The Ringer

Shelterdog

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It is almost unbelievable ‘ROTJ’ and ‘Batman’ could have skipped his mind given Simmons’ age. ‘Jaws’ I could see since Simmons would have been like 6 years old at the time, though it is the correct answer if you want to find a first mover.
Simmons has a weird memory hole when it comes to "nerd" stuff like star wars, stark trek, and comic books. He wasn't a nerd, he was into sports and miami vice, damnit!

Hates sci-fi, superheroes, most fantasy stories, never really even mentions Pixar or other quality animated films. Come to think of it, has anyone seen Amanda Dobbins and Bill Simmons in the same place?
 

Shelterdog

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Holy shit make Simmons/Sorkin’s GameStop discussion stop. Throwing shit against a wall with mild understandings and no understanding of downstream impacts. A CEO shouldn’t be allowed to just sell shares whenever but hey let’s get rid of 10b5-1 plans. Jesus.
I'd have to go back and check but wasn't the point just a poorly articulated version of the common criticism that insiders might conduct insider trading via 10b5-1 plans by, for example, cancelling sales? There's a whole academic literature on the oddness of 10b5-1 plans outperforming the market.
 

kenneycb

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I agree with there are several ways of manipulation. But then how do you let executives sell shares? Unless you say an executive shouldn't be able to sell shares until said executive is no longer employed by a company, which seems a bit much.
 

TheGazelle

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Simmons has a weird memory hole when it comes to "nerd" stuff like star wars, stark trek, and comic books. He wasn't a nerd, he was into sports and miami vice, damnit!

Hates sci-fi, superheroes, most fantasy stories, never really even mentions Pixar or other quality animated films. Come to think of it, has anyone seen Amanda Dobbins and Bill Simmons in the same place?
I'm not surprised that he missed the ROTJ/Batman piece for the reason you note. But Jaws is bizarre because Simmons participated in the Jaws Rewatchables that, if memory serves, opened with a discussion about how this was the first modern blockbuster. Now maybe the point is, well, the marketing tie-ins didn't exist like they did for T2, but it's still a wacky miss (and I say this as someone who loves T2). This is a great example of how so many Simmons takes are really about what he remembers in the 15 seconds before he opens his mouth and/or writes down his talking points for the pod.

And to address the bolded, which is obviously in jest, he did the Country Strong podcast with Dobbins, which I note solely to flag that I actually listened to it and pretty much enjoyed it - a testament to how strong the format is, in my view.
 

SidelineCameras

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Simmons has a weird memory hole when it comes to "nerd" stuff like star wars, stark trek, and comic books. He wasn't a nerd, he was into sports and miami vice, damnit!

Hates sci-fi, superheroes, most fantasy stories, never really even mentions Pixar or other quality animated films. Come to think of it, has anyone seen Amanda Dobbins and Bill Simmons in the same place?
He also famously asked Mallory Rubin something like, "What year is 'Game of Thrones' set?" after having been dragged kicking and screaming to "Thrones" because he doesn't like things "set in the forest." He isn't your guy for genre-nerd stuff in any way, which is why I give him credit for "Binge Mode" and letting the uber nerds play in their own sandbox.

As to the bolded, he is also out on "The Simpsons." Everything isn't for everybody and that's obviously fine, but it just seems like a hole in the repertoire for someone who is so big into pop culture.
 

luckiestman

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I'm not surprised that he missed the ROTJ/Batman piece for the reason you note. But Jaws is bizarre because Simmons participated in the Jaws Rewatchables that, if memory serves, opened with a discussion about how this was the first modern blockbuster. Now maybe the point is, well, the marketing tie-ins didn't exist like they did for T2, but it's still a wacky miss (and I say this as someone who loves T2). This is a great example of how so many Simmons takes are really about what he remembers in the 15 seconds before he opens his mouth and/or writes down his talking points for the pod.

As you say, I don’t think they were talking about movies that made a lot of money in the summer as much as they were talking about the push with the GnR “you could be mine” video type of stuff.

The Batman/Prince point is a good call as to the type of thing I thought they were talking about.
 

8slim

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Right, Jaws doesn't necessarily fit the criteria they were discussing because the scale of that movie's success was organic and unexpected. There wasn't a pre-planned, giant marketing campaign for it to be a Summer Blockbuster (tm).

