Club Shay Shay - Club Shay Shay - Dave Portnoy Part 2

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

Dave Portnoy On Cancel Culture, Kanye West, Skip Bayless, LeBron, Tom Brady, Taylor Swift, Celtics, Patriots, Barstool Sports & Call Her DaddyDave opens up about the deal that shocked the industry—selling Barstool for $500 million and then buying it back for just $1. He explains why he doesn't believe he can be cancelled, why he rarely apologizes, and how he’s thrived by embracing controversy. From beefs with Jason Whitlock and Michael Rapaport to the Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark debate and calling Reese “classless”, Portnoy gives his unfiltered opinions.He breaks down his best and worst purchases, winning $2.6 million betting on UConn, being called a "legitimate degenerate" by his dad, and his past bankruptcy. He weighs in on crypto scams, the Hawk Tuah crypto controversy, and even Gisele Bündchen moving on from Tom Brady.He talks about his ex-wife still able to access his bank account and his defense of Taylor Swift against Kanye West. He also dives into the TikTok ban, Mahomes vs. Brady, Jerod Mayo’s unfair exit from the Patriots, and his Top 5 Celtics of all time.He speaks on the Lakers getting Luka Doncic, Bronny James entering the NBA, Larry Ellison’s recruiting tactics with Bryce Underwood, and interviewing Donald Trump. Portnoy talks his past run for mayor of Boston, shares the best advice he’s ever received, and reveals his Top 5 fast food chains.This is Dave Portnoy—raw, controversial, unapologetic, and more transparent than ever. You don’t want to miss this brutally honest, wildly entertaining deep-dive into the mind of one of the most polarizing and powerful figures in sports media.#volumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart podcast. Thank you for coming back. Part two is underway. Who shocked you the most that they left? Have you been surprised by anyone that they ended up leaving? Not big names. No, not on the talent side. I had like a guy who was like a work for the go, went and worked for the

world empire state building. That's it's like you're going to work for bricks. That's, but not, not on the talent State Building. That's like you're going to work for bricks. That's surprising. But not on the talent side, because again, we pay really competitively, really well, and we're a good place to work. I'm gonna give you, of the talent that you've lost, I'm gonna give you the opportunity

to bring one of them back. You can pay them what they're getting, but you only get one. You only get one. McAfee, Caller Daddy, Bustin' with the Boys, Caleb. Are they gonna... The question would be, well, do I know everything about them that I know right now? Yep. Will Compton, no doubt. Wow. So Will would be the guy that you'd be willing to break the bank for. If you could break and say you know what the guy say you know what, if you give him X, we can save it. We can sell it. Yeah, yeah, it'll be Will. The reason is I think he's the most loves Barstool the most. Like we get, you know, I'll get people put in front of me

loves Barstool the most. Like we get, you know, I'll get people put in front of me and they're stars a lot of times. Like, well, are they bought into what we do? Do they wanna like be in these stupid, like we had a skills competition, like Gruden last night is announcing it happy. Or are they their own thing? Like that's why I didn't say McAfee.

McAfee is a supernova, but he's got a lot of interest. And he's WWE, he's this. Like we want guys who are like, you know We're all they would yeah, it's like I want to be here in the doors the more so that's why I'd say well Okay, I like that Dan big cats bringing in William Weekly listeners, I mean I'm looking at this bro. I just don't I still don't I figured it out and I've been looking at it I'm like, how do you create this?

So that is the number one sports podcast, I say of all time. Like for the longevity they're doing it, the numbers. He's maybe the most unappreciated guy because he never went to a mainstream network. He's just a super talented, super hardworking guy and people love him and PFT is wildly talented right time right place and then exploded and I mean you know how hard it is to do stuff like

a lot of people come into this and they think it's you throw your glove on the field and the thing will be such a lot of work it is people think you need to all you need is a camera the microphone and that's it yeah so these guys work their asses off they've changed the whole way a lot of people do podcasts and people used to not put stuff out on Mondays till after NFL Sunday these guys were at the office after the games. So they're just super talented super hard-working and early How do you two meet he was a fan? So when I Expanded outside of Boston. I said we're looking for guys in different cities, he applied. How do you treat loyalty? Because it seems like to me you're a very loyal guy.

And I think it's for you, and I'm just sitting here talking to you, and I didn't know you before we sat down. I still don't know you, but I'm having a conversation with you. As I see you, as I talk to you, loyalty is the foundation of everything you do. Number one thing, number one thing, if you're loyal to me, I'll be wildly, I mean, wildly loyal to you, but if you look at us, we've had guys who've been here, like employee number one's still there.

People have made millions when we did equity deals just on like handshakes and it's a two-way street, and that's why I think in a lot of ways we've been respectful. That's also gets me trouble sometimes because I feel like I've been crossed. You know, you may hit me with a feather and I come back with like a sledgehammer. It's always like an equal thing.

But yeah, loyalty is a huge part of, I don't know why, that's just my personality. What happened to the ESPN deal? You had the ESPN deal and you mentioned earlier that they canceled it after one show. Yeah, they did. So here it real quick Dan and I used to do a podcast basically when no one knew who we were and we taught college football

Okay, so at the time sam ponder just took over for erin andrews. We're watching and uh, She had a kid the kid was on the podcast. We made crass jokes about her We're like nobody wants to see your kids sam. We want to see you slotted up. That's what I said. Something to that effect. Okay. By the way, I stand by like guys are watching, see a pretty slotted up whatever. This was the Wild West. I didn't even know we said it. Fast forward five years, they get the show. And there was a rebellion within ESPN. Like, you know what these guys said about you back in the day? And I think there was so much pressure. They canceled the show. Who was the agent of hers who started? He's a big deal. Khan, Nick Khan. Yeah. And then he asked me the WWE. Yeah, he asked me to fight in New York, like three weeks after it happened.

I sent I go, do you think I don't know what the just happened at ESPN like I know who complained. Yeah So that's what happened. Yes, man, bro How the hell do you sell a company for five for over half a bill and Then buy it back for a buck It's one of the great trades of all time. So a better than the Louisiana purchase. Yeah it was. So we were sold to a gambling company. Yes, gambling super regulated.

You need licenses. If of our state regulator in Indiana doesn't like you, you're in trouble. Yes, I'm a controversial guy. It was definitely creating issues for Penn getting licenses. They had an opportunity to do this deal

with ESPN. And I think they were like, you know, we're not the right holder for Barstool. Rather than go to war with me, that we're friends, they're like, this just didn't work, essentially. It was losing money at the time, so we cut that deal. I got the company back.

I think they would have taken it. A lot of people would have lost their jobs because there wasn't a need for a lot of what we have idiots like what are they gonna do if They lose their job. They've done nothing else. So there's a bunch of factors all coming together again. It worked out for me, right? Yeah, how do you about it for a dollar? They dollar you can't give it to somebody. It's gonna be an official sale dollar Why not? Okay, why not 100 million? Okay, they would have lost 450 million, but damn. I wouldn't pay 100 million for it. You wouldn't?

