Thursday, April 30, 2020
Slant Pattern’s Top Sports Podcasts
... because you probably have more time to listen now. Here are the top sports podcasts, from sixth to the best.
6. The NBA Daily Ding — One thing I look for in podcasts about team sports is a level of completeness. The Daily Ding, when the NBA is on, has a podcast every single day where they breakdown every single game from the previous night. It's the best shortcut to get as up-to-date and just informed about the NBA as possible. Revolving hosts and guests mean there's sort of network of folks who come and go, do other podcasts, and tour the country during non-COVID times.
5. Podcast Ain't Played Nobody — My favorite college football podcast. It used to include Bill Connelly, who put together staggeringly detailed previews for every FBS college football team for SB Nation, but then ESPN hired him away and he's no longer on PAPN. No matter, it's still a great podcast and by my lights, much better that the other Banner Society/SB Nation college football podcast, The Shutdown Fullcast, which is mostly inside jokes and hosts trying to make each other laugh rather than the audience.
4. Effectively Wild — This MLB podcast also lost somebody I'm a big fan of — Jeff Sullivan, and outstanding writer and podcaster who left the punditry biz to take a job with the Tampa Bay Rays. Like PATP, Effectively Wild didn't really suffer for it. It's still a forum for incredibly astute and knowledgeable baseball minds who express their thoughts in relaxing, dulcet tones.
3. No Challenges Remaining — Not to sound like a broken record, but once again, the hook here is the combination of how knowledgeable the hosts are with how un-bombastically they are share their opinions. I'm an especially big fan of cohost Courtney Nguyen, who writes for the WTA insider, is full of good-natured snark, and doesn't take herself too seriously. My only complaint is how irregularly they put out new episodes — you might get three one month and no more for another three months.
2. Hoopin' With Hoops and MLB Overtime. Both of these podcasts are hosted by Greg Peterson. They are sports betting podcasts, and Peterson's method is like nothing you have ever seen before.
He bets, and breaks down, his reasoning for every single side and total for every single MLB and college basketball game. All. Of. Them. This means a show every day, and his Friday night shows previewing Saturday's slate are somewhere around four hours long.
Peterson is a very unique and interesting cat. He handicaps every game in his chosen sports, podcasts them, jogs 12 miles a day in the Vegas heat, enjoys a good beer, and tries to be a good boyfriend (his words). That's his life.
1. 2 And Out CFL Podcast — As much as a love all these shows, this is the only one I refuse to miss. The format is similar to other podcasts I have mentioned — the hosts break down every game of the past week and look ahead to every game the following week, from both a X's and O's and a fantasy perspective. What sets it apart is the hosts. They are friends going back to childhood, and it shows with their chemistry, which somehow manages to not be insular or incomprehensible to new listeners.
One of the two hosts, Travis Currah, is my spirit animal with his big beard, big belly, and constant and infectious (but genuine) laughter. He loves to tease cohost Tyrell Owchar, who gives as good as he gets. They feel like my best friends, even though of course they don't know me from Adam. And yes, they really know their football.