Friday Four-Pack 8.29.25
The Red Sox are surging. The Patriots have a new uniform. Lady Belichick is back. A special horse racing guest. HUGE MutStack Notes.
A company owned by North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick and managed by his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, has filed to trademark the term "Gold Digger," with the intention to use the mark on jewelry and key chains.
Since at least June 2024, Belichick, 73, has been dating Hudson, a 24-year-old former cheerleader, who has been accused by some as being a "gold digger," a term that refers to someone who enters into a relationship mainly for financial reasons.
Now, it seems, Belichick and Hudson want to capitalize on the criticism.
The company that filed the trademark, TCE Rights Management LLC, under Hudson's direction filed 17 trademark applications in a week earlier in 2025, including "Chapel Bill," "Belestrator," "Trail of Salty Tears," "No Days Off" and "The Belichick Way," among others.
Sigh.
The New York Times reports that the total number of trademarks applied for by Jordon Hudson—though a company owned by Bill Belichick but managed by the 24-year-old PR maven (he said sarcastically)—is 21. Some of the trademarks appear to be ways to capitalize on her boyfriend (fiancé?) and his likeness. Or prevent others from doing so. Is it cringy? Sure. But in some ways, I get why you might want to protect “Chapel Bill,” even if there’s no chance Hudson actually came up with that moniker on her own.
Some of the trademarks (“Trail of Salty Tears” … “Peachy Keen and Wonderful”), well, they just seem dumb. But I’m a dinosaur, maybe they’re super cool.
In the case of attempting to trademark the phrase “Gold Digger,” so that you can own the exclusive rights to the phrase on jewelry and key chains?
Gross.
Hudson’s relationship with Belichick helped her get on the field for the UNC Football Spring game. She was included on UNC football emails and gave direction to the media relations team on how to present Bill’s son, UNC coach Stephen Belichick. She posted a video of Bill doing AcroYoga on the beach via her own Instagram page, and I get the sense that Bill didn’t have any idea how viral it went.
Now, in an attempt to prove that people calling her a “Gold Digger” doesn’t bother her, she’s trying to cash in on the phrase, again via her more senior and more famous beau.
Who would want to buy that jewelry? I get that there are fans of Bill Belichick in North Carolina - maybe even New England - that might plunk down $25 for a Chapel Bill shirt, in support of the greatest coach of this era. But are there actually Jordon Hudson fans who would want to buy jewelry that supports her and the way she’s handled this relationship publicly?
Because maybe, maybe, she’s a lovely person. Belichick called her his “idea mill and creative muse” in the acknowledgments for his book, The Art of Winning. It’s just…the person we’ve seen through social media and detailed reporting and those UNC emails and CBS Sunday Morning…yeah, she does not come across as someone that you’d want to tell people you’re a fan of by rocking her Gold Digger brand key chain.
It will be interesting to see how she reacts if Bill’s Tar Heels get out to a slow start and the HC of UNC takes an avalanche of crap from the media. I’d make the line +150 we get a Gisele-like “My husband cannot throw the ball and catch the ball,” moment if that happens. If he wins, it’s -10000 she spikes the football on the HATERZ, of which, I’m sure in her mind, there are many.
“Hey Bill, I’m going to try and trademark the term Gold Digger so I can use it on jewelry. Is that okay with you?” Does Bill have any idea? I would have loved to see the reaction from Bill’s friends and family when this story broke on Thursday. All the 🙄🙄🙄.
Overall, it’s been a quiet few months for the Belichicks. Jordon has stayed out of the spotlight, for the most part, as Bill has prepared his team for the college football season. He’ll be back in the spotlight on Labor Day Monday in primetime, 8 PM on ABC, as his Tar Heels face TCU.
I know many people will be rooting for Bill. I’m not sure there’ll be many people rooting for Jordon and her potential new jewelry line.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox are surging. The Patriots have new uniforms, and I’m a fan. We talk about a huge horse racing weekend with a special guest. Plus the biggest MutStack Notes section EVER.
All ahead in this week’s Four-Pack.
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On the surging Boston Red Sox…
7-1 road trip through the AL East
Just 3.5 games back in the division
Now 2.5 games ahead for the top Wild Card spot and the #4 seed in the AL
An even 15 games over .500 for the first time since 2021
Paul Skenes at Fenway on Friday Night, and the place will be rocking.
Sox are streaking—a few thoughts on a Boston team now -4500 (FanDuel) to make the playoffs.
⚾ I was wrong about a lot of things with the Red Sox team and their trajectory post All-Star break. Specifically, the starting pitching behind Garrett Crochet. I expected Bello, Giolito, and May to all crap the bed. That would put added pressure on the bullpen to hold things together - they’d crumble - and the team would struggle because of it.
Hasn’t happened. Manager Alex Cora said this week that both Bello and Giolito would be full-go the rest of the way - no sign of load management. We’ll see if they hold up, but so far, so good.
