I sense Bill likes the détente he has developed with the Rivers family.
The Bill Simmons Thread
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Austin Rivers saying he entered the NBA as an elite scorer is among the 6 most Duke things ever.
Bill leading the pod with the topic that nba trade talk 24/7 and non-stop rumors is bad for the league and exhausting is so fucking insane. He's up there with all the espn guys he clowns. What a joke.
His entire empire was built on spitballing bullshit and incessant idiotic trade scenarios, columns, etc. That's what he does, for every sport. There's no "analysis". So to turn around and say how dare everyone else, i mean come on.
I just cant, it would be like Trump complaining about political discourse being too aggressive and negative.
It's been this way for a while but Bill is so rich he's entered a new realm of delusion.
His entire empire was built on spitballing bullshit and incessant idiotic trade scenarios, columns, etc. That's what he does, for every sport. There's no "analysis". So to turn around and say how dare everyone else, i mean come on.
I just cant, it would be like Trump complaining about political discourse being too aggressive and negative.
It's been this way for a while but Bill is so rich he's entered a new realm of delusion.
Is he unfamiliar with the Mismatch on the Ringer podcast network, which released an episode YESTERDAY discussing potential Lillard trade destinations? Clean up your own house first, Bill.
You're right in a vacuum but I don't blame him there. Rivers is an employee and Bill's not really a hard hitting journalist or anything...I am assuming he just wanted the conversation to go smoothly and onto other topics instead of going down that rabbit hole.....
However, Simmons saying that non-stop NBA trade talk is exhausting and bad for the league...my God, how can you possibly have that little self awareness?
Patriots are 0-2. Mac Jones', Simmons' MVP pick for 2022, is decent but not awesome.
No better time to talk about the NBA than Week 3 of the NFL season, which is over a month away from the NBA season starting.
Plus, Simmons is washed in general, he's dumb and not interested in anything but flashy hot takes and weird rankings. Simmons' fall as a Podcaster is definitely a top 10, Top 3 of the Top 5 collapses of the last 9.4 years.
He doesn't know shit about football, do you really want to listen to him talk NFL 6 hours a week? All he has on football is amateur gambling and his bizarre blue/red/pink/yellow chip rankings.
I had to Google Austin's Duke stats. In his one year he averaged 15.5 ppg. Not bad, but only good enough for 8th in the ACC. The names ahead of him aren't exactly Kenny Anderson and Dennis Scott.
To be fair, 15.5 would put him around 38th best in ACC history.
To be fair, 15.5 would put him around 38th best in ACC history.
I don't listen to him at all, except on the Rewatchables. Problem solved.
And I'm not sure he knows anything about NBA, NHL, NFL, or MLB. Simmons is all surface level hot takes now. There is no thought, creativity, research, or analysis. Everyone gets old.
With regard to today's Parent Corner, Bill Simmons needing to have his kids injured at sports to gain a full appreciation for the human cost that NFL players endure in every single game may be the most Bill Simmons thing ever.
(Also, if I ever hear him imply - or even outright say - "I know football because I watch it for 12 hours every NFL Sunday" again, it'll be too soon.)
(Also, if I ever hear him imply - or even outright say - "I know football because I watch it for 12 hours every NFL Sunday" again, it'll be too soon.)
Hearing him talk about Boston teams is like WEEI. He even says "not to be like Boston talk radio but..." and then he gives a Boston talk radio take. He knows basketball and really that's it. The Ringer has hired some great football commentators, so he's gotten that part right.
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This is questionable, too. He's really good at talking about knowing basketball.
He did Inside the NBA with Magic and Jalen Rose and whoever for a few years, I am willing to assume he earned his stripes. All other sports, he's an outsider just like us.
From now on, I shall only refer to Randall Cobb as Reggie Cobb.*
*So, 14 more games before he retires.
*So, 14 more games before he retires.
not to paraphrase Simmons to much but there is a secret to his success. Even though a lot of his takes are stupid it’s fun to hear him talk about sports!
One bit that's getting awfully familiar is the one where he disagrees with the given probability that a team had when they went for it on 4th down (and failed to convert), because (as he yelps: ) those odds don't take into account the play call, and whether the team going for it had a good play up their sleeves. And then, he invariably suggests that a QB rollout would have been a good play and would have worked, whereas whatever play the team actually ran was predictable and doomed from the start.
You can't stop the QB rollout on 4th down. It's just that simple, folks.
You can't stop the QB rollout on 4th down. It's just that simple, folks.
I have been tied up all day, otherwise I would've written almost the same post after listening this morning. I both couldn't believe he said it AND that he said it without the slightest clue as to how sociopathic it sounded.
