Dan Bernstein has drawn the ire of the Stoolies, and it was completely avoidable.
For those unfamiliar, the Stoolies are the legion of loyalists to Barstool Sports and founder Dave Portnoy. When called upon, they will assemble behind Portnoy in an effort to make life miserable for their target, which at the moment is Bernstein.
On Thursday, Bernstein had a tense exchange with Barstool Eddie of Barstool Chicago during the transition between midday and afternoon shows on The Score. Eddie was filling in alongside afternoon co-host Matt Spiegel, who has been working with different personalities since Danny Parkins left the station for FS1 last month.
In conversation, Eddie called Bernstein by his last name. That didn’t sit well with Bernstein, who responded, “You can call me Dan, or you can call me Bernsy, but you don’t know me like that.” Though Bernstein was in the studio and Eddie was at a remote, Bernstein appeared to glare at Eddie, whom he saw on a stream. Eddie couldn’t see the stream of Bernstein’s show, but he chuckled at what he heard.
On Tuesday, the video went viral, and Portnoy noticed. He posted on X, “Stoolies have never had a more important war than to ruin this guys life (professionally speaking of course). Every army we got has to zone in on Bernstein.” The Stoolies’ response hasn’t been evident on the air, though Portnoy continued posting on X. Eddie said on X that Bernstein “despises Barstool.”
The irony is that Bernstein’s last name is in the name of the show, which he hosts with Laurence Holmes, “Bernstein and Holmes.” In his mind, it was more appropriate to be called by his nickname than his last name. He was wrong to react how he did on the air, and it was unfair to Eddie, who was making his first appearance on the station as a weekday co-host. A person of Bernstein’s acumen and experience should’ve known what the reaction would be to his remark.
It marked the first noticeable tension between The Score and Barstool, who in fact have a business relationship. Dan Katz, aka Barstool Big Cat, advertises his coffee company on Cubs broadcasts, which air on the station. But it appears Bernstein exposed his issue with the digital brand, sparking an unnecessary feud and giving The Score an avoidable headache.