The Ringer

Kliq

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Re: Wesley Morris on The Rewatchables, I am incredibly happy that he- and not Simmons- is on the pod for Do The Right Thing episode.

I'm actually waiting for some good alone time to listen to it, because I'm incredibly excited to hear he and Fennesey talk through that movie.
I think having Wesley on a two-man Rewatchables is the right move. He is really insightful but he talks A LOT and often cuts people off, he really needs to be on a two-man show where they can clear out for him and let him go to work.
 

CantKeepmedown

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Agreed. I'm going through Fatal Attraction right now and they are nearly 50 min in and haven't finished the 1st category. He is pretty long winded. Looking forward to Do the Right Thing as well.
 

luckiestman

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The latest Rewatchables pod - about "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" - is with Simmons, Fennessey...and Aaron Sorkin? What?

I get that Sorkin is no Chris Ryan but he probably supplied good coke. I’ll let it go this time.

Everything Bill has done in his life was a stepping stone for The Rewatchables. It is the greatest podcast there was, is, and will be.
 

Bozo Texino

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I'm as cynical as I can be when it comes to Simmons, and I LOVE the Rewatchables.

Simmons was a shitty player, but he's a great coach.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I'm only ever bored by the Rewatchables if it's a movie that I haven't rewatched a bunch or haven't seen at all. But that's not on the hosts, that's me being lost before the conversation begins.

Looking forward to the Butch Cassidy ep, it's next in my queue. The movie is an all time top 10 for me.
 

moondog80

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The first Guess the Lines with Cousin Sal was up to its usual high standard, but Simmons shows he's an asshole sports parent at the end, saying that he actually told a parent/fan from the other team that she was sitting on the "wrong side" of the sidelines at a soccer game.
 
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Nator

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The first Guess the Lines with Cousin Sal was up to its usual high standard, but Simmons shows he's an asshole sports parent at the end, saying that he actually told a parent/fan from the other team that she was sitting on the "wrong side" of the sidelines at a soccer game.
Allow me to defend Bill on this one.

I was coaching my kids 2nd grade team and we were shorthanded due to a cub scout conflict. We were getting fucking destroyed, but there were a couple of the other team's parents on our sideline cheering every extra goal the other team poured in against my exhausted team in the 2nd half, well within earshot of whichever of my 2 players were getting a 2 minute break (to be fair, in our league one side of the field was for parents, and the other side for coaches/teams, but these parents were 3 feet away from our bench on the coach/team sideline). As a coach and parent, I wanted to tell them to cut the fucking shit because even though we don't officially keep score, our opponent was clearly into the double digits and my players were tired, dejected and verging on tears. Their lack of awareness really pissed me off, and I wanted to tell them to get the hell over to the other side. This is something that the refs are supposed to enforce, but when you have a couple of 14 year old kids trying to just get through a few games on a Saturday morning I get why they don't really want to confront parents. I held my emotions in check and just let it ride knowing that it is not my place to enforce this, and I would've made it worse because my word choice was likely to be colorful and unkind.

So, a little sideline separation is a good thing. If they were across the field, it wouldn't have been an issue. A few feet way where my kids could clearly hear it really sucked.

Rant over.
 

moondog80

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Allow me to defend Bill on this one.

I was coaching my kids 2nd grade team and we were shorthanded due to a cub scout conflict. We were getting fucking destroyed, but there were a couple of the other team's parents on our sideline cheering every extra goal the other team poured in against my exhausted team in the 2nd half, well within earshot of whichever of my 2 players were getting a 2 minute break (to be fair, in our league one side of the field was for parents, and the other side for coaches/teams, but these parents were 3 feet away from our bench on the coach/team sideline). As a coach and parent, I wanted to tell them to cut the fucking shit because even though we don't officially keep score, our opponent was clearly into the double digits and my players were tired, dejected and verging on tears. Their lack of awareness really pissed me off, and I wanted to tell them to get the hell over to the other side. This is something that the refs are supposed to enforce, but when you have a couple of 14 year old kids trying to just get through a few games on a Saturday morning I get why they don't really want to confront parents. I held my emotions in check and just let it ride knowing that it is not my place to enforce this, and I would've made it worse because my word choice was likely to be colorful and unkind.

