Felger and Mazz - Creating False Naratives one day at a time

NDame616

will bailey
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
2,562
I'm just glad they're FINALLY diving into the "baseball sucks and is dead and analytics are killing sports" discussion. I don't think it's ever been touched upon on this show!
 

PC Drunken Friar

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 12, 2003
15,460
South Boston
Just saw a pic of World Class D-Bag Jim Murray from today's show wearing a "Hawk Tuah '24" baseball cap. He's got his finger on the pulse of 2 weeks ago.
I mean, it is literally the most viral thing going at the moment. I feel more bad for him in that he is WAY too old to be wearing a hat (it's corny as shit as it is) like that.
 

NDame616

will bailey
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
2,562
Also she was publicly identified a few days ago so her 15 minutes is far from up.

He's about 15 years too old to care about it, but for better or worse she's still "timely"
 

Patriot_Reign

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 21, 2011
1,229
I saw something on twitter that suggested that he wasn't wearing the hate anymore at some point during the show. Can anyone confirm? That would be kind of funny if a boss told him to take it the F off.
 

NDame616

will bailey
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
2,562
They were mocking the concept of Duran being an All Star. Basically Mazz just listed off the few players he knows off the top of his head as an All Star.

"When I think of an All Star I think of Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Othani, guys like that"

(There's a significant chance Mazz doesn't know Trout hasn't played in about 10 weeks)

To his "credit" on The Baseball Hour with Carrabis this week he reversed course and said he's an All Star.
 

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,416
They were mocking the concept of Duran being an All Star. Basically Mazz just listed off the few players he knows off the top of his head as an All Star.

"When I think of an All Star I think of Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Othani, guys like that"

(There's a significant chance Mazz doesn't know Trout hasn't played in about 10 weeks)

To his "credit" on The Baseball Hour with Carrabis this week he reversed course and said he's an All Star.
Shank had a good trivia question- the 6 starting Red Sox All Star Game left fielders since Ted retired.

Yaz, Rice, Manny, Jurassic Carl, Jason Bay and JBJ

I mention the final one here because he wasn't a left fielder, the year he got the nod, Trout was put in center.
 

NortheasternPJ

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 16, 2004
20,548
I'm sure everyone disagrees with me but Felger & McCarthy w/ Barth is vastly better than F&M with Weekday Jim Murray. I realize I'm not the target audience, but I've had it on for 2+ hours so far and I've listened to probably 4 hours of F&M total in the last 2 months. I'm sure the ratings won't reflect it but there's actual talk with Felger steering the ship, adding hot takes and not just 2 "personalities" stirring the pot.
 

chonce1

New Member
Apr 23, 2010
218
Maybe most fans don't know who Dom Smith is... Most fans aren't paid six or seven figures per annum to talk about sports either though.

And frankly I'm not a hardcore fan by any means these days (not the way I was in my twenties in the early 2000s for instance) but even I know who he is. And I think I've known who he is since like 2016
 

bosox2398

New Member
May 8, 2024
4
Dude doesn't watch baseball at the beginning of the season (OF COURSE 24-7 Patriots qb coverage dictated otherwise), didn't during the spring (Celtics and Bruins playoffs) and probably won't now that Patriots camp is opening. Felger is a lazy hack who can't be bothered to do his job, just surface level analysis.
 

Trapaholic

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 11, 2023
258
Earlier this week, Felger mentioned that in the late 90's he was "kicked off" the Bruins beat for the Herald. I was not reading a lot of newspapers back then, does anyone have any context around that? I thought he was mostly on the Patriots beat.
 

TFP

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2007
20,454
Earlier this week, Felger mentioned that in the late 90's he was "kicked off" the Bruins beat for the Herald. I was not reading a lot of newspapers back then, does anyone have any context around that? I thought he was mostly on the Patriots beat.
He called Jeremy Jacobs a crook (or something to that effect) in print for the Herald and Jacobs threatened to sue if he wasn't removed from the beat. That's how I remember it, at least.
 