No, and I look at it like this. I knew we were, it's like I'm the guy, like Dan's with me, you need me bought in on whatever you're doing with Barstool. Nah, I wouldn't have paid 100 million. Why didn't they just sell it to another company? You need me in that probably too. Like what if you sell that to a company I don't like?

And it's like, hey, this thing, my baby, that I've been working on 20 years, maybe my right, yeah, they liked us. And it's like, I don't think they wanted to create a war, especially in the scheme of what they did with ESPN. Like this was kind of a small, either a billion dollar company. So in the scheme of their world,

it's like we get along with them, let's do right by it. So let me get this straight. That wasn't the first time that you sold, Barstool. Second. Second. First sale was to the churning group, Peter Churning, right? Rupert Murdoch's longtime second in command for 15 million with 51% equity. The second sale to the Penn Group, 163 million,

36% of the company. The third sale, Penn Group, 388 million, 100% of the company. You said you'd never sell barstool again. In the deal we did, if I sell it again, Penn gets 50% of the proceeds. So that right off the bat kind of prevents it. And we're doing great.

Like, I didn't love living in someone else's world. So I like where we're at. Now, if you want to write me a check for a billion, I'll really like, you know, yeah, I never say never. Bill Parcellos, I reserve the right to change my mind. Do you have to sell a company to become super rich in America? Or be in finance, like those finance guys who are trading stocks. Or private equity.

Yeah. You know, where you buy for a little, you know, you get on these barter ports like Google or something like that. Netflix. No, those guys, those guys, I mean, next level. But yeah, yeah, I think you do. Can I ask you this? Why don't you think you could be canceled?

Cause you said some pretty, you said some pretty, some pretty outlandish things. If you back up a couple of, if you give people an inch, they'll take a mile. You can't apologize for things that you don't think you've really f**ked up or said bad things about, which I haven't really done. I stand by almost everything I've said. I

think some things may be out of context, misconstrued, but if you have a fan base that knows you, that truly knows you, and mine does for like, they've been following for 20 years, they'll have your back provided. You know, I don't think we've ever done anything out of hate, out of misery, out of anything. You don't feel that you've done anything maliciously. I know I haven't done anything maliciously and again, I, perfect example and I know you're a Caitlin Clark fan, I've seen her. I am. I live for Caitlin Clark. I ignited to a degree, I want to say the race aspect of Angel Reese versus Caitlin. I will go to my grave, there was no race

fun, I watched the national championship, I bet on Iowa, I'm a Caitlin Clark fan, I of Angel Reese versus Caitlin. I will go to my grave. There was no race fun. I watched the national championship. I bet on Iowa. I'm a Caitlin Clark fan. I thought what Angel Reese did at the game was classless. Nothing to do with the color of her skin. I tweeted that and became a race. He's only said, nothing to do with that.

I will stand forever. And I think the way they acted for a long time where Caitlin didn't say a word and she's taking bullets like they're coming out. That's not a race issue to me for whatever reason with me like Walton Gilly apologized for me. They're like, oh, we don't stand with Dave on that. Now they told me they were going to do it. Right. But people there's pressure outside.

I will go to my grave. That's not I'm never going to apologize for that because it wasn't malicious. I stand by it right and by the way The biggest enemy is I got a white Roger DeGale Peyton Manning and the heat of the rival So it's like you can I'm not gonna cater If the outside world is gonna take what I say and just be all there's a race is just not I hate LeBron You know, I hate LeBron. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. We hate LeBron. We do we got part ways because you know what Celtics? LeBron were heated rivalry, you know who hated LeBron. We got to part ways. Because you know what? Celtics, LeBron, we're fucking heated rivalry. And you know who hated LeBron more than I did?

KG, Rondo. Yeah, so yes, I hate his guts. And that's a rivalry thing. So it is tough. A lot of times, though, like that, if I still show a video of Angel Reese, like air ball in a layup, people will be like, that's because it's a race. Like, no, it's because I love Caitlin. I don't like her because they're

rivals and that's sports. Do you think it was orchestrated? Do you think people actually write hit pieces or say things or do things to try to see you fail? Yes, 100% no doubt. That's not even that's a fact that is it it gonna get dark tonight. Yes, the actual state I know that's a fact but Why what what is what is it that people get wrong about Dave point? No, I think people get a lot of things wrong I think I think I call it as I see it. But I mean I I was the I would say the victim of a pretty aggressive smear campaign. Like a couple years ago, like Business Insider.

And when you say do I think it's a coordinated attack, this is one we're part of Penn. Two vicious hit pieces on me released the day before Penn's earnings. Like that, that that's a hit piece. That's not, hey, we really think and I know the tactics went around reporting. I don't know I for that one I thought maybe because I got involved in this GameStop which like that stock thing Yeah, and I was killing a lot of big wigs. So I I have no idea. I think people get a little Leary maybe of voices that they feel like they can't control like it's hey, we can't get this guy to say whatever

He's a loose cannon or I've offended people. I've said things like I ran the owner of the Mets Steve Cohen off Twitter Like he he deleted his account because I was hammering him during game time Oh people be like that's the worst enemy you could ever want in a million billion years where we're past it But who knows I really don't know I used to have I Can see people idiot. I've had a lot of enemies. Yeah. Do you have a PR team? No. No. Do you have a lot of friends? Yeah. I don't believe in PR. PR I've never... I don't want PR. Okay. PR is telling the truth. I've seen you popping bottles in the pool with companies and people that came for you, they go down. Correct.

Why do you feel that you need to celebrate their demise? That's my personality. It's what fuels me. Tom Brady's crying because he got passed over by six quarterbacks. I get fueled by people who doubted me or more accurately for the bottles who have gone out of their way to create difficulties for us, the company. I don't want someone to die, but I want their professional life to be fucked up. You want their professional life to die.

I don't want you to die literally, but I want you to- Like Skipper is the perfect example. We had the bottle, we puffed it. You can cancel our show, but to not call us and be like, hey, we're having a call. I found out on the TV. He never told us. That to me, it's like, all right, you're dead to me. Now that's how you're going to treat this? We've been talking to you for a year and a half. Right. And you don't even tell us the show's canceled. Wow.

How dirty can this business get is there a dirty business media yeah yeah yeah I think it's real dirty but I mean again there's certain I did you know it was this kind of with this kind of way before you got really like no I don't know as much as like the internal art I think our company is not overly like what goes on at an ESPN internal I don't know I much as the internal art. I think our company is not overly, what goes on at an ESPN, internal, I don't know. I've heard rumors, it's pretty dirty. But there's different elements of it. I don't concern, I ended up getting

in the politics realm a little bit. That's a scary, dirty business. That's, I think, a lot of the hate that comes my way. That's a hell of a lot dirtier than I think media. Right. I saw the situation going on at Fox, Skip, Joy, this hairstylist, Nushene, and you was like, the accused shouldn't listen to their lawyers. If I didn't do anything wrong, if I didn't say anything wrong, I'm going to shout it from the tallest building I can because I want everybody to know this is not me and I did not do what I'm being accused of doing. Yeah, I 100% believe that.

