Dave Portnoy Is Confident Boston's Winning Streak Can Last Forever

-You tweeted when you were coming on the show.
And I was very happy to see this.
I felt like you didn't think we were going to talk much
because you said, "Over/under on how much time I get
on Seth Meyers on Wednesday. One minute."
-Yeah, I thought that was -- -That was the over/under.
-Yeah, I was going with the under, too.
-You took the under.
I should give you the under
because you spelled Seth Meyers wrong.
-I learned that after. -You learned that after.
But the bummer is, it's, like, right there in the listing.
[ Laughter ]
-Spelling is the lowest form of human intelligence.
That's actually a dead fact.
-Oh, that's a dead fact? -Memorization and spelling.
-Memorization.
Oh, so this is the act of --
This is an intelligent error.
-I tweeted about you multiple times since, and it's corrected,
so I learned from my mistakes.
Meyers -- that's a weird way to spell it.
-It is a weird way to spell it.
I don't know if --
Now it seems like you made a mistake
and you're attacking me for it. -That's how I tend to do it.
Flip it on its head. -Flip it on its head.
So Barstool Sports -- this is a very popular website --
started as a print publication. -Correct.
-And when was that? When did you first start doing it?
-2004? -2004.
And you started this not just from a love of sports
but also because you hated your job.
-That's exactly right. Despised my job. Sales job.
Nobody likes sales jobs.
It was cold calling. It's the worst.
No guy likes that job.
-And yet you thought you could launch this thing.
How did it first come about,
that you first started writing about --
It was Boston sports when you first --
-It was Boston sports.
So I just -- bunch of different ideas.
I thought I could do this one.
I used to hand out a newspaper outside of subways.
You know, you'd have homeless people handing out newspapers.
I'd be screaming against them, "Take my paper, take my paper."
Slowly morphed into a website.
-And so, 2004, obviously a very important time
in the Boston sports scene.
And were you -- you were part of that?
-I'd say I was at the forefront. -You were at the forefront.
I'm talking about the Red Sox breaking the curse.
-So, it's not only the Red Sox.
Since Barstool started, we hadn't had a championship
I don't think since '86 with the Celtics.
Then I started Barstool
and now Boston basically wins everything.
-They win everything. I have to ask you this.
Are you worried
that this will be the greatest sports time in your life?
Because it does strike me as unsustainable
for Boston sports fans for them
to expect it to continue be this great.
-No, I'm beyond that. -You're beyond that?
-I actually think it can go on forever.
-Really? -Yeah.
I, like, legitimately do.
I don't know what losing feels like.
-Wow.
Now, do you know there was a time where Boston sports fans
like ourselves were sympathetic to the rest of the country?
You know that time is over.
-Yeah, they don't like us anymore.
-No, they don't like us. -They hate us.
Do you do with -- just curious -- with "us"?
You're saying "us" as if --
-Well, I do not care for the Patriots.
-That's why I don't know if you can be an "us."
-You're kind of like -- you're a half-half.
-It's interesting because I grew up in New Hampshire.
So you already don't think I'm an "us."
-No, that's an "us." -Are you sure?
-Definitely an "us."
Because every time I go to Boston, people are like,
"Where are you from?"
And they act like New Hampshire is [bleep] California.
-That is -- That is like somebody who would be from
Southy or Charlestown to take that stuff real serious.
-You're more decent than that.
-I'm a suburb guy, so New Hampshire is "us."
-Okay, gotcha. But yes, no, I'm not "us" on the Patriots.
So, I have to ask this.
For the next five years, if you could only have one,
Brady or Belichick? -Belichick, no-brainer.
I thought of this question. It's been asked a lot.
-Yeah.
-I don't think you can win --
I think Belichick wins no matter where he goes.
-Brady wins most places, but Belichick is the guy.
Belichick is the greatest who's ever done it.
He's a genius. And he'd be the guy I'd pick.
I think coach is the most important position.
-That's why I think it might be sustainable.
It's because you have a coach that looks to me
about the exact same age as when he started.
-And he may never die.
And if he does, he's going to be like "Star Wars,"
like the emperor up in the sky.
-Well, then I think Boston is in real trouble.
-No, the rest of the world's in trouble.
-The rest of the world is going to be the Rebel Alliance.
You realize that that's what's gonna happen.
-I still will take our odds. -Okay, great.
So your website, one of the things you started doing
is short, like, documentaries. -Yup.
-You did one on Bills fans, Buffalo Bills fans.
-Yeah.
-What did you find sort of alluring of the idea of
talking about Bills fans?
-Well, like, Buffalo people have nothing to live for
except necessarily the Bills.
So they get so fired up for those football games.
And they do things -- We were getting videos sent to us of
people going through tables, jumping off roofs.
Just doing things like -- Are these people even human?
But they're great people. Like, we love Bills fans.
They're definitely Barstool fans, Stoolies.
So we went down and just documented
how they basically party for football games.
And there's really nothing else like it on Earth.
-And is it -- of course, the difference between, you know,
Patriots fans and Bills fan is how much good has happened
for Patriots fans and how little has happened for Bills fans.
Are you sort of -- Do you find --
Are you impressed with their passion,
considering how bad it's gotten?
I'm impressed and I'm sympathetic.
They're almost, you know -- It's like a little brother.
You just kind of pat him on the head and be like,
"Oh, that's cute." Like, watch him do the stuff.
That's kind of like Bills fans.
-That will mean the world to them.

Dave Portnoy Is Confident Boston's Winning Streak Can Last Forever

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