Has anyone seen Ben Affleck on Simmon's show?

[dannyboy35]

I've heard he was dropping f bombs. Maybe a bit sauced. Lol

[MetroGlobe]

I've heard he was dropping f bombs. Maybe a bit sauced. Lol

I saw it.  Great appearance for him.  He was a little stiff at first.  But when Simmons brought up Deflategate, all bets were off.  Brutal, open honesty from Affleck.  It was great.  You definitely got the sense that he gets every bit as upset as the most diehard of fans.

The only thing that was weird though is that his face didn't move.  Wife and I were seriously thinking he must have had some botox or something.  Because no matter how impassioned and inflamed his speech became, his face refused to show the emotions that were clearly coming out of his mouth.  His forehead and cheeks were as smooth as glass.  Something was a little off there.

[kozlodoev]

I've heard he was dropping f bombs. Maybe a bit sauced. Lol

"A bit"? 

[Snakehead]

The Simmons show was awful.  He spends his intro segment (with Youtube quality production values) going on and on about LeBron like he hasn't been counting him out this whole time and been talking down on him the last two years.  Then the next segment we get Barkley, who I absolutely loved as a player but now is a joke, walking parody of himself.  Ends with them saying OKC would have definitely beat the Cavs if they made it past Golden State (never mind Simmons had it as a lock OKC would beat the GSW and then had it as a lock GSW would beat the Cavs). 

Then again, OKC has the best C in the league in Steven Adams according to Simmons (LOL).

Then Affleck him going on about Deflategate like the annoying guy at the bar and forcing a bunch of cursing to be edgy.  And yeah, totally had a plastic surgery face thing going on.

This was supposed to be a big deal?  Two bland interview segments and then that boring intro (and then just running Curry's series of commercials and talking over them... hopefully he got paid for that at least... didn't know I was signing up to watch ads).

To me it's funny Simmons has been a big innovator (regardless of what you think of him, undeniable) in so many ways and then his ultimate push of his career at this point is towards a bad generic TV show.  But you can say the F-word so wow it's amazing!

[Donoghus]

Watched the Deflategate rant this morning.  Certainly seems like he was a bit tuned up.  However, he pretty much nailed my thoughts on the subject.  It being a witch hunt & all. 

[dannyboy35]

I actually thought the f bombs drive the point home nicely. Lol. I like Affleck though. True Boston fan and.. He's Batman!!

[MetroGlobe]

The Simmons show was awful.  He spends his intro segment (with Youtube quality production values) going on and on about LeBron like he hasn't been counting him out this whole time and been talking down on him the last two years.  Then the next segment we get Barkley, who I absolutely loved as a player but now is a joke, walking parody of himself.  Ends with them saying OKC would have definitely beat the Cavs if they made it past Golden State (never mind Simmons had it as a lock OKC would beat the GSW and then had it as a lock GSW would beat the Cavs). 

Then again, OKC has the best C in the league in Steven Adams according to Simmons (LOL).

Then Affleck him going on about Deflategate like the annoying guy at the bar and forcing a bunch of cursing to be edgy.  And yeah, totally had a plastic surgery face thing going on.

This was supposed to be a big deal?  Two bland interview segments and then that boring intro (and then just running Curry's series of commercials and talking over them... hopefully he got paid for that at least... didn't know I was signing up to watch ads).

To me it's funny Simmons has been a big innovator (regardless of what you think of him, undeniable) in so many ways and then his ultimate push of his career at this point is towards a bad generic TV show.  But you can say the F-word so wow it's amazing!

I pretty much agree with your take on the show overall.  And I am a huge Simmons fan since his original blog 15 years ago.  I basically consume everything he puts out, no matter the medium.  But I found myself cringing at least a couple times last night.

You know what though?  My wife, who doesn't even know who Simmons is, thought it was hilarious.  She laughed out loud multiple times as she was walking by the tv casually.  Then decided to sit down and watch the whole episode, stopping in the middle of what she was doing.

So maybe by that measure - pulling in non-sports fans who follow pop culture - it was a success?

[Snakehead]

So maybe by that measure - pulling in non-sports fans who follow pop culture - it was a success?

Yeah I am someone who has followed Simmons that long as well.  I do get annoyed with him quite a bit with some of his statements (probably comes across in my post haha) but overall he puts out some really good stuff and I think he does well as a host and producer of content (30 for 30, putting together great talent at Grantland, gets some great guests on his podcast).

You may be right there with you analysis though.  That is the push of his new website as well (pop culture front and center vs on the fringe or added in over time like was the case with Grantland).  It just doubt it will be for me if that's where it's headed.  The Affleck thing is already on TMZ and twitter today so there's that.  Even if it's mostly people thinking he looks high/drunk and botox-y.

As I said though, personally I think it's pretty lame he has been so innovative and mostly tried new daring things and then ultimately he is working so hard towards a rather same-y TV show that does not play to his strengths at all.  It's like this guy was a huge success story bypassing traditional media with something new fans wanted and then he's rushing back into the old media full stop.

[Donoghus]

I will say, so far, that the Ringer has been a disappointment in my eyes.  Too much stuff to wade through to find anything useful.   I do enjoy some of the podcasts, though.  Although, for some reason, the NBA ringer podcast is godawful.