Friday Four-Pack 7.24.26
Barstool sets a record on Family Feud. Big spot for John Henry. WEEI going to XM. Some #MutMail. Snack Shack Review. Friday Notes!
A Note from MutStack Owner Dave Portnoy
At the time of print Ryan Whitney is still frozen at the buzzer of Family Feud.
Tough moment for Whit as part of an amazing Barstool showing on The Feud.
He owned up to choking today on KMS - listen here.
His hair does look really dark on TV, but I don’t believe the #haters who say it’s dyed
If you’re a long-time MutStack reader (and hopefully by now a subscriber), you know I am not an expert in much. But I am here to tell you I’d consider myself an expert in local, little league concession stands.
I’m not talking about the concessions at Fenway or those Monster Jam vendors like Justin Trudell. I’m talking local, next to the fields in your town, concession stands.
I have been to well over 50 baseball games this summer (more on that below in the Notes), and 100s of games over the last few summers, all over New England. I have been to dozens of Snack Shacks during that time.
This week, I finally found the best Snack Shack in all the land.
Now, these Snack Shacks serve a very important purpose. Kids and parents are out in the sun for hours at a time. Sometimes you’re running late and forget something. Or dad, mom, or a sibling gets hungry. Or thirsty. You can’t leave, so you’re at the mercy of the Snack Shack. How good or how bad it is can impact the whole day - not joking.
Most of the time, these Snack Shacks range from bad to slightly above average. Too much candy. No hot food. Not enough caffeinated drink choices. No sunflower seeds. Cash only because the card machine is down. Not open when the game starts, or open at all. Closed right after the game so you can’t get anything before you leave. You’re thrilled to get an average Snack Shack when you arrive for eight hours of baseball or get out of the car after a 90-minute drive.
We got that and more for the Cal Ripken 10U Regional Final this past week in New Milford, CT.
Shanks’s Shack was/is awesome.
The menu looked so big I was concerned. Like one of those restaurants that has a little bit of everything…how can it all be good?
But the breakfast sandwich (no picture, I forgot) on a roll was something you’d get at a diner and be thrilled with. Most Snack Shacks don’t even have these, so even if it was bad, it would have been a win, but it was good.
A fellow dad said something I’d never heard near a Snack Shack: “The wings are great.” Excuse me? I had to try them, even though I knew they would be messy. I can confirm - restaurant quality. Our family did two orders of these one day, one buffalo and one BBQ.
Fried chicken sandwich? Piping hot and made to order. Not afraid of lettuce.
Over and over, parents commented on the food and selection. Multiple cooks back there cooking food. Service was solid. Took credit cards - some places still struggle with that. And stayed open well after the game so you could order for the (long) ride home.
If you’re a parent of a young athlete, you already know - the bar is pretty low at these places. Shank’s Shack went soooooo above and beyond that I felt like I had to start here today. It helped that the field was very nice and you’re surrounded by the green mountains of Connecticut.
It’s the type of place that if I were driving by on a Saturday morning, I’d just stop and get a breakfast sandwich. And I bet some people do that.
Whatever they are doing, they should start consulting other Snack Shacks. I’d be happy to host and be the Jon Taffer of the local field concession stands across New England.
Shanks’s Shack gets the full, Five-Star MutStack Seal of Approval.
Meanwhile, big spot for Red Sox ownership. WEEI is going to Sirius/XM radio. We have some #MutMail questions. And your MutStack Notes.
All ahead in Friday Four-Pack #181.
Yes, My Boss Dave still owns MutStack. But of course, it remains free to subscribe and have it emailed directly to your inbox every Friday.
On the Boston Red Sox at the Trade Deadline…
Shoutout, Whit.
Don’t mess it up, John Henry.
On the Audacy Sports/SiriusXM Deal…
You won’t be surprised that while most radio publications are calling this a great thing for Audacy, I have questions.
It is certainly a big deal for the radio industry that Satellite Radio’s SiriusXM is paying Audacy some sort of licensing fee to start carrying some of its biggest sports and talk stations on its platform. From Andrew Marchand:
All Audacy stations will be available on the SiriusXM app, while some, including WFAN, will be available through in vehicles as well. The Audacy stations will still be accessible on all of its current platforms, including radios, the Audacy app and connected-home devices, like Amazon’s Alexa.
