Overview
- On a revived mailbag episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons agreed with a listener named Jesse who nominated the Columbus Blue Jackets as the most irrelevant franchise in pro sports.
- Simmons cited the team’s limited playoff track record over 25 years, but he also misstated facts, including claiming they had never reached the second round and confusing their 2019 sweep opponent.
- He argued the club lacks a national profile, saying he has never heard conversations about the Blue Jackets and highlighting a lopsided rivalry perception based on Google search results.
- Outlets such as Awful Announcing and Daily Faceoff described the judgment as subjective and noted factual errors and unnecessary references to tragic player deaths in his rundown.
- The Blue Jackets’ social media account replied to coverage of the segment with a jab referencing Simmons’ shuttered site Grantland, a response Yahoo Sports characterized as a low blow that backfired.