Friday Four-Pack 11.21.25

ESPN vs. The Patriots. Red Sox sending mixed messages. A Thanksgiving conversation starter. Week 12 NFL Picks. My boss calls my performance "pathetic."

Nov 21, 2025

Note from Owner of MutStack.com, Dave Portnoy:

It’s dark times for the MutStack and the MutStack fans. With Kirk on the sidelines, the Minifans are truly a rudderless ship. Mut had another pathetic performance on the Unnamed Show and is slowly eroding any goodwill he had left with the big boss by constantly defending well-known assholes. It’s hard to say how long MutStack and the Minifans can hold on before their world implodes, but supplies are low and time is running out. Stay tuned.

Note from Original Creator of MutStack.com, Mike Mutnansky

~~Many~~ Most are saying I saved The Unnamed Show Thursday. The loyal MutStack reader can watch for themselves and decide. It got loud. I spoke for myself and myself only. I was pretty clear on how I feel. The Mick vs. Dave thing has taken on a life of its own, and I wish Dave would have Mick on Unnamed and have it out, rather than dancing around it. Doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. Do we need Kirk back? 100%. Cullinane and Justin asked me to do two Producer’s Shows this week. NO ONE wants that. I’m getting into the weeds here. I stand with every other Minifan in wishing Kirk the best and hoping he’s back soon. More on my friend later.

Fellas, come on.

Front Office Sports media/entertainment reporter Ryan Glasspiegel (confirmed Minifan) reposted this on X.com a few days ago.

I can’t get over the results.

Now granted, at 462 votes, this is not a huge sample size. But to the 71.9% that voted “handsome middle class guy”… cut it out. Taking home $200k is nothing to brush off, I get it. And thanks to the very public negotiation of my current salary, you’re well aware that I’m not taking home that type of paycheck.

But billionaire with a B money? Going to any sporting event you want at the drop of a hat. Flying private. Not sweating over potential college tuition payments. Jersey Mike’s every day. Unlimited Daily Racing Form PPs subscription…just a few of the things I started daydreaming about as I’m writing this.

And this is not an original thought, but all of that money also gives you more time - time you can spend however you want. It also means being able to spend money freely on things that might otherwise take up your time. You might be too young to understand this now, but time ends up being JUST as important a resource as money as you get older. At least that’s been my experience.

Like, if this poll were pitting money vs. having kids or money vs. having a family, I might flinch. But ugly? Just ugly? In THIS economy? Shit, sign me up tomorrow.

What’s the argument for the handsome side? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And if you have a billion dollars, beholders can be convinced into handsome pretty easily.

The open is also a little gift to you, the loyal MutStack subscriber. Next week is Thanksgiving. Maybe, like me, you dread the dinner conversation portion of the otherwise great holiday.

Feel free to use this poll question as a Thanksgiving table topic. Or during the appetizers. It’s a nice pivot off of questions or issues you’re looking to avoid. Someone asks about the job hunt? Or your thoughts on inflation? Boom, you have this ready to go in your back pocket.

Report back with the results. And of course, you can answer in the comments. To me, this is a no-brainer, but I’m happy to hear the other side of this.

Meanwhile, a prominent ESPN personality called Drake Maye a liar. The mixed messages continue on the Red Sox's offseason. The NFL Picks have sucked, but we have momentum. And your weekly MutStack Notes.

All ahead in this week’s Four-Pack.

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It’s free, so it can’t hurt your cause.

On Stephen A. Smith calling Drake Maye “A Liar”…

I write about sports and sports media every Friday here at MutStack.com. Sometime next month, we’ll hopefully celebrate #MutStack150 - a 150th consecutive week of publishing. Now, when I saw we’ll celebrate, I mean myself, my mom, and a few of the loyal commenters. But that’s not the point here. The point is not just now, but for about the last 30 years of my life, I’ve cared a lot about sports media.

