The Bill Simmons Thread

jmcc5400

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So far, I ve enjoyed the Nantzgasm. Bill jerking off to Stephen Curry, House's heavy breathing and Bill offering Cousin Sal a loan in order to repay his gambling debts.
Cousin Sal crying during Blood Diamond was great too.
 

nattysez

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Something has definitely changed for the better. While I always enjoyed the podcasts, I found myself laughing out loud multiple times during both the Cousin Sal and Joe House podcasts. And Simmons talking to Haralabob is always a great listen.
 

the1andonly3003

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Something has definitely changed for the better. While I always enjoyed the podcasts, I found myself laughing out loud multiple times during both the Cousin Sal and Joe House podcasts. And Simmons talking to Haralabob is always a great listen.
yeah, pretty bad when I listen during my workouts and start laughing...messes with my exercises and people at the gym look at me weird
 

JBill

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Sal doing the "...are we sure they're good?" line on the Pats killed me.
 

Gunfighter 09

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Sal doing the "...are we sure they're good?" line on the Pats killed me.
Apoplectic post Pats loss Bill is great listening.

The MB Jordan podcast was really good, I think I actually want to see that movie now.
 

bbc23

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Carolla impression was spot-on despite me not having listened to him in a while.

Really disappointed he keeps bringing in Michael Rapaport for basketball. It's really frustrating to here someone without rudimentary knowledge of the NBA dragged in so he can spout off on how he thinks Byron Scott is good. You're better than that Bill, bring in some of the smart people you know.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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In his 30 for 30, Rappaport seriously asked Bob Ryan if Bill Russell was overrated. I thought Bob Ryan was going to punch him as Rappaport "explained" why.

Ergo Michael Rappaport knows jack shit about basketball.
 

allstonite

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I'm really glad him and House switched the format to mostly NBA talk. Simmons is alright with the NFL but having him discuss basically the same things with Sal and then House was overkill. The weekly Currygasm is funny. Also "Kobe is playing this season like Kevin Hart in the celebrity game" is hilarous.
 

luckiestman

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I'm really glad him and House switched the format to mostly NBA talk. Simmons is alright with the NFL but having him discuss basically the same things with Sal and then House was overkill. The weekly Currygasm is funny. Also "Kobe is playing this season like Kevin Hart in the celebrity game" is hilarous.

House and Simmons are really good together. I agree with your take but I could listen to these guys talk about anything. House giving his Momafuku CCDC description was so good I played it for my wife.
 

allstonite

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House and Simmons are really good together. I agree with your take but I could listen to these guys talk about anything. House giving his Momafuku CCDC description was so good I played it for my wife.
Oh absolutely. I just was tired of the NFL talk because it ended up being almost word for word the same as the Sal podcasts. They discuss the lines, give some stats or trends, say who they would take. I prefer the variety, especially when it includes House talking about food.
 

Gunfighter 09

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They are smart to limit the House football talk outside of his local DC opinion. I am really looking forward to Bill getting Aaron Shatz back on.
 

Kliq

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I love Simmons and the podcasts, but one problem is that he is using some Sportscenter-like hyperbole to make his points. Earlier this season he declared Todd Gurley the best running back in football, then two weeks ago said it was Thomas Rawls, and last week he said Kirk Cousins was one of the five best quarterbacks in the NFL. It is like he only remembers the last week of games.
 

Clears Cleaver

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I love Simmons and the podcasts, but one problem is that he is using some Sportscenter-like hyperbole to make his points. Earlier this season he declared Todd Gurley the best running back in football, then two weeks ago said it was Thomas Rawls, and last week he said Kirk Cousins was one of the five best quarterbacks in the NFL. It is like he only remembers the last week of games.
Cousin sal is quick to remind him of these ridiculous statements and oftentimes the joke goes right over Bill's head. Cousin Sal and House are great because they call out the BS. As does JAckO
 

allstonite

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Why does he keep calling Brookline Brooklyn? I've heard it twice in the last week or so. I know he's usually bad with names but that's really bizarre.
 

nattysez

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The Katie Nolan podcast was the first one in the new batch that I didn't enjoy. The best way I can describe it is that they both seemed to be trying very hard to sound "cool" and "meta," which made the whole thing feel like a put-on.

