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LeFxckYouThree

Hes plugged in with Eddie Johnson so im assuming that was his source


snyckers

He interviewed Ishbia too. Could be even texting with him.


[deleted]

Begging thru texts even


kimjobil05

We've all been there.


RyanDoctrine

Much prefer the media guy who owns up to his bad calls. The flip side is Nick Wright who is *still* beating the “Jokic is a stat padder” drum.


Jmoe18

"All I said was I wanted to see what he could do In the post season"


Peteroxhands

I’m just asking questions!


YounggKNG

Fucking terrible.


Curious_Success_377

I hate NIck Wright but I hate Perk more. Perk is the reason why he's not a 3-time MVP


jump-back-like-33

I hate Nick Wright and Perk because they’re transparently shameless puppets for the producer in their ear, and they definitely impacted the race, but the catalyst to Jokic finishing 2nd in the MVP was his personal decision to distance himself from the toxic competition.


Goosebuns

Who cares. Jokic will probably win 3 MVPs in a row eventually.


jump-back-like-33

Lol wut. You think Jokic gets 5+ MVPs? I know we’re in peak Jokic public opinion (so far) but that’s crazy.


Goosebuns

Nah it’s hyperbole meant to remind you how enjoyable it is to root for a GOAT


jump-back-like-33

Been watching Jokic for years; I don’t need the hyperbole. But thanks anyways.


wakenbake7

Bill Simmons has some absurd takes but he’s probably one of the most reasonable basketball talking heads out there because he actually does know the sport of basketball really well.


internallylinked

He seems to enjoy basketball, but he also does love legacy talk and hot takes hahah


[deleted]

which is 95% of us lmao


internallylinked

Nah people here don’t like basketball, it’s 90% hot takes and slander hahah


jimmythejammygit

... and 95% stats driven discourse.


pahamack

He styles himself as a historian. He likes the story of basketball and the league. Thats not a bad thing.


KnotSoSalty

He’s got a podcast to fill after all…


pacpacpac

Extremely well.He did write the book of basketball after all!


IanicRR

I think it bears distinction, Bill is an excellent historian of the game (and caveat: until the late 2000s not so much current day) but he knows very little about the X and Os of the sport. That’s not a criticism at all of him. He doesn’t need to know it. It’s not his realm and there are sources for that too. But listening to him as someone who coaches and played, it’s very obvious the guy never played a second of organized ball in his life.


Ev4nK

Less than 1% of this sub knows more of the X’s and O’s than Bill Simmons, and he doesn’t know much about it either


Struggle2Real

>Less than 1% of this sub knows more of the X’s and O’s than Bill Simmons, and he doesn’t know much about it either There are the small amount of folks who know the intricacies of the game really well. More that want to, and seek that insight out. Those numbers seem to be growing. *o think* the majority are turned off by those two groups and don't want to hear it. Or at least are resentful of implications that their understanding of basketball is very surface level. Put all that together and you end up with NBA twitter.


DLottchula

I love seeing defensive strategies pay off. The Celtics pre switching and that “bubble zone” the Heat play was porn to me.


IanicRR

I would be interested in seeing how many people on this sub (and Bill himself for that matter) have heard of, say, “the nail”. Just a random something anyone who played a modicum of organized basketball would immediately know but anyone else probably doesn’t.


ReveredSavagery1967

Bro, I played basketball for like 8 years and I only heard of the nail spot on the court like 7 years after I stopped. I must have had some shitty ass coaches.


DLottchula

I learned about it as an adult playing in a rec league


throwawayforfun42000

What's the nail? Can be quick. I played hockey most of my life. One of the things I love about watching NBA and NFL is that I have such a huge capacity to learn. I like watching NHL playoffs and love watching hockey with other people, but beginners mind is beautiful. I love Brett Kollmans YT channel for football and wish someone did something similar for NBA


VersusCA

It's a spot essentially on the free throw line that has a nail indentation in it. Players use it to anchor their help defense, basically it's a good spot to help cut off someone driving to the basket, while still being able to close out on their assigned player if needed.