I've been accused of I didn't do and I mean I went instantly because I knew I didn't do it. I think a lot of times people are told even our company, my lawyers would be like, don't say it's like I'm not going to hurt myself because I'm telling the truth. Right. I think a lot of companies don't give a shit about their employees in that situation. Fox, I'm sure the lawyers, are gonna be like, don't say a word.

Absolutely, you're part of a lawsuit, bro. Yeah, and guess what? They're not looking out for you. They don't go fuck about you. They care about Fox. Fox, absolutely. So if you're innocent, there's no friends, I would scream it.

But you also are like Jason Whitlock came for you so how do you feel about it? He's a clown. Jason Whitlock's a clown. Jason Whitlock is on the record as being I love Dave Porter. Dave Porter is the best. He's this Jason Whitlock is a click-chasing clown. Oh really you don't say? Yeah he's out there calling that girl. What did he say? Big, like, butter, sugar skin, big red? Shit.

Peanut butter skin with those, with that racquet. In the next sentence, he said that. Like, what are you talking about? Have you ever met him? Never. You know what? He knows my name. He's got me a couple of times, to his credit, but he's just fishing. He's got me a couple times to his credit,

but he's just fishing. He's taking his little pole. He's like, maybe it'll bite and I'll get some clicks. I try to ignore it. I tell people actually, don't send me bad stuff about me because I have a hard time ignoring it. I don't even want to know it exists. But you do realize that when you respond to people

that take shots at you, you're giving them content. They're lazy because they can't create content on their own. So let me hope he can feed me. Yeah, and my Achilles heel is I don't give a fuck. It's like, I know I'm being played here. I know he's getting clicks, but fuck this guy. I mean, he's a clown. You're former Micah Rapaport.

Clown too. Damn. Are you friendly with him? He's a crazy person. You know from Micah Rapaport. Clown too. Damn. Are you friendly with him? He's a crazy person. I, you know, we go back and forth. I like Mike, you know, we, we conver, not even, I haven't talked to him since I left Fox, but you know, he, you know, he's LeBron.

I like LeBron. He doesn't like LeBron. And so we go back and forth. We have healthy conversation, healthy banter, but I don't, like I said, I don't really know him. We had a huge falling out. So we hired him. I thought he was super talented. Right. Like he had this rant on a draft pick of the Knter, but I don't like I said, I don't really know. We had a huge falling out. So we hired him. I thought he was super talented.

Right. Like he had this rant on draft pick of the Knicks, but we had a huge falling out. He essentially seriously said that all our fans were idiots and stupid and I had to let him go. I was still friends with him at the like, I'm like, I'm sorry, we can't have you insulting our entire fan base. Yeah, yeah. And still work friendly.

Right. Side note. Why would he say that? He was in a fight with another one of our employees. And it spiraled. So I woke up to this huge thing of him just killing our fan base. Well, why did he just have,

if he had an issue with the guy that worked in the company, why not take it out on the guy? Should've. What the fans gotta to do with it. Should have. Sure. He's we would never have him falling out. Then after that, he started coming at me, which I don't care.

He's like, you know, I want to fight Dave. I actually sent I came to lift my shoulder. I sent him a contract to fight him in this boxing thing. Because he said, well, do it. But fine. All that talking. Right. And then he sued us.

So he sued us for saying we defamed him. It's like, dude, you started the whole thing. So ended up in, I had to go to like a deposition for it. It's crazy. He calls himself the king of shit talk. And then he was suing us over shit talk. Wow. Crazy.

Let me ask you this. How have you been able to secure a major sponsorship brand when a lot of people boycott like look y'all with Barstool Y'all with point know it. How have you been able to do that day? I think that's shifted Because we've come we've come fairly mainstream at this time and you look it's like well, we had all this talent That's one the entire media is moving our way like I mean I again I've heard the stuff you talk about on your show, it's not too different from anything

we talk about on our show. So it's become more mainstream and we deliver. So you have those things and we do right by our clients. Like I remember what, nevermind, not telling. What happened? No, no, I'm not telling, no way. I mean, this is your opportunity. Nope. How do you decide who you partner with? Anybody

that comes with a bag? No, no, it's not just that because it goes back to what you just said of we we tell them do you know who we are? Do you know what Dave is? Do you know what he does? Peter, do you know PMT? Like be secure with what Barstool is because we don't want somebody at the first sign of trouble who's like, what's going on here? Because that is bad for them, bad for us. So we got to find the right partners. There's a lot of them now. And again, it's crazy because I think we haven't done anything really, when you really look

at what we've said and done and then look at other things that have been said and like it like Shaq with Angel Reese when he's like I want to see her playing in her underwear and like run up and that if I said that I'd be in jail oh yeah for sure in jail are we gonna see more of these deals we saw the Kelsey brothers get this big deal we saw call it call you know call her daddy get get this big deal Rogan is at the top of food chain. He just got another what quarter of a billion dollar deal. Are we going to see more of these deals?

Yeah I think so. But yeah I do. Yeah I mean you're picking top of the food chain guys right? So super talented people. But, you just named three of the best. If you're like, who's the Theo Von is definitely up there. But there's only a handful. There's a hand PMT. Those people will but in any business, if you take the absolute top of the top, yeah, they're still out there. Right.

Investment. Besides Barstool, what's been your best investment? You say you don't know anything about crypto. That seems to be the hot investment vehicle right now. Yeah, you got to know what you're doing there. Most of my investments have failed outside of Barstool. High Noon has been an unbelievable partnership. It's not really investment. Yeah, I'm not good at investing.

Have you ever thought about making Barstool its own streaming service like a Netflix or an Amazon? Not so much in that. I don't... I mean, would you want to like, would you want to like have an NFL game or an NBA game or some type of sporting? We tinkered with league rights. Like we had a bowl game before Snoop with the Arizona bowl was ours. We did college basketball tournament. For me, our business model, wildly expensive, like to pay for those live rights.

And you better have some like huge deals. So it's not something I'd see us doing anytime soon. What have you learned most about money? Once you get it, it's easy to get a lot more. Is it? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like it took me 10 years to make anything. II. If you're like, hey, Dave, you gotta go make an extra 5 million in the next week. I could do that like that. Damn.

Hmm. Once you got it, it's it's it once you get the over the hump, it's just... It comes. I remember the first time I saw it when I really got a lot, even me, I was like, I spent five hours just talking about the interest I was getting on it. I couldn't believe it. It's like, I'm making money, not doing it. It's just like...

