Friday Four-Pack 8.15.25

Belichick seems unlikely to ever gets a statue next to Brady. Rooting for/against Bill at UNC? I'm hosting a daily podcast. MutStack Notes and more!

The head is too small.
The torso is Mac Jones, not Tom Brady.
The hair … is that JFK’s haircut? Kenneth from 30 Rock?

So yeah, this in-person, zoomed-in shot makes it look better, no doubt. But Tom Brady’s most significant moments involved emotion, whereas the look on his face on his new bronze statue at Gillette Stadium lacks any emotion whatsoever.

As much as the head-to-body-size-ratio, that’s what annoys me the most, a week later, about the statue; there’s no emotion. Maybe it will win me over when I take my kids there for some of those pictures that live in your iPhone ‘Photos’ for years, and you just sort of forget about them. If you’re a parent, you have a lot of those.

I mean, it doesn’t stink, but it’s not awesome. Will it eventually live next to a statue of Bill Belichick?

I don’t think so.

Former Patriot Devin McCourty thinks that should happen, and said so on WEEI Thursday morning.

“Man, I sure hope so,” McCourty said, courtsey of WEEI.com. “I mean, again - I'm obviously biased. I think from playing there, and I think playing on defense, and some of the thought processes that went into some game plans, and even overall the team success that the Patriots had, you can't take away.

“And I know people are going to be like ‘post-Tom this, and pre-Tom [that].’ But what we were able to accomplish in my time there, and what those guys did before me, and obviously the time I get to spend with Rodney Harrison now [on Sunday Night Football], and him talking about his time with Bill and the consistency, or the same phrases and different things that we heard from a game plan standpoint, I think it would be ridiculous that you wouldn't put a statue up of him when that [time] comes.

"I don't know [when] - you kind of lean on ‘time heals’ whatever happened towards the end of everything between the Krafts and Coach Belichick. But I just think it makes a lot of sense for him to have a statue. Whether it's next to Tom, whether it's on another side of the stadium, whatever. I think that organization is built on, football wise, what those two men gave to the team year after year. And we're talking about two decades of excellence that, to me, deserves a statue.”

I don’t think either side is going to budge when it comes to mending the massive, broken fence that is the Kraft/Belichick relationship. And even if the Krafts did extend the olive branch, I believe BB would reject it.

🏈 They made Bill do that dumb handshake press conference when he left.
🏈 The Krafts clearly - based on Seth Wickersham’s excellent reporting - BURIED Bill to Arthur Blank and the Falcons, costing him the job there.
🏈 After first calling it a ‘mutual parting of ways,’ Kraft has gone on to call Belichick’s exit a ‘firing.’ Bill was forced to push back on that (and looked weak doing so) in the now infamous CBS Sunday Morning interview featuring Lady Belichick, Jordon Hudson.
🏈 Of course, Kraft put Jerod Mayo in a position to replace Belichick and probably rushed to elevate Mayo…just a terrible move from Kraft. One that I was okay with, for the record, so chalk one up for the #Mutisanidiot crowd.

Just last week, Kraft failed to mention Belichick in his almost 10-minute, rambling preamble to the Tom Brady statue reveal. I don’t get the sense Team Kraft is in any hurry to make things right with the former coach.

But at some point, they will be. Public pressure will mount to honor the former coach the way they honored the former quarterback. If Bill stands his ground and says “Thanks but no thanks” to a public repairing of their relationship and statue proposal, he can make the Krafts look bad. And in this Kraft/Belichick Petty War, that might be a final victory for Bill.

We’ll get a good clue as to where this all stands a month from now, September 20, when the team inducts Bill Parcells into the Patriots Hall of Fame. North Carolina plays that day, so I don’t think Belichick will be there. But, if there’s any hope for a reconciliation, Bill will say some kind words about his mentor by video, right? The Two Bills patched things up a few years ago and seem to be on solid footing.

