Dead Dead Dead, Dead Dead Dead

Like Romulus, Remus and Bugsy Siegel, Chet Simmons wandered into a barren land and vowed to the heavens he would make an empire. Like Romulus and Remus, he saw a future among the hills. Like Siegel, he knew degenerate gamblers needed 24-hour access to the latest betting lines. Simmons, the first president of ESPN and founder of the modern city of Bristol, Connecticut, has died at the age of 81. In the early days, ESPN programming included Division III women’s volleyball, midget car racing and Australian rules football, but finding an audience for obscure sports was nothing new for Simmons, who started Wide World of Sports at ABC based around buzkashi bonspiels. Eventually, Simmons helped make SportsCenter must-see TV, convinced Americans they wanted to watch every agonizing minute of the NFL draft and scored the rights to early-round NCAA tournament games before the networks fully appreciated their potential. Simmons lost a power struggle and was forced out in 1982, picking a new start-up to shepherd: the United States Football League, with a bit less success.