The Bill Simmons Thread

HowBoutDemSox

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Good for him I guess. I like to imagine that if I made that much I wouldn’t be quite as decadent, but whatever.
His success just shows ESPN’s miscalculation in not working it out with him and shuttering Grantland instead of working to turn it into what the Ringer became, so from that perspective I’m happy with him flaunting it.
 

jose melendez

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His success just shows ESPN’s miscalculation in not working it out with him and shuttering Grantland instead of working to turn it into what the Ringer became, so from that perspective I’m happy with him flaunting it.
I don't really care, at the end of the day. It just makes his regular guy persona a little trickier. He talks about Eddie Murphy losing in because he was so successful... I think that's a real thing.

I like Bill's work and am a regular listener. I'm happy for him. I just hope he knows that he's working heel now. He might as well call himself "Hollwood" Bill Simmons
 

Clears Cleaver

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His success just shows ESPN’s miscalculation in not working it out with him and shuttering Grantland instead of working to turn it into what the Ringer became, so from that perspective I’m happy with him flaunting it.
I don't think ESPN would allow for the adult content that the Ringer features. The podcasts are not really Disney friendly
 

HowBoutDemSox

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I don't think ESPN would allow for the adult content that the Ringer features. The podcasts are not really Disney friendly
I dunno, didn’t his old podcast while with ESPN contain a disclaimer that they were a “free-flowing conversation that occasionally touches on mature subjects”? Yeah, they would bleep out an f-bomb but I don’t think there was too much they’ve done on the Ringer that was so far beyond the pale that Disney couldn’t properly ringfence it from the Mouse stuff, especially while under a separate sub-brand at Grantland. They just bought Fox, I don’t think they’re going to censor or (stop making) Deadpool movies because of content concerns. If it makes enough money for Spotify to buy it for $200 million, they could have made it work.
 

jose melendez

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Malibu Bill has a better Ringer to it.
I don't feel like he passes his financial rewards on to his staff. I don't have the books in front of me but you can see Molly Lambert and her deleted tweets about that subject.
I don't know about the staff. They're unionized, which is more than a lot of other online media, and as best I know he didn't fight that, so good on him for that.
 

johnmd20

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Malibu Bill has a better Ringer to it.
I don't feel like he passes his financial rewards on to his staff. I don't have the books in front of me but you can see Molly Lambert and her deleted tweets about that subject.
If you listen to the Podcasts, it legitimately seems like people love working for him. Concepcion, Rubin, Littman, Serrano, Chris Ryan, Fennessy, DKelly, KOC, Shoemaker, Curtis etc have all mentioned on recent podcasts how much they love working at the Ringer. Most of those people would barely have a platform without Simmons. Despite talent, most people just get lost in the morass. But the Ringer helped them rise above the morass, because of The Ringer's podcast network.

Now Concepcion gets rewtweeted by Obama and Concepcion is insanely popular. Mallory Rubin is a superstar. Without the Ringer, she would be a no name.

It's not incumbent on Simmons to pass all the gains. And he probably did pass some on. I can't imagine he pocketed 100 million dollars and gave his executive editors nothing. But they didn't start the Ringer, he did.
 

kenneycb

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Plus you're also not going to please 100% of all employees. There's always going to be unrest not matter the size of the organization.
 

Shelterdog

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If you listen to the Podcasts, it legitimately seems like people love working for him. Concepcion, Rubin, Littman, Serrano, Chris Ryan, Fennessy, DKelly, KOC, Shoemaker, Curtis etc have all mentioned on recent podcasts how much they love working at the Ringer. Most of those people would barely have a platform without Simmons. Despite talent, most people just get lost in the morass. But the Ringer helped them rise above the morass, because of The Ringer's podcast network.

Now Concepcion gets rewtweeted by Obama and Concepcion is insanely popular. Mallory Rubin is a superstar. Without the Ringer, she would be a no name.

It's not incumbent on Simmons to pass all the gains. And he probably did pass some on. I can't imagine he pocketed 100 million dollars and gave his executive editors nothing. But they didn't start the Ringer, he did.
I think this is right. We all like to rag on Bill, and his writing and film takes deserve it, but he absolutely (1) saw potential in podcasting and set up a great platform for it quite early on. (The Ringer went big on podcasts well before, for example, the New York Times or CNN), (2) absolutely has done a good job giving his staff-some talented, some not--room to grow and do their own thing (Simmons might think nerds are nerds but my god he allows people to nerd out on crime fiction or game of thrones or whatever) and (3) really does some to be a thoughtful supportive boss loved by his staff.