MuppetAsteriskTalk

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 19, 2015
5,492
He called Jeremy Jacobs a crook (or something to that effect) in print for the Herald and Jacobs threatened to sue if he wasn't removed from the beat. That's how I remember it, at least.
First time I ever felt positive reading a sentence about something Jeremy Jacobs did.
 

Trapaholic

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 11, 2023
258
To everyone who answered my initial question - thank you! I was in grade school at the time, and after school I would listen to The Big Show. They always ragged on Felger for the Drew Bledsoe collapsed lung question, which was pretty funny.

Was Mazz a good beat writer for the Sox? Again, I wasn't reading a lot of newspapers at the time but I always loved the Red Sox. Mazz seems like he does really love baseball deep down, but he has to put on the character for the radio show. Was he good in print?
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

has fancy plans, and pants to match
Dope
SoSH Member
Apr 12, 2001
25,455
Was Mazz a good beat writer for the Sox? Again, I wasn't reading a lot of newspapers at the time but I always loved the Red Sox. Mazz seems like he does really love baseball deep down, but he has to put on the character for the radio show. Was he good in print?
I don't know, I liked him. I thought that he knew the game (I think that he played at Tufts) and was a down-the-middle type of reporter. In other words, he didn't jump into advanced stats like others did and he kind of turns his nose up when he's on the radio, but I don't recall him doing much of that at the Herald or Globe. I thought that he was pretty fair in his dealings with the team and I don't recall him being much of a muckraker. He had his opinions and I didn't agree with all of them, but they seemed to be logical at least. He wasn't someone that could turn a phrase. His writing was very business like and he was no Peter Gammons or Leigh Montville or Dan Shaughnessy (when he gives a shit). He'd tell you what he observed in plain English, which is fine. Especially for the Herald.

I wasn't a big fan of Nick Cafardo, but a lot of people loved him. His writing style, his reporting, just bugged me. I read a lot of his stuff, but I didn't learn much from it. But from all accounts he was a really nice and generous person, and that's all well and good. I guess what I'm saying is that there might be a bunch of different POVs on Tony Mazz, the writer.
 

sezwho

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
2,430
Isle of Plum
I have never seen Mike Reiss get angry before. I didn't think it was possible. Wow.
Its sad and predictable that Felgers justification for continuing to insist Mike Reiss is getting used, is that he allowed himself to be used when he was in the job. Perfect.
 

onthereg527

New Member
Nov 16, 2021
172
Reiss absolutely bodybagged them, this is great. I think he was pissed cause those other two were legit journalists so for them to even talk like this is just laziness.
 

Van Everyman

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2009
28,817
Newton
Man, Felger’s brand should take a huge hit here. A big piece of his brand is that while his opinions are salacious he knows football and used to cover the team. To admit he would just pass along information from single sources without even checking on them is devastating.
 

Patriot_Reign

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 21, 2011
1,229

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
28,206
Unreal America
I can't think of a beat reporter I have more respect for than Mike Reiss. I'm so glad he got mad and took down those two clowns. And of course they're both far too arrogant to spend a single second in self reflection about why the things they said were insulting. This is why I haven't listened to that show in years. What garbage.
 

joe dokes

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
32,578
While Felger was hung up on bells and whistles to try and impugn Reiss as a mouthpiece and argue the contract offer wasn't the contract offer, where Reiss really showed Felger's wilfully blind adherence to his own tortured narrative was pointing out that a player turning down "the best contract" looks even worse for the team than making a reasoned decision not to pay huge money to a WR, given the team's current position.
Misserotti says, "that's our point," when it wasn't Felger's point at all.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

Throw Momma From the Train
Moderator
SoSH Member
May 20, 2003
37,541
Deep inside Muppet Labs
Felger showed his ass here and Reiss absolutely piledrived him into the dirt. If Felger was capable of feeling shame, he'd die of it. Unfortunately he's just a cockroach in a skin suit so he'll just carry on with his usual fucking disgraceful act.
 

