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

[Phenom]

Wait, I thought the problem was that the Red Sox were cheap?

"They're not cheap...they just did nothing to improve the team at the trade deadline last year and stood pat in 2006 too! Then their ratings were down, and ownership forced Theo Epstein to sign Carl Crawford. Don't get me wrong, I'm GLAD the Red Sox overpaid Crawford. But still, they overpaid him and they did it because ratings on NESN were down. The Red Sox are on the verge of becoming irrelevant, and John Henry forced Theo to make a splash, even though Theo didn't want Crawford. He doesn't fit the profile of a 20 million dollar per year player. Players who make that money hit 50 home runs in a season. Crawford's only hit 19! 19! 19! Not 20! 19! And they could've made it work with Victor Martinez if John Henry wasn't worried about courting LeBron James to help him promote Liverpool. They picked Ortiz over Martinez only because of Ortiz's marketing appeal. Because did you know that ratings were down? They were down! Down I say! And they haven't won anything since Mark Teixeira signed with the Yankees. In addition, their interest has gone down since they blew it on Teixeira." - Felger and Mazz baseball analysis.

Sadly...it's still more entertaining than the awkward "discourse" heard between Ordway, Holley, and the "zany" Mike Adams.

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

"They're not cheap...they just did nothing to improve the team at the trade deadline last year and stood pat in 2006 too! Then their ratings were down, and ownership forced Theo Epstein to sign Carl Crawford. Don't get me wrong, I'm GLAD the Red Sox overpaid Crawford. But still, they overpaid him and they did it because ratings on NESN were down. The Red Sox are on the verge of becoming irrelevant, and John Henry forced Theo to make a splash, even though Theo didn't want Crawford. He doesn't fit the profile of a 20 million dollar per year player. Players who make that money hit 50 home runs in a season. Crawford's only hit 19! 19! 19! Not 20! 19! And they could've made it work with Victor Martinez if John Henry wasn't worried about courting LeBron James to help him promote Liverpool. They picked Ortiz over Martinez only because of Ortiz's marketing appeal. Because did you know that ratings were down? They were down! Down I say! And they haven't won anything since Mark Teixeira signed with the Yankees. In addition, their interest has gone down since they blew it on Teixeira." - Felger and Mazz baseball analysis.

Throw in a "You're right Mike" and you've just perfectly summarized their show with respect to baseball/Sox talk. Excellent job.

 

[Rocco Graziosa]

"They're not cheap...they just did nothing to improve the team at the trade deadline last year and stood pat in 2006 too! Then their ratings were down, and ownership forced Theo Epstein to sign Carl Crawford. Don't get me wrong, I'm GLAD the Red Sox overpaid Crawford. But still, they overpaid him and they did it because ratings on NESN were down. The Red Sox are on the verge of becoming irrelevant, and John Henry forced Theo to make a splash, even though Theo didn't want Crawford. He doesn't fit the profile of a 20 million dollar per year player. Players who make that money hit 50 home runs in a season. Crawford's only hit 19! 19! 19! Not 20! 19! And they could've made it work with Victor Martinez if John Henry wasn't worried about courting LeBron James to help him promote Liverpool. They picked Ortiz over Martinez only because of Ortiz's marketing appeal. Because did you know that ratings were down? They were down! Down I say! And they haven't won anything since Mark Teixeira signed with the Yankees. In addition, their interest has gone down since they blew it on Teixeira." - Felger and Mazz baseball analysis.

Sadly...it's still more entertaining than the awkward "discourse" heard between Ordway, Holley, and the "zany" Mike Adams.

Excellent summation. I'll listen to their Red Sox rants these days especially because when I heard the contracts they gave out to Carl Crawford and especially John Lackey I immediately thought ownership was behind it. Plus he's fairly entertaining when ranting. But you can't listen for very long or too often because these talking points are repeated ad nausium and rarely change.

Edit: And I'll listen to Felger rant on about the John Henry and Lebron James stuff all day long. That partnership makes me want to puke.

 

[Haunted]

Mazz really needs a cohost for the baseball show. He simply doesn't have the personality to carry a show alone - even for an hour. His voice is somewhat grating to begin with and he lacks the charisma to really be an effective radio host.

