Bill Simmons started the Ringer back in 2016 after a long, tumultuous divorce with ESPN. Like many middle-aged sports nuts, I grew up loving Simmons on Page 2 and then Grantland, ignoring his blatant Boston bias because he was funny and clever. Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s Bill, but I can’t listen to him anymore. I still find myself reading the website though. Increasingly, I don’t click the links for entertainment or information, I click to get angry.1 Michael Pina scoffs at the Sixers, Steven Ruiz can’t hide his smug loathing of the Eagles, and anti-Philadelphia opinions permeate the website as a whole.2 Sometimes it’s blatant, sometimes its passive aggressive, but it’s always there.
I figure, if I am going to read it and get angry at it, I might as well write about it, right? Anytime they are hypocritical, dismissive, or downright a-holes about one of our teams, I’ll call them out on it. Periodically, and possibly weekly throughout the football season, I am going to chronicle all of their written negativity to satisfy my own sense of self-satisfaction. We’ll see about the podcasts though,3 I don’t know if I can put myself through that torture.4
Title: The Next Generation of NFL Play Callers is Here
Steven Ruiz and Diante Lee begin their preview of the NFL’s new offensive coordinators by doing what the outlet does best, gassing up Sean McVay. He and fellow Ringer centerfold Kyle Shanahan apparently invented coaching trees and the NFL is embarrassing itself with its pruning because only those two coaches and their “collective stranglehold on the NFL” are capable of winning in this league.
First up on the list, Sean Mannion of the Eagles. “After striking out on their preferred OC candidates this offseason, the Eagles settled on the inexperienced Mannion…” Yikes! Sounds like they really like the hire. Hey, I get it. They are going to be tough on the first-year guys without much experience. Except that’s not what they do at all. David Blough is profiled next for Washington. “Expect his offense to look more like what we’ve seen out of Chicago, Detroit, and Minnesota in recent seasons.” Excuse me? Why are the Eagles dinged for “inexperience” while Washington is now compared to some of the better offenses in the NFL?
Potential problems with changing everything about every offense Jayden Daniels has ever run are dismissed as “growing pains” while Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts still can’t throw over the middle of the field. They do fake catch themselves sarcastically saying that “video evidence exists” of him making the throws but then take him down by saying that he can’t actually read a zone defense. There’s even more sarcasm by quoting Lane Johnson labeling Sean Mannion a mad scientist and saying “lesser” QBs have been able to learn this offense insinuating that they don’t think Hurts can. A one off reading could claim I’m reading into this, but not with the Ringer. This is how they talk about Jalen Hurts and the Eagles.
Title: 2026 Ringer Preseason Fantasy Football Rankings 2026
There isn’t too much meat on this bone, but that didn’t stop The Ringer from taking a passive shot at Jalen Hurts. In defense of ranking AJ Brown as the #7 overall receiver, he’s described as a, “talented diva whose effort waned but was then traded to a team with a better overall passer and offensive coordinator.” While I won’t denounce the upgrade over Kevin Patullo, what kind of upgrade is Drake Maye? Was it his incredible Super Bowl performance they are talking about or that AJ Brown is coming off dismal 17 game averages of 93 catches, 1400 yards, and 9 TDs with Jalen Hurts?
Title: The 5 Archetypes of the Modern NFL QB
Yes, they rank Christian Gonzalez over Quinyon Mitchell and even put CG in the name of the link, but that hair splitting is not my complaint here. One of the archetypes is The Chess Piece, “the players who blur the lines between cornerback, safety, and linebacker.” Naturally, this is where I would expect the heaping praise for 1st Team All-Pro CB Cooper DeJean. Ok, I see Devon Witherspoon, Trent McDuffie, and…wait, where’s Coop?
There was a little disclaimer: “Note: We are not including players like Cooper DeJean, Derwin James, or Jalen Ramsey here because their primary position is safety.” Well, that’s news to everyone! While Derwin James has been a safety his whole career and Jalen Ramsey moved there with the Steelers, DeJean was literally an All Pro at CB last year. While he may see some snaps at safety he is in not uncertain terms NOT primarily a safety. How in the world can you not write about Cooper DeJean when talking about defensive chess pieces? They just didn’t want to write about a 2nd Eagle.
Title: Winners and Losers of the NBA Offseason
This is from before LeBron James signed in Philadelphia (though Michael Pina audibly scoffed at the signing as a guest with Zach Lowe on his podcast), but Michael Pina can’t stop himself from bashing the Sixers for getting Jaylen Brown. He even tries to stop himself by saying that you can defend the trade based on getting off of Paul George‘s contract and getting a 29-year-old All-Star in return, but then just torches the formerly beloved Celtic as ruining everything that’s good with the Sixers including the absurdly bogus claim that he will stunt the growth of V.J. Edgecombe. He calls it a “tepid” win for the Sixers just to get off the Paul George contract.
Of course, he then praises the Celtics for getting George and a possible bounce back season that they could easily flip for stars like Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Evan Mobley, Bam Adebayo, and Jalen Williams. Essentially, he bashes the Sixers for getting better and praises the Celtics for getting worse.
Title: The NBA, Ranked: The Top 100 Players
This is from right around the NBA Finals, so pre- Jaylen Brown and LeBron James. Now I know rankings are made for engagement baiting and are subjective, but I can’t get past the hypocrisy in ranking Joel Embiid #43. They say he is an “all-time talent” but then rank him behind Aaron Gordon and Desmond Bane. Their reasoning is that he is always injured. Ok. I’m not going to deny that. At least they are taking everyone down a peg for that reason. Oh, wait!, They aren’t doing that at all!
Coming in at #37 on the list is Lauri Markkanen. The most games he has played in his 9 season career is 68 as a rookie and he regularly plays in just a little over half. Then there is LaMelo Ball at #33 who they say is “beset by constant injuries.” Who has played more games over the last 5 seasons, Ball or Embiid? Yup, Embiid, and that’s not counting playoffs. Does that make Ball an “all-time talent” too or can we just admit that was lip service?
Ok, Markkanen and Ball are least younger, so maybe that plays into this, right? Wrong again! I’m not saying Embiid as a better all-time player than Stephen Curry by any means, but over the last 7 years, Curry has only played 43 more games than Embiid. Curry is 6 years older than Embiid and coming off a season where they played essentially the same number of games. Curry is ranked 10th. I don’t understand. If it isn’t age and it isn’t injuries and it isn’t “all-time talent” then what exactly is this ranking?
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Look, I can’t stand Emmanuel Acho and others like him constantly spewing Jalen Hurts negativity to make a name for themselves. I’m sure I am doing that here to some extent. Similarly, I run a biased Philadelphia-based website. I’m not trying to claim otherwise though like The Ringer. There, now I can sleep better at night.
Photo: Spotify, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
All articles courtesy of The Ringer
- I grew up with my dad turning on Fox News just to get angry at the screen. I asked him why he did it and he never had a good answer. I don’t have a good answer either. ↩︎
- There are obvious exceptions, most notably Zach Lowe. That man is a basketball treasure ↩︎
- They have The Philly Special Podcast but it’s been a tough listen the few times it was on. Whether it’s Sheil Kapadia or Chris Ryan, the Ringer’s “Philly Guys” always come off as apologetic for being Philly fans and I just don’t like it. It was like Bill brought in Philly guys he could bully rather than who would stand up to his biases. Maybe that’s not fair, but that’s how I hear it. ↩︎
- Just today I was told that Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal mutually agreed that the Eagles were going under on their projected win total because they have no offensive line depth and for Mannion/Hurts related reasons. I’m good without listening to that. ↩︎
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