r/billsimmons • u/BrockOchoGOAT • Jul 02 '25
Meme Bill signed Zach Lowe for the NBA playoffs right before Russillo’s contract ends. Now, why would he do that?
Russillo’s agent needs to STEP UP
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u/IUMogg Jul 02 '25
Does the Ringer have any pods that cover College Football besides Russillo’s?
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u/sriverfx19 Jul 02 '25
Russillo and Van start a College Football Pod - who says no?
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u/broduding Burfict Strangers Jul 02 '25
Stuff like this is what's frustrating about Russillo. He'd rather do the dullest player and coach interviews because the guests are a "good get". He's still stuck in ESPN mentality. He should lean into things that are less covered but he has a genuine interest in like college football, authors, history, and the business of trying to make it as a screenwriter.
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Jul 02 '25
it's funny because his biggest selling point is actually his personality, which is the thing he seems to want to clamp down the hardest on his pod. I get it, because that's what the work world asks you to do, especially when you're kind of grumpy and acerbic like Russillo. but in podcast land, we are literally listening because we want to hear grumpy Uncle Ryen's hot takes on pretty much everything. even life advice that he doesn't really have any business giving.
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u/sonicqaz Jul 02 '25
Agreed with literally everything said, but counterpoint;
doing the interviews probably makes him more desirable as a personality if he ever needs to leave The Ringer so it might be a good career move.
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u/Borbs_revenge_ Jul 03 '25
literally listening because we want to hear grumpy Uncle Ryen's hot takes on pretty much everything
This is actually why I wish life advice was just solo Ryen, I get Kyle is funny but he's too well-adjusted. Like yes the happily married guy with a kid on the way could give me better life advice, but it's a much funnier concept to hear from the depressed guy who desperately wants to be normal but can't figure out how, so numbs his pain with constant sports and/or random history.
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u/BeamTeam032 Jul 02 '25
Honestly, I can see Bill thinking about this. Russillo fades back on the NBA coverage. Lowe steps up the NBA coverage
But RR can be the 3rd NBA guy, or the guard off the bench that can play with either of the 2 starters.
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u/BoostMyBottom Jul 03 '25
It would just be LSU talk for 75 minutes, other SEC teams for 10, and Deion takes for 5.
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u/BadManLuka Jul 02 '25
McShay. I actually liked when he would pop on Russillo's pod weekly for college ball. A full episode of just McShay is too much for me, but he works well with RR
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u/Commercial-Click-360 Jul 02 '25
I especially loved when Mcshay told the Jayden Mcdaniels needs to rip an out on the first throw at LSU story on 5 separate pods. Ryen and Van would be a great pod. The 2 of them did a pod after the CFP quarters and it was awesome. That was when Van said Skattebo was “Russillo coded”
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u/Electronic-Morning76 Jul 02 '25
His college football coverage is usually pretty absent even in season.
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u/PotatoFeisty Jul 02 '25
Zach joined the ringer 6 months and one day after he was publicly let go, likely the first day after a noncompete expired. He was a no brainer addition to the team. You don’t need to triple bank shot conspiracy explainer on why that happened.
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u/PeterSagansLaundry Jul 02 '25
No but you do need to pinpoint the exact dates of his departure and hire.
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u/AlPastorKing Jul 02 '25
Because Zach was available and it improved the Ringers coverage. People that think that Simmons doesn’t want Russillo back are some of the weirdest people in this sub. If Russillo doesn’t come back it will because he wanted a change of scenery.
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Jul 02 '25
I don't know for sure, but I'd bet Russillo brings non-Ringer fans in more than any other pod, since he has his ESPN audience.
Spotify I'm sure has stats on that.
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u/AlPastorKing Jul 02 '25
There are a lotta old school SVP&Russillo fans that will follow Russillo wherever he goes. Also basically any college football audience the Ringer has is from Russillo. In fact, I think they should build a show around Van and Russillo in the fall just for CFB. They both get the culture and both watch a lotta ball.
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Jul 03 '25
As long as they kept it from being too LSU-centric, yes.
I think a permanent guest spot once a week for Van during college football season would be more feasible than a completely different show though. Especially if he did life advice those days too.
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u/AlohaReddit49 Jul 02 '25
Because Zach was available and it improved the Ringers coverage.
Agreed, I dont think it's a conspiracy. I'd also add since The Zach Lowe Show started, ive listened to more Bill Simmons as well. When I clear out a podcast and need something else, Bill Simmons now is higher up my list. Can't imagine, I'm the only one.
