Barstool Pick Em – "Rico Gets His End of Year Review"

Date: December 4, 2025
Hosts: Big Cat (Dan Katz), Dave Portnoy (“El Pres”), Rico Bosco, Hank Lockwood, Gaz, Jack Mac
Special Guest: Mike Repole

[Overview of the Episode]

This championship week episode is less focused on college football itself and more on the team’s internal dynamics, specifically Rico Bosco’s end-of-year review. The show kicks off with a classic Barstool blend of banter, negotiation, grievances, back-slapping, and workplace politics. Expect rituals (mock “performance reviews”), stats breakdowns, sponsor shenanigans, and plenty of inside jokes. As always, gambling picks and some real football talk (eventually) anchor the back half. The episode’s heart: can Rico leverage his networking, deal-chasing, and content numbers into a raise at Barstool? Or will harsh stats and Dave’s icy humor keep him in check?

[Key Discussion Points & Insights]

1. Rico’s Sponsor Hustle: Shirt Gate, Ink Drying, and "Friend Deals"

• Wearing the Wrong Shirt ([01:10]–[04:00])

  • Rico enters in a sponsor's shirt, earning pushback from Pres and Big Cat:
    • “No free ads. We like people to pay for ads around here.” – Dave ([01:36])
  • Rico explains (kind of) that he’s hustling up new deals for Barstool, teasing that they’re close with this unnamed sponsor.

• Sponsor Negotiation Whirlwind ([05:00]–[11:16])

  • The gang debates what stage Rico is "on" at Barstool, compared to music festival lineups.
  • Running gag: Rico mixing metaphors about closing a deal (dating, sex, blue balls).
  • Big Cat: “Did you think because you went to one basketball game with him at Madison Square Garden… his advertising investment was Bosco Industries only?” ([07:33])
  • Dave and Dan suggest Rico is more of a side act than a headliner in sponsor deals.

• Networking as Rico’s Secret Sauce ([15:20]–[18:24])

  • Rico is accused of “stealing everyone’s friends” at sponsor dinners:
    • “He will steal your friends. He’ll just snatch them right up.” – Big Cat ([17:57])
  • It’s a Ricofied hustle: “You don’t just sit on your phone, you go get phone numbers. I’m the best there is to network.” – Rico ([15:58])

2. End of Year Review: Performance Stats and Workplace Comedy

• (Bad) Numbers Are In ([31:25]–[34:44])

  • Jack Mac reveals damning stats—Rico’s Black Friday post is down 26%, total blogs written down 15%, total blog page views down 27%.

    • “Stats are like assholes. Everyone has them.” – Dave ([32:42])
    • “I think we just sweep them under the rug.” – Big Cat ([33:15])

  • Discussion: Should quantity or quality matter? Does hustle outweigh hard numbers?

• Grading Rico: The Report Card Segment ([35:22]–[43:20])

  • Each host gives Rico a letter grade.

    • Big Cat: “A plus" ([35:32])
    • Dave: “B minus… You got paid way too much for way too long just for being a jerk and an asshole. But Dan and I have a soft spot for you.” ([41:43])

  • Honest talk about overpay, raises in the content industry, and Barstool’s culture of “firing squads.”

• Who Makes Barstool Money? ([39:40]–[40:40])

  • Company-wide profitability talk: Only a handful of shows and personalities bring in more than they cost. Everyone else rides coattails, including (allegedly) Rico.

3. Special Guest: Mike Repole Joins for Sponsor Drama

• Repole’s (Sort-Of) Endorsement ([51:02]–[57:56])

  • Mike Repole joins for some playful shaming and open debate:
    • “Those are not the friends I want. The ones I gave Rico are the ones I don’t want.” – Repole ([52:57])
    • On Rico’s importance:
      • “If Bosco falls off the bridge, is the deal dead? …It’s in jeopardy.” – Repole ([55:01])

• Rico as "Dessert" in the Business Dinner ([57:18]–[58:09])

  • Repole: “If Barstool was a dinner, Dave's a steak, Big Cat’s the pasta, Rico is the dessert. The fun part of the night where you don’t give a fuck what you put in your body…”
  • Rico’s role: “Making the conversations more enjoyable.” ([56:57])

• Horse Racing Tangent with Repole & Dave ([59:06]–[66:57])

  • Repole and Dave go deep on horse racing corruption, data, and how Barstool could shake up the industry. Tangents about industry gatekeeping add comic relief.

4. The Social Media Numbers & Content Value

• New Metrics: Are Things Actually Up? ([67:14]–[73:39])

  • Gaz provides revised numbers showing Rico’s views are up 33%—“that’s the positive story.” ([67:17], [73:39])
  • Debates on content distribution: Rico claims main account boosts aren’t counted, and some hosts fret about personal vs. shared credit.

