Bill Simmons launched his new website The Ringer today, and while many on the Internet are excited, others are disappointed and/or even annoyed by what they see.
The main complaints about the Grantland follow-up appear to be with its launch content, which includes stories titled “Joe Buck Is Underrated” and “Why I’m Over Riley Curry.” Others are just straight-up tired of the man behind the site, who seems to have lost a bit of perspective about his path to success.
And yes, it’s fair to say that at least some gripes are probably rooted in a little jealousy.
While an upstart Boston blogger many years ago, Simmons had been tied to and promoted heavily by ESPN for the biggest parts of his career — a bridge that he’s not only completely burned, but also a massive platform that he doesn’t quite credit for his ongoing success. His recent braggadocious tweets aren’t currying Simmons much favor on the social media site, especially from the blogging community. Even his hiring practices are publicly being called into question.
And then there are those critiquing TheRinger.com‘s actual appearance, but that may be a bit nit-picky. Of course, the “Game of Thrones” vertical is a bit glaring, considering Simmons is now an HBO employee — but hey, it’s a huge pop cultural property.
Read some of the probably premature Ringer bashing below.
The Ringer needs more lighting bolts for me to take it seriously
— Greg (@giggitygreg) June 1, 2016
**Opens the @ringer ** sees article titled,"Joe Buck is underrated." **Closes The Ringer** @BillSimmons
— Dr Vinny Boombatz (@JC3_tweets) June 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/ZakKondratenko/status/737995809069932544
I am excited about The Ringer, but this take… woof. She is a three year old human child??? pic.twitter.com/vSzqrcEaC1
— Summer Anne Burton (@summeranne) June 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/DavidDTSS/status/734486130448576512
https://twitter.com/xmasape/status/734478501680549889
This has to be a joke. Yeah the Ringer is just a regular start up that gets by on word of mouth. https://t.co/KEEZ2sXEZe
— Ben (@bengoodfella) May 22, 2016
He was an outsider 15 years ago. His acting like anybody else could launch the Ringer and succeed is blowhardy.
— Greg Murphy (@BaltiMurph) May 22, 2016
Bill Simmons bragging about launching the Ringer successfully without marketing $$ as if he's some college student blogging from his dorm
— Will (@Will_Sports10) May 22, 2016
Bill Simmons' biz model for The Ringer sounds a lot like the Conjoined Triangles of Success https://t.co/mI2OVzq9uF pic.twitter.com/Ds6bCkbc3b
— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) June 1, 2016
*Checks out the Ringer*
"Looks Great!"
*Scrolls Down*
"Joe Buck is Underrated"
Can we not on day one?
— Tom Roden (@MrWestIsGone) June 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/Rizzmigizz/status/738000396166144000
https://twitter.com/koreasuicide/status/737999256569675776
Let's just say The Ringer isn't off to an impressive start: pic.twitter.com/qD3EYnvr9w
— Desipio.com (@desipiodotcom) June 1, 2016
"Steph's mouthguard bothers me" -Tomorrow on the Ringer
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) June 1, 2016