I would also include the “Porky’s” cycle.

I hope you didn’t neglect to point out its utility as an aerial navigation aid.

Here are some of my thoughts.

Prophets have warned us against consuming media that offends the Spirit. However, I believe we can all agree that the Spirit manifests itself in different ways and in different magnitudes to different individuals, based in part on our personalities and in part on our worthiness. Furthermore, while we have been explicitly counseled to avoid R-rated movies, there is a huge gray area in other aspects of media consumption — print, televised, etc. — which is, in part, suggested by the Lord’s statement that we should not be commanded in all things. I strongly believe that prophets and apostles have shied away from commenting in clear, unequivocal terms on what television programs we should consume (despite a TV ratings system that would allow them to do so in much the same way as they have with the MPAA system) in part because of this commandment in the Doctrine and Covenants and, in part, because there may truly be areas of the gospel where a certain person can handle programs and sports columns without offending the Spirit where another cannot. This is normal; we are individuals. The way is straight and narrow, but it is not a tightrope.

I believe that there is, as comment #39 says, a huge and usually crystal-clear difference between depicting and advocating. Never once have I felt that Bill Simmons is “selling me” on pornography, strip clubs, one-night stands, or anything like these. He depicts these things, and that certainly is regretable; I would prefer that he stick to writing about sports. But in to me, he doesn’t advocate them. Heck, beer commercials (including the one which stars our very own Kirby Heyborne, for what it’s worth) do more to advocate that kind of lifestyle, in my mind.

I do not believe that watching The Office, or reading Bill Simmons, will keep you from an eternal reward (in reference to comment #45), unless your particular personality is such that the Spirit is offended when you watch it, or if it directly contributes to a bad habit of some sort. I just can’t believe that the Lord, with His tremendous love and mercy toward each of His children, is into splitting hairs as long as we’re progressing and becoming a little bit more like Him each day. If you feel a loss of the Spirit when you do these things, by all means stop doing them.

Regarding comment #26, ironically, I did actually quote Bill Simmons from the pulpit once. I was giving a talk on discipleship and began with an analogy regarding Las Vegas (a common topic in Simmons’ columns). This was shortly after the NBA All-Star Game was played there, and he wrote about just how wild things had gotten. (That was, in the context of this thread, one of the more skippable columns I suppose.) Anyway, I described how the Las Vegas Temple overlooks the Strip, acting as a beacon of righteousness in Sin City, and compared that to our lives and how our discipleship makes us a beacon to others.

[Ed. -- Thanks for this comment. In my opinion the column I linked moved beyond depicting to advocating. Anyway, a sports column shouldn't need to 'depict' incessantly.]

[Ed. - But for Wales?]

The decisions end up being personal. I respect Adam for his choice, but with no knowledge of Simmons and his sports commentary, I can’t judge whether I would make the same choice or not. It is why I have also given up reading most things by Stephen King. Recently, the gratuitous stuff usually outweighs the good stuff, with rare exceptions. It is hard to be poop-free in this poopy world we live in, but we can avoid getting it smeared all over us, and not feel bad when we have to scrape our shoes.

PS. He was clearly pushing buttons with the statistical comparison of Williams and Paul this year. He got the rise he was looking for.