Rethinking Barstool?

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Bosh was freaking awesome, what a fun interview!
It was great. I expected him to be more guarded than he was however but he answered a lot of their questions. And he laughed at their LeBron jokes. The guy is extremely thoughtful and I suspect he is going to be very successful no matter what he does going forward. It was one of their better interviews of late along with Gronk.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Another great episode. I thought Gardner Minshew would be the highlight but Warren Sharp was amazing. Its a must listen if you like sports and advanced analytics. And humor.
 

JCizzle

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Dec 11, 2006
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You were right about Bosh, he was awesome! Had low expectations going in, but he was really down to earth
 

nattysez

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Sep 30, 2010
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The weekly Barstool Sports Advisors show on YouTube started out as a parody of the sports tout shows of my youth, but has evolved into a surrealist football betting predictions show. I hate myself for watching it, but I find it mesmerizing.
 

CantKeepmedown

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Jul 15, 2005
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So, people that don't follow Barstool or hate them won't appreciate this, but the punishment that Dave gave to Yankee fans for today's game is absolutely hilarious. For those that care, the contingent of Yankee fans left an absolute mess in the office after game 2. As their punishment, they are not allowed to watch the game today or have access to their phones. Instead, they are having play by play given to them by a female in the office who knows absolute jack shit about baseball. She is watching the game in a different room and telling them what is happening via video (so they are watching video of her watching the game.) "He hit it. Oh, a guy caught it. I'm not sure what that means. No points" Good stuff.
 
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PseuFighter

Silent scenester
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Dec 22, 2003
14,408
if i worked there, i would probably (seriously) quit over this. most of them would have trouble finding work, i think, but carrabis would be just fine.
 

Reverend

for king and country
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So, people that don't follow Barstool or hate them won't appreciate this, but the punishment that Dave gave to Yankee fans for today's game is absolutely hilarious. For those that care, the contingent of Yankee fans left an absolute mess in the office after game 2. As their punishment, they are not allowed to watch the game today or have access to their phones. Instead, they are having play by play given to them by a female in the office who knows absolute jack shit about baseball. She is watching the game in a different room and telling them what is happening via video (so they are watching video of her watching the game.) "He hit it. Oh, a guy caught it. I'm not sure what that means. No points" Good stuff.
“by a female”?

If you were trying to make this sound neutral because of the subject matter, you kinda blew it. ;)
 

InstaFace

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Sep 27, 2016
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Former catcher Paul Lo Duca joins Barstool, makes some shit up on a podcast about umpire Joe West taking bribes from pitchers for favorable strike zone calls, resulting in Joe West actually suing him, and bringing receipts.

I said just over 15 years ago that no word of criticism about West would ever again pass my lips, so on behalf of the many of us who took such vows at the same time: go fuck yourself, Paul Lo Duca.
 

Reverend

for king and country
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Former catcher Paul Lo Duca joins Barstool, makes some shit up on a podcast about umpire Joe West taking bribes from pitchers for favorable strike zone calls, resulting in Joe West actually suing him, and bringing receipts.

I said just over 15 years ago that no word of criticism about West would ever again pass my lips, so on behalf of the many of us who took such vows at the same time: go fuck yourself, Paul Lo Duca.
Wow.

Maybe don’t lie about something that happens in front of a huge live audience that’s broadcast on TV and think you can get away with it, huh?

I mean, what? Does he think he’s a politician or something? :kitty:
 

Matty005

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Aug 28, 2005
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Former catcher Paul Lo Duca joins Barstool, makes some shit up on a podcast about umpire Joe West taking bribes from pitchers for favorable strike zone calls, resulting in Joe West actually suing him, and bringing receipts.

I said just over 15 years ago that no word of criticism about West would ever again pass my lips, so on behalf of the many of us who took such vows at the same time: go fuck yourself, Paul Lo Duca.
He made these comments back in April though, before he joined Barstool.
 