I certainly recall a bunch of summer movies that were heavily marketed long before T2. In addition to the aforementioned ET and ROTJ, Ghostbusters had a huge marketing campaign in 1984. I recall the "no ghosts" logo being everywhere before the movie even came out, and the title track was huge (although I believe it came out concurrently with the movie release, not before it).

Anyway, a fun topic would be what was the biggest/best summer blockbuster marketing campaign? And what was the worst? If they ever do a The Cable Guy rewatchable (which they should!) they could definitely spend time talking about how that summer movie's marketing campaign probably did the film the biggest disservice.
 

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And to address the bolded, which is obviously in jest, he did the Country Strong podcast with Dobbins, which I note solely to flag that I actually listened to it and pretty much enjoyed it - a testament to how strong the format is, in my view.
Dobbins is fine when she's discussing movies she likes, she's just a bizarre choice for ringer podcasts because she dislikes the movies that basically everyone who listens to ringer podcasts likes.

Simmons is a ton of fun on stuff in his sweet spots. His ranges of interests is pathetically narrow for a fifty year old person who constantly consumers pop culture (and consumers it essentially unironically) but if that makes a rocky 2 rewatchable more entertaining for me, I guess it's a win-win.
 
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jcd0805

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I think they were tying in MTV’s influence on heightening the excitement for the movie-the video for “You Could Be Mine” came out several months before the movie featuring the hottest band in the country at the time and it seemed to be on a non-stop loop all the summer, I don’t recall another movie before then using that medium so much to its advantage.
 

Leather

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I think they were tying in MTV’s influence on heightening the excitement for the movie-the video for “You Could Be Mine” came out several months before the movie featuring the hottest band in the country at the time and it seemed to be on a non-stop loop all the summer, I don’t recall another movie before then using that medium so much to its advantage.
It was a huge video (#1 on MTV in 1991), but what's interesting is that it probably benefitted the movie more than the song. Despite being the #1 played video, the single ended up at #29 on the charts (and didn't even hit #1 on the Mainstream Rock charts), and was actually the least successful single off of UYI 1.

I will say this about Simmons that I find pleasantly surprising: he seems to have a respect/knowledge of Woody Allen movies that seems entirely out of character. Not that anybody wants to hear much about Woody Allen himself these days, but whenever a particular performance from an Allen movie gets brought up, typically in the Oscars discussion for each movie, Simmons has no problem saying "good movie" or "great performance" in reference to, say "Crimes and Misdemeanors" when it comes to assessing whether the Rewatchable movie in question got screwed out of an Oscar. And likewise, when he says "Yuck" in reference to an Allen movie, his opinion is usually in line with critical consensus. So his breadth of knowledge/interest is a little more varied than I think some give him credit for.
 

The Social Chair

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I think they were tying in MTV’s influence on heightening the excitement for the movie-the video for “You Could Be Mine” came out several months before the movie featuring the hottest band in the country at the time and it seemed to be on a non-stop loop all the summer, I don’t recall another movie before then using that medium so much to its advantage.
I think Saturday Night Fever was the first movie to successfully use a pop soundtrack to promote a movie.

Footloose was the probably the first movie to use MTV as promotion. The soundtrack had 5 songs that hit the Billboard top 25.
 

Leather

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I think Saturday Night Fever was the first movie to successfully use a pop soundtrack to promote a movie.
Elvis was probably the first. The Blue Hawaii soundtrack, for instance, was released before the movie.
 
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PC Drunken Friar

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I am too young to have seen The Terminator before T2...was it really unknown that Arnold was the good guy in T2?

And I understand that ages aren't always accurate in movies, but John Connor being 10 years old, expertly riding a moped and hacking ATMs stretches the realm of credibility, no?
 

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I am too young to have seen The Terminator before T2...was it really unknown that Arnold was the good guy in T2?
I don't remember knowing that before I saw it.


And I understand that ages aren't always accurate in movies, but John Connor being 10 years old, expertly riding a moped and hacking ATMs stretches the realm of credibility, no?
It didn't seem so far-fetched based on the first movie, since you already knew his mom was raising him to survive the apocalypse since birth. And that he was a prodigy who was going to eventually save the wold. So not too much suspension of disbelief for an action movie.
 

