The Bill Simmons Thread

Senator Donut

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It’s weird, but I love Curtis on the Sports Repodders, but I don’t really like Pressbox. I think it could be better if they stayed out of politics, not because they’re ill-equipped to discuss it, but because I think a lot of those stories are well-covered already. I do enjoy their sports media chats.
 

allstonite

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During Hader's part I was thinking he's probably the funniest guest Simmons has on. Then his mom came on for the first time. Holy shit she's hilarious
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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During Hader's part I was thinking he's probably the funniest guest Simmons has on. Then his mom came on for the first time. Holy shit she's hilarious
Equal parts cracking wise and making Bill totally uncomfortable (telling Richard Gere she dreamed she had sex with him) was just fantastic.

Edit: Unlike Bill's dad who needs space and time to develop his points, she comes out swinging like Tyson with her takes. So it is a good strategy to hold her back for once every 12 years or so.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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Drunk Joe House (“I’ve had four glasses of wine tonight!”) is a great Simmons guest, way better than Russillo, his normal Sunday night co-host. Way funnier and way better chemistry.
 

cromulence

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Drunk Joe House (“I’ve had four glasses of wine tonight!”) is a great Simmons guest, way better than Russillo, his normal Sunday night co-host. Way funnier and way better chemistry.
Funny, I thought about coming here to say the exact opposite. I find House's voice grating to begin with and it's even worse when he's tipsy, and on top of that I've come to really value Russillo's presence because he's not afraid to call Simmons out or openly disagree with him. When Simmons starts getting too hot-takey, Russillo reels him in, while House usually agrees with whatever theory Bill came up with.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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Funny, I thought about coming here to say the exact opposite. I find House's voice grating to begin with and it's even worse when he's tipsy, and on top of that I've come to really value Russillo's presence because he's not afraid to call Simmons out or openly disagree with him. When Simmons starts getting too hot-takey, Russillo reels him in, while House usually agrees with whatever theory Bill came up with.
I guess I see House disagree with Simmons enough (e.g., this episode had them argue about Ben Simmons’ effectiveness guarding Kawhi), and Russillo has his own hot takes that are just as grating (“Paul George may look hurt, but he’s not hurt hurt”). But the real distinction to me is just the tone and feel of the podcast - with House, it’s the two old friends joshing over sports and pop culture; with Russillo, it’s like ESPN First Take or something, with two guys just reading takes.
 

Kliq

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I think it's hilarious that House is a lawyer. Imagine going to court and Joe F'n House is there representing someone.
 

The Social Chair

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Funny, I thought about coming here to say the exact opposite. I find House's voice grating to begin with and it's even worse when he's tipsy, and on top of that I've come to really value Russillo's presence because he's not afraid to call Simmons out or openly disagree with him. When Simmons starts getting too hot-takey, Russillo reels him in, while House usually agrees with whatever theory Bill came up with.
I agree with this. Simmons has been hot takey on the NBA for a couple of years but the Sunday night shows have been extreme for even him. At least Russillo attempts to temper his takes.
 

chrisfont9

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Funny, I thought about coming here to say the exact opposite. I find House's voice grating to begin with and it's even worse when he's tipsy, and on top of that I've come to really value Russillo's presence because he's not afraid to call Simmons out or openly disagree with him. When Simmons starts getting too hot-takey, Russillo reels him in, while House usually agrees with whatever theory Bill came up with.
I give House extra credit for working in a completely different profession but being able to just cross over into effective podcasting. He speaks clearly, has a totally distinct persona (very upbeat, compared to all of the Ringer people except Jason and Mallory) and there is some disagreement with Simmons, although I think their sports views are just really similar and probably fed by the same material.

Jacko is similarly polished for a non-media guy, but House has a lot more to say about basketball or football than Jacko does about baseball.
 

cheech13

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House is fine, but he can get a little irritating. He's best in small doses. Russillo and Simmons are great together, and their Sunday night podcast is a treat. He's a good fit for Bill because he shoots down all of Simmons dumb takes, but he's funny and entertaining enough that Bill doesn't get butt hurt about it. "Throne Game" might be the funniest bit in podcasting right now.
 

Foxy42

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Embaressed to say that I listened to ‘For Realsies’ and enjoyed it. Simmons’ daughter is incredibly poised for a 13 yo. I could see that becoming a hit w the tween crowd.
 

JCizzle

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House is fine, but he can get a little irritating. He's best in small doses. Russillo and Simmons are great together, and their Sunday night podcast is a treat. He's a good fit for Bill because he shoots down all of Simmons dumb takes, but he's funny and entertaining enough that Bill doesn't get butt hurt about it. "Throne Game" might be the funniest bit in podcasting right now.
I love Bill and Ryen together. Their Sunday podcast is a must listen for me every week.
 

luckiestman

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I could listen to House, Bill, and Sal discuss anything. Chris Ryan is an animal when he is paired up with Bill.

Russillo is ok with Simmons. Nothing to get excited about but entertaining. This “he stands up to Simmons” stuff or “he reels him in” who the fuck wants that? LET BILL BE BILL!

That’s what I’m listening for; a crazy slightly unhinged off the rails Boston type dude wearing the costume of an LA Chillax guy.
 

thebtskink

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Drunk House has come around on me. The discussion of GoT nudity between him, Bill, and Rusillo got me to bust out laughing on the train.
 

johnmd20

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Drunk House has come around on me. The discussion of GoT nudity between him, Bill, and Rusillo got me to bust out laughing on the train.
This most recent podcast was literally laugh out loud funny, especially when they were talking about Throne Games. It was absolutely perfect, Bill, House, and Russilo were all on point. Truly an award winning episode.
 