That's when you're really making money when you're sleeping. Yeah. When you're not working. Yeah. And your money's working for you, although you're not working for it. Yeah, but it took so long for us to turn the corner and make money but once we got going it goes. What's your best and worst purchase? Are you a car guy? Not a car guy. I got some houses that I love. I'm a horse guy. Okay. What type of horse? Thoroughbreds. Okay, so I'm raising you try to get to the Derby

I wish I saw I'm poor for that world. Like I'm rich for 99.9. Yeah horse No, I'm still poor guys. So it's really hard for me to keep I know about Bob Baffert personally. I can get you I know I know He's got he's gonna need the money to get the horses. So But my house is I got a Nantucket house. that's my dream house. The 142 million that you- Yeah, richest house in Massachusetts history. That's my, that's, I grew up going like, so I started Barstool, I would go there for a day. Couldn't even get a hotel, it's an expensive place.

Barstool, as it was going, I'd go for a weekend, for a week, for a month, finally bought a little place and then I bought like my dream house. So that's your, that's your primary residence in Nantucket? No, primary is Miami, Texas. Oh yeah. Yeah, doing the tax thing. I don't blame you. Yeah, you gotta.

So you got a, in Miami you like overlooked the water, so you a water guy because of Nantucket's on. I like to be on the water but not on the water. Okay. Like I don't wanna be on a boat. Right. I don't wanna be on the water. Yeah.

Wow. Houses, let's see, I just read that. I'm gambling. I like to bet. Really? Oh yeah. Yeah. Cause you just bet a million dollars on something. The bills. It's one of the Superbowl. I made a million on Trump coin in like six hours. Right. And like, all right, I made a million on this crypto coin. It's free bet, free roll, put it on, put on the bills. So that was tough. Are you friends with Dana White? Yeah. Because he gambles too.

Y'all go gamble? No, he gambles me into it. He's sitting at the tables playing at- So you don't play tables? You just gamble on- Not nearly like that. I much prefer sports. Okay.

Yeah. I mean, last night, I'll bet college hoops. I'll bet. Yeah. What's like I mean last night I'll bet college hoops all that. Yeah, what's what's what's the most you wanted a single? single bet I Probably I had last year. I think I won 2.6 million on Yukon to win the national title I want to I bet straight a million on Michigan guy bet them on the Rose Bowl I went I got hot at the beginning of last year. Yeah, I think the Yukon's a single biggest that I won

Rose Bowl. I went, I got hot at the beginning of last year. I think the Yukon's a single biggest that I won. So when you win a bit so like you're like, OK, if I win this bet, do you like if I win this bet, I'm going to go buy this or you're just going to take it and like bet, bet, bet something else, keep rolling, buy a horse, keep bet on sports. Yeah, I'm not. I'm not outside the houses. I don't really have extravagant. So you don't like a car.

You're not an old school car like maybe a 68 or a Chevy Surveille or a Cuda? Something like that? I have a 70s remade Bronco. The ones that they like remake from scratch. I have one of those. So I do like the old cars and they're good island cars for Nantucket. But I'm not like a gear head.

Like if the thing breaks down, I'm f***ed. What's this next? What's that look? Your dad calling you a legitimate degenerate. Yeah, I yelled at him for that. You take care of him, right? Yeah, of course I do. And he called you that?

Not only did he call me that, the New York Times was writing a hit piece on me, used his quote against me. And like the New York Times- He contributed? Yeah, he did this article. He felt really bad about that. But I've gambled. My dad used to take me in as a horse racing.

It was a documentary we made. Right. And he was talking about me and they took his quotes. And I'm like, I call him like, hey, just so you know, the New York Times is using you as the lead witness on why I should be banned from gambling. So yeah, I wasn't happy about that. At what age did you start gambling? You say your dad took you to the lead witness on why I should be banned from gambling. So yeah, that was I wasn't happy about that.

At what age did you start gambling? You say your dad took you to the track. Go to the horses and bet with him as a kid go to Saratoga. Right. So I was always interested like sports. I always loved it. Right. Yeah.

So you you you like betting the ponies love love. So you still you still bet the ponies like that. Love it. Yeah. Yeah. I just bought like a horse couple horses like that now? I love it. Yeah. Yeah.

I just bought like a horse, a couple horses. So yeah, I love it. I absolutely love it. I love the animals. I love it. Like I have a house near Saratoga, racetrack, walk over, feed the... I love all of it. They eat a lot.

Yeah. Secretariat and Joe Blow cost the same amount of money. That's what everyone says. And hay is hay, so they're expensive. When you first started Ball Stew, you they're expensive. No, no. When you first started Barstool, you filed bankruptcy protection after losing 30K. Yeah. That was my dad.

Did you think that you could bounce back? Because I hear a lot of people, you're not the first, I mean, you're not going to be the last that's filed bankruptcy and were able to bounce back. Yeah, I wasn't even bouncing back. My dad, again again is an attorney. So I had, when I starred Barstool, like shuffling around doing everything, he's like, you know, you can get rid of this. I swear I asked him a hundred times. I'm like, well, let's come back to bite me. He game the system. He's like, do it. I mean, 30 grand, a lot, but not a lot. In hindsight, I would never advise that to do it. And I think they actually changed the laws. He's like, they're going to change that. So yeah, that was also in the New York Times. How do you get a $60,000 credit card that day? Six, well, no, I had like 10 different credit cards.

What the hell were you buying? I was starting the bill. I was putting everything on the credit card. I was just moving everything around. Yeah. And you owed your dad 18, but you paid him back 10 fold. My dad's got his apartment, they got in Florida,

and yeah, they're taking care of it. Is it really hard to start a business from scratch? Super hard. I mean, the thing about Barstool is the only thing I've ever done, and it became successful. I always thought it would, but yeah, 95% of businesses done and it became successful I always thought it would but yeah 95% business probably failed again I I always believe we would but that doesn't I may have just been that again a lot of luck

involved in the right place for a time you ever had a tax lien placed on no business lesson what's your biggest business lesson that if you could teach someone like what would you tell them? What was some of the first thing you starting a business? Don't listen other people either. There's so much people talk about doing stuff and just do it. And that's not really a business lesson, but it's you write a business plan, you do this, you're talking, you're trying to do all just do it like kind of get into it and figure out where it goes.

What about Hawk to a girl? I mean, she came out, she had a moments of fame and then she come out with this coin and then they get it and then boom. I would have bet my life I was not getting a Hawk Tuoh question during this incident. I did not see a Hawk Tuoh. How do you scam people out of in crypto currency? So the way I understand it. Cause I knew you would understand.

Someone like Hawk Tuoh can't do this herself, even if she wanted to. She needs other people and like if I want to launch a coin, which I've looked, you need other people to do it. A lot of these people are shady, they have the controls. Hawk Tuah didn't have the controls. They're telling her you can make this money, you can do that and once it goes these people basically pull the escape latch and no one knows who these people are. And Haktua's sitting there like- She's the face of it and they're like, we don't know them, we got you.

