On Episode 117 of Unmuffled we catch up with veteran Modified driver, the always colorful, Dave Sapienza. We also check in with Stafford Speedway Street Stock championship contender Chris Meyer. We talk with Stafford Speedway Street Stock division father-son combination Sal Calvo and Sam Calvo about their big plans for 2022. And in our wildcard chatter segment we dig into we’ll talk about the present state of short track racing media and how it pertains to some popular podcasters on the local scene. We’ll dig into the mailbag to answer a question about another feud between myself and a race team owner and we’ll check in on the rumor mill and offer our detective work on why we don’t think the SRX Series is returning to Stafford in 2022.
Episode 117 of Unmuffled is presented by our Patreon marketing partners from New England Racing Fuel, Swanson Buick/GMC, LifeCare Family Chiropractic, Mid-State Site Development, SAFCO Foam, Broad Brook Brewing Company, Tick Mike’s Organic Tick & Mosquito Spray, Mid-State Site Development, Tri-Track Open Modified Series, Compressed Air USA, Hoosier Tire East, MidState Compressor, Casagrande Builders, Falmouth Ready Mix, Wheelers Auto, Rent A Race Car New England, Sign Pro, North End Auto Parts, Magna Steel Sales, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Riverhead Raceway, Stafford Motor Speedway and Thompson Speedway.
I hope this new format attracts new subscribers. In my view it has it all from usual interviews, to the mailbag, why does (*****) hate me to opinion it’s just terrific. A bit of controversy as well as I see it and to be clear welcome if that.
I’ll admit I like porn. Less so as one ages but nonetheless no prude on the topic. I also believe I understand porn is an intense fantasy and has no relationship to the most loving a mutually respectful relationships between two people.
I view Barstool Sports like porn the founder himself calls it “sports smut”. An intense warped view of sports and society in general that garners a substantial number of younger males much like actual porn. You can like sports porn like sex porn for sure but suggesting it has a place or can challenge mainstream sports media I’m not sure we should want or endorse that.
Three years ago we visited David Portnoy and Barstool Sports in these pages as the connection to NASCAR was being explored. Portnoy was the guy that released naked pictures of Tom Brady’s son creating a bit out of it for which he got considerable blow back about a decade ago. He’s still pretty much the same guy only richer.
Since our chat in February 2019 David Portnoy had an interview with the last president as the 2020 campaign was getting started. A sex tape of he and Sydney Raines engaging in consensual sex involving a dog collar and degrading themes has been leaked. A couple women have come forward to reflect on sex with Portnoy in various terms that add up to overly aggressive and frightening. Not confirmed nor illegal but consistent with his public persona. There’s also his foray into the stock market. Using his considerable and loyal fan base to engage in questionable stock trading practices, treating it like sports betting, manipulating the market with claims he could be pumping and dumping for his own benefit.
Suffice it to say there is nothing mainstream about David Portnoy and Barstool sports.
Danielle Cohen, The Cut, 11/4/21
“Portnoy’s company, Barstool Sports, has a reputation for unapologetically misogynistic, racist commentary, and the man himself is no different.”
“Barstool and its fans, who call themselves Stoolies, are also notorious for using aggressive tactics to harass, intimidate, and threaten whoever they consider adversaries of Portnoy and his company — including those who speak out against its toxic culture. “
https://www.thecut.com/2021/11/women-say-sex-with-dave-portnoy-was-violent-and-humiliating.html
Hmmm, using the fan base to harass, intimidate and threaten perceived adversaries that sounds so familiar.
If you say that more young men pay attention to Barstool Sports then ESPN I can’t find anything to support it but nothing to disprove it either so lets say it’s true. If you say ESPN is you grandfathers media that I believe is a harder sell the two models are so different. Barstool worth maybe 500 million compared to ESPN in the 50 billion range. Barstool a niche attractive to a specific audience, ESPN an octopus with it’s hand in so many media offerings providing everything from nuts and bolts coverage of live events, the web site with stats on every sport to TV, terrestrial and satellite radio event coverage and sports talk.
So why talk so much about Barstool when the topic is BFP? Mainly because BFP uses the same model. Young men behaving badly, doing and saying outrageous things. Moments of serious and admirable content thrown in at times but mainly unapologetically inappropriate.
So what’s the geezer in Enfield, who is clearly way past the prime demographic, that may be prone to recalling noble values that never existed and is mostly irrelevant now trying to say? What’s my point?
Certainly it’s not to call for anyone to ignore the BFP. I plan on watching it if it’s covering local events of interest like I do the Making Laps, Bottom Shot and other podcasts. The only thing I reject is the idea that tracks should offer press credentials and promote the podcast at least until they can clean it up a bit.
The argument has been made that things are so challenged in racing that tracks have nothing to lose. Fair enough but by that logic why don’t they sell sex more. Make skimpily clad women a big part of the racing show including provocative screen shots on that massive new screen at Stafford. After all the fan base is mostly men.
The reason is you have to draw a line somewhere in my view. Two guys that are frequently drunk by their own admission, that use the eff word or some other foul reference about every 30 seconds and are a grass roots version of David Portnoy and Barstool Sports may be good sports porn but not ready for main stream racing.