So, a little sideline separation is a good thing. If they were across the field, it wouldn't have been an issue. A few feet way where my kids could clearly hear it really sucked.

Rant over.
Sports parents suck and I agree it's probably better that way. But who deputizes themselves and tells people to move?
 

luckiestman

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Guys, I apologize. The episode about Field Of Dreams was fantastic. And really it's on me for not really knowing most of the movies well.
No apology necessary, man. We are just having fun and you are entitled to your wrong opinion.
 
And definitely NOT gonna win the Dion Waiters Heat Check Award.
I was listening to the old "Major League" episode the other day - I tend to just go back and cherry-pick episodes when there's not a time-sensitive podcast waiting in my queue - and Bill just asked, "So who's Dion Waiters?", with no other explanation. Maybe he should always explain exactly what it actually means to be "Dion Waiters" in a movie?
 

The Needler

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I was listening to the old "Major League" episode the other day - I tend to just go back and cherry-pick episodes when there's not a time-sensitive podcast waiting in my queue - and Bill just asked, "So who's Dion Waiters?", with no other explanation. Maybe he should always explain exactly what it actually means to be "Dion Waiters" in a movie?
Yeah, this is kind of a common complaint about podcasts that is probably a bit inevitable with the medium — there are necessarily going to be inside jokes, lingo, etc., that they can either explain every time and potentially annoy regular listeners, or not, and leave newer listeners sometimes confused. I’m as big a fan of No Laying Up as many here are of BS, and they frequently get comments from newer listeners that they should introduce themselves on every pod, though of course those of us who listen all the time know their voices. I think there’s a certain expectation that you either independently research some things, or go back and listen when you find a new pod. Much like a TV show, really. They didn’t explain who Jon Snow was at the beginning of every episode of Game of Thrones.
 
They didn’t explain who Jon Snow was at the beginning of every episode of Game of Thrones.
Well, yeah. But Bill could still reference the "Dion Waiters Heat Check Award" instead of just "Dion Waiters", which keeps the inside reference while still giving a breadcrumb to anyone who doesn't get the reference. Also, it's one thing to make a inside joke which only the knowledgeable will get, and another to make an entire segment of your show - albeit only a one- or two-minute segment, usually - incomprehensible to anyone who doesn't get it.

It's a small criticism about what is generally a very good podcast...but that's not to say it couldn't be a tiny bit better.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Just heard a throwaway line on the Simmons podcast with him and Sal that Cam Newton was depressed with Tate Frazier's departure from the Ringer. Looked up on his twitter and it is true Friday was his last day. Curious who will join Mark Titus on One Shining Podcast. Based on Tate's non-serious style I could only really peg him going to Barstool from here in a supporting role (definitely not a marquee talent), unless he just totally goes off the board into some other career track.
 

luckiestman

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Tate’s such a mama’s boy I can’t see him going to Barstool. He nearly lost it when his nickname was to be Tate the Snake.

I’ve been surprised before, though.
 

Spelunker

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I think having Wesley on a two-man Rewatchables is the right move. He is really insightful but he talks A LOT and often cuts people off, he really needs to be on a two-man show where they can clear out for him and let him go to work.
Going back to Wesley, the tension in the room when Morris calls out Eddie Murphy's sexuality is...palpable.
 

luckiestman

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Going back to Wesley, the tension in the room when Morris calls out Eddie Murphy's sexuality is...palpable.

I only heard some of this and Wesley telling Sean he could pull off the Brolin Goonies sweatshirt had me dying. It wouldn’t have been any more forward if he had said : I’ll fuck you right here Sean, Bill can watch.
 

Silverdude2167

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What do people think of The Ringers NFL content?
Most of the time after reading a piece I am left wanting something more.

This might be an over reaction to this piece: The Most meaningful NFL Stats Through Two Weeks of Action and the first bunch of stats are about the Air Raid and how it's in full effect, but not once do they stop to ask if its working or even note that they have scored 3 TD's. I feel like most of their work seems to go for style over substance.

I like Mays but their depth is weak.
 

luckiestman

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What do people think of The Ringers NFL content?
Most of the time after reading a piece I am left wanting something more.