As part of the sharing agreement, SiriusXM personalities, like Russo, may appear as cross-promotional guests on WFAN and other Audacy stations. Top radio personalities are expected to show up on SiriusXM as guests as well.
Locally, yes, WEEI will now be heard on SiriusXM. Or at least the SiriusXM app.
If this were 20 years ago, and Audacy didn’t already have an app that gave you access to any local station you wanted, anywhere you want, this would be a huge deal for listeners. Like, I would have loved to get into a rental car on a work trip and listen to The Big Show. Or not miss Kirk and Callahan on a Gary Tanguay day while I’m on vacation.
But with the app…isn’t that already available? Doesn’t that already exist for me out of market?
Over the air, the app, YouTube/Twitch, and now SiriusXM - I’m guessing Audacy would argue they’re putting their content in so many places it's impossible to ignore them. And this is a new revenue stream, since SiriusXM is paying them.
If I were local talent. I’d be wondering if there’s a chance some people in my audience who are already listening to my show on the radio and have SiriusXM just decide to listen over there - could that potentially impact my own ratings? Maybe?
I might not be the best person to talk about this. For a few years, I was a Sirius/XM sub because I wanted to listen to Stern and Artie Lange. That was my draw to paying for the service and lugging around that equipment in different cars for a few years. That was the only place I could hear the show, so I had to get it.
But with apps, are people going to subscribe to the service for something they can already get for free? Is the Audacy app so bad that people will pay to have their shows on a more stable platform?
I certainly see it as a bigger win for Audacy than for SiriusXM. But it feels more like a PR win than a win for the listening audience.
Every industry story keeps talking about getting Audacy stations “in front of a national audience,” and I guess that’s true. But is some guy in Detroit who is a Lions fan going to give a shit about Patriots talk? What kind of impact is that supposed to have? One way this would really suck for the audience is if some local shows started doing more bad, national content. No thanks.
Radio is not dying, but it’s changing. Everything is going to streaming, and I guess one way to get ahead of that is to get your product on a national streaming platform - and get paid to do it in the process.
IDK. Label me as someone who sees this more as a matter of survival than as something that will have a huge positive impact on listeners.
Big deal? Meh. Maybe I’m missing something. Feel free to correct me in the comments.
On your MutStack Mailbag…
❓When you started out this humble blog back in 2023 did you ever envision a scenario where 3 years later Mutstack would become a global fashion brand? - David in Maryland
Great to meet David in Laconia. And it was never a goal, David, no.
T-shirt update: I have a few mockups of a potential T-shirt from Barstool. I like them - they fit the MutStack brand perfectly. I sent one to My Boss Dave asking for his opinion and did not hear back. I don’t think that’s a great sign, TBH.
He’s the MutStack owner, so I don’t want to post the mockup here or give it the green light in the store before he says okay.
Hats will have to wait - we need to prove ourselves first. But there is a shirt, and I think we’re close. And I’d like to sell them in the store and then give some away to subscribers. Hopefully, soon.
❓ Do you HATE baseball? - Groundhog on Substack
Not at all, Groundhog. I find it tough to embrace Red Sox ownership and management. Like, not enough bad things can happen to Sam Kennedy. He is a snake, and I’ll celebrate the day he’s gone from the organization. I personally have a major issue with him, and it will be hard to ever get over. He’s a dink.
But I grew up loving baseball. My kids love and play baseball. I spent years in the Red Sox booth watching hundreds of hours of baseball. I do not hate baseball.
Sam Kennedy, yes. Baseball, no.
❓ Hey mut, I want to get into horse racing but don’t understand it. You should make a short form video series explaining it to a beginner. Congrats on the barstool job and the shoutout from portnoy this morning 👍 - Brian
Thanks, Brian. Nice mention from My Boss Dave this week. So, I am committed to doing this. But I don’t know how basic to make it…Do I focus on handicapping races or terminology or how to bet? I don’t want to make it complicated and have to figure out how to present it correctly. But Dave’s Go Go Greys are going to keep hitting the track, and people are going to want to follow along.
If you are someone like Brian, let me know what you’d want to see in a video or video(s) like this.
And that was it for questions. Bad job by me, I guess. Maybe we’ll try again in the fall. #mutmail
On your weekly MutStack Notes…
⚾ The never-ending baseball season…is not over yet. And that’s a good thing.
The 10U Chelmsford Lions hunkered down in beautiful New Milford, CT for a week (thanks to weather delays) and came out as Cal Ripken New England Regional Champs. I think this 2026 is the first 10U winners from Chelmsford.
