I Am Officially Retired From The Smitty Vs. Nate Rivalry

Yesterday, Nate and Dave got into an argument because Nate wants to go see Pup Punk in Boston on Thursday…so of course the conversation turned into belittling me. Why? My thinking would be Nate got shook when he yelled at Dave in the rundown and got a scornful reaction. Because of it, he got called into the radio room and. Like always, the easiest way to deflect the attention off him is to go for his and Dave’s low-hanging fruit – Smitty. Specifically me and video games. It was uncalled for to say the least. I was in no, way, shape, or form involved in the initial discussion, but I had no choice but to stand my ground, defend the Barstool Gaemtime wall, and bury my natural enemy.

And with that, I’m done. I’m just…done. Officially retired from the rivalry game. It’s been a long time coming, too. I should’ve been done when a drunk Nate, out of NOWHERE, went on Periscope and disparaged me publicly, and directly to our new CEO who at the time I haven’t even met. I should’ve been done the time he created Donovan McNate as an, albeit, funny one-time joke, but took it to unnecessary levels solely to make me look like shit. But as Nate claimed yesterday, he’s the victim there. He was just doing what he was told by his bosses. Yup. Definitely wasn’t being a complete troll of an asshole the entire time: 14:14 here. Or I should’ve bene done when The One Stop Shop For All Things Fantasy Sports ad deal in the Summer of 2017 called for me, and ONLY me to go play in the WSOP Main Event. I convinced the powers that be to include Nate in the package. I did so because I not only knew it was best for the company/content, but I knew as poker fans/players ourselves, it would be a lifelong dream to go. It was a great call for all, and it was arguably Nate’s best, and most memorable content since he’s been at Barstool. So how did he return the favor? Let me tell you, folks. Earlier this year Nate gets invited with a +1 to a big time poker event with A-listers in Vegas and invites Erika, Riggs, and eventually a date to go. When I find out about it, I ask him what’s up with it and he brushes it aside, says it’s not for content at all, and it’s just a “Business Party”. OK. Fair enough. If it’s not Nate’s own private thing with no content, why should I insert myself in the situation? It didn’t matter I thought the entire thing seemed like a good opportunity to reignite the success we had at the previous WSOP, it wasn’t my decision at the time to get involved. Well, my friends, naturally Nate goes out and hamjams with poker/life superstar Daniel Negraneu all weekend on social media, gets in a fantasy poker league with A-listers in the scene, and not only plays in Tiger Woods’ charity tournament, he gets fucking face time with the Tiger. Nope. Not content at all. The kicker? Only later did I find out from the people who sent Nate the invite that the +1 was assumed for me and the dude went out of his way to exclude me from the event.

Since that point, I’ve actively tried to avoid Nate. Sure, we were cordial at work, during happy hours, and at the 2018 WSOP (even though he only acknowledged me when the storyline I was killing it and he shat himself on Day 1). I’ve avoided anything with him unless confronted, but yet again, we were attacked out of nowhere yesterday. Maybe I was over the top. I don’t really know anymore, but I’m tired of being inserted into malicious situations and belittled at my own expense – ESPECIALLY when I’m not there to defend myself. Way too many tough guys and bullies in this place. So that’s that. Nate can stick to posting Alexis Ren IG’s during the day and scouring Twitter accounts for people who dropped a sexist comment in 2011 at night. I’ll continue to blog, make videos (the wing is getting better so Never Go Full Hardo videos coming back soon), and build up a brand for Barstool that never existed in a market worth billions and do it successfully. To each their own.

PS – I have had about a dozen of these examples in the chamber ready to fire out for Nate. And I’m sure he could find just as many for me or anyone else here. The difference is there’s only one person at Barstool (besides Dave) who would willingly go out of there way to make others look bad. Well, till now, I suppose.

PSS – Streaming that commandeered Spider-Man copy tonight at 8:00pm on Twitch.tv/barstoolsports! Until then here are the highlights of the 8.5 hour long stream till 4:30am I did on a weeknight last week. Heart and hustle, baby. Heart and hustle.