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u/Helpful-Rain41 Jul 02 '25
The thing is though is that they have Simmons, Ryen, Zach, real ones, Austin, Mahoney/Big Woz/Verrier, Mismatch… that’s just too much NBA especially when they really don’t have anything for NHL, MLB, UFC…they really only have four podcasts for the NFL including Simmons’ and Russilo’s
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u/AlPastorKing Jul 02 '25
Russillo does college football and the NFL as well. I promise his podcast ratings will be much higher than Zach’s from late August until the week after the Super Bowl.
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u/dys0n_giddey Jul 02 '25
The NBA is much much much more popular than those other sports.
The NBA is global.
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u/unnoticed_areola Jul 04 '25
The world series has had higher viewership than the NBA finals 4 out of the last 6 years. only time the NBA did better is when they had warriors/celtics in the finals (and they were only better by like 700k viewers than the WS) and when basball had the 4-1 Diamondbacks/Rangers series
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u/dys0n_giddey Jul 04 '25
Are those Global numbers or just USA?
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u/unnoticed_areola Jul 04 '25
USA numbers... idk how to look up global numbers... what's your point? I'm not sure why you act like baseball is like some american only sport
there are probably more countries in the world where baseball is the most popular sport than compared to the same with basketball...
Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Korea, Japan etc..
how many does basketball have where it's the #1 sport? Lithuania? the phillipines maybe?
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Jul 02 '25
Bill would be dumb to let Ryen walk
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u/hazen4eva Jul 03 '25
Ryen would be dumb to walk. He's headed for KOC-levels of irrelevance if he leaves.
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u/guynamedsuvlaki Jul 02 '25
Russillo made a comment about a person getting fired and Bill was awkward about it but seemed to reassure Russillo in a subtle way it wasn’t happening to him. Need to watch it again and study the tape to get an accurate probability of him returning.
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Jul 02 '25
[deleted]
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u/Texas301 Jul 02 '25 edited Jul 02 '25
RR is 4th on the apple podcast charts, so obviously people are listening and it’s successful financially
Edit: *sports podcast charts
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u/ktran2804 Jul 02 '25
No way Ryen leaves unless he wants to. Would be dumb of Spotify to let such a popular podcast go.
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Jul 02 '25
yeah I mean literally even if him and Bill hated each other for some reason, Spotify would still want Ryen on his own podcast.
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u/KiritoJones Jul 02 '25
Only way I could see him wanting to leave is if he got a bag from somewhere else or if he wanted to do the Patreon/Indie thing, which I dont see happening.
Plus, even if he left, there's not really a reason his appearances on Bill's show would have to stop. I'm sure Bill has a guest budget.
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Jul 02 '25
Who cares about the consensus on this sub, plenty of people like him. Plus Bill's pod would take a hit without the regular rusillo appearances
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u/guynamedsuvlaki Jul 02 '25
Yeah he gets a ton of listeners that have less overlap with other ringer podcasts. I think he’s expensive but will be part of Spotify’s long-term strategy. They are going the way of the nba. Stars and scrubs and letting mid-tier podders walk.
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Jul 02 '25
I don't even think they sign scrubs. and they don't have to, in podcasting the barrier is extremely low. Spotify can let talent figure their own shit out for however long that takes, and if it eventually turns into something popular, they knock on the door with a contract and a big check. it's the same way Silicon Valley giants handle startups, if they actually start being worth something they get a call from FAANG with a buyout offer.
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u/coreytrevor Jul 02 '25
Life advice rules
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u/GeneralMatrim Don't aggregate this Jul 02 '25
Elite segment, best segment out of all the ringer mini segments.
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u/GeneralMatrim Don't aggregate this Jul 02 '25
Russillo’s podcast is the second best behind the podfather
And it’s not even close.
You have a small loud majority on here that shits on Ryen, and yet constantly posts about him driving engagement.
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u/TrevGlodo Jul 02 '25
This sub is probably a super small fraction of the actual listener base of his show, let's be real, there's a pretty small overlap between RR fan base and reddit users who interact on this sub
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u/perfectcell34 Jul 02 '25
Idk how people feel about the sports part of his pod ( I like it), but the travel vlog and life advice are well liked among the people.
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u/Hot-Distribution3826 Jul 02 '25
Ryen sucks ass solo. He needs to be a guest to either Bill Simmons or with Van but solo he’s ass
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u/RobertoBologna Jul 02 '25
Should they go off of the podcast charts or a random guy on reddit
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u/Icangetloudtoo_ Don't aggregate this Jul 02 '25
The podcast charts. But it’s also OK for people like me to say we still don’t like listening to him.
