Bill Simmons: Good Luck With Your Life.

Kenny F'ing Powers

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wibi said:
 
You are so picked on and persecuted its not even funny
I just don't understand why we can't keep the politically correct stuff in the six page thread that we have dedicated to it.
 

The Napkin

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right here
Kenny F'ing Powers said:
I just don't understand why we can't keep the politically correct stuff in the six page thread that we have dedicated to it.
It's almost like it's a bad thing when you can't go anywhere without being exposed to something that's offensive to you.
Huh. How about that.
 

JohntheBaptist

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Yeah, there, over in that thread. Hang out there if you want to feel included. We'd do it everywhere but KFP has his Transgressive Internet Guy schtick to worry about.
 
BADDD TO THE BONE!
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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JohntheBaptist said:
Yeah, there, over in that thread. Hang out there if you want to feel included. We'd do it everywhere but KFP has his Transgressive Internet Guy schtick to worry about.
 
BADDD TO THE BONE!
I think calling you a little bitch still awards me internet tough guy points, right?

The "P word" is off limits, but maybe you bitches should start a thread decrying "bitch". When its agreed on by the appropriate 15 person all-male committee that is speaking for women worldwide, I'll stop using that word too.

Until then, keep bitching.
 

DJnVa

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Kenny F'ing Powers said:
 
Every thread? Every fucking thread, now?
 
Can we change your tagline to 16%?
 
Just because you post in every thread doesn't mean every other poster knows what was talked about.
 

DJnVa

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Kenny F'ing Powers said:
I just don't understand why we can't keep the politically correct stuff in the six page thread that we have dedicated to it.
 
This makes no sense. Let's move you down to 15%.
 
"We can use these offensive words everywhere because we had a thread talking about why we shouldn't use them."
 
EDIT: In fairness, I'm less about political correctness than I am about pushing buttons.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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DrewDawg said:
 
This makes no sense. Let's move you down to 15%.
 
"We can use these offensive words everywhere because we had a thread talking about why we shouldn't use them."
 
EDIT: In fairness, I'm less about political correctness than I am about pushing buttons.
I dont think the committee voted on "bitch" yet. Maybe discuss banning the word in that thread instead of chasing down every offender and lecturing them on how sexist they are.
 

JohntheBaptist

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Kenny F'ing Powers said:
I think calling you a little bitch still awards me internet tough guy points, right?

The "P word" is off limits, but maybe you bitches should start a thread decrying "bitch". When its agreed on by the appropriate 15 person all-male committee that is speaking for women worldwide, I'll stop using that word too.

Until then, keep bitching.
 
I was going to do this thing where I tried just giving you more and more rope so we'd get more gems like that last line, but holy shit are you boring. "Wahh I want to say pussy a lot with my bros."
 
Keep fighting that good fight. The Straight White Male on the Internet needs a voice too, finally.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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JohntheBaptist said:
 
I was going to do this thing where I tried just giving you more and more rope so we'd get more gems like that last line, but holy shit are you boring. "Wahh I want to say pussy a lot with my bros." I'm not smart enough to.
 
Keep fighting that good fight. The Straight White Male on the Internet needs a voice too, finally.
 
Fixed that for you.
 
Your little routine is cute. I'm glad that, in your rush to make sure peoples rights are protected and people aren't painting others with broad strokes, you manage to shoehorn me into whatever category you deem appropriate. How do you know that I'm straight or white? How do you know that I'm a male for that matter?
 
I could care less about using any of those words. I barely use them around here (although I don't like little bitches like you telling me what I can/can't do, say, act, etc). But considering this is still an unresolved issue, I find it entertaining that the squeakiest wheels can run rampant from forum to forum shouting down anyone they choose and it's OK (because, you know, they know what's best). When one person challenges that assertion, they're labeled as a sexist bro bigot.
 
We want to make this place better? I'm all for it. But some of you can't see the fucking forest for the trees, and the way you respond to any challenge to your authority is telling.
 

URI

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Kenny F'ing Powers said:
I could care less about using any of those words.
You fibber.
 

kenneycb

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PC Drunken Friar said:
If there really is a concern to change the women-hating culture that goes on with some posters at SOSH, I will gladly point out each time I see it.
Then actually point it out. Unless you want to come off as a smarmy douchebag. Which I feel you're succeeding quite well at with your current methods. Basically you're sucking at mockery.
 

ifmanis5

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Bob Raissman of The Daily News thinks Bill and the crew should be fired. On the other hand, he thinks Stephen A. Smith is the answer, so he's probably full of shit.
 