This might be an over reaction to this piece: The Most meaningful NFL Stats Through Two Weeks of Action and the first bunch of stats are about the Air Raid and how it's in full effect, but not once do they stop to ask if its working or even note that they have scored 3 TD's. I feel like most of their work seems to go for style over substance.

I like Mays but their depth is weak.

It's awful. I love the NFL, I love the ringer, I love podcasts. Their NFL podcast is garbage. The hosts are the deadly mix of dumb, smug, and not funny.
 

thebtskink

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I'm a fan of the football podcast, personally, and gain insights from Mays/Clark/Kelly that I don't often see elsewhere.

I don't find any of their other football coverage particularly insightful, including Lombardi when he was there. Granted it's only been 2 weeks. but Russillo having Chris Long on covers up for his weaknesses fairly effectively.
 

allstonite

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I think Magary generally resents Simmons and thinks that lane should have been his under the right circumstances.
I'm not so sure about that. Magary writes every day (at least), Simmons hasn't written an article in months (maybe years). Magary also has vastly improved as a write (read his first book and compare it to what he writes now), while, when Simmons writes, it's the same bullshit that he's written for the last 20 years.

In other words, when it comes to a writer comparison, Magary owns that lane over Simmons. All day and it's no contest.

I couldn't tell you about their podcasts because I don't listen to either of them, though from what I can glean, Magary seems a little more intellectually curious than Simmons and seems to challenge himself more. You can argue whether the latter is a good thing or not (I do, but I find the thought of listening Simmons bullshit with Uncle Sal over this week's odds to be fucking torture), but I understand the ethos in giving the people what they want and if it ain't broke, don't fix it and other cliches.

If there is any resentment (and there probably is), I think it's that Magary a. doesn't like New England and b. can't stand how Simmons was able to get to where he is simply by being at the right place at the right time. In the first point, whatever, I don't care about that, there's a lot of people burnt out on Boston. But on the second point, I think that Simmons workED hard, but has been coasting for years. I think that is a reasonable (maybe the wrong word) reason not to like someone. Fuck, Simmons made his name on beating up writers (Shaughnessy, "More tapioca Mr. (I can't remember the NY writer he'd say this about, my memory sucks), EEI, the entirety of the Boston and National sports media), who he deemed was lazy, so it's not exactly an unfounded accusation.
 

Kliq

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I don't really care about the Margary v Simmons debate, but is it fair to really call Simmons lazy, or that he is coasting? Sure, we has some shtick and some old standbys (Guess the lines, Talking hoops with House, The Ewing Theory, etc.) but every successful media personality that still produces content has those things. And yes, he doesn't write anymore and if you never paid attention to anything else they ever did, you might think that he is just being lazy and needs to write again.

At some point in his career, if Bill really wanted to coast, he easily could. He could just be a talking head on FOX Sports, or hell he could come back to ESPN if he wanted. At this point he might have made so much money he probably could retire.

He hasn't though; instead of signing a lucrative deal with FOX after getting fired from ESPN, he founded another website and recruited a lot of talent to work for that site. I'm not sure how much Simmons has to do with the day-to-day operations with The Ringer, but he obviously plays an important role on the site. He produces 5+ hours of podcast content each week and speaks with a wide range of people. His latest podcast he starts by talking football with Kyle Brandt, then talks TV with Alan Sepinwall, and then interviews Billy Bob Thornton. Last week, he flew to NYC and recorded a podcast with Zach Lowe, then flew to DC to appear on PTI for two days.

I can understand not liking Simmons because you get annoyed with his takes that lack any form of logic or ignore evidence, or you are tired with all his Bill-isms like being the Body Language Doctor or talking about the Gambling Manifesto. I don't think you can really compare his work ethic with a guy like Shaughnessy, who has been writing the same tired column for 20+ years.
 

deanx0

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I'm not so sure about that. Magary writes every day (at least), Simmons hasn't written an article in months (maybe years). Magary also has vastly improved as a write (read his first book and compare it to what he writes now), while, when Simmons writes, it's the same bullshit that he's written for the last 20 years.