Every time I've tuned in for the past few days he has been going on and on about how the Red Sox pitchers seem to pitch better to Varitek. Now, he does his research and brings numbers and stats and backs up his opinion, which is great. But he just goes on and on and on and on about it and repeats the same point over and over and over. Maybe he should take more calls? Or more interviews? Or a cohost? Or someone else entirely? Whatever makes him talk less is a good thing.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

You're nuts if you think Henry issued ultimatums to Theo.

Last time he felt encroached upon in baseball operations, he resigned and left Fenway in a monkey suit. He returned only upon a guarantee that Lucchino and Co. wouldn't interfere with the baseball ops people.

Fuck, if anything, the exact opposite is true - he has to pass bigger moves by ownership.

 

[Darnell's Son]

Excellent summation. I'll listen to their Red Sox rants these days especially because when I heard the contracts they gave out to Carl Crawford and especially John Lackey I immediately thought ownership was behind it. Plus he's fairly entertaining when ranting. But you can't listen for very long or too often because these talking points are repeated ad nausium and rarely change.

Edit: And I'll listen to Felger rant on about the John Henry and Lebron James stuff all day long. That partnership makes me want to puke.

Rocco, I generally respect your opinions, but sometimes you just sound like a cynical ninny. It is as simple as this: To obtain talent on the free agent market in the MLB you need to overpay. This is especially true if you are in the AL East and think the Yankees may be interested in the same players as you are. The Yankees paid out the ass to get Burnett and the Red Sox had innings to eat and money to burn last offseason, so they paid out the ass to get Lackey. This past offseason, the Sox had some money to burn and an opening in the outfield, and so did the Yankees, sorry but I'm not sold on Gardner or Swisher long term. So Theo made an overpay move on Crawford. Next year, Drew is off the books and either Kalish or Reddick will replace him for significantly less, offsetting the cost of Crawford. These simple economic facts get lost so often in these arguments of guys being "overpaid." It's called budgeting, and I'm pretty sure Henry is good with money, judging by his fortune.

Finally, let us jump into your fantastical John Henry run world: The Red Sox have won not one, but two World Series, since he took over. Give it up. Until the Red Sox go on an abysmal run, like 4 years, you cannot attack this ownership group or front office on this scale.

Edit: If you seriously care that this ownership group has joined with Lebron James, then you need to grow up, or root for the Royals.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

LeBron James is a cunt, but I love the idea that we're basically taking a piece of his narcissism and using it to spend on the Red Sox. But then I'm a glass half-full kind of guy.

I really don't see what there is to complain about the free agents. Both the Red Sox and Yankees have held relatively stable in payroll lately - the Sox made the big jump in 2010 and actually have a lower payroll this year, while the Yanks have been around 200 million since 2005. They've always got big contracts coming off the books, so there's always space to replace them with new big contracts.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

It's been very widely reported that Theo had to convince Henry to sign Crawford to that deal. NOT the other way around. That's been reported multiple times. Theo even hired a PI to follow Crawford and see his personal and training habits. Don't let whatever fiction running around in Mazz and Mike's heads distort the truth of the matter.

They have a shtik and by God and sonny Jesus they are going to pound that shtik into the ground, facts be damned. I have no idea why so many people want to tune into these dickheads just to have their chains yanked, but there you have it.

 

[Dalton Jones]

Let me reiterate. Felger says the same thing over, and over, and over, and over, and over............. again and again and again. He has one talking point per team and that's it.

1. The Sox overpaid Crawford because their ratings sucked last year.
2. Julien insists on rolling out four lines and giving more minutes to Chris Kelley than Patrice Bergeron.
3. The NFL owners won't show the books because they pay their family members outrageous salaries to do nothing.
4. The NBA sucks, the refs suck, and who gives a shit anyways.

That pretty much sums it up. Going on several months now.

All these guys jump the shark before too long. Overexposure is a killer.

 

[Phenom]

Let me reiterate. Felger says the same thing over, and over, and over, and over, and over............. again and again and again. He has one talking point per team and that's it.