If people are going to make a hundred million dollars I'd much rather it's a fairly nice guy who's created something fun for the basement dwellers of SoSH than some asshole finance guy.
 

luckiestman

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Is this current situation, with Spotify buying The Ringer, Simmons' Apex Mountain?

Yes, it is.
Is this where he was at his artistic peak? Because I would call that his podcast with Sal when he threatened ESPN or is this about when he had the most juice???
 

johnmd20

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Is this where he was at his artistic peak? Because I would call that his podcast with Sal when he threatened ESPN or is this about when he had the most juice???
The most juice. He's on the top of the Podcast industry. A behemoth of a company, Spotify, (which is also a beloved company) paid hundreds of millions of dollars to buy The Ringer. And now he's got a 16 million dollar castle, and now he's close to owning a half a dozen of estates.

Apex Mountain.

edit - just to note, he's certainly not at his artistic peak, but he's definitely at the peak of running a company
 

luckiestman

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The most juice. He's on the top of the Podcast industry. A behemoth of a company, Spotify, (which is also a beloved company) paid hundreds of millions of dollars to buy The Ringer. And now he's got a 16 million dollar castle, and now he's close to owning a half a dozen of estates.

Apex Mountain.

edit - just to note, he's certainly not at his artistic peak, but he's definitely at the peak of running a company
Oh ok, I always get the category definition confused.
 

Zedia

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And now he's got a 16 million dollar castle, and now he's close to owning a half a dozen of estates.
Just because somebody mentioned "decadent" upthread, it sounds like he has two properties that I guess could qualify as "estates"; a really nice house that he's apparently owned/ been living in for years (and I imagine would be moving on from); a condo; and a (judging by the price) fairly modest house in a nice neighborhood. I have to think he's a landlord/investor in at least 2 of those 5.

I bet he has a place in MA and NYC too. I sure would if I were Bill Simmons-rich.
 

johnmd20

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Just because somebody mentioned "decadent" upthread, it sounds like he has two properties that I guess could qualify as "estates"; a really nice house that he's apparently owned/ been living in for years (and I imagine would be moving on from); a condo; and a (judging by the price) fairly modest house in a nice neighborhood. I have to think he's a landlord/investor in at least 2 of those 5.

I bet he has a place in MA and NYC too. I sure would if I were Bill Simmons-rich.
I was embellishing for effect.
 

allstonite

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Simmons went on Brian Koppelman's podcast The Moment yesterday. I don't think there's anything earth shattering but he doesn't do many of these personal interviews that often so it's fun to hear. Some interesting stories in there
 

rmurph3

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I really don't know the layout of LA other than heinous traffic but that seems to suggest he has 4 homes within 25 miles of each other? I understand the beach house and normal house. I suppose being worth 9 figures makes that tenable. Good for him.
I'm guessing another is a guest house for his parents, his in-laws, Nephew Kyle, etc....
 

Bozo Texino

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Any episode of the Rewatchables featuring Rubin is must-listen.

She truly is Mrs. Skin - an EXPERT on celluloid penises.
 

johnmd20

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She’s probably my least favorite listen on Rewatchables-nothing she says is ever amusing and her voice gets on my last nerve.
Have you confused Mallory with Amanda Dobbins, who ends every sentence like it's a question? And it's such a weird inflection? It's just so annoying to listen to? I have no idea why she talks like that? Not every sentence ends in a question?

Mallory is a hall of fame talent, brilliant, ribald and hilarious.
 

luckiestman

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I like Mallory less for the sex humor and more for the follow your dreams emotions she has.

To be clear, I don’t dislike the sexual content/humor; I just really enjoy the joy and her emotion in things like Field of Dreams and The Natural podcast. Which is weird for me because that stuff always makes me feel nervous/anxious like I drank too much coffee but the way she emotes really strikes me in a positive way.
 

johnmd20

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I like Mallory less for the sex humor and more for the follow your dreams emotions she has.

