Simmons loves Polian?

When Bill Simmons says nicer things about our GM than some Colts fans do, then you know the world has gone totally crazy.

Near the end of the afternoon, I was talking to Polian, someone whom I was hoping would be an a-hole (since he runs my least favorite football team and all) but couldn’t have been a nicer and smarter guy. He’s one of those people you spend 20 minutes with and end up saying afterward, “It totally makes sense to me why that guy was and is so successful.” And again, I wanted to hate him. So we were saying our goodbyes and I asked why he was skipping the last group of panels. He answered that he was doing some scouting with his friend Brian Burke, the GM of the Maple Leafs. Burke had a player he liked. Polian was tagging along.

I was confused. We were less than 36 hours into the NFL’s craziest free-agent signing period ever. We were just six weeks away from the NFL draft. Why would Polian want to spend a Saturday night at a high school hockey tournament in Massachusetts?

“Because I respect Brian and the way he thinks,” he said. “I might learn something.”

Here’s Bill Polian, one of the best football executives of all time, someone hitting the tail end of his career with nothing left to prove … and he still felt as though he had something to learn. That’s also why he came to Dorkapalooza, and that’s why Dorkapalooza is here to stay. You can never run out of things to learn.

You all know where I stand.  I unreservedly love everything about Bill Polian, especially the fact that he’s weirdly truculent, defensive, and acts like everyone else is stupid. If anyone can relate to a guy like that, I can.  All I ask is that he keep fielding a winning team.  He can piss off everyone else.  He can run the most tight lipped team in the league.  He can insult and belittle the media and the fans.

I

don’t

give

a

crap.

Just keep winning, Bill.  That’s all I care about.  Well, that and not cheating.