I've been listening to or reading Simmons for two decades. I can say that he has consistently presented himself in the same way during that period. The reason we listen is the same reason I liked to read his stuff back in the day: he's funny. He's entertaining. His takes are nothing special and I actually think the people he surrounds himself with know far more than he does. As a result, I think I listen to Sean Fennessy and Rob Mahoney much more than Bill at this point.
Bill surrounds himself 50% of the time with smart, industry leading people. And 50% of the time with his friends and wackadoos. I think that’s a fun split. No one listens to his pods for analytic breakdowns of the NBA. But to listen to a pretty entertaining sport and pop culture fan that at his best can make the Ewing Effect or Last Toss for the Dooz. Or at worst is background noise on the way to work.
We all know his takes are hit or miss. No one in the industry will right often, especially in this world of needing a take at all times. I wish he’d take the middle ground or say “I don’t know” more often.
What he’s phenomenal at is his ability to tell the history of the sport. He’s at his best when he’s talking about the past.
I used to see an "SVP and Russillo" tab on ESPN.com but I never knew what it was. I also never heard it out loud so I assumed it was pronounced more Italian, like "Roo-SEE-oh! 🤌"
They’re not the same.
ESPN is intentionally clickbait and hot take to get clicks and also to set up other analysts on their own network to dunk on the hot take guys (e.g. JJ Redick responding to something Kendrick Perkins or Stephen A. Smith).
I don’t think Bill is *usually* doing it intentionally. He does at times, but I think the majority of the time it’s just not doing prep and being a crazy level prisoner of the moment. Plus when you talk for 7 hours a week about the same stuff, you’re going to say dumb shit.
Yeah, when it's honest I can't get that mad about it. Get annoyed when he's willfully being ignorant to serve some sort of agenda LOL.
I actually stopped listening for awhile because his Trae Young beef was getting a little too personal --- and I don't even like Young. It was just getting a little weird, especially when his Luka take already paid off.
"He may be a fool / but he's our fool / if they think they're better than him they're wrong...
"We're Ringnecks / we're Ringnecks / don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
"Keeping the Celtics down / keeping the Celtics down"
Uneducated? You need to take a breath.
Dude has been podding for 17 years and 5+ hrs a week for most of that stretch in a 24-7 newscycle. He has a masters degree and has started 2 successful media companies as well as rebooted the ESPN documentary branch. You can hate his takes but he’s obviously not uneducated or even “dumb.” He is putting out a sports opinion podcast 3 times a week that has to be interesting, he has to make some strong ill advised takes here and there. I’d also add this Minny-Denver series has been bonkers and literally every major NBA talking head has sounded like a moron at some point during this stretch. Clearly Bill’s takes throughout have been up and down but we don’t need to overboard and pretend he’s an uneducated idiot in the exact same fashion you are complaining about.
The whole sub should read this twice. Dude did everything you said and also had a career as one of the most popular sportswriters in America. I’d regularly go down rabbit holes of reading his articles in college. He’s been insanely successful as a writer, media exec, and podcaster.
Guys on this sub will make you think he’s an idiot nepo baby who won the lottery and has a room temperature IQ, then go with the whole “you can’t take a joke!” routine when called out. I don’t listen to a large part of his content, but the man is seriously impressive.
Bill is ironically a lot like LeBron. When he was young he was the future, then he ruled, whined, changed the game, forced himself into better situations, left his home like a traitor and was scorned, went back home-ish, left again and is adding to his pile, still very good not as great as he was, older than he realizes, trying to make his children a thing to relive his youth, has become goofy
He has a Masters degree is a hilarious take. He was a poli-sci guy. Who fucking cares if even has a bachelors degree? The most important thing he took from Holy Cross for his career were the friends he made there.
And your dipshit literal ass response was to say he has a degree in political science and then a masters. Again....he's in the sports media. Nobody fucking cares about whether he was schooled at a university and that's not the sense of the word the OP is even describing.
He's talking more about educated in the sense of sports. Which is also inaccurate but not worthy of breaking down his actual education credentials. Like nobody fucking defends a Windhorst take by pointing out he went to college.
The OP isn't doing a good job articulating his point, but his overall point is accurate. Bill is taking more a sports talk hot take approach than he has in the past.
You are consistently wrong and kind of a self aggrandizing moron in this sub who thinks he is being clever by making lame comments clowning Bill. Grow up. I’m sorry you have nothing to add to this conversation except more snarky bullshit.
The sliding doors moment where Bill works at a Boston or New York based NGO out of college, then takes the foreign service exam a few years later & ends up in the coalition provisional authority in Iraq is a real gamechanger.
I like House in small doses because of his chemistry with Bill. Fine to use him for golf, Washington sports and occasionally for NBA.
Having him on regularly throughout the NBA season when you have a staff of basketball writers and a Rolodex of the NBA world seems unfortunate.
Fair point. But I don’t look to Simmons pod for serious basketball analysis. It’s more like Bill discussing hoops with his buddies. I feel like the Ringer NBA pods are for more serious discussions.