Yeah, exactly. So I think that happens to a lot of these, there's been no successful celebrity coin launch. You could argue Trump's has been successful because it's still there, you can still trade it. But like, Logan Paul had a bad one, this Hawk Tua clearly was bad, what's his name, the fighter did one the other day,

he may have intentionally, Ryan Garcia, I don't know if he intentionally did it, he deleted his, so none of them have been on the up and up. You were once married, would you do it again? I'd have to know, it was dead ass right, like, and I don't know how I would know. How do you like and I don't know how I would know. How do you know? I don't know how I know.

So that's why it's hard for me to answer. What did you learn from what did you learn during that marriage about yourself? She's still my best friend. Like we get along. Better as friends and yeah. But she was with me at the beginning of this company and like if she called me right now it's like I need you I'd be there. Like we're it just didn't work as a marriage.

How's the dating life with Dave Portnoy right now? So I'm talking to a girl. I went through a wild stage, kinda. Like, cause when I started, I was married. No one knew who I was. Like, girls weren't exactly available to me. Had no money, no future, no career. Then you become famous.

That kinda changes the game a little bit. You know, a lot more options. So, and I was no longer married. So I went through a pretty crazy time, I would say. But now, not nearly. I don't even like going out anymore. Hold on. Is it true your ex-wife have access to your bank account?

Yeah. I told you, I trust her implicitly. I beg your pardon? Implicitly, I trust her. If she wanted to take it, she could. There's very few people that you meet where you can trust implicitly. I beg your pardon? Implicitly. I trust her. If she wanted to take it, she could. There's very few people that you meet where you can trust implicitly. And to be honest, she was there when we were living at the in-laws house. She was there when we couldn't afford a hamburger. She was there through the grind. She, to me, just like we kind of separated when we started making it, so she doesn't get to enjoy any of that. To me, that's not right. Wow.

So she doesn't get to enjoy any of that. To me, that's not right. Wow. I'm a loyalty guy. You are a boy. You long to the soul for real. I don't know too many people doing that. I know, it surprises people. But if she wanted to do something with it, she could have done with it a long time ago.

Bill Gates said he regrets getting a divorce. And you said that she's your best friend now. Do you regret getting a divorce or this is the best thing that could have was the best thing Yeah Then Bill Gates his wife also like drag him over the coals. Oh I think I think she did. I mean she said some nasty about him, too Mmm. Yeah, I think I think he said he probably shouldn't have been as close as he was to Epstein and some things like that Yeah, you can't go wrong with that

That's a pretty pretty good thing to say. Yeah, you probably wish I should But I tell you what Tom Brady ex-wife having a kid. I know do you let me ask you a question. Do you think that bothered him? Yes He posted that cryptic Instagram message like a sunset or some shit. Yeah, I think it bothered him. And like they knew each other, didn't they? Yeah, because that was her like a trainer when they were together.

So Tom is probably thinking in the back of my mind when I'm on it and I'm studying and I'm away. I think that's why he still posts like the shirtless photos and all that shit. You're letting the world know he's still out there. He has to. Damn. But I'm sure, I think it does bother me. But let me ask you this.

If your ex-wife, is she married? Is she remarried? I think that, yeah. They just had a kid. Your ex-wife? Oh no, I thought he was pregnant. No, I'm talking about, no, your ex-wife. Your ex-wife.

No, no, she's dating somebody, boyfriend. Are you cool with that? Yeah. I want her to be happy. It's true. Well then she can't get no more access day. You got to cut off cut a cut off cut a little. I won't even notice if it's gone.

You mean to tell me she might she might. I mean, if she takes it all. No, no, no, no, but she might take like, you know what? I'm gonna have this I'm gonna have this extravagant wedding. I'm gonna spend you know, half a million on a wedding. You cool with. Yes, 100%. 100%.

Lord, have mercy. You want kids? No, I hate kids. I do. I hate kids. I have no interest in kids right now. None. Really? I hate kids. You don't want a little Dave? No.

A little boy? Junior? No. I hate kids. I'm a dog guy. I hate kids. You don't want a little Dave? No. A little point? No, a junior? No, I hate, I'm a dog guy, I hate kids. Don't like being around them, don't like them, don't think they're cute, don't wanna hear about them. What about your upbringing? You have a pleasant upbringing, how was it? Yeah, super, it's as middle class,

and I'll bring a little suburb outside of Boston, one sister, very, as blah normal for like a white middle class kid as you could ever have. You played football, baseball, you played youth football? Yeah, football, I have a bum shoulder, need like replacement, but yeah, I was pretty good at baseball. You go to college?

You go to baseball scholarship? No, I thought I could walk on at Michigan, couldn't. Didn't even come close. They were really good? It wasn't that they were really good, they just didn't do like real tryouts to be honest. It was like that. It's like hey take three swings.

They took no walk-ons so there was nobody who made the team. Wow. You were diagnosed with skin cancer and had it surgically removed from your neck. Did you know, I mean was it a spot or something? I'm always in the sun. Always. So I just started doing the routine checkups, whichever one you do, they found a little dot.

I would have never known. Right. And they cut it out. You do sunscreen now? Little bit, but you know, even the, I like the sun. Let's just say that. I like tan. If can't tone it, tan it.

You were against the TikTok ban. I was. Why? Because I think there's so many small businesses and creators who are earning a living. I think the people are talking about have no idea what's going on social media and if you're building something and that's your primary platform you've been building now for years. Yes. And you just get ripped away. Like you can't just be like I'm going to Instagram. That's

not how it works. So to just rip that many livelihoods away or advertising agencies without a plan, that really bothered me. Do you believe it was political? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't get the China. It's all China, but everything's political and posturing and things like that. I don't really get the spy s***.

I mean, I don't get where they're learning from it, but it was really small businesses. Are you okay with these billionaires, these big companies trying to particularly buy TikTok? You control a lot. You control media, man. You definitely control the media and Trump has, if you look, you got the Amazon, you got Zuckerberg, y'all. So I get that. media and Trump has if you look you got the Amazon he goes Zuckerberg y'all so I get that and he got X yeah so I get that but I would I would say times are always shifting and people like the left definitely were controlling New York Times and the Washington Post and NBC and see it so a lot of that you I and this is maybe unfair but I would hope that no one vehicle

Shapes somebody's opinion like if I see something and I'm like what the hopefully you go research it on your own You can make your own decision, but it is a concern, right? Brady my homes if my homes wins the three Pete does he pass Brady at the go? No, and it's an easy answer now that you can say that's the best team because they won three but we have the benefit of them meeting head to head in the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay, Brady won. Right. AFC Championship at Kansas City, Brady won. So you gotta if they played and Brady's at the end of his career still beat him so I don't know how you can now he keeps we win seven in a row different story. No. Not yet. Let me ask you this you're Taylor Taylor Swift man. Well, I'm Swiftie. So you're rooting for the Chiefs and Kelsey

No, I'm not Told you tell the one asked I didn't know Patrick Holmes hated Barstool, but he does he does. Yeah, I found that out today Tell a one at me Media session asked if my homes would do an interview with Boston that they're leaving he's like that now that we're leaving Barstool will you do an interview with us he's like yeah that helped so I didn't know he hated us so now I don't like him well what made you defend Taylor Swift against when Kanye Kanye Kanye is a piece Kanye's an absolute piece I don't

get people out of defendants you know what I noticed people that you don like, there is no misinterpretation of where you stand on these. Yeah, I think Connie has one of the great free passes of all time. Now I'm Jewish. She hates Jews, loves Hitler. So you're not going to be my cup of tea. Like if you're going around me, I like what Hitler did. It's like, well, I don't like you. Right.