BoSox Rule

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Jul 15, 2005
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When did he join Barstool and what does this have to do with Barstool? I can’t find anything about him joining. and that article only mentions a Barstool podcaster namer Blackjack Fletcher that I’ve never heard of and an Action Network podcast from April.
 

CantKeepmedown

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They did announce on one of their radio shows yesterday that he was officially joining. But the stuff with Joe West happened back in May on a podcast not affiliated with Barstool.
 

BoSox Rule

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They did announce on one of their radio shows yesterday that he was officially joining. But the stuff with Joe West happened back in May on a podcast not affiliated with Barstool.
Thanks. I searched Google and Twitter and didn’t see any mention of it.
 

InstaFace

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The article described him as "new Barstool Sports podcaster Paul Lo Duca", so I took them at their word. Whether he's new or not, it's shitty.
 

Rusty13

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InstaFace

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It's actually kinda shitty that the NCAA and ESPN applied pressure to a Bowl, which is supposed to be some independent entertainment spectacle, to toss aside an agreed-upon commercial arrangement. If the Mobile Bowl did the deal, used it to boost the payments to the participating schools, and then nevertheless got universal crap from fans and a ton of bad PR and then ticket sales went in the toilet, well, they'd then have their reasons to get out of the deal and demonstrate that Barstool is bad for business. But otherwise, why do outside orgs need to put pressure to stop that deal? Just makes no sense to me. This is one case where reality seems to be a lot closer to Portnoy's whiny-victimhood view of the world than it is to everyone else who just goes around calling Portnoy an asshole. Like, they actually were out to get him here. So bizarre.
 

Couperin47

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It's actually kinda shitty that the NCAA and ESPN applied pressure to a Bowl, which is supposed to be some independent entertainment spectacle, to toss aside an agreed-upon commercial arrangement. If the Mobile Bowl did the deal, used it to boost the payments to the participating schools, and then nevertheless got universal crap from fans and a ton of bad PR and then ticket sales went in the toilet, well, they'd then have their reasons to get out of the deal and demonstrate that Barstool is bad for business. But otherwise, why do outside orgs need to put pressure to stop that deal? Just makes no sense to me. This is one case where reality seems to be a lot closer to Portnoy's whiny-victimhood view of the world than it is to everyone else who just goes around calling Portnoy an asshole. Like, they actually were out to get him here. So bizarre.
Of course it makes no sense to you, precisely why your participation at SOSH should be sponsored by a crappy generic Chinese knockoff of Fleshlight.
 

mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
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It's actually kinda shitty that the NCAA and ESPN applied pressure to a Bowl, which is supposed to be some independent entertainment spectacle, to toss aside an agreed-upon commercial arrangement.
I’m not sure what you are talking about. ESPN doesn’t dutifully repeat the sponsor’s name each time it mentions a bowl game because they think that’s important information for their viewers to have; they do it because they are contractually obligated to do so. Similarly, those contracts obligate the bowls not to select a sponsor that competes with ESPN, since ESPN has no interest in giving all that publicity to a competitor. The bowl game is “independent” in the sense that it is free to sell broadcasting rights to someone besides ESPN, as some bowls do. But I don’t see why bowls should be able to enjoy the benefits of a contract with ESPN without bearing the burdens, which include modest restrictions on who may be their title sponsor.

Reasonable opinion can differ as to whether Barstool and ESPN compete with one another, but it’s clear from Portnoy’s own words that he thinks they do, so I’m really not sure what evidence there is that he’s a victim here, except that he’s claiming to be one.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
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Jul 15, 2005
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Of course it makes no sense to you, precisely why your participation at SOSH should be sponsored by a crappy generic Chinese knockoff of Fleshlight.

