Rethinking Barstool?

TFP

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I can't explain his appeal, but he's hysterical on PMT. What show is he on?
They have Mike and Murrdogg with host Riggs from 9-10am on their sirius channel where it’s Mike and his Cousin Murray just basically ranting for kids to get off their lawns. They had Riggs baptized as “Cousin Riggs” by the end of the episode and at the end Mike casually mentions he thinks OJ is innocent.

The singed mail bit from PMT is my all time favorite recurring joke though.
 

kelpapa

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They have Mike and Murrdogg with host Riggs from 9-10am on their sirius channel where it’s Mike and his Cousin Murray just basically ranting for kids to get off their lawns. They had Riggs baptized as “Cousin Riggs” by the end of the episode and at the end Mike casually mentions he thinks OJ is innocent.

The singed mail bit from PMT is my all time favorite recurring joke though.
I may have to renew Sirius. His old man rants are great. It also took me several episodes before realizing that it was him saying "uber" for "Take On Me" closing the show.

The singed mail is from sun coming through a slot in the PO box, right? That seems so obvious, but I never heard them throw this out there as a possibility.
 

TFP

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Today's Pardon My Take episode is basically peak PMT. Their normal segments/opinions were good, but the Alex Smith and Scott Zolak interviews were some of their best ever. Big Cat has a gift for putting guests at ease, and they really got their guests to both open up and show their personality (granted that's not hard with Zo).

If you haven't ever listened before and are wondering what all the hype is all about - today's episode is an awesome introduction.

https://www.podcastone.com/episode/Washington-Redskins-Quarterback-Alex-Smith-and-Scott-Zolak

Edit: Also - Vandy Moss is the perfect name for their 2nd conversion van where they're doing all their interviews.
 
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allstonite

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Today's Pardon My Take episode is basically peak PMT. Their normal segments/opinions were good, but the Alex Smith and Scott Zolak interviews were some of their best ever. Big Cat has a gift for putting guests at ease, and they really got their guests to both open up and show their personality (granted that's not hard with Zo).

If you haven't ever listened before and are wondering what all the hype is all about - today's episode is an awesome introduction.

https://www.podcastone.com/episode/Washington-Redskins-Quarterback-Alex-Smith-and-Scott-Zolak

Edit: Also - Vandy Moss is the perfect name for their 2nd conversion van where they're doing all their interviews.
Completely agree. Also, I absolutely love PFTCommenter and everything he does is brilliant. However when Big Cat is on his own, especially with guests, is better. There's just a better flow without PFT getting in his punchlines and catch phrases and they can dig deeper into actual sports while still being silly. His Barstool radio show is great when he drops the schtick and becomes a regular sports fan with Rone (who is also incredibly talented) and Carrabis (who is good with the Sox and very weird but fine otherwise.)
 

jcd0805

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Today's Pardon My Take episode is basically peak PMT. Their normal segments/opinions were good, but the Alex Smith and Scott Zolak interviews were some of their best ever. Big Cat has a gift for putting guests at ease, and they really got their guests to both open up and show their personality (granted that's not hard with Zo).

If you haven't ever listened before and are wondering what all the hype is all about - today's episode is an awesome introduction.

https://www.podcastone.com/episode/Washington-Redskins-Quarterback-Alex-Smith-and-Scott-Zolak

Edit: Also - Vandy Moss is the perfect name for their 2nd conversion van where they're doing all their interviews.
So totally agree except I really wished they would've gone with Vandal Cunningham for the name, that cracks me up for some reason.
 

nattysez

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This interview with Luke Willson about the end of Super Bowl XLIX is fantastic.

 

Helmet Head

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This interview with Luke Willson about the end of Super Bowl XLIX is fantastic.


Wow, that is fantastic. I wonder who shattered their hand after the game. Big Cat is a supreme talent, I have to assume he eventually will make millions in the media business. I wonder if he has any type of ownership interest in barstool.
 

Dollar

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This interview with Luke Willson about the end of Super Bowl XLIX is fantastic.

