'I'm gonna cry': Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy saves veteran-owned pizza place



It's a Christmas miracle — with all the toppings.

Thanks to Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy's last-minute stop at a struggling Baltimore pizzeria, the veteran-owned shop can stay in business

Portnoy is the founder of the Barstool Sports empire but has branched off into doing his popular "one bite" pizza reviews.

'We received record numbers of sales and donations yesterday and today.'

His "One Bite Pizza Reviews" YouTube account has nearly 1.5 million subscribers and almost a billion views. There is also a popular "One Bite" app with all of his pizza review scores.

One more slice

Earlier this month, Portnoy traveled to Maryland for the Army-Navy football game.

Portnoy and his producer had been driving been in the car for about eight hours and did about 10 pizza reviews. They were ready to call it a day; however, Portnoy wanted to visit a small pizzeria in Baltimore.

One Bite Pizza Reviews producer Austin Jenkins wrote on the X, "As we were driving out of Baltimore to our hotel in D.C., Dave found TinyBrickOven on the One Bite app. He asked if it was on our way, but it wasn’t. He said let’s just do it anyways, looks like it could be good pizza to review. A One Bite Christmas Miracle."

Portnoy visited the TinyBrickOven pizzeria in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore.

TinyBrickOwner owner Will Fagg — a Navy veteran — was working when Portnoy went to pick up a pizza pie.

Fagg explained that the government was preventing him from acquiring a liquor license that could greatly benefit his business.

“We can’t get our liquor license here,” Fagg told Portnoy. “Our politicians gave this market down here their liquor license, but they won’t give us ours. ... It’s really disappointing.”

Christmas closure

He explained that his business had been struggling, which would force him to shutter his pizza joint on Christmas Day.

In a video posted to the TinyBrickOven website, Fagg says: "I must share the most devastating news of my life — TinyBrickOven is scheduled to close permanently on Christmas Day. My heart is shattered, not just for myself, but for all of us. This isn't just an end of a business, it feels like the end of a shared dream."

The TinyBrickOven website states that the company has organized fundraisers for veterans, fed the homeless, raised money for the Maryland Food Bank, and hosted a volunteer event for the staff of the Washington, D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Before tasting the pizza, Portnoy declared: "We’re gonna have to keep this place open."

Portnoy stepped out of the restaurant to do his review of the pizza. After being impressed with his slice, Portnoy went back inside the TinyBrickOven pizzeria to talk to Fagg.

An offer he couldn't refuse

Portnoy asked the pizzeria owner, "Can I ask you something? How much money do you need to stay open for like a year?"

Fagg said he wasn't sure of the exact amount to save his business.

Portnoy pressed, "Well, if there’s somebody super rich right in front of your face who’s in the pizza business, and by serendipity is like, ‘What do you need to stay open for a year,’ you’ve got to give him some figure, because then he’s going to walk away."

Fagg replied, "I know it. Listen, I think we could probably get our liquor license and continue to stay open if we had $60,000."

Without hesitation, Portnoy fired back: "Done."

'I'm gonna cry'

A gobsmacked Fagg exclaimed, "Oh, my gosh, man, this is unbelievable. Wow! I'm gonna cry."

Portnoy assured Fagg that he'll send him the money "before Christmas."

"We'll keep you open for a year," Portnoy declared.

Portnoy admitted that it cost him $60,000, but stressed: "But whatever, I'm a nice motherf***er."

Portnoy's pizza review went viral, racking up nearly 15 million views on Twitter, almost 400,000 views on YouTube, and notching 70,000 likes on Instagram.

The viral video has caused business to skyrocket for the fledgling pizzeria.

Fagg told CBS News that the TinyBrickOven had a line out the door and phones ringing off the hook on Christmas Eve.

"We've never had a crowd like this," he said.

A GoFundMe campaign for the pizzeria has raised nearly $130,000 at the time of publication.

"The very generous Barstool review basically broke the internet (our email server instantly crashed due to overwhelming email volumes)," the campaign reads. "We received record numbers of sales and donations yesterday and today."

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Lost engagement ring returned to couple on Christmas more than 20 years after it was flushed down the toilet



A couple got a shocking surprise on Christmas morning when they opened a present and found an engagement ring that had been flushed down the toilet more than 20 years ago.

Shaina Day and her husband Nick Day of Lakeland, Florida, told their story to WTVT-TV.

Shaina described how she had accidentally lost the ring two decades ago while living with her then-fiancé at his parents' home.

"I'd taken my ring off. It was sitting on the counter, so when I sopped up the water, I guess I didn't pay attention very well snagged my ring in the process and tossed it in the toilet and flushed it," she said.

They went so far as to look for the ring in the house's septic system.

"I climbed down into the septic tank with a hose that I had to suck up everything that was down there, and I pumped it through a hose over a screen, a window screen into a 55 gallon drum," Shaina explained.

That effort proved fruitless and they gave up hope.

Years later, the parents said they made a stunning discovery while renovating the bathroom. Apparently the ring had been stuck in the toilet that entire time. A plumber set the toilet into their bathtub to drain out the water inside and out popped the missing ring.

The parents placed the engagement ring in a small ceramic toilet and wrapped it for their gift to open on Christmas morning.

They recorded a reaction video of the couple opening the present.

"That just is absolutely amazing that it's just been sitting there, because we had just thought it was gone. It was never coming back. It's hard to believe," Shaina added.

The diamond was still intact on the ring, which was thoroughly cleaned.

"To know that everyone cared enough about it and thought it was so cool that they didn't tell us it was an actual genuine surprise. It was," said Nick.

"It brought tears to both our eyes," he concluded.

Here's a local news report about the flushed ring:

Flushed engagement ring returned after 20 yearswww.youtube.com