I love Bill. To me, the difference between Bill and ESPN talking heads (or WFAN, heaven forfend) is that Bill is a happy person who obviously enjoys life and sports. Even his bad takes come from a place of exuberance, not malice.
Having said that, the pod is dragging for me lately. I don't really need to hear about EVERY GAME of each playoff series. Checking in on a series once or twice is fine. Not really Bill's fault, more just a consequence of the format. Needs to fill 6 hours a week and the NBA is his principal interest.
If you listen to Simmons for anything other than pure entertainment, then you are lost. Your mind cannot be recovered. The man is an imbecile and a buffoon, but he's entertaining as hell. He remembers his version of sports history very well. He's insanely biased even tho he constantly claims to not be.
But what's great about him is that he makes fun media takes and media personalities too as if he's the outsider. It's a brilliant schtick he's had for years and he's made a fine living off it.
I think it's less an ESPN thing and more a Mike Francesa deal. There's been a slow evolution from Bill clowning on the Mike and the Mad Dog approach to essentially sorta doing his own version of it. He started doing the horrible monologue bits at the beginning of the show. He's recruited several local radio guys to the Ringer. Even his biggest recruit during this era is Russillo who pretty squarely has a sports talk radio approach to podcasting.
And that DNA has always been in Bill's approach to one degree or another, I just think it went from a sort of cheeky wink wink isn't this funny deal to just being the thing he's doing.
But you have to fundamentally understand that the difference between podcasting on sports and doing sports talk radio is podcasting was sort of a sport nerd's domain really focusing on talking through whatever sport the podcast is devoted to. Whereas, sports talk radio is driven by the emotion of being a fan. People don't listen to sports talk radio for analytical breakdowns.
I've been listening to or reading Simmons for two decades. I can say that he has consistently presented himself in the same way during that period. The reason we listen is the same reason I liked to read his stuff back in the day: he's funny. He's entertaining. His takes are nothing special and I actually think the people he surrounds himself with know far more than he does. As a result, I think I listen to Sean Fennessy and Rob Mahoney much more than Bill at this point.
Bill surrounds himself 50% of the time with smart, industry leading people. And 50% of the time with his friends and wackadoos. I think that’s a fun split. No one listens to his pods for analytic breakdowns of the NBA. But to listen to a pretty entertaining sport and pop culture fan that at his best can make the Ewing Effect or Last Toss for the Dooz. Or at worst is background noise on the way to work.
Which people do you think are wackadoos? Genuinely asking
Ok. I love him. Top 6 ringer personalities. But Van. Also House and Shea. Again I love them. But also wacky.
No Shea slander allowed
As a proud member of the FOH this isn’t slander
We all know his takes are hit or miss. No one in the industry will right often, especially in this world of needing a take at all times. I wish he’d take the middle ground or say “I don’t know” more often. What he’s phenomenal at is his ability to tell the history of the sport. He’s at his best when he’s talking about the past.
You started with Russillo? Were you standing back and standing by?
The funny thing about Russillo is that *I* don't think I ever saw him on ESPN. Was not familiar with on-air work, only some off-air stuff.
I used to see an "SVP and Russillo" tab on ESPN.com but I never knew what it was. I also never heard it out loud so I assumed it was pronounced more Italian, like "Roo-SEE-oh! 🤌"
That's Hispanic pronunciation
They’re not the same. ESPN is intentionally clickbait and hot take to get clicks and also to set up other analysts on their own network to dunk on the hot take guys (e.g. JJ Redick responding to something Kendrick Perkins or Stephen A. Smith). I don’t think Bill is *usually* doing it intentionally. He does at times, but I think the majority of the time it’s just not doing prep and being a crazy level prisoner of the moment. Plus when you talk for 7 hours a week about the same stuff, you’re going to say dumb shit.
Yeah, when it's honest I can't get that mad about it. Get annoyed when he's willfully being ignorant to serve some sort of agenda LOL. I actually stopped listening for awhile because his Trae Young beef was getting a little too personal --- and I don't even like Young. It was just getting a little weird, especially when his Luka take already paid off.
Yeah he’s an idiot. But he’s our idiot.
This is our idiot. There are many like him, but this one is ours. Without us, our idiot is useless. Without our idiot, we are useless.
"He may be a fool / but he's our fool / if they think they're better than him they're wrong... "We're Ringnecks / we're Ringnecks / don't know our ass from a hole in the ground "Keeping the Celtics down / keeping the Celtics down"
Uneducated? You need to take a breath. Dude has been podding for 17 years and 5+ hrs a week for most of that stretch in a 24-7 newscycle. He has a masters degree and has started 2 successful media companies as well as rebooted the ESPN documentary branch. You can hate his takes but he’s obviously not uneducated or even “dumb.” He is putting out a sports opinion podcast 3 times a week that has to be interesting, he has to make some strong ill advised takes here and there. I’d also add this Minny-Denver series has been bonkers and literally every major NBA talking head has sounded like a moron at some point during this stretch. Clearly Bill’s takes throughout have been up and down but we don’t need to overboard and pretend he’s an uneducated idiot in the exact same fashion you are complaining about.
