Today I was inspired by CEO of Barstool Erika Nardini who wrote a blog “From the token female CEO.” She talked about why she loves Barstool not only as the CEO but as a fan. She told the story of how she met Dave and how thing’s got started and what it means to her. She explained how frustrating it is for woman in media to tell other woman what they should and should not like and, where they should and should not work. Myself not being a woman and all I’m gonna side with Nardini on this.
So why am I writing this? What’s the point, people hate Barstool, people love Barstool who cares. Nobody is ever going to change their mind and we will continue into this phony fight until Deadspin is dead and Barstool is the biggest sports/comedy/media site going. I’m writing this because I want to tell my side. If everyone who is jealous can tell their fake stories on why Barstool sucks, I a normal 27-year-old man with a typical day job and a newborn on the way can tell his too.
I grew up just outside of Philadelphia, I had an easy life anything I needed my parents could provide, I have some of the greatest friends a guy could ask for, I’m very handsome most say, I played football and hockey most of my life, I’ve bullied, I’ve been bullied and I’ve grown up. My grammar is awful, I use run-on sentences and that has no impact on what I’m saying. Never joined a frat (there’s nothing wrong with being in one) I have had a privileged life. I just wanted to get that out-of-the-way before the weirdo’s and losers of which there are many try to use that stuff as a reason why what I say has no validation. I wont be getting into any of the hate on Barstool because that’s not what this is about.
Barstool Sports, why am I a fan? I started paying attention to Barstool in 2009-2010 a good friend of mine introduced it to me. I thought it was great. It was just a bunch of normal guy’s talking sports having the same takes I did. Actual fans who got upset when they lost and talked shit when they won. It wasn’t bro’s doing bro things as if somehow that’s bad, it was just normal guy’s thing’s my friends and I would talk about everyday. It went beyond all of that though. Most people fight with their friends over trivial things all the time. We anger each other and force each other to say things we don’t mean. Barstool had that aspect too. It was like watching a male drama sometimes when KFC and Big Cat would attack Dave over deflategate. Smitty and Nate would get personal and I could not look away. It was old-time WWF with out the nice bodies and violence.
As I grew up I still loved Barstool and they grew to new heights. Moving to New York and bringing Erika on as the new CEO it was exciting to be a fan, it still is. Around the time Barstool moved to New York I began dating my current girlfriend with whom in about two weeks I am expecting our first-born child. I remember the first day I connected my laptop to the TV to watch the rundown. She had a very confused look on her face and she didn’t seem happy. She told me she didn’t like Barstool she had heard about them and how awful they treated woman. She is a feminist and a strong one. I asked her to put bias aside and watch. She agreed.
We watched every rundown that week, and she read thing’s on the site watched video’s new and old and after about two weeks she would text me “Did you see Big Cat’s blog today” or “Dave’s pizza review was so funny today I was in tears” She became a fan. I asked her what changed she had so many preconceived notions that they were bad. She said when you pay attention to what they’re saying have a sense of humor and listen, they’re very funny. They make jokes that are outrageous but it’s not to harm anyone and I like it. I thought wow that’s crazy she just gave it a chance and understood and enjoyed it. Weird concept to just give something a chance before denouncing it forever.
In 2013 I started a blog called My Outhouse because I wanted to write for Barstool. I thought it was clever, I would write things quick and easy in the time it takes you to finish on the toilet. I didn’t have the balls to send them my blog because I was afraid of finding out I was a bad writer, but I still wrote everyday and built up a decent following in my area. I love to write, I enjoy it, not to brag I’m funnier than most (my girlfriend tell’s me I am) and Barstool made that cool. They made reading a blog about anything fun. They gave myself and everyone else after them the template.
Dave often says he see’s Vince McMahon as sort of hero for how he built WWF/E, and I have always looked at Dave building his own business the way he looks at Vince. I wont sit here and say Dave Portnoy is what kid’s should grow up emulating. Barstool is an adult comedy site after all. Although I can think of a lot of reasons I would want my child to grow up emulating the success of Dave Portnoy or Erika Nardini.
Barstool has always had its faults of course. They can never get anything to work right, they have an office that is way to small and need’s to be upgraded and I kind of like that stuff. They never forget where they come from, not that any of that is on purpose. They just really don’t understand technology sometimes.
There are of course idiots out there. People on twitter or in comment sections who say the crudest stuff to people and they are a small minority. If you go to a Barstool comment section or a Youtube comment section it’s all the same stuff. Non Barstool fans and Barstool haters will tweet gross shitty things, just like some Barstool fans will tweet gross shitty things and 98% of Barstool fans like myself wish those people would just go away.
Barstool is growing. It’s not going to stop no matter what people write or say. The reality is none of what’s out there is true that’s why over 15 years, Dave Portnoy has never had to delete anything. He and everyone else there will defend everything they say and if they are wrong they’ll put the hand up say we were wrong we should not have said that. They don’t run and hide and delete all of their twitter history from August 2018 and on.
I’m proud to be a stoolie, a Barstool fan and love the site. There’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with saying “Saturdays are for the boys” or yelling “Viva”. If you have a problem with it that’s fine I think you’re probably a loser who never got over the one time somebody was mean to you in 9th grade. I’ll stay proud though, I’ll still always be impressed by what Dave created and what Erika is growing. Like it or not, it wont be stopped, it can’t be stopped and if you don’t like me or the people here at Branded Sports because of it, that’s ok because we don’t fucking like you either.
Viva.