Weird for me to be freely promoting another sports website, but this is big news in the sports world today: Bill Simmons’ new site, The Ringer – brought to you by Miller Lite – is now live, and, bonus, it features an in-depth Phillies story by local guy Michael Baumann, explaining to a national audience just how the Phillies got here:

Are they any good?

Sort of. The Phillies were supposed to be one of the worst teams in baseball, and through two months, they’ve played like one of the best. The truth, of course, is somewhere in the middle. Since starting 24–17, the Phillies have lost five of their past nine games. Thanks to the struggles of Franco, they’re currently below average at every position except pitcher, center field (Herrera), and catcher, which is manned by the ursine but ultimately replacement-level Cameron Rupp and the 37-year-old Carlos Ruiz, so who wants odds on that continuing? Right now, this is a team with a few good players and a lot of extremely bad players, a team that could make the playoffs, but probably won’t.

Elsewhere on the site you’ll find the usual Bill Simmons fare– NBA stories, pop culture, and yep, a tab dedicated solely to Game of Thrones, which I still can’t and now somewhat refuse to get into*:

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*Here’s the thing about Game of Thrones– I’m not going to hate on it just because I don’t like it. I get the appeal, and completely understand why it’s as big as it is. The issue is that, like so many other shows, if you don’t start watching from the beginning, you usually get roped in when there’s a lot of excitement for a new season. I’d wager most of us didn’t watch Breaking Bad from Season 1, but that you went back and started once it was widely accepted as one of the best shows ever. The problem with Game of Thrones is that it’s on in the spring and summer. That’s not a show I want to binge watch when it’s 85 out. It’s cold, dark, grey, white even… it would be the perfect fall or winter series, perfect for binge-ing on those frosty, cozy nights. I’ve tried no less than three times to get into it. I’ve made it 4-5 episodes deep. Other than mild confusion, I liked what I saw. But inevitably, I began to hate myself because it was sunny and humid out and I was sitting inside watching a show where one of the main characters’ names is “Snow.” It just didn’t feel right. So, come winter, there’s something else on, something else people are buzzing about, football and other shows I want to catch up on, and then, boom, spring again and here comes Game of Thrones. Can’t do it.