Welcome to Episode 54! We bring on Richie from Twitter for a wide ranging conversation on Bill Simmons and the state of the BS Pod & The Ringer. Richie is a Simmons fan from the Page 2 days that recently started listening to the show again and has noticed a major drop on Bill's fastball. What was the reason for the decline? We discuss how Bill became what he used to rail against in the mid-90s - an older, past his prime media member mailing it in. Next we discuss the absurdity of Bill's "it's not open mic night" comments and then get into how Bill is very much like the Dave Matthews Band, or really any band that makes it big, and then runs out of steam after their passion for the art decreases as their life improves. We then talk Russillo's ascendance and wonder where Bill's interviewing skills have gone, as Ryen has surpassed him in this regard, by a lot. Russillo can listen to his guests and prepares great questions, while Bill constantly interrupts and tries to one up guests by making the same joke again, but less funnier. Did this fly in the Kimmel writing room? We finish up laughing at how bad Bill's ad reads are, which are just indicative of, in our view, how little effort he's putting into the BS Pod these days. Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the music of Wiser Times here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2XiRm7fyJD4pxKO0KroEyG