Friday Four-Pack 7.10.26
No Apology for Breslow. An owner's note from My Boss Dave. I believe in Brad Stevens. A sad soccer moment. MutStack Notes.
A note from MutStack Owner Dave Portnoy
Congratulations to me for being a NYT bestseller. Thank you to all the Mutsluts and Minifans who bought the book. I couldn’t have done it without you guys.
Now I know I said if this happened I would give Mut back ownership of the Mutstack. However as Bill Parcells once famously said…”I reserve the right to change my mind”
Yeah.
So, based on his tweet the other day, I had a feeling this was coming. And my boss Dave sort of has me over a barrel here.
I’m a Barstool Employee. He’s my boss. I like working for him. He also owns the MutStack IP (I legit signed it away when I joined Barstool last September). I thought about deleting this whole newsletter and going on MutStrike, but that’s not fair to you, the loyal MutStack reader and subscriber. I freaking flew to Chicago to win a bet and publish in March; I’m not NOT publishing.
Plus, if we’re in the MutStack Trust Tree, Dave’s tenure as Owner has been very good for MutStack.
Dave has often said that a Portnoy/Lannister always pays their debts - in fact, I’m 99% sure he said this in the audio version of the NYT #1 Best Seller, Cancel Me If You Can, available on Amazon now. So if he’s going to keep ownership of MutStack, I need to find a way to do something for the loyal MutStack subscribers. Hopefully, Davey Lannister would be open to that. But I don’t really want to negotiate over text on a Friday morning.
My next move is critical, and I don’t want to rush it. I need some time here. Hope you’ll understand.
Congrats to Dave. Thanks to the MutSluts (who are really Minifans, I get it) for supporting Dave’s book. And this newsletter. Hopefully I’ll have some further news/updates next week.
Yes, Dave still owns MutStack. But of course, it remains free to subscribe and share. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
“If you’ve enjoyed what you’re seeing, well, support your local team.”
“This doesn’t have to be the last soccer you watch for the next four years. It’s a beautiful sport…”
These were the words from soccer announcer John Strong at the end of Team USA getting WORKED by Belgium on Monday night, ending their World Cup run. I would play you the clip, but FIFA might come to my house and sue my pants off. But boy, I really would love to post it here because the quote itself, in newsletter form, doesn’t do it justice. Strong just PLEADING with fans to keep watching.
“The future of American soccer is very bright,” added analyst Stu Holden a few seconds later.
I don’t think it was the intention, but it came across as weak - PLEASE keep watching soccer. I let out a real-life LOL when Strong said it.
Since 1994, I’ve been told that soccer is coming. And while this was a nice run for Team USA, I don’t think anything really changed. Do you? Was this the year soccer broke through?
Breaks through to what exactly? I don’t know. What’s the metric we’re going to point to and say, “See, I told you, soccer is here to stay”? More kids playing? Better MLS attendance?
Professional soccer is a fringe sport in this country. Not a knock, just a fact. I am a diehard fan of a very fringe sport in horse racing. I personally don’t care if you like racing or not - I get the sense some soccer fans need everyone to like their sport as much as they do.
In Europe, horse racing is a deeply embedded national pastime/sport (maybe even 2nd to soccer in the UK). Their racing festivals are ingrained in the culture and are major social events. It’s much different here in America, where, outside of the Triple Crown, racing does not register with many sports fans. I’m okay with that.
Same for soccer and the World Cup.
As far as growing the game, it can’t help that Major League Soccer seems kinda hidden on Apple TV. The $99 a year doesn’t seem steep, but there is a barrier to watching the games when they’re tucked away on a streaming platform.
Soccer fans should enjoy the beautiful game, as I guess they call it. Stop worrying about getting new fans. Who cares. Me? I’m committed to watching Team USA play high-level International matches, and that’s about it. I think there are a lot of people like me - just like there are fans who watch one horse race a year, the Kentucky Derby. Some will like it so much they’ll watch other races and become diehard fans - same for soccer and the World Cup.
Soccer is never going to be football in America, and that should be okay. People who love the sport should not have to beg sports fans to keep watching.