• AI and Automation Jokes ([72:33]–[73:39])

  • Dave: “Honestly, I could AI 80% of this company. … AI Bosco may have a little trouble with.”
  • This turns into a running gag about ‘AI Bosco’: a Barstool bot that could terrify the world.

5. Extra: Rico’s Group Chat Gatekeeping

• Bosco’s Group Chat Activities ([74:09]–[75:47])
  • Jack accuses Rico of making a group chat for Mostly Hoops (a show he’s not on) and spamming it.
  • Hosts admit they find Rico’s info-dumps actually helpful: “I like that 100%. … I need people feeding me stuff.” – Big Cat ([75:47])

6. Football Talk: Playoff Gripes, Rankings, and Picks

• Michigan–Ohio State Logo Drama ([78:37]–[80:21])

  • Dave riffs on the “guarding the logo” pettiness and rivalry drama.

• Craziness of Playoff Rankings ([81:25]–[87:11])

  • Segment full of playoff complaints:
    • "It’s a sham." – Dave ([81:28])
    • Conversation about BYU, Notre Dame, Miami, ACC/Big 12 tiebreakers, and the committee allegedly setting up Miami to get in.
    • “The whole thing is stupid… The sport is getting hard to– I don’t know what the answer is.” – Big Cat ([86:22])

• Championship Game Picks ([87:20]–[Throughout 105:00])

  • Furious boisterous pick-em action (each host picks every game, with the usual jokes and rationale).
    • Includes analysis of the Lane Kiffin–LSU/Ole Miss saga, how college football has changed, and concerns about athletes protecting themselves vs. chasing rings.

[Notable Quotes & Moments]

• “I thought the guy was gonna let me fuck him. And now I might have blue balls. And even worse, my roommates will have blue balls.” – Rico, talking about a sponsor, ([11:16])

• “He will steal your friends. He’ll just snatch them right up.” – Big Cat, on Rico’s networking hustle ([17:57])

• “Stats are like assholes. Everyone has them.” – Dave, seeing Rico’s bad year-end numbers ([32:42])

• “We love you, yes, you’re in!” – Dave and Big Cat, welcoming Mike Repole, after banter about being “kicked out” of the sponsor conversation ([51:24])

• “If Bosco falls off the bridge, is the deal dead? … It’s in jeopardy.” – Mike Repole ([55:01])

• “If Barstool was a dinner, Dave’s a steak, Big Cat’s the pasta. What is Rico? Is he a dessert? The dessert. It’s the fun part of the night!” – Mike Repole ([57:18])

• “Honestly, I could AI 80% of this company. … AI Bosco may have a little trouble with.” – Dave, on the future of content ([72:44])

• “It’s a sham.” – Dave, on the playoff committee and snubs ([81:28])

• “It’s been a bad year. It was clearly a bad year.” — Rico, facing his performance stats ([33:39])

[Timestamps of Key Segments]

• [01:10]–[04:00] — Shirt controversy, sponsor callouts
• [05:00]–[11:16] — Sponsor deal, friend “stealing,” music festival metaphors
• [15:20]–[18:24] — Rico’s networking hustle, “stealing” dinner friends
• [31:25]–[34:44] — Bad performance stats, sweeping under the rug
• [35:30]–[43:20] — Rico’s year-end grades, overpay, performance talk
• [51:02]–[57:56] — Mike Repole segment: sponsor deals, role at Barstool
• [59:06]–[66:57] — Dave & Repole: horse racing corruption rant
• [67:14]–[73:39] — Social media numbers, up 33%, value of main account
• [74:09]–[75:47] — Rico’s group chat gatekeeping
• [78:37]–[80:21] — Michigan–Ohio State logo banter; rivalry pettiness
• [81:25]–[87:11] — CFP rankings “sham” and playoff committee gripes
• [87:20]–[105:00] — Conference championship weekend: picks, Lane Kiffin/Lane drama, gambling rationale

[Conclusion]

With classic Barstool irreverence, this episode deconstructs the workplace politics that make Pick Em as compelling as the games themselves. Sponsors, stats, and self-deprecation combine into a running joke-laden expose of how content sausage is made. Amidst all the gags, the team does tee up championship week picks—and even finds room for a real performance review (with actual grades and justified burns). If you want to understand the layers of Barstool’s gambling content—and workplace dynamic—you can skip the games, but not this episode.

Bonus: Best Out-of-Context Rico Line ([11:16]):
“Dave, I thought the guy was gonna let me fuck him. And now I might have blue balls. And even worse, my roommates will have blue balls…”