Leather

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But was it the apex mountain for using MTV as promotion?
Playing along!

MAYBE. "Gangster's Paradise" would have to be in the conversation.

And I understand that ages aren't always accurate in movies, but John Connor being 10 years old, expertly riding a moped and hacking ATMs stretches the realm of credibility, no?
They get into this during the podcast a bit, and I agree that the kid seems more appropriately aged 13 or so. Cameron also made Sarah really young in T1 (18) which Simmons kind of drummed on. Linda H. was 26/27 when T1 was filmed and did *not* look like an 18 year old, nor did she seem to be living like anything close to a typical 18 yo life. It's like Cameron just had a different idea at some earlier point in the script and forgot to change the age.
 
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luckiestman

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And I understand that ages aren't always accurate in movies, but John Connor being 10 years old, expertly riding a moped and hacking ATMs stretches the realm of credibility, no?

The real answer is that It’s a shortcoming in the movie but as to your general credibility question, children like this exist. Sometimes I help out as an instructor at my friends gym and one of the kids there has been riding/racing dirt bikes(110 is the size I think which is bigger than the 80 Furlong is riding) for a long time. This kid at 8 years old could probably beat up most 6th graders and not because of any type of training, he is big for his age and a sick athlete. Watching him wrestle other 8 year olds is a joke. Watching how hard he can throw a ball when they take a break and do play activities is laughable. The kid is an absolute super athlete. He’s fucking 8.
 

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Back to the Future was the first movie I remember (came out when I was 13) where there was a song associated with the movie that was out and widely played before the movie came out. There was also an associated massive marketing campaign. It didn't lend itself to action figure and toys and stuff, but it certainly fits in the conversation as a massive summer blockbuster that pre-dated T2.
 

luckiestman

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Back to the Future was the first movie I remember (came out when I was 13) where there was a song associated with the movie that was out and widely played before the movie came out. There was also an associated massive marketing campaign. It didn't lend itself to action figure and toys and stuff, but it certainly fits in the conversation as a massive summer blockbuster that pre-dated T2.

Huey Lewis?


Edit: the thing about this is that GnR was huge; this Huey Lewis or Flash Dance or Footloose stuff is different. Now Prince, he was huge similar to GnR.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Huey Lewis?


Edit: the thing about this is that GnR was huge; this Huey Lewis or Flash Dance or Footloose stuff is different. Now Prince, he was huge similar to GnR.
Huey Lewis was fairly huge in 1985. I’ll grant you he wasn’t GnR in 1992 or Prince, and obviously his catalogue doesn’t quite hold up as well, but it was still a conscious choice to link a huge rock/pop star‘s music directly with a massive summer blockbuster movie.

Flashdance and Footloose were more movies that were music centric with soundtracks that sold a lot of records.
 

The Social Chair

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GnR in 1992 were bigger than Huey Lewis in 1985 but Huey Lewis was still huge. The album Sports sold 10 million copies and was the #2 album of 1984 after Thriller.

Huey Lewis was so popular that Ivan Reitman used "I Want A New Drug" as a temp track while making Ghostbusters. Lewis turned down the offer to write the theme song so they basically stole it (and it went #1). He didn't turn down Back to The Future after that.
 

8slim

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Last spring I created a March Madness-style tournament game for my friends to play during the early days of the lock down (called, oh-so-cleverly, 'March Radness'), where we voted for the best 80s movie soundtrack song of all-time. 68 entries, and Don't You Forget About Me won. Almost every song was some kind of radio hit.

https://marchradness.wordpress.com/
It's not like 'You Could Be Mine' was some kind of breakthrough marketing scheme. I guess you could say that releasing a song months ahead of the movie release was somewhat novel, but it wasn't unprecedented.
 

Foxy42

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I listen to star wars binge mode w my 11 year old who absolutely loves it. When Mal gets too dirty / adult I hit the 30 second skip button a few times and my son seems to get that I was skipping over something that’s too old for him.

