The following is an excerpt taken from the new book “How the Jester Became King: Dave Portnoy and the Real Unauthorized Story of Barstool Sports.” by Charlie Stanton (Post Hill Press, December 2024)
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October 2003
Dave was sweaty and beyond exhausted as he bent down to drop off a stack of newspapers next to his bin at the Alewife T-Station in Cambridge. Sporting his questionable goatee and a beat-up Red Sox hat, his skin reeked of the cigar he had smoked inside his maroon 1992 Plymouth minivan while he trudged from station to station. His breath was a mix of tobacco and the hot Italian beef sandwich he’d ordered in between stops. Portnoy needed a shower. As he leaned over to fill the bin, he paused. The sound of fabric ripping echoed across the brown quarry tiles that lined the floors and walls of the subway entrance. Commuters turned their heads at the noise, and their eyes…
