QUOTE (Mystic Merlin @ Jan 9 2010, 10:42 AM)
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Really?
I guess I'm listening to different segments or something. Mazz and Felger are not stupid like Smerlas/Johnson/insertWEEIrube. But they have - likely from covering nothing but sports for years - underdeveloped analytical minds. They seldom see the big picture or some possible contradictions between their opinions; I know they need to turn the negativity dial up to get listeners, but there's something horribly wrong about forcing it or letting it dominate even remotely intelligent discourse.
We don't need, for example, a Jaworski or Mayock-like breakdown of Brady's tendency to look off the safety on play action passes, but these guys quite literally cannot get past their own preconceived slant on a player or team. Their 'strong' opinions are vague enough to escape serious attention and often play on the worst cognitive biases of most fans (e.g. Moss is a lazy malcontent that doesn't produce....or, the Red Sox are cheap and/or love mediocre players). I.e., you could NEVER convince Felger Moss is a hard-working, great player because there's no 'stat' to prove it; he's free to keep on hating Moss under the premise that some two-bit media reports intermittently imply it or that he quit in Oakland.
Like I said, I don't think the choice is between 'Pom Poms' and 'Attack!!!!111', or, similarly, between boring, cold analysis and ridiculously irrational, ill-conceived radio blather. I like a mix, and Felger/Mazz (shit, 98.5 in general) doesn't provide that; this certainly isn't a defense of WEEI, BTW.
I also think it's important to remember something very important: positive spin outweighs negative spin in Boston sports talk
because the teams have been generally successful. After all, it's just as disingenuous and misguided to actively seek for reasons to attack Theo Epstein and Bill Belichick (despite the combined 5 titles in 10 seasons) as it is to nominate them for sainthood. Guys like Mazz seemingly don't grasp this point and proceed to chalk it up to rampant homerism. It's almost infuriating to listen to; they're negative for the sake of it.
How is their take on Boston Sports any different than Mike and The Mad Dog (best sports radio of all time) with regards to the New York teams? I think its amazingly similar..........and at least its not "schtick". (Felger is from Wisconson.....he comes across as a sports fan from Wisconson.....if he tried to come across as a Boston Sports fan he would be doing "schtick" like EEI does) It will be interesting to see how the shows goes moving forward.....M&M pissed off half their listenership on a daily basis, but the show was quality. People knew that and its why they continued to listen. I would argue the worst offense last week was the show lacked quality......not that it was "negative".
The bottom line..........this show is here to stay and I couldn't be happier about it.