I heard that the level of raunch is much higher for Bing Mode MCU.Has anyone here listened / can you confirm? Is it too heavy that I won’t be able to skip small spots like I did on Star Wars?
 

shlincoln

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i don't know about more raunchy, but they do spend quite a bit of time on the question of Does Cap Fuck?
 

Remagellan

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i don't know about more raunchy, but they do spend quite a bit of time on the question of Does Cap Fuck?
I think they came down on the wrong side of that speculation. I'm pretty sure Cap was a virgin until he went back to Peggy (unless they squeezed in some sex when they were serving together), which is why he was able to lift Mjolnir. And I'm not suggesting that was necessary in general, but that it was necessary for him. Thor's obviously a carouser, and that's fine for him since it doesn't conflict with his belief system. But Cap is clearly a Christian with old fashioned values, so his "worthiness" would depend on his fidelity to his own belief system. And this is a guy who was embarrassed when Peggy caught another woman kissing him. If he was the type of guy capable of screwing around, that wouldn't have flustered him.
 

shaggydog2000

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I think they came down on the wrong side of that speculation. I'm pretty sure Cap was a virgin until he went back to Peggy (unless they squeezed in some sex when they were serving together), which is why he was able to lift Mjolnir. And I'm not suggesting that was necessary in general, but that it was necessary for him. Thor's obviously a carouser, and that's fine for him since it doesn't conflict with his belief system. But Cap is clearly a Christian with old fashioned values, so his "worthiness" would depend on his fidelity to his own belief system. And this is a guy who was embarrassed when Peggy caught another woman kissing him. If he was the type of guy capable of screwing around, that wouldn't have flustered him.
I'm going to guess MCU Cap didn't get laid until retirement. He went from a never been kissed geek to always on the run in the war, then frozen for a few decades and hopelessly out of modern culture when he woke up, to then being in hiding, to living in a depressing post-blip world. I think the Cap from the early movies was too goody-goody to fool around like you've said, but the disillusioned post Civil War Cap might have rethought his earlier beliefs and gone for it with the right girl. They teased some tension with Peggy's niece Sharon, who has been his girlfriend at times in the comics, and I thought they might go there, but they didn't.
 

shlincoln

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Winter Solder said:
Natasha: Alright, I have a question for you, of which you do not have to answer, but I feel like if you don't answer, y'know, you're kind of answering it.
Steve: What?
Natasha: Was that your first kiss since 1945?
Steve: That bad huh?
Natasha: I didn't say that
Steve: It kind of sounds like what you're saying.
Natasha: I didn't, I just wondered how much practice you had.
Steve: You don't need practice.
Natasha: Everybody needs practice.
Steve: It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm 95 I'm not dead
Friends, Cap fucks.
 

Spelunker

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I think they came down on the wrong side of that speculation. I'm pretty sure Cap was a virgin until he went back to Peggy (unless they squeezed in some sex when they were serving together), which is why he was able to lift Mjolnir. And I'm not suggesting that was necessary in general, but that it was necessary for him. Thor's obviously a carouser, and that's fine for him since it doesn't conflict with his belief system. But Cap is clearly a Christian with old fashioned values, so his "worthiness" would depend on his fidelity to his own belief system. And this is a guy who was embarrassed when Peggy caught another woman kissing him. If he was the type of guy capable of screwing around, that wouldn't have flustered him.
So...the hammer is (a metaphor for) his penis?

 
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shaggydog2000

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Friends, Cap fucks.
That confirms Cap kisses, not fucks. He also rejected the idea of a date with Lillian from accounting because he wasn't ready for a girl with a lip piercing. I think he was working his confidence up to modern dating and eventually sex. Then he ended up a war criminal.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Sal has my dying laughing at some of his zingers with Simmons, but yes I get the sense sitting down and thinking of material for a long time may suck some laughter out of it. After graduating law school, he probably thought a future book would look a lot different than this!
 

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I know I'm hard on Simmons in here, but goddamn - I would pay good money for a supercut of the best moments from Parent Corner.

No idea why, but Bill's description of his puppy's peeing as sounding "like thunder" killed me.
 

Silverdude2167

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Roger Sherman had the Pats as a loser to the SB result and had this line as a justification for it.

"The Pats didn’t do enough to ensure they would win all they could with the greatest player in NFL history. Six titles aside...."

