The pitch was simple and very Barstool — send White Sox Dave and Ronny Doitche out into central Illinois with a camera and see what the sky does. For most of the afternoon it was vibes and ominous clouds, baseball-sized hail warnings, and Dave doing his thing on a livestream from the side of the road.
The live storm-chase stream rolling through Charleston, IL with WSD narrating off-camera.
Then the sky actually delivered. A funnel dropped near Montrose in Effingham County, and what had been a goofy day-1 chaser bit suddenly turned into a confirmed, NWS-warned tornado on the ground, churning behind houses and treelines at dusk.
The Tornado Nick / Storm Science feed of the large tornado near Montrose that WSD and Doitche were chasing.
And this is where the whole thing pivoted. Big Cat said the quiet part out loud — there's something weird about hyping up a tornado when you know it's about to wreck somebody's house. To their credit, WSD and Doitche didn't just film it and peel off. Once the funnel lifted, they drove toward the damage and started looking for people. Doitche floated a Barstool Fund-style relief idea on camera while standing in front of a flattened building, and Dave was right there with him.
Doitche and WSD floating a relief-fund idea while standing in the Montrose damage.
A little after 9 PM local, Dave posted the update that turned this from a wild internet day into something that actually mattered: 2 people pulled out of the rubble alive, broken leg and some scuffs, on the way to the hospital. The dogs were found in the cornfields, fine. Big Cat had already donated by then. The Stoolies Clubhouse summed it up about as well as anyone could — proud of the boys, balls and heart in a manner of moments.
@barstoolWSD @BillyDaKid_27 @VivaLaStool @RonnyDoitche Proud of you boys today, showed a lot of balls and heart in a manner of moments
Day 1 as storm chasers. Bagged a tornado, pulled 2 people out of the wreckage, found the dogs. You can't script that.