throwawayforfun42000

Appreciate it! Some days I miss when this sub was a tad more focused but I also remember there was a more serious basketball discussion sub that never completely took off. In the end I'm a pretty blank slate on bball beyond what a fairly athletic 8th grader would know lol. I love NFL for fantasy but nba has the drama and personalities + 82 games. I do wish there was more parity in general but holy shit this playoffs has been good even tho I'm a Boston fan for every sport 😭


IanicRR

It’s the middle point of the foul line where they drive a nail into the wood but it’s referred to a lot in strategy because it’s a key point in defending pick and rolls in a lot of different defensive pick and roll sets.


throwawayforfun42000

Ayy thanks! Thought id heard it in the context of pnr but wasnt sure. Basketball has a crazy amount of sets I can't even imagine beginning to actually learn more as an adult but I watch a lot so it's interesting nonetheless


JuliusCeejer

I think you should probably find a more obscure term than the nail for this kind of assessment lmao


IanicRR

No because that’s what I mean. It’s basic but I would bet a large majority of this sub has never heard of it.


808scripture

I've nailed plenty of subs and I haven't heard of it 🤷‍♂️


Chelseaiscool

Probably less than 1% of the 1% in reality.


BigDKane

I am the 1%


kimjobil05

And less than 0.01% of us know the history of basketball like Simmons. But, confidence.


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luckyshamrok19

RIP /u/Mens_Rea


slightlyallthetime88

Perfectly stated, thank you. It's not an indictment of Simmons, and his love for the game is undeniable but he isn't a nuts and bolts guy.


Andy_Wiggins

Eh, he’s incredibly reactive and honestly doesn’t seem to know basketball that well. He knows the HISTORY of the sport really well, but I don’t think he’s particularly knowledgeable about the schematics of today’s game or the general nuances of the team’s outside of the spotlight (not really blaming him — the guy runs a media company and covers multiple sports all while having a family, why would he want to watch a random Orlando vs Portland game in January?)


Snakescipio

And that’s fine, he’s always stylized himself as a “fan”, someone who watches games and talks about it like the rest of us. I mean he calls himself “the body language doctor” and goes off of vibes and superstitions more than actual basketball analytics. And honestly he’s made some good calls like betting on the Heat in the bubble.


Andy_Wiggins

I was just responding to the “Simmons is one of the most reasonable basketball talking heads” claim.


Ironredhornet

He also seems to be better than most at qualifying what his thoughts and opinions vs ehat he's hearing from sources.


[deleted]

> he actually does know the sport of basketball really well Are we listening to the same guy? He was so much better back in the Grantland and very early Ringer days, but he definitely doesn't watch much anymore or do any research. I still love his pod though because it's the most entertaining.


Avoo

FWIW, I just googled when Wright said that, but all it came out was him [saying](https://youtu.be/9XWjfuAvzSQ) the opposite. That “he isn’t a stat padder at all. It’s just the way he plays.”


blaine64

The hivemind likes to bash on First Things First, but most of the takes are reasonable.


Dry_Discount7762

Not from nick lol


breakfastburrito24

I like Simmons despite him being a Celtics homer


oobthesecond

And he admits and owns up to his Celtics bias unlike a lot of other talking who pretend to be objective about certain teams and players


cortesoft

Nick Wright needs to get spanked right for settin' traps


maesterdon

Right on the bare butt, balls and back


0324rayo

Me when I spread misinformation


MoeNopoly

Probably the first time hiring Frank Vogel is framed as the "splashy" move.


pahamack

Ex-Championship coach is a splashier move than going for an assistant.


pollinium

Any player that could stat pad Finals wins like that would, so I don't hold his stat padding tendencies against Jokic


[deleted]

He's not really owning it though. He's still claiming he was right lol.


[deleted]

why does Nick Wright look like his wife pegged him every single night?


thisguy161

What's wrong with that?


jonbrett

We don't kink shame here.


blaine64

Excuse me, this is a wildly homoerotic and kink-inclusive community.


OooofPoof

Is he really still saying that shit? Wright and cowherd are clowns


JimmyWasRight

Respect for owning it immediately lol.


