Barstool Sports News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/barstool-sports/ Minnesota sports, but different Sat, 18 Jan 2025 17:49:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=32,height=32,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-cropped-MSF-favicon-1.jpg Barstool Sports News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/barstool-sports/ 32 32 Minnesota Vikings Love Boat Captain Hired by Barstool Sports https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-vikings/minnesota-vikings-news/barstool-sports-hires-fred-smoot-love-boat-scandal/ Sat, 18 Jan 2025 17:42:25 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=59405 Here it is… our first weekend without Minnesota Vikings football for the next six months. It won’t be easy, but we’ll make it through the offseason together. The NFL offseason is almost as exciting as the regular season, because of how well the league has free agency, the draft and other offseason activities organized to remain in the headlines.

Speaking of headlines, I ran across an unexpected one on Friday, while scrolling through Twitter. How many of you reading this are old enough to remember the Vikings 2005 Love Boat scandal?

Fred Smoot and the Minnesota Vikings Love Boat Scandal

What about the young Minnesota Vikings cornerback who organized the Love Boat party? The one and only Fred Smoot. The same Fred Smoot who played here for two seasons (2005-2006)… and the same Fred Smoot who organized the most iconic Minnesota Vikings off-field “incident” of it’s not-so-innocent history…

Not familiar with Smoot or the scandal? Of course you are… but just in case, here is a clip from the Barstool Sports Love Boat documentary. **Make sure to put your headphones in, it’s not safe for work.

Fred Smoot played 25 games as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. After a huge start to his career in Washington — 16 INTs in four seasons — the former 2nd round pick signed with the Vikings, as one of the top young free agent CBs in the league.

Unfortunately, his time in Minnesota pushed that career in the opposite direction. In two seasons wearing purple, Smoot totalled 104 tackles, 3 interceptions and 14 passes defended. Smoot ended up starting 19 of the 25 games he played with the Vikings.

Related: JJ McCarthy Update: Minnesota Vikings Future Franchise QB Back on the Field

He was benched by head coach Brad Childress right before he broke his jaw in a December 2006 car accident. The Vikings cut him that offseason, before he landed back in Washington DC, for the final three seasons of his NFL career, before being forced into retirement at age 30.

Fred Smoot hired by Barstool Sports

What does Fred Smoot do now? Well, he just got a new job… with the same company that did the Vikings Love Boat documentary over five years ago, Barstool Sports. Barstool’s president and founder Dave Portnoy announced the hire on Friday.

For those who pay attention to Barstool, this signing won’t surprise you because he’s been seen on some of their more popular shows a lot, over the past few months. If you have ever watched Fred Smoot speak, it’s clear he has a talent for the microphone.

Related: Adam Schefter Weighs in What a Kevin O’Connell Extension Might Cost the Vikings

Fred Smoot played nine years in The League and totalled 21 interceptions, but he’ll always be remembered more around these parts for the Love Boat scandal. But who knows, maybe he’ll be best known for his media career, when it’s all said and done…

]]> Sat, 18 Jan 2025 11:49:12 +0000 Minnesota Vikings News Minnesota Vikings ‘Pardon My Take’ Finds Kirk Cousins Frustratingly Likeable in Podcast Interview https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-vikings/pardon-my-take-hates-how-likeable-kirk-cousins-is-vikings-barstool-big-cat-pft-commenter/ Wed, 12 Oct 2022 19:16:37 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=40697 Kirk Cousins has come out of his shell a bit this season. He’s doing more interviews with media outside of his regularly scheduled press conferences. The Minnesota Vikings quarterback clearly feels more comfortable giving in-depth answers, when questions might call for it. He’s more jovial and laid back, too, when situation presents itself.

And as he blossoms right before our eyes, the haters around football are struggling for reasons to dislike Kirk Cousins. Two of those people, Barstool Big Cat and PFT Commenter, work at Barstool Sports and co-host one of the most popular sports podcasts in the world, ‘Pardon My Take’ (transcript below).

‘Kirk, did you kill ‘The Griddy’?’

Big Cat’s question was first. “I saw, when you were in London after the game, you did The Griddy off the field. Do you think you killed The Griddy? It’s not cool anymore after you did it.”

Kirk: “Hahahaha, uhh… I haven’t seen the tape! So, I gotta see the tape and then I can give you a better answer. But no, no. There’s room for improvement. There ‘s always room for improvement. We can all be better, Big Cat. But I gotta watch the tape, certainly.

But I would agree, that anything I do is no longer cool. If I wear a plaid button down to week one, you know, it looks like I got it from Kohl’s. But if Justin Jefferson wears that same plaid button down to next week’s press conference, everybody in Minnesota is buying a plaid button down.

So, I’m fully aware of that. I don’t want to do anything to tarnish The Griddy. It’s got a lot of momentum right now. It’s probably best if I just stay away from it.“

Big Cat: “I hate that you have that self-awareness there. Because that makes me… Ok, alright that was a good answer. That’s a good answer to my one question, goddamn it.“

Pardon My Take Podcast (Barstool Sports)
Stop being so likeable

Barstool Big Cat is a Chicago Bears fan and PFT Commenter is a life-long Washington Commanders (formerly ‘Football Team’; formerly ‘Redskins’) fan. Both have obvious reasons to find ever reason possible to dislike Kirk Cousins.