1. The Sox overpaid Crawford because their ratings sucked last year.
2. Julien insists on rolling out four lines and giving more minutes to Chris Kelley than Patrice Bergeron.
3. The NFL owners won't show the books because they pay their family members outrageous salaries to do nothing.
4. The NBA sucks, the refs suck, and who gives a shit anyways.

That pretty much sums it up. Going on several months now.

All these guys jump the shark before too long. Overexposure is a killer.

But yet, it's still 1,000 times better than Ordway and Holley being awkward with each other.

EEI really dropped the ball with "The Big Show." They should've honestly just kept the 3 co-host format, and continued with bringing in McAdam, Buckley, Tom E. Curran, Joe Haggerty, Cedric Maxwell, etc more regularly and continued to fizzle out the likes of Steve Burton, Butchie Stearns, and Larry Johnson. I know I would probably give it a listen for a little each day to see who the co-hosts were. But now? I don't go anywhere near 850 AM besides Red Sox games. I even...gulp...choose Gresh and Zo over Mut and Merloni most of the time.

 

[Puffy]

But yet, it's still 1,000 times better than Ordway and Holley being awkward with each other.

EEI really dropped the ball with "The Big Show." They should've honestly just kept the 3 co-host format, and continued with bringing in McAdam, Buckley, Tom E. Curran, Joe Haggerty, Cedric Maxwell, etc more regularly and continued to fizzle out the likes of Steve Burton, Butchie Stearns, and Larry Johnson. I know I would probably give it a listen for a little each day to see who the co-hosts were. But now? I don't go anywhere near 850 AM besides Red Sox games. I even...gulp...choose Gresh and Zo over Mut and Merloni most of the time.

I've been doing the same thing. For all the criticism of Dale Arnold, Mut is definitely an Arnold prototype, right down to the nervous laughter and friendly, mediocre blandness. It's like a 30-year-old version of Arnold. If they aren't talking baseball, I find the Mut and Merloni thing totally uninteresting. I think former pro-athletes need stronger co-hosts. Felger would have worked with Merloni, in a way that they were probably intending Mutnansky to.

 

[Sparky Lyle]

4. The NBA sucks, the refs suck, and who gives a shit anyways.

And you disagree with this?




Oh, that's right, you're a basketball player. I forgot.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

And you disagree with this?




Oh, that's right, you're a basketball player. I forgot.

Thanksgivings at your family's must be mighty interesting.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

to fizzle out the likes of Steve Burton, Butchie Stearns, and Larry Johnson. I know I would probably give it a listen for a little each day to see who the co-hosts were.

They would never do that though. They tried to do that a few years ago (remember when Mustard and Johnson got the axe?) but apparently the temptation is too strong for whomever books the co hosts to keep going back to that old well. And instead of bringing in new people (people say from their web site) they think that the public wants to hear a failed cartoonist and human catfish pontificate on the local sports scene.

 

[Sparky Lyle]

Thanksgivings at your family's must be mighty interesting.

He went to Holy Cross.



Need I say more.

 

[Dalton Jones]

As did everyone in the family except you.......

As to the NBA, it does suck. I don't watch it anymore. I just wish Felger would shut up. Or grow up. Or something.

And agreed that the Big Show is awkward and pretty unlistenable as well. I find myself trying to get the 'FAN on my crummy car radio...... or I listen to my fellow liberals on National Pravda Radio

 

[Andy Merchant]

they think that the public wants to hear a failed cartoonist and human catfish pontificate on the local sports scene.

Mustard is a human catfish? That's awesome.

 

[Sparky Lyle]

As did everyone in the family except you.......

I was the only enlightened one.





Except for Dad, of course.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Felger thinks that using Bard in the relief ace role is "bullcrap". He's such an idiot.

 

[scottyno]

Felger thinks that using Bard in the relief ace role is "bullcrap". He's such an idiot.

where exactly does he want them to be using him? its not like papelbon has been bad

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

Felger thinks that using Bard in the relief ace role is "bullcrap". He's such an idiot.

I listened today for a while. Good hockey talk with some funny Claude bashing...followed by a solid interview with Pierre McGuire...followed by some moronic baseball talk...followed by me switching to a podcast. They really can't talk baseball at all.

 

[mcpickl]

Let me reiterate. Felger says the same thing over, and over, and over, and over, and over............. again and again and again. He has one talking point per team and that's it.

