Welcome to Episode 102! We bring back 3-time guests Flex and Chenny to react to the insane Luka trade and epic masterpiece from Russillo, Bill and Rob Mahoney, who recorded an emergency 3-man weave as soon as the trade happened Saturday night.

We break it all down: the trade, the pod, Bill's juice, Russillo's virtuoso performance (yes, this is his Apex Mountain), Bill letting Russillo cook while bringing the best of his NBA historian mind, and commend Rob Mahoney on a job well done in the biggest moment of his career. If you're an NBA fan who listened to Bill's emergency pod, this episode's for you.

Follow Flex (@flexfc) and Chenny (@ChennyBritt) on Twitter and check out their previous r/BS Pod episodes (#80, #79, #75)

Welcome to Episode #101! The Podfather is staying at Spotify, and thus we break down all the angles. Plus, reports indicate he may work with ESPN again, and we assess whether Zach Lowe is now planning on joining The Ringer. Enjoy!

Welcome to episode 100! We bring on 3-time guest Chris (Episodes 93 & 95) and first time guest Aaron (who's pod I guested on last week) to discuss, so far, the sports media story of the year: Big Cat grew up a Boston sports fan. That's right, the Pardon My Take co-host grew up right outside of Boston and only started rooting for Chicago teams after college. While this was known by some, it blew up recently with the help of Kirk Minihane, and the rest was history.

We break down every angle of the story, with Aaron providing an excellent Barstool perspective being a long-time consumer of their content pre-dating Big Cat joining the company, while Chris is a Chicago fan and frequent Pardon My Take listener. We also bring Bill Simmons into the mix, including how Big Cat has failed his "rules for being a sports fan" by switching teams, made more interesting by the fact that Big Cat, in many ways, has carried the torch that Page 2 Bill Simmons lit in the early-2000s.

If you like the show, follow the guys on Twitter (Chris: @CT_WIU; Aaron: @tobinology218), and check out my appearance on Aaron's podcast (For The Love of the Game) and Chris's two r/BS Pod appearances.

For the Love of the Game: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/for-the-love-of-the-game/id1386844352?i=1000683521741

Welcome to Episode 99! We bring on @T_sizzle71 from Twitter for a classic r/BS Pod show. We've focused on NBA ratings for the last couple episodes and had a welcome return to this podcast's roots talking all things Bill Simmons.

We start off discussing our backgrounds with Bill, both finding him on ESPN.com in the early 2000s and listening to "Eye of the Sports Guy" in 2007 before it was changed to "The BS Report". Is there a Bill Simmons of 2025 and if a younger Bill came up now, would he become as popular?

We next discuss the issues we're currently finding with the podcast including Guess the Lines and then compare it and the overall BS Pod to Pardon My Take - are they the true evolutionary Page 2 Bill rather than 2025 Ringer Bill Simmons? We discuss what they're doing better than Bill to make them the top sports podcast today.

Next, we speculate on how Bill's audience has changed over the years - as he's lost some long-time fans, plenty keep listening out of comfort and familiarity. He also brings in new NBA and Rewatchables fans, but can the younger generations relate to him? And is he using too many Ringer people as guests? We discuss whether Bill should be doing podcast mailbags and why he probably isn't despite the fans wanting it.

T then zags and defends Any Given Wednesday, after we called it the worst HBO show of all-time in our recent podcast deep dive, and so we #EmbraceDebate.

We next get into Bill being annoyed with many people (including myself!) who have been calling out Bill's takes - he should just embrace the fact that he gives hot takes and will be wrong often - especially because he used to rip other sports media figures back in his Digital City Boston and early ESPN days.

We hit on the Ric Bucher comments and then I spring a new theory on why Bill's sports takes have gotten so wonky lately, and we finish up with a call to action for Bill to record fewer, but higher quality podcasts as his career winds down.

If you like the show, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and we'll read the review on the next pod.

Welcome to Episode 98! We bring on Chanch and Kyle from TikTok, who are brothers in real life, for another classic r/BS Pod 3-man weave.

We start off talking our history with Bill Simmons (0:00-9:15) before Chanch and Kyle introduce their foolproof way to fix the NBA (9:15-58:30). They've been perfecting this idea for over a decade, which primarily involves a radical schedule change and also introduces international competition and switching up the current salary cap & max contract structures.

