Katie Nolan is good friends with Pablo Torre. And like Bill Simmons, she also happens to be a Boston sports fan.
But when it comes to the two-day sports media feud between the Meadowlark Media host and The Ringer founder, there’s no question about where he loyalties lie.
“I’m Torre ’til I die,” Nolan answered instantly when asked by Dan Le Batard who she sided with. “I’ve sort of hitched myself to that wagon.”
That’s because Nolan was one of the panelists present during Torre’s first episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out that was focused on Bill Belichick’s relationship with Jordon Hudson. Torre’s reporting and subsequent media appearances prompted Simmons to take issue with his fellow ex-ESPNer, with the 55-year-old stating, “I’ve never seen anybody dine on a stupider story for a week and a half while pretending you’re a journalist” during an episode of The Rewatchables.
The two have since seemingly hashed out their issues, with Torre appearing on Tuesday’s episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast. And as they debated the merits of Torre’s reporting, Nolan — like many — believed that The Sports Guy was primarily being blinded by his Boston loyalty.
“I think Bill is being sensitive because he loves Belichick,” Nolan said during her appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. “And I get it. As someone who’s had to sit there while Pablo reveals to me what he has, in fact, found out [about Belichick and Hudson], a very stressful situation for a public Patriots fan. I sucked it up and handled it, so I need Simmons to do the same. It’s weird. Pablo’s investigating it. He’s doing a fantastic job. So I’m Team Pablo.”
Nolan later noted how Simmons hadn’t even heard the podcast episodes he was criticizing, which made the short-lived media feud an easy win for Torre.
To Nolan’s point, when it came to his issues with Torre’s reporting, Simmons’ criticism didn’t have much teeth.
The Boston native did his best to downplay the significance of the story and claimed the reporting “felt a little mean,” while also questioning whether Torre was just chasing “clicks.” Torre, however, didn’t only defend the legitimacy of his reporting, but also pointed to the realities of being a part of the sports media ecosystem in 2025.
“But Bill, I think everybody who’s ever made something online has heard that,” Torre replied during the podcast. “Unfortunately the death of the classifieds in newspapers, the death of the cable bundle in television has led us as independent media people to have to subsist by basically putting onto an altar your content and hoping that the Sun God that is the algorithm shines upon us.”
At one point in the podcast, Simmons even admitted to being protective of the Patriots, which is hardly for surprising for somebody who has built his empire on being the voice of the fan. But just because he wants to keep Belichick’s legacy intact doesn’t make Torre’s reporting any less legitimate, which appears to be Nolan’s primary point.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.