The Bill Simmons Thread

Vinho Tinto

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Steve Buckley has a new WEEi podcast with Alex Reimer. In the first episode he accused Simmons of trying to out him during the Digital City days. All I remember him writing about Buckley was that he had a low opinion of his column and that he was good on the radio. Does anyone who read the DC site remember Simmons doing this?
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Steve Buckley has a new WEEi podcast with Alex Reimer. In the first episode he accused Simmons of trying to out him during the Digital City days. All I remember him writing about Buckley was that he had a low opinion of his column and that he was good on the radio. Does anyone who read the DC site remember Simmons doing this?
I don't recall him doing that. I wonder if he ran a blind item or wrote a "coded" message about Buckley?

It would be helpful if Buckley was a little more descriptive in his charge.
 
I don't recall him doing that. I wonder if he ran a blind item or wrote a "coded" message about Buckley?

It would be helpful if Buckley was a little more descriptive in his charge.
I haven't listened to the podcast yet (I will, Buck is one of my favorites and this podcast sounds intriguing) but the WEEI blog gives a little more context:

“I’ve never really talked about this before, but Bill, during that period, made several references to my sexual orientation,” Buckley said. “‘Oh, he’s the most popular sports writer in Provincetown’ –– ‘wink’ ‘wink.'”

Buckley says the barbs “devastated” him and caused some angst. He was planning on coming out in 2003, but then his mother passed away, causing him to push the announcement back. When he penned his column eight years later, Buckley says he decided to not hold any grudges.
When Buckley did come out, Simmons recorded a podcast with LZ Granderson, an openly gay sportswriter for ESPN. In it, Simmons seemed unimpressed with the nature of Buckley’s announcement.

“In 2011, is it too little to come out and write a column that says, ‘I’m gay?,'” he asked.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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That's not a good look for Simmons*, but I'm sure he'll be magnanimous and apologize for any slight or discomfort he caused anyone.

* In a brief defense, the late 90s/early 00s were a different time in the way gay people were viewed by many straight males. Gay panic was a legitimate thing (often used in movies as a "funny" trope), amongst my friends saying something was "gay" was both commonplace and a pejorative. I don't look back fondly on the way that I acted then (in fact, I'm pretty fucking embarrassed -- I sounded like an asshole) and I bet Simmons doesn't either. But the obvious difference between me and Simmons is that his stuff reached a million more people than what I wrote/said back then.
 

Bunt4aTriple

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I agree. I can't be sanctimonious when I was a douchebro 15-20 years ago myself. Obviously I grew up, but I think the real change is when I left my rural bubble and actually interacted with LBGTQ folks in the real world.

I remember being at my freshman orientation and there was a trans woman admin working. I didn't say anything to her, but I certainly wasn't the only one gawking. Looking back, I cannot imagine how difficult life must have been for her in 1996. I am ashamed.

That said, if Buckley's claims are true, Simmons' only recourse is to apologize without making excuses. I'd like to think he's big enough to do so.
 

Rusty13

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I just listened to the recent podcast Simmons did with Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Very enjoyable. Great disclosures and insight in there for SP fans. Sounds like the 2016 election (understandably) nearly killed them. Looks like they are also going to get away a little bit both from serialization as well as having an overtly political/Trump element in every episode. Both welcome developments, IMO.
 
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Vinho Tinto

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Sounds like the 2016 election (understandably) nearly killed them.
To add extra color: They has sketched out the season arc with the expectation that HRC would win. I can only imagine the frenzy they experienced to at least get the new episode ready in less than 24 hours.
 

Kliq

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At least they were not defending that turd of a season. They got too cute with the quick turnarounds on each episode and becoming hypertopical and it backfired on them.
 

allstonite

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I know he has thin skin and loves to pat himself on the back, but on the most recent pod with Jason Gay and Bryan Curtis about sports media I thought his ideas for ESPN were pretty good. A Grantland hour on ESPN 2 could have been a good alternative for people like me and a lot of people here who hate the contrived debate shows. I completely forgot about ESPN Classic and I used to watch that all the time growing up. A sports movie channel (Ballz) would be great but that would probably cost a ton with all the streaming opportunities these days.