To be clear, I don’t dislike the sexual content/humor; I just really enjoy the joy and her emotion in things like Field of Dreams and The Natural podcast. Which is weird for me because that stuff always makes me feel nervous/anxious like I drank too much coffee but the way she emotes really strikes me in a positive way.
I agree. The vulgarity is funny but it's not her strength. Although it is weird to hear outright vulgarity like Mallory brings to the table. In that regard, it's refreshing. Like listening to Howard Stern in the 80s and 90s. I imagine all of the other hosts of The Rewatchables would not want to speak in a similar manner.
 

Clears Cleaver

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I think Jason Concepcion carries the tremendous Binge Watch, but he and Mallory have great great chemistry and she is clearly passionate, smart and articulate, which works well. I listened to her and Mina Kimes do an NFL Draft preview and Mallory was bad. She opens by saying she doesn't watch college football and basically had no idea what she was talking about, and ended up just quoting the Ringer draft previews. Worst part is that Mina does know what she is talking about and Mallory talked over her repeatedly and droned on endlessly, sucking up 2/3rd or more of the air time. It was not good. First time I ever thought that the title and role had gotten to her head. It was like Cowherd bad. but she has a relationship with Mina, so the podcast went to her instead of someone who might have brought more to that specific table

I am guessing there is some easy psychology connecting Mallory's child-like fascination with sex and the fact she married a guy very much her senior...
 

Leskanic's Thread

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...She opens by saying she doesn't watch college football and basically had no idea what she was talking about, and ended up just quoting the Ringer draft previews. Worst part is that Mina does know what she is talking about and Mallory talked over her repeatedly and droned on endlessly, sucking up 2/3rd or more of the air time...
Who could have foreseen this coming from a Simmons protégé?

(I have not listened to the podcast in question. I like Mallory, though have almost exclusively engaged with her pop culture content. I just wanted to take that shot at our boy Bill.)
 

HoyaSoxa

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Anyone else listen to Simmons on Brian Koppelman's The Moment podcast? Koppelman loves Simmons and is therefore not going to be critical of him in any meaningful way, but he still gets him to go to some interesting places about his career and does a good job of making sure Simmons at least answers the questions. Bill claims he does not pay attention to online criticism, so there is still some artifice to what he says, but he does come across as a guy with decent perspective on the media business and his position in it. Simmons also provides some nice stories about his formative writing experiences in high school and college that I found very relatable as a former college newspaper sports columnist just a few years younger than him. Recommend for anyone who likes or once liked Simmons.
 

Kliq

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He's getting killed on social media today for that take, although I doubt he really cares. Haven't listened to the pod yet.
 

allstonite

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The way him and Rusillo (it was actually more Rusillo's take) explain it on the pod makes a little more sense. They basically say that he wasn't an interesting interview because when asked about his antics he would reply with some version of "I'm misunderstood" and never tried to actually explain himself. Now to go from that to the way Bill framed it on social media is a big leap. Rodman's antics were fascinating, especially at the time, even if he wasn't the best talker to the media.
 

JCizzle

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The way him and Rusillo (it was actually more Rusillo's take) explain it on the pod makes a little more sense. They basically say that he wasn't an interesting interview because when asked about his antics he would reply with some version of "I'm misunderstood" and never tried to actually explain himself. Now to go from that to the way Bill framed it on social media is a big leap. Rodman's antics were fascinating, especially at the time, even if he wasn't the best talker to the media.
Yep. I listened to the podcast before I saw his take on Twitter and thought it made sense in the context of the discussion. I agreed with their take that the Rodman stuff was probably the weakest part of the documentary thus far. He was a shitty teammate and went to party in Vegas because...reasons. Ok. Watching MJ dismiss Isiah's explanation for walking off was far more compelling. MJ was clearly pissed that Rodman went to Vegas (Phil is making me run because the dude wanted a vacation?!), but they didn't scratch it beyond that.
 

Soxy

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Yep. I listened to the podcast before I saw his take on Twitter and thought it made sense in the context of the discussion. I agreed with their take that the Rodman stuff was probably the weakest part of the documentary thus far. He was a shitty teammate and went to party in Vegas because...reasons. Ok. Watching MJ dismiss Isiah's explanation for walking off was far more compelling. MJ was clearly pissed that Rodman went to Vegas (Phil is making me run because the dude wanted a vacation?!), but they didn't scratch it beyond that.
That was your takeaway? Because Jordan basically said the opposite. Rodman was a such a good teammate that MJ didn't really give a shit that Rodman wanted 48 hours in Vegas, when it was all said and done.

