WAKE UP BARSTOOL, A Dream No Longer Deferred

Being chosen to host Wake Up Barstool four days a week is by far the best opportunity that I have ever had in my entire life.  Paradoxically both a destination and a beginning, it is the culmination of everything I have worked towards for my entire professional career and everything I want to continue to work towards.  

When Big Cat called me into his office and told me they were thinking about doing this, it was the resurrection of an ambition long laid to rest.  I have hosted a daily local 3-4 hour radio show since October of 2013.  Specifically the last seven and a half years I’ve hosted a morning show.  It was in Louisiana and we talked a ton of Saints, LSU and nonsense.  I was happy. I loved my job.  I was content.  But in the quiet moments.  I would hear something.  A whisper.  An unspoken, egotistical pining for something more. And here it is in the form of a daily morning television show on FS1. Wake Up Barstool.  

Now that it is here, I feel all the emotions.  It feels validating.  It feels terrifying.  It feels exciting.  I feel an immense amount of pressure. But most of all, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude.  A lot of people have put a lot of belief and effort into this show and by extension have placed a lot of belief in me and I am incredibly grateful for that.  I believe that when gratitude is at the core of what you feel, there is no better fuel for work ethic.  I desperately want to do everything I can to honor those who have placed this belief in me.  I want to honor and respect the history of the company that has put me in this position.  Most of all, I want to do right by all the people who have supported, listened, and believed in me up to this point.

And that is all that matters.  Honoring anyone who chooses to spend their precious free time with us instead of any of the infinite different entertainment options available to them.  Life is overwhelming and immediate.  Sometimes we just need a break.  We need to turn our brain off and just have some fun and escape.  I know the feeling of loving a show so much that it becomes a warm, welcome respite from the travails of the real world.  And that is what I hope Wake Up Barstool will become for those of you who choose to come hang out.  Its a morning show, you’re on your way to work, and I just want you to smile, laugh, and have some fucking fun.

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Viva!