And to me, a casual soccer fan tuning in Monday night, that’s what it came across as.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox are on fire, but there’s one thing I won’t do. I have completely come to terms with the Jaylen Brown trade and remain on Brad Stevens Island. My Boss Dave was in Nashua. And your usual MutStack Notes.
All ahead in Friday Four-Pack #179.
On one thing I won’t do when it comes to the Red Sox…
PG-13 video this week. Sorry not sorry.
On a final word on the Jaylen Brown Trade…
So, turns out I might have been the only Celtics fan who was okay with the Brad Stevens/Bill Chisholm press conference on Monday. Seriously, people hated those 45 minutes. I think every show in Boston mocked it for the next 48 hours.
I thought Stevens came across as understanding of fans' and the media's reactions in the aftermath of the Brown trade. I thought he was thoughtful in agreeing that, yes, telling fans to care about draft picks is pretty silly. He seemed well aware that this trade could potentially not work for the Celtics.
But to me, he also seemed confident: confident that there was a reason for this trade, even if he couldn’t just come out and explain it directly in that setting.
“…In fact historic ball hogs like Kobe, Iverson, Jordan and peak Harden only had one or two seasons each with higher usage than 36.1. Lebron, Steph and KD NEVER had the ball that much in a single season. I just found this very interesting….This makes the argument that the ball moved better with him running the offense completely false along with them being 27th in assists and the slowest team in the league (30th in pace).”
Very good post from The Sports Hub’s Cerrone Battle. And I’ll use it to say I feel like this is 100% what Brad was trying to say on Monday. Or some version of it.
The high-usage Jaylen Brown Celtics were a slow team that didn’t play much team basketball and, in the end, put a lot on Brown to make plays. For last season, with no Tatum, that kind of worked. But Tatum is back in full for 2026-2027, and it’s been suggested that Brown did not want to go back to a secondary role behind him. As I have said from the beginning, Tatum > Brown.
As a viewer, there were times I hated watching the high-usage Jaylen Brown Celtics. For all the shit that Joe Mazzulla takes (plenty from me) for his ‘three-first’ offense, there were plenty of times the team had to jack up a three because they never got a better look with Brown running the show.
Rather than run the offense through Brown again, or go through the painful process of taking Brown off the ball and dealing with the fallout from that, they decided to trade Brown.
I think the money was also part of it - that 2 year/$141 extension that was due in a couple of years, but that Brown reportedly wanted sooner, was looming. I think one thing Brad would have said Monday, if he were being completely honest, is that there might be two players worth keeping if it takes up over 70% of your salary cap, and Tatum is one of those players, but not Brown. But he wasn’t going to say that about the beloved Brown in that setting - I would not be shocked if he said it directly to his owner behind the scenes. And I’d agree with him.
NBA reporter/podcaster Zach Lowe reported that Brown “reportedly gave intelligence to multiple interested franchises indicating he had no interest in playing for them, causing teams to stay out of the bidding and ultimately forcing Boston's hand to make the deal.” That detail helps explain the WHY NOW part of this - the walls were closing in, and the team felt like they had to make a trade before Brown forced his way to a preferred destination, where the return might even have been worse if that’s possible.
Brad looked at the idea of locking himself into five more years of Jaylen Brown at max money and didn’t like what he saw.
Stevens and Chisholm have taken a beating this week. And I get that - when you make a title contender WORSE on paper, fans are going to be upset. This might sound and look really dumb a year from now, but I just trust Stevens here. I trust that when the time comes, Paul George's expiring contract and extra draft picks become the next piece or pieces of a Celtics Championship.
And maybe they won’t be. But it took some guts for Stevens to pull the trigger on this, knowing the fans would hate it, and the basketball world would question it. But I got the sense on Monday that he was okay with the move. And I am, too.
Feels like I might be the only one. #inbradwetrust
On A Night With New York Times #1 Bestselling Author Dave Portnoy…
The whole thing was very funny. At least to me.
I started my radio career in Nashua, NH. Selling ads, doing a sports show, vacuuming carpets, driving my boss around, and hosting a big Friday Night High School football show. I mean, we were legit flyering cars during the games, telling fans they could listen to the postgame and get scores from around the state after their games. WEEI star Rich Keefe was one of our best at-game correspondents.
