A Weekend To Remember: Final Four in Indianapolis with Barstool
- Ryder Stoolie
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
It's weekends like this one that you remember why we Viva.
Why most were there to support their teams for the Final Four in Indianapolis, I was boots on the ground for the Ship. (Mizzou if you ever want to make a Final Four in my lifetime, that would be fantastic)
Now, let's just get this out of the way. There is no city better to host a Final Four weekend than Indianapolis because truly, in 49 states it's just basketball. The town was electric, being able to see all the crazy fans running around downtown was epic.
This was my second Barstool live event I've been able to attend. My first being The Dozen LIVE tournament last year in Boston. That atmosphere was going to be hard to beat. You can read my experience on that here.
This Barstool Live event in Indianapolis was an experience that I'll never forget. Of course, the one and only Rico Bosco delivered with two whales during the shows with guest appearances from Arkansas head coach John Calipari and Florida head coach Todd Golden.
You knew The Economy was going to deliver when it mattered most. Also, I'll take this time to shoutout Tate for the amazing job he did over the last few days covering Bosco on the trip. Whatever the dude is getting paid, it's not nearly enough with the content he has put out over the last few months with After Dark, Mintzy, and now this.
And of course, you know I was going to be front and center at this event supporting my guy Rico, despite the mean names El Presidente wanted to call me.
There is just something attending these events mean to you as a Stoolie. These people have made more of an impact on my life than they'll ever know. During the hard days, you know you still have something to look forward to because of the content they produce every single day.
This was the first time I had seen Big Cat, Bosco, Titus and some of the others in person. I had been fortunate enough to meet some of the awesome talent in Boston last summer in BFW, Dana Beers, Jeff D. Lowe, Klemmer, Tommy Smokes, Feits, and Robbie Fox.
The coolest thing you always remember when you meet the people you watch every day, is that you get reminded that they're down to earth fucking people who appreciate the support.
Big Cat took pictures for 20 minutes straight the second he walked in while Dave stayed around for a long period of the time after the first show ended to meet fans and take pictures. Pretty fucking awesome if you ask me.
Besides being a Ryder, I would consider myself a massive Mostly Sports fan. Family. It was awesome to get to meet the crew in Titus, Connor Griffin, EBo, TJ, and Kody. While also getting another picture with BFW despite the rumors of him not wanting to be in Indy.
Of course, as a big boy myself, I had to get a picture with Dana Beers and Katic. Meeting WBR might have been the most underrated moment of the trip. Those dudes are the exact same off camera as they are on camera, in fact, all of the people were. I think that's what makes Barstool so fucking awesome is that while they all have their schticks, they don't just do it for the cameras.
You also probably would never realize how much work has to go into making sure a Live event goes perfect, but watching the behind the scenes people do their thing, makes you realize just how good they are at their jobs. Shoutout All Business Pete, Live Events Lisa, Doug, and all the others who I saw putting in that work.
What's amazing about the Stoolie community though is that they understand everything I'm writing about. They've felt it before. They all care about the brand as much as me and make the Ship so special.
This trip meant a lot to me. I enjoy traveling by myself to things that I know I'll always appreciate for the rest of my life. I'll attach pictures below, but I got to get up early on Friday morning and drive to South Bend to experience the campus of Notre Dame. Damn. What a beautiful place. I got to see Final Four teams practice. I stayed in Bloomington on Friday night and visited Memorial Stadium, see Assembly Hall. Greg Fucking Oden sat next to me for 20 minutes during the Saturday show.
All this to say, thank you Barstool for everything. Ryders forever!
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