As to your last sentence, I took it the complete opposite way. Jordan was essentially telling the team to take it easy on Rodman until he had his legs back. Seemed like Rodman was having none of that, and was basically like: "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." May have pissed off Jordan in the moment, but I think the greater point was that he appreciated Rodman's tenacity.

It's a story as old as time: you tolerate a co-worker's antics as long as they're still a productive, valuable part of the team. Once that dynamic goes out of balance, all bets are off. Rodman generally did a pretty good job of maintaining that balance.
 

JCizzle

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That was your takeaway? Because Jordan basically said the opposite. Rodman was a such a good teammate that MJ didn't really give a shit that Rodman wanted 48 hours in Vegas, when it was all said and done.

As to your last sentence, I took it the complete opposite way. Jordan was essentially telling the team to take it easy on Rodman until he had his legs back. Seemed like Rodman was having none of that, and was basically like: "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." May have pissed off Jordan in the moment, but I think the greater point was that he appreciated Rodman's tenacity.

It's a story as old as time: you tolerate a co-worker's antics as long as they're still a productive, valuable part of the team. Once that dynamic goes out of balance, all bets are off. Rodman generally did a pretty good job of maintaining that balance.
I'd need to rewatch it, but I agree he wasn't calling Rodman a bad teammate - that statement was my opinion (poorly worded).
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Same image but "Tom Ley whenever an editor wants a pitch without mentioning Bill Simmons."
Tom Ley plays the hits. I sure as hell never see his material (and don't care to search for it) unless it is about Simmons, because everyone on twitter collectively says some form of "got 'eem" and gleefully shares the take, while my eyes roll deep into my head.

Bill's 'actually, Rodman is kinda boring' take is getting ratio'd pretty hard today.
This is why I think he needs the pods, those twitter takes are super simplistic. I did understand the fully drawn out version Ryen and Bill were discussing about Rodman being a bad interview and not fully expressing himself, but that twitter take is just wrong. Just because Rodman can't fully express the "why" of what he does, doesn't mean it is not interesting.
 

Kliq

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Bill's take today that he thinks BB is punting on the season because they didn't sign Jameis Winston is 10x worse than his Rodman take.
 

GreyisGone

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Bill's take today that he thinks BB is punting on the season because they didn't sign Jameis Winston is 10x worse than his Rodman take.
100% agree with this. Dude signed for like $1 mill to be a backup after leading the league in turnovers and Bill thinks he’s the key to the Pats’ future.
 

nattysez

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Bill's take today that he thinks BB is punting on the season because they didn't sign Jameis Winston is 10x worse than his Rodman take.
In his defense, Mina Kimes, who is 100x the football mind that Bill is, suggested the same thing on Twitter today. How people cannot grasp that BB doesn't employ anyone whose first priority is taking care of the ball is beyond me.

Edit: Schatz, too:
View: https://twitter.com/FO_ASchatz/status/1255503630049914882?s=19
 
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PedroKsBambino

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It’s a reasonable question. Schatz makes the important point that as bad as last year was, it is not clear statistically that Winston is a super high turnover QB overall.

I don’t think Pats want a one-year kind of answer and likely don’t view Winston’s personality as what they want at QB either. But ripping on Simmons for asking the question seems silly
 
I'm not sure how many of you have ever listened to The Guardian's "Football Weekly" podcast, but one of their long-time contributors is a journalist named Sid Lowe who lives in Madrid and is an expert on La Liga. He would always phone into the show with a less-than-perfect connection, but then at one point he either appeared in the studio with the other podders or they upgraded his equipment and his voice was crystal clear...and he didn't sound anything at all like Sid Lowe, to the point that a lot of fans of the show wrote in and said they wanted the old Sid back.

That's what I felt like listening to JackO on Simmons' latest podcast. Bill bought him some new equipment - while hilariously failing to properly connect to his call with JackO and House, so that Simmons sounded like the one on a cell phone - and JackO really didn't sound like JackO. It was pretty weird.