I know, I know, that's territory best left for the CHB, but Pax Arcana gets annoyed at the way Ryan keeps ripping into Bill Simmons on his blog without actually mentioning his name, let alone linking to whatever it is Simmons wrote online that got Ryan all riled up.

... It seems that Ryan is falling into the trap of playing by print rules on Web turf. I don't advocate using the Web as a platform for slander or ad hominem attacks on other writers - I'm arguing that where print venues once conferred upon columnists the ability to call down the thunder from on high with thinly veiled insults, the Internet requires greater frankness. If you hadn't read Simmons' column already, you may have no idea who Ryan is talking about. Even if you could guess who he was referencing, you'd still have to click multiple times to find it - only to be disappointed that you waded all the way over there for what amounts to a minor schoolyard dust-up. ...

Here is what got Ryan's knickers in a bunch.

David Scott has the deets on the sportsy cat fight, which so far actually seems limited to Ryan howling about Bill Simmons and Simmons just sitting there, not saying a thing (Media Farm wonders if it's all just a ploy by Ryan to make himself relevant again - hmm, isn't that Shaughnessy's thing, you know, pick a fight for no particular reason?). The alleged central issue: Whether the Celtics should fire Doc Rivers as coach.

The Sports Guy getting just a bit too predictable? Use the Sports Guy column generator to build your very own Bill Simmons screed.

Carl grows increasingly reluctant to give the Sports Guy a hometown discount:

... Essentially, Bill Simmons lives in an insular world in which is "cutting edge"-ness is actually tempered by his employers. He provides a few interesting ideas every three months, but ultimately his schtick is just that: contrived, expected and used way-too-much. ...