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PMTPMT DB

Takes

Loss
Big CatBig Cat

Pardon My Take has more listeners than Bill Simmons

We have over 40 million listeners in six months. That's crazy... I'm just going to say it's more than Simmons. Yeah, it's more than [Bill] Simmons.

While PMT became the #1 sports podcast, 40 million listeners in the first 6 months of 2016 is an extreme exaggeration of unique listeners compared to established stars like Simmons at that time.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Skip Bayless was essentially on welfare because his fandom paid Troy Aikman's salary

Back when you were a quarterback in the NFL, Skip Bayless was a fan and he paid your salary. So without him, you probably would be poor right now because you were basically on welfare and he was giving you money.

This is an intentionally absurd interpretation of economics and professional sports.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen might be getting a divorce

Like, maybe things aren't going so well in paradise? Maybe the big D word coming down the pike? Like, maybe he doesn't have such close ties with Brazil anymore?

Fact ClaimMediaFireSarcastic
They did not divorce in 2016; they remained married until 2022.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

Jay Mariotti is the senior Icelandic correspondent for Pardon My Take

Jay, you will be our senior Iceland correspondent. Done... Jay Mariotti has been named senior Icelandic correspondent for Pardon My Take.

OpinionMediaHotSarcastic
This was a joke hire meant to mock Mariotti's career decline and his odd comments about Icelandic content.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The Colin Kaepernick anthem protest is a viral marketing stunt for Beats by Dre

This is obviously a viral marketing stunt for Beats by Dre. We're going to find out there was a camera that was on Kaepernick on the sidelines. The National Anthem starts playing, puts the beats on, and 'I'm the man, I'm the man'. It's the sleekest beats design of all time. Nobody will even know that you're wearing them.

The protest was a genuine social justice statement and was not a marketing stunt for a headphone company.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

Twitter is primarily composed of memes and ISIS recruitment

It's just memes and ISIS recruitment. That's what Twitter is. It's a real problem out there. Real problem out there.

A satirical hyperbole about the state of social media platforms.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The PMT hosts will eventually break up due to drug addictions and the Twitter checkmark

I can't wait for the behind the scenes, behind the music when we like both develop drug addictions and get into fights and break up with each other. I think that's going to happen sooner rather than later. And the root cause is going to be this [Twitter] checkmark.

PredictionMediaFireSarcastic
The show is still going strong nearly a decade later with the same core hosts, and Twitter verification eventually became a paid service rather than a status symbol.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

Blogging is more harmful to the brain than contact sports because it makes the brain soft

I think blogging is more harmful to your brain than playing football or hockey or any more women's soccer... [Logan Couture]: It might be. I've tried to sit at a computer screen for an hour and I got a headache... [PFT Commenter]: Yeah, because if you play a sport and you're hitting your head, you're building a callus on your brain. When you're a blogger, you have like no contact with anything. So your brain becomes soft. That's my theory, at least.

Scientifically incorrect but comedic in intent.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Pardon My Take has more female listeners than any other sports podcast

I honestly think that we have more female followers and listeners than any other sports podcast out there.

While podcast demographics are notoriously hard to verify exactly, it is highly unlikely PMT outpaced more mainstream or female-led sports podcasts in female listenership in 2016.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

I want to be replaced by a parrot if I die in Cleveland

If I do die in Cleveland... I want a parrot... play old episodes of Pardon My Take for the parrot... put it in front of a microphone and you talk to it and it'll just basically do the same shitty takes that we've done for the past three months. Nobody will even know that it's not me anymore.

OpinionMediaMediumSarcastic
The speaker did not die in Cleveland during the RNC, and thus was not replaced by a parrot.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

Pokemon Go is a CIA government conspiracy to track data and map building interiors

Seriously, though, Pokemon Go is a government conspiracy, and I don't know why anyone... my last one was basically Pokemon Go has somewhere sitting with the CIA and they're saying, huh, how do we get inside people's buildings?... Let's just throw a squirtle right by someone's refrigerator. Picture.

Hot TakeMediaFireSarcastic
While there were data privacy concerns, the 'CIA mapping homes' theory remains a fringe internet conspiracy.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

iTunes doesn't exist in Canada

I don't even know if that counts for the iTunes rankings. I don't think they have iTunes in Canada, so we don't actually appreciate them, but we'll just say we appreciate them.

iTunes has been available in Canada since 2004.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

The Rio Olympics tragedies are a marketing strategy by Brazil

The only way to remind people that the Olympics are coming is to continually have tragedies and threats... There are some guys in Brazil right now sitting in a marketing office patting themselves on the back. We really did this. We're making the news. Yeah, we threw out Zika. We threw out terrorists, a guy with a gun. There's sewage. There's poop water. Hey, let's throw some old body parts... Front page news. Oh, yeah. And the Olympics are on NBC. Tune in.