In other words, when it comes to a writer comparison, Magary owns that lane over Simmons. All day and it's no contest.

I couldn't tell you about their podcasts because I don't listen to either of them, though from what I can glean, Magary seems a little more intellectually curious than Simmons and seems to challenge himself more. You can argue whether the latter is a good thing or not (I do, but I find the thought of listening Simmons bullshit with Uncle Sal over this week's odds to be fucking torture), but I understand the ethos in giving the people what they want and if it ain't broke, don't fix it and other cliches.

If there is any resentment (and there probably is), I think it's that Magary a. doesn't like New England and b. can't stand how Simmons was able to get to where he is simply by being at the right place at the right time. In the first point, whatever, I don't care about that, there's a lot of people burnt out on Boston. But on the second point, I think that Simmons workED hard, but has been coasting for years. I think that is a reasonable (maybe the wrong word) reason not to like someone. Fuck, Simmons made his name on beating up writers (Shaughnessy, "More tapioca Mr. (I can't remember the NY writer he'd say this about, my memory sucks), EEI, the entirety of the Boston and National sports media), who he deemed was lazy, so it's not exactly an unfounded accusation.
I think this reinforces Laddie's point. They both started writing humorous and snarky content, and Bill was able to parlay that into so much more than anything Drew has ever accomplished. Drew instead stayed true to where they both arguably started, got better at it, but has seen Bill become much more of a celebrity and success. So maybe the lane Drew is jealous of is Bill's success.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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And of course, almost immediately after, Drew Magary retweets his old Deadspin article.

View: https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/1124842375438831617


I'm generally a fan of Magary, but fuck off man.
Two things - the Baio/Tomson pod is a great idea and in contrast to The Ringer/Barstool model of their people either "creating" content or hosting guests for it. The guest list is pretty great too (for those wondering who Michelle Branch is or why she is included after being a "one hit wonder" in the late nineties, she is still performing and is married to the Black Keys' Carney).

As for Magary, I have no interest in his beef with Simmons and I generally like his writing. That said, his lane has been different than Sprtsguy33's for a while. Magary is generally a hater and an angry old man. That can often be funny, especially when poking fun at politics, leagues, owners and athletes as well as awful fan behavior. However it just sucks when reviewing things like music. Its not a legitimate attempt to critique the actual work. Its just straight up shitting on the artists, their style and their fans.

I do feel for him having to endure certain stylized songs while shopping at Urban Outfitters though. Oh, the humanity...and yes I get that he used that line to be funny. It wasn't in the same way that making fun of those people who are heavily invested in reality shows isn't funny.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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but is it fair to really call Simmons lazy, or that he is coasting?
You brought up some interesting points, so I'm going to cherry pick here. Yes, I think it's more than fair to say Simmons is coasting. Simmons hasn't gone out of his comfort zone in decades, he does the same things over and over and over and over again. When was the last time that he took a chance? Writing is hard, so Simmons stopped doing it. And that's fine. Everyone wants a job where the work is easy and the pay is long. I don't begrudge the man for living the dream. But I mean, I can't say that Bill Simmons is working hard.

Sure, we has some shtick and some old standbys (Guess the lines, Talking hoops with House, The Ewing Theory, etc.) but every successful media personality that still produces content has those things.
I hate to keep bringing up the past, but this is the bedrock that Bill Simmons founded his church on. He would constantly talk about how sportswriter x was phoning it or sportscaster y was saying the same things over and over and over again. If you want to chalk this up to youth and not understanding the business, okay. But it makes him look like a hypocrite.

At some point in his career, if Bill really wanted to coast, he easily could. He could just be a talking head on FOX Sports, or hell he could come back to ESPN if he wanted. At this point he might have made so much money he probably could retire.
Again, what does he do where he's pushed. He has a conversation with people for an hour every other day, one of which is just sitting around and bullshitting with his buddy (which is harder than it looks, I know, but it's not brain surgery). I honestly don't know what else he's doing. Probably meeting about the Ringer, I suppose.

His latest podcast he starts by talking football with Kyle Brandt, then talks TV with Alan Sepinwall, and then interviews Billy Bob Thornton. Last week, he flew to NYC and recorded a podcast with Zach Lowe, then flew to DC to appear on PTI for two days.
So basically his job is to bullshit for a few hour a day? I mean, come on, this is pushing yourself?