⚾ Rather than try to piece it together with a second bullpen game in five days, the Sox are calling up top pitching prospect Payton Tolle to face Skenes and the Pirates Friday night at Fenway.
Baseball Reference says Tolle is just 22 years old, but he looks like he’s 40. And he looks like my plumber.
⚾ It probably would not be Tolle if Craig Breslow had been more aggressive in getting another real starting pitcher at the trade deadline. As good as the Sox’ run has been, you’re still allowed to second-guess how late they were in really trying to land Joe Ryan from the Twins. It would be really annoying if they fall short this year due to pitching and then miss out on Ryan in the offseason.
⚾ I was also comically wrong about Aroldis Chapman. At 37 and coming off a 2024 season where he registered the second-highest ERA of his career, I pegged him as a player the team would likely trade at the deadline. Turns out he’s the most dominant Sox closer since 2017 Craig Kimbrel. At times, he gives off 2013 Koji vibes, as in, the other team has no chance of hitting him.
⚾ Only Alex Cora believed Trevor Story still had this type of season in him, and the manager’s faith has paid off, big time.
⚾ Cora and his staff have had a good year and have pushed a lot of the right buttons.
⚾ I’m a big Dave O’Brien guy. If you’re still clutching to your Don Orsillo doll at night, grow up. But I wish Dave and Lou would laugh a little bit more. Having spent a few years with Dave in the radio booth, I got to see his sense of humor up close. Wish we saw more of it on NESN.
⚾ On the radio side, Will Middlebrooks is much better than I expected.
⚾ Even if they don’t win the AL East, the #4 seed means the Sox would host all three games of a best-of-three Wild Card Round at Fenway Park.
⚾ Grok tells me this photo that popped up on X.com this week of John Henry watching Felger and Mazz on his yacht is, in fact, real. The story came from a Reddit post that has since been deleted, but I 100% believe the owner watches his buddy Mazz on TV. He won’t talk to the media, but he’ll watch and listen to them.
Henry and Sam Kennedy remain unlikable, but their very likable team on the field is barreling towards a playoff spot and a potential run to an AL Pennant.
On the Pacific Classic and a big horse racing weekend…
It’s been too long.
The Pride of Western Massachusetts and FanDuel TV handicapper Matt Bernier joins me this week for a racing deep-dive as part of this Labor Day Weekend Four-Pack. Topics include -
🏇🏻 The development of Derby/Belmont/Travers winner Sovereignty.
🏇🏻 Fierceness vs. Nysos vs. Journalism in the Pacific Classic & how to bet it.
🏇🏻 Mindframe vs. Sierra Leone vs. a deep field in Sunday’s Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga. Matt is eyeing an upset here.
🏇🏻 A Patriots bet at a colossal price Matt made back in March.
Matt is one of the sharpest handicappers in the business, and it was a blast to sit and chop it up for 30 minutes. If you’re a racing fan, I think you’ll really enjoy. And if you’re a football fan, it’s worth skipping ahead to the 25:40 mark to hear Matt’s Pats bet, of which I wish I had a piece.
On the new Patriots ‘Rivalry’ Uniforms…
I took some crap on The Kirk Minihane Show on Wednesday, when I dared to say I thought Travis Kelce was good in his role as a waiter in Happy Gilmore 2.
Look, the movie was…whatever. But Kelce did a good job in his small role as a waiter and interacting with all the PGA guys. And maybe this will garner the same eyeroll that my Kelce take did, but I like the Pats’ Rivalry uniforms.
The team will wear these in Week 11 again at the Jets. I like the color - apparently storm blue. I like the 3D ‘NE’ patch on the shoulder. I like the simplicity of the white helmet. Wish it was the old Pat Patriot and not the Flying Elvis logo, I’ll admit.
Sports Illustrated ranked them 8th out of the eight rivalry uniforms released yesterday, but both the Jets and the Seahawks editions are hideous. The Bills’ unis are 🔥🔥.
“I think they’re maybe coming out with a –- maybe, the fans are kind of wanting some blues, or some throwback blues,” Maye said “That would be sweet. The fans are wanting it, so I think it’d be pretty sick.”
When Drake Maye said this back in March, I thought we were definitely getting these bad boys.
Glorious. The team should wear these once a year. The numbers on these rivalry jerseys are intended as a homage to these 1990s Royal Blues. I’ll have to see it up close.
For what they are, the team and the NFL did a good job on this new Patriots look.
We’ll go on record with a season prediction for New England next week.
On your MutStack Notes…
🏇🏻 Was fortunate to hang out with the Barstool Crew Saturday at Saratoga for Travers Day. Awesome setup, just outside the paddock area. My pick for Race 8 on the show, 23-1 Roagna, had the widest trip possible from post 13. From DRF, “4-3w 1st turn, 6w backstretch, coaxed 3w 5/16, 6w upper, wknd.” I thought she would be much closer with blinkers, and I could not have been more wrong. Just a ‘no shot’ trip…but add that horse to your watch list for Belmont at Aqueduct.