Losing Mays to the athletic was a big loss for their NFL coverage.
 

Kliq

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Roger Sherman had the Pats as a loser to the SB result and had this line as a justification for it.

"The Pats didn’t do enough to ensure they would win all they could with the greatest player in NFL history. Six titles aside...."

Losing Mays to the athletic was a big loss for their NFL coverage.
I haven't read his recap yet, but knowing Sherman that sounds like he is being sarcastic. Mays was a very good writer, though.
 

johnmd20

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Roger Sherman had the Pats as a loser to the SB result and had this line as a justification for it.

"The Pats didn’t do enough to ensure they would win all they could with the greatest player in NFL history. Six titles aside...."

Losing Mays to the athletic was a big loss for their NFL coverage.
Not for the NFL Podcast. Princiotti and Clark are awesome together, it's a flawless NFL show. Princiotti, in particularly, is unbelievably great. I eagerly look forward to every episode. House or Vernon and Sharp are good, too, but not great. For some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, Sharp rubs me the wrong way. It might be his voice or his delivery, but it just annoys me the way he says things. But that could just be me.

Mays was a scrub, I didn't think he brought much to the table. He was terrible on the podcast. The three guys who do the Fantasy Ringer Show run rings around Mays for knowledge, delivery, and, most important, humor. Mays is sans humor. He was no loss for The Ringer.
 

luckiestman

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Not for the NFL Podcast. Princiotti and Clark are awesome together, it's a flawless NFL show. Princiotti, in particularly, is unbelievably great. I eagerly look forward to every episode. House or Vernon and Sharp are good, too, but not great. For some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, Sharp rubs me the wrong way. It might be his voice or his delivery, but it just annoys me the way he says things. But that could just be me.

Mays was a scrub, I didn't think he brought much to the table. He was terrible on the podcast. The three guys who do the Fantasy Ringer Show run rings around Mays for knowledge, delivery, and, most important, humor. Mays is sans humor. He was no loss for The Ringer.
Sharp is boring as fuck because his appearances are promotional to buy his picks. If he was actually giving out picks, I understand why he doesn’t, he would be good.
 

Phil Plantier

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Sharp is boring as fuck because his appearances are promotional to buy his picks. If he was actually giving out picks, I understand why he doesn’t, he would be good.
Warren Sharp might be worthy of his own thread. I like him in Tweet form, but every time I've heard him speak I've been underwhelmed (and is somehow worse with House). And I found his yearly guide disappointing. Clearly knows a lot of stuff but doesn't seem to package it well
 

Kliq

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I like Nora Princiotti a lot as well, despite the immense professional jealousy I have towards her. Silver spoon journalism, but what are you going to do? She's real good.
 

JCizzle

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Agree with the Sharp takes. I think he's fine, but not great. He's really good as a 30-60 minute guest, but struggles to carry two weekly shows. As luckiest said, too often it either feels like a promotion or he's just repeating the point that teams should throw more.

It took about a full season for Long and Russillo to flow well together, so hopefully it's just normal growing pains.
 

Mystic Merlin

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Not for the NFL Podcast. Princiotti and Clark are awesome together, it's a flawless NFL show. Princiotti, in particularly, is unbelievably great. I eagerly look forward to every episode. House or Vernon and Sharp are good, too, but not great. For some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, Sharp rubs me the wrong way. It might be his voice or his delivery, but it just annoys me the way he says things. But that could just be me.

Mays was a scrub, I didn't think he brought much to the table. He was terrible on the podcast. The three guys who do the Fantasy Ringer Show run rings around Mays for knowledge, delivery, and, most important, humor. Mays is sans humor. He was no loss for The Ringer.
I also have to confess that the voice of the presenter is incredibly important to listenability for me, even when the person’s voice isn’t obviously grating. I either want to listen to the sound of your voice for 1-2 hours, or not.

I think Princiotti is really sharp and entertaining, as well. I wouldn’t have expected this, but I was riveted by her totally commandeering a discussion with Simmons some weeks back in order to opine on Taylor Swift’s discography/brand. I don’t care about Taylor Swift, but I cared what Nora thought about her.

