The Ringer is Live

The good thing about IPAs is that so many people are making them now that they've started to figure out how to make them taste good.

 

What BS. One of my favorite beers of all time was an IPA from a brewery that shut down in 1998 or so. I just had a Harpoon IPA for the first time in years and it was great.

 

I've gotten pretty specific in my IPA tastes anymore. I'm a citrus hops guy. The nice thing is that there are so many hop varieties that it's a subgenre all its own.

 

Self-made online writing star, bestselling author, No. 1 podcast, producer of an amazing series of documentaries, creator of two major sites, TV show, multi-millionaire, decent hairline. I wish I could be so fucking terrible.

 

Hell I don't even drink, I think I only said IPAs b/c it sounded more writerly.

He is certainly brighter than most of us, and he's made money for his circle. And it is true the circle will always seem small from the outside. But I don't see The Ringer hiring out-of-work veteran sportswriters, or older sportswriters who actually believe in, you know, INTERVIEWING PEOPLE to either augment their thesis or flat-out change it. I see it hiring young, generally out of college people who have jogged to third base, all the while believing Simmons' brand of sportswriting is the only brand of sportswriting.

The Ringer seems to be another Grantland, faux insider stuff written by outsiders, except this time with a token attempt at taking on some of 538's audience (I'm sure everyone wants to read about the election of 2016 as filtered thru Bill Simmons) and some unfunny and unoriginal listicles thrown in.

Do we need to know five ways Mets fans could greet Chase Utley? Or a day-after piece on five ways Barry Bonds can rehab his image? Do we need more think pieces on Kevin Durant's free agency, written, as the rest of them, by people who have no idea what Durant and his inner circle is thinking? Or on what LeBron listens to and how it may or may not reflect his mood (with links to stories that appeared on ESPN.com, a true LOL moment)? Haven't we gotten over reading inside baseball stuff on Hollywood that is intended to make us feel like we're on the inside, even though neither reader nor writer actually is on the inside? I thought the piece on the NFL resisting information was interesting, except too short and with only one source (Ron Rivera). That's not a good trend.

Nothing I've seen is going to keep me coming back. Big deal, I'm not in the target demo, but I've sensed from younger friends that they're worn out on Simmons too. He has made a lot of money by doing a lot of different things, all with the same tone. I'm sure the show and podcasts will do fine but my guess is The Ringer dies a pretty quick and quiet death.

 

Maybe a beer or six will do you some good. Jesus.

 

I'm very sorry for having a dissenting opinion. I'll just allow my account to lapse again.

 

Sweet!!!

 

Only aging frat boys and people who want to be hired by Simmons speak glowingly of the guy.

 

I was never a frat boy.

 

They got them up there? I legitimately don't know.

 

I asked the Canuck I live with and she says yeah.