A video message would be a sign that I’m an idiot, and of course, Kraft and BB will kiss and make up down the road. Nothing from Belichick on Parcells Day? Bad sign for any BB Statue.

The longtime HC of the NEP deserves one. But by not making amends with the Krafts and agreeing to get the statue treatment, he can make them look pretty bad in the process.

And as much as he’d like a fancy statue, sticking it to the Krafts one last time might be worth not being Brady’s bronze neighbor.

Meanwhile, I’m hosting a daily podcast. The Little League puts sports betting on blast. One more Belichick thought. And a loaded MutStack notes.

All ahead in this week’s Four-Pack.

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On rooting for or against Bill Belichick at UNC…

I promise, this photo of Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson is relevant to the discussion. Sort of. Turns out Bill might have learned a thing or two from his younger girlfriend.

“It’s (yoga) part of the recovery process,” Belichick said Wednesday. “We do a lot of things for recovery, obviously food, nutrition, hydration, sleep, treatment, soft-tissue massage, contrast tubs, yoga, foam rollers, stretching, those kind of things. … Some guys use some more than others depending on what they’re trying to accomplish. It’s a comprehensive program, not just based on one thing. But the yoga sessions are part of it.”

Good for Belichick to incorporate some more modern training techniques for his players in 2025. Yoga is in, radio shows are out this season at UNC.

North Carolina announced Thursday that Belichick will be on the first episode of the Tar Heels’ weekly radio show on Aug. 27 at Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery, but general manager Michael Lombardi will be the show’s headliner each week. Previously called “Mack Brown Live,” it will now be called “Carolina Football Live.”

Bill collects a reported $9 million from the University of North Carolina under the ‘supplemental income’ section of his contract, but he’s not obligated to do a weekly radio show. Nice work by Bill’s agent.

Belichick came up as a topic on Thursday’s Kirk Minihane Show. I didn’t phrase it as clearly as I could have, but I’m most interested in seeing how Bill responds to the mistakes that college kids make in 2025. I’m fascinated by how he coaches them at this stage of his career.

Bill is much more Bobby Knight than Pete Carroll. In the age of the never-ending transfer portal, can he afford to be putting his guys on blast on national television?

“Treat each other like family and have fun. That’s with an aim toward retention.”

“If it’s a player’s birthday or he’s having surgery for any reason, he’s getting a text or call from every member of the coaching staff.”

Those are some of the comments coaches had about how they’re coaching in this transfer portal era. Are Bill and his staff sending birthday text messages?

Belichick being the best coach of this era will help attract top talent. But he was notoriously very hard on his NFL players, particularly in meetings; can he still be that coach on a college campus in 2025?

I rooted for Tom Brady when he left the Patriots because the team, including Belichick, did him wrong. I watched him in Tampa and hoped he would win to stick it to the Pats. I don’t feel the same about Belichick. The Krafts did him dirty, but it was time to move on…just not to Mayo. But it’s not like I’m rooting against him the way I rooted against Parcells when he went to the Jets.

If UNC wins, they’ll be a big deal, and Belichick will be in the spotlight. It’s interesting, but maybe more interesting to see how he might handle losing at the college level?

I can’t root for him to lose. I guess I’ll be watching the games because of Belichick, because the story of him on a college sideline is interesting. I won’t be watching and rooting for UNC to win; more to see how it all plays out. And to see if Lady Belichick becomes a story again.

Watching and not rooting for wins. But also not actively rooting against. But watching.

That might be a terrible answer, but it’s the truth. I’ll be locked in on Labor Day when UNC takes on TCU. I just won’t be rooting.

Rooting for or against Bill Belichick? Hit up the comments and let the people know.

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On hosting the Locked On UConn Podcast…

In 2014, a Rockland, MA high school student named Cam Stuart took Jenny Dell, a NESN personality and, based on my interactions with her, a very nice person, to his junior prom. He launched a Twitter campaign to get the future Mrs. Will Middlebrooks to attend. She said yes, and he was an absolute hero to his classmates. Just look at the happy couple!