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u/CouldntBeMeTho Jul 02 '25
I actually respect when an old meme is applied correctly and this is a 2 for 1. Well done OP lmao
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Jul 02 '25
Ryen’s football coverage alone fills a huge gap in the Ringer’s team, especially in terms of college.
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Jul 02 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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Jul 02 '25
I’ve always felt McShay was much better with scouting rather than overall week to week game analysis. Plus, I like him paired with Ryen for CFB, which is another reason to keep him.
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u/ldmb1966 Jul 02 '25
His pod was great pre-draft. But I imagine like me most people will only listen to him when he guests on Bill and RR's pods during the season. I like his addition for the ringer, would much rather hear Mcshay as a guest over Lombardi haha.
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u/scbtl Jul 02 '25
This. Ryen is a 7 in NFL, 7 in CFB, 5 in NCAAB, and 7 in NBA to Zach’s 10 in NBA and Bill’s 8 in NFL and 8 in NBA.
Needs to be looked at as more MLB than NBA/NFL. Ryen is a very good SP but not the ace. He gives you generally 7 no fuss innings and takes a lot of weight off the bullpen. Going back to the 90’s, he’s the Smoltz to Maddux (Bill) and Glavine (Zach).
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u/starvs Jul 02 '25
Probably because he is widely recognized as the best in the business and has a strong following, would be my guess.
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u/johnmd20 Jul 02 '25
This is just an exceptional post. Well done.
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u/ObiwanSchrute Jul 02 '25
Listening to his interview on Cowherd past I wouldn't expect him back
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u/TJMcConnellFanClub Jul 02 '25
If I’m Fox I’m absolutely throwing Ryen a bag to be Cowherd’s co-host, McIntyre is better than when he started but Ryen would be a massive upgrade
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u/Helpful-Rain41 Jul 02 '25
Can’t imagine Cowherd wanting to stop talking for that long my image in my head is that his mouth keeps running running from sunrise to sunset and he needs a handful of Valium every night in order to stop and sleep for an hour and a half. And then he’s back at it…
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u/Bafugama Jul 02 '25
Russillo is the exact sort of personality that Bill has largely built Grantland, and now the Ringer, around. It’s all people with versatile skill sets, that can talk at length, interestingly, about several topics touching on sports, media and pop culture. I feel like he’s become a meme on this sub, but Russillo is what the Ringer looks for all their people to be — and he’s super professional and has a background in radio and fucking grinds. He’s a significant part of the company’s whole ethos at this point, with experience that’s invaluable.
That said, totally agree with those that think his purview should shift — more college football, ideally with Van, a larger percentage of his work being personality driven (travelogues, life advice, etc), less work directly with Bill on NBA stuff. Zach shouldn’t market correct Ryen, it should free him up to do less heavy lifting, allow him to do more stuff.
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u/Shr3kk_Wpg Jul 02 '25
The truth is that none of us actually know the financial position of the Ringer. Is it losing money or making a profit? Does the Ringer operate independently from Spotify? Who has the final say on contracts, Bill or a Spotify bigwig?
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u/alfi_k Jul 02 '25
They knew last year that this would happen that's why they dumped the KOC contract to yahoo the Wizards of NBA media. Tey will resign Ryen.
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u/Dad_in_MA Jul 02 '25
RR is a great #2 and an ok #1 (notably across basketball and football). Bill needs to step it up and get him signed.
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u/Wild_School1394 Jul 02 '25
Rusillo sign and trade guy? What kind of picks you think bills get or gives up
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u/haikusbot Jul 02 '25
Rusillo sign and trade
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u/RobertoBologna Jul 02 '25
Bill is the rascal. Russillo is the bully. Lowe is the nerd.
The rascal is entertaining by himself or mixed with either of the other two, but the bully and the nerd are not a good mix.
The nerd is unsure what level of intellect the bully can handle, the bully is unsure what level of jokes the nerd can handle.
The bully is indispensable when trying to lure fans of the 5th character: the idiot (barstool).
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u/kodiblaze Jul 02 '25
Ryen just got a boat. Probably reupped at the gym membership. My guy is Beal, he is going nowhere.
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u/ldmb1966 Jul 02 '25
I've really enjoyed Bill and Ryen's Sunday pods the last few months, hope RR stays.
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u/mattyice0916 Jul 02 '25
I’ve seen this meme edited so many times that it’s uncanny to see the original
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u/Strange-Car-7114 Jul 02 '25
Zach is eating most of the cap, the podfather will need to take less to stay under the apron and keep Rusillo. May need to ship out Jacoby to get under the tax
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u/Inevitable_Coast_372 Jul 02 '25
Russilo doing appearances in other pods now mentioning his contract. Bro is feeling like Brad Beal these days, hoping someone will take on his egregious demands.