Fantastic? I guess it's pretty interesting, but it reminds me more of Mike Vanderjagt getting drunk and shitting all over his QB and coaching staff in 2003. I'm sure Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll aren't thrilled about the things Willson said.
 

TFP

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Fantastic? I guess it's pretty interesting, but it reminds me more of Mike Vanderjagt getting drunk and shitting all over his QB and coaching staff in 2003. I'm sure Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll aren't thrilled about the things Willson said.
Sure, but it's honest reactions from someone who was there. I found it fascinating to really hear what it was like to be part of that team, and it came across as completely genuine. He also defended the coaching staff, saying it wouldn't have been the choice he would have made but a) he understood their logic and b) he didn't have the balls to make the call they did.
 

southshoresoxfan

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I think Big Cat, KFC, and KMarko all have 5%.
That is correct.

Sirius has their highest subscription month ever with the Barstool guys getting their own radio network. Some of the shows are rough around the edges but 9-10 with the Cousins, McAfees block and the two night shows have been great.

I can take or leave chicks in the office, but it’s appealing to the female stoolie demo (of which my wife is one). The morning show is ok, I’m not a Francis guy, and JSB is a little annoying at times.

Liz Gonzales is great. Awesome find and fits in nicely w Clancy and Portnoy.
 

allstonite

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Great interview with Johnny Manziel on PMT today. He is trying to make a comeback and has done great cleaning up his act in the last year or so. He said all of the right things without sounding scripted or coached. He never bothered me as much as most people and I mostly just found him entertaining until the end when he was really bad. After that interview I'm rooting for him to succeed either in football or somewhere else.
 

MN_GOAT#12

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PMT reminds me of Howard Stern back in the day. People feel more comfortable opening up to them than they do a typical radio personality, even guys like DP or Eisen, etc. I mean they got me to actually like Jim Harbaugh because he wasn't all coach-speak and cliches.
 

The Napkin

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right here

This a day after one of the hosts called a 17 year old a hot piece of ass

time to rethink the rethinking?
 

allstonite

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I'm not a full blown "stoolie" but I have a good idea of most of the personalities that work there and I have no clue who that guy is. Still it's not a good look and Portnoy's response is expected but frustrating. It's tough criticizing his way of thinking since obviously he's been successful and is set for life now but I can't help but think of how much money he's cost himself and his employees with his attitude. Barstool Van Talk being the best example that we know about. He's burned a lot of bridges.

Since starting the thread I've cut back on a lot of my Barstool consumption by a lot. I rarely ever went to the website anyway but that's way down. Pardon My Take is still by far the best sports podcast out there and anything Big Cat and PFT do is gold. I'll follow them whatever they choose to do because they're brilliant. I still listen to Mickstape for basketball and a little pop culture but even they are tangentially related to Barstool. I also follow Uncle Chaps on Twitter and will read his links because he's hilarious and can be insightful with his military related blogs.

Beyond that there isn't a lot of there there unless you want to go full on meathead. It's an interesting company in that they've been able to market their employees' personalities and produce tons of content and been able to successfully monetize it. It's a reality show for 20 something males. I just quickly got tired of the personalities and the constant criticisms make it increasingly tougher to justify going there.
 

CantKeepmedown

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I'm with allstonite on this. I think even Kmarko (EIC) tweeted a "who?" when someone posted it on twitter (referring to P-Con). And I agree Portnoy's response is frustrating. It's like they take one small step forward, and then a couple steps back.

Interested to see how much money they make on these Rough n Rowdy PPV's they are doing. They certainly do a decent job of building up hype between the personalities. I have never bought one, or intend to (they are pretty easy to find on Reddit, or at least highlights). They had 34,000 buys for their last one and I would expect at least that much this time around.
 

shaggydog2000

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Trying to think of 17 year olds in news recently.

Chloe Kim I'm guessing was the target?
Every picture and video I've seen of her has had her completely exposed from her eye-brows to about mid-chin. So you have to either do a deep dive with your google-fu, or have a hell of an imagination to sexualize her.
 