It’s meant a lot to me. When I realized that 5’ 8” point guards who were prone to turning the ball over didn’t have much chance to make the NBA, I focused on working in sports media. My mom even wrote to a bunch of sports media guys, telling them about her sports-crazy son who wanted to do what they do for a living. Bob Costas even sent back a funny autographed photo. I’ll try and find that at Thanksgiving - it would do numbies on Instagram.

So I grew up devouring sports media, worked in the ‘field,’ and write about it here often.

ALLLLLLL of that to say this: if you gave me 10 guesses, I’d have gone 0-10 in guessing what show Cam Newton was on.

And in case you missed it, Drake Maye said he didn’t know either. Asked on WEEI earlier this week about Newton’s comments on the Patriots’ easy schedule, Maye responded that “I don’t even know what show he’s on….I think they get paid to make remarks and make certain comments. So, I just worry about what people in our organization think, and worry about we think and what my teammates think. People are going to have different opinions. I’m just going out there on Sunday and worrying about ourselves.”

A nothing answer from a quarterback who does not make waves when he speaks to the media. Good for him.

Well, that answer was not good enough for ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

“He’s also a liar,” said Smith. “He’s also a liar. Pardon the Interruption is the number one show on ESPN spanning 20-plus decades. First Take is the number one morning show, 13 years and counting. April will be 14 years. Don’t tell me you a athlete and you don’t know that. Don’t tell me you a athlete and you don’t know that Cam Newton ain’t on this show. You lying.”

Smith is the face of the show Cam Newton is apparently on, First Take. There’s a good chance you don’t watch it. I know I don’t watch it, aside from clips cut and circulated by ESPN on social media. Smith is also the 2025 face of ESPN, a network that has self-imploded over the last decade. Depending on what side of the aisle you’re on, you either can or can’t comment on politics—speaking out as a conservative at ESPN has not been a good way to maintain employment there. But that’s just one of many reasons ESPN has lost its grip on the sports world.

Smith could have had some fun and credited Maye for being too focused on football to pay attention to him. Or reacted to Newton’s comments with his own opinion on the Pats’ schedule. Instead, he called a 23-year-old kid just trying to get through a radio interview and get back to football a liar. Smith himself has been accused of lying about his own athletic career.

What a low moment for Smith. His ego is so fragile that he has to lash out at Maye. And lest you think Maye has some agenda against Newton, here’s what he said less than two months ago, when he was asked about doing the Cam Newton ‘Superman’ TD celebration.

“Big fan. He (Cam) was my favorite player growing up. Pretty cool.”

So don’t tell me Smith was trying to defend Newton in this case. He took offense to an athlete saying he didn’t watch his TV show. In 2023, according to publicly available numbers, over 550k people were watching First Take on any given day. This August shows under 400k viewers per show. Maye is not the only one not hanging on to Smith’s every word.

Newton can have whatever opinion he wants about Maye, the Pats’ schedule, beach erosion, whatever. That’s the whole point of these shows. But Smith is calling another man a liar because he hurt his feelings about his TV show - a show fewer people are watching now than they were a few years ago.

And that - more than Drake Maye’s response to Newton - is why Smith lashed back at the quarterback.

If I had not taken the job with Barstool, this would not bother me as much. But as someone consuming every piece of Red Sox news for the blog and for Dirty Water, I’ll admit this is already shaping up to be a massively disappointing offseason because it feels like the team is already starting to move the goalposts.

First, just some facts.

⚾ The Red Sox are coming off their first playoff appearance in four years.
⚾ The President of Baseball Ops and CEO have both acknowledged that the team is about to enter their “window of contention.”
⚾ The President of Baseball Ops has said the team plans to upgrade the middle of the order and the No. 2 starter
⚾ Manager Alex Cora has admitted that a first-round loss to the Yankees is not good enough and the team needs to be “aggressive” in the offseason
⚾ The franchise was valued at $4.5 billion by Forbes last year, third in MLB behind just the Yankees and Dodgers.

Now, here’s what Alex Speier wrote in the Boston Globe on Thursday.

For that matter, it’s possible they will expand their offseason targets beyond a middle-of-the-order slugger and top-end starter. Financially, it’s not unrealistic to think the team could combine free agent spending and trades to add one top-end bat, one No. 2 starter, and a second complementary bat.