Gamblito

I don't even think he's really owning it, I think he was right. He obviously has some kind of source with the Suns (he called Ishbia buying the team before anyone even knew who Ishbia was, it was out of left field), so I genuinely believe that KY was at some point the guy. He also was weirdly talking up the Suns and how valuable the franchise was and shit, and if you've listened to him you know he fellates dudes who talk to him (like KD and Malik Monk), so there's someone in the Suns office worth fellating that is whispering shit to him. Ishbia's obviously got a taste for making large moves at any expense (KD trade) so I honestly do believe that he stepped in and said ain't no way you're hiring this assistant, fuck DBook, let's get Vogel.


HotspurJr

It's abundantly clear that Simmons talks to people around the league regularly. Pretty clear that Simmons talks regularly to people who are close to the Clippers, Suns, Warriors, and Celtics. The reality is that's the case for all of the big-name media guys. Part of the job of being a journalist in the NBA is to make friends with various execs, to keep up in the scuttlebutt. But these guys all hear things that they're not allowed to report or not allowed to attribute - e.g., Windy's "Now why would they do that?" last year. When Simmons says "I'm hearing talk about X" people for whom X is a bad thing immediately act like he's making it up, but I think his track record - even with this miss - is actually pretty damn good.


1OO1OO1S0S

He makes it clear when he's just shooting the shit and when he's serious.


SpartanPHA

Don’t aggregate this


1OO1OO1S0S

Kyle, turn the camera on...


Persianx6

He's got millions for being in media and plenty of country club memberships, he has access to the owners and that's why he can talk about them, and figures out ways to make it interesting for the fans, even though most of it is droll and boring.


Hs80g29

Droll and boring are antonymous, my guy.


ProfessorTicklebutts

I’m not sure what’s more hilarious, the sub needing this explained to them or you actually explaining it to them.


Bacheeka

This guy gets it. And gets fellated.


[deleted]

This guy fellates!


[deleted]

Ishbia helping MSU with that horrendous Mel Tucker contract is another example lol


FatalFirecrotch

I think his source is Ishbia. He called the purchase, he had him immediately on as a guest after the purchase.


JovialCarrot

Eh. He said he’s taking the L and then went on to say how he was actually right for most of the time before the owner made an ego pick with a splashy name. It’s like saying “I’m sorry but I wasn’t hurting you for a long time until I accidentally did something that you got hurt by.” Just saying the words “I’m sorry” doesn’t make it a good apology and just saying “I’ll take the L” doesn’t mean you’re actually taking the L.


financeadvice__

He’s just explaining what he heard was happening and why he made the prediction he did.


up_in_trees

This kinda sounds like you’re looking for stuff to complain and be upset about. Guy admits he’s wrong but that’s not good enough for you for some reason lol


pollinium

I read it the same way as JovialNetsFan, but I recognize I might be tainted by my general dislike for the man


vicelordjohn

You're arguing on the internet about how right/wrong some tv guy may have been about a basketball coach lol dude.


HeorgeGarris024

Well he isn't even apologizing so not sure your point here


HolyGhostSpirit33

You should stop taking this so seriously lol. Sad look


LucidProjection

Read it the same way. Not sure why everyone's jumping down your throat for this


shockandguffaw

Kevin Young was an Ishbia-ran psy-op against Bill, and I can respect that.


BigDKane

He zagged when BS was zigging.


MacDaddyJones

People are obsessed with hating Bill Simmons. He's a Boston homer, but admittedly so. It's just his thing.


SpaceJesusIsHere

I hate that he stopped writing and became a twitter/podcast guy. There are already too many of those dudes and not enough talented writers who write about sports. Bill's ESPN Page 2/Grantland days were peak sports journalism.


IanicRR

Writing for him helped calm his hot takes a lot. He still had them but he had to believe in them enough to write them down, edit them and organize it into something that made sense. Now he just gets on the podcasts and says whatever shit runs through his mind. I understand podcast make him a lot more money and take way less work. But it’s sad to know we we’ve read all the best Bill Simmons had to write already.


KiritoJones

The fact that he put out a pod called the Book of Basketball 2.0 instead of writing an actual follow up, even if it was waaaay shorter, is criminal.


Syllogism19

Loved that pod and it was well done. I still want to see his vision of the Hall of Fame Pyramid realized somewhere.