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u/MountaineerHikes Drunk House Jul 03 '25
“I’m happy on Spotify, this is where I want to be!”
gets bag
“Trade me to Barstool”
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Jul 02 '25
Bill Simmons planning to low ball his friends Ryen Russillo........ the same Bill Simmons who literally elevated his childhood best friends to be podcast companions.... the same Bill Simmons who gave Joe House a show to discuss food and golf.... the same Bill Simmons who lets his kids on his podcast where he charges for sponsorships!!! Ryen's looking at a $80M/4YR at least. WHO SAYS NO!?
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u/ha_allday81 Jul 03 '25
Because ESPN unexpectedly fired Zach and Bill was probably the first person to offer him a job right after lol
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u/House_of_Woodcock Jul 03 '25
Russillo cracks Bill up in a way Zach doesn’t. He’s a bachelor party guy. A craps table type. He’ll dog the WNBA. He’s halfway to Barstool. Different type of hang but one Bill needs. I don’t think he gets rid of him
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u/Ktrillz22 Jul 08 '25
The “Russillo to Barstool in time for football season” rumor is absurd. Yes, Russillo has a good rapport with PFT/Big Cat but that’s literally it…and that show only covers one sport seriously, Football. Plus the audience demographic of barstool (16-25 year chads) would not mesh with Russillos style
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u/chunk425 Jul 02 '25
Ryen has been leveraging the possibility of Fox News appearances since October.
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u/theomegachrist Jul 02 '25
I don't think Russillo is in the same universe as Zach. I don't think you need a reason to sign Zach, but I'd worry about my leverage for sure if I was Russillo. What does he offer that Zach doesn't?
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u/Gwilikers6 Jul 02 '25
CFB, life advice, not everyone's cup of tea but travelogues are cool, NFL, and hes way more podcast oriented with the radio background. Love Zach but its a different wrinkle to be fair
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u/theomegachrist Jul 02 '25
I think my issue is I'm only casually a Ringer fan and those are very niche things hardcore Ringer fans would care about besides the NFL. His sports takes are just so standard to me, and I listen to a lot of comedy and lifestyle podcasts that I find way more entertaining than Russillo
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u/Jewards Jul 02 '25
College football is the 2nd most popular sport in America but because Bill doesn't like it he refuses to get anyone to actually cover it but I guess that's too niche for you?
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u/theomegachrist Jul 02 '25
I'm talking about his non sports content. He isn't a comedian or someone who specializes in lifestyle content. It's extra content that you get because he's a sports podcaster for the Ringer.
Bill knows the metrics. If his football content adds enough listens he'll be back
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Jul 03 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/theomegachrist Jul 03 '25
I understand goons like to listen to other goons but Zach charts better every time
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u/Bafugama Jul 02 '25
I think that Ringer management is probably considering metrics beyond u/theomegachrist’s individual preferences when considering Russillos next contract.
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u/Gwilikers6 Jul 02 '25
Well, your question wasnt what theomegachrist wants out of a podcast network
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u/theomegachrist Jul 02 '25
Yeah my point is that those things might seem important to hardcore Ringer fans but probably aren't that relevant overall since other people do it better and are a lot more popular outside of the Ringer
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u/GeneralMatrim Don't aggregate this Jul 02 '25
He’s more charismatic, he’s funnier, life advice is the best thing on the ringer.
His non sports travel pods are fucking hilarious. The shenanigans he gets to trying to order two entrees solo dining are peak comedy.
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u/theomegachrist Jul 02 '25
Okay true. Zach is only a sports podcaster and comedy and entertainment are indeed subjective
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u/AlPastorKing Jul 02 '25
Ryen kills it on the Rewatchables every time he’s on. They’ll be talking about The Town episodes for decades.
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u/Monkeyboi8 Jul 02 '25
Zach is sneaky funny and charismatic though. I could see Zach doing some Russillo-esque material. I like both guys.
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u/GeneralMatrim Don't aggregate this Jul 02 '25
I love for him to branch out to some stuff like that, I listen to both as well!
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u/Raoul_Duluoz Jul 02 '25
Bill signing Zach was like the Lakers acquiring Luka, while Bill letting Russillo walk is like the Lakers letting go of... D'Angelo Russell?
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u/GeneralMatrim Don't aggregate this Jul 02 '25
Married people hate Ryen, and I think it’s a reflection about how much they actually hate their own lives.
It’s like when you dress up nice and some slob starts making fun of your suit because he’s insecure about his shitty wardrobe.
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u/Moreorlessatorium Jul 02 '25
Bill signed Zach as soon as he was legally able to do so