Bill Simmons talks to Bob Ryan about the Miami Heat's winning streak and later calls JackO to discuss the Yankees and Red Sox.
To listen to this podcast, you can download it on iTunes here or go to the ESPN.com PodCenter here.
Bill Simmons kicks off the 2013 baseball talk by calling his buddy JackO to discuss the poor state of the Yankees universe.
To listen to this podcast, you can download it on iTunes here or go to the ESPN.com PodCenter here.
Terry Francona joins Bill to talk about his days with the Red Sox and his future in Cleveland. Then Bill calls JackO to talk Red Sox, Yankees, and Manti Te’o.
Jonah Keri and Bill Simmons talk about MLB teams becoming fiscally responsible and the spending power of the Dodgers. Then Bill calls JackO to talk Yankees and Cooperstown.
In Part 1 of 2, Bill Simmons and guest co-host Joe House call up Cousin Sal to guess the Week 8 lines, then discuss discouraging wins from the Patriots and Cowboys and an encouraging loss from the Redskins. In Part 2 of 2, Bill Simmons and guest co-host Joe House call up JackO to discuss the downfall of the 2012 Yankees, the future of Alex Rodriguez, and the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.
JackO and Zach Lowe join Bill to talk about Raul Ibanez's big night in New York and the upcoming NBA season.
JackO joins Bill to break down the exciting finish of the MLB season and discuss the 2012 Red Sox.
Bill dials up his friend and Yankees die-hard fan JackO to gloat about the recent collapse of the Bronx Bombers.
This weekend, the Yankees and Nationals did battle in Washington, D.C., in a three-game series. Whose correspondence on the duel would we most like to read? Frequent B.S. Report guests and friends of the Triangle John "JackO" O'Connell and Joe House, that's who! We asked JackO and House to go back-and-forth about the series, the state of their respective teams, and whether they see the two squaring off in the World Series. Take it away, guys.
JackO: Housie, my man! How you doing? Good to talk with you … I guess. Every time I do one of these e-mail exchanges about the Yankees, I seem to jinx them. But with us being friends, me being a Yankees fan and you rooting for the Nats, this just seems like the right thing to do. (Damn that evil genius Simmons; even his jinxes make sense to me now.) As I started watching this series it brought back memories of 1994, when the Yankees had the best record in the American League and the Nats (then the Expos) had the best record in the National League. Maybe the winner of this series can get the World Series trophy that was never awarded in '94? Yeah, probably not. The Nats look good this year, though — great young talent. I watched them a couple of weeks ago when they did the Lord's work by sweeping the Red Sox at Fenway. You've got to be psyched about Stephen Strasburg, and Bryce Harper, and the team as a whole — yes?
What, two Grantland columns from Rafe Bartholomew and Bill Barnwell/Jay Kang weren't enough Pacquiao-Bradley coverage for you? You wanted more? How 'bout some good old-fashioned conspiracy talk (and a breakdown of the fight) with our pal Cousin Sal? We even threw in a little NBA Finals talk for good measure. After that, I called my buddy JackO (30-minute mark) to discuss the fading Red Sox, the surging Yankees, NBA fashion stylists, Mad Men's season finale (don't worry, there was a spoiler alert) and why JackO should be watching Game of Thrones.
We're on a B.S. Report binge! After Thursday's two-parter with Bill Barnwell and Joe House, I kept the momentum going on Friday morning — with Game 7 of the Celtics-Sixers series looming, I grabbed my friend Sean Grande (Boston's radio play-by-play guy) for a half-hour to help me break down the series and discuss things like "Will they break 150 points combined?" and "Does this even matter when Miami is probably killing either team next round?" After that, I cheered myself up by calling my buddy JackO to discuss recent rumors that his beloved Yankees might be for sale. We also talked about the Red Sox, the AL East and even belted out a few minutes of hard-core playoff hockey talk! Fine, it was totally soft-core. Enjoy the three-day weekend, everybody.
We had an action-packed B.S. Report today: I called my buddy JackO (die-hard Yankees fan) to see who's more bummed out about their team right now, him or me. Then I called Grantland's Mark Titus (right around the 30-minute mark) to discuss the feedback he's been getting for Wednesday's fascinating feature about Greg Oden. And finally, I called my dad (55-minute mark) to see if he's freaking out about Game 6 (Celtics-Hawks), as well as the fact that the league assigned longtime Celtics nemesis Bill Kennedy as one of the three referees.
When Mariano Rivera tore his ACL shagging flies last night in Kansas City, you knew two things would happen: Yankee fans would freak out, and we'd pry my buddy JackO (a die-hard Yankee fan) away from the ledge for an emergency B.S. Report podcast. We also grabbed Grantland's Jonah Keri to discuss the implications of Rivera's injury on the AL pennant race and give us a snapshot of both leagues heading into the first weekend of May.
Can you hear that siren blaring? That's right, it's the panic alarm for Red Sox and Yankees fans!!! You knew I'd be calling my buddy JackO (a diehard Yankees fan) after our teams stumbled to dueling 0-3 starts. We decided that one of us was more depressed than the other (I won't spoil it for you), and then I complained about Bobby V. for a while. The conversation turned out to be so depressing, we were forced to call not one but two fans of the 3-0 Mets — our old friend Cousin Sal and my buddy Gus — just so the listeners wouldn't be depressed for the rest of the day. Sal and I also threw in some NBA/NFL gambling talk, and Gus and Sal and I spent a little too much time talking about the fact that it's apparently impossible for a Mets pitcher to throw a no-hitter.
Science still hasn't developed a way to stab someone over e-mail, so last Sunday, Bill Simmons did the next best thing: "I'd like to get the band back together," he wrote, and I felt an immediate, sharp pain in my gut.
"The band" was me and his friend JackO. We're both Yankees fans, and Simmons wanted us to send some e-mails back and forth previewing the season. The last time we did this was during Game 5 of the ALDS, when the Yankees' season ended in a loss to Detroit. The result should have given Simmons all the schadenfreude he needed for the next decade or so, but now he wants us to do it again. The jinx potential is very high here, but now the stakes are an entire season rather than a single game. I couldn't say no, but my sentiments basically lined up with JackO, who had the best possible response: "I'm available, but if something bad happens to a key Yankee, then I'm taking you trampolining, Simmons."
Sorry, Yankees.
