I remember reading in the book, Live From New York that the three favorite guest hosts on Saturday Night Live, according to the cast, were Alec Baldwin, Christopher Walken and Tom Hanks.
The problem has always been its topicality and reliance on spoof talk-shows (the reason for the latter is actually discussed in this book).
The best SNL book ever: http://www.amazon.com/Live-From-New-York-Uncensored/dp/0316735655
read any of the SNL books. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316735655/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Basically the guy who did the oral histories of SNL (I'm listening to that now on audiobook) and CAA (the talent agency, historically a huge power player in Hollywood) also did one on ESPN. In that 'oral history' I guess Simmons has a pretty prominent part of the book, and he ended up leaving ESPN a few yrs later.
This guy and Simmons clearly share some sort of a bond, a strong one. I don't know if it's friendship, but it is the kind of relationship that is very frank, open, and one way flowing towards JA Miller in terms of information shared. Kind of a 'you can't have secrets from me' thing. It is wildly interesting when Simmons starts talking about his ESPN departure.