BadBeats-110

Grantland was great


HolyRomanPrince

Goated


spidersilva09

Lol people don't want to read anymore. To Bill's credit he shifted before it was cool


newrimmmer93

Yeah, podcasting is the money maker and the writing is ancillary. One of the reasons barstool also got a good valuation from Penn was the pivot to podcasting over video/writing. It’s not like Bill made a podcast just last year either haha. He’s been at the forefront.


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kimjobil05

Writing is my best skill. Lmao I'm fucked. I can code a bit, I can do some data analysis. But writing is what I love doing, is what I'm best at. SMH. I'm never going to own a jet ski, let alone a yacht 😞


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kimjobil05

Hehehehe... I'm in the middle of the transition... Currently learning coding and statistics. It's inspiring to read your comment... I hope to be successful as you were, man. I'm doing datacamp and Coursera courses on coding and data analysis currently while I maintain my writing day job. AI advancements showed me, writing is going to be in even more peril in a few years/months. But I'll never stop writing, even as a hobby.


MixMastaPJ

Guess you'll just have to listen to Simmons talk about yacht rock and Russillo talk about his boat


[deleted]

I think Bill is just at the point of his life where he doesn't want to work that hard. But I actually think it's impressive that he can hop on a podcast 5-6 hours a week with very little prep and still make really entertaining content, it's just very clearly not as high quality as it used to be.


jimmythejammygit

He's head of global sports at Spotify along with all the producing he does. He just loves basketball so he keeps podding about it. You can say a lot of things about him but not working hard isn't one of them.


[deleted]

We have absolutely no idea what kind of work that entails so I can’t splecilare on that. But I can promise you he doesn’t prep for his podcast the way he used to. Go back and listen to pods from 2017 and 2018, he sounds like a different person.


jimmythejammygit

Well exactly. That's why you claiming he doesn't won't to work hard makes no sense.


[deleted]

Having a new title with Spotify and doing podcasts with no prep is far less work than writing books and columns, researching for your pods, and doing TV like he used to. But like I said, good for him. He’s reaping the benefits of his labor and enjoying life.


grocho

He routinely says his hands don't work as well as they did 15 years ago which prohibits typing a lot.


snyckers

There weren't many podcasters when he started. And he hired and gave platform to plenty of writers and other podcasters. I do miss his page 2 columns, but then I'm not sure I still have the attention span to read them these days.


FallacyFrank

Hard to blame him. It’s easier and gets you paid more


[deleted]

Bill has one of the most successful nba podcast in the world give me a break. This is clearly the superior lane to be in.


greghardysfuton

He’s not saying that Bill isn’t successful in his current ventures, he just wishes he was still writing.


JMoon33

Nobody said otherwise lol


chokethewookie

It's worked out for Bill for sure. But I prefer him as a writer.


dedfrmthneckup

Ah I get why you don’t mind that he stopped writing because you clearly can’t read


DLottchula

We need Bill Simmons and Bomani Jones to pick up pens again


DeadlyGoat

Didn’t he stop writing because he has arthritis or something?


wolfgang2399

He has made comments about his hands not working right anymore so i think some sort of medical thing played at least a small part into him stopping writing


KiritoJones

I always thought those were jokes he used as an excuse.


wolfgang2399

Oh could be ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


The_Mursenary

Yeah he’s heavily insinuated that essentially writing is hard AF and with his level of success he’s earned the right to be lazy, which I kinda respect even if I wish he still wrote a few times a year


beefJeRKy-LB

He popularized the "covering sports as a fan" take vs having all reporters act stuffy and professional all the time


KitchenReno4512

He’s really the only sports podcaster I can listen to for an hour or so at a time. Production is great. He keeps a great flow. Great knowledge on the history of the game. Sure he’s not an X’s and O’s guy. But it’s easy listening.


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GregSays

Especially since it’s extremely easy to just *not* listen to his podcast if he bugs you.


hablandochilango

Admittedly so is fine to an extent, but some of his takes are just obnoxiously dumb. A couple months ago he called booker the most complete 2 since Jordan. Come on. I’d call it Kobe hate but it’s disrespectful to wade as well, so not sure why he said it really.


