A Note from MutStack Owner Dave Portnoy
Looking forward to seeing all the Locked On UConn fans at 5:30 sharp today
Agreed. As Dave said, it’s UConn/UMass in East Hartford, and The Barstool College Football Show starts at 5:30. But the FanZone there opens at 3:30 - it’s all right between Gates C & D, close to the Stadium and Blue Parking. Lots open at the stadium at 3 PM.
This is a huge showcase for UConn. And it’s a huge deal that Dave and Co. brought the show to East Hartford. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Much more below, but if you’re going to the game, you'd better come over and say hello. Hoping to see some Locked On UConn signs in the crowd…
That didn’t take long.
There are fans, like me, who think the Celtics clearly chose Jayson Tatum over Jaylen Brown, and Tatum knew the plan.
Looks like Jaylen would agree.
Brown left a blue hat (🧢) comment on a video where Tatum says he was surprised his ex-teammate was traded “down the street” to the 76ers. In modern slang, that blue "cap" means a lie, exaggeration, or fake statement. I didn’t know that until a few years ago, because I’m not hip. Or cool. Basically, Brown thinks Tatum is lying.
Like, he probably is.
Let’s say this all started when Brad Stevens realized he couldn't pay BOTH Tatum and Brown. Or maybe he could, but didn’t want to. He’s ready to trade Brown. I don’t believe he wouldn't talk about it with Joe Mazzulla and Jayson Tatum. Given how important it is to have a superstar on board with your vision in the NBA, I especially don’t believe Tatum wasn't consulted.
Did Tatum force the trade to the 76ers so he could play with his guy Paul George? I don’t think so. But I think it’s crazy to think he didn’t know the trade was coming. No way he was shocked.
But what is Tatum supposed to say? “Yeah, Brad came and told me they were trading Brown, and I knew for a while?” Not sure that helps anything.
Should he stop talking about it and just move on? Sure. Brown’s team is 2-0, and he’s averaging 20-8-5. Tatum’s team is 0-1 and coughed up a 22-point lead - and he stunk down the stretch.
I’m biased here - I would have picked Tatum over Brown as my franchise player, too. The C’s will probably lose the short-term PR battle, especially if Brown plays well and the 76ers are a wagon. But if the flexibility allows them to eventually get the next star with Tatum, that’s a trade you have to make. It’s a big gamble by Stevens, and I liked it.
I did not like the collapse on Tuesday afternoon. Mazzulla sitting there watching the Pistons go on an 18-0 run before bothering to call a timeout felt all too familiar. He should be under the spotlight this season as much as the team’s best player. The offense looked like the one that has settled for wayyyyyyy too many 3s over the years.
Brown can post, tweet, or comment whatever he wants. I remain #TeamTatum. Hopefully he can stay focused on making his team better and not get caught up in whatever drama Brown is looking to create with his 🧢s.
Meanwhile, the Patriots lost Thursday Night, and it’s silly to blame Drake Maye. It’s UConn/UMass tonight in East Hartford. NFL Picks, WEEI wins a BIG award, and so much more.
All ahead in Friday Four-Pack #194.
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On your Patriots/Bears Blame Game…
P.S. - WAY too many flags, and the call on Will Campbell was a joke.
On UConn/UMass and the State of UConn Football…
My first experience with UConn football was walking five minutes from my McMahon North dorm room to Memorial Stadium to watch a game. Yep. Before The Rent and tailgating on an old East Hartford airstrip, games were right on campus. Plenty of good seats were available.
My seat was in the press box for UConn/Eastern Washington early in 2001, when head coach Randy Edsall (Skip Holtz had bailed for South Carolina a few years earlier) shockingly put freshman quarterback Dan Orlovsky (shoutout Shelton Gaels) into the game in the fourth quarter. The plan was to redshirt the star recruit. But then Ryan Tracy quit. And Keron Henry got hurt. And Edsall was forced to burn Dan O’s redshirt.
Since then, Orlovsky has gone on to NFL and ESPN stardom. UConn completed their move from what was then called 1-AA to what was then known as Division 1. The home games moved to East Hartford full-time. The Big East that we knew and love died, and UConn ended up in something called the AAC, playing teams like Houston (my boys’ first game was UConn upsetting the Cougs in 2015) and UAB. Then eventually became an Independent in football, and back to a new Big East in hoops.
