. >> reporter: to the coaching ability of gene hackman in "hoosiers." >> -- decide to use him as a decoy would do that? >> reporter: simmons has been writing his sports guy column for espn.com. before that, he wrote it in boston. he was a pioneer on the web. one of the first web-only columnists. did you invent the internet? >> please al gore did. i was one of the first people who kind of realized hey, this is different than newspapers. how do i use this to my advantage? i had to figure out a way to write that column in a way that i could pull readers to where i was despite the fact i wasn't going in locker rooms. i started writing about all the stuff me and my friends were talking about. arguing about sports movies. talking about reporters not in the way reporters were doing it, going into the locker room and getting quotes. >> reporter: forget journalistic objectivity, it meant admitting he was a hopeless boston sports fan for whom bill buckner's legs can still evoke pangs of sorrow. >> behind the plate! >> reporter: where does it rank as the worst moments in your life? >> oh it's in th