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Kobe Bryant to Launch Kids’ Podcast

Brandon Contes

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While many NBA fans are fantasizing of a return to the court for Kobe Bryant, hoping to see #24 playing with #23 in Los Angeles, the five-time champion appears to have other aspirations.

Bryant has kept busy since retiring from the Lakers with his NBA analysis show on ESPN, Detail, along with other post-playing ventures which include fantasy novels and now a podcast for children, according to his interview with Sports Illustrated.

It recently became common practice for athletes to start their own production companies with LeBron James and Kevin Durant leading the charge, but Kobe wants to be sure anything that has his name on it also has his heart in it.  Bryant launched Kobe Studios more than two years ago and had no interest in letting someone else do the work while just using his name for the credits.

“I’ve gotten a lot of those offers,” Bryant told SI’s Lee Jenkins with a laugh, “to executive produce shows and documentaries. I say no to all of them. If I’m going to put my name on something, I’m going to invest the time and really work on it. That’s why we don’t do many things here. But the things we do, we turn over and over and over again.”

For Bryant, The Punies Podcast is no different.  The made for children podcast isn’t your typical retired athlete sports program, it requires seven actors, two keyboards and an Emmy-nominated writer.  According to the SI article, Kobe’s podcast stems from an idea Bryant had two-years ago while watching A Charlie Brown ThanksgivingThe Punies Podcast offers a cast of characters who share a commonality in their passion for sports.

An Academy Award winner for his short film Dear Basketball, Bryant is constantly utilizing his creativity,  Kobe sits in the room as the podcast is being recorded, knowing the script and offering advice such as, “You’re all kids at the park,” Bryant announces. “Your parents aren’t here. Have fun. Let it rip.”  This is not just sitting down to a record a quick podcast, Bryant’s team practices and shows up to work daily.

“Take the material home, study it, and you’ll fall more in line with your characters,” said Bryant, whose effort off the court sounds similar to the work ethic he exuded on the court.  “Work on your lines together, two hours a day. Practice.”

The Punies Podcast will be available for download beginning August 25th.

Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.

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Fanatics Sportsbook Letting Gamblers Stream NFL Games They Have Money On

“The only condition is that the game must also be available in the bettor’s local market.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Fanatics Sportsbook logo

NFL fans using the Fanatics Sportsbook in four states have the ability to watch the broadcast of some of the games they bet on.

Legal Sports Report writes that users who place at least $1 in wagers on the NFL in the app will get access to the stream of the corresponding bet. The only condition is that the game must also be available in the bettor’s local market.

This feature of the Fanatics Sportsbook app is available in Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio and Tennessee, and it’s been available since the start of the regular season.

Fanatics joins Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings and FanDuel as platforms that have agreements with the league’s exclusive rights holder of official NFL data, Genius Sports. These agreements give the sportsbooks the ability to provide live streams.

So far, Caesars is the only other platform with stream access available, but Legal Sports Report noted that DraftKings and FanDuel will likely bring streams online later this season.

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More Than 5000 Attend Barstool Pizzafest Amid Washington Post Controversy

“Everyone had a great time. The vibes were actually probably higher because of the controversy surrounding it.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Barstool Pizza Fest
Courtesy: Barstool

With the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia bearing down on New York City and a wave of buzz surrounding Barstool founder Dave Portnoy in the days leading in, some 5,000 people braved the elements to attend the One Bite Pizza Festival in Brooklyn on Saturday.

Portnoy went viral last week after he posted video of himself calling Washington Post food reporter Emily Heil to confront her and ask why she and the pave had been contacting festival sponsors and asking them how they feel about Portnoy’s past controversies.

Participating pizzerias and sponsors also faced pressure to back out from other food writers and Barstool critics. But Portnoy told FOX & Friends Weekend on Sunday that the festival was a rousing success.

“It couldn’t have gone better,” he said. “It was our Woodstock moment with the rain. We had 5,000 people strong. Everyone had a great time. The vibes were actually probably higher because of the controversy surrounding it.”

Dave added that he owed the pizzerias a debt of gratitude for standing strong against those trying to shame them out of the event.

“The thing about the hit pieces, what they try to do, whether it’s those or the Washington Post, if you can get one sponsor to drop, one pizza place to drop – which none of them did so I owe them a huge thank you – that becomes a story in itself,” he said.

“They don’t deserve this,” Portnoy added. “They’re just trying to promote their small business, and they’re being put in this box.”

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Dave Portnoy: Anyone With ‘Unbiased Mind’ Would Look at Accusations and ‘See There’s Nothing Here’

“I’ve come to grips it’ll never ever change.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Dave Portnoy
Courtesy: Slaven Vlasic, Getty Images

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy opened up Thursday about his viral video confronting Washington Post food reporter Emily Heil, saying that it’s crazy that media outlets continue to come after him with stories and accusations from the past that he says are not rooted in truth.

Portnoy in recent years has been the subject of investigative pieces by outlets that paint a picture of Portnoy as a sexual deviant.

On Barstool Radio on Thursday, Portnoy wished people that continue to bring up these accusations would do a modicum of research.

“There is quite literally, if anybody sat down even for 15 minutes, and went through each accusation from the least important to the most important. Anybody with a clear, unbiased mind would be like, ‘There’s nothing here,'” he said. “That’s the only explanation to come from when you look at both sides. They just don’t look at both sides.”

Portnoy continued his assertion from the phone conversation with Heil that a negative story about him was already written by the Post and that they either had no intention of actually talking to him as evidenced by the cancelled interview Thursday morning, or they planned to reach out after they had formed their narrative talking to sponsors of his One Bite Pizza Festival in Brooklyn on Saturday.

He said it’s par for the course when it comes to journalists and outlets that clearly don’t like Barstool or him.

“I’ve come to grips it’ll never ever change,” he said. “Thats just the way it goes, but it is frustrating when you’re trying to do a f–king pizza event that has nothing to do with anybody and people are trying to destroy it.”

Dave has always said he’s caught flack from folks on both sides of the political spectrum, and that it doesn’t matter whether it’s FOX News, the Washington Post or the New York Times. He felt like they’re all of the same cloth.

“If you want to get a straight spin on a story, where do you go?” Portnoy asked.

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