Okay Wolfie, maybe I'm wrong about you bashing F&M, but you're always defending Ordway...which I find absolutely detestable. That is where I'm coming from.
Felger and Mazz - Creating False Naratives one day at a time
- Thread starter HomeBrew1901
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you will also find me posting when I find Ordway and Holley boring...you can find that
hey, can Chad Finn quote me, Jason Wolfe, in his next article about WEEI calling my own shows boring? Perfect headline: "Jason Wolfe Bashes Own Talent at EEI"
For a guy who shills the slingbox at every break, he sure doesn't use it very often. Or, more accurately, Tony Mazz & his wife are the foremost experts on Law & Order re-runs in the Boston radio market. Of all the things that bother me about Mazz, his refusal to watch the games he is paid to talk about is the most infuriating. He clearly NEVER watches the Bruins (as was evident in the talk about the Pittsburgh game) and will not watch the Celtics (which Felger does, reluctantly, every night at Comcast).
When Felger says he has no time to research fantasy baseball trades, I believe him. When Mazz reads the ad copy for Dragon Naturally Speaking and talks about all the things he does with it, I think half of them are made up or are things he hasn't ACTUALLY done in a long time. I bet he has a nice, happy, rewarding home life. Good for him. Too bad it continually interferes with his ability to watch sports.
Felger is trolling; he hasn't had a fresh thought on the Red Sox since the show debuted three years ago. Mazz should be better; he IS better in print. It's frustrating.
To be fair, Wiggy says five things stupider than that in every appearance; if they disagreed with him, it would devolve into those wonderful "FEL-GAR, listen" exchanges that really move the dial (to another station). Wiggy is just bad at the radio thing and I hope he's let go when that ill-advised contract expires. Mike Flynn would be approximately three trillion times better in that slot.
Felger and Mazz baseball talk is usually brutal, there's no doubt that it.
However, Felger has the ability to talk coherently about baseball. When the show debuted, he was beating the drum to play Victor Martinez more at catcher over Jason Varitek. I remember an exchange a couple of years ago between Felger and GRESH where Felger mentioned how RBI is an overrated stat.
The problem is, Felger always caters towards the sensational side of stories and Mazz doesn't challenge him. Especially on baseball, Mazz should be the straight man. After all, he was a Red Sox beat reporter for close to a decade. It's shocking to me he doesn't seem to have more of a grasp as to how the clubhouse works, how decision are made, etc.
While we're on Mazz, "The Baseball Reporters" is terrible, by the way. It's just Mazz screaming into the microphone for an hour. No guests, no nothing. Just high pitched screaming. Whenever Shaughnessy hosts (yes, Shaughnessy) the show is much better.
Wow, Felger just announced that Peter Gammons will be on every Wednesday at 3:00 during the baseball season. That's really surprising considering he has been a mainstay on WEEI for years and I wonder if this is an exclusive deal with TSH.
Felger frustrates me sometimes just like everyone else but you can not argue this point. Not only does he watch he watches astutely with a bigger picture in mind.
I wonder if they're going to run the Gammons/Felger dust up from a few years back?
There haven't been any more "Mr. Baseball" incidents with McAdam since he came on board TSH, but one can hope.
Gammons can get very pissy at times, so he might lapse into his old ways despite being paid what I assume is some nice cash to appear on Felger & Mazz every week. I remember one time when Gammons was on EEI a few years back and for some reason they were allowing callers to ask him questions. Someone asked a question that Peter didn't like and he said something like "And if you don't get that, then you don't understand the GAME!". Great stuff and with a little push it could have wandered into the Keith Foulke awkwardness zone.
Gotta wonder how this gig is going to fly with the folks at NESN. One of their studio analysts appearing once a week on CSNNE can't make them too happy. And I wonder what the graphic will say when Gammons is on. Will it describe him as an MLB Network analyst or an MLBN/NESN analyst?
Andy, it wasn't the McAdam confrontation; it was the one where Gammons chided Felger when Felger said that Manny was among the best right handed hitters in the game. Gammons got all pissy and said something like, "I guess you never heard of Albert Pujols." The thing was, Felger wasn't wrong it was back in 2003 or 04 when Manny was among the best right handed in the game.
It was 2005. Bruce Allen has the recap. The key line to Felger was "Watch the games!":
Gammons eventually apologized to Felger, FWIW.
I know, I just meant that Felger and McAdam have played nice on TSH since the "Mr. Baseball" incident on EEI so I figured the same would likely happen with Gammons.
