As we embark upon one of the great sports weekends of the year (especially when it involves our beloved P-A-T-S) I wanted to pay some homage to some fellow Boston blogger homies. I have done this “blog” thing for close to a decade. I’ve made no $ from it, yet I compiled enough stuff to throw together a wildly unsuccessful book (I literally threw it together – didn’t even use spell check or punctuation) a few years back. My wife is baffled by why I continue to do “this” and my answer is always the same; ‘I love it’. I love to type out my thoughts, opinions and convictions. Moreso, I love to (hopefully) get laugh out of people from time to time.
I was first intrigued by the art of the blog by my fellow Holy Cross alum and ‘Sports Guy’, Bill Simmons. I thought I wanted to be like Bill, but …nah. Bill sold out (hell, maybe I would too, but). Bill became Hollywood and (shaking my head) decided that professional basketball was his niche, as if NBA fans actually give a fiddler’s fuck about his white-ass opinions on hoops. Good call, chief. Guys like me and #3 on the list below looked up to him and even reached out at various points for council; only to be snubbed and ignored. I know you are crushing it, Mr. Black-like-me, but piss off.
I digress.
Listen, I have no false expectations of becoming a writer on SNL or Jimmy Fallon but I can’t let that stop me from doing it; so I do. Running my yap about sports, life, TV, work, whatever is a great release. 41 years old with a wife and 3 kids throws a lot of responsibility on a dude; and this outlet lets me be that wiseass kid I once was, so GFY. Which leads me to the tribute of some others that have done the same’ only monetarily successful.
This is about the ‘little’ guys that are making it, in a BIG way.
Nick ‘Fitzy’ Stevens
Fitzy, as most know him, is THE Masshole (or his alter ego leads you to believe). Via his Townie News and other outlets, Fitzy captures all things Boston sports; the Patriots in pah-ticu-lah. This guy sneaky nails it – all the time. Did you know he freakin roasted Dennis Rodman? He made the Dean Martin Roasts look like sleep tapes (yeah, I said ‘tapes’). Stellar. His “press conferences”, “Shit that Pats Fans Say” and the rest of the videos are water cooler staples for us Bean Townahs. They’re awesome. He now has a gig on Comcast under his (supposedly) real identity Nick Stevens and does a great job. But, like the spectators in the Coliseum in Gladiator, they cry for Fitzy. Keep on keepin on, my good man. And GFY. @FitzyGFY
Jerry Thornton
As a fellow pasty white Irishman, I just like to root for Jerry at all costs. I started following his fodder when he was contributing to Barstool Sports (stand by, El Pres, you’re next) with his ‘Knee Jerk Reactions’ (now Thornography on WEEI) and articles about how Irish you are on a green color wheel. No flies on Jerry, he has the had the balls to do stand up comedy for 20 plus years; no small feat. He is smart, insightful, knowledgeable and one-step-ahead-of-the-average shithead New Englandah with his bantah. His self-admitted obsession with the Patriots and ‘Fan Boy’ crest he proudly wears makes him rock solid and validates his growing brand. Jerry got his dream job with the WEEI afternoon boys a year ago and got to witness his beloved Pats win Super Bowl 49 as a part of the “media” and not just a spectatah. Call him Fan Boy all you like; Jerry made it. Good for you my super honkey brother from another honkey ass mother. @jerrythornton1
Dave ‘El Pres’ Portnoy
Tipping my cap as I type this, sir. You are the Jedi Master of the sports/man/sicko blog. I would argue you are the Jewish Rosa Parks of typing what we are all thinking; without caring about repercussions or public backlash. El Presidente has always put his balls on the line and has never sold out. And while he DID sell majority interest (yeah, only $10-15M, bitch) of his “baby”, Barstool Sports, last week he still calls the shots on content and will undoubtedly keep us cringing with each post, ‘Wake Up’, Guess That Ass and the rest. El Pres doesn’t give a fuck; and that’s the secret sauce. He is true to the craft and, moreso, his fans – and there are a shitload of them. @stoolpresidente
Salute, gents!
LETS GO PATS!!!
Can I Be Frank & Crew? 