Biggest Lightning Rod Topics in the History of The Stool
For the past 3+ years here at The Stool we’ve certainly covered our share of topics. After all, the general umbrella under which we operate is “Anything a guy would talk about at a bar” - hence the name of the publication. Now, some of these topics have been stupid and silly and most likely Not Safe For Work; while others have been legit, and more serious in nature. But then there are those topics which have unleashed such a firestorm of controversy that they’ve attained a special classification called “Lightning Rod”. Topics so treacherous, you better come prepared if you plan on going near them. Some are obvious, some not so much. So without further ado, here they are - the biggest lightning rod topics in the history of The Stool.
“Is Lance Armstrong a real athlete?” – Holy Christ you think people were calling each other’s mommas fat with this one, but in 2005, the topic of whether or not Lance Armstrong was a legitimate athlete caused quite the controversy at The Stool. One side said “Yes, of course he is. Anyone that can complete the 2500 mile journey through the French Alps and then heavy Parisian street traffic is most definitely an athlete”. The other side said “Ummm, America’s best athletes don’t ride bikes. They play football, basketball, baseball or bowl on Monday nights.” This got pretty heated – I think the term “Tour de Bike Race” was used… Regardless, it was easily one of the most heated debates ever witnessed on the website.
“Chris Carpenter” – You think people don’t care about the National League around here? Think again. For whatever reason, the somewhat meaningless topic of whether or not Cardinals’ right-hander Chris Carpenter is an “Ace” Major League pitcher always manages to stir up a big brew-ha-ha around here. It started in the 2005 NLCS when St. Louis was taking on Houston. Carpenter had a ridiculous, Cy Young Award winning regular season going 21-5 with 2.83 ERA. But when it came playoff time, how would he do? Was he really an “Ace”? Well just the questioning of this and people were calling for each other’s throats on the Barstool message board. It was crazy. Like I said, I didn’t think people cared about the NL. How did Carpenter fare in the series? Well he did okay, winning Game 1 but then gave up 4 runs in Game 5 only to get bailed out by the Puljols homerun in the 9th. In 2006 even though the Cardinals won it all, Carpenter had another non Ace-like post-season, so the controversy continues through this very day…
“24” – If you’ve been following the Barstool home page recently you’ve noticed the nuclear fallout stemming from FOX’s hit show “24”. We had a new blogger last all but 3 weeks because he dared mock those who were fans of it. Reading and writing for The Stool the past 3 years I knew this would be a problem. We have readers who would voluntarily take a dart in the neck to protect the name of Jack Bauer. Yes, while getting tasered. Personally I hadn’t seen “24” since the 2nd season, but because of all the blog-controversy I tuned in and watched last week. Not bad. Not bad… I just don’t get how they still don’t have Caller I.D. at CTU? Every second is precious on that show; Bauer can’t be wasting time introducing himself to everybody. “Chloe – Bauer.” “O’Brien – Bauer.” “Mr. President, Jack Bauer.” “Chloe, this is Jack again.” My grandmother has Caller I.D., surely you think they’d have that kind of technology at CTU. That said, I liked the part when they nuked Los Angeles.
“Old School WWF” – For some reason we have readers who legitimately despise old school WWF. And I don’t get it. That’s impossible for me to comprehend. Piper, Hogan, Honky Tonk Man, Jimmy Hart, Ultimate Warrior, are you kidding me? How did anyone not like these guys if you grew up in the 80’s? And I’m willing to say Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan were the greatest announcing duo this side of Scully and Garigiola. But like I said, it seems we have a fairly substantial number of readers who hate when we write about this stuff. In fact, they’re probably pissed right now.
“Bill Simmons” – ever since Simmons snubbed El Presidente’s interview request a few years ago – citing “over exposure” as the reason, the line has been drawn in the electronic sand over where fans of The Stool side on the self-proclaimed “Boston Sports Guy”, a.k.a. Bill Simmons, a.k.a. the man who inspired the Stool to begin with. Now there are 3 distinct camps – 1., you either loved him from Day 1 on Digital City and still continue to read, 2., you loved him on Digital City, then felt betrayed when he “turned Hollywood”, moved to the west coast and snubbed The Stool, or 3., you just stopped reading a few years ago because the graphics and advertising on ESPN.com were fucking killing you.
“El Presidente himself” – Barstool founder El Presidente himself can be a lightning rod topic. Degenerate gambler or mad genius? I say both. But like everybody has a price for the Million Dollar Man, everybody has an opinion on El Presidente.
“North Shore/South Shore” – of all the topics I can remember there’s no question in my mind the most controversial is North Shore v. South Shore. Not being from Massachusetts originally I had no idea what I was getting into here. From pizza places to girls to high school football, no topic brings out the hate more than North Shore/South Shore debates. I couldn’t believe it. Yankee-Red Sox is like recess at kindergarten compared to this. People take it unbelievably personally when you disrespect their part of the state, so for the love of god, be prepared when you mix it up in these kinds of debates.