From the Boston Celtics to Bake & Shake Worldwide: Matt's Heartwarming Homecoming
On this episode of Superfan Diaries, we’re diving headfirst into the wild, heartfelt, larger-than-life journey of Matt—better known in certain circles as the flamboyant, fearless, pro-wrestling–inspired Rick Romone—an Air Force veteran, elementary school teacher, Celtics diehard, creator, dad, and walking reminder that life doesn’t move in straight lines.
Matt’s story starts before he could even write his own name. Born in Berlin while the Wall was still standing, a third-generation veteran with both grandfathers and his father serving in the Army, service was in his blood—even if it was never forced on him. From birth to now, he’s moved 29 times. Twenty-nine. That kind of upbringing doesn’t just build resilience—it builds range. It teaches you how to enter a room, read it fast, and connect. It teaches you how to reinvent yourself without losing who you are.
Fast forward: he puts himself through school, earns a Master’s in Elementary Education, and becomes the kind of teacher who doesn’t just instruct—he inspires. The parallels between military service and education, he says, are staggering. Structure. Leadership. Servitude. Protecting and preparing the next generation. Different uniforms, same mission. From Berlin to the USA to Iraq, Qatar, and Jordan - Matt describes deployment and the opportunity to see how other people live as the ultimate opportunity to understand how our differences can really bring us together.
And sports—that’s the throughline.
From childhood through deployment, sports were the constant. In 2017, after serving as a “cable dog” in Iraq, Matt returned home and delivered a surprise that would ripple far beyond his own family. On the parquet floor of the iconic TD Garden, during a nationally televised game, he shocked his loved ones in a moment that stopped the sports world cold. The roar. The embrace. The disbelief. It wasn’t just a reunion—it was a cinematic collision of sacrifice, family, and fandom under the bright lights of the Boston Celtics.
For Matt, that night felt divinely orchestrated. The timing, the logistics, the sheer number of variables that had to align—it all went off without a hitch. And he’s never stopped asking himself why he was given that moment. Why he made it home. Why he got that gift. His answer? If you can see it in your mind’s eye and you’re willing to walk the path, God will make a way.
But here’s where the story gets even better.
Instead of letting that be his peak, Matt turned it into a launchpad. He made it his mission to thank everyone involved. Brian Scalabrine Zoomed in as a guest for his fourth-grade class during remote learning. He met Isaiah Thomas and presented him with a military coin he had carried for eight years. He returned to TD Garden as a featured guest on his five-year anniversary. He even got to thank the NBA on TNT crew—yes, including Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson—on their podcast, The Steam Room. Talk about the gift that kept on giving.
And then came the hard chapter. A few years ago, Matt went through what he calls an ugly divorce. After waiting his whole life to be a dad, his marriage began unraveling when his son was just one year old. The pain was real. The healing is ongoing. But in the middle of that storm, something unexpected arrived: a call from a friend he’d met during deployment. Would he be interested in podcasting with his cousin?
Enter the next evolution. What started as a basketball podcast became something much deeper—weekly “Dude Therapy” sessions. Conversations. Laughter. Honesty. Brotherhood. When that original show ended in 2024, Matt and his co-host Chris “Topher” Pete didn’t want the connection to stop. Even if one’s a proud Massachusetts fan and the other roots for New York teams, the bond was real.
So in 2025, when a chance to buy out their boss fell through, they bet on themselves and launched Bake and Shake Worldwide—a sports media company built not just on content, but on community.
Their only criteria? Be selfless. Be ambitious.
One of Matt’s guiding lights along the way has been a mantra from Marky of Omerta Cigars and Cafe: “Get up your network so that you can get up your net worth.” For Matt, it’s not about money. It’s about relationships. About building something that feels like the desert brotherhood he experienced nine years ago. About realizing that your network—your people—is your true wealth.
So who is Mathew Noll? He’s an Air Force veteran who once struggled in school and now holds a master’s degree. He’s an elementary teacher with a pro-wrestling alter ego. He’s a dad still healing, still growing. He’s a Celtics fan who turned a homecoming into a movement. He’s a creator who found his voice in the middle of chaos.
His life isn’t one clean narrative. It’s a mash-up. A highlight reel spliced with hard lessons. A story about service, setbacks, second acts, and showing up—again and again.
And if Superfan Diaries has taught us anything, it’s this: sometimes the loudest cheers come after the longest road home.
🎧 Hear Matt's full story on the SuperFan Diaries Podcast — where passion meets the game.
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