A Note from MutStack Owner Dave Portnoy
No note from Dave this week.
But a programming note - we’ll be doing a Go Go Greys Stable Tour #2 next week. Later in the week, not sure when. But Go Go Greys added two horses this week at the Saratoga Sale. And his two-year-old Drake Graye just posted a quick work at Saratoga. Much to discuss, as a famous podcaster once said. Looking forward to it.
The first three episodes of Season 5 - Surviving Barstool are out. And people are big mad at the referee. I’ve always believed the best games are when you don’t even notice the ref - it’s about the players, not the official.
I’d say based on that, I am the best referee in the history of anything.
I took my role as Surviving Barstool Referee very seriously. My co-workers are playing for $250K, and I wanted to make sure I was locked in.
But I am there to officiate the games and challenges. For every challenge, I would talk to the commissioner, Jeff D. Lowe, about what I should focus on and where violations might happen.
Challenge 1: My job was to make sure players did not leave corrals early - or have puzzle pieces out of the corral. I had to remind players of this a few times (one player in particular), but for the most part, they listened.
Challenge 2: Not much for me to do here. I wore a safety helmet, which I thought would be a funny visual, but I guess Jeff and Rob didn't, so you don’t really see it in the final edit. But this one, yeah, I was just there to make sure players didn’t run in front of the ramp to get their balls. And the challenge was over in like 5 minutes.
Challenge 3: Again, players were good about not leaving their little pedestal; that was my focus. We had a moment where some players had gotten too close to the start of the game, and we had to reset, but nothing big. My biggest takeaway was how positive Rone was during this whole challenge - which took well over an hour. I was standing right next to that group, and he was annoyingly positive as Meek and Glenny kept dropping the vases. And Pat ripping on people.
That’s what I was there for. Was I there to make the final call on a stair piece Meek couldn't get fitted? Nope. That’s beyond my purview. Was I there to make sure players didn’t talk to their team after elimination? Again, get the hell out here. That’s for Rob and Jeff to figure out - they are really good at what they do.
I did not fraternize with the cast during the show. I was not there to hang out - I was there to help Jeff. I had no clue about the moves Tate was pulling or even what missions were. I’m seeing all this stuff now just like you guys are. It’s been an awesome first three episodes.
Not a cast member. Not there to make friends.
Episode 4 features what my friend Kirk Minihane calls “The greatest game ever,” or something like that: Attack and Defend. Based on the trailer, I do finally speak on the show.
Just like the players, ref hate is fair game. And you can rip me all you want for a bad call. But in these first three challenges, the cast followed the rules, and the referee in green stayed quiet. Very quiet.
Too quiet for some critics? I guess I could have yelled at players just to get on camera? Sorry, that wasn't my focus. My focus was making sure I was locked in each game. Looking forward to being locked in for Episode 4 Sunday Night. Going to watch the show in the YouTube chat with the people. See you there.
Meanwhile, John Henry will never sell the Red Sox. Ted Johnson went wild on WEEI. Alex Reimer is here with a Gueststack™️take on his time at WEEI. And your weekly MutStack notes.
All ahead in Friday Four-Pack #184
Yes, My Boss Dave still owns MutStack. But it remains free to subscribe and have it emailed directly to your inbox every Friday.
100% Free. Still.
On WEEI’s Ted Johnson and his attacks on Barstool…
I don’t say this proudly, but it’s 100% true: no one has written more about Ted Johnson on Boston Sports Radio than I have here at MutStack dot com. And even I’m going to have a hard time explaining this.
Seemingly out of nowhere this week, the former Patriots LB and now radio host started lashing out at people.
First, he went after former WEEI hosts who “want his job” and are jealous of him. “You can’t do this job I’m doing right now,” he told his audience, which, according to the latest Nielsen ratings, is pretty small.
Then he turned his anger towards my co-worker Jerry Thornton. Jerry pointed out what anyone who has listened to Ted Johnson already knows - he holds a massive grudge against Bill Belichick. This is Ted’s brand.
Of course, Jerry pointed this out way back in January 2025, when Ted said he would give Bill Belichick just 10% of the credit for the Patriots Dynasty. Ted did the dumb thing where you pretend not to know someone’s name (kept calling Jerry, “George”), which I guess is funny to Ted. And Rich and Ken, who are just laughing along.
You can read Jerry’s 2025 blog here - he takes no personal shots at Ted and just points out how dumb his take is.
Here’s Ted on the radio Tuesday:
People that work for Barstool, they can’t do real journalism. You know what? They defend the teams and they crap on everybody that’s critical. The real journalists that actually have objective opinions. They side with the team, and anybody that says anything negative about the team, then you’re the enemy.”