TFP

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I have a whole lot of thoughts about all of this, but I realize that I only consume a small, targeted portion of Barstool content. The company itself fascinates me from a business case perspective and how they're growing in the new media landscape, and I think in 5 years we'll be looking back in awe of how they've grown.

Beyond that there isn't a lot of there there unless you want to go full on meathead.
I disagree with this. I personally listen to/follow Pardon My Take, Spittin Chiclets, Fore Play, and KFC Radio, which is just a small portion of the content they produce. None of that is "bro" culture or meathead or anything like their typical reputation. Just people talking about sports I like, or life in general while being funny. Beyond that, there's Chicks in the Office, there's the Barstool Radio shows (which is a crazy diverse lineup), there's 2 different baseball podcasts (ok..Carrabis is kind of a meathead), there's Zero Blog Thirty, there's the fashion podcast they do (I forget the name), and then there's a bunch of meathead bloggers too as well. But it depends how you consume them. There social media content is focused on young people (naturally) and is way more meathead, but also mocks it. Their blogs are just...there. Their podcasts are certainly much more mainstream focused.

It's tough criticizing his way of thinking since obviously he's been successful and is set for life now but I can't help but think of how much money he's cost himself and his employees with his attitude. Barstool Van Talk being the best example that we know about. He's burned a lot of bridges.
I disagree here too. They went from a $10m company to a $100m company in less than two years. I think they actually benefited from BVT being canceled in multiple ways. ESPN looked stupid, they realized traditional TV might not be the way to go, and the PMT guys are openly honest that they're ultimately thrilled it got canceled (once they got past the embarrassment of it) because they really underestimated how much work it was going to be. PFT was on the Evening Yak Sirius show last night with Carrabis and Hank and got pretty open and honest about this topic, among a lot of other things as well. I think BVT getting canceled was a blessing in disguise, long term.

For this Chloe Kim topic - it's a guy on Dallas Braden's brand new radio show that I've literally never heard of before. He's been suspended from the show (by Dallas Braden himself, not Portnoy or management) and they've actually handled the situation pretty well in my opinion. As they expand into radio, they're going to have more of these moments where people try to fill time or try to be funny and cross the line, so they're gonna have to figure out a way to handle it.

Lastly, and I know this was a long post, but today's KFC radio podcast was very interesting in light of this discussion. They go into about a 25 min convo about the definition of masculinity and being a "bro" in response to Michael Ian Black's twitter thread about the Florida school shootings. It's exactly the opposite of the traditional portrayal of Barstool's culture, which is interesting coming from 2 of the longest tenured employees at the company. What's also interesting though is how they discuss Portnoy and how he does fit into that "bro/alpha mentality" as well. It's pretty quick - I encourage everyone to take a listen for themselves.

https://app.stitcher.com/splayer/f/37886/53344063

Here's the twitter thread:

 
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allstonite

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I disagree with this. I personally listen to/follow Pardon My Take, Spittin Chiclets, Fore Play, and KFC Radio, which is just a small portion of the content they produce. None of that is "bro" culture or meathead or anything like their typical reputation. Just people talking about sports I like, or life in general while being funny. Beyond that, there's Chicks in the Office, there's the Barstool Radio shows (which is a crazy diverse lineup), there's 2 different baseball podcasts (ok..Carrabis is kind of a meathead), there's Zero Blog Thirty, there's the fashion podcast they do (I forget the name), and then there's a bunch of meathead bloggers too as well. But it depends how you consume them. There social media content is focused on young people (naturally) and is way more meathead, but also mocks it. Their blogs are just...there. Their podcasts are certainly much more mainstream focused.


I disagree here too. They went from a $10m company to a $100m company in less than two years. I think they actually benefited from BVT being canceled in multiple ways. ESPN looked stupid, they realized traditional TV might not be the way to go, and the PMT guys are openly honest that they're ultimately thrilled it got canceled (once they got past the embarrassment of it) because they really underestimated how much work it was going to be. PFT was on the Evening Yak Sirius show last night with Carrabis and Hank and got pretty open and honest about this topic, among a lot of other things as well. I think BVT getting canceled was a blessing in disguise, long term.