Next we discuss Zach Lowe (58:30-1:17:15) and his impact on the NBA. The bros believe Zach and his analytics crew and fans have ruined basketball and should atone for his sins. A scorching take, for sure, but perhaps a useful alternative perspective in 2024 when NBA fans, including Bill Simmons, are watching fewer games as the sport is less aesthetically pleasing.

We finish up the pod (1:17:15-end) talking more about the state of the NBA, comment on r/BillSimmons & r/NBA, and predict how people will react to the pod.

If you liked the show, follow Chanch (@perchanches) and Kyle (@kartfantasysports) on TikTok and also check out @rbillsimmonspodcast where I've started to post entertaining Bill Simmons and r/BS Pod clips.

Welcome to Episode 97, where we bring back r/BS Pod favorites JF (Episodes 71 & 83) and TikTokInvestors (Episode 27) for a classic 3-man weave. We discuss the topic that's taken over NBA Media: Why are NBA ratings down? JF & TikTok expand on a variety of reasons highlighted by the NBA Twitter community but also detail several additional reasons that we haven't seen mentioned much. Some are within the NBA's control, some aren't, but overall we agree - if this continues, it's likely that we will eventually have changes to improve the NBA product. 

If you liked the episode, follow JF (@Window_Cleaner) and TikTok (@TikTokInvestors) on Twitter and be sure to check out their previous r/BS Pod episodes.

We review the history of Bill Simmons and JJ Redick, dating back to 2010, that's led to Bill severely doubting the 2024 Lakers and saying JJ was a lunatic for taking the job - and why he's likely infuriated at their hot start.

Welcome to Episode 95! We bring back Doug from Episode 70 and Chris from Episode 93 for a timely 3-man weave.

We start off discussing the recent Ringer news: Why we like these additions, and how they should fit into and improve their NBA and NFL coverage. The Ringer's NBA roster is now robust - do they even need Zach Lowe? And how is their NFL roster with McShay added, but still missing Robert Mays and Kevin Clark - is there another move coming?

We also contrast these hires by Bill with ESPN's current strategy of going all-in on hot take artists like Kendrick Perkins, and give kudos to Bill for his Podcast GM skills and updated vision for The Ringer. We also pose the question - would Ringer fans prefer these 4 additions, or Zach Lowe alone?

We then segue into Guess the Lines - which we all agree is in Nadir Canyon. Can it be fixed? We break down the struggles and offer our suggestions for improvements. We think they need a format change, including cutting the recap down and bringing on guest line guessers. Also, did Bill & Sal overcorrect by making the pod more of a recap show in response to Pardon My Take's success?

We close the episode discussing Bill's future - it certainly appears far more likely that he's going to stay at Spotify now. What would Bill leaving The Ringer even look like - and does Bill want that after this recent news? Probably not.

Enjoy, and check out Episode 70 and 93 if you haven't listened yet for more of Doug and Chris!

Welcome to Episode 94! We break down The Ringer bringing on Todd McShay, Kirk Goldsberry, Dave Jacoby and Joel Anderson, including:

— Why these hires make a lot of sense

— What this says about the evolution of podcasting

— Why Bill is more likely to re-sign with Spotify now

— Why Zach Lowe is still a long shot to sign with Bill

Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 93! We bring on Chris from Twitter (@tbrodude) to dive into Bill's new Vince McMahon doc on Netflix. Over the course of the show we answer several questions, including:

- Our grade on an A-F scale and vs. 30 for 30s and Bill's Andre the Giant HBO doc

- How various groups (hardcore fans, casuals) are viewing the doc, and who the doc was really made for

- Was this a takedown of Vince? Could it have gone farther? Would Netflix/WWE have even allowed that?

- How WWE and Netflix come out looking

- Bill's impact on the aesthetics and production

- What was Bill's objective and did he achieve it?

- Why wasn't Nick Khan, WWE President and frequent BS Pod guest, mentioned once in the doc?

- Was Bill accurate in his promotion of the doc - was it extremely entertaining?

- How we think the doc probably changed over the years

- Winners & Losers