I was also irritated that Bill went to great lengths to say what a great guy Jamie Horowitz (the guy who invented the "conflict show" approach at ESPN that has made Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless big stars) is and dismiss Horowitz's critics without making any effort to explain why those (in my mind very valid) criticisms are misguided. Not that I'd ever expect him to do anything of that much substance, but it still rubbed me the wrong way.
 

Spacemans Bong

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He couldn't have segued to personal life shit in a more awkward, no fucking way you do this to a dude way. He sounded like a PG-rated Howard Stern.

Also, Katie's hectoring about Simmons going to LA Kings games was really annoying. On the whole, erecting some orthodoxy about how to be a sports fan is something you do in your 20s when you don't have more important shit to worry about, but even then, it really bothered me.

If you live 3,000 miles away from home and you have zero engagement with the local teams, you're gonna be a dork. You have nothing to talk about with the locals, you're getting your sports fix via the internet or satellite, it's just not that fun. NYC isn't the same, it's the best city to be a Boston sports fan besides Boston because the Red Sox are practically the city's third team, the Celtics and Bruins are in town several times a year, and you're a 3 hour train ride from South Station. Plus Katie ain't married and doesn't have kids, so she's a lot more mobile than a married father of two. If Simmons isn't working, I'd bet the arrangement is he stays home for the weekend.

The Kings have probably the least obnoxious fanbase in LA because hockey is such a cult sport, and Simmons has the money for great tickets, parking, and great food that make going to games even more fun than crushing onto public transit and lining up for beer and a hot dog before going back to the nosebleeds.

Simmons obviously likes her and probably wants her working for him, so he didn't really call her on it, but I kinda wanted him to do so.
 

DLew On Roids

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The only time I don't like Katie Nolan is when she does the Cool Sports Chick Razzing Guys act. It sounds like a variant of the Cool Girl thing from Gone Girl, right down to the impression that she's only doing it for approval. She's much better when she's slinging truth bombs and taking out Greg Hardy like the woods scene in Millers Crossing.
 

moondog80

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What was the gist of this? I don't really wanna have to listen

He was asking her how her boyfriend was dealing with her career.

I'll take a charitable view. There are a lot of similarities between the two of them; Boston sports fan who slowly gained a fowling on the internet talking about sports/culture from the fan's perspective, having to work as a bartender until they got big enough to make the sports personality thing a full time gig. He obviously can see this and views himself as something of a mentor, and having been where she is now, part of what interests him is how the transition to pseudo-celebrity impacts your relationships. I can't imagine he asked that without having the OK from her to bring up the subject.
 

Number45forever

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Agreed that Katie didn't seem to like the sudden and awkward transition by Simmons to the personal questions. BS also seemed to linger on those for way too long.

The whole podcast had this awkward tone. The first time Nolan was on with him, it was great as far as I remember. This one sounded forced and didn't really flow. Not sure what the deal was.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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What was the gist of this? I don't really wanna have to listen
He was asking her how her boyfriend was dealing with her career.
And the way he segued to the question started the awkward straight off. By that I mean there was no segue at all, he just switched topics on a dime from something sports related and caught her completely off-guard. So from the start, that whole part of the conversation felt off.

I think that's why this episode stands out as different than the rest since launching the new show is that those shows have been with his buddies. He's not interviewing Sal or Jacko so much as having a regular conversation. With Nolan, he is acquainted with her but doesn't have the history or friendship so it felt much more like an interview and frankly, he's just not a good interviewer.
 

JBill

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The Michael B. Jordan pod was great though, I don't think they're buddies exactly. Agreed about the Katie Nolan one, some awkward moments/transitions, I didn't even finish listening.