Edsall left, and the program suffered the disastrous head coaching exacta of Paul Pasqualoni and Bob Diaco. Jim Mora (and alumni money) helped save it. Today, first-year head coach Jason Candle has a roster full of young talent, and the program appears to be headed in the right direction.
Orlovsky, Alfred Fincher, Donald Brown, Darius Butler, Byron Jones, Anthony Sherman, Jordan Todman, Travis Jones, and Skyler Bell are among the almost three dozen NFL players from UConn over the last 20 years. They have built something that fans and alumni can be proud of. I know I am.
BUT…
They need to find a conference, man. They need those conference rivalries and TV money that come with them. But basketball is rooted in the Big East, so it puts football in a weird spot since there is no Big East football.
As does playing in the Northeast. Many of the teams don’t play in the same conference. UMass is in the MAC. Boston College is in the ACC. UConn is an Independent. A bunch of the teams play FCS. There’s no real rhyme or reason to it. And obviously, it’s not the SEC. But there are good regional rivalries - like UConn/UMass.
We don’t like UMass. And they don’t like us. My Boss Dave refers to Michigan as big brother to Michigan State’s little brother. To me, that’s UConn/UMass; they are 1,000,000% the little brother. And like brothers, we fight and cuss and play dirty. The teams should play every year, in football and basketball. I’ve never gotten a great reason why they don’t. I mean, they haven't played basketball since 2005. UConn schedules more high-profile opponents; I get it, but that’s dumb.
Our only common ground, as brothers, comes in the agreement that our rich, annoying, a-hole cousins in Chestnut Hill are the real jerks. #neverbc
I’m hopeful Dave bringing the Barstool College Football Show to East Hartford Friday night reminds both schools why good regional rivalries matter. I kinda love that the series is tied 38-38-2 all-time. A UMass fan created The Southwick Jug (above) to go to the winner of these games… except UMass wanted nothing to do with it. As a school, they seem like the stick-in-the-mud in this rivalry.
The jug is named for the Southwick Jog (sometimes called the Southwick Strip), a roughly two-mile-long border irregularity where the Massachusetts–Connecticut line dips south into what would otherwise be Connecticut territory. Google says it dates back to a colonial surveying dispute. Born and raised in Massachusetts and a UConn alum, I had no idea. The Southwick Jug will be on hand Friday Night. I’m hopeful UConn wins and accepts it with honor.
And I’m hopeful the program finds a conference. And continues to get great student, alumni, and fan support - they have that, for sure. Given their location, facilities, and fan base, there’s no reason why they can’t have an impactful program year in and year out. Those things should be enough to find a conference to call home. Maybe a big showing tonight might open some big conference eyes 👀👀👀
Yep, big spot for UConn under the lights Friday. They should beat UMass. A big college football show in town. It’s a big opportunity. Here’s hoping the team - and the fans - are ready for the spotlight.
On your Four-Pack of Week 7 NFL Picks…
WEEK 6 RESULTS: 2-1
SEASON RESULTS: 8-10
SEASON ATD: 0-6
How did the Bucs lose that game?????????????????????????????????????????????
Odds from the best sportsbook ever, DraftKings, as of Thursday at 6 PM. Please check the app for the latest odds.
The Side
LIONS -3 VS. PACKERS (-110)
Off the bye and getting healthy, I’m betting the Lions here. The Packers are still 27th in DVOA against the run on defense - and that’s counting playing teams like the Bucs and Jets this season. The Lions secondary gets a BIG boost with Brian Branch back on Sunday, and the idea should be simple - don’t get beat deep by Love, Watson, and Golden! I love that all the money (72%) is coming in on Green Bay. Good stat from Action Network - dating back to 2017, in Divisional Games where one team is off the bye and the other isn’t, the team off the bye is 115-87 (57%).