JCizzle

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This most recent podcast was literally laugh out loud funny, especially when they were talking about Throne Games. It was absolutely perfect, Bill, House, and Russilo were all on point. Truly an award winning episode.
When House stopped the conversation because Russilo dropped in Markannen was hilarious. It's great
 

HowBoutDemSox

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This most recent podcast was literally laugh out loud funny, especially when they were talking about Throne Games. It was absolutely perfect, Bill, House, and Russilo were all on point. Truly an award winning episode.
The “Is This Magic Johnson Tweet Real or Made Up?” game was hilarious.
 

luckiestman

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House: I want to be surprised. Is the funniest line I’ve heard on a podcast from a non professional comedian.
 

cheech13

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I could listen to House, Bill, and Sal discuss anything. Chris Ryan is an animal when he is paired up with Bill.

Russillo is ok with Simmons. Nothing to get excited about but entertaining. This “he stands up to Simmons” stuff or “he reels him in” who the fuck wants that? LET BILL BE BILL!

That’s what I’m listening for; a crazy slightly unhinged off the rails Boston type dude wearing the costume of an LA Chillax guy.
See, this is where I'm going to disagree. He lets Bill be Bill and then points out when he's being ridiculous to great effect. A couple weeks ago they were discussing who should be MVP. Simmons went on a long-winded rant about how it was down to Harden and Giannis and how he'd watched them both play that weekend and Harden's team lost and Giannis won and that was enough to show him who should be MVP.

There was a five second pause and then Ryen deadpans, "Are you fucking kidding me?" I've never laughed so hard during a podcast.
 

luckiestman

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There were several very funny moments in the latest Russillo-Simmons podcast (including Scott Van Pelt's fake Magic tweet), but my favorite was Simmons talking about playing video games and Russillo saying that he doesn't have time for them because he writes.

That might have been Russillo’s best line since he’s been on Bills show. Have to give it up to him for that one.
 

ManicCompression

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I think that those writing jokes are more about Russillo moving to LA and trying write/sell TV shows. He'll also make sarcastic, "Well, as a writer..." jokes about GoT plot points.

I normally can't sit through a whole Simmons podcast, but him and RR are a weekly must listen for me. RR doesn't let Simmons get away with anything and it's incredible.
 

Bunt4aTriple

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I think that those writing jokes are more about Russillo moving to LA and trying write/sell TV shows. He'll also make sarcastic, "Well, as a writer..." jokes about GoT plot points.

I normally can't sit through a whole Simmons podcast, but him and RR are a weekly must listen for me. RR doesn't let Simmons get away with anything and it's incredible.
100%. It wasn't a knock on Simmons. The PMT boys also always refer to him as a Hollywood screenwriter.
 

Bunt4aTriple

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It has been a running joke; the timing this episode was perfect. I didn't take it as a shot at Bill.
Yup. It always slays me when RR deadpans and Simmons misses the joke at first, starts and a sentence, then loses it. This episode was the mailbag question about the smell of burning humans when someone said, "he must work at a crematorium," and RR responded, "Or he's a murderer."
 

Kliq

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One thing that is starting to bother me is Russillo keeps making these jokes about overrating NBA players, that are funny like, once per episode, but in the last one he made it like, every 20 minutes. They will be talking and Russillo will be like "Rondey Hood for Jimmy Butler and a pick, would you do that?" and it's getting grating.
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

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One thing that is starting to bother me is Russillo keeps making these jokes about overrating NBA players, that are funny like, once per episode, but in the last one he made it like, every 20 minutes. They will be talking and Russillo will be like "Rondey Hood for Jimmy Butler and a pick, would you do that?" and it's getting grating.
I take that as a not-so-subtle dig at BS and his constant trade machine what-ifs.
 

luckiestman

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Cousin Sal betting on there being no double-overtime games in the NBA Conference Finals is classic Sal. Is this guy the worst gambler in America?

I don’t even know if he was being serious about that. I think he was but I’m not sure. I enjoy Sal and Bill so much. I cannot wait for the NFL. I wish it started next week.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Cousin Sal betting on there being no double-overtime games in the NBA Conference Finals is classic Sal. Is this guy the worst gambler in America?
I don't know if he's the worst, but there is a long-running trope between him and Bill that Sal bets against fun stuff happening. For example he bets for no buzzer beaters every year for the NCAA tournament. (Which on another tangent is astute, because unlike old tournament buzzer beaters we can remember, the enhanced video reviews mean there is often like a few tenths left after shots you think are "buzzer beaters".)
 

Foxy42

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Howard Stern said he’s going on Bill’s podcast. I wonder if Stern BFF, Jimmy Kimmel will sit in or not.
 

Rook05

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I remember a podcast Bill did with his dad where he said of the four Boston teams, the Celtics has the best shot at winning the next title. It would be quintessential Bill if all the others won before the C’s, and in the immediate following year. That might be the hot take equivalent of the Ewing Theory.
 

Mystic Merlin

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Has Bill mentioned the Bruins’ cup run? I understand why the Ringer barely covers the NHL, but I’m a bit surprised I haven’t heard him talk about the Bruins on his podcasts. I don’t listen to every minute so I may have missed it.
 

Kliq

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Has Bill mentioned the Bruins’ cup run? I understand why the Ringer barely covers the NHL, but I’m a bit surprised I haven’t heard him talk about the Bruins on his podcasts. I don’t listen to every minute so I may have missed it.
I know he talked about trying to get St. Louis Blues fan Jon Hamm on his podcast last week, but that he was out of the country for a bit and if the series went past five games he would try to get him to come on and talk about it.