If Elijah Moore doesn’t pee like a dog in the endzone during the 2019 Egg Bowl and get a personal foul penalty, Ben Mintz and Playboy Marty aren’t at Barstool Sports.
If Ole Miss doesn’t fire Matt Luke after the game and then hire Lane Kiffin, Ben Mintz and Playboy Marty aren’t at Barstool Sports.
If Kentucky kicker Matt Ruffalo makes a PAT in overtime, Ben Mintz and Playboy Marty aren’t at Barstool Sports.
If Ole Miss wide receiver Elijah Moore doesn’t score on the next drive or kicker Luke Logan misses the PAT, Ben Mintz and Playboy Marty aren’t at Barstool Sports.
But all of that happened. So, since Matt Luke was fired, Lane Kiffin was hired, which led to an Ole Miss win in overtime over Kentucky, which led to two guys, who lost their radio jobs that year due to Covid, to make an epic celebration video that caught the eye of Dave Portnoy, which ultimtealy landed them at Barstool Sports in New York City.
Got all of that? If you didn’t it’s understandable. Both Mintz and Playboy Marty still have to convince themselves from time to time this is real.
“I’m almost to the point where I think Elijah Moore is a prophet,” said Mintz. “And I have to send that Kentucky kicker a Christmas card.”
In the craziest year any of us have seen, Mintz and Playboy Marty’s 2020 might take the cake in sports media. First, after doing a drive time afternoon show in Shreveport, Louisiana for over four years, Mintz was let go in mid-March when the station decided to flip formats to soft rock. Coincidentally, Playboy Marty had just accepted a job as Mintz’ full-time producer but was let go on the same day he was supposed to start. Both were out of radio jobs.
The next day, ESPN Baton Rouge offered Mintz a job as a producer and No. 3 voice on Off the Bench with Jordy Culotta and T-Bob Hebert. He accepted over the phone, but then, the very next day, the whole country started to shut down due to Covid.
“After that I went back to Oxford,Mississippi because Covid was getting really bad in Louisiana,” said Mintz. “I just chilled in Oxford and played online poker for three months. I’m an old poker pro and did that for 10 years. It’s funny because I was sitting there in Oxford and it felt like 2006 when I just sat around and played online poker all summer.”
“I went down to Oxford with him and we decided to start a YouTube channel,” said Playboy Marty. “That’s kind of what we did all summer. It got the attention of ESPN Baton Rouge. Ben went on Off the Bench with Jordy and T-Bob for several years as their gambling picks guy. He had a relationship with them but the YouTube channel impressed them and we got brought in. I started producing for Jimmy Ott’s GameTime, as well as Hanging with Hester.”
After a few months in Mississippi, the two were headed to ESPN Baton Rouge to work at one of the best sports radio stations in the South. Things were going extremely well for both Mintz and Playboy Marty, as they were both content with their new roles and thankful to be hired during a pandemic.. But then, during Week 2 of the SEC schedule, fate happened.
As Ole Miss kicked the game-winning extra point in overtime over Kentucky, instinct took over for Playboy Marty. In front of him, Mintz jumped up and started screaming the Hotty Toddy chant in his gravelly, southern drawl that makes him so lovable and endearing. Initially, Playboy Marty filmed the reaction in hopes of drawing up attention for the radio show. Soon it was being retweeted by Dave Portnoy and a social media viral storm soon followed.
“The way things were going I knew Ole Miss was about to score, kick the extra point and win the game,” said Playboy Marty. “Once they scored I pulled my phone out to video Ben and get his reaction for our radio show. Ben is a very heavy reactor and I realized that, but I never understood why nobody had ever put a camera on this guy before so I immediately started taking advantage of that.”
“Everything was going great,” said Mintz. “I was at one of the best stations in the South and it was the job I wanted. Then the Barstool thing just popped up out of the sky. Dave Portnoy called me on the phone, I answered, and he said your voice sounds exactly how I hoped it would. He then said he was going to give me an offer to come to New York. I did some research on the company and realized it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I would’ve been a fool to not come up here and try this.”
Now, after eight crazy months and several different stops, the two are the newest employees at Barstool Sports. What’s ironic is the first time the two ever hung out, Playboy Marty told Mintz his lifelong dream was to work for Barstool. Funny how things work.
The two have pretty simple roles with the company. Mintz just needs to naturally react to sports and gambling like he always does and Playboy Marty needs to film it. That’s the exact formula that got the two to Barstool in the first place. But now it’s a job with the pressure to always be funny. It’s different when you’re just naturally reacting, but now there’s always going to be a camera around Mintz. Will that always be in the back of his head?
“He rolls with things,” said Playboy Marty. “He never feels like he has to be on or anything like that. He’s better in those roles though, those instances where he’s not trying to be funny and he knows that. That’s what we’ve been doing we’re just kind of keeping it going at Barstool. A lot of people here are just on, on, on, that’s great. I’m a huge Stoolie. Ben is just kind of bringing a different angle and way to it. And he’s an incredibly nice dude. You don’t really see, like, outward generosity that much here, so I think he fills a much needed lane over here.”
With Mintz being a diehard Ole Miss fan, the natural rivalry between him and Brandon Walker, who’s a diehard Mississippi State fan will create incredible content at Barstool. Oddly enough, The Egg Bowl just happens to be this weekend. If Mintz hasn’t already gotten his baptism in the building, this week will be a helluva baptism.
“They actually get along pretty well,” laughed Playboy Marty. “But there definitely is going to be some Ole Miss and State stuff. They’ve handled it pretty well but there’s definitely going to be some fun stuff this year no doubt.”
“When I got brought in Dave mentioned over the phone Brandon Walker and how much he hated Ole Miss,” said Mintz. “I think this is a huge opportunity and we even have a bet on the Egg Bowl. The winner gets to throw eggs outside in New York at the loser. The winner also gets to crack an egg over the loser’s head anytime they want. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. Walker has been coming at our fan base for a year and a half with nobody to fight back.”
The freedom to be creative and do their own thing has been a welcome sign for both Mintz and Playboy Marty. Already a part of Picks Central on Barstool Radio from noon to 1:00 EST, it won’t be a surprise to see Mintz become more heavily involved in the radio side of the company in the near future, seeing as he has experience as a host. The same will probably be true for Playboy Marty. Until then, the two have their eyes set on new and exciting content that’s been untapped at Barstool.
“During football season I’m going to be all football,” said Mintz. “Ole Miss, SEC, Saints and I’m a big football gambler, too. But I have a lot of plans that exist outside football. I’ve got some New Orleans content. I got 75th in the World Series of Poker in 2011. I had a really good poker career so I’m gonna take it on the road and play in the World Series of Poker, all sorts of things like that. I’m also a humongous live music fan so I will be doing some cool stuff with that all over the country. I have a lot of cool ideas that i think will fit with Barstool.”.
It’s maybe the most unlikely of sports media stories in 2020. But Mintz and Playboy Marty don’t care. They’re here. And they’re going to do their damndest to make it.
“I’ll live my whole life and never understand the story,” said Mintz. “But I’m damn sure going to rock it.”
Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.