The Total
BENGALS AT RAVENS UNDER 48.5 (-105)
As of writing this up Thursday night, it looks like Tyler Huntley or a hobbled Lamar Jackson in this AFC North showdown. I’m good with the under either way. The Bengals are operating at the 4th slowest SEC/PLAY in the NFL coming in, and I see no reason they'll speed it up this week. Sapp Football has the Bengals as the slowest team in the NFL in neutral-pace situations. We LOVE Divisional Unders, especially with banged-up or backup QBs and slow teams. UNDER.
The Prop
CHRISTIAN MCCAFFERY REC YARDS 50+ (+132)
Down Deebo and Mike Evans, I think CMC gets peppered in this game. 6+ REC (+108) could also be in play, but one good screen pass might get us the yardage over. CMC is set to cook.
The ATD
DEVIN SINGLETARY (+700)
Led the team in RB snaps last week and is 7-1? Texans are good on D and rotation could be wacky but #value
On your weekly MutStack Notes…
“It’s all fixed.”
“How embarrassing.”
“That is insulting”
“That is BANANAS”
“Hey, good for them! Those stupid fucking things are for old people in radio.”
Those are the responses I got from people around radio, local and national, to the news that Sports Radio WEEI won the Marconi Award for Sports Station of the Year, as announced Tuesday night.
As I wrote about their nomination back in the summer:
So yeah, I was pretty surprised to see WEEI get a nomination. 2025 was a bad year for Boston’s Sports Original, with its afternoon show rating out as one of the lowest-rated major market shows in the country. Ratings were so bad, in fact, that WEEI torched that show early in 2026. The show they replaced it with is somehow worse than that show, but that’s a different MutStack.
Does the listening audience care about the Marconi? No. To quote my friend Kirk Minihane, “The two things listeners care about the least are Marconi Awards and anything Jason Barrett writes.” It’s a radio-industry private-parts measuring contest. WEEI’s nomination says more about the potential influence of Audacy’s new owner and left-wing super-activist George Soros and his Soros Fund Management than it does about WEEI.
If you have a working brain, it seems silly that a station that was beaten by their rival so badly they had to fire multiple people and revamp its PM Drive show would garner votes as the BEST SPORTS STATION OF THE YEAR. Who votes on these awards? No clue. That’s a secret, but reportedly voters are “Composed of an anonymous, independent body of prominent radio industry professionals, general managers, and broadcasters.”
Feels like it might have been Audacy’s turn to win, taking home this award and Major Market Personality of the Year - that one went to Karson and Kennedy, the AM Drive show for Mix 104.1. WEEI winning based on the year they had just cheapens the award for future winners.
Another award for programming guru Mike Thomas. Congrats, Mike!
🏈 Here comes all the Troy Aikman, Joe Buck, ESPN dirt
⚾ I know I’m in the minority, but I am a Red Sox fan rooting for the Rays in the World Series. If the Brewers win, Sox management can point to a team with the fewest home runs in baseball winning a title. If the Rays win, I’m hopeful the embarrassment of a division foe winning forces them to spend more money. It should serve as a real wake-up call if the Rays cap off an eight-year run that saw them win the AL East three times (Red Sox ZERO in that stretch) with a World Series.
🏈 EXCELLENT Deep Dive this week on the Bill Parcells/Patriots Breakup from my friend Kirk. Did not remember Mike Lombardi ever on ESPN’s Draft coverage.
🙄 My oldest son is now responding “Your momma” to almost any question his parents ask him. Teenagers are fun.
🏇🏻 Go Go Greys has Miss Watermelon at Woodbine tomorrow. She’s coming off her maiden win and goes in Race 5 (3:17 PM). Full coverage in Saturday’s weekly racing blog at Barstool.
That feels like enough Stack for this week. Good luck with all your bets this weekend. And see you Friday Night at The Rent. Big night. Go Huskies!
Poor Kirk
I wont hold it against you that you’re taking the lions against my Packers, but I was hoping I’d have you on my side with this one. Should be a good game and I’m praying Gibbs doesn’t torch the Packers defense.
I get blaming the defense for the Pats loss, but they forced a 3 and out to end the third, and the offense comes out and punts to start the fourth. Then they were gifted a missed field goal, and the offense goes 3 and out and they punt again. I’m not blaming Drake, but the play calling in the 1st and execution in the 4th quarter was disappointing. I also just hate seeing a bears win.