1. The Sox overpaid Crawford because their ratings sucked last year.
2. Julien insists on rolling out four lines and giving more minutes to Chris Kelley than Patrice Bergeron.
3. The NFL owners won't show the books because they pay their family members outrageous salaries to do nothing.
4. The NBA sucks, the refs suck, and who gives a shit anyways.

That pretty much sums it up. Going on several months now.

All these guys jump the shark before too long. Overexposure is a killer.

He banged this point home over and over yet again today.

Julien is an idiot for rolling four lines, and specifically the third line Peverly is OK, Kelly stinks, and Ryder should be benched for Seguin.

Tonight that line combines for 8 points including the tying and winning goals. Will Felger give a mea culpa and say Claude Julien was right and change his tune, or does he mention at the top of the show those guys played well then spend the last 7/8ths of the show going back over his old saws?

I'd be shocked if it's not the latter.

 

[steveluck7]

He banged this point home over and over yet again today.

Julien is an idiot for rolling four lines, and specifically the third line Peverly is OK, Kelly stinks, and Ryder should be benched for Seguin.

Tonight that line combines for 8 points including the tying and winning goals. Will Felger give a mea culpa and say Claude Julien was right and change his tune, or does he mention at the top of the show those guys played well then spend the last 7/8ths of the show going back over his old saws?

I'd be shocked if it's not the latter.

In fairness to Felger, he is one of the only media personalities who will readily admit when he is wrong so it wouldn't surprise me to hear some sort of mae culpa on that one. That said, I think he'll still be correct in calling for Bergeron to get more ice time than Kelly

 

[Darnell's Son]

In fairness to Felger, he is one of the only media personalities who will readily admit when he is wrong so it wouldn't surprise me to hear some sort of mae culpa on that one. That said, I think he'll still be correct in calling for Bergeron to get more ice time than Kelly

See, he admits when he is wrong, and will say it once after he has been proven wrong. However, when he is right, he will bang it home over and over and over and over again. So yes, he'll admit when he's wrong, but he's such an egomaniac he can't let go of banging home points that he was right on. In summation, he's a douche.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

So yes, he'll admit when he's wrong, but he's such an egomaniac he can't let go of banging home points that he was right on. In summation, he's a douche.

When was the last time you heard a popular, yet humble, media personality?

 

[TFP]

To be fair, Joe Posnanski doesn't do radio.

 

[Rocco Graziosa]

He banged this point home over and over yet again today.

Julien is an idiot for rolling four lines, and specifically the third line Peverly is OK, Kelly stinks, and Ryder should be benched for Seguin.

Tonight that line combines for 8 points including the tying and winning goals. Will Felger give a mea culpa and say Claude Julien was right and change his tune, or does he mention at the top of the show those guys played well then spend the last 7/8ths of the show going back over his old saws?

I'd be shocked if it's not the latter.

Felger will mea culpa. But he'll be taking bows (rightly) for hammering home over and over that you gotta shoot high but under the bar. Its where almost all goals came from last night.

Felger has managed to make hockey talk interesting to me. Thats remarkable.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Felger will mea culpa. But he'll be taking bows (rightly) for hammering home over and over that you gotta shoot high but under the bar. Its where almost all goals came from last night.

Felger has managed to make hockey talk interesting to me. Thats remarkable.

That's not true, Rocco. 2 of them came along the ice, Bergeron's and Kelly's.

 

[Rocco Graziosa]

That's not true, Rocco. 2 of them came along the ice, Bergeron's and Kelly's.

I said almost all. Or maybe I should have said a lot. I thought his point was made last night. But I wouldn't know a hockey puck from a cheeseburger so who knows.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

I said almost all. Or maybe I should have said a lot. I thought his point was made last night. But I wouldn't know a hockey puck from a cheeseburger so who knows.

3 of the 5 goals were scored high. When you're right 60% of the time you're wrong 40% of the time. :lol:

I don't disagree with his larger point, mind you. But last night wasn't the best example for it.