Hot TakeMediaFireSarcastic
This is a satirical conspiracy theory and is factually incorrect as a serious claim.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Skip Bayless will get 'West Coast soft' and lose his edge at Fox Sports

I don't think that what they're going to do with him on Fox Sports is going to be nearly as good because he's going to get West Coast soft. He's not going to have somebody as fiery to debate. It's like separating two dogs from each other that have grown up together their whole life.

Skip Bayless's show 'Undisputed' on Fox Sports became a major success with Shannon Sharpe, arguably maintaining his relevance and 'fire' for years.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

If you do a bit better than the person who invented it, it becomes yours legally

I feel like if you do something a lot better than somebody else, then it becomes yours... On the internet, we call that a hat tip. So as long as you give somebody a hat tip, then you can steal all their shit and it's totally above board.

OpinionMediaMediumSarcastic
Legally, this is not how copyright or intellectual property works, which the guest (Mike Portnoy) correctly tries to explain.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

Roger Goodell is guaranteed to be on the show because of Eric Winston

Eric Winston guaranteed that Roger Goodell is going to be on the show this week.

Roger Goodell famously never appeared on Pardon My Take.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Johnny Manziel should become a sports blogger

He needs to become a blogger. He needs to write for the Players' Tribune. I'm sure they'll hire him over there. ... because pretty much all bloggers do all day is they talk about sports and then they get drunk at night. And that seems like it would be like a square peg, square hole situation.

OpinionMediaHotSarcastic
Manziel never became a regular sports blogger, though he did start a podcast later.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Pardon My Take is responsible for Skip Bayless leaving ESPN

I think the entire Pardon My Take, Pardon the Interruption, First Take fiasco that ever since that happened, ESPN's ratings have been way, way down. Our ratings have been way, way up. So, yeah, I think I think there's a better than zero chance that we contributed to [Skip Bayless's] demise.

Hot TakeMediaHotSarcastic
The show was only a few months old and while it was a hit, Skip Bayless moved to Fox for a massive contract, not because a podcast ended his career.
Loss
Mr. PortnoyMr. Portnoy

Curt Schilling should jump to Fox Sports and keep his mouth shut

I think if [Curt Schilling] is smart, which he isn't, he ought to jump over to Fox and keep his mouth shut. ... I don't care what he has to say about anything. Why would anybody care what he has to say about anything?

Schilling did not join Fox Sports; he eventually joined Breitbart and started his own podcasting ventures.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

The Dude Perfect show on CMT will be the best show of all time

CMT... Thursday nights, Aaron Rodgers. I don't know when Aaron Rodgers is going to be on, but it's going to be probably the best show of all time. That guy is so cool.

Hot TakeMediaHotSarcastic
The show was not critically acclaimed or enduring enough to be considered one of the best shows of all time.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

LeBron James will announce he is re-signing with the Cavs by re-following them on Twitter

I actually think what's happening is that LeBron unfollowed the Cavs and that when he signs his option... he's going to announce it by refollowing the Cavs. It's such a shitty, like not cool thing to do, but it's so lame that it perfectly fits something that he would think was a good idea.

LeBron did re-sign with the Cavs that summer, but there was no grand 're-follow' announcement; he simply continued playing and eventually left in 2018.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

Adam LaRoche's son will be the greatest hot take writer ever because he grew up in locker rooms

Adam LaRoche's kid... he is going to be the best hot take writer of all time. Could you imagine him fighting with like sabermetric nerds? Adam LaRoche's kid, his entire existence is towel whips, like, you know, pranks, guys, you know, calling each other [names]. His entire life is a locker room. I can't wait till he grows up and starts like just throwing his ideas of his worldviews around.

PredictionMediaMediumSarcastic
Drake LaRoche did not become a prominent sports media personality.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

ESPN should be thanking us for elevating the brands of 'Pardon the Interruption' and 'First Take'

I would say that they should be on their hands and knees thanking us that we're doing more to elevate the Pardon the Interruption and First Take brand, because now they're affiliated with our brand.

ESPN's shows were massive established brands, while PMT was a weeks-old podcast; the exposure definitely flowed the other way.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

We should file a cease and desist against ESPN to stop them from sending us cease and desist letters

I think we can file a motion against their motion... We should file a cease and desist to them to stop sending a cease and desist letters.

OpinionMediaMediumSarcastic
This is not a real legal strategy that would be effective in court.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

We will take down ESPN by replaying recordings of 'Pardon the Interruption' on our podcast feed

Maybe we just do a show and we just replay an entire Pardon the Interruption show. Like that's the whole podcast... This is how we're going to take down ESPN.

PredictionMediaFireSarcastic
They never actually replayed full episodes of PTI as their own podcast feed.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Putting the Bill Simmons podcast on notice

I'm putting the Bill Simmons podcast on notice this week, baby. I'm coming for you, Bill. There's nothing you can do to stop me. It's a revolution.

OpinionMediaHotSarcastic
PFT's solo Steam Room podcast never overtook Bill Simmons. However, six months later PFT co-created Pardon My Take which became one of the biggest sports podcasts ever.

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