanted to be there with my dad. Because I wanted to stroll down Causeway Street, see that familiar sea of green, feel like I never left. Because I wanted to savor those “Let’s Go Celtics” chants, hear the accents, enjoy that only-works-in-person moment before tip-off when a wired Garnett bumps fists with every opposing player, stomps over to the foul line near Boston’s bench and yells at his fans. Because we spent five years watching Rondo, Pierce, Allen, Garnett and Doc fighting to maintain something that mattered to them — and to us — even as teammates kept changing, bad breaks kept happening, trade rumors kept swirling and there were multiple reasons for any one of them to pack it in.

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Wow. This doesn’t happen every day. A sports journalist who actually knows what he’s talking about and isn’t just opining out his butt. Grantland’s NBA blogger Sebastian Pruiti has been hired by the NBA’s Oklahoma Thunder as the team’s newest video analyst, according to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Apparently, Pruiti is the former head coach of the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants basketball team, hence the middle of nowhere scoop. Grantland editor Bill Simmons confirmed Pruiti’s exit via Twitter.

Pretty great time to jump to the NBA, as several huge trades this offseason have basketball fans clamoring for the season to begin.

SbB has learned Chris Broussard & Jon Barry won’t returm to ESPN’s NBA studio. Added to show: @sportsguy33 & Stan Van Gundy

— SPORTSbyBROOKS (@SPORTSbyBROOKS) September 11, 2012

In the latest sign that Bill Simmons is the most powerful man at ESPN, the columnist and man behind Grantland will reportedly join ESPN’s NBA studio show this season.

Simmons and former Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy would replace Chris Broussard and Jon Barry, according to Sports By Brooks.

However, ESPN couldn’t confirm the report when contacted on Tuesday by FishbowlLA.

“We are in the process of considering all assignments for both returning and potential new commentator roles. As we’ve said before, Stan is someone we’d be interested in exploring,” said ESPN spokesman Ben Cafardo. “For Bill,  same applies, we’re exploring the best ways to utilize all of our talent, including Bill, this NBA season.”

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They’re high-fiving today in the halls of USC’s Annenberg journalism school. Alongside five nominations for California Watch, four for the LA Times and one for Bill Simmons’ Grantland, digital campus hub neontommy.com has landed a 2012 Online News Association (ONA) Online Journalism Awards nomination for their April 21 report about the fatal shooting of two Chinese graduate students.

The byline for the article lists (former) executive editor Ryan Faughnder, (former) deputy editor Tracy Bloom and NeonTommy staff. The group-effort breaking news track was of the now-familiar Internet kind that featured multiple, subsequent top-of-page updates:

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All kinds of people are already on board for Variety’s Sports Entertainment Summit at the Loews Hollywood Hotel July 12, including ex-Laker Rick Fox, CAA agent Becky Sendrow, Grantland’s Bill Simmons and NBC Summer Olympics correspondent Michelle Beadle.

Today, the publication announced that in addition to making a keynote address, AEG president and CEO Tim Leiweke will receive its inaugural Sports and Entertainment Leadership Award:

Under Leiweke’s guidance over the last 17 years, AEG has become one of the world’s top presenters of sports and entertainment across its varied venue, live event and professional sports franchise ownership interests… As owner of the LA Kings, AEG recently gave the city a momentous victory with the team winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in its 45-year franchise history.

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ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons isn’t shy when it comes to broadcasting his sports gambling picks.

Gambling is normally a topic of discussion on his The B.S. Report podcast, which if fine and dandy unless you end up having a direct impact on the final outcome.

Earlier this year, Simmons said on his podcast that he was betting on LeBron James to win the 2012 NBA MVP award.

Little did Simmons or ESPN know that the NBA would send him a voting ballot for the 2011-12 NBA season — which he filled out last week on The B.S. Report. On the podcast, he voted for James (duh) as MVP.

It appeared this blatant conflict of interest was going to fly under the radar until Business Insider grilled ESPN about their gambling policy:

“Bill had never received a ballot before and didn’t find out he had one until two-thirds of the season had passed. By that time he had made multiple MVP bets, two of which he had discussed on podcasts. He ended up withdrawing his MVP vote to avoid the perception of any conflict.”

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Grantland strikes again. This time Bill Simmons’ sports/pop culture site snagged GQ’s Sean Fennessey. Poaching New York glossy magazine talent since 2011.

Previously on FishbowlLA:
Bryan Curtis to Join Grantland