 

[Youkilis vs Wild]

Did anybody hear if Felger retracted on the third line at all yesterday? I listened on Thursday but couldn't catch it yesterday; he was very adamant that if that line saw substantial playing time he'd "puke." I didn't disagree with him at the time, but that line was huge the other night, and I want to know what he said in response.

 

[Phenom]

Did anybody hear if Felger retracted on the third line at all yesterday? I listened on Thursday but couldn't catch it yesterday; he was very adamant that if that line saw substantial playing time he'd "puke." I didn't disagree with him at the time, but that line was huge the other night, and I want to know what he said in response.

He said that Claude had a very good night, and deserves a lot of credit for pushing the right buttons.

The thing about Felger is, you can feel him winking at you through the radio whenever he goes on one of his tirades. Take it for what it's worth...entertainment that's supposed to get you through the ride home. Felger has clear cut opinions without a lot of caveats, so even the casual listener understands where he stands on an issue. And frankly, it's a formula that works.

Whether people like it or no is their own preference though. I happen to find it enjoyable most of the time (except when he's talking baseball, then I scurry to the dial as fast as I can).

 

[mcpickl]

In fairness to Felger, he is one of the only media personalities who will readily admit when he is wrong so it wouldn't surprise me to hear some sort of mae culpa on that one. That said, I think he'll still be correct in calling for Bergeron to get more ice time than Kelly

He did handle himself well on this one, I'll give him credit for that.

The Bergeron/Kelly thing he'd dead wrong though. His point is Bergeron should get much more time than Kelly, because he's much better offensively. But he neglects to mention Kelly plays big minutes as the teams top penalty killer, when offense is your last priority.

If you subtract penalty kill ice time, Bergeron is averaging 16:16 a game in the series, Kelly is at 11:51.

That sounds about right to me, at the very least it's in the ballpark of where it should be.

 

[mcpickl]

Felger will mea culpa. But he'll be taking bows (rightly) for hammering home over and over that you gotta shoot high but under the bar. Its where almost all goals came from last night.

Felger has managed to make hockey talk interesting to me. Thats remarkable.

This is true, but it's like saying in baseball, hey just hit the ball over the fence.

The vast majority of goalies are weaker up high, because they will hit the ice to take away the lower shots where most goals are scored. (Wish I remembered where the study came from but someone did one a couple years back that showed 75% of NHL goals are scored in the bottom foot of the net.)

If it were only so easy to just shoot high, everyone would. But its much tougher to be accurate high. Rather than just trying to hit your target horizontally, now you're trying to hit it simultaneously horizontally and vertically together. Plus it takes a little bit longer to get off that shot.

It's very much easier said than done.

 

[steveluck7]

Granted, this is a very isolated event and the exact timing of it sucked but right now i am hating the baseball reports on TSH. With the NFL lockout news, I want to hear from people like Breer, Schefter, et. al, not talk about the sox catching situation.

 

[Sparky Lyle]

Granted, this is a very isolated event and the exact timing of it sucked but right now i am hating the baseball reports on TSH. With the NFL lockout news, I want to hear from people like Breer, Schefter, et. al, not talk about the sox catching situation.

Why do you people listen. I sigh.



Listen, tune into 850, or ... go to fangraphs .... or whatever.


Adam Schefter? Super fanboy!!


It's sports-talk radio. What the fuck.

 

[steveluck7]

It's sports-talk radio. What the fuck.

It's sports talk radio and the big story of the day was the NFL ruling

 

[Curtis_Lesspanic]

It's sports talk radio and the big story of the day was the NFL ruling

Which is a story that broke as the show was ending.

 

[steveluck7]

Which is a story that broke as the show was ending.

My initial post was about the baseball reporters, not F & M. The story broke near the end of Felger & Mazz. They actually went over by about 5 minutes talking about it. Then the baseball reporters started and the talk (obviously) ended. My overall point that it was kind of frustrating that the baseball specific show was coming on while this non-baseball story was unfolding.

 

[PBDWake]

My initial post was about the baseball reporters, not F & M. The story broke near the end of Felger & Mazz. They actually went over by about 5 minutes talking about it. Then the baseball reporters started and the talk (obviously) ended. My overall point that it was kind of frustrating that the baseball specific show was coming on while this non-baseball story was unfolding.

