One of Barstool Sports’ highest profile personalities has been under fire for his fan affiliation — and he hopped on with Chicago’s own Waddle and Silvy to set the record straight. Dan “Big Cat” Katz has long been known as Barstool’s largest Chicago-focused voice, but Katz wasn’t originally born in Chicago. This fact was brought back into the spotlight during a recent episode of Surviving Barstool, a digital show based on Survivor, where Barstool personalities compete to be the last one standing. Katz joined Waddle & Silvy to clarify things and reaffirm his love for the Windy City:
Katz said he was born in Massachusetts just outside of Boston but had family in Highland Park, IL. His uncle was a Bulls season ticket holder and he accompanied his uncle to several Bulls games throughout the 1990s. He fell in love with the city and, when the former Barstool Chicago blogger no longer covered the area, Katz stepped in and covered the teams. Since then, he’s lived and died with the teams and their fans.
“I hope people understand that my love for Chicago is genuine,” Katz said. “I’ll live here for the rest of my life. My love for the teams is genuine. I took a weird path to get here, but yeah.”
Katz also addressed the controversy in a rare blog on the Barstool Sports website, where he further discussed the issue.
“I threw myself into Chicago sports,” Katz wrote. “I fully adopted those teams, learned their history, which I had known a decent amount from my Uncle, and began rooting for all of them. As I did that my love for Boston sports began to fade. If I was going to root for the Chicago teams I had to shut off rooting even a little bit for Boston teams anymore.”
While some fans are upset at the news, most are understanding. Katz knows what’s headed his way and addresses it at the end of his blog.
“I’m expecting some people to hate my guts for this, which kills me inside because I’m soft when it comes to the internet and I let people’s opinions of me impact me too much…But at the end of the day I know a lot of people have my back, and the decade plus of blogging/podcasting about everything including Chicago sports will speak for itself. And I appreciate everyone who will still ride with me…I won’t lie here, this has Probably been the worst Ive ever felt in my 13+ plus Barstool Sports career. I hate the feeling of letting people down and that’s how I feel.”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
