So lets start from the top.
As I think everyone here knows I was born and raised in Newton Massachusetts.
Lived there for the first 18 years of my life before I went to the University of Wisconsin.
My family is not originally from the area and I have family all over the country including Chicago.
Getting my first apartment in Lakeview at 22 was the best.
A lot of you reading this right now have probably gone through this exact same feeling and experience.
It was also around this time that I became aware of Barstool.
Well as many of you know I like to gamble, a lot, a lot a lot.
Covers.com was a gambling forum where people would share their gambling picks every night and talk games.
You’d find a hot handicapper and tail them until the wheels fell off.
I bring up Covers because that’s where I was first introduced to Dave and Barstool.
Besides Collegehumor.com there was really no website online that was posting funny things like that on a daily basis.
So that kind of sets the stage for where I was.
Living in Chicago, happy as could be but wondering if there was something else out there for me.
And that’s when I started blogging.
So I threw myself into Chicago sports.
As I did that my love for Boston sports began to fade.
Dave initially offered me the job in 2010 but the timing wasn’t right for me personally.
So for the next 2 years I kept blogging and working on it and getting better.
Dave knew my background and we talked about what the best plan of attack was for my start.
Looking back on this moment it’s my biggest regret that consumed me for many years.
Why didn’t I just explain myself from the jump?
I think my talent would’ve shown through regardless where I grew up.
And that’s exactly what I did.
Anyone who knows me from 13 years ago knows I worked my ass off.
I cold turkey stopped rooting for any Boston teams.
The double doink absolutely broke me into a million pieces because it was all I cared about.
It was my job to cover the city and I took it very seriously.
I threw myself all in and never looked back.
Thats so stupid looking back on it.
I feel so much shame for avoiding it all costs.
It was a molehill that I made into a mountain in my head.
I also never thought I’d have millions of followers and a huge sports podcast.
It started as making jokes on the internet and grew into something so much bigger.
Barstool is a job but its also a life, and that’s how I thought about it.
But I was wrong to do it this way.
The pressure grew every year for me to keep my work going and keep growing the brand.
So here we are today and I guess I’m just trying to move forward.
I fucked up (Jim Calhoun).
I shouldn’t have been ashamed and I shouldn’t have hid my past.
People will call me a phoney and fraud and I expect to eat a lot of shit for it.
Those are the only teams I root for now and that hasn’t changed since I started at Barstool.
And I appreciate everyone who will still ride with me.
Throughout all of this it’s been incredible to realize the support system I have.
I think I’ve accomplished a lot of that and that feels incredible.
I hate the feeling of letting people down and that’s how I feel.
Ill leave you with a quote from another transplant who has become synonymous with this great city.
“The past is for cowards and losers” -Mike Ditka.
