Rethinking Barstool?

Jim Ed Rice in HOF

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You’ve got AOC tweeting, some deadspin guys subtweeting about it and he’s trending on twitter because everyone is getting all bothered which is like page 1 of the Portnoy playbook. This happens monthly and yet people continue to not realize he’s trolling which is honestly amazing to me.
 

OurF'ingCity

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You’ve got AOC tweeting, some deadspin guys subtweeting about it and he’s trending on twitter because everyone is getting all bothered which is like page 1 of the Portnoy playbook. This happens monthly and yet people continue to not realize he’s trolling which is honestly amazing to me.
It's the Trump playbook, but for clicks/listens/business reasons as opposed to political ones.

Edit: to be clear, I'm not saying he's some mastermind who doesn't believe a word of what he says. Rather, like Trump, he started out saying a bunch of stupid shit because he's a royal asshole, only to realize that saying that stupid shit somehow was making him fucktons of money so there is no reason for him to ever stop. He and his corporate overlords would probably love it if the NLRB actually sued him - whatever they ended up paying out would probably be at least recouped by increased attention from both "lovers" and "haters" alike.
 
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joe dokes

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He's too stupid for it to have started off as trolling. He really thinks he can threaten people like that. But he is clever enough to quickly determine a way to profit off his stupidity. He'd shit in his pants in public, and he knows his followers would buy a chunk of the shit and a piece of the pants, "just because of the look on those Cambridge libs' faces when I filled my pants in Harvard Square."
 

Helmet Head

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He's too stupid for it to have started off as trolling. He really thinks he can threaten people like that. But he is clever enough to quickly determine a way to profit off his stupidity. He'd shit in his pants in public, and he knows his followers would buy a chunk of the shit and a piece of the pants, "just because of the look on those Cambridge libs' faces when I filled my pants in Harvard Square."
He knew exactly what he was doing from the get go. I don’t think he is as stupid as you think. An asshole, sure but he definitely sent that initial tweet out as a troll. Did he think it would get the traction it has? Probably not but this is right up the Portnoy playbook. Say outlandish stuff and when things blow up. Profit.
 
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nattysez

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It's the Trump playbook, but for clicks/listens/business reasons as opposed to political ones.

Edit: to be clear, I'm not saying he's some mastermind who doesn't believe a word of what he says. Rather, like Trump, he started out saying a bunch of stupid shit because he's a royal asshole, only to realize that saying that stupid shit somehow was making him fucktons of money so there is no reason for him to ever stop. He and his corporate overlords would probably love it if the NLRB actually sued him - whatever they ended up paying out would probably be at least recouped by increased attention from both "lovers" and "haters" alike.
I agree with all of this, except the idea he'll have to pay anything. When push comes to shove, he'll happily put on a suit and read an apology the lawyers write for him with a smirk, go quiet on social media for a week, and then start right up again.
 

Koji’s Slider

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I agree with all of this, except the idea he'll have to pay anything. When push comes to shove, he'll happily put on a suit and read an apology the lawyers write for him with a smirk, go quiet on social media for a week, and then start right up again.
Portnoy? You would have a better chance of Trump giving up Twitter, than Dave Portnoy apologizing for any. Even during Howitzergate, he only kind of apologized.
 

Beomoose

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If he wanted to prove he was trolling, he could quietly facilitate rather than loudly combat those of his employees that want to unionize. He could also stop retweeting Prince Failson.
 

bsj

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Trolling or not, I finally unsubbed from all the BS accounts. Honestly not sure why i didnt sooner. I'm not even the biggest union guy, but I just reached my limit with him
 

Leather

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Soul Cycle has been in the news as a Stephen Ross company. Don’t know how it’s BS related
Oh, Oh...my bad. It's old news that got re-dredged up because everyone is realizing Portnoy is a jerk.

Apparently his girlfriend cheated on him with a Soulcycle instructor back in 2017 or so and he threatened to have people invade Soulcycle clases in retaliation.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Yeah as much as I believe AOC is necessary and she should be a bulldog in Congress, leave the twitter SJW-ing to others and don't try to use your tank to kill a mosquito.
 

deanx0

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Trolling or not, I finally unsubbed from all the BS accounts. Honestly not sure why i didnt sooner. I'm not even the biggest union guy, but I just reached my limit with him
This is where I am at as well. I was actually halfway through Monday's PMT and the Stone Cold interview when I just deleted it and unsubscribed. I've probably been rationalizing that PFTCommenter and Big Cat aren't like Portnoy, but frankly their podcast/brand is probably one of his biggest revenue streams and to me it is time to stop supporting it.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Big Cat stepped right up and said "Oh we don't need a union" after Portnoy's "joke" so the entire enterprise and everyone in it can get stuffed as far as I'm concerned.