However, just because he doesn't watch baseball anymore doesn't mean it's dead. He keeps going back to this and it's annoying.
 

orgoman

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This is my biggest gripe with Simmons. I love baseball, and when in a recent podcast he said "Baseball is so fucking boring" it really makes me want to stop listening to him. And it absolutely means that I won't listen to any of his baseball analysis through the summer. Why would I care what someone thinks about a sport he hates? This sort of needlessly pissing off the listeners really should stop.
 

richgedman'sghost

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I know he has thin skin and loves to pat himself on the back, but on the most recent pod with Jason Gay and Bryan Curtis about sports media I thought his ideas for ESPN were pretty good. A Grantland hour on ESPN 2 could have been a good alternative for people like me and a lot of people here who hate the contrived debate shows. I completely forgot about ESPN Classic and I used to watch that all the time growing up. A sports movie channel (Ballz) would be great but that would probably cost a ton with all the streaming opportunities these days.

However, just because he doesn't watch baseball anymore doesn't mean it's dead. He keeps going back to this and it's annoying.
Just a quick question..My memory may be failing me as usual but didn't ESPN briefly have a show called the Grantland Hour or am I confusing it with the Simmonds Show on HBO?
 

allstonite

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Just a quick question..My memory may be failing me as usual but didn't ESPN briefly have a show called the Grantland Hour or am I confusing it with the Simmonds Show on HBO?
You're right that they had their own NBA hour and it was pretty good but never really got any backing (that's Simmons' version but I also remember them not really advertising or letting people know what it was). If I remember correctly it had Zack Lowe and Jalen Rose and was more informal than the studio shows. I think something like that might have worked if given more time to figure itself out and allowed to go into pop culture stuff.

Of course, I guess he had his own HBO show that flopped so maybe it wouldn't have worked but I think ESPN's guidance and using the talent available at Grantland at the time they could have come up with something entertaining and informative.
 

ifmanis5

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It was called the Grantland Basketball Show and lasted about 18 episodes during the NBA season 2014-2015. It was not renewed due to lukewarm ratings.
 

jimbobim

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I listened to half of the sports media pod but I thought the irony of him commenting on tv skills ( ie Magic PTI SAS etc) was almost too much. I mean if there is one thing that Simmons objectively colossally failed at ( multiple times) it was being a TV personality.

As for his baseball comments he's almost like a pink hat now. I mean how much money did he make from " Now I can die in peace" ? Like congrats Bill some of the fans of the Red Sox didn't just shrug and solely focus on other sports after.

I've said often I like Bill but his guests and management of a increasing number of other content producers is really what he does at an elite level ( this is arguable but I think most can name 2-4 talents that work with him that are very very solid) now. His own content/takes,especially if the sport isn't basketball, are below average.
 

ifmanis5

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thought it was canceled at the same time he was fired
Simmons was never fired by ESPN, they let his contract expire and didn't renew. His last show was in May 2015, I think more were planned but never done. Jalen and Zach picked up a similar style show on a similar looking set and later Jalen and Jacoby still do a hot take radio-ish show from that same looking set.
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

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This is my biggest gripe with Simmons. I love baseball, and when in a recent podcast he said "Baseball is so fucking boring" it really makes me want to stop listening to him. And it absolutely means that I won't listen to any of his baseball analysis through the summer. Why would I care what someone thinks about a sport he hates? This sort of needlessly pissing off the listeners really should stop.
I felt the same way. Baseball is far and away my favorite sport to watch on TV or in person. He doesn't understand that a sizable portion of his target audience watches baseball. I guess I shouldn't expect anything different from a 47 year old man who loves Fast & Furious, The Challenge and The Bachelor. Baseball needs explosions and eliminations I guess.
 

the1andonly3003

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I felt the same way. Baseball is far and away my favorite sport to watch on TV or in person. He doesn't understand that a sizable portion of his target audience watches baseball. I guess I shouldn't expect anything different from a 47 year old man who loves Fast & Furious, The Challenge and The Bachelor. Baseball needs explosions and eliminations I guess.
perhaps Simmons is pivoting to the millennial audience who also hate baseball
 

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Blacken

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I don't really care about "timing"--that might be the best thing he's written in years and what he's describing about the NBA is great.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Easy.

Hes lazy. He wrote most of it prior to game 6, didn't want to throw it out, so released it prior to game 7 so he could run it and hope it's relevant in a few days.
He released it before Game 6. It's dated May 12th.