So what he did at the Grammys the first time when he stole her award, this is a 17 year old girl. I don't know what his problem he thought someone else should win. You have no problem with her. Right. This girl 17 you're stealing it. And then after that, they edit a phone call they edited a phone call her and Kim Kardashian of Taylor when the what was I want to sleep he put in a song. Yeah, he put in a song. Yeah. And they say we asked, we called her. She said fine, they put out an edited voicemail that made it and they recorded her that made it sound like she agreed Taylor the whole time. I didn't. That's not how it went. I didn't say that. Years later, the actual voicemail unedited comes out everything Taylor said was the truth everything they said was a lie that drives me crazy and it did affect her she didn't leave her house for like

a year because all Kanye fans are trashing her so I'm a big like truth straightforward it resonated with people trying to smear her name so that made me start liking her and then I got into music but yeah that's how it that's that and she wrote you a hand liking her and then I got into the music. But yeah, that's how it, that's that. And she wrote you a handwritten letter. She did. I went to the concert, her brother tapped me on the shoulder, handwritten letter and the letter essentially said, and a lot of people would think these are two people who are not going to be friendly or aligned. But it basically said to the effect, we appreciate the sport. I think we kind of see similar on when people say things about you that you stand by and don't think was true

I hugged her mother. So I think she appreciate the sport because Connie is huge. Yeah, I sometimes I don't think and people said about me the influence he wields but I He says in quite like what he did the other day at what do you think what he did at the Grammys with the naked girlfriend? like what he did the other day at, what'd you think of what he did at the Grammys with the naked girlfriend? Clicks? Yeah. He got what he wanted, I mean, my woman is,

my wife is the most, what is it, what was it? Googled. Googled. Yeah, if I walked into the Grammys and I shot somebody, they're gonna Google me. Yes. Like there's shock value.

Yeah, I don't get him either. Your Patriots, we know you're a Patriots fan. Huge. Gerard Mayo, he gets one year, four and 13, and they come on, they bring Brayville back. What do you think about that firing? I don't know if you're a Kraff fan or not. I am, I mean, it's tough because I think,

I don't know if you can say two things can be true, Mayo got screwed. I don't know how you can give a guy one year and how he can be your guy. The team sucked before he got there. What were you expecting? So you let you let Belichick go. Correct and by the way they were bad with Belichick at the end of his tenure. Horrible. So I don't know what people are expecting and to me it's like you got your quarterback Drake May who I think everyone will be great. So you got a structure.

I love Vrabel as a coach. So it like I'm glad they I would have been okay either way but it's like well Vrabel is probably not going to be there if you don't get him this year. No he's not. Right. So I love Vrabel as our coach. Having said that if I was drawing Mayo I'd be pissed and he got screwed. I know you're big you're yourself you're all things Boston and I know you're a big Jason Tatum fan.

Yes. Because you're upset about Steve Curry not playing him at the Olympic. And you're upset about Brandon Jennings calling him the softest Boston Celtics superstar ever. Yeah, I mean listen he takes a lot of heat. I don't know what they want. Why? I don't know what they want.

What do they want from the guy? Like, you just won a world championship. I think, I'd be stunned if they don't repeat. They're loaded, they're good. I don't know what the hell they want from the guy. I don't know why they didn't play in the Olympics. Right. You think he's the top five Celtic?

Oof. That's such a tough, obviously, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Koozie. Yeah, yeah, he's getting there. We got Paul Pierce, Mikael. I think you gotta put Tatum above those. It's tough. We got so many greats and I could be forgetting. Because I think the thing is, it's like okay, he didn't win five years MVP.

Pierce only got one. Yeah. And Tatum still got a lot. Yeah, he's young. I think Tatum's what, 26? Yeah, so right now maybe I take Pierce. But I mean, if he wins this year, I'm a big championship guy. What about the Lakers getting Luka?

You upset about that, huh? No, I'm not upset. That was crazy. An absolutely crazy move. I mean, nobody I think really knows nobody knows how to And I I mean, I don't know how LeBron and him are gonna co-exist necessarily. It's like they have no rim protector so it doesn't The craziest part is they didn't shop them that to me makes no sense from what you've read

It's like they were just sending him to the Lakers crazy Ronnie and if you had if you don't like him, but let's just say for the sake of argument, and you had a kid, and you know what, and you're doing what you're doing now, would you like do everything you can to kind of steer your kid in the profession that you're in,

or you let him chart his own path? I'd let him do his own thing. Like, I actually, I feel bad for Bronte right now. I think it's crazy that he's on that team, and the attention he's getting. And you know, it's one of my all time LeBron takes. He's like, he said he wants to kind of like, he felt bad putting all the pressure on him,

but you name a Bronnie Jr. and you put him on the Lakers. It's like, you put them in a pretty big spotlight, hot red spotlight. The Wolverines, the quarterback, $12 million. Underwood. Underwood. And you chipped in.

So I got involved in this in one of the craziest NIL stories. Yeah, we want to hear this one. So I'm a Michigan guy, and now I'm not a firm believer. I'm not like, Michigan's a rich school. They didn't give a fuck about me until I started getting money. I root for them. But you start getting money and suddenly the phones ringing and I love that Do you online the alumni do the new day? Yeah, right exactly. It's like hey, I see you love Michigan But the NIL stuff starts happening and I get a call or it's like hey this person wants to talk to you

Right, and it was a woman's name. I had never heard of this person wants to talk to you, right? And it was a woman's name I had never heard of. Yolan, I think. Jolan, Jolan. I'm like, so I'm not, I don't want to deal with the alumni. I don't want to deal with any of this. Like, I'm not into it. Well, her husband is the Oracle guy, Larry Ellison.

Oh, yeah, I'll take that call. Like, so Larry's going to be on the call? All right, I mean, a legend. Like, second richest guy on earth So Joel and went to Michigan big Michigan fan, right Larry Ellison suddenly big Michigan fan and they're there What they were waiting for I said on a podcast. I was so mad after Michigan loss. I'm like this I will buy us a quarterback. I'll do three million. I'll find us a quarterback We're never gonna have no quarterback again that provoked Joel and she like aha someone else cares about Michigan as much as I do

That's how the conversation started. Okay, they're like we're recruiting this kid Bryce underwear I already knew about him because people told me right he went to school 20 minutes north right cuz he's going to LSU Yep, two days later. We're on a phone call with Larry Ellison, myself, Michigan, and the Underwoods. It's like out of a movie. And we're pitching this kid. It literally, it's like, what world am I in? I could tell that no one, this was all my interpretation about the money. I didn't kick in anything.