I hope Cam burned those sunglasses.

Cam became a local celebrity and, as such, made the media rounds…which of course meant appearing on WEEI’s wildly popular midday show Mut and Merloni.

Fast forward 11 years, and Cam, who had to remind me of this decade-old connection this week, jumped into my DMs about an opening to host a daily UConn podcast on the Locked On Network. As a Kirk Minihane Show listener, he heard I was interested in the UConn PA job (I didn’t get it) and wanted to let me know about the opening.

A few months later, here we are.

On Labor Day Monday, September 1 (tentatively), I’ll begin hosting the Locked On UConn Podcast. It will be a daily podcast in both audio and video form. Some shows will be just me. Other shows with guests. There’ll be additional live shows, likely after games, as a postgame show on YouTube.

It will be all UConn, all the time.

I fell in love with UConn and Storrs on my first visit there. That love was cemented when I was gifted tickets to UConn/Syracuse at Gampel Pavilion—it was never better than old Big East battling on campus.

The following December, as a freshman, I slept outside Gampel in a yellow tent for about a week, leading into UConn/Michigan State. That’s when the student section was first-come, first-served. It was raining “Izzo Sucks” chants, and I was giddy to be a part of it.

I was at the Carrier Dome in 2002, when Steve Blake and Lonny Baxter helped push Maryland past a Caron Butler-led Husky team I was sure would win an NCAA Championship.

I was there in San Antonio when UConn pulled off an utterly miraculous late-game comeback to beat Duke in the Final Four in 2004, before beating Georgia Tech that Monday night for another National Title. I think the UConn/Duke game is the best live sporting event I’ve ever been to, given the result.

Twenty years later, and UConn is one of the most important programs in college sports.

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are elite. The football program is coming off a Bowl win and is gaining national relevance, even as an Independent. The baseball program sends players into the MLB pipeline every year. The hockey team is competitive in a loaded Hockey East. All of this success is powered by one of the most rabid fan bases in all of college sports.

Simply put, there has never been a better time to talk UConn.

And that’s what I’ll be doing, every day Monday through Friday, starting in September. If you’re a UConn fan, I hope you’ll subscribe, and Locked On UConn becomes something you look forward to daily.

But know that this newsletter will not turn into HuskyStack. I have too many media, Boston sports, and horse racing takes to keep firing off every week. Nothing changes here, and that includes numerous typos and spelling mistakes each week.

I loved my time in Storrs. Spent many nights at Ted’s and Huskies. Met my wife there. Took some really goofy engagement photos on Horsebarn Hill. I think I even got into a large tree on campus for one of the photos. Do people still do engagement photos?

I’m rambling. More UConn, less engagement photo talk. September 1. Go Huskies. Can’t wait.

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On betting on the Little League World Series…

At MutStack.com, we agree

First off - obviously. This newsletter and its publisher (me) are very much against betting on Little League games.

Second, a couple of thoughts on this Thursday afternoon post from the official Little League X.com account, which as of Friday morning had TWO POINT TWO MILLION impressions/views.

1. There are no legal sports books based here in the United States that offer betting on the Little League World Series. If this post was an attempt to shame legal sports betting in the United States, it’s a big miss. If a legal book in the US tried to offer betting on the LLWS, they’d face a wrath of shit from state and national gaming regulators. And rightfully so.

2. You can bet on the Little League World Series at at least one offshore book that is non-licensed or regulated by any US state or federal authority. I won’t link or promote it, but the option does exist.
   
   If the goal of this post by the Little League was to push for a crackdown on those offshore sites offering bets on 12-year-olds playing baseball, I’m all for it. It should not be an option; if the government can make those lines unavailable to everyone, it should do so.

Again, not sure what the motivation was to post this, but it’s a good reminder that we need legal, regulated sports books here in the United States. Without them, we’d all be betting on the offshore/unlicensed sites, with no regulations.