I can understand not liking Simmons because you get annoyed with his takes that lack any form of logic or ignore evidence, or you are tired with all his Bill-isms like being the Body Language Doctor or talking about the Gambling Manifesto. I don't think you can really compare his work ethic with a guy like Shaughnessy, who has been writing the same tired column for 20+ years.
Replace "Body Language Doctor" with "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" and "Gambling Manifesto" with "Cleaning out the sports drawer mind" (or whatever the fuck he calls his notes column) and Shaughnessy is doing the same thing as Simmons. Like I said, everyone has crutches, whether you're writing or pontificating on TV or on a podcast, but Bill Simmons is much closer to Dan Shaughnessy than you think. In fact, I'd say at least the CHB has some balls to call out people and write (or say) some unpopular thoughts (and I honestly don't think that they're all hot takes).

Like I said, I really used to love Bill Simmons back in the day (I wouldn't be on SoSH if it wasn't for him) and at some point in the last 20 years, I just grew out of him. Which is fine, we all grow out of stuff. And I'm not trying to say that he sucks or that you shouldn't enjoy him, but this idea that Simmons is still some sort of by-his-own-bootstraps iconoclast is correct. The dude has a great life, does what he loves and gets paid bank without working too hard. There's nothing wrong with that.
 

jcd0805

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Magary sucks at podcasting. I tried a few times to listen because he amuses me so much as a writer, but he was way too forced or something, nothing about the pod he did with the other guy who was so boring I can’t recall his name was interesting. Simmons is great at podcasting, there is really no comparison there.
 

kenneycb

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He’s the CEO of a multimedia web company, which is was a risk unto itself along with the short lived HBO show, which was a worse risk. So his job is to run a company with probably 50+ people. I don’t know what that entails (nor does anyone else here) but it’s probably more than recording 6 hours of podcasts a week. Sure he’s probably gotten lazy as a content person but that’s probably due to changing priorities that come with running a company.
 

Kliq

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He’s the CEO of a multimedia web company, which is was a risk unto itself along with the short lived HBO show, which was a worse risk. So his job is to run a company with probably 50+ people. I don’t know what that entails (nor does anyone else here) but it’s probably more than recording 6 hours of podcasts a week. Sure he’s probably gotten lazy as a content person but that’s probably due to changing priorities that come with running a company.
No no no no, what he is doing to really PUSH himself though? He is just sitting around bulshitting with Cousin Sal, House, JackO and Dr. Bill!
 

gingerbreadmann

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No no no no, what he is doing to really PUSH himself though? He is just sitting around bulshitting with Cousin Sal, House, JackO and Dr. Bill!
So, this fanboy line is your best response to the post that actually engaged with yours? I was kind of intrigued by both sides of that discussion but now the echo chamber has sprung up and apparently all it can do is subtweet. I will never understand why people are so eager to carry water for celebrities who have already made it several times over. It's not a betrayal of Ringer content you enjoy to entertain the idea that Simmons is good at finding other people to make content and kind of sucks at everything else, and is actively getting worse. Maybe you have entertained it because you started off defending his actual content, and rather quickly seem to have dropped that in favor of the CEO angle.

I don't know what to say to the claim that founding The Ringer (a site I read fervently) was such a risk to Bill Simmons. The risk was that if it failed along with the show, he might have hit his ceiling as a media personality and accepted an offer that was there before. Acting in the wake of his well-publicized departure from ESPN -- with nearly all observers in agreement that at the very least, Grantland got screwed -- was shrewd, but also the definition of striking while the iron is hot. This has all been his second (third?) act. While I'm sure he is quite busy doing it, it's all gravy for him and his reputation.
 
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Kliq

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So, this fanboy line is your best response to the post that actually engaged with yours? I was kind of intrigued by both sides of that discussion but now the echo chamber has sprung up and apparently all it can do is subtweet. I will never understand why people are so eager to carry water for celebrities who have already made it several times over. It's not a betrayal of Ringer content you enjoy to entertain the idea that Simmons is good at finding other people to make content and kind of sucks at everything else, and is actively getting worse. Maybe you have entertained it because you started off defending his actual content, and rather quickly seem to have dropped that in favor of the CEO angle.

