Podcasts

I had some minor leg issues the last couple of weeks. It is between my ankle and my knee on my left leg. It may be shin splits. After the 5k on June 7th, I did a slow 7 miles the next day while off from work. The injury starting bothering me the next time I ran last Wednesday. I cut back my run from 5 miles to 2.5miles. The next day, it was bothering me so I stopped after 1.25 miles and worked out on the rowing machine. On Saturday, I ran thru the injury and did my usual 6 miles. I felt fine so I did my planned 15 mile run on Sunday. This week, I decided to not run as fast as I was planning. On Tuesday, I ran 5 miles in 42:40 and today I ran 5 miles on 42:10. I will not run tomorrow and then do a slow six on Saturday before the 5k on Sunday. Starting next week, I will start my marathon training.

Podcasts

Believe it or not, I did not own a MP3 player until September. In addition, to music, I like to listen to books and radio shows. Initially I would download the Scott Van Pelt and Mike Tirico shows from the previous days. One day in February I went to ESPN.com to download Tirico and Van Pelt and found that they no longer made the full program available for download for free. I downloaded a Bill Simmons podcast instead. He happened to have on Adam Carolla who was starting his own podcast. I enjoyed the podcast so I started downloading both Simmons and Carolla podcasts regularly. In March as I was getting ready for fantasy baseball season I started downloading the daily fantasy focus podcasts for ESPN. Shortly after that I was reading a blog that discussed the podcasts that I was already downloaded and also recommended the On the DL podcast. I started downloading that one as well. It normally takes about 10 minutes a day to download all the shows. I listen to the podcasts primarily when I run and during commutes.

Bill Simmons BS report

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index

I had heard of the Sports Guy Column and read a few, but was not a regular reader. Bill Simmons is from Boston and does not hide the fact that he roots for the Boston teams. He is a big NBA guy and not much of a college sports fan. Bill Simmons wrote for the Jimmy Kimmel show and is a funny guy that mixes sports with other pop culture topics. One show may be a straight sports discussion and another show will have nothing at all to do with sports. His regular guests include a couple of his college buddies, Jacko and Joe House. Both are surprisingly well spoken and funny. Jacko is a big Yankee fan and their Yankee / Red Sox interaction is great. Another regular classic is when Simmons reviews the Real World / Road Rule Challenges with Dave Jacoby.

I will typically listen to the BS Report the afternoon after the downloand is available. It is my favorite podcast. Simmons does not have a regular schedule, but consistently does three or four podcasts a week. I give the BS report a A.

Fantasy Focus with Matthew Berry and Nate Ravitz

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/archive?id=2544461

This became a daily weekday show in March when the baseball season was getting ready to start. The show is a mixture of fantasy baseball discussion mixed in with light ribbing. I don't listen to the show for fantasy advise, but enjoy the fantasy discussion. In addition, as I have learned all the inside jokes, I like the non-baseball discussion as well.

Matthew Berry at times seems to try to act like Bill Simmons and it is annoying how he insists on being called Matthew and not Matt. Nate Ravitz at times acts like he is smarter than everyone else. However, for the most part the hosts have grown on me. The interaction with the producer, Pod Vader is amusing. I usually listen to the show the morning after I download since the show is topical. I give the show a B+.

The Adam Carolla Podcast

http://www.adamcarolla.com/ACPBlog/podcasts/

Carolla was fired by CBS radio on a Friday when his station changed formats. By the following Monday, he started daily weekday podcasts. Carolla is paid by CBS for the remainder of the year and it not allowed to make any money from the podcast. These shows last about an hour and typically have a guest. The guests vary in fame, but are mainly comedians. The show does not have a sponsor and because it is independent, it is uncensored with mature language and discussion. Carolla is a smart, funny guy, but also has a tendency to dominate discussions. The show can be very good when Carolla has a good guest on that he clicks with like Jimmy Kimmel or Bill Simmons. However, there are other show with less talented guests that are pretty boring. He had one show with somebody from Ford Motors that seemed like a commercial for Ford that I stopped listening to after five minutes. I typically will listen in the afternoon if I don't have a BS Report to listen to or on weekends. I give The Adam Carolla Podcast a B.

On the DL with Dan Levy

http://www.onthedlpodcast.com/Blog_Podcast/Blog/Blog.html

This is more of a typical podcast where the host is not well known and working to develop a following. Levy and his co-host, Nick Tarnowski both previously worked for the Rutger athletic department. The show says it is "a podcast about sports, media, entertainment, politics, pop culture and really, whatever we want. And we’ll include some of the biggest names in sports, media, politics and entertainment in the discussion". However, virtually the whole show is about sports. He gets an impressive list of guests, but seems to be so grateful that the guest is doing his show that he kisses their ass throughout the interview. I guess that is necessary to attract these guests to a podcast that is working to establish itself.

I like the concept of the show and like that are trying to build an audience basically from scratch. However, there are a few issues that annoy me.

A. The show is from Philadelphia, but at times is too focused on Philadelphia topics if it wants to attract a national audience.

B. Levy and Tarnowski both can be too politically correct. It is like they are they are trying too hard to be professional. They can afford to loosen up.

C. I find myself disagreeing with them are virtually every opinion they express from making a big deal that Lebron James did not talk to media after the Cav lost to the blogger that raised the possibility that Raul Ibanez could be on steroids.

Despite my issues, I plan to continue to On the DL. If I have no BS Report to listen to, I will either listen to Carolla or On the DL in the afternoons or on weekends depending upon my mood. I give the show a B-.