A Note from MutStack Owner Dave Portnoy
In honor of 9/11 all Mut fans should buy a Tunnel To Towers hat or tee shirt.
100% of the proceeds go to Tunnel To Towers and I’ll match 100% of the proceeds.
Awesome gesture from My Boss Dave on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11.
Tunnel To Towers honors military veterans and first responders. The name comes from Stephen Siller, an off-duty New York City firefighter (FDNY) who died on September 11, 2001. When the attacks began, he strapped on 60 pounds of gear and ran through the blocked Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel (now the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel) to reach the Twin Towers and help save others.
Powerful stuff and a great organization. You can (and should) buy a shirt or hat to support them here and learn more about their work here. #neverforget
It was a very good Season Five of Surviving Barstool. Spoilers below.
Sure, I was the ref, and I’m probably biased here. But a very enjoyable watch.
But one of the biggest complaints I hear and read (besides people wanting more of the ref in green) is that the pre-show alliances are too impactful. But that’s why the show is different than Survivor. These are co-workers who can reach out and work together before the show, and they do.
Let me break some news for you now - there are already people at Barstool talking to each other about potential alliances for Season 6. Fact.
And because all these players have to work with each other AFTER the production, we get the drama of Tommy vs. all his friends. Dana vs. Kelly. Rear Admiral vs. Jeff D. Lowe. I think all of this adds to the game - it would be a lot more boring if this wasn't allowed.
The idols thing? I get it. But when Dana won four competitions in a row, it sort of changed the game.
I reached out to The Commissioner, Jeff D. Lowe, about potential rule changes for 2026. He responded exclusively to MutStack.com.
“Everything will be on the table IF it happens again. Obviously, for this last season specifically, I’ve gone on shows/social and said that if we could have one thing back, it would be to put time limits on the idols.”
In the end, Rone was a deserving winner. I’m a novice at Survivor gameplay, but Rone showed up in a tribe with no allies after the merge and made it to the Final 3. I would have voted for him. And yes, my vote would have been swayed by the fact that he was apparently the only person in the finals who did not try to reach out to the jury and sway their vote. I don’t know if Jeff can stop that in the future, but the jury house shouldn't be allowed to communicate with players still in the game.
As far as my role in the season finale, I wish I had offered to eat one of the worms before the competition. That would have been good TV. Damnit. My goal was to stay out of the way and do what Jeff told me to. Best idea for content? Probably not. I could have been more demonstrative with goals and scoring plays. But I took the role seriously and wanted to be locked in for every challenge. My co-workers were playing for $250k, and I didn’t want to fuck it up. It helped that I’m not really friends with anyone on the cast, and I don’t have to work in the Chicago office.
If asked, I would ref again. If he doesn’t play, Tate would be a good choice if they wanted to switch it up. Tate was born to be a TV referee.
Fun show. I’m sure it will be back for Season 6. I speak for everyone when I say I hope Kirk plays. He’s threatened to spoil it if it doesn’t. He should play. Very fun show to be a small part of. Thanks to Jeff and the whole team. Glenny did step off the platform.
And I wish I ate a worm.
Meanwhile, Drake Maye sucked. The Boston Globe rips Red Sox radio voice, Will Flemming. NFL Picks are back - plus a LOADED Notes section.
All ahead in Friday Four-Pack #188
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. Hit the blue button. Go for it.
On the Maye Report and the Pats’ loss in Seattle…
1%. Just 1%.
On Chad Finn’s Criticism of Red Sox Voice Will Flemming…
While the heat was cranked to 11 on Red Sox Radio voice Will Flemming for his anti-Jazz Chisholm rant and subsequent unnecessary apology, The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn wrote a scathing piece on Flemming last week. Well, to be fair, it was days after the peak of the Flemming story. But Finn pushed ahead with the oddly timed column anyway.
It would have made sense if he went all in on Flemming for his Yankee comments, but that was NOT the focus of the column. No, Chad ripped Will for the way he does a broadcast. “Way too often, the broadcast sounds like it could be called the World of Will Flemming Podcast,” Finn wrote.
A couple of things.
As a radio listener, this is actually what I want. I don’t want stats. Or league leaders. Or standings. I want opinions. I want to be entertained if the game is not entertaining itself. Chad makes a clear reference to Kirk and Callahan, saying Femming’s approach is “the realization of the opinionated sports-radio-show approach to a game broadcast that the then-WEEI morning show hosts pushed for several years ago.” That was Kirk and Gerry. And they were right. I have spent hundreds of hours in the Red Sox radio booth, and the constant reliance on stats vs. entertainment was frustrating. I feel the same way as a listener now. And I listen to a lot of games on the radio
Chad goes after Will for a common phrase of his, “That just can’t happen!’’ when a Red Sox player screws up. I’m thankful that Will (and Dave O’Brien before him on the radio) were willing to be critical of a player or a bad play. Sean McDonough, same thing.
“But the biggest recurring gripe I’ve heard from fans is that Flemming doesn’t always tell you what is happening, but what he anticipates will happen, which leads to misjudgments.” Chad (and others) are not wrong here. Will can get overly excited, like a dog about to be taken on his walk, during some important plays. Fair. I’d also point out that sometimes Will speaks as he played, vs. letting Will Middlebrooks or Lenny DiNardo do the talking from that perspective.