Barstool had a HUGE crowd around them all day at Saratoga. Walking around the track before the gates opened Saturday, three of the first four people I saw near the Nelson Ave entrance were wearing Barstool racing or Barstool Saratoga gear. That theme continued on track, with dozens of people wearing Barstool hats or shirts. Their six-hour stream had thousands of viewers on Saturday and certainly brought new eyeballs to the sport
I’ve said it for years, Barstool is good for racing. And when Dave Portnoy’s Go Go Grey Stables horses start running, you’ll see Barstool fans supporting those runners on track.
🏇🏻 The Minifans who showed up to support me at Saratoga and bully Dave into putting me on the show - huge thank you. I don’t know if #MutSluts (family-friendly) will take off, but you guys were awesome.
🗣️ Busy, busy media week nationally. Ryen Russillo is leaving Bill Simmons and The Ringer. The Bussin with the Boys crew, formerly at Barstool but now with Fan Duel, is teaming up with ESPN. John Fanta, the future (current?) face of college basketball, is leaving Fox for NBC to become the lead Big East college basketball play-by-play announcer. Shoutout, UConn.
The Russillo move feels like the biggest of the three, with Barstool and Portnoy backing him financially through the launch of his own production company, and Russillo likely joining the Barstool mix. I do not consume any Ringer content, but it feels like a pretty significant loss for Simmons and Co. If his options were similar and it came down to The Ringer vs. Barstool, the former 1510 The Zone host made the right call.
💰 While not as big a story as those three, I was personally thrilled to see that Nick Kostos has signed an extension to stay with Audacy and continue to host You Better, You Bet. In my opinion, no one is better in sports betting media at hosting a show that provides actionable information for making good bets while also being entertaining. It’s a tricky thing to do in that space, and Nick consistently makes it look and sound easy. His WFAN football show on Sunday mornings is also excellent, and I find myself seeking it out for good prop bets I missed. If a network NFL pregame show were smart, it’d hire him to do a weekly betting segment leading into the 1 PM games.
❓ We’re getting the announcement on the new Kirk Minihane Show producer sometime next week. Last year, at about this same time in the Four-Pack, I welcomed back Dave Cullinane as he returned to the producer's chair for Kirk. Thought P.R.C. Coleman would be a good fit. Or Handsome Johnny. But it does feel like I’ll be welcoming back Dave, again, here in this space next week.
🎙️ I am stunned not to be writing about changes at WEEI in this week’s Four-Pack. While nothing concrete, I heard enough whispers to believe there would be personal moves heading into the football season. After the July beatdown at the hands of the Hub, I expected a response. As of Friday morning, no moves from WEEI.
There is this - indications are that Ted Johnson is rejoining Phil Perry for their Monday football show on NBC Sports Boston. That show is scheduled to tape on Monday afternoons, meaning the guy WEEI Market Manager Mike Thomas picked to be his ‘star’ in afternoon drive, won’t be interviewing Drake Maye during the station’s Patriots Monday programming—tough scene. I believed the goal was to free up the money to make Part-Time Ted a full-time member of WEEI Afternoons. We’ll see if that ever comes to fruition.
⛳ I get why he didn’t, but Keegan Bradley should have picked himself for the Ryder Cup Team. He had a much better year than Colin Morikawa, who didn’t win on tour this year and had more missed cuts than Top 5s. If Morikawa duds at Bethpage, Bradley should get some heat for picking him over…well, himself. Or even Chris Gotterup, who had a strong year.
🏇🏻 Kentucky Downs had a record handle in 2023. Then they raised the takeout on all their bets in 2024, blaming the higher costs of HISA. This year, they’re allowing the Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) groups to bet in every pool, while receiving a better takeout than regular players, plus tote advantages, and plus rebates. I will not be betting one dime on their races this year, and if you do, you’re not allowed to complain when you get a much worse price than you expected, even if you do win.
🎙️ With the UConn Huskies football team set to kick off the season Saturday at the Rent against Central, the plan is to kick off my hosting role of the Locked On UConn Podcast starting on Labor Day Monday. It will be a daily podcast, Monday through Friday, primarily focused on UConn football and basketball, with an emphasis on basketball when the preseason begins in October.
A daily audio podcast, as well as a YouTube version, will be available Monday through Friday, along with bonus shows and live post-game shows, which will be on YouTube.
If you’re a UConn fan, I hope you’ll subscribe and share the link with other UConn fans looking for daily coverage of the team. You can subscribe to the Locked on UConn YouTube feed here -
For the audio version, just search Locked on UConn wherever you listen to your podcasts. I’ll be at The Rent on Saturday and can’t wait to get going next week.
And with that, we have indeed said it all.
Good luck with all your college football and racing bets this weekend. Back next week with Week 1 MutStack NFL Picks. It feels good to type that.
Have a great Labor Day weekend. And thanks for reading. And watching.
Thank you for acknowledging the #MutSluts. Another great Stack as always.
Payton Tolle must have made a shitload of money buying beer for classmates in high school. Have a great weekend Mut! I’ll be locked on Monday morning!