It's got way more to do with what Blacken is referring to - how the NBA has changed so much - than it is some kind of jinx type thing hyping the C's vs. Cavs conference matchup prematurely.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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He released it before Game 6. It's dated May 12th.

It's got way more to do with what Blacken is referring to - how the NBA has changed so much - than it is some kind of jinx type thing hyping the C's vs. Cavs conference matchup prematurely.
He could have written that article without talking about a matchup that hasn't happened yet. It wasn't the point of the article, yet it was mentioned in a few places (most prominently in the image/headline). He said on multiple occasions in his last podcast that this series was going 7. Felt like the article could have been written just as well without discussing a matchup that hasn't happened.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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He could have written that article without talking about a matchup that hasn't happened yet. It wasn't the point of the article, yet it was mentioned in a few places (most prominently in the image/headline). He said on multiple occasions in his last podcast that this series was going 7. Felt like the article could have been written just as well without discussing a matchup that hasn't happened.
Certainly. I just think it's such a stark contrast that it highlights his points. Certainly lazy cherrypicking, as he is prone to, but still a good article and I don't think presumptuous of anything (regarding the C's making it into ECF). YMMV.
 

jose melendez

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Weird question: Does anyone remember Simmons doing a podcast with a live read for the United Nations Development Program. It was 3-4 months ago, and it was so weird, I thought I might have imagined it.
 

allstonite

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This is my biggest gripe with Simmons. I love baseball, and when in a recent podcast he said "Baseball is so fucking boring" it really makes me want to stop listening to him. And it absolutely means that I won't listen to any of his baseball analysis through the summer. Why would I care what someone thinks about a sport he hates? This sort of needlessly pissing off the listeners really should stop.
According to his podcast with Klosterman today Bill's son loves baseball. Isn't it so strange that his 9 year old kid loves something that hundreds of millions of 9 year old kids over 100+ years have loved?
 

ifmanis5

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According to his podcast with Klosterman today Bill's son loves baseball. Isn't it so strange that his 9 year old kid loves something that hundreds of millions of 9 year old kids over 100+ years have loved?
That was hilarious. Despite everything in our society that is set up against it, a 9-year old boy likes baseball.
Also good...
Chuck: I missed out on watching most of the NBA playoffs live
Bill: So, you followed it with online GIFS and memes?!
Chuck: .... No.

EDIT: Also wondering just what exactly Michael Jordan should *do* to advertise his greatness legacy to the young folks? Maybe force his new album into the iPhones of America? This 'Michael Jordan's Greatest Mistake' take is the worst BuzzFeed article ever.
 
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Eddie Jurak

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The Ringer is moving from Medium to Vox Media.

Bill Simmons has struck a sales and technology agreement with Vox Media to bring his digital media outfit, The Ringer, into Vox’s portfolio.

Simmons, founder of sports journalism website Grantland, founded The Ringer last year after parting ways with ESPN. Under the pact with Vox, The Ringer will remain editorially independent, delivering a mix of sports, culture and tech news, features and podcasts.

[...]

Vox Media’s brands include Vox, SB Nation, Eater, The Verge, Curbed, Recode, Racked and Polygon.
 

Silverdude2167

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According to his podcast with Klosterman today Bill's son loves baseball. Isn't it so strange that his 9 year old kid loves something that hundreds of millions of 9 year old kids over 100+ years have loved?
I really enjoyed Bill in his podcast with Bill Burr wondering how the US produces any hockey players compared to Canada because LA only has two rinks and one is closing while in Canada it is always cold so it's easy to skate.

Somehow Bill now thinks that access to skating rinks in LA is indicative of access around the rest of the country. Also, let's remember that it is never cold in the northern part of the country, Minnesota has lovely winters I hear.
 

Leather

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U.S. born NHL players by state.

In addition to the cold weather angle, it's also a function of space. New York State has plenty of great hockey programs, but not many in New York City (as far as I know). And even in New Jersey, ice time is both expensive and typically a pain in the ass to get at hours that aren't between 6 AM-8 AM or 8 PM-10 PM, due to limited rinks relative to the population density, which is due to high land value that demands denser commercial development than a 3 acre rink/parking lot.