I completely blanked on Spittin Chiclets and I checked out on Fore Play because I didn't follow or care about golf enough to listen every week. I absolutely cannot stand KFC and how everything SUCKS and is the WORST. I know they get deeper and serious sometimes on the podcast but most of the time his public persona is the worst part of the bro/anti PC culture they perpetuate. He's had too many racist and anti-Semitic incidents for them to be accidents. He just doesn't seem like a good person at all. I do love Chaps as I said above.

About going up to $100million I agree they've improved incredibly and it's why I said it's tough to criticize but also I was hoping the Chernin acquisition would force them to cut some of that stuff out. I guess I just see this as more of the top of the mountain for them especially with the bridges burned. I think they can succeed at this level for a long time doing what they're doing but they might continue to become more toxic for a lot of places.

Sure the cancellation might have been better for the PMT guys in the long run but ESPN will never be associated with them again. Portnoy also ruined his WEEI gig back in the day which looks like small potatoes now but it's part of a pattern that doesn't look great.

3 super long posts about their behind the scenes stuff so you weren't wrong about them being fascinating.
 

kenneycb

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But they’re burning bridges with traditional media. The fascinating part is they’ve been able to do this in spite of that. Traditional media just isn’t a gatekeeper like it used to be and their influence is only diminishing. Barstool has been able to realize this while expand from the bro niche they were exclusively associated with even two or three years ago. I consume content in a very similar manner to TFP and if you told me that two years ago, I would’ve assumed my life went very wrong.
 

allstonite

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I’m with you on that. I was out after the blog on Brady’s kid and that’s when I was a dumb college kid. That was before all the blackout party stuff that fulfilled the worst of what people thought about them and put me off even more. It took me a couple months to even give PMT a try because of the perception of the company but I’m glad I did
 

TSC

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KFC Radio is an interesting case study. KFC reminds of what SoSH was 7-8 years ago. I think you're wrong in that he's not a good person, I think at his heart he is. But I think he's also incredibly flawed in the way he presents himself and his takes. It wasn't that long ago that "faggot" was fairly common around here, but as a board we've demanded better of each other and of the discourse. KFC has existed in an environment where that was the norm, and encouraged.

As TFP alluded to KFC and Feits are actually the antithesis of "bro" culture. The quickie they released today should be a primer for any 14-18 year old male teen who feels like he doesn't fit in anywhere. It was really great, self-positive, aware stuff.

Do I wish he didn't call everything "gay?" Yea, I do. But on the whole the content and the heart behind it is in the right place, and I imagine he will at some point get to where we are now.
 

Marbleheader

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I've reached a point with Barstool that I've unfollowed everything related to it. It's getting to be a bit much and I'm generally not a fan of the media trying to make themselves the story (WEEI).

I have a hard time believing that someone that cheats on his pregnant wife while she's caring for his kids is a good guy, let alone one that talks like that.
 

southshoresoxfan

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I've reached a point with Barstool that I've unfollowed everything related to it. It's getting to be a bit much and I'm generally not a fan of the media trying to make themselves the story (WEEI).

I have a hard time believing that someone that cheats on his pregnant wife while she's caring for his kids is a good guy, let alone one that talks like that.
I also think every human is flawed and makes massive critical mistakes often throughout their life, especially in their 20s and early 30s.

How many of us have driven home drunk? Told lies to loved ones? I’m not defending cheating on a pregnant wife, in fact that turned me off from the show for a few months. But I think KFC is the most human “character” on the Barstool networks. What you hear on air is pretty close to what I imagine KFC to be. Flawed, insecure, someone who never planned to be famous and struggled a bit with the rewards that come with it.

I’m also his age and can relate to him the most. Pres is funny but older and very wealthy. (his rough n rowdy commentary alone is amazing). Big Cat is the most talented IMO. PFT the best writer. I don’t follow the fringes much, McAfees show on Sirius is really good as well.

Idk, they get slammed for the bro culture but some of that is their target demo. There is plenty of content on their mediums to consume that don’t associate w the bro culture. Treating Barstool as one entity hasn’t been a good way to assess them for about 3 years now.
 

gtg807y

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My God please stop posting shirtless videos of these two.