I think Alex is pretty tight with the Red Sox front office. So when he writes ‘second complementary bat,’ I read that as, “You’re not getting Bregman + Alonso or Bregman + Schwarber. Or Bichette + Alonso or Bichette + Schwarber.”

They have the money for two big bats. Would that come with some luxury tax penalties? Yes. But that should not stop the team from being aggressive in improving this offseason.

And if that is the case, and they continue to operate like some mid-market team, they should be criticized for it. Loudly. Fans and media should not be okay with the team alluding to major moves, then hiding behind the luxury tax as a reason not to follow through.

This would not be a big issue if the team had not traded its biggest bat in Rafael Devers last season. The team hit just 10 home runs from the DH spot after the trade - Devers hit 20 by himself in SF. If you’re going to improve, that means Bregman back (or Bo Bichette) PLUS Alonso or Schwarber. That seems pretty simple to me.

But it’s never easy with the Red Sox. Their executives talk about improvement and no excuses, and Full Throttleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee….and they find a way to come up short. I read the Speier column as coming from the team, as a way to reel in the public push to really go for it this offseason.

I don’t miss doing daily sports radio. But it would have been fun to hammer the Sox over this over the next few months.

Thankfully, I have Hogdale and Kutter, and we can call out the team whenever we want. Episode 2 of Dirty Water - A Boston Sports Podcast - is out now. Note the explicit tag. New episode coming next Tuesday - or if the Sox make a big splash this weekend.

So probably next Tuesday.

On your Week 12 NFL Picks…

Week 11 Results: 0-3 | ATD P. Friermuth ❌ | Lions ML ❌
On the Season: 13-20 | ATD bets 3 for 11 | ML Dog 2 for 5

Full disclosure - Worst week for the MutStack picks since last year’s playoffs.

Vikings lose outright at home | BUF/TB a shoutout, not an under | Sutton goes over on a late catch. Pushed the Jameson Williams OVER and that hit, but it was not an official play. Not really close, overall. I spend a lot of time on these plays, and I bet them all myself, so it's not great.

BUT….4-0 over the last two days on Picks Central, including 3-0 TNF. That might be a sign I’m back. Or just a good few days. I guess we’ll find out together.

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook as of Friday morning.

The Side
SAINTS -2.5 VS FALCONS (-105). Coming off a bye, I’m happy to play the Saints here at anything up to -3. I want to bet against Kirk Cousins. The boxscore check is just BRUTAL - just 1 TD to 9 INTs over almost 10 appearances. He’s also fumbled five times. The eye test and the numbers say he’s washed. Saints are 10th in DVOA against the run and can force Cousins to try and beat them with no Drake London. Guys named KhaDarel Hodge and David Sills will be out there at receiver for ATL. Falcons are 1-5 SU and 0-6 ATS in Kirk’s last six starts dating back to last season. It’s ugly to back Tyler Slough, but I'm happy to do it here.

The Total
RAVENS VS JETS UNDER 44.5 (-108). The Ravens clock in just behind the Bills as far as slow teams go via FTN’s SEC/SNAP stat. Their offense is efficient, and there’s a scenario in which they score 40 themselves against the Jets. But a few things are in our favor. The Ravens have a quick turnaround to play Thanksgiving night against the Bengals, so you could see them take it easy late with the lead. You also have the Jets coming off a mini-bye with a first-year coach who seems likely to be 100% invested in keeping this game close. The Jets run the ball almost 60% of the time when the game is within a score either way - that’s the highest rate in the NFL. Baltimore is right there at 49.9% (3rd in the NFL). UNDER.

The Prop
HAROLD FANNIN JR. OVER 32.5 REC (-114). Rookie quarterbacks love to check down. Fannin should be in a spot to get peppered with targets on Sunday. The athletic TE looks like a star in the making for Cleveland. David Njoku was a DNP (KNEE) on Thursday, and his absence would help this play.