In Minnesota, of course you have the pond hockey tradition, but there are also so many rinks in the 'burbs that it's easy to find learn-to-skate programs and mite hockey leagues that can accommodate parents with small kids with weekend morning slots and the like. So hockey is a year-round thing here.

LA, of course, has the worst of both worlds because there's (obviously) no outdoor hockey and also limited rinks. LIke, I can't think of a less hospitable place to learn to play (ice) hockey than in L.A. It would be like learning to play water polo in Marrakesh or something.
 
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the1andonly3003

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U.S. born NHL players by state.

In addition to the cold weather angle, it's also a function of space. New York State has plenty of great hockey programs, but not many in New York City (as far as I know). And even in New Jersey, ice time is both expensive and typically a pain in the ass to get at hours that aren't between 6 AM-8 AM or 8 PM-10 PM, due to limited rinks relative to the population density, which is due to high land value that demands denser commercial development than a 3 acre rink/parking lot.

In Minnesota, of course you have the pond hockey tradition, but there are also so many rinks in the 'burbs that it's easy to find learn-to-skate programs and mite hockey leagues that can accommodate parents with small kids with weekend morning slots and the like. So hockey is a year-round thing here.

LA, of course, has the worst of both worlds because there's (obviously) no outdoor hockey and also limited rinks. LIke, I can't think of a less hospitable place to learn to play (ice) hockey than in L.A. It would be like learning to play water polo in Marrakesh or something.
do people no longer play street hockey on roller blades in Cali?
 

h8mfy

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do people no longer play street hockey on roller blades in Cali?
They definitely do - am always surprised at how busy the iceless rinks are around my house in OC - there are people there at most any hour. The Ducks do a good job of promoting youth hockey in the region (they sponsor the local non-ice rink) and I have some friends whose kids play and do well in ice tournaments all over North America, and our town is starting up a HS team that will play on ice. It is a stronger hockey culture than I imagined.
 
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JimBoSox9

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"ESPN's problem was they didn't establish a Silicon Valley presence" is probably the most Californian thing he's ever said (non-coffee, non-weather division)
 

Van Everyman

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The whole "they didn't realize they were a technology company" is also TED Talk mumbo jumbo. For a guy who wrote for their website for over a decade, you would think he would know that ESPN has first and foremost always been a TV empire. Its magazine sucked. Its website—his own Grantland excepted—was always a tool to drive eyeballs to the network.

Would they have been better off if they had begun pivoting toward online content back in 2007-2010? Sure. But the suits at Disney were never going to pay the money to make that happen – to say nothing of the intransigence of the Bristol culture. They're a TV empire who are now facing the fact that people don't watch them for anything other than the things ESPN pays top dollar to broadcast.
 

Clears Cleaver

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Except he's right. He said ESPN's primary assets are their rights fees. But he said in the future if AMZN or google or FB like football or basketball or whatever, they'll buy it. Hes saying that espn has the content but has only monetized over cable, which is losing members to streaming. If they were in the know, they would have been ahead of game claiming the streaming audience instead of playing catch up. And he said reason why is that bodenheimer left and skipper wasn't same etc

The Ringer move suggests their model is shifting, too
 

the1andonly3003

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Except he's right. He said ESPN's primary assets are their rights fees. But he said in the future if AMZN or google or FB like football or basketball or whatever, they'll buy it. Hes saying that espn has the content but has only monetized over cable, which is losing members to streaming. If they were in the know, they would have been ahead of game claiming the streaming audience instead of playing catch up. And he said reason why is that bodenheimer left and skipper wasn't same etc

The Ringer move suggests their model is shifting, too
Their only issue is that ESPN3/WatchESPN is not that great to use
 

Leather

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Isn't socal now a top ten area in the US in terms of producing hockey talent?
Just for shits and giggles:

There are (by my count) 11 current NHL players from SoCal out of a population of roughly 23 Million (1 per 2 Million). So by raw counting, yes. But:
9 from New Jersey / 9 Million (1 per 1 Million)
2 from Maine / 1.3 Million (1 per 650,000)
34 from New York / 20 Million (1 per 588,000)
8 from Connecticut / 3.6 Million (1 per 450,000)
14 from Wisconsin / 5.7 Million (1 per 400,000)
2 from North Dakota / 750,000 (1 per 350,000)
4 from New Hampshire / 1.3 Million. (1 per 325,000)
26 from Mass. / 6.8 Million (1 per 261,000)
40 from Michigan / 9.9 Million (1 per 247,000)
4 from Alaska / 750,000 (1 per 187,000)
41 from Minnesota / 5.5 Million (1 per 134,000)

Etc...

