Incredible news today - Zach is back! We break it down from every angle. Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 108! We bring on recurring guest Chenny (Episodes #102, #80, #75) to break down the interview heard 'round the sports world this week: LeBron on McAfee. This had wide ranging implications on sports and sports media, and we get into everything - including LeBron's specific choice to do this on McAfee, him being as open and uncut as we've ever heard him, his ripping of NBA media, and discussion of his relationship with MJ - could this even alter the GOAT conversation? Plus we reference Simmons throughout, laughing at his dislike of player pods and wonder if he'd have preferred LeBron mention him by name rather than ignore him. If you were captivated by this interview, today's pod is must listen.

Leave a 5-star review on Apple and I'll read it on the pod, and check out Chenny on Twitter and TikTok @ChennyBritt.

Welcome to Episode 107! We bring on a frequent contributor from r/BillSimmons - he's staying anonymous - for a classic r/BS Pod rip. We haven't had one in awhile and boy it feels great to be back.

We start off the show talking NBA vs. March Madness, with Bill Simmons leading the charge that you can't really enjoy both. We discuss the reasons for this increasing phenomenon, including as it relates to Simmons specifically and on a more societal level.

We next hit on Pardon My Take vs. Bill Simmons. The former is much more of a broad sports how vs. Bill doubling down on only the NBA and NFL - which is the better strategy? We discuss. Plus, PMT and Le Batard can laugh at themselves, which may be gaining them more fans over Bill, who simply won't.

We next hit on some Sliding Doors moments from Bill's career and talk about Bill's media hits of late (Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd) and how those are different than his podcasts with Ringer employees.

Hope you enjoy the show! Leave a 5-star review on Apple Pods and we'll read it next pod.

This week Around the Horn announced their last show will be May 23rd. Sports fans lit up Twitter with fond memories of growing up watching OG legends Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti, Tim Cowlishaw, J.A. Adande, Bill Plashcke, Kevin Blackistone, Jackie Mac, Bob Ryan and more banter on their screen every afternoon.

In today's show, we look back at what made the show great, and also diagnose and present theories on why the show was cancelled, likely driven by generating significantly less ratings than PTI.

There's been a lot of discussion about NBA ratings this season. Given my background in sports media, I discuss why this is misguided and that the NBA is actually in excellent shape. We discuss the new TV rights deal, how the media partners make money, what variables will be needed to judge the new deal, and the advantages that the NBA brings to NBC and Amazon that the NFL and MLB do not, including far greater cultural significance. Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 104! We bring on Mike (@SpringerProject) from Twitter for a classic r/BS Pod rip. We start off discussing Bill Simmons current events, with Mike actually defending the Termine & Eddie Johnson pod - wait, what?? Then we get into Mike's time at ESPN and discuss the formation of and disintegration of Grantland - this is must listen for any Grantland fans. Next we discuss where Bill ranks in the Pantheon of ESPN personalities, and we each give our all-time ranking for Bill in the ESPN Pyramid. We finish up with some r/BillSimmons discussion before predicting where Bill and his content goes from here.

Welcome to Episode 103! We bring on previous guests Mike (Episode 73) and Chanch (Episode 98) for a 3-man weave reviewing Katie Nolan's new podcast. It's a concept we've wanted to do for awhile - a podcast reviewing another podcast - and what better show to start with than someone who goes back deep in Bill Simmons lore and, in many ways, is attempting to do an evolutionary version of The Bill Simmons Podcast.

While discussing the show, we compare and contrast Katie with Bill, and discuss what we liked about Katie's pod, what she can improve, and the niche we think she needs to hit for the podcast to be successful. And as is common with The r/BillSimmons Podcast, we touch on many aspects of the sports media world including Grantland/The Ringer, Barstool, subreddits, people who are too terminally online, and a lot more.

We wrap up the pod discussing some of Bill's NFL takes and laugh at how ridiculous Guess the Lines and Million Dollar Picks have become. If you like the pod, check out Mike on Twitter (@PokerPolitics) and Chanch on TikTok (@perchnches).

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