Portnoy is an asshole, a misogynist and a bully and his employees support him in that. I hope they get hit by an asteroid. Loathesome people, all of them.
 

joe dokes

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Yup. While people are "offended" by what he's doing, he's laughing all the way to the bank.
I may only get to laugh a few steps toward the bank, but I dont think there will be many people applauding when I die. I think that's the least I can do for my children.
 

The Gray Eagle

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I've read on here that Portnoy doesn't really run things there, so his assholery is irrelevant.
He can publicly threaten to fire anyone at the company, in violation of the law, but that doesn't matter. He was joking!

Since this thread was created, I've checked in to see if there ever is any reason to "rethink Barstool," but there never is.
 

jcd0805

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I love PMT and Hard Factor. Haven't listened to PMT yet but the Hard Factor
Big Cat stepped right up and said "Oh we don't need a union" after Portnoy's "joke" so the entire enterprise and everyone in it can get stuffed as far as I'm concerned.

Portnoy is an asshole, a misogynist and a bully and his employees support him in that. I hope they get hit by an asteroid. Loathesome people, all of them.
lol maybe none of them want to unionize, is that such a big deal that y'all are unsubscribing? Lots of people don't want to unionize and that's kind of their choice, no?
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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I love PMT and Hard Factor. Haven't listened to PMT yet but the Hard Factor

lol maybe none of them want to unionize, is that such a big deal that y'all are unsubscribing? Lots of people don't want to unionize and that's kind of their choice, no?
So Portnoy threatened to fire any of his employees who spoke to a lawyer about unionizing, and now (perhaps in fear for their jobs) the employees are saying "Oh we don't want to unionize."

OK then.
 

OurF'ingCity

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I am convinced he made the threat seriously and walked it back as a joke when it was pointed out to him that it's in violation of labor law.
It doesn't have to be either/or. It can still be a "joke" or a "troll job," but if you are a Barstool employee and your initial reaction to seeing the labor lawyer's tweet was "hmm, could be interesting, I know lots of websites are doing that now" there's no way in hell you're going to raise your opinion after Portnoy posted what he did, regardless of whether it was a joke or not.

Then again, the type of person who would have any interest in unionizing has probably already been self-selected out of Barstool for years now, so it may not be false that no one at Barstool wants to unionize.
 

joe dokes

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I am convinced he made the threat seriously and walked it back as a joke when it was pointed out to him that it's in violation of labor law.
Which is what idiots do. They make "jokes" that involve illegal or just plain horrible activity and then say "hahahahahaha only joking" when called on it.
 

jcd0805

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Then again, the type of person who would have any interest in unionizing has probably already been self-selected out of Barstool for years now, so it may not be false that no one at Barstool wants to unionize.
I know you’re joking but that’s the truth, the employees know where they work. If they didn’t like it they’d go find somewhere else.
 

ifmanis5

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NLRB will be investigating Barstool...

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/national-labor-relations-board-investigate-barstool-sports-founders-tweets-1232632?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral
As a result of the charge, NLRB agents are tasked with gathering evidence and taking affidavits from parties and witnesses. A decision on the merits of the charge would likely come in the next few months unless the charges are withdrawn. If there's sufficient evidence to support a charge, the NLRB attempts to work out a settlement, and if it can't, files a complaint, which would lead to a hearing before an Administrative Law judge. At that point the NLRB becomes the representative for the charging party, and if it gets so far, a NLRB Regional Director could petition a federal court for an injunction.
 

BoSox Rule

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The Corp is back. Two episodes every Tuesday. Yesterday was Martha Stewart and Kevin Bacon.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Gronk is the guest on Wednesday's PMT podcast, for those who might be interested.
And it was fantastic. To be fair, Big Cat and PFT were essentially fanboy-interviewing Gronk so he had a warm introduction. Regardless he was funny, engaging and had some great Patriots anecdotes. Its definitely worth a listen even if you aren't a fan of the Patriots.
 

BoSox Rule

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The part about being advanced at math until there was no more numbers anymore was hilarious and sadly relatable.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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PMT is being coy in their hints about Wednesday's guest but they said he is bigger than Gronk and they mean taller. I strongly suspect that they finally got Durant. They are on record as being critical of him so it could be interesting depending on how open Durant is to their humor.
 

TFP

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PMT is being coy in their hints about Wednesday's guest but they said he is bigger than Gronk and they mean taller. I strongly suspect that they finally got Durant. They are on record as being critical of him so it could be interesting depending on how open Durant is to their humor.
It’s Chris Bosh.