Because if you closed the doors at DraftKings and FanDuel and BetMGM and all the rest of the legal sportsbooks tomorrow, bettors would be flocking to those illegal sites. Or a local bookie. People will find a way to get their action down. It’s much better to have them do it in a regulated market, where you can make sure you can’t legally bet on the Little League World Series.

Also, again, please don’t bet on Little League games. Seriously.

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On your MutStack Notes…

📬Next week. Let’s run it back after some good questions last time. MutStack Mailbag. Travers Week Friday Four-Pack. Lots to discuss.

Subscribers can easily message their questions with the blue button above. Not a subscriber?

It’s that easy.

🎙️ The Persons 12+ July radio ratings in Boston continued a downward trend for 98.5 The Sports Hub, slipping from 4.6 to 4.0 to 3.8 in May-June-July. WEEI was also down, 4.9 to 4.4, from June to July, which is surprising given the strong play of the Red Sox. That’s a pretty bad sign for the station.

Those 12+ numbers did not matter in the sports radio power demo of Men 25-54, where The Sports Hub had a massive month, coming in #1 overall and #1 in AM, MID, and PM Drive. WEEI was 8th overall, while coming in 5th, 5th, and 14th in AM/MID/PM Drive. Any momentum WEEI seemed to have appears to have evaporated, and I remain convinced they’ll make programming changes before Labor Day.

🎙️ Boston’s Classic Rock 100.7 WZLX, almost a year free from the Rich Shertenlieb Experience, finished #1 with Persons 12+, the first time they’ve been in that spot since August of 2020.

🎙️It was a tough week for WEEI. Andy Hart told Jared Carrabis he should have used Google, Grok, or ChatGPT to “look him up” after Carrabis admitted to not knowing who the host was—and sounding like he was serious about it. It’s a rough watch and, I think, the cringiest video I’ve seen in 2025.

In AM drive, Chris Curtis would have been better suited to lead the show with Greg Hill on vacation. Courtney Cox seems like a lovely person, but her constant references to the negative things people are saying about her and the show on social media, text, or YouTube chat, bog everything down. She seems very bothered by it.

❓ With the Barstool Beach House/Jack Coleman Buzz, Taylor Swift/Kelce Bros Podcast, Internet Invitational … like, how was there no Barstool Unnamed Show on Thursday?

🏇🏻 This was not good.

Monday at Finger Lakes, Race 5, the even-money favorite lost his jockey at the start of the race. Paul Matties is one of the sharpest players in the modern handicapping era. He pointed out on X.com that the odds on every exacta probable with the horse that lost the jock went up with the final flash of the odds. The horse went from even money to 2-1 in that same flash. More damning was the fact that $2,590 was bet to show in the cycles after the jock fell off. The total amount bet on the #10 - again the favorite with a fallen jock- was just $10 in those final cycles.

It appears that bettors were able to place bets after the race started or cancel bets already made. At least that’s how I read the situation. Either way, this isn’t good. Is there a group of bettors who are getting in bets AFTER a race starts? Is this common? What’s worse is that, as best I can tell, there is no investigation or explanation as to what happened here. How is that possible? #shutupandbet

🏇🏻 At 5-2, I will be making a large win bet on #6 La Cara in the Alabama on Saturday at Saratoga. Go right to the front, Dylan Davis.

🚲 I’m glad he’s okay, but can you imagine how many hours Mike Felger would have talked about a Boston athlete who suffered a scary neck injury while riding a bike at night in Nantucket??? It sounds like the accident changed his view on life and the important things. This is worth following up on in a future newsletter. But glad that he’s okay and avoided a serious injury.

And with that, I believe we have said it all.

Great Alabama card tomorrow and a great Travers card looms next week. We’ll have full Travers coverage next Friday and Saturday here, and Saratoga thoughts live from The Spa starting Wednesday on X and IG.

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