Felger already danced around that one. He mentioned that Gammons was on the MLB network and something generic like the "Red Sox broadcasts" without explicitly saying NESN.
Sort of sad that I remember this, but back on Felger's 890 Show, he had Gammons on as a weekly guest during the baseball season(s) (I forget how many years Felger was actually on ESPN). It was back when ESPN people were only allowed on ESPN affiliates. They got along fine, you would never guess they had a dust-up like that unless you already knew about it. I very vaguely remember them actually discussing it and even Gammons apologizing to some extent, but I may be making that up completely. Either way this is really not news from that angle.
However, the ridiculous tone and tenor of F&M's Red Sox coverage makes this a must-listen for me, at least for the first few appearances. Gammons will lose a lot of respect from me if he doesn't call them out on at least some of their nonsense.
However, the ridiculous tone and tenor of F&M's Red Sox coverage makes this a must-listen for me, at least for the first few appearances. Gammons will lose a lot of respect from me if he doesn't call them out on at least some of their nonsense.
I have to ask, did Dan Bard say something shady and/or flakey and I missed it?
Because Felger seems to have a serious hate-on for him and his "toughness". Or is Felger just drawing his conclusions again? /honest question
Because Felger seems to have a serious hate-on for him and his "toughness". Or is Felger just drawing his conclusions again? /honest question
He didn't say anything, but Felger thinks that because Bard didn't say "I want to be the closer, damnit!" that he is joining the rotation to take an easier path. It's a really weird way to attack a player.
I thought the exact same thing as soon as Avila went deep. Felger will be in his glory today.
Its absolutely must listen.
But their show format today isn't going to be optimal. They need to take the old Mike and the Mad Dog approach..........have Felger HATE the Red Sox, revel in their demise, but Tony MUST be the Red Sox fan. Offer some balance. I WANT to listen to Red Sox bashing today..........I can't stand how last season ended and think Valentine is a clown running a 3 ring circus........but I want a DEBATE. I don't want to hear two people screaming at Valentine and the Red Sox. I want Felger shitting on them, Tony defending them and me rooting for Felger. Or, if your more the rational type, you would side with Tony. THATS entertaining radio.
Today will be fun, but not as fun as it could be.
Tony's not a Sox fan, so making him take the Red Sox side makes no sense. He's never said anything positive about the team in his life. Come to think of it, he's never said anything positive about anything in his life.
Rocco, you've hit upon the essential problem with the show: Felger and Mazz are too much alike. They both hate everything.
Rocco, you've hit upon the essential problem with the show: Felger and Mazz are too much alike. They both hate everything.
it would be fantastic if TSH has a clips section on it's website like WEEI...F&M clips would be golden
did anyone catch F&M earlier today? Just heard Felger sticking it to WEEI for its hockey bashing and The Green Teamers...would have thought the Red Sox bashing would have gone on the whole time
Probably that, much like everything in sports and life, it would be vastly improved if Josh Beckett died in a plane crash.
Seriously, how long can they run this gimmick into the ground?
I believe that they were discussing what the pitchFX data said about Beckett's pitches on Saturday, the fact that his velocity was poor and he left so many cutters in the middle of the plate. I don't think they said anything particularly snarky about your site and I think they were just trying to use that data to back up their harranguing of Beckett.
Dennis and Callahan did this morning too, reading from what Gordon Edes wrote about Beckett's start.
Yeah that would involve effort and possibly critical thinking thing which Mazz is completely incapable of. I certainly don't agree with lots of what Felger say (the Bard hate and the completely over the top Beckett stuff) but at least he pays attention to things and seems to put in some sort of effort.
I used to like Mazz, and on rare occasions he makes me chuckle but the next time he has an original or insightful thought will be the first.
I saw that, too. What a farce. Yeah, because KG never plays hard, he's just coasted his whole career until the last couple months of a contract year. Garnett is Mark Blount incarnate, don't you know?
I can't understand how this trolling dickhead from Milwaukee who hates on Boston teams has become so popular in this market. Felger couldn't possibly be a bigger douchebag if he tried, yet people around here clamor for his manufactured 'takes'. H.L. Mencken, apparently, was dead-on-balls accurate.
Felger:basketball as KG:antiperspirant. You're better off just changing the channel.
Seriously, especially when it comes to the Celtics. He hates them. Maybe it's Bucks related, but generally he hates on basketball all the time.