Simmons is a polished version of an NBA addict. He has strong opinions and incorporated history into his analysis. Unfortunately he never looked comfortable. Sometimes he sounded as if he was doing viewers a favor by even being on “Countdown.” Watching him ultimately made us nervous.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/raissman-final-countdown-sage-dump-rest-article-1.1829874#ixzz34dwPAEQ8
 

941827

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FWIW, Tim Kawakami tweeted essentially the same thing - no way ESPN can bring back this team next year.

Simmons said earlier this year that he had to be convinced to return, so it won't be hard for him to leave.
 

LMontro

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941827 said:
Simmons said earlier this year that he had to be convinced to return, so it won't be hard for him to leave.
 
Or he is padding his landing.  Whoever's fault it is, it certainly won't be his, at least in his mind.  
 

kenneycb

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LMontro said:
Or he is padding his landing.  Whoever's fault it is, it certainly won't be his, at least in his mind.  
He said the same before the season and after last season as well.  Your blind hatred towards him is comical.
 

LMontro

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kenneycb said:
He said the same before the season and after last season as well.  Your blind hatred towards him is comical.
 
But you stepping in to defend him every step of the way is brilliant and very serious business.  Ring the bell and here comes "kenneycb".  Hang in there, dude.  
 

Blacken

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LMontro said:
But you stepping in to defend him every step of the way is brilliant and very serious business.  Ring the bell and here comes "kenneycb".  Hang in there, dude.
Tu quoque isn't a very effective response to "you suck."
 

kenneycb

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LMontro said:
But you stepping in to defend him every step of the way is brilliant and very serious business.  Ring the bell and here comes "kenneycb".  Hang in there, dude.  
Which has nothing to do with the fact your entire point was factually inaccurate.

Edit: Or what Blacken said. The monks didn't teach me Latin. Or much at all.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Simmons did a really, really good job with his Finals wrap up column. It was entertaining, informative and didn't have many pointless personal anecdotes.
 

ifmanis5

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Agreed, a really good read.
 
 
Question: Hey Bill, are you incapable of writing something without your mailbag/question-and-answer schtick format? Feels like you forgot how to write actual transitions or do something different. 
 
Answer: Get off my back, just let me have this!
 

ifmanis5

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The Simmons podcasts w/Michaels and Lowe were fun. Kind of what you hope sports talk radio should be like but basically never is.
 
Simmons complaining about The Bleacher Report is delicious irony, though. A comment on his Instagram says it best- no one steals more info then calls it their own than ESPN. Settle down, Bill.  LINK-- http://instagram.com/p/pgw-zhCdJW/#
 

blueline

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Slightly annoying to listen to the latest podcast with Simmons talking about "how much we lost" after Portugal's second goal. I feel like most actual US Soccer fans, who watch more than every four years, are pretty happy right now with 4 points after 2 games even if the draw was a bit bitter. 
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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blueline said:
Slightly annoying to listen to the latest podcast with Simmons talking about "how much we lost" after Portugal's second goal. I feel like most actual US Soccer fans, who watch more than every four years, are pretty happy right now with 4 points after 2 games even if the draw was a bit bitter. 
 
Come on, that's unfair. That was a shitty way to end a game, no matter how "happy" you are now. 
 
BTW, you know how you get more soccer fans, more people talking about the game you love, less people talking shit about it? By not writing crap like this, "I feel like most actual US Soccer fans". So you're an actual soccer fan, well, bully for you. The people who piss me off almost as much as the folks who blindly hate soccer and rip it every chance they get are "the real soccer fans" who rip casual soccer fans. You're not born loving a sport or a team or a player, there's always that flashpoint that makes you a fan of something. For some people it came after your epiphany. Get over yourself.
 

cromulence

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John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
 
Come on, that's unfair. That was a shitty way to end a game, no matter how "happy" you are now. 
 
BTW, you know how you get more soccer fans, more people talking about the game you love, less people talking shit about it? By not writing crap like this, "I feel like most actual US Soccer fans". So you're an actual soccer fan, well, bully for you. The people who piss me off almost as much as the folks who blindly hate soccer and rip it every chance they get are "the real soccer fans" who rip casual soccer fans. You're not born loving a sport or a team or a player, there's always that flashpoint that makes you a fan of something. For some people it came after your epiphany. Get over yourself.
 