Yeah, but... it's the Baseball Reporters. That's the show. You pay the on air talent to come in and talk baseball. And Felger is paid to come in 2-6 for Felger and Mazz, before he then takes off and heads to the CSNE studios. I really don't know what you're expecting out of the station. They're not going to pre-empt their regularly scheduled programming for a decision that a) ultimately means nothing until the owners request for a stay is heard, and we find out if there's a stay of injunction, and b) was something that was completely and totally expected to happen, and was discussed pretty thoroughly before hand.

I think it'd be kind of silly to pre-empt a popular show like the Baseball Reporters when the most likely outcome was simply this: "It means the players show up at 8 AM today to make a show so they can eventually get their workout bonuses, then the owners' request for a stay is heard, a stay of injunction is granted, and until May (at the earliest, and likely June), we go back to exactly where we were before Nelson's ruling"

 

[Sparky Lyle]

It's sports talk radio and the big story of the day was the NFL ruling

Well, you got your wish. He led the show off with it today.

 

[PBDWake]

Well, you got your wish. He led the show off with it today.

Yeah. He also had some interesting insight to offer, after the 89 page ruling had been examined, and he was well informed. Outside of a few normal Felger quirks, the 20 minutes or so I had in the car with Felger (and, surprisingly enough, Mazz) today on my way back from a client were enjoyable (the only quirk being that Matt Light is obviously gone, since he's a big union guy, and Kraft is big with ownership, and thus, the two are impossible to reconcile). I did get a kick out of the caller calling in, ripping the players, and declaring it was socialism at its finest, and then turning it into a referendum on the current administration before they hung up on him.

 

[TFP]

Yeah. He also had some interesting insight to offer, after the 89 page ruling had been examined, and he was well informed. Outside of a few normal Felger quirks, the 20 minutes or so I had in the car with Felger (and, surprisingly enough, Mazz) today on my way back from a client were enjoyable (the only quirk being that Matt Light is obviously gone, since he's a big union guy, and Kraft is big with ownership, and thus, the two are impossible to reconcile). I did get a kick out of the caller calling in, ripping the players, and declaring it was socialism at its finest, and then turning it into a referendum on the current administration before they hung up on him.

Followed by Mazz calling all Republicans miserable human beings. It was pretty entertaining, I gotta say.

 

[Jackson]

Followed by Mazz calling all Republicans miserable human beings. It was pretty entertaining, I gotta say.

Holy shit - Mazz has a brain!

 

[Blacken]

Felger can kiss Zdeno "hurr, no game 7 wins!!11" Chara's big Slovakian ass.

That is all.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

Today's show will be "all they did was buy themselves more time. We know they can get out of the first round so this proves nothing. All this did was save chareli's job and we have to put up with this for another year! The bruins would have been better off losing and blowing it up!"

I hope I'm wrong.

 

[gmogmo]

Today's show will be "all they did was buy themselves more time. We know they can get out of the first round so this proves nothing. All this did was save chareli's job and we have to put up with this for another year! The bruins would have been better off losing and blowing it up!"

I hope I'm wrong.

The first part is undoubtedly true, I don't think they'll bemoan the win because it saved Claude/Chirelli's job, because it didn't. This next series will determine that (at least I hope it does).

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Seriously? Did you listen to the broadcast at all yesterday? They were pretty much begging for the series to continue. Massarotti said he woke up feeling sick because he was worried that if the Bruins lost, the run would be over and he didn't want that to happen. Felger was saying that he likes the team, loves playoff hockey and wanted them to beat the Canadiens badly. And it's not like I heard my usual 10 minutes of the program, I was tuned in to about two hours of Felger, Mazz and Wiggens talking hockey, specifically Bruins.

Sometimes I think that y'all are listening to a completely different show.

 

[TFP]

I think today's show is going to be phenomenal radio. Felger has been saying all along that this would be a huge win for the team, and he will stick by that. Also, he hates the Canadiens and their as much if not more than most Bruins fans do.

He does lose one of his talking points about this team and their core, but his message won't change (nor should it). However, I think there will definitely be a positive tone to the show today. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

I hope Felger calls that Montreal radio station today just to rub it in, and perhaps talk about Subban's disgraceful diving.