I'm getting credit for it. Larry Ellison, they bought the quarterback. And what a, just crazy world of NIL So you so how much did the kid get direct deposited immediately? That I know probably a decent amount. I think I think LSU just couldn't I mean, how can anyone know they couldn't with that? And he's he's a monster It's a crazy world then I know but doIL. But do you ever think like, okay, you invest all this money in the kid and it doesn't pan out. I guess that's the chance you take with

an NFL player. You pay a guy a ton of money. Yeah, the good thing about Larry Ellison, he can cycle through a number. Yeah, yeah, there's 12 million dollars that hurt. When you're worth 200 billion, 12 billion, you're not even missing that. You don't even know what's going on in your account. Infinity money. Has the Big Ten surpassed the SEC as the top crafter? That's no doubter. I think once NIL came... Leveled the playing field? Yeah, because they're already paying them.

Now everyone's paying them. I mean, that's exactly what happened. What did you get a degree in? Education. I couldn't pass. So I went to Michigan. Weird. I applied to the liberal arts, just the general program got denied.

They wrote back a letter. We think you'd be a good nurse. I don't know why they said that. A nurse? Nurse. I didn't apply for liberal arts. How do you get liberal arts? Go from nursing to liberal arts?

They must have needed male nurses. And by the way, I passed out of the sight of blood. So I don't know where they got that. My sister was in school. I called. She went to Michigan. Said, if I go as a nurse, can I transfer to the liberal arts? She said, yeah. Went to liberal arts, couldn't pass my Spanish requirement. Education school, no Spanish. So I was just kind of scheming my way to get my degree.

So I had an education degree. That you never used? Never used. Never had an intention to use. The first company you started before Barstool, you started a company that matched student athletes with college recruiters. It was called Next Step Scouting. Yep. So you kind of- I never started that. That was one of my ideas.

That was one of your ideas. And this is internet 1.0. Okay. So you have athletes, not division one. These guys aren't going pro. The concept was a D3 guy. Coach still wants to win, help them recruit because they don't have the budgets and connect using the internet, like lower level athletes with D3

schools, D2. That was the concept. You spent 2000 developing the software, but it didn't happen. No, it was one of the ideas. Yeah, at that point I was working at a little software and I paid a couple of the engineers on the side to build it. Oh, when you graduated college, you worked at an IT market research firm making 100k a year, and you weren't happy right out of college? When I would graduate college, the economy was booming. I was happy with that. Okay. I didn't like the job. So I when I got that job, the economy booming, dot com era,

it flipped. One day I went into work, half the people fired. I was like, oh, this is brutal. But no, I thought 100 grand was more money than God at that point. I was very happy with the salary. So sales pitch, what was your pitch? To who?

Whatever you, because you're a good salesman, because you convince, like when people come work at barstool You convince them that with us in your corner you trust me. I think my sales pitch is trust even when I was selling that Some you know you have salesmen who give you Snake oil salesman vibes, and you know I don't trust what this guy is I think most people after they meet me even if they don't like me They're like I think he's telling the truth. Right.

So what? And that goes a long way of us selling anything. How long do you work at this company? Five, six years. So you do you have a nice little nest egg that you like, I'm done with this, I'm gonna do something else? Yeah, that's I use that to start Barsal. Okay.

That was went into the cost of starting Barsal. Target audience. So let me ask you a question. Like when you started bars, do you like Did you have an idea of the type of of the audience that you were looking to to get the early premise? was Sports media in boston was so stuck up And actually like rooted against the teams like they seem to revel in the failures of the hometown team, right? Like we have a very famous red sox guy dan shaughnessy. He rooted against the red the teams like they seem to revel in the failures of the hometown team right like

we have a very famous Red Sox guy Dan Shaughnessy he rooted against the Red Sox and the thought was and it's a little bit about the Bill Simmons when he saw it's like there's a place for a fan's voice and that's always sort of what we've been we may not be right we're not trying to like we're not in the locker room we're speaking as fans I think that was the early kind of concept what do you mean by the common man for the common man exactly that trying to like we're not in the locker room. We're speaking as fans. I think that was the early kind of concept. What do you mean by the common man for the common man? Exactly that.

It's like these are actual fans talking to fans. These are normal people. It's how you talk at a bar to your buddy. Barstool no matter what when you think of barstool and think of you. You always it doesn't matter right. Alex Cooper is who she is. P Mac is who he is. Bust it with the boys. Those guys, you're you. Right. That's good and bad. It's good and bad because- Do sometimes they feel like you overshadow them?

Yeah, not only overshadow, I may speak for them. Like, if I'm speaking my mind, that doesn't mean we're a super diverse, weirdo group of people. I think sometimes when you come into the office, you're like, holy s***, this is what's here. But if I'm saying something, if I'm, when I interviewed Donald Trump, that doesn't mean- Everybody in the company likes Donald Trump or you're speaking for them. Yes, and that I wish wasn't the case. That is always the case. So that's just the nature of the beast. You ran for mayor of Boston? I did. What the hell? So we used to throw these little concerts. Okay. And I was very unhappy with the way the city was treating us like they unfairly in my mind and very anti business

Very anti nightlife. So it's like I'm gonna run And I thought I could win because at the time we were pretty big I'm like, I'm gonna go register all these college kids They're got both for me because you can legally do that. They rigged it So I didn't get on the ballot in my first introduction to true rigging, like you had to basically get I think 12,000 signatures to be on the ballot. They had to be registered voters and you had to be able to read the handwriting. I paid a legit like signature company that did this for they went got 20,000 signatures. Guess how many they threw out? 9,000. 9,000.

Can't read it, can't do it. There's no way they just kept me off the ballot. In hindsight, probably happy. Right. But what type of mayor would you have been? Pro-day Portland. Like whatever was in the best interest of Barstool. But you raised 40, during the pandemic, you raised 41 million dollars from small businesses. What made you do that? So small business is definitely probably because of barstool Something i'm passionate about because I know what goes into it. So I actually uh, who was the guy he maybe did the profit kevin

Lamontis, he's uh, like the out Is he? He's a he's a big entrepreneur. Okay is he he's a he's a big entrepreneur. Okay. So I was ranting and raving about the shutdowns being like you got to let businesses if they want to stay open. It's up to them people know the risk if someone's it so I was ranting. He tweeted at me a big mouth wine do something about it. So all right. That's a fair point. So I put 500 grand into a fund. And I said, we're going to give this out to small businesses. Here's what I want to see from you. I want to see that you're running a profitable

business before the COVID. Like the only reason it stopped is you have to shut your doors. But you have a proven track record. And I want to see you're still paying your employees. And if you can do that, we will pay your bills as best we can till you can open again. And the first money we gave away, I FaceTimed the person, like we told, submitted, and I'm recording and the reactions are like very emotional, like you're saving our livelihood. People saw that. The money started flowing in so fast.

