Camp Barstool is officially back, and the pre-show hype machine has been running nonstop all week on The Yak. The event is Barstool's annual outdoor competition series presented by Mountain Dew, which has previously packed in softball, water games, tug-of-war and full relay races into a few days at a Wisconsin lake, and this year's edition returns with the same big-tent energy: drafted teams, live competitions and a whole week of coverage once it actually kicks off.
The Yak dropped a promo teasing a batting and running competition at Camp Barstool, framing it as Big Cat's shot at payback against Titus and Cheah.
The framing on that promo — can Big Cat get revenge on Titus and Cheah this year — is doing a lot of work. It's a tease, not a recap, so there's no confirmed score or result to point to yet. But it's enough to signal that whatever went down between those three at a past Camp Barstool clearly left a mark, and Barstool's leaning into it as the marquee subplot heading into the 24th.
Two Camp Barstool team captains were caught having a tense hallway exchange ahead of this year's draft.
That captain-on-captain tension lines up with what's actually been happening behind the scenes. Ohio's Tate was named a team captain this year and made it clear he wasn't treating the draft like a joke, breaking out a "failing to prepare is preparing to fail" mantra before he even sat down at the board.
The strategy talk got specific fast. Once the picks were in, Ohio's Tate laid out his whole roster logic publicly — conceding the other side probably has the better pure athletes, but banking on his group to actually win events. He's got Chef Donny, Wonton Don and Sydnie Wells geared up for the swimming, canoeing and relay-heavy day, Big Cat pitching alongside Ebo and White Sox Dave for softball, and Jerry and Rico assigned to work the refs.
People are going to say Team Green has the better athletes (they do) but I tried to go with who will be best at the events. There’s an entire day of swimming and canoeing + the final relay and we got Chef Donny, Wonton Don, and Sydnie Wells. Big Cat (pitcher), Ebo, and White Sox Dave for softball. And then we’ve got Jerry and Rico working the refs. We’ll see if it was smart or dumb but I like my team!
That last part is the real subplot to watch: Big Cat, who hosts Pardon My Take, The Yak and The Rundown, drafted straight onto softball duty for a team that's openly saying it's punting on raw athleticism to win on strategy. Add in the still-unresolved history with Titus and Cheah, and Camp Barstool's opening days already have a grudge match and a scheme-versus-talent storyline built in before a single event has actually been played. Kickoff is August 24, and given how loud the buildup already is, it's shaping up to be one of the bigger Camp Barstool runs yet.