I was listening to a Felger-less Mazz and DA show yesterday and I have to admit, it wasn't too bad. That's when it hit me, Tony Massarotti is either a number one or number three guy and that's it. He simply isn't comfortable enough being in a two-man booth.
Let me explain:
When he's sitting in the douche chair or he hosts the Baseball Show by himself, I think that he does a pretty good job of stating his opinions strongly without being an asshole and keeping the conversation moving. When he was on the Big Show as one of the guest hosts, again, I think that he did a good job because he wasn't talking as much and he could kind of glom on to another opinion and ride that out. In other words, I think that Mazz either needs to have the strongest voice in the room (when he's alone or with an "underling") or he needs to be able to go along with someone who has a strong opinion.
However when it's a two-man booth, that's when things got muddle up because Massarotti gets lost or just agrees with Felger (who has the stronger voice). That makes for crappy radio because the guys are either agreeing with each other on every point and it's like a double-sermon. Or Mazz feels like he has to "take a stand" about something that he doesn't quite agree with. And we've all heard him a number of times make pointless arguments that sound wishy washy or dull and I contend that's simply because he doesn't fully believe in what he's saying. Or he goes in the other direction and becomes a dick and starts to morph into his "evil Tony" schtick from EEI, which is just as annoying.
I think that if TSH started over, the best thing that they could have done is have it a real three-man show. Maybe Felger, Massarotti and Sean McAdams or Chris Gasper or someone with a bit of cache. It wouldn't work with a less experienced person than Bertrand because I'm not sure that Mazz respects them enough to agree with their points. Thus it could turn into Felger and Mazz vs. Bertrand, which wouldn't be fair to the new guy. (I admit that I may be projecting a bit on this last part about Mazz and who he respects, but the point stands).