The Ringer is Live

[typefitter]

Last I heard Greg Howard, late of Deadspin of NYT, was living under a rock in Australia. If he ever pops back up, I'll be among the many waiting to whack-a-mole his ass. First-class POS.

I wasn't overly familiar with a lot of those guys, but every time I see one pop back up (like Rembert) I re-read the list to see if I now know more of them. Like, damn, Philip Meyer? I own "The Son" and was planning to read it. Now, uh, not so much.

I didn't know Howard had left the Times. I thought about the list again the other day when Tomas Rios's ex went viral with the following tweet, which is kind of amazing for its awfulness:



I imagined he was just starting to think about surfacing and went, No, no, back underground I go. She accused him of chasing her and her 4-year-old son with a knife. He was also always the first to join into a Twitter dogpile when some dude stepped in it. That list came out and he was a ghost.

 

[CD Boogie]

I didn't know Howard had left the Times. I thought about the list again the other day when Tomas Rios's ex went viral with the following tweet, which is kind of amazing for its awfulness:



I imagined he was just starting to think about surfacing and went, No, no, back underground I go. She accused him of chasing her and her 4-year-old son with a knife. He was also always the first to join into a Twitter dogpile when some dude stepped in it. That list came out and he was a ghost.

Whoa...

The tiramisu thing...is she trying to be funny? Because that's funny to me, in a weird, twisted way. And was there a follow-up? Seems like an odd segue to go from outing a dude for taking credit for your dessert creation and then going all caps about THE INTOLERABLE VIOLENCE.

 

[typefitter]

Whoa...

The tiramisu thing...is she trying to be funny? Because that's funny to me, in a weird, twisted way. And was there a follow-up? Seems like an odd segue to go from outing a dude for taking credit for your dessert creation and then going all caps about THE INTOLERABLE VIOLENCE.

It turned into a thread. I think it's a real story, not a joke. I can see how that would be absolutely maddening. A gesture of your love that he then turns into a way to flirt with other women? I'd cut him to pieces.

EDIT: It got 55,000 likes. It obviously struck a chord.

 

[CD Boogie]

It turned into a thread. I think it's a real story, not a joke. I can see how that would be absolutely maddening. A gesture of your love that he then turns into a way to flirt with other women? I'd cut him to pieces.

EDIT: It got 55,000 likes. It obviously struck a chord.

I'm thinking about the behind the scenes in the creation of this photo. Unless he has long arms and is double-jointed, this was not a selfie, but a staged photo. Then again, maybe it was taken by a wildlife photographer, whose lucky day it was to nab at at-risk latino male in its natural environment. Man what a douche.

 

[typefitter]

I'm thinking about the behind the scenes in the creation of this photo. Unless he has long arms and is double-jointed, this was not a selfie, but a staged photo. Then again, maybe it was taken by a wildlife photographer, whose lucky day it was to nab at at-risk latino male in its natural environment. Man what a douche.

View attachment 5784

I chuckle a little at "I will never stop going in." Till now, I guess, big shooter.

 

[playthrough]

Hadn't noticed that Rembert Browne was writing for The Ringer

2 Chainz on Longevity, Working With Everybody, and LeBron James

Guess there's still hope for guys who were on The ****ty Men in Media List -- and labeled in red, no less, for their egregious alleged offenses.

****ty Media Men

Had never heard of this list. Relieved to not personally know anyone on it.

 

[Pilot]

I don't think the podcast works at all when Kevin Clark and Kevin O'Connor are on. And he put both of them on the same show. It was a real slog.

I have about 12 hours of podcast content I digest per day while working my jobs and that was a really, really slow couple of hours.

Hey, I still listen to probably just over 50% of his personal podcasts... sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the season and what else is in my feed. That said, there are some things that really get old.

The two biggest things I find annoying:
1. The hilarious lengths he goes to turn anything into a conversation about the NBA, the Celtics, the Pats, whatever. (Less the Pats in this particular thing, but, still sometimes.) It's always like
Tom Hanks: Making Saving Private Ryan was very difficult. We had to practice a lot.
BS: Oh, yeah, I was thinking about how that's just like the 2016 Celtics, ya know? They had to practice a lot at the end of the season and they were like a band of brothers there, and they built up a lot of good karma, because you know *insert weird fan superstition here*, so it's a lot like Saving Private Ryan.
Tom Hanks: Um, ok?

