Reader Chris sent us an interesting note on the new podcast theme for Bill Simmons and his very successful eponymous podcast. Last week Simmons debuted a theme that he said he had been trying to get for quite some time. It turned out to be Tupac’s Picture Me Rollin’. You can listen here to the first couple minutes about Simmons’ excitement in getting the theme music:
So what’s the significance of this? Well, for starters it’s one of Simmons’ favorite songs. He wouldn’t just use it as a podcast theme, but also as his male stripper music (work with me here, I promise we’re going to get to somewhere meaningful beyond potential Bill Simmons stripper music):
The more interesting shoutout from Simmons to Tupac is what he wrote about the song in his best-selling Book of Basketball. It’s there where it’s not too difficult to see the subtext of what it means to The Sports Guy in his post-ESPN life:
Come on now, is it really a fluke that Simmons really wanted a song about a guy celebrating his freedom after being released from prison for his new podcast? Is it really just because it’s his favorite Tupac song? Or is there a not so subtle message to his former employer here that features Simmons taunting everyone from his old stomping grounds? (You can insert the irony here about Simmons making millions of dollars from ESPN and the fact that he worked in Los Angeles and not the paradise destination that is Bristol, Connecticut.)
Maybe it is a coincidence, but there’s plenty of bad blood to go around in Simmons’ unceremonious exit from ESPN (see his post-mortem Grantland tweet) that it wouldn’t be a surprise if there wasn’t a very subtle message towards Bristol here.
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