At risk of derailing here, but it's frustrating to listen to people who have no idea what they're talking about present their opinions like they mean something. Imagine listening to someone who knows NOTHING about baseball try to critique and nitpick things that they totally don't understand. That's what it's been like to listen to some of the new fans try to talk about USMNT games. I agree that snobbery is no good, but at the same time a lot of the new fans generally don't show up willing to listen and learn. They'd rather tell everyone else their (worthless) observations. It's annoying.
 

blueline

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I definitely didn't mean that in the elitist soccer fan type of way. I enjoy getting casual fans involved, and I don't even really have the right to call myself a massive US fan.
 
On the podcast his response to the game was basically it was a choke job, we "lost" so much after letting in the goal (whatever that means), and it was devastating. I don't know about that, I think 4 points after 2 games in this group is quite good. Yeah it was disappointing to draw, and miss out on securing advancement, but the team set themselves up strongly going into the Germany match. The position they're in now was basically everyone's realistic best case scenario prior to the tournament. Like I said, I doubt Bill is much of a soccer fan, seems like it would have been smarter to take a more nuanced and inquisitive view on the result. Yeah it was disappointing but the team has still played really well. Instead it's just about how devastated he feels--not aligned to realistic expectations about US Soccer.
 
Anyways like I said it was only "slightly annoying" I generally enjoyed the podcast.  
 

DJnVa

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Well, separating the expectations from it (4 points after 2 games is pretty good), we did "lose" a lot. He's an emotional fan, he always has been.
 
Going into the game, most of us would take the draw. After being down 1-0, we'd all take the draw. Up 2-1 with 55 seconds left, the draw is a letdown. That's why all the "real" soccer fans in the thread posted "FUCKKKKK!!!!"
 
Later, looking at it rationally, we get it, the draw is decent. But that's not the kind of fan Simmons is.
 

johnmd20

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cromulence said:
 
At risk of derailing here, but it's frustrating to listen to people who have no idea what they're talking about present their opinions like they mean something. Imagine listening to someone who knows NOTHING about baseball try to critique and nitpick things that they totally don't understand. That's what it's been like to listen to some of the new fans try to talk about USMNT games. I agree that snobbery is no good, but at the same time a lot of the new fans generally don't show up willing to listen and learn. They'd rather tell everyone else their (worthless) observations. It's annoying.
 
It's a worthless observation to note that the ending of that game was a gut punch? It was a gut punch. A huge one, it took the team from advancing to the 2nd round with a decent chance to win the group to needing to tie one of the best teams in the world or getting some help to advance.
 
None of this changes the fact that the USMNT getting 4 points in the first two games was amazing. But, at the 94th minute, with the ball on Portugal's side, with a chance to advance to the knockout stage after the 2nd game, it all went badly. And that sucked.
 

cromulence

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johnmd20 said:
 
It's a worthless observation to note that the ending of that game was a gut punch? It was a gut punch. A huge one, it took the team from advancing to the 2nd round with a decent chance to win the group to needing to tie one of the best teams in the world or getting some help to advance.
 
None of this changes the fact that the USMNT getting 4 points in the first two games was amazing. But, at the 94th minute, with the ball on Portugal's side, with a chance to advance to the knockout stage after the 2nd game, it all went badly. And that sucked.
 
I was speaking more generally, not specifically about Simmons' comments. Yes, the moment sucked. I just think focusing on it is really foolish, and I've seen a ton of that in the media.
 

johnmd20

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cromulence said:
 
I was speaking more generally, not specifically about Simmons' comments. Yes, the moment sucked. I just think focusing on it is really foolish, and I've seen a ton of that in the media.
 
Wait, the media reacted to a brutal, gut punch finish by focusing on it? My word, I have never!
 

cromulence

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johnmd20 said:
 
Wait, the media reacted to a brutal, gut punch finish by focusing on it? My word, I have never!
 
Thanks for the snark. Good discussion we just had.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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cromulence said:
 
I was speaking more generally, not specifically about Simmons' comments. Yes, the moment sucked. I just think focusing on it is really foolish, and I've seen a ton of that in the media.
 
What are they supposed to focus on? There's not a lot of nuanced takes in the mainstream media on any sport, let alone one that most people watch every four years.
 
I've had my problems with Simmons, but I think that reacting that way to a very tough tie, doesn't make him, whatever you want to label him ("Ugly American", "Stupid soccer fan", "Idiot over-reacter"). I'm not sure what you want him to say. Alexi Lalas looked like he was going burst into tears after the game.
 