I'm curious to see when he'll unveil his new writing venture? I've really liked the Channel 33 podcast stuff so far, but I assume there's going to be a website for sure? Sean Fennessey hasn't participated in any of the podcasts so far, my guess is he must be working on it? I just really want there to be a post-Grantland website.
 

DLew On Roids

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A lot of the posts here leave the impression that Simmons was practically leering over the boyfriend questions. I don't think that was the intention that people meant, but the stacking up of the comments gives that idea. I think Simmons tried to transition to a place Nolan hadn't considered as an interview topic and wasn't sure quite how much she wanted to share. She was definitely uncomfortable, but it was the sort of question I could imagine Simmons throwing at one of his friends without much thought. "You might have to move to LA! What would the girlfriend think of that? All her friends back home, make them jealous, putting pictures of herself having brunch at The Grove on Instagram..." He'd absolutely do that.
 

JimBoSox9

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A lot of the posts here leave the impression that Simmons was practically leering over the boyfriend questions. I don't think that was the intention that people meant, but the stacking up of the comments gives that idea. I think Simmons tried to transition to a place Nolan hadn't considered as an interview topic and wasn't sure quite how much she wanted to share. She was definitely uncomfortable, but it was the sort of question I could imagine Simmons throwing at one of his friends without much thought. "You might have to move to LA! What would the girlfriend think of that? All her friends back home, make them jealous, putting pictures of herself having brunch at The Grove on Instagram..." He'd absolutely do that.
Yeah, it sounds like he wanted to connect on a level of having made good and still being with a person from before that, which is legit....but he couldn't, because he's Bill Simmons.
 

HoyaSoxa

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Also, he asked MB Jordan about whether he had a girlfriend, who he would want to date, how he would handle a relationship with someone more or less successful, etc. - it's not like he only asks these questions to girls.
 

Spacemans Bong

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A lot of the posts here leave the impression that Simmons was practically leering over the boyfriend questions. I don't think that was the intention that people meant, but the stacking up of the comments gives that idea. I think Simmons tried to transition to a place Nolan hadn't considered as an interview topic and wasn't sure quite how much she wanted to share. She was definitely uncomfortable, but it was the sort of question I could imagine Simmons throwing at one of his friends without much thought. "You might have to move to LA! What would the girlfriend think of that? All her friends back home, make them jealous, putting pictures of herself having brunch at The Grove on Instagram..." He'd absolutely do that.
Mentioning Howard Stern might have given that impression, but he definitely wasn't leering. It was just the really awkward transition. As mentioned, they were in the middle of talking about sports and then he jumped to the relationship stuff. It was like he had a checklist of topics, that was next on the checklist, fuck it, we're doing it now.
 

johnmd20

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So I read this thread before I heard the Nolan podcast. It wasn't even remotely awkward. After reading the posts, I was expecting some grade A discomfort. It was nothing of the sort. And Nolan seemed at ease with it. She even went into detail with a bunch of boyfriend topics.

And Nolan plays the cool chick. That is her shtick.
 

SidelineCameras

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Enjoyed Cousin Sal this week saying, "It was a fun eight days, pretending that the Patriots weren't going to have the #1 seed."
 

Kliq

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I love the running joke of the new TV shows they are watching. "Bale Bonds, starring Christian Bale and Barry Bonds, you can only watch at Best Buy where they show it on their display TVs."
 

Rook05

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The Peyton as saboteur is excellent as well. "In the booth last week, on the sideline this week. Next week he stands right next to Brock."
 

johnmd20

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I love the running joke of the new TV shows they are watching. "Bale Bonds, starring Christian Bale and Barry Bonds, you can only watch at Best Buy where they show it on their display TVs."
Where they take steroids and walk around angry.
 

kenneycb

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Is that a riff off Simmons notion that a lot of guys in Hollywood are on PEDs? Because I know he's brought it up before regarding that (and the Challenge).