All you former WEEI employees that are on Twitter or Instagram, because that’s where you can get your opinions out there that you think are so important. Your thoughts and opinions on sports in Boston, it’s so important to everybody that we get those. You go out there on Twitter, Instagram, or one of your podcasts in that sea of podcasts out there. You’re doing that because you can’t do this job that I’m doing right now.
And here is more of Ted on X.com, replying to Jerry.
This post came at 2:25 AM.
This one came last year, a reply to someone, at 3:47 AM. Ted is online a lot!
And sometimes he deletes his late-night/early-morning posts. But not all the time.
This post was also deleted at some point. Former WEEI host Glenn Ordway mocked him for his dumb Belichick take, the same way Jerry did. Ted is asking Glenn to “calm down, it’s just sport talk.” Which makes me wonder why Ted is so mad at Jerry for having an opinion about something Ted said on SPORTS TALK?????????????????????
This is why his rants this week came off as so forced and nonsensical. That first, more generic one…is that directed at Glenn? Me? Kirk? Fitzy? Who is he talking about?
Then the second one targets Jerry, based on something he wrote a year and a half ago. It’s almost like after that first rant, Ted Googled “Ted Johnson/Bill Belichick” looking for something negative, found that story, picked Jerry as his target, and just went off. Talking about not being a real journalist or something - is Ted calling Jaylen Brown before he rips him? Does he think every blog entry was written for a newspaper or something? So bizarre, especially for someone who was saying “calm down, it’s just sport talk” about his own takes.
Ted Johnson is lucky. Lucky he played for the best coach in NFL History, Bill Belichick. Lucky to be part of an all-time Pats team. And lucky he found the one radio guy, Mike Thomas, who loves him more than anyone else. Thomas plugged Ted into afternoon drive with Andy Hart and Nick ‘Fitzy’ Stevens. That show rated so poorly Andy and Nick were fired, while Ted stayed and was paired with Rich Shertenlieb and Ken Laird on the station’s current PM Drive Show, Rich, Ken & Ted. It’s not a good show.
He stayed because Thomas loves him. Multiple sources have told MutStack that over the last two years. Thomas has reportedly pushed Ted to tell more old Patriots stories on the show. And as WEEI was looking to build this latest afternoon ratings killer, Thomas made it clear to prospective hosts that Ted would remain and be part of the show.
Well, most of the time. He says he’s a full-time employee, but as best I can tell, he only works on air about 12-15 hours a week. Sometimes, he comes in an hour late after the show starts. Some days, he leaves an hour before it ends. For the last two years, he hasn't worked on Mondays during the football season because he does TV. Tough look not having the former Patriot on Patriot Monday. Maybe that will change this season.
Ted was a great Patriot, and an easy guy to root for in uniform. He’s not a good radio host. The ratings suggest that, as does the response to these rants, which have generated virtually zero support. Kirk mentioned on his show Thursday that Ted is texting people “all over the place,” shitting on his current co-host, Rich Shertenlieb. I will report that MutStack has heard the same thing. And I heard he had issues with Nick ‘Fitzy’ Stevens. So in addition to Barstool, he might not have much respect for his co-workers, either.
Bizarre, bizarre stuff from the former Patriot. Getting drummed in the ratings month after month and having no relevancy in Boston will do that. I’ve been there, Ted, I know.
Ted needs to just own his grudge against Belichick. Jerry blogged about this and his reaction yesterday. We’ll see if Ted and his show have their own follow-up today. Ted doesn’t work every Friday, so it might be tough.
Update: Ted was NOT in on Friday. Rich was also off. So, yeah.
Like I said, this is a complicated issue. MutStack might be the only one, but we’ll keep following this story as it unfolds.
Gueststack With Former WEEI Host Alex Reimer - ‘My WEEI Tweet Explained’
Last week I mentioned that Alex Reimer posted an interesting note about working at WEEI, and that if he wanted some space to explain in more detail, he had it here. He took me up on that offer and joins a select group of Gueststackers for MutStack. I had some great times on the air with Alex. He was also very nice to my mom when she and I ran into him one Sunday morning while we were doing the Jimmy Fund Walk. His words below.
I would like to begin my Gueststack with words that have never appeared on this page: Thank you, Mut. He has always provided me with the platform that I crave.
Despite leaving WEEI seven years ago, I remain fixated on the station. Working there was a defining experience of my early adulthood.
A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted that my run at ‘EEI destroyed my mental health. While that was a joke, there is truth behind every barb.
In my 33 years of life, I’ve learned that feeling aggrieved is often the first step towards self-destruction. And at WEEI, I was constantly angry. Working at the station was the culmination of my young life’s work.
That was the problem.