I'm not sure I've heard a non-sports interview where at some point he didn't awkwardly steer it to sports, primarily the NBA.

2. It annoys me how hard the other Ringer staff tries to act like fans. (I may just be wrong on this one, FYI.) I feel like everyone in the office he has on has to have a passionate rooting interest, and they have to loudly proclaim that interest, it has to be a defining aspect of their personality. Mallory Rubin LOVES the Ravens and HAAAATTEES Joe Flacco, for instance. I mean, ok? Probably she does. But a lot of times with other guests it just feels forced. Like if on my first day, they were like, ok, what's your team? "Uh, the Royals?" Who, to be perfectly honest, I really only go real deep with when they're good. Average years, I might not watch 5 games. But, I feel like if I were at the Ringer I'd get pulled on the air and have to act like my whole summers revolved around them and that I really took some emotional abuse when they weren't good. Just feels like a put on.

 

[CD Boogie]

Hey, I still listen to probably just over 50% of his personal podcasts... sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the season and what else is in my feed. That said, there are some things that really get old.

The two biggest things I find annoying:
1. The hilarious lengths he goes to turn anything into a conversation about the NBA, the Celtics, the Pats, whatever. (Less the Pats in this particular thing, but, still sometimes.) It's always like
Tom Hanks: Making Saving Private Ryan was very difficult. We had to practice a lot.
BS: Oh, yeah, I was thinking about how that's just like the 2016 Celtics, ya know? They had to practice a lot at the end of the season and they were like a band of brothers there, and they built up a lot of good karma, because you know *insert weird fan superstition here*, so it's a lot like Saving Private Ryan.
Tom Hanks: Um, ok?

I'm not sure I've heard a non-sports interview where at some point he didn't awkwardly steer it to sports, primarily the NBA.

2. It annoys me how hard the other Ringer staff tries to act like fans. (I may just be wrong on this one, FYI.) I feel like everyone in the office he has on has to have a passionate rooting interest, and they have to loudly proclaim that interest, it has to be a defining aspect of their personality. Mallory Rubin LOVES the Ravens and HAAAATTEES Joe Flacco, for instance. I mean, ok? Probably she does. But a lot of times with other guests it just feels forced. Like if on my first day, they were like, ok, what's your team? "Uh, the Royals?" Who, to be perfectly honest, I really only go real deep with when they're good. Average years, I might not watch 5 games. But, I feel like if I were at the Ringer I'd get pulled on the air and have to act like my whole summers revolved around them and that I really took some emotional abuse when they weren't good. Just feels like a put on.

Ya mean like a late 40s man acting like he's all into Road Rules and the WWE? Simmons is all about which way the wind blows and then trying to be the biggest fart in the wind. He cares -- or acts like he cares -- about so much **** that no sane person should care about.

 

[typefitter]

Had never heard of this list. Relieved to not personally know anyone on it.

There is a name on the list not totally dissimilar to mine that, on first scanning it, made my heart jump like I'd been electrocuted.

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

Hey, I still listen to probably just over 50% of his personal podcasts... sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the season and what else is in my feed. That said, there are some things that really get old.

The two biggest things I find annoying:
1. The hilarious lengths he goes to turn anything into a conversation about the NBA, the Celtics, the Pats, whatever. (Less the Pats in this particular thing, but, still sometimes.) It's always like
Tom Hanks: Making Saving Private Ryan was very difficult. We had to practice a lot.
BS: Oh, yeah, I was thinking about how that's just like the 2016 Celtics, ya know? They had to practice a lot at the end of the season and they were like a band of brothers there, and they built up a lot of good karma, because you know *insert weird fan superstition here*, so it's a lot like Saving Private Ryan.
Tom Hanks: Um, ok?

I'm not sure I've heard a non-sports interview where at some point he didn't awkwardly steer it to sports, primarily the NBA.