That's an option? I would like a sponsorship. I'll take whoever pays the most, I have no standards so match me with a company that feels the same.*




*This post was brought to you by the good people at Better Health, Blue Chew, and Some CBD company
 

InstaFace

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I’m not sure what you are talking about. ESPN doesn’t dutifully repeat the sponsor’s name each time it mentions a bowl game because they think that’s important information for their viewers to have; they do it because they are contractually obligated to do so. Similarly, those contracts obligate the bowls not to select a sponsor that competes with ESPN, since ESPN has no interest in giving all that publicity to a competitor. The bowl game is “independent” in the sense that it is free to sell broadcasting rights to someone besides ESPN, as some bowls do. But I don’t see why bowls should be able to enjoy the benefits of a contract with ESPN without bearing the burdens, which include modest restrictions on who may be their title sponsor.

Reasonable opinion can differ as to whether Barstool and ESPN compete with one another, but it’s clear from Portnoy’s own words that he thinks they do, so I’m really not sure what evidence there is that he’s a victim here, except that he’s claiming to be one.
Not having seen the contract they (or any bowls) have with ESPN, I suppose it's plausible they'd have some restrictions (or it'd be implicit, and resolved via grumbling such as is reported). Looking at the list of bowls, 31 will be on ESPN, and 10 on other networks, so it's not like they're the only game in town, but perhaps most networks would think similarly.

That said:
- other sponsors include Redbox, which as a distributor of entertainment content isn't that far off from a media company
- Barstool is a bit of a reach as a "competitor" for ESPN; they don't own the broadcast rights for any sports content, which of course is the backbone of ESPN, and their main product is podcasts which are not a main feature at ESPN if indeed they are at all. Yes, they're both in sports media, but something tells me ESPN wouldn't object to the SportsIllustrated Bowl.
- ESPN is paying for the privilege of broadcasting the game, not the other way round; if Barstool was going to bring the bowl itself a lot more money, all of this strikes me as very negotiable business terms. It was reported that Barstool and this bowl had reached terms, of course, so one might presume their value-add was about to be comparable to ESPN's in the bowl's eyes.

To adopt the terminology of first-amendment law, this strikes me as discrimination based on the speaker, not based on time/place/manner kind of objections. Do we really think ESPN would throw a fit if The Athletic wanted to sponsor a game? It tripped my spidey senses in that regard, despite how loathe I am to take the same side as Portnoy.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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To adopt the terminology of first-amendment law, this strikes me as discrimination based on the speaker, not based on time/place/manner kind of objections. Do we really think ESPN would throw a fit if The Athletic wanted to sponsor a game? It tripped my spidey senses in that regard, despite how loathe I am to take the same side as Portnoy.
I'd guess that's *exactly* what it is. ESPN is not interested in figuratively being in the same room as Portnoy, so it complained. Small 'd' discrimination, but it's *permissible* discrimination.
 

InstaFace

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Well, it's all "permissible", nobody's a government actor here, or even a monopolistic one. But in terms of assessing whether Portnoy is getting screwed or not, it seemed a useful filter.

Moreover, I don't give a rat's ass if Portnoy gets fucked by his own asshole reputation, but I do care somewhat if ESPN starts throwing its weight around to squelch the business dealings of other sports-media companies, more or less for spite. To turn Mauf's phrasing around: The price of being an 800lb gorilla is having to play fair.
 

joe dokes

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Well, it's all "permissible", nobody's a government actor here, or even a monopolistic one. But in terms of assessing whether Portnoy is getting screwed or not, it seemed a useful filter.

Moreover, I don't give a rat's ass if Portnoy gets fucked by his own asshole reputation, but I do care somewhat if ESPN starts throwing its weight around to squelch the business dealings of other sports-media companies, more or less for spite. To turn Mauf's phrasing around: The price of being an 800lb gorilla is having to play fair.
I think "screwed" is a bit much. I'm not sure I agree about the price of being an 800lb gorilla, but even if its true, being an unrepentant asshole also has a price. (How would I know this? A friend told me....)
 