Geez, my biggest complaint with todays podcast was the lengthy Taylor Swift discussion. Who the hell puts on a Bill Simmons/Cousin Sal podcast wanting to hear a Taylor Swift discussion.
Isn't his audience middle aged men who have daughters who nate obsessed with Taylor Swift? Will the viewership #s suffer?
Entire podcast was good, listened to the whole thing. Not sure why people are so serious about it. I would listen to Bill and Sal 5x a week if they were on WFAN.
Oh, I heard a thing that bothered me, a Joe Gibbs slander about him not having “it” when he came out of retirement. Well, in 4 years, I think he made the playoffs twice. Won a game and then lost to the eventual NFC champion Seahawks. All this while working for Dan Snyder. So, it’s a lot better than what BB has done post Brady while working for a “good” owner.
This is a hilarious juxtaposition of posts.
I think Bill and Sal would be a tough listen if they had to fill 20 hours of content a week. Bill got gunshy about talking about baseball, and I thank him for it. He'd have no choice if he was doing a daily talk show.
That said, I'm curious what'll happen if Bill has an empty nest in a few years and needs to find ways to fill his time.
He pretty much ended that story by insinuating BB no longer has “it” so I’m not sure what your beef is.
On the podcast posted yesterday, Bill said:
- Dame to the Bucks for Holiday didn't make sense because "what would Portland want with Jrue" and Milwaukee "doesn't have the assets"
- there's a lot of 3-way talk around the Dame negotiations
- he specifically mentioned Ayton going to Portland for Nurkic as part of a larger deal and asked "is someone making this up, or is there smoke?"
Ouch.
- Dame to the Bucks for Holiday didn't make sense because "what would Portland want with Jrue" and Milwaukee "doesn't have the assets"
- there's a lot of 3-way talk around the Dame negotiations
- he specifically mentioned Ayton going to Portland for Nurkic as part of a larger deal and asked "is someone making this up, or is there smoke?"
Ouch.
Schrager was back on the pod today for a 10-minute discussion about "why did the Giants sign Daniel Jones instead of franchising him" that at no point (unless I somehow missed it) referenced the fact that they could not franchise Jones since they used the tag on Barkley.
Schrager also acted completely shocked by the idea that BB could be coaching somewhere else next year, but then was quick to mention Washington as a possible destination after Simmons got done explaining why he thinks BB is going to the Chargers.
He SAID IT AGAIN this week, which is funny both because it's a sociopathic thing to say and because he's entering his Francesa era where he doesn't remember when he's told stories before.
It's officially getting to the point where I listen to Bill purely out of habit than anything else. He used to change his mind from week to week which I can sort of understand but now he legit says completely contrasting things in the same podcast. He spent a minute talking about how rough it was coming back from London when he was there for the Olympics and how it’s a big hangover to adjust from, then 20 minutes later when discussing the Bills he said 'it's only a 5 hour flight' and compared it to traveling to Seattle and no excuse for them to play bad like that due to travel. He has bashed Herbert all year then he says Belichick is gonna leave the Pats and go to the Chargers to hitch his ride to Herbert to pass Shula. I am also really sick of him speaking for Boston fans and acting like he is so dialed in with people in the region when he has lived in California for over 20 years now.
Simmons is washed, bro.
He has no critical thinking skills. No interest in anything. Only a surface understanding of the things he used to know and no knowledge whatsoever or anything he would need to learn. He's been going downhill since he sold to Spotify because he doesn't have to grind anymore. He is in full coast mode. Which he earned and I'm happy for him, Simmons back in the day was AWESOME and he provided me with a lot of entertainment.
But in 2023, he's a bad podcaster and really not worth listening to.
I still find Simmons very entertaining when he has on the right guests and tackles the right topics. I don't listen that often, but he did an episode with Rusillo about the Cs a week or so ago, and it was great.
I mean, if anyone is expecting to hear anything insightful when he does NFL gambling picks, well that's on you. I find it pretty easy to discern what segments/episodes are worth the time.
I mean, if anyone is expecting to hear anything insightful when he does NFL gambling picks, well that's on you. I find it pretty easy to discern what segments/episodes are worth the time.
Agreed. I find him an enjoyable distraction on my Monday and Thursday morning commutes and workouts. I don't take him too seriously and I enjoy his repartee with Sal. I think he still has some worthwhile basketball opinions, but it's rare that he says something about hoops that KOC or Russillo will not say or have said better.
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Yes the main difference for me over time is I used to listen beginning to end 8-10 years ago, but now I surf the time stamps for which segments to tune in for. And that's fine nowadays, BS used to be one of only a handful of "good" podcasts back in the day but now there is plenty of other content if his pod doesn't strike my fancy.