I never heard Rapaport on PMT but did listen to him with Simmons a couple of times. He had a couple of decent stories about movies he worked on in his prime, which is now quite a long time ago. I've been kind of mystified by his resurgence lately as I've never liked him as an actor or a personality. Though if he's slamming Portnoy maybe I should reconsider.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Hmm. Rappaport uses the Barstool login to post his rebuttal from their Twitter account and its still up. Odd.

To be fair, its completely out of character for Portnoy/Barstool and Rappaport to create some sort of PR stunt where one of their content providers becomes a wrestling type heel. However, if these people weren't above this sort of stunt, it would be the first thing to come to my mind.
 

NickEsasky

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Your skepticism is valid, but as I understand it he had access to the account for his videos and they didn't change it when they fired him. The reason they left it up is pretty simple though. It's getting views and those views are tied to the Bartstool brand not Rappaport's Twitter. It could totally be a work, but they way that guys were coming out of the woodwork to attack Rappaport, even guys who are usually behind the scenes, I think it was real.
 

kelpapa

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I don't think this is a publicity stunt. Everyone that worked there hated him, and he hasn't brought anything to the table since he started. Portnoy thanked him for finally creating some content and said he was leaving that up for the views.

Rapaport's podcast had less than 3k reviews before this started. There have been >20k reviews of 1 star since, and he's down to 1.5 stars overall.
 

brs3

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Come on, really? (this is likely NSFW)

Are you surprised at all by this? It's Barstool Sports. This is unapologetically their bread & butter. I think it's sophomoric and moronic, but there are millions of yah dudes who eat this up. It's not even original. I think there was a Yankees hitter who garnered a following in the 80's that would take their tops off whenever he homered.
 

TSC

SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
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Is the Section 10 Podcast even Barstool?

I know Carrabis writes for them now, but Pete and Steve I didn't think were affiliated with Barstool, and the podcast pre-dates Carrabis' time at Barstool.
 

nattysez

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It's listed as "by Barstool Sports" on Apple.

brs3 - I'm surprised because it seems like they've been trying to move away to some extent from their sophomoric origins (hence the title of this thread). But stuff like this suggests that it's not going to happen.
 

DJnVa

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Is the Section 10 Podcast even Barstool?

I know Carrabis writes for them now, but Pete and Steve I didn't think were affiliated with Barstool, and the podcast pre-dates Carrabis' time at Barstool.
The twitter bio says Barstool Sports
 

cshea

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For the hockey and Spittin’ Chiclets fans- They’ve added Bissonette (Biz) to the show full time, and are planning on going to 2 podcasts a week. Excellent news on both fronts.
 

TFP

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For the hockey and Spittin’ Chiclets fans- They’ve added Bissonette (Biz) to the show full time, and are planning on going to 2 podcasts a week. Excellent news on both fronts.
And now Mickstape has added Scary Terry to the podcast full time (well, once a week). Apparently Rozier wanted to start recording during the Bucks season and Brad told him to slow down.

Wild.
 

PC Drunken Friar

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They are who we thought they were.

https://deadspin.com/barstool-sports-stooges-try-to-explain-why-corey-lewand-1827035909

On Wednesday’s episode of the Barstool Rundown, Dave Portnoy, Dan Katz, and Sam Bozoian all agreed that Lewandowski’s comment, though heartless, was in fact super-hilarious. “To drop a ‘womp, womp, womp’ right there is so awesome,” says Portnoy. “That’s straight out of, like, There’s Something About Mary or something...”
Portnoy: “It’s funny, Liz!”
Bozoian: “You sit on your couch, you flip over to the channel, you get right into the top of that segment, and then you hear that play out that way, you hear the ‘womp womp,’ you gotta laugh.”
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Why didn't you quote Big Cat's comment?
This one?

"I think the problem is you’re not realizing that I’m not laughing at the misfortune, I’m laughing at how out of touch and absurd that was.”

Yeah, you're right. What a mench this guy is.