Well, ‘Pardon My Take’ has a new weekly segment they’ve dubbed “One Question with a Quarterback”. — RULES: One question for everyone involved, including the guest QB. But no follow-up questions allowed for anyone —

The two co-hosts (who personally total over 2.6 million followers on Twitter alone) saw this as a perfect opportunity to box Kirk Cousins into an answer that would come off unlikeable. Unfortunately for them, the interaction didn’t go as planned.

You see, Kirk is more likeable now than he ever has been before. And slowly but surely, as long as he plays well and leads the Minnesota Vikings to the playoffs, people will start to change their opinions on him, including Big Cat and PFT. Here’s the entire interview. PFT Commenter’s question was, “How much money do you have?”.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

]]> Wed, 12 Oct 2022 14:17:38 +0000 Minnesota Vikings All Aboard the 2022 Minnesota Gophers Hype Train https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/all-aboard-the-2022-minnesota-gophers-hype-train/ Sun, 28 Aug 2022 02:02:22 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=40136 The Big Ten West has been in existence since 2014 and not once have the Minnesota Gophers worn the division crown. Wisconsin has dominated the field but both Iowa and Northwestern have jumped up for their shot in the Big Ten Championship game, too. Not the Gophers, though.

Could that change in 2022? Well, there’s a lot of hype building around Minnesota’s chances, of late. Like, Stewart Mandel (The Athletic), who picked the Gophers to finish 9-3, tied with the Iowa Hawkeyes atop division.

Mandel isn’t the only Big Ten writer who believes in PJ Fleck & Co this season. 10 of 11 took the over on Minnesota’s over/under win total of 7.5. The same 10 that picked Nebraska to fall short of the same mark.

Last Chance at Big Ten West Crown?

This is one of the last seasons where Big Ten divisions will exist, at least in their current form. Rumors have swirled that the West and East divisions will be eliminated, as early as next season. In 2024, USC and UCLA enter the picture.

Currently, the Big Ten’s expansion plans include 20 total teams. So whether it happens next season, or shortly thereafter, the route to a division championship in the Big Ten is going to change.

The Athletic isn’t the only media outlet hyping the 2022 Minnesota Gophers. Big Ten Network is all over the them too.

Still not convinced? How about Barstool? They have two CFB experts picking PJ Fleck as coach of the year. Kayce Smith might as well buy shares in Dinkytown the way she’s obsessing over maroon and gold. She has the two above picks, along with the Gophers as “Most Underrated Team”.

Hype Overload

Not a fan of Barstool? I get it (no I don’t). Then, how about ESPN? Senior writer, Mark Schlabach didn’t have the testicular fortitude to outright pick the Minnesota Gophers as West champions. But he did include an entire paragraph about how badly he wanted to. Mark also wrote about how Scott Frost wouldn’t make it through the season. And after an week one loss to Northwestern, he’s looking pretty smart on that prediction.

Minnesota wins the West: I went with Wisconsin, which seemed like the safer pick, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Gophers in the Big Ten championship game, either. Minnesota has to throw the ball more than it did last season — only Navy, Army and Air Force attempted fewer passes in 2021. Quarterback Tanner Morgan should be better under offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, who was there when Minnesota won 11 games in 2019. Tailback Mohamed Ibrahim, the Big Ten running back of the year in 2020, is back after tearing his Achilles in last season’s opener. – Mark Schlabach (ESPN)

Why so much hype?

The hype building around the Minnesota Gophers is based on a few things. First, the West division is one of the more wide open in all of college football (Wisconsin fans may disagree). And that is more true this season, than in any in the division’s 9-year history.

Second, this is the deepest team since Fleck took over, even more so than the 2019 squad. On his weekly radio show / podcast, PJ talked about his comfortability playing 10-11 defensive linemen. And DL may not be the deepest position group on the team. Tanner Morgan has Athan Kaliakmanis and Cole Kramer biting at his heels. Dylan Wright, Chris Autman-Bell and Michael Brown-Stephens make the best threesome of wide receivers in the division.

Linebackers run four to five deep. The secondary has four starters with a ton of experience and two transfers that would start on most Big Ten teams. Mo Ibrahim, Trey Potts and Zach Evans might make up the best running back group in the West, too.

Lastly, the schedule. Minnesota is slated to play just two top-25 teams all year. Michigan State in week 4 and Wisconsin in the season finale. Penn State, in week 7, will be a challenge as well. But most importantly, there’s no contact with Michigan or Ohio State.

Rose Bowl Dreams

A Big Ten West championship would also bring a very good likelihood that the Gophers return to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1962, a historic postseason dream for Minnesota football fans, that may cease to exist after next season.

So can the Gophers, who once dominated the nation in college football, win the Big Ten West and find their way back to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 60 years? Yes, they can. And I’m not the only person who thinks that.

So… Row the boat. Ski-U-Mah. Go Gophers.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

]]> Sat, 27 Aug 2022 21:10:39 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Football