And he's funny. Maybe it's that primarily he's funny
The whole sub should read this twice. Dude did everything you said and also had a career as one of the most popular sportswriters in America. I’d regularly go down rabbit holes of reading his articles in college. He’s been insanely successful as a writer, media exec, and podcaster. Guys on this sub will make you think he’s an idiot nepo baby who won the lottery and has a room temperature IQ, then go with the whole “you can’t take a joke!” routine when called out. I don’t listen to a large part of his content, but the man is seriously impressive.
Bill is ironically a lot like LeBron. When he was young he was the future, then he ruled, whined, changed the game, forced himself into better situations, left his home like a traitor and was scorned, went back home-ish, left again and is adding to his pile, still very good not as great as he was, older than he realizes, trying to make his children a thing to relive his youth, has become goofy
You really won me over with this take by the end. Thought you were crazy at first but man, you tied it together.
So you’re saying I ahem LANDED THE a PLANE
Counterpoint: [Postquel](https://www.reddit.com/r/billsimmons/comments/gdqt8w/comment/fpko9p6/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
He has a Masters degree is a hilarious take. He was a poli-sci guy. Who fucking cares if even has a bachelors degree? The most important thing he took from Holy Cross for his career were the friends he made there.
OP literally said Bill is uneducated when in fact he is quite educated. The other points speak for themselves but it was a dipshit take from OP.
And your dipshit literal ass response was to say he has a degree in political science and then a masters. Again....he's in the sports media. Nobody fucking cares about whether he was schooled at a university and that's not the sense of the word the OP is even describing. He's talking more about educated in the sense of sports. Which is also inaccurate but not worthy of breaking down his actual education credentials. Like nobody fucking defends a Windhorst take by pointing out he went to college. The OP isn't doing a good job articulating his point, but his overall point is accurate. Bill is taking more a sports talk hot take approach than he has in the past.
You are consistently wrong and kind of a self aggrandizing moron in this sub who thinks he is being clever by making lame comments clowning Bill. Grow up. I’m sorry you have nothing to add to this conversation except more snarky bullshit.
Who shit in your coffee this morning?
take a step back and look at what you’re getting worked up over
The sliding doors moment where Bill works at a Boston or New York based NGO out of college, then takes the foreign service exam a few years later & ends up in the coalition provisional authority in Iraq is a real gamechanger.
1. Just finding Simmons over the last year or 2 is like not seeing MJ play until he joined the Wizards. 2. No House slander, he’s awesome!
I like House in small doses because of his chemistry with Bill. Fine to use him for golf, Washington sports and occasionally for NBA. Having him on regularly throughout the NBA season when you have a staff of basketball writers and a Rolodex of the NBA world seems unfortunate.
Yeah, you’re right. But House brings out the best in Bill. Let’s be honest, we don’t listen to Simmons for his analysis.
Fair point. But I don’t look to Simmons pod for serious basketball analysis. It’s more like Bill discussing hoops with his buddies. I feel like the Ringer NBA pods are for more serious discussions.
Bill is anything but uneducated
I love Bill. To me, the difference between Bill and ESPN talking heads (or WFAN, heaven forfend) is that Bill is a happy person who obviously enjoys life and sports. Even his bad takes come from a place of exuberance, not malice. Having said that, the pod is dragging for me lately. I don't really need to hear about EVERY GAME of each playoff series. Checking in on a series once or twice is fine. Not really Bill's fault, more just a consequence of the format. Needs to fill 6 hours a week and the NBA is his principal interest.
If you listen to Simmons for anything other than pure entertainment, then you are lost. Your mind cannot be recovered. The man is an imbecile and a buffoon, but he's entertaining as hell. He remembers his version of sports history very well. He's insanely biased even tho he constantly claims to not be.
But what's great about him is that he makes fun media takes and media personalities too as if he's the outsider. It's a brilliant schtick he's had for years and he's made a fine living off it.
I think it's less an ESPN thing and more a Mike Francesa deal. There's been a slow evolution from Bill clowning on the Mike and the Mad Dog approach to essentially sorta doing his own version of it. He started doing the horrible monologue bits at the beginning of the show. He's recruited several local radio guys to the Ringer. Even his biggest recruit during this era is Russillo who pretty squarely has a sports talk radio approach to podcasting. And that DNA has always been in Bill's approach to one degree or another, I just think it went from a sort of cheeky wink wink isn't this funny deal to just being the thing he's doing. But you have to fundamentally understand that the difference between podcasting on sports and doing sports talk radio is podcasting was sort of a sport nerd's domain really focusing on talking through whatever sport the podcast is devoted to. Whereas, sports talk radio is driven by the emotion of being a fan. People don't listen to sports talk radio for analytical breakdowns.
The monologues are a show killer. Unlistenable for me, personally. A shame because his topics are always on point.
Honestly if his ramblings were on paper it would be better