PedroKsBambino

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 17, 2003
33,487
Isn't Massarotti the guy who ripped off posts from a members-only board here and reported them?

The two of them talking about journalistic ethics is even less useful than the two of them talking to begin with.
 

Mystic Merlin

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 21, 2007
49,512
Hartford, CT
Incidentally, I totally believe Felger cut corners as a reporter, it dovetails nicely with his position that sports journalism and commentary is the ‘sandbox’ of news/analysis. So I don’t doubt he projects that onto other reporters, even guys like Reiss he knows/should know isn’t a pure access merchant (which is why Reiss got so worked up IMO).
 

bosox2398

New Member
May 8, 2024
4
Man, Felger’s brand should take a huge hit here. A big piece of his brand is that while his opinions are salacious he knows football and used to cover the team. To admit he would just pass along information from single sources without even checking on them is devastating.
I don't know, I liked him. I thought that he knew the game (I think that he played at Tufts) and was a down-the-middle type of reporter. In other words, he didn't jump into advanced stats like others did and he kind of turns his nose up when he's on the radio, but I don't recall him doing much of that at the Herald or Globe. I thought that he was pretty fair in his dealings with the team and I don't recall him being much of a muckraker. He had his opinions and I didn't agree with all of them, but they seemed to be logical at least. He wasn't someone that could turn a phrase. His writing was very business like and he was no Peter Gammons or Leigh Montville or Dan Shaughnessy (when he gives a shit). He'd tell you what he observed in plain English, which is fine. Especially for the Herald.

I wasn't a big fan of Nick Cafardo, but a lot of people loved him. His writing style, his reporting, just bugged me. I read a lot of his stuff, but I didn't learn much from it. But from all accounts he was a really nice and generous person, and that's all well and good. I guess what I'm saying is that there might be a bunch of different POVs on Tony Mazz, the writer.
Mazz did JV baseball. Which is probably one step above intramurals. I know I know thats a cheap shot below the belt to Tony the Phony.
 

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
28,206
Unreal America
Tomorrow should fun.
If someone doesn’t enjoy these clowns (and I know thousands of people do because their ratings are huge) why would they want to listen tomorrow?

The Pats had a nice, satisfying unexpected win. I’m sure F&M will shit all over it for 4 hours tomorrow. Who needs to listen to that?
 

Van Everyman

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2009
28,817
Newton
If someone doesn’t enjoy these clowns (and I know thousands of people do because their ratings are huge) why would they want to listen tomorrow?

The Pats had a nice, satisfying unexpected win. I’m sure F&M will shit all over it for 4 hours tomorrow. Who needs to listen to that?
To be clear, by “fun” I mean seeing how they twist an exciting, encouraging feel-good win into something unrecognizably negative and unpleasant.

Fuck these two.
 

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
28,206
Unreal America
To be clear, by “fun” I mean seeing how they twist an exciting, encouraging feel-good win into something unrecognizably negative and unpleasant.

Fuck these two.
Oh I got it.

But I’m sure some folks here who profess to hate these guys will tune in and get angry. It’s not for me, man. Life is way too short.
 

Quiddity

New Member
Oct 14, 2008
245
Not only does Felger want the Pats winning as much as possible this season, he predicted that the Pats could go 2-0 to start the season. So a rare instance, that at least in terms of the results, he was spot on about and should be happy about (of course with respect to all the details such as him bashing the roster, the coaching staff, claiming the team is tanking this year, etc... he is dead wrong).

Mazz and Murray I'm sure will be the clowns they always are. Murray in particular loves tanking and should be mad that they won.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

has fancy plans, and pants to match
Dope
SoSH Member
Apr 12, 2001
25,455
Found myself in the car without a podcast and listened to the first 15 minutes. All three were positively giddy with yesterday’s game. They loved every second of it.

I’m not a honk but it was nice to listen to.