Local Newtown, CT had a huge home-field crowd advantage Thursday afternoon in the Championship Game, but the Lions took care of business in what was essentially a road affair to take home the banner and New England title.
Just an incredible summer of baseball from the players and coaches.
Only 24 teams (I think) make the World Series, which takes place next month in Virginia… just an hour from Colonial Downs 🏇🏻. One of those teams will be from Chelmsford, MA, representing New England. Very cool to watch this team compete with the best teams in the region. I can’t wait to see them against the best teams in the country. What a run for the Lions! Impossible to be more proud of this group.
📍 New Milford, CT…awesome town. Green. Lots of farms. Very lively little downtown (MUCH better than Chelmsford). Great snack shack. Could retire there and be happy… if they get better cell phone service.
🏀 LeBron. 1. I don’t know it’s going to work with all those players needing the ball in Philadelphia. 2. I give credit for going to the place that gives him, on paper, the best chance to win. 3. And for taking little money to do it. 4. I would have taken him on the Celtics for that money, in a second, as I wrote here a few weeks ago. 5. This gives us a TREMENDOUS Hate Watch team in the Sixers. They will be so easy/fun to root against. I’m in the minority, but it will not be hard for me to root against Jaylen Brown.
📺 Family Feud HAS to have Barstool back next time they do a celebrity game. You can’t possibly get better entertainment than 543-0. And Dave should run it back with the same crew.
🏈 As someone excited about Men of Honor, yesterday was tough. A win for Rico, but tough.
🎙️ The Red Sox are running so hot right now, they might actually give WEEI a little bump in the ratings. The day games will 100% rate better than Rich, Ken & Ted.
➡️ Great seeing this on X.com Friday morning. Sending Gasper good thoughts as he comes back from prostate cancer surgery.
🏇🏻 Been a very slow start for me at Saratoga. Just can’t seem to get anything going. More on Saratoga and horse racing in tomorrow’s At The Post blog at Barstool.
That feels like enough Stack for this week.
Good luck with the bets this weekend. Thanks for reading. And watching.
I also do not know shit about horse racing, as I have mentioned before, so I am down with a breakdown and beginner explanation video, I would enjoy to have something else in common with you as it is clear horse racing is a big passion of yours.
I agree, now that the Red Sox proved they can play well, no selling, we buy, buy, buy. It is all about who gets hot in September, I liked Early but the bat we got is not bad at all TBH. I do wish we go out and get a big name like Skubal and sign him to nice contract before the eventual lockout or hold him down until then but, that is a pipe dream. I honestly have not kept up in watching games, my son takes so much out of me I am usually down and out as games start but, I am kind of happy, I tend to bring bad luck when I watch teams in the midst of something great, football as well but seeing as I am Niners fan and the fucking Seahawks won the Superbowl in my stadium with our former backup QB, not sure how many games I will catch this year, looking like a lot of redzone for fantasy.
I am with you on Sam Kennedy, fuck that guy, I will jump for joy when he's gone but I do not see that happening unfortunately. I wish WEEI had something that was listenable but, ugh, I miss Mut & Merloni (who is doing great by the way) or when Chris Villani was around or Dale Arnold. I can hardly recognize who is even on the shows anymore and Greg Hill is far past his heydays from AAF. I miss radio that I could listen too and call in and have conversations about baseball and sports, not whatever the fuck they have now, I have tried both the morning and afternoon shows over the past year and I hardly got any sports talk at all, like TALK ABOUT SPORTS, ffs. If I want political news, I can find it on my own and just some random topics like I get you're a talk show but SPORTS is the focus, or should be.
That food looks great and making me hungry as I read this thanks for that lol.
Super down for a Mutstack t-shirt, I would wear it with pride and confuse my family lol.
I realize I have rambled in this comment but I think you make valid points, would love some merch, glad your boss is showing you some respect, kind of, and you seem like a better version of yourself this year I have noticed. Lots of energy and pep, love it. Keep at it and good looks my dude
Regarding the horse racing videos- make them as basic as possible. Do one on terminology, another on handicapping, another on how to bet and what the places mean and how the payouts work... Do every topic possible to educate people. If someone doesn’t know anything about horse racing, they’ll be able to learn through your videos. And if someone already knows what you’re talking about, they may skip it, or they might watch anyway to support your content.