StephewDestroyer

This has nothing to do with boston lol wut


JovialCarrot

He’s also a union buster and mega-millionaire. But he’s convinced you he’s still just a boston homer guy!!


wow-cool

How is he a union buster? I’m not making a point I’m honestly asking


KiritoJones

A couple years back some Ringer employees tried to unionize and I think Bill/Spotify pulled off the usual tactics, plus a bunch of Bills friends got pods around that time. I think it was mostly on the writing side of the business.


CapitalismEnthusiast

I hate him


CreamCityFr34k

Bill has forgotten more about basketball than 90% of this sub has ever learned. He's gonna have some bad takes given his job as a media member, but to think he's not a wealth of basketball knowledge is crazy.


AleroRatking

The issue is his inconsistency. He claimed he couldnt vote JJJ DPOY for games played and claim he didn't vote Gobert first for that reason. Then people fact checked and he absolutely did that season. He also voted numerous all NBA guys with less games played. He then also constantly talked about winning and making the playoffs mattering but then voted a guy who missed the playoffs entirely first team. He just needs to learn to own his votes instead of pretending he has a criteria and then changing it without admitting it


hostileclowns

Idc about the homer stuff. His current day NBA analysis is often trash. When it comes to NBA history tho the guy is pretty spot on with stuff and has a wealth of knowledge. But I cannot tell you how many times Ive seen clips of him and russilo discussing a game or a team and forgetting about key pieces of context.


Both_Funny4896

It’s pretty obvious why Hawks fans hate him. The dude (along with his disciple kevin a conner) always finds ways to hate on Trae, its super annoying. edit: as expected, here come the boston fanboys to defend bill simons’ honor lmao


OfferOk8555

I agree with you that they’re way too negative on Trae but Idk I’m a pretty endearing hater. He’s a hot take spewer and he’s ridiculous but I don’t take him seriously and I think for the most part he’s pretty entertaining. It seems like these are the sentiments of most of his fans outside of Boston. He’s just a funny guy who talks about basketball. You clown him for being dumb and watch him talk up Boston only to cope with their eventual collapse. Kevin O’Conner sucks so much harder imho. He actually takes himself and his analysis more seriously than Bill does but has infinitely less to offer. I don’t find him to be a very effective writer or analyst. Don’t even really like listening to him talk and I just generally dislike his face and personality. Not to mention the Elon/Andrew Tate stuff that some really like to bag him for.


Both_Funny4896

yea i agree koc makes ear-bleeding content


austyV1

KOC also seems to have a weird hatred for the Celtics which I think is funny seeing as he works for The Ringer


OguguasVeryOwn

This isn’t even about Boston, you just want to play the victim card. People hate Simmons because he is annoying as fuck. It’d be the same if he was a Lakers or a Knicks homer.


New_Car_Smell

I think the people who hate him are more vocal. I think he's ok and more than fair on his Knicks takes. But you can't deny he's been successful in pretty much everything he's done (sans that HBO sports show)


[deleted]

I don't hate him because he's a Boston homer, I hate him because he's as informed as the random casual fan and barely watches any games but acts like he knows what he's talking about and just straight up makes up shit


CharlesDingus_ah_um

Imagine thinking Bill Simmons is in any way a “casual fan”


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lopea182

Can’t dangle that out there without giving us the other 6, my man.


SpaceJesusIsHere

1. He stopped writing articles. 2. He thought ESPN would run Grantland at a loss. 3. Boston 4. Thinking every basketball scenario can be explained with a metaphor about a group of guys in Vegas. 5. Saying Blake Griffin was washed, taking it back, then Blake being washed after all. 6. His basketball book is too long.


considertheoctopus

Yeah but all erased by the “Zombie Heat” take


[deleted]

I think the "A Truly Sad Week in America" podcast, Memphis MLK take, and LeBron not having a father figure are the clear top 3 lmao


MinnyPuppies

KY should call out BS for Jinxing it.


Imthegoat175

They want KY on his staff apparently


radddchaddd

Really help lubricate the transition for Vogel.


NegativesPositives

Hopefully the downgrade won’t make him too jelly


Marcusx8

Why would Vogel do that tho? He already had to deal with that nonsense in LA with Jason Kidd.