Bill is still great. I’m still trying to figure out what the young ringer people are bringing to the table. Like what the fuck is the point of Solak? I like to hear about the NFL so I’ll listen to it but this is the super interesting shit he brought to the table on the recent ep.
Kelce is not playing as good…wow
Mahomes is good…wow
Jalen Carter is good…wow
Sean Payton is not doing too good…groundbreaking.
I think these guys are not sourced up and they’re not entertaining so they bring absolutely nothing of value. Like what do they say that goes beyond watching the game and looking at a box score.
Do you learn anything? No
Are they funny? No
Do they make Bill better? No
KOC is different. At least he forms his own opinion but he actually is a bit of a reporter.
Kelce is not playing as good…wow
Mahomes is good…wow
Jalen Carter is good…wow
Sean Payton is not doing too good…groundbreaking.
I think these guys are not sourced up and they’re not entertaining so they bring absolutely nothing of value. Like what do they say that goes beyond watching the game and looking at a box score.
Do you learn anything? No
Are they funny? No
Do they make Bill better? No
KOC is different. At least he forms his own opinion but he actually is a bit of a reporter.
Bingo. Like today, I jumped right to his NFL segment and skipped the first 40 minutes of NBA stuff.
And people get so weird about him. I’m finally heard him mention his daughter’s hamstring injury that pissed off some here. It was nothing. He’s a guy who struggles to understand things unless it affects him personally. I have several friends like that. It’s fine.
Said it before, I'll say it again, when you think of Bill as the modern version of the Sports Huddle, he's extremely entertaining.
Solak's voice and personality are so grating. He's the most annoying kind of know-it-all.
Bill is at his best when he's opposite someone who isn't intimidated by him, like Russillo or Sal or Fennessey or Ryan, because they'll call him on his shit in real time.
Do any of those friends of yours have a net worth of 8-9 figures? I think the standard for Simmons in this regard ought to be significantly higher than that - especially when it makes him sound sociopathic. The topic in question isn't something like, "I didn't really realize what the locals are going through in Ukraine until a Ukranian refugee moved in next door and I had a chance to talk to her." I don't think anyone here would complain if that's the sort of thing he'd said, or indeed how he said it. He equated a sport in which Damar Hamlin almost died very recently, and in which concussions and permanent, traumatic brain injuries have been front and center for at least a decade, never mind the obvious wear and tear every player suffers in every game and the "average NFL career = 4 years long" stat that has been in the ether for much longer than that, to a niggling hamstring injury his daughter has suffered playing soccer. And I could even forgive him that comparison to some extent if he'd put it differently...but it was the utter self-absorption of the way he said what he said which had me shaking my head.
(I didn't think the way he referenced his daughter in this week's pod was quite as egregious as the way he referred to it last week, FWIW. Same thing, basically, but slightly softer.)
The bolded is 100% correct.
I think Bill is just spread too thin honestly. When you have to put out X amount of hours of content for a pod per week, it's hard to really think through your ideas to come up with things that are worthy of discussion...
But I want to get back to something else, @8slim, you skipped over NBA stuff to get to Bill talking about the NFL or you skipped him talking about the NFL to get to the NBA?
He is still worthy of listening to about the NBA (particularly the Celtics) for sure.
I like listening to him with Sal still as well...but if Sal isn't involved and it's about pop culture or some other sport that's not the NBA, he's legitimately really bad. Like I think you can find more educated opinions on football at your local watering hole than you can find on Bill's pod (which is insane because Bill has access to some really smart football people but he doesn't take advantage of it)
Really smart football people are usually boring podcast guests unless they have someone who can bring something out of them. It's why Danny Kelly works on the Ringer Fantasy Show and why a bunch of otherwise boring random football guys are great guests on Pardon My Take.
And if you're going to Bill Simmons for educated football opinions and breakdowns, that's on you at this point.
And if you're going to Bill Simmons for educated football opinions and breakdowns, that's on you at this point.
I see what you mean but I could get around that if I felt like he was adding some value. I have many style and mistakes of logic things I could point to about Mike Lombardi, but that guy provides real value in terms of what actually goes on in the building, processes of teams, NFL history, and he does have real sources. I am over the Sopranos references and he does a lot of results-based thinking while criticizing people for using results-based thinking. For example, I think every single time he is asked if he would have gone for it on 4th down his answer will be yes if it worked and no if it failed. That is a small price to pay for the value he provides. I don't need anyone to be perfect but if their info is mediocre at best they have to at least be entertaining.
I have a slightly off-topic question. Who has a good youtube or patreon channel on NFL defense? I like QB School for QB stuff but have nothing for D besides searching specific topics and seeing what's available.
I didn’t hear the first reference, apparently.
I still think people are very weird when it comes to him.