I don't know what to say to the claim that founding The Ringer (a site I read fervently) was such a risk to Bill Simmons. The risk was that if it failed along with the show, he might have hit his ceiling as a media personality and accepted an offer that was there before. Acting in the wake of his well-publicized departure from ESPN -- with nearly all observers in agreement that at the very least, Grantland got screwed -- was shrewd, but also the definition of striking while the iron is hot. This has all been his second (third?) act. While I'm sure he is quite busy doing it, it's all gravy for him and his reputation.
Eh, I thought it was kind of ridiculous to argue that Simmons isn't constantly pushing himself with what he is currently doing and that somehow makes him a guy who is coasting off of his reputation. What major media personality is constantly doing new things and taking new risks? I don't see myself as carrying water for Simmons, or that I feel some overwhelming need to defend the honor of the great Bill Simmons, but YMMV.

JMOH and I have different opinions on Simmons and have discussed it many times before on this forum; we are unlikely to ever really agree and I can accept that.
 

OurF'ingCity

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I don't really have a dog in this fight insofar as I would say I like Magary and Simmons about equally - much of their content I enjoy, but some of their content I really dislike.

There's certainly plenty to criticize about Simmons, but I find accusing him of "coasting" or not "pushing himself" to be a bit odd, especially in comparison to Magary. Magary has essentially found his niche as a writer and stuck with that for many years - nothing wrong with that, and his writing style has improved, but he's certainly not pushing himself to expand into different forms of media, to take on more of an editor role, etc. Simmons, meanwhile, has: been a successful Internet writer/blogger for many years, including writing two books; appeared on multiple TV shows, including one that he tried to create centered around himself; been the driving force behind the launch of two critically acclaimed websites, including apparently being heavily involved in the recruiting and development of talent for those websites; been at least one of the driving forces behind an acclaimed ESPN documentary series; and been on the relative forefront of the podcasting revolution and eventually launched an entire podcasting network which, reports suggest, constitutes a large chunk of the Ringer's overall revenue.

Certainly not all of those gambits have worked - I don't think there is much question that Simmons is a terrible TV personality and the idea that a TV show centered on him would ever have worked is ridiculous - but in what world is that not "pushing yourself"? He's literally been involved in every form of mass media and the fact that some of those efforts have wholly or partially failed is, I think, evidence that he IS pushing himself, not that he isn't.
 

allstonite

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I think there's a huge difference between "coasting" and "not pushing himself" when it comes to Simmons. He typically does three 2 hour podcasts a week as well as frequently jumping on the rewatchables and nba podcast and occasionally other ones. He runs an acclaimed website and podcast network and while nobody here knows exactly how hard that is I'd bet it takes up a lot of his time. I doubt Mallory, as great as she is, would get advertisers through the door when it comes to meetings and outings. Bill probably has a large political role more than content producer these days. He's certainly not "coasting" when it comes to output and it would be stupid to call him lazy (not that anyone did).

However I see the argument that he doesn't push himself to improve or go out of his comfort zone often. I have said here that I still listen to almost all of the podcasts because it's like watching reruns of Seinfeld. It's comforting background noise and I generally know what I'm getting. I think that's both good and bad. I also said that I wish he had more people on that would challenge him. Like his ravings against Andrew Luck earlier this month and "not being able to criticize athletes anymore" take that somehow dovetailed with the Chappelle special. It was bizarre but nobody really challenged him on it. I wish he had someone call him on it.

"Who said we can't criticize athletes? Do you want to jump on Gottleib's anti-millenial take or just want to whine about Twitter and young people without going fully there? Here's why the Chappelle special wasn't as great as you say?"

Those are interesting conversations that he doesn't ever really have. He repeats the same 5 theories to the same 5 guests and then a celebrity promoting something (though his celebrity interviews are usually great). It's the same issue I have with Felger. I like him a lot and get what he's doing but he doesn't have a foil to challenge his takes so it gets stale after a while and why I stopped listening to F&M every day.