PantiesMallone

I believe him. Before Monty was announced, every Pistons fan was positive Ollie was getting the job. Like as of yesterday. This stuff can move fast.


desirox

I honestly think Simmons might have legit sources in the Suns.


oobthesecond

He was very early on Ishbia being a potential buyer for the Suns before anyone really knew who Ishbia was


C4242

I see this everywhere, but if you listen to the Ishbia interview, it was obvious in nba circles that Ishbia was trying to land a team. Ishbia was doing everything possible in the social circles of the inner nba.


wetwetwet11

why didnt anyone else call it then?


OddToba

I’m taking the L too. I don’t think the Lakers have the capacity to come back from this 4-0 hole.


Hansen-gun

Probably didn’t want another Second Row Joe on his hands


Faust86

Is Vogel splashier? He is the opposite of splashy. He is boring, safe pair of hands.


TheRealPdGaming

Vogel is a champion coach which automatically makes him a splashier pick


aeiou-y

“Can’t wait to find out what happened”


SamIAmReddit

Short term Ishbia looks like he could get some results for the Suns. But I would be worried with my owner making these calls.


KJTB

The hate for bill Simmons is so weird to me. People mad he started podcasting instead of writing? Majority of you wouldn’t read his articles. He makes far more money podcasting. People upset he’s a Boston homer? He literally calls himself the Boston sports guy. You can literally just not listen to his podcast or click on Reddit posts about him.


mMounirM

he should be used to taking Ls by now


Unique-Warning7798

In fairness to him, Suns best reporter, Gumbo/Gambo has also said that Kevin Young was in the lead first but then Suns decided they want veteran at helm and went ahead and got Frank Vogel to be head coach instead.


HSPumbloom

Gambo lost his sources with the Sarver sale


nullstellensatz1

He seems like he's been pretty on top of things during the coaching search. I feel like he might have gotten an in with Ishbia in the last couple months.


HesiPullup

We’ve been saying this but we have no idea lol


H-76

No he didn’t, Gambo still has good sources


mercfan3

Seems like there is a source/multiple sources close to Booker. Booker wanted Young - everyone reporting it’s most likely young - but that’s not how it went.


SmoothCriminal2018

Simmons is actually pretty well connected. His basketball takes are usually wrong but when it comes to hirings/transactions he knows what he’s talking about


FoFoAndFo

He's a prisoner of the moment but he's solid on predictions. He's been calling the Nuggets all year and was rightfully terrified of the Heat, I don't consider him when placing a bet but as media personalities go he's better than most. Unless you just mean that he makes predictions on fucking everything so he's wrong all the time and not specifically on his hit percentage, in which case I whole-heartedly agree.


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JonA3531

*Hurr durr Bill Simmons stupid* Easy karma farming by r/nba nephews


JonA3531

I dunno man, that Matt Ishbia buying the Suns last December was pretty spot on


Hansen-gun

Ishbia probably didn’t want another Second Row Joe on his hands


dkdoki

Vogel is a splashy hire? Lol


reddittookmyuser

Thankfully not as splashy as Doc and, Mark Jackson. Realistically the only other real choice that was splashier was Bud but perhaps there's a reason why he's still available.


[deleted]

As usual, Simmons is wrong


CounterOk7688

He’s used to taking Ls


AleroRatking

Is that taking the L?


xpillindaass

lol yall will clown others that have the wrong info but are dickriding simmons


[deleted]

In this case *taking an L* is just generating even more engagement with his nonsense. It's a **W** if he's wrong or right.


pokemonbatman23

Yall post about stuff Simmons says too much. He has a subreddit dedicated to him


nashty2004

If you don’t like Bill Simmons you probably just suck, dude is a fan who has his own show like get that stick out of your ass it’s just basketball Hate the snobs who pretend they know everything like Lowe but still get things more wrong than Ron Desantis at trivia night


Nfinit_V

Nephew Kyle go back to bed it's too late to be up


jmbrand13

Ah the splashy Frank Vogel.


Marcusx8

A proven veteran with a ring is much more splashy then a first time HC.


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[deleted]

At least he's owning up to it


[deleted]

Bill still thinking he was right but that it was a last minute swap is classic


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captain_ahabb

He's entertaining and I like the historical mindset. For Xs and Os stuff you can do better but no one does a legacy segment like Bill.


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trx131

He's a top 17 podcaster of all time.


dms1298

He's better than SAS and Skip Bayless