The ATD
AUSTIN HOOPER +475. The Bengals are historically bad against tight ends. If you want to take the Hunter Henry +180, he’s the safer play. I’ll probably bet both, but Hooper at near 5-1 is the bigger swing. He had a full practice (concussion) on Thursday, so I assume he’s playing

The ML Dog Mut Says Is Barking
COWBOYS +145 VS EAGLES. Dallas D looked pretty good on Monday night. And the Eagles seem broken on offense. Also, I bet the Cowboys at 10-1 to make the playoffs this week on DK, and this would sure help that bet.

On your weekly MutStack Notes…

➡️ My friend - and as of September, once again co-worker thanks to his help - Kirk Minihane posted this on X.com late Saturday night. Kirk has been open about his battles with depression over the years. So open, in fact, that it’s helped many of his listeners as they battled their own issues. I’ve heard these listeners thank Kirk directly and on social media.

It takes a strong man to be so open and prioritize his own health. He’s been there for me in some tough spots over the years, and I can’t wait for him to get back soon. I feel confident in saying I speak for every Minifan when I say that.

I mean, did you watch the Producer’s Show on Thursday? No one wants more of that. My talking about Top Golf gift cards was a rock-bottom moment. Get back soon, Kirk. We love you.

➡️ In this since-deleted tweet, former Boston radio host and professional mouthbreather Andy Gresh challenged UConn to make the Fenway Bowl to prove that they had fans in Boston.

Of course, UConn did play in the Fenway Bowl last year, beating North Carolina. In the process, 27,900 filled Fenway to watch the game. The year before, with Boston College playing SMU, the game drew 16,238; that’s a 71.8% increase from BC to UConn 👀👀👀 The game also drew almost 2 million viewers on TV.

Gresh actually called the UConn/UMass game on TV last year, which suggests he’s not locked into college football, since he didn’t know about the Fenway Bowl. Weird that Gresh didn’t mock UConn when he worked for WTIC….in Connecticut.

UConn is the most popular and successful college program based in New England. That includes Boston.

Cope harder, Andy. (I don’t actually know if I’m using Cope harder correctly, but I'm trying to appeal to the Instagram Crowd. Also, please follow me on Instagram. The push for 10k followers is on.)

🏈 Bills, huh? I can already hear the narrative that JOSH NEEDS MORE WEAPONS for 2026. Not a 0% chance Sean McDermott gets fired at this point.

📣 Yeah.

🤑 October was a record month for sports betting in Massachusetts. A total handle of $892 million! DraftKings dominated the market, with $447M in handle. Bill Speros does a great job in reporting these matters and points out that MA is 4th in the country in total handle among states that have reported for October, trailing just NY, NJ, and PA. Drake Maye and the Patriots being awesome doesn’t hurt…

🎙️ Which will make the WEEI Afternoon fall ratings look even worse when we write about them after Christmas. The weekly numbers I’m seeing…yikes.

🏇🏻 He’s not thrilled with me, but as the horse racing beat writer for Barstool, I have to tell you that Dave and Go Go Greys Stable are back this weekend, with Miss Watermelon set to make her second career start. She debuted at Keeneland, going long on the turf. Sunday, she’s back in on the dirt, going 6.5 furlongs from Post 9. Miss Watermelon is reportedly training lights out, and trainer Jonathan Thomas has strong stats to support this move to the main track. A lot to like, but because it’s Dave, likely to be overbet. He’s headed to Del Mar to watch her on Sunday—Race 8, 7 PM EST.

🎄More than ever, I’m seeing a lot of people have already put up some Christmas lights, and I’ll just say it…I don’t hate it as much as I used to. Kinda like it, even? It gets dark at 430 PM, which is just too damn early. The lights are helping.

🏈 I think Drake Maye is going to cook the Bengals defense Sunday. Cook.

And with that, we have indeed said it all.

A reminder, no weeks off for the Friday Four-Pack. A Black Friday newsletter is scheduled next week, albeit maybe in holiday form. We’ll see.

Good luck with all the bets this weekend. And thanks for reading.

Follow Mut on X.com