Put it another way, it's February 1986, the Red Sox are coming off an 81-81 year and haven't been to the World Series (or post season for that matter in 11 years). If someone told you on the first day of Spring Training that the Red Sox would go to the World Series, you'd be pretty excited, wouldn't you? They haven't been there in a long time, whatever happens is gravy, maybe they'll win. Fast forward a few months and it's a couple of minutes (or hours, whatever) after Game Six, it sorta sucks doesn't it? But that's okay, you still have another game to go and momentum is only as good as your next day's starter and we have Bruce Hurst on the bump and a 3-0 lead and things are okay. The Sox end up losing and all people can do is talk about how bad Game Six sucks and how the season was really disappointing, etc.
 
But in February, you would have been pumped for a World Series run (especially with the way the ALCS went down), right? But expectations change and it's okay to be pissed off or upset about the way something went down, even though you would have been very happy with the same result only hours (or months) prior. It doesn't mean you're a shitty sports fan or can't understand the nuances of the game or you can't be proud of your team. It means, you're just upset with the result. And that's completely fine.
 
Put it another way, if Simmons went on his podcast and talked nothing about the 94th minute or glossed over it, that would have been weird, right?
 

ifmanis5

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John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
Put it another way, if Simmons went on his podcast and talked nothing about the 94th minute or glossed over it, that would have been weird, right?
Exactly.
 
Only thing that bothered me about the Simmons soccer talks was his admission that his analysis of the Wold Cup is fed directly through the 'how would I feel about this if it happened at my daughter's soccer game' filter. I'd argue that his daughters games and the WC are apples to oranges. Other than that I'm glad he's embraced soccer rather than how many in the media have totally dismissed the WC as light fair for The Republic of Cambridge crowd.
 

cromulence

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I'm gonna bow out because I wasn't talking about Simmons specifically at all, which is why I said that I might be derailing. I was just responding to the soccer snobbery discussion in general, but I haven't listened to the podcast in question. I've just been generally annoyed that the storyline seems to be "We totally blew it!" instead of "It was a tough ending but we played great and are in good position to advance!"
 

nattysez

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cromulence said:
 
At risk of derailing here, but it's frustrating to listen to people who have no idea what they're talking about present their opinions like they mean something. Imagine listening to someone who knows NOTHING about baseball try to critique and nitpick things that they totally don't understand.
You've just described listening to Bill Simmons talk about the Red Sox.
 

PBDWake

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Here's the thing... The "actual" hardcore fans I know are the most pissed about it. I feel like rationalizing it away is what leads to the "If you said we 'd have 4 points..." argument.

But the big soccer people I know are crushed because they know what the opportunity cost was. A high likelihood of winning the group outright, not having to sweat out a match against Germany, seeding in the round of 16... Yes, there is agreement that we'll likely tie Germany and advance, but the road you take can matter as much as the result.
 

Leather

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Sportswriters say they like Bruce because it's 100% safe for them to say so.  In fact, I'd wager they think it helps them connect with their readers, a large cross-section of whom probably like Bruce, or at least don't mind him.   If you dig a little deeper, though, it's kind of fucked up, because on a deeper level, King (for instance) is really sounding a dogwhistle that says:
 
"Hey, I'm a straight, white, middle class guy.  Of course I like Bruce Springsteen.  I'm no pussy."
 
As a Bruce fan, this shit drives me up the wall, because what King is celebrating is not Springsteen's music, or even Springsteen himself; he's co-opting the media portrayal of Bruce Springsteen as this blue collar guy's guy that is basically a phony cartoon version of the actual artist.  ( I exclude Posnanski from this classification, though, because he is pretty clearly a fan of the music in that he appears to actually listen to it instead of just quote titles from "Born to Run".)  
 
King is a pink hat. 
 
I mean, from what I understand, Springsteen doesn't even like sports!  He was a longhair until the mid '70s! He wrote a song about AIDS for "Philadelphia" in 1993!  The truth is, he's always identified with, and celebrated, the same misfits that King et. al. would shit on in one of his columns  than the All American Men the writers would have us believe they really are.
 

Reverend

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drleather2001 said:
I mean, from what I understand, Springsteen doesn't even like sports!  He was a longhair until the mid '70s! He wrote a song about AIDS for "Philadelphia" in 1993!  The truth is, he's always identified with, and celebrated, the same misfits that King et. al. would shit on in one of his columns  than the All American Men the writers would have us believe they really are.
 
Remember most of America's incredibly confused reaction when Springsteen penned that anti-war piece for the NYTimes about Iraq?
 

Reverend

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Wait--King?
 
Was that intentional or not? It's funny either way--please don't edit it!