But surprisingly (to me, anyway), SoCal is definitely more of a hotbed, even by population, than places you'd think would be more hockey-friendly, like Ohio and Iowa. Most shocking to me is that South Dakota has never produced an NHL player. That seems almost impossible.
 

johnmd20

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Except he's right. He said ESPN's primary assets are their rights fees. But he said in the future if AMZN or google or FB like football or basketball or whatever, they'll buy it. Hes saying that espn has the content but has only monetized over cable, which is losing members to streaming. If they were in the know, they would have been ahead of game claiming the streaming audience instead of playing catch up. And he said reason why is that bodenheimer left and skipper wasn't same etc

The Ringer move suggests their model is shifting, too
And it is worth mentioning that ESPN's website did everything to drive traffic away from its website. ESPN was literally one of my first bookmarks in the late 90s. I was visiting the site daily but it wore me down with a terrible interface and an extremely difficult site to surf. I haven't been to the site in years. And if you don't count Grantland, it's been almost a decade.

To lose a customer who is in the habit of using your service is hard to do. ESPN found a way, though.
 

joe dokes

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Just for shits and giggles:

There are (by my count) 11 current NHL players from SoCal out of a population of roughly 23 Million (1 per 2 Million). So by raw counting, yes. But:
[snip]

Etc...

But surprisingly (to me, anyway), SoCal is definitely more of a hotbed, even by population, than places you'd think would be more hockey-friendly, like Ohio and Iowa. Most shocking to me is that South Dakota has never produced an NHL player. That seems almost impossible.

FWIW- The first SoCal hockey player I ever heard of was goalie John Blue (he of the "technicolor 5-hole" (EDIT: wrong mediocre goalie)), who had a short mediocre stop in Boston. I was at a BU hockey playoff game against Minnesota in the early 80s and the "Huntington Beach, CA" really stood out in the "hometown" column of the program.

Now he's a preacher:
http://www.ocregister.com/2013/06/12/john-blue-spent-life-as-hockey-goalie-then-god-called/

Or maybe a "preacher":
He mostly talks about man’s battle with the temptations of sin, but he also talks about woman’s. The story of Samson, of course, would be nothing without Delilah.
“If you’re not in regular sexual relations with your men, you’re in sin,” Blue implores. “Not three times a year, not once a month – regular.”
 
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allstonite

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Right. It sucks. They could have had an espn network set up that had espn classic, everything they offer as well as their live offerings for $9.99 a month
I'm not sure this is true. Isn't a big part of the problem now that Joe & Jane Non-Sports Watcher have more cable options to choose from when they had been subsidizing ESPNs ridiculously high monthly cable fees which then paid for the ridiculously high rights fees? I'm a pretty big sports fan but I doubt I would pay $9.99 a month for even a better version of WatchESPN as long as I could still get local games elsewhere. I'm sure most people would feel the same if they were able to opt out and their numbers would plummet.
 

CreedBratton

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And it is worth mentioning that ESPN's website did everything to drive traffic away from its website. ESPN was literally one of my first bookmarks in the late 90s. I was visiting the site daily but it wore me down with a terrible interface and an extremely difficult site to surf. I haven't been to the site in years. And if you don't count Grantland, it's been almost a decade.

To lose a customer who is in the habit of using your service is hard to do. ESPN found a way, though.
I miss grantland:( I love the ringer but It misses Zach Lowe big time
 

TFP

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FWIW- The first SoCal hockey player I ever heard of was goalie John Blue (he of the "technicolor 5-hole"), who had a short mediocre stop in Boston. I was at a BU hockey playoff game against Minnesota in the early 80s and the "Huntington Beach, CA" really stood out in the "hometown" column of the program.

Now he's a preacher:
http://www.ocregister.com/2013/06/12/john-blue-spent-life-as-hockey-goalie-then-god-called/

Or maybe a "preacher":
Jon Casey had the technicolor 5 hole.

I still have an autographed mini stick signed by John Blue though. So there's that.

Carry on.