RE: the timing. Choosing now to go after Flemming was interesting, given that he claims that “(his) inbox has been peppered with listener gripes (RE: Flemming) going back to April.”
Big picture, I’m 100% okay with my radio broadcast being more opinion and conversation vs. stats and player bios. Nope, I don't care about the 5th note on a player’s history in the media guide. I’d rather hear about Will’s kids or what he had for lunch vs. what college Sam Antonacci attended.
Sounds like Chad disagrees. And his readers do, too. He picked a hell of a time to write about it, that’s for sure.
On your Week 1 Four-Pack of NFL Picks….
2023 Results - Good
2024 Results - Pretty good
2025 Results: Bad
2026 Record: 0-0
And we’re back! After a couple of solid years of picks here at MutStack, 2025 was not good. I’m adjusting my process for 2026, and I’m hopeful the results will follow. It will be hard for them to be worse.
Odds listed are current at DraftKings as of Friday morning. Make sure to check for updated odds. One side, one total, one prop, and one ATD scorer.
The Side
COLTS +3.5 VS RAVENS (-115)
I was not a big believer in Indy last year, but I love this spot as a home dog to start the season. Ravens have a whole new coaching staff and offensive play-calling unit. Declan Doyle has never called plays before in the NFL, and I’m betting he gets off to a slow start. Historically, Colts are 10-2 ATS against the Ravens over the last two decades. Daniel Jones is healthy (for now) and is 12-6 ATS indoors. 17-7 ATS under Shane Steichen in September, the Colts are prepared early, and I’ll gladly take the points here.
The Total
PACKERS AT VIKINGS UNDER 46.5 (-115)
Kyler Murray stinks. The Packers have a good defense. Matt LaFleur’s team always plays slow, and I doubt that changes with Josh Jacobs not available. Add in a blitzing Brian Flores defense? Folks, we love UNDERS Week 1 in the NFL, especially with teams not playing their starters in the preseason. Unders 12-4 last year in Week 1 and so far, 2-0 to start 2026. Plus, this is a Divisional Game, and we love those unders, too. UNDER!
The Prop
Devaughn Vele OVER 3.5 REC (+100)
Should play a ton with Tyson OUT. His yards prop might be in play, too.
The ATD (Anytime TD)
Cade Otton (+340)
Bengals AWFUL vs. TEs last year. No Mike Evans in the RedZone.
On your weekly MutStack Notes…
🏈 The result was terrible and Drake Maye was bad, but thanks to Hogdale for letting me (and Jerry) share his stream stage Wednesday Night at GameOn! The crowd was electric; Hogdale’s fan club was out in full force. I got to meet Barstool legend, Uncle Buck. Just painful to have Maye vomit all over himself. But I had a blast. Thanks to Steve from Barstool for setting up and running the stream.
🏈 Hope to see some friendly faces tonight at The Brook in Seabrook, NH. The Brook has done a great job with these live events with New England Sports Legends, and it’s fun to be a small part of them. Doors will open a little before 7 PM, and there will be a line - if you want a front-row seat, you’ll want to get there a little earlier.
🎙️ Part 1. I can only imagine what the Boston sports radio listeners thought when they tuned into Rich, Ken and Ted on WEEI Wednesday afternoon and heard Red Sox talk in the first segment. It has to be the only show in America that wouldn't start with the local NFL team’s opener just a few hours away. Wild stuff.
🎙️ Part 2. I can only imagine what the Boston sports radio listeners thought when they tuned into Rich, Ken and Ted on WEEI Thursday afternoon and heard Bruins captaincy talk before 5 PM, the day after Drake Maye looked so bad in a Pats loss.
🏀 Adam Schefter breaking UConn recruiting news shows the program's importance and the status of the best college coach in the country, Dan Hurley.
🏈 Lafayette probably stinks, but UConn disposed of them easily last week. A much bigger test against Maryland tomorrow afternoon, but I’m all in on Jason Candle and this program, and I’ll be Locked In (On) to CBS Sports Network Saturday at 3:30. Flag football season opens tomorrow night, and we have a title to defend, but I'll be watching from home.
⚾ No Red Sox video this week because these games feel pretty meaningless. Getting healthy is important, and if the Sox are going to beat the Yankees in the Wild Card, these things need to happen.
🍕 My Boss Dave reviewed a local pizza place in Billerica, Big Al’s, a few weeks back. We’re a Joanie’s/Silver Palate family and embarrassed to say I had never been. We finally did takeout Thursday, and while I was shocked he gave it a 9.1, I totally get it. Sauce is good and the crust is excellent. Even after a quick reheat, it has a crunch you can hear - and it’s light. As a Chelmsford guy, I will not say it’s better than Joanie’s, but it’s very good. Chocolate chip cookie: A++ get one 👀
That feels like enough Stack for this week. See you Friday night at The Brook.
Good luck with all your NFL Week 1 bets. Go Huskies.
Thanks for reading. And watching.
You did a fine job as ref. Only were mentioned twice ( A good call on Dana ) and Hefty Lowe being afraid to catch the case he demanded you throw to him.