2. It annoys me how hard the other Ringer staff tries to act like fans. (I may just be wrong on this one, FYI.) I feel like everyone in the office he has on has to have a passionate rooting interest, and they have to loudly proclaim that interest, it has to be a defining aspect of their personality. Mallory Rubin LOVES the Ravens and HAAAATTEES Joe Flacco, for instance. I mean, ok? Probably she does. But a lot of times with other guests it just feels forced. Like if on my first day, they were like, ok, what's your team? "Uh, the Royals?" Who, to be perfectly honest, I really only go real deep with when they're good. Average years, I might not watch 5 games. But, I feel like if I were at the Ringer I'd get pulled on the air and have to act like my whole summers revolved around them and that I really took some emotional abuse when they weren't good. Just feels like a put on.

He has the power to talk about whatever he wants and he's using it. The more national he's become, the more local his focus has been.

Also, from 2005...

Note: I never mention her in columns only because I hate when people use sports columns to talk about their kids. Nobody cares. I'm well aware of this.

And yes, I promise not to mention my kid in this space again unless there's an exceptionally good and relevant reason ... although I've been fighting off the urge to rant about the "Teletubbies," "Elmo's Potty Time" and "Bert & Ernie" for nine months now. I'm going to snap at some point. Consider yourself warned.

I have yet to enjoy partaking in "The Parent Corner" portion of the podcast.

 

[Webster]

His podcast with Rusillo was at the 25 minute point of talking only about the Celtics before I tapped out. Brutal.

 

[CD Boogie]

Because the Harvey Weinstein thread is closed and we were most recently discussing this here:

Stephen Elliott’s Lawsuit Just Got a Major Blow

Judge Rules ‘Sh*tty Media Men’ List Creator Can’t Be Sued for Emotional Distress. The judge also seemed skeptical of Stephen Elliott’s defamation claims.

 

[PaperClip529]

I don't read much of the Ringer content, although I have bookmarked the piece that Lindbergh just published about old scouting reports. I enjoy their Press Box and MLB podcasts and I might get back into Wilmore's if I can ever find more time. I can only get through about a 1/3 of the Simmons podcasts, however. I won't listen to his celebrity interviews and his friends are hit (Sal, Jack-o) and miss (House, House and House). His "take me seriously but don't take anything I say seriously" schtick with Russillo is also getting tiresome.

 

[LanceyHoward]

I really like Mark Titus on the college basketball pod . I find Michael Lombardi's insights interesting on GM Street even though I know that he is frequently full of it. But it provides an insight the thinking of NFL front office executives, who are also frequently full of it.

But Tate Frazier is the co-host and frequently literally can not be comprehended at times. He tries to set the scene with long, incoherent paragraphs. A host of a national podcast should be able to avoid the use of the phrase "you know". And Frazier is from North Carolina and works in references all the time.

The NFL podcast is very good.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

Tate Frazier's Coach K impression overcomes any faults he may have as a podcaster.

 

[CD Boogie]

So apparently Ringer writers have to subscribe to Simmons's idiotic pet theories like the Ewing theory...

BTW, Norman Chad in his WaPo column yesterday said Simmons was a megalomaniacal knuckle-dragger on par with Portnoy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...7902b0-41ff-11e9-9361-301ffb5bd5e6_story.html

The money shot:

Portnoy is the latest in a long line of New England sports folk to morph into multimedia. They used to be kinder and gentler, like Bud Collins, Lesley Visser, Bob Ryan, Peter Gammons and Jackie MacMullan. But these young guns nowadays — actually, they’re not that young; the Boston sports guy is pushing 50 and Portnoy is almost 42 — are megalomaniacal knuckle-draggers.
​

He doesn't even call Simmons by name. And he lowercased sports guy (or their copy desk did), which would be confusing to anyone who had never heard of him.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Ewing Theory is bull****.

Should be the Dale Murphy Theory.

 

[CD Boogie]

Ewing Theory is bull****.

Should be the Dale Murphy Theory.

Ouch

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

The Ringer is now unionized and will be represented by the Writers Guild of America

The letter: Digital Writers Union | Ringer Union

The twitter: Ringer Union (@RingerUnion) | Twitter

Haven't seen any responses from Bill Simmons on these developments yet.

 

[Webster]

Yep, these are my scabs.