I Have Fulfilled A Lifelong Dream

Marina4/10/2025 7:15 PM

10 years ago I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I was 20, working part time at a school, mainly to pay for my blog and have some fun money. I named it after my favorite player, Patrice Bergeron, and Weekend at Bergy's was born the summer of 2014. It really stemmed from the Bruins' playoff loss to the Canadiens. I was furiousssss after that series. Again, wasn't sure what I was going to do with my life but I had always loved the Bruins and was always on Twitter, so I thought, why not start a blog and put all my hockey thoughts into one place instead of just rage texting my Dad about the team.

To go forward we need to back it up even more to 2011… I was a junior in high school, and that was my first real introduction to Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports. Growing up in Connecticut I had a general sense of what Barstool was (the newspaper) but never really read the site until the Bruins were in the Cup final. I distinctly remember staying up late to witness the Bruins lose Game 5 of the SCF 1-0 to go down 3-2 in the series, then the next day I lost my High School Lacrosse Championship to Greenwich by 2. Probably would've played better had I not stayed up late to watch the Bruins, but I digress. But days later came a STRONG win at home in Game 6 to send the series back to Vancouver. I watched Game 7 with my Dad, the one who has shared it all with me, the reason why I'm such a big fan, and they did it. They actually did it. "For the first time in 39 years, the Boston Bruins have won the Stanley Cup!" I can still picture Doc Emrick announcing it. A couple weeks later I purchased my first Barstool shirt, a bright gold shirt that said Nose Face Killah, worn by the one and only Brad Marchand.

In 2016, 2 years after tweeting and blogging about the Bruins I received a follow from Dave Portnoy. I reached out, told him I'd love to work for Barstool in some capacity (they had just moved to NYC) and we had a phone call that would change my life. He thought he called the wrong number at first, I purposely left my name off my blog so people wouldn't know it was me, a woman, behind it. But I reassured him no, it was me and I laid out what I could do for Barstool. The next day I quit my part time job, I started off as a part time employee, with just a $500 stipend every month. I started working on Spittin' Chiclets and then would soon start the Barstool Radio twitter. I would do whatever I could to help Dave and hopefully get my foot in the door and move to NYC.

Months later that became a reality. Everyone knows Dave isn't the best at emails. After Dave asked me what I would need for a full time job I immediately replied, I think I said I would take anything. Didn't care the amount. Just wanted to get to NYC and prove myself and do it full time. This man just did not respond. I was wondering what I said that fucked it all up, or if they found someone better, nope he just gets a million emails and didn't see it. Luckily, Chiclets was coming to Manhattan for a few days to interview some guys (shout out Taylor Hall) and I tagged along and got to meet Dave face-to-face and Erika gave me my first contract.

I'm not going to bore you with the rest of my Barstool story, just needed to set the scene for how this job has changed my life because today, I fulfilled a lifelong dream. I became a Season Ticket Holder for the very team that helped me earn this job, that helped me build the life I am living today. Sports have been, and will always be an escape for me and many others. I've shared countless of memories with the Bruins whether it's watching the game with my Dad, taking my daughter to her first game, or the highs and lows of a season and the beast that is the playoffs. For 30 years this team has meant the world to me. When I was 18 I got my first tattoo, a Bruins B with 'elieve' to spell out believe. My Mom was pissed. I didn't care. That's how much I loved them. They were everything to me. It didn't matter if they won or lost, they were always there.

In 2019, Dave brought me to Boston to be on Barstool Radio for the SCF when he didn't have to. He bought me a ticket to Game 7 when he didn't have to. Barstool sponsoring the rally towel for Game 2 of the SCF was one of the coolest crossovers of my life… (shout out to the losers who ruined that though). We went to Borrelli's, several times (that playoff series took years off my life). All of the electric chairs… (again, years off of my life). All of these moments that have happened in my life, all because I sent a DM. I am not where I am today emotionally, financially, you name it, without Dave and this job.

9 years, 2 weddings (shout out COVID), a baby and a house later and here we are. Continuing to work under Dave, getting to blog about the team with RA (who I would wind up reading), and now a season ticket holder. Will I get to go to many games? Probably not. Do I care? Also no. It's also not lost on me that I am becoming a STH after one of the most frustrating seasons of my LIFE. Marchand dealt, half of my favorite player's gone. It's been putrid. But the one thing about sports, is that win or lose, you will blindly follow them no matter what. I'm beyond lucky and incredibly grateful to be in this position to even purchase them, especially in a world where the cost of everything seems to go up each and every year. When I became a Mom, I knew I wanted to share this love with her. I wanted to give her the best childhood I could, not because my parents didn't for me, but to be able to do things my parents could never is and continues to be such a blessing. How lucky am I to love something and someone so much and combine the two?

There will be wins, there will be losses, there will be players and GMs to complain about, jerseys to critique, times I care too much, times I should just log off, but at the end of the day this team, this organization, has been my entire personality for practically 30 years. You don't mention Marina without mentioning the Bruins. Becoming a STH was something I never believed would happen, ever, and now that it has I've been incredibly emotional thinking about how I even got here. If you told me 10 years ago I'd have this job, and have season tickets to my favorite team I'd tell you you're full of shit. Now if you told me I'd meet someone who happened to be a Rangers fan and converted him to the Bruins? That one would be more believable…

I've said it once but I'll say it again, one DM changed my life… and let me tell you, I'm so thankful for it all.