No sense in listening to him, or Mazz. Thankfully, they don't talk to much about the Celtics or basketball, unless it's to rip on Lebron, which I enjoy personally, but mileage may vary.
As much of a trolling dickhead that you (and others)think he is, I think his popularity is due to:
1.) He will never be considered a homer which most of WEEI is / was. I do think, especially at first, that was very welcome since it was a departure from when EEI was the only show in town.
2.) He has an opinion. The pringles guy down the dial is the notorious fence-sitter. Felger stands in stark contrast
3.) He's consistent with his opinion and will flat out admit when was wrong. Gronkowski / Hernandez & Marchand being 2 examples.
4.) He understands that his primary responsibility is to entertain. A vast majority of the media take themselves too seriously and, to this point, the only other person I think I've heard acknowledge his role as an entertainer first has been Michael Holley who did so during a documentary a few ears back.
Felger ranted today about how happy he was that EEI was reaping what it sowed for all its years of being "The Green Team" while bashing or simply ignoring the Bruins and the NHL. Yet Felger is just as loudly ignorant and dismissive of the Celtics and the NBA. He lambastes the Celtics and the NBA but everything he says about both shows that he knows nothing about basketball and doesn't want to even try to understand it better. Felger is douchebag perfected.
Bingo.
#2 and #3 can't be overstated enough. People don't tune into radio to be told or reinforced just how awesome these teams are. They tune in to have their teams and opinions challenged. When you couple that with Felgers ability to admit when he's wrong, you have a unique animal in Boston sports media.
There is a reason the owner of the Boston Red Sox literally barged into the studio to defend his team.............he knows this guy has an opinion and its real. He carrys the water for no one in this town, and couldn't care less if these teams go good. This makes for great entertainment.
Now if they could only pair him with someone who WAS a shill for these teams and have them debate..........well then you would REALLY have a show. But even as constructed, its great radio.
To me, this is the biggest reason, made even more so in how stark a contrast it is to EEI. The Marchand example being the best, he admits he was wrong and doesn't even try to defend himself.
Two more points:
1. When he is contrarian, he isn't doing it for just for the sake of being contrarian. Felger kept hammering the Patriots on doing things "their way," and compared them to the Jets, who were successful in their own right in 2009 and 2010. He wasn't being an asshole to Patriots fans for the sake of being an asshole, he was making a point about the Jets taking a different approach. And this year when the Jets tanked, he didn't come off as upset about it. To me, he actually calls it like he sees it and doesn't worry about who it offends. (As opposed to purposely trying to ruffle feathers to draw ratings)
2. He hates all basketball. Not just the Celtics, he doesn't like the NCAA tournament, he doesn't like the sport. The difference between that and how EEI treated hockey, is that others on the station still talk basketball. As we all know, EEI hockey was the dulcet tones of Dale and that WAS IT.
So when a guy who doesn't like or watch basketball goes on TV and accuses one of the most complete players and intense competitors in NBA history of merely turning it on for a salary drive, what part of that is entertainment?
Okay I'm watching the replay tonight and I adore Felger being the ONLY media personality to call out Bubba Watson for saying he's never taken a golf lesson. I'm sure his golf coach at Milton High School appreciates hearing him say that, let alone his coach at Georgia. I've been thinking what Felger is saying for the past 24 hours so I just had to express how happy I am to hear Felger articulating my thoughts so clearly.
Is this an actual defense? I like how when he(Felger) goes on one of his rants about the "toughness", like hockey toughness is something to be taken seriously. Like Brandon Bass couldn't kick the absolute living shit out of Sidney Crosby in any kind of even venue. Like, when a hockey game stops and two medium sized men on FUCKING SKATES, go toe to toe, and everyone pretends it's not a gimmick, like something dangerous could happen. Just one more reason why hockey sucks, and Felger's show sucks as well.
But come on, he HAS to admit he was wrong, because, well, he was 1000% off on Marshand and the TE. It comes with the territory. If he is going to call everyone and anyone out whenever he wants, he is going to be wrong. He is so popular because he is exactly like a Boston fan. Think back to the beginning of the Bruins season. He couldn't say enough back shit against that team. Then they are the best team in the world for 2 months, and all is gravy...they dip for 12 games late in the season, and suddenly they are horrible again.
And the Texas Tough Guy routine has to stop, like yesterday. I would love to see what he would say should Beckett call in.
I think what bothers me most about Felger is that he will literally say the same exact sarcastic comment 6 different ways in a row, and then repeat 3 of them after that.