Steve Simmons doesn’t like Tyler Dellow. He’s made that clear on multiple occasions. But recent comments from the Toronto Sun writer were so ridiculous that his feeling warranted special attention.
The Athletic Toronto announced the hiring of Tyler Dellow (formerly employed by the Edmonton Oilers) and Andrew Stoeten (Blue Jays Nation) on Wednesday. While the hirings were roundly applauded, Simmons took issue with both.
He tweeted he would have thought twice about purchasing a subscription to the online publication if he knew Dellow and Stoeten were getting hired.
If I'd known I was contributing to the hiring of Tyler Dellow and Andrew Stoeten @TheAthleticTO I would have thought twice about subscribing
— Steve Simmons (@simmonssteve) February 8, 2017
What’s Simmons’ deal? He’s got history with Dellow.
As a young, naive TSN 1050 intern, I happened to be there the day Simmons and Dellow had a shouting match on air. The two represented different opinions, Simmons an old-school columnist and Dellow, an analytical hockey thinker. Simmons exploded at Dellow over his opinion of Mikhail Grabovski. Here’s the full transcription.
Simmons has since taken countless shots against Dellow. (some of which I’m fairly certain to have been deleted)
He's sure turned the Oilers around, hasn't he? https://t.co/nvYrYnvHtD
— Steve Simmons (@simmonssteve) May 5, 2016
To be fair to Simmons, Dellow’s somewhat brash personality can rub people the wrong way. But Simmons’ constant call-outs and criticisms are clearly personal.
Stoeten, meanwhile, has long been a critic of Simmons’ work. The Toronto blogger isn’t afraid to enter NSFW-territory in his writing, but that doesn’t invalidate his opinions. Simmons’ dislike for Stoeten might be deserved, but it certainly shouldn’t equate to the tweet above.
https://twitter.com/jonahkeri/status/829399463705923587
Simmons saying publicly he might not have subscribed to a platform former colleagues of his write and work on because of two writers he doesn’t like is petty.
He’s got every right to dislike Dellow and Stoeten. However, claiming he wouldn’t have subscribed to The Athletic Toronto because of their contributions is laughable. I don’t like every writer on every website I read, yet I’ll still read a website that contains their work. Simmons doesn’t have to read their columns. Does he know that?