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nattysez

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I do care somewhat if ESPN starts throwing its weight around to squelch the business dealings of other sports-media companies, more or less for spite. To turn Mauf's phrasing around: The price of being an 800lb gorilla is having to play fair.
I would be willing to bet a lot of money that ESPN does far worse at least once a week. There is zero chance they are not constantly using their leverage to hurt rivals or companies they don't like.
 

johnmd20

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Carrabis is having a full-on, lock him up in a room for a while meltdown on Twitter over the Cora news. I get that his shtik is of superfan, but he's looking awful in this.
He's generally very successful at looking awful. He's basically a shock jock. It may be his shtick, but he's not a great deliverer of entertainment or content. He's a psycho.
 

TFP

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Carrabis is having a full-on, lock him up in a room for a while meltdown on Twitter over the Cora news. I get that his shtik is of superfan, but he's looking awful in this.
I unfollowed him a long time ago on Twitter and it was definitely the correct decision. He's become insufferable.

In other news, PMT got a morning after still drunk interview with Coach O and Joe Burrow on the podcast, and PFT has a legit tryout as a kicker for an XFL team. Watching the hype video, it looks like he can actually kick and is a former rugby player.

View: https://twitter.com/PardonMyTake/status/1217370524575248384


I know I'm obviously a Barstool fan, but I've drastically scaled back their content lately. It's gotten significantly worse and watered down across the board. I think it's a combo of overexposure, expansion, a relentless focus on gambling, and a very untalented group expanding below their top people. I also think they're going to sell soon, likely to a gambling company or a casino.
 

InstaFace

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I'll need @IdiotKicker to weigh in, but to my eye it looks like his foot is usually hitting the ball at a cross-angle rather than straight up-and-down, he's not getting very much of the top of his foot involved, and as a result it has some side roll in the air.
 

nattysez

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The whole PMT experience during and after the NCAA title game was very entertaining. But PFT is 35 and Big Cat is 33. At some point, it may stop being funny for guys their age to be puking in their hotel rooms and having coeds slapping them in bars.
 

Vinho Tinto

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Dec 9, 2003
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The whole PMT experience during and after the NCAA title game was very entertaining. But PFT is 35 and Big Cat is 33. At some point, it may stop being funny for guys their age to be puking in their hotel rooms and having coeds slapping them in bars.
And, unlike PFT, Big Cat is now a parent.
 

JCizzle

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The whole PMT experience during and after the NCAA title game was very entertaining. But PFT is 35 and Big Cat is 33. At some point, it may stop being funny for guys their age to be puking in their hotel rooms and having coeds slapping them in bars.
And, unlike PFT, Big Cat is now a parent.
I dunno, Joe House is in his 50s and drunk House is one of the funniest Simmons segments. I don't think Big Cat drinks much anymore so this was probably his first time letting loose in a long time.
 

johnmd20

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The whole PMT experience during and after the NCAA title game was very entertaining. But PFT is 35 and Big Cat is 33. At some point, it may stop being funny for guys their age to be puking in their hotel rooms and having coeds slapping them in bars.
35 and 33 is pretty young, all things considered. It's not like they are in their 50s. They won't be acting like this in their 50s.
 

nattysez

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35 and 33 is pretty young, all things considered. It's not like they are in their 50s. They won't be acting like this in their 50s.
That's fair, as is the observation that being drunk and crazy is (now) a rarity for them.

When they were palling around with Burrow as peers during his interview, I was thinking "These guys are a little old to be giggling about being drunk with a 22 year-old." But Leonardo DiCaprio has done the same thing for years, so different strokes for different folks.
 

johnmd20

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That's fair, as is the observation that being drunk and crazy is (now) a rarity for them.

When they were palling around with Burrow as peers during his interview, I was thinking "These guys are a little old to be giggling about being drunk with a 22 year-old." But Leonardo DiCaprio has done the same thing for years, so different strokes for different folks.
I figure if you got an interview with the national champion quarterback and his coach the day after they won said championship, you would be giggling too. This was a serious get for PMT.