I was obsessed with sports talk radio growing up and listened to ‘EEI from morning until sign-off. For Christmas one year, my dad and I offered to send cookies to the station. (Our offer was declined.)
Through my adolescence, every move I made was geared towards working in Boston sports media. I started my own Red Sox podcast at 12 and bombarded the region’s sportswriters with emails until they would submit themselves to an interview. As a BU student, I rented a Zip Car and drove every Friday to Glenn’s house in Cohasset to co-host his internet show, “Big Show Unfiltered.”
When I first appeared with Kirk and Gerry, I felt euphoric. But those good vibes quickly subsided. At the time, I was just coming out of the closet and discovering myself as a gay man. After years of repression, the crazy twink inside of me was begging to explode.
The radio was a place where I could turn up my volume to the maximum level, and be rewarded for it. It was an intoxicating atmosphere: the kid who was picked last at recess could enrage an entire city with just a few screechy words.
The roller coaster of emotions was dizzying. One week, I felt like I was on the fast path to superstardom. Then the next, I was banned from the morning show for some odious act. Those stretches were cataclysmic.
There was zero separation between my radio life and my real life. Blending the two constantly got me into trouble.
To move forward with my life, I had to leave. It was time to leave that precious preteen behind.
Years later, my time at WEEI feels like the distant past. Yet, the station still elicits a strong reaction in me.
Last week, I was talking to a writer for a story on WEEI’s rise and fall. It didn’t take long for my heart to get thumping, my cadence increasing with each declaration.
Maybe one day I’ll channel my passion into a book. But for now, I’ll stick to the occasional pithy tweet.
Some of his tweets are pithy. Others are what I think are called thirst traps. I appreciate his honesty. You can follow his work and other exploits on X.com
On John Henry and his Red Sox…
BUY THE NEW MUTSTACK SHIRT!
On your weekly MutStack Notes…
⚾ The Red Sox salvaged the week in Toronto with a win on Thursday. We discussed it on Dirty Water - A Boston Sports Podcast late Thursday night. Hogdale, Ed Hand, and I picked through the series. Full credit to me for doing a podcast after a full day in the car with my kids, going from Virginia to Chelmsford. If I look tired, I was. Go watch and find out for yourself on YouTube. Then go listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
⚾ Yes, home from Virginia and the Cal Ripken World Series. The semifinals are Friday, so the Chelmsford 10U Lions will not be your 2026 Champs. As you might expect, the parents took it harder than the kids. They played their best - including a win over a Midwest All-Star team last Sunday.
I’ll be curious how much my son remembers of this trip in 10 years. In 20 years. My guess is he’ll remember the time at the pool, playing wiffle ball at the shitty hotel, and the full day at Funland much more than he will the actual tournament games. And at 10 years old, that’s a good thing.
I have some developing opinions on the corporate machine that is travel sports that I’m not ready to fully explore here. At least today. But I’m thrilled my son loves baseball and that he had a pretty rare experience this summer, playing for one of just two Regional Winners ever from our town and ending up alongside 27 other teams in the World Series. And selfishly, I’m glad I got to see a lot of it. And his grandparents got to see a lot of it. I think there were some core memories made along the way - ones that did not involve pulling some rare card in MLB The Show
I’m also glad the season is over. I could not take another night sharing a queen or double bed with one of my kids. And I’m thankful not to have to worry about the WiFi here in the MutStack basement.
Best thing I ate in Virginia was the slices from Benny Vitali’s in downtown Fredericksburgh. Strong MutStack recommendation. Nice area and downtown. Would go back. Just not anytime soon. And not at that shitbag hotel.
🍕 Shoutout to Coleman for his push on Esposito’s and their sesame seed crust when we made a brief stop at the Jersey Shore Thursday at lunch.
🏈 I did not watch much of Pats/Colts. Sounds like the TV broadcast had a lot of voices calling the game?
⚾ I’d be a lot more excited about the Red Sox playing in the Field of Dreams game next season if I were not so confident in a lockout and a lost 2027.
📻 “Last week, I was talking to a writer for a story on WEEI’s rise and fall” … interesting nugget from Alex there 👀
Over 3000 words. I’m tired. That feels like enough Stack for this week.
Back on Saturday to talk racing and Saratoga on the Barstool Blog.
Good luck with all your bets this weekend. Special thanks to Alex Reimer for the Gueststack this week. Thanks to everyone for reading. And watching.
I’m currently on vacation at the beach and nothing hits better than an ice cold beer looking out at the ocean while reading Mutstack.
The current afternoon show is unarguably the worst show in the history of WEEI. Feel bad for Ken. Should have done Ken and Curtis and added Mego and it would have been a good listen.