The station moved two or three times. The last two homes, both in Downtown Nashua, were just a few good golf shots away from where Dave held a book event on Tuesday Night.
Sitting next to me at the show was my brother Matt, who was a correspondent on that high school football show. He loves Barstool. Before the show, we met Kirk for dinner. Kirk’s first show on WEEI was with me, and eventually, years later, he helped twist Dave’s arm to land me my current gig.
Sitting in the crowd, listening to Dave point out how talentless I am, the crowd laughing along, the whole thing felt serendipitous. No clue if I’m using that right, but since I’m the editor, it stays.
Whatever, it was a fun night. Dave was great with the crowd. Hosted by old Mut at Night stallworth Tom E. Curran, Dave talked about many of the stories in his book. And some things not in the book. A few takeaways from the night-
• For as much as he claims he wouldn’t win, Dave gets very fired up when he talks about running for office. I think the Florida Keys and the Go Go Greys will probably keep him out of it, but he gets very fired up when he starts talking about New York, Mamdani. 1% chance he runs for something at some point.
• A Minifan heavy crowd, including at the Mexican Restaurant we went to before the show.
• Kirk mentioned this on his show, and he’s right: the only boo of the night from the crowd was for Chris Klemmer.
• There was a very big response when someone asked about the return of The Unnamed Show. One of the louder pops of the night. Dave didn’t commit, but he also didn’t completely rule it out. Like most of you, I hope the show comes back.
• I wish Curran had punted the lightning round questions and done more Q and A with the fans.
• One person tried to use the Q & A to get a job. It was clear that that was not the way to get a job with Dave.
I think that’s it for the tour. We need to figure out this MutStack situation first, but Dave should/could do more of these and just take questions for an hour, and people would love it. The crowd in The Gate City certainly did.
On your weekly MutStack Notes…
⚾ I might have to adjust the “They’re Not In It, But They’re Not Out Of It” stance after a three-game sweep of the White Sox. Big series in New York this weekend. A full-squad podcast of Dirty Water to try and explain this surge. Go watch and subscribe on YouTube. Then go listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
⚾ It’s impossible to believe that the Fenway training room being too small is the reason the Red Sox sent Roman Anthony to Florida to rehab. Not a believable sentence for Craig Breslow to say out loud.
🎙️ I don’t think it’s possible for a morning show to look less happy than this.
We’ll get the spring ratings for Boston sports radio next week. I think both stations will be down. And I don’t think the new WEEI afternoon show is going to help much.
I’ll say this about The Greg Hill Show. 1. WEEI NEEDS this show to carry, and if they falter, it might have a big impact on the numbers. 2. I’ve had way more people than I expected reach out and say how much more they like the show with Mego vs. Courtney Cox. We’ll see if the ratings show any of that, as Mego has been there most of the spring with Cox out on maternity leave.
It is a much different show with Mego. Greg and Wiggy end up talking less, and Mego seems to push back more. I do not think they’ll make any sort of change, for the record, but I’d be curious what the staff behind the scenes at WEEI thinks.
Full spring ratings breakdown here next week
🏇🏻 Tough first week for the Saratoga Bankroll. Hit the double yesterday on The Doubles Show w/ Elio and Turk. Elio posts it here every Saratoga race day on X.com, right around noon.
➡️ As I made clear yesterday on The Kirk Minihane Show, I am losing the battle in my kids vs. the screens. It’s bad. I am open to ANY AND ALL suggestions, limiting apps, etc. Comment here, email me, or DM me on Twitter. I’m 100% serious.
🏈 I’ll admit, Tom Brady helping the Seahawks beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl hurts.
Condolences to the family, friends, and former colleagues of the Boston Herald’s Danny Ventura, who passed away this week after a seven-month battle with cancer. Danny was the written authority on high school sports in Massachusetts, having covered them for the Herald since 1990.
The outpouring of love on social media over the last few days confirmed all the stories about how good a guy he was. I don’t often agree with Dan Shaughnessy, but when he wrote “Everybody loved Danny. MIAA should name a building after him,” he was 100% correct.
As always, thanks for reading. And watching.
Back here next week and back this weekend on the Barstool blog.