Russillo I like more when he ISN’T broadcasting with an athlete. I have a hard time focusing on their content when he is constantly trying to bro it up with the athlete in question. ‘So, Chris, whaddya do when a fan - and I hate it when guys at the gym do stuff like this - tells you XYZ’ I think this is partly a technique to draw out genuine answers from the athlete by trying to empathize with them, but when he does it it gives me the slight impression that he actually believes he can relate to the athlete’s experience and that the whole schtick is endearing to the audience. I’m not a huge Russillo proponent, so this may be uncharitable, but it sticks out to me.
 

luckiestman

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Russillo I like more when he ISN’T broadcasting with an athlete. I have a hard time focusing on their content when he is constantly trying to bro it up with the athlete in question. ‘So, Chris, whaddya do when a fan - and I hate it when guys at the gym do stuff like this - tells you XYZ’ I think this is partly a technique to draw out genuine answers from the athlete by trying to empathize with them, but when he does it it gives me the slight impression that he actually believes he can relate to the athlete’s experience and that the whole schtick is endearing to the audience. I’m not a huge Russillo proponent, so this may be uncharitable, but it sticks out to me.

Russillo is the most hit or miss for me. When I like him, I love him but when I don’t like him it’s a “shut it off”.

His episode with Craig Kilborn is one of my all time favorite podcasts. I listened to it driving home from my office and then within the same week I listened again on a walk.
 

nattysez

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Not for the NFL Podcast. Princiotti and Clark are awesome together, it's a flawless NFL show. Princiotti, in particularly, is unbelievably great. I eagerly look forward to every episode. House or Vernon and Sharp are good, too, but not great. For some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, Sharp rubs me the wrong way. It might be his voice or his delivery, but it just annoys me the way he says things. But that could just be me.

Mays was a scrub, I didn't think he brought much to the table. He was terrible on the podcast. The three guys who do the Fantasy Ringer Show run rings around Mays for knowledge, delivery, and, most important, humor. Mays is sans humor. He was no loss for The Ringer.
Agree 100% with the Clark and Princiotti love. I think they are both great.

Mays hosts The Athletic's football podcast, but I haven't listened to it much.
 

Phil Plantier

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Russillo is the most hit or miss for me. When I like him, I love him but when I don’t like him it’s a “shut it off”.

His episode with Craig Kilborn is one of my all time favorite podcasts. I listened to it driving home from my office and then within the same week I listened again on a walk.
Russillo I like when he's self-deprecating (or poking Simmons). I think lately I've been hearing less of that, so I've skipped most of them lately.

Right now the thing I appreciate most about Russillo is Macon Gunter (Chris Long's co-host) refusing to give him any credit for anything.

Edit: but he and Scott Van Pelt are amazing
 

Vandalman

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Listened to Taxi Driver on The Rewatchables and the Simmons/Fennessey duo did a great job. Unfortunately, they brought along Bill Hader who was often unlistenable. Hader knows his stuff, but his delivery was filled with too many occurrences of "like" and "um" and "you know" and plenty of disjointed sentences, all delivered in monotone. For such a talented guy (who has done voice-over), I was shocked at how bad he sounded.
 

johnmd20

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Listened to Taxi Driver on The Rewatchables and the Simmons/Fennessey duo did a great job. Unfortunately, they brought along Bill Hader who was often unlistenable. Hader knows his stuff, but his delivery was filled with too many occurrences of "like" and "um" and "you know" and plenty of disjointed sentences, all delivered in monotone. For such a talented guy (who has done voice-over), I was shocked at how bad he sounded.
Don't disagree and the fact that his audio was crappy, at best, did not help. Sounded like he was calling in from the top of Everest.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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I definitely agree, knowing how great Hader can be. He seems like the kind of guy who is super lively in the room, but goes into robot mode with a tone like I have when I'm stuck on the phone and just want to end the damn call. Additionally Hader has been writing for the better part of the year without any acting/directing outlet, must be super depressing to be in a holding pattern with his show.
 

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Aug 12, 2009
10,103
Zach Lowe’s recent appearance on KOC and Vernon’s Mismatch pod was hilarious. Vernon called out a point from Lowe’s latest column for basically being directly opposing something KOC had said in a recent pod without naming KOC specifically, and they all had a good natured discussion about it ribbing each other over it.