The League’s Steve Rannazzisi Is a Real-Life Fantasy Football Junkie

Specs Who Steve Rannazzisi Age 35 Accomplishments Stars as Kevin MacArthur on FXX’s The League; co-creator, star of My Damn Channel’s Daddy Knows Best; Comedy Central stand-up special, Steve Rannazzisi: Manchild, debuts Nov. 16 Base New York and Los Angeles What’s the first information you consume in the morning? I usually roll over in the morning and my phone’s there, so I check my email, my Twitter feed and my Facebook pages. Then I hit the Web, head to ESPN, CNN, and read The New York Times online. Tell us about your social media habits. I just do Twitter and Facebook, and somewhat reluctantly. Sometimes I use my Twitter to try out jokes and weird ideas—if I didn’t have Twitter, I’d just be sending those to somebody else rather than throwing them into the world. What are your go-to sports blogs? I like Bill Simmons’ Grantland. For the shit that you’re not going to see on ESPN, I go to Deadspin. I read John Hansen’s blog, Fantasy Guru, and ESPN’s Matthew Berry has a great blog. ESPN’s fantasy app is pretty good too—the NFL fantasy app sucks, but I still have to use it because I’m part of another league in there—and for fantasy advice, I use the FantasyGuru app. Are you a TV junkie? What do you watch? I can be a TV junkie. On Sundays, I love 60 Minutes, then Boardwalk Empire, Eastbound & Down, that new show Hello Ladies—pretty much HBO across the board. And as for the rest of the week, I really like Parks and Recreation, and I just started getting into Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I’m also sort of a political junkie, so I’ll watch Rachel Maddow at night, and I’ll watch Bill O’Reilly online—mostly for arguing purposes with my father-in-law—Meet the Press on Sundays and Bill Maher on Friday nights. How about sports TV? I’m a big New York sports guy, so if a Yankees or Knicks game is on, I’ll flip back and forth between that and my other shows. I’m glued to the TV for Sunday football. On ESPN, I watch PTI: Pardon the Interruption, and The Sports Reporters early on Sunday mornings with Mike Lupica. And I do like my SportsCenter at 11 p.m. There are some anchors that I could do without, but some are just great together, especially the guys on the West Coast feed. Any guilty-pleasure shows? My real, real guilty pleasure—the guiltiest of guilty pleasures—is The Real Housewives, and New Jersey in particular. One time I ran into Caroline Manzo, and she told me how much her family loves [The League] and said I have to come over for a barbecue at their house. I want to be a Manzo! How do you spend your downtime at work? I will pick a show and then binge watch it. Right now, I’ve just started—believe it or not—Breaking Bad. So I’m on Season 1, Episode 7. And then once I go on the road for my tour [starting Nov. 14], I’ll hit it even harder on Netflix. And then after that, I’ll probably segue into The Wire. Has it been impossible to avoid Breaking Bad spoilers? No! Honestly, all I’ve heard is how happy everybody is with the entire thing!

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The League’s Steve Rannazzisi Is a Real-Life Fantasy Football Junkie

Also has a soft spot for a certain group of New Jersey housewives

Emma Bazilian

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Emma Bazilian