The Best of the Boston Phoenix

The free weekly rag Barstool Sports doesn't pretend to be anything it's not. Billing itself as "the only newspaper in Boston written by the common man for the common man," it pursues its editorial mandate unabashedly: beer, babes, and ball. Those cover photos of buxom beauties (contestants in the ongoing Ms. Barstool Sports competition) might smack of sexism, but the "average Joes" on the BS editorial board care not a whit. Besides, there's some writing within those dozen or so pages - skimpy as the clothes on the cover models - that's actually quite good. Sure, there are the thoughtful, funny essays on being a sports fanatic, and wicked takedowns of Yankee hubris. But there's also music criticism (a skewering of John Mayer) and tongue-in-cheek local-issues reporting (a series of proposed new regulations for the MBTA, including one that requires you to stay in your seat for the duration of the trip: "You can just look at the [old] ladies and say, 'Sorry, I'd love to give up my seat, but rules are rules.' ") Being un-PC for the sake of being un-PC is lame, of course. But Barstool Sports pulls it off with such shameless aplomb, it's hard not to root for the little guy.