#99: Why Bill Remains So Popular Despite a Content Drop-off, is Pardon My Take the Evolutionary Page 2 Bill, Reacting to Ric Bucher's Comments, and a Theory on Why Bill's Takes Have Become So Wonky

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9M ago 1:33:43

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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.

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