We couldn't get like, we're getting millions every day and it probably saved about I think 500 small businesses. It's definitely the most meaningful thing we've done. It was why and unlike the government, like we were we get the money in, we talked to somebody the money would be in their bank account 24 hours, no, we get the bills and in some of these small businesses, then they were given the money back. They're like we don't need any more. We want to refund help. It was it's a lot. It was not on purpose. It was kind of like the spur-of-the-moment thing, but it means a lot. You ran for mayor. Would you run for president?

I know. El Presidente. Yeah, the hate that you get from politics. Presidente yeah, I hate that you get from politics you Nothing. Nothing. I think I think politics has surpassed religion. Honestly, it's nuts It's like gladiator one gladiator two was the worst movie I've ever seen gladiator one when they asked Maximus They're like you're gonna be the Emperor of Rome. He's like, I don't want it and the guy's like that's why you have to do it I don't know who would ever willing to do it. Do you have when you went into business? Do you have any mentors? Yeah, micro poly is a guy he started vitamin water started body armor sold both billions. I've leaned on him for quite a

bit of advice. He's probably the most. He's probably the most that I've used and he's been great. Yeah, what's the best advice you received? and he's been great. What's the best advice you've received? Everything's so different. I don't know if there's any piece of advice that's really... One? Yeah, yeah. I can't think of something...

There is no magic trick. There is nothing. And what worked for me may not work for you. And it's different time, different place, different people. You're a foodie. Give me your top five fast food restaurants. What worked for me may not work for you, and it's different time, different place, different people. You're a foodie. Give me your top five fast food restaurants. Fast food? Yes.

What level are we going fast? Is McDonald's and Five Guys the same thing? I'll let you pick. I mean, we ain't got to do. I'm at Wendy's for the burger category. It's definitely my favorite of the burgers. Hey, Wendy Burger. I like Chick-fil-A a lot.

The sandwich, the waffle fries, the lemonade. I'll go with the nuggets and the waffle fries. OK. Top five. I'm not a big fast food guy anymore because I get sick when I eat it. I'm too old. You going out with the guy.

If the guy, if you and five of your friends are going out to eat, where y'all going? Nice restaurant. Nice, huh? Yeah, like I'll hunt around here and be like, where's, where's, yeah, I love eating. Okay. Like, I don't know how all these people, the older people do Ozempic. Like, it's like, what are you doing? Like, why do you care what you look like, you know? You can't eat? It's crazy.

You call yourself a pizza aficionado. What is it about pizza? Boston got good pizza? Maybe I'm- Yeah, it does. It does. Well, it- Because normally I hear about New York and Chicago.

I'm going to humbly say I'm the number one food critic in the world. Okay. For pizza. But I can influence pizza more than anybody can influence anything else. And it started as a bit with me and Dan from... Pardon my take. We said if you could eat one food the rest of your life what would it be he said burritos I said pizza we did it for a month just ate it people started asking hey is it ain't good I'm eating the pizza I just score it and it just it caught on so for ten

years straight every Monday through Friday I've tried a new place the pizza doesn't have to be like a famous chain or you joined to some of these offbeat I've done them all okay I like in New York. I just smiled around the office here like I've already done five pizza reviews everywhere I go. I'm finding the place and eat it What's your favorite pizza? You want to tell you true? I yeah Pizza, you know what I now that could be a race thing because

Wallow and Gilly also had like a ridiculous, they were like Thalminas, it's like crazy. Have you had good pizza? I'm a thin crust guy. I don't want that. I want that stuffed crust. I just want thin pizza. And I grew up, that's what we had.

Pizza Hut used to have what they call a buffet. And so for like $5.99, you could go eat on Tuesday night, you could eat as much pieces you wanted. And so they had you know, I'm simple, you know, cheese, ground ground beef, and I'm good. That's really the only thing that I really want on my pizza. And so we would go and I eat like 1314 slices, and I was good. So that was really good. I like like puppaginos growing up. I mean, it just

but we didn't have like, I don't haven't had it. You haven't had good pizza. It'll blow your mind. You should have good pizza. When I grew up there. I don't remember Little Caesars and Domino's weren't local because those are all trash. They're all changed. Like you can't you got to go to a place where the owner is in there making and they've had it for 4050 years. Like, but see, I obviously, what do you get on your pizza? Well, if I'm off the clock, I'll do peppers and onions. Otherwise, just cheese. Yeah, see.

But it doesn't matter. I feel like I'm in a crazy time. There's great, just like any food, there's great food. And the best burger in the world can't be McDonald's. Like the best burger in the world can't be McDonald's. Duh. I mean, when I go to McDonald's, I eat the nuggets. But the best chicken in the world isn't at McDonald's. Nah, you know what, you know who got some good fried chicken? Publix.

I rock with Publix. They better, that thing be fine. I know people talk highly of the Pub subs. See? that's crazy to me now they're not chefs and they're making you have perfect I don't know what to do with it I mean there's great it's just somebody take this guy next time is New York like John's a bleaker or something no I'm like if I go out to eat I'm probably gonna go to a steak place Okay, so would you say a steak at what's what's what?

Like I Go to state 48. I go to a Mastro's I go to I'm gonna Peter Luger I'm gonna you know, that's like he's so if they serve steak at McDonald's when you say that compares to one of those places No, it's the same thing with any food. I take your word for it. You got anything, you promoting anything, you got any new shows coming out? You selling any new t-shirts? No, we're good. I appreciate you having me on.

I appreciate you being on. How long did we go? I always judge that. I didn't know you were the... Two hours. So is that short? By the average. I'm gonna do the research, see. That? I always judge that. I didn't know you were the... Two hours. So is that short? By the average.

I'm gonna do the research. That's how I judge it. You know, I was actually interviewing you. Potential workplace. Yeah. Can we get your top five selfie? Yeah, alright. So I gave some... You gave Russell and Bird for sure.

Russell and Bird for... No it's not KG I love he's maybe my favorite Celtic but koozie koozie how many years Pierce yeah Pearson Pearson Howell check with and you know, the two that have a chance are Brown and Tatum if they keep winning. What? How many championships do you have to get? I mean, you probably have to get three. Yeah. So I mean, I love Pierce.

He has won and I love him. He has won. Yeah. Different era is. Cause like, Havlicek has 10, and I think he's like a 10 time all NBA. Yeah, right. So it's gonna be, it's gonna be very interesting.

Appreciate you, my man. You too, thank you for having me. Thank you. Been grinding all my life, sacrifice Hustle pay the price, want a slice Got the roller dice, that's why All my life, I been grinding all my life All my life, been grinding all my life Sacrifice, hustle pay the price, want a slice Got the roller dice, that's why All my life, I been grinding all my life You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.