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

[riboflav]

Is he really talking openly about this? I mean, isn't Middlebrooks married? It's one thing to joke about this kind of shit, but to just throw it up on the air...

 
I think WMB never got married - he and his fiancee broke up last year. But, yes, there's never been any evidence that he and Dell are a couple other than DRS's claim that his friend said so.
 
EDIT: Sounds like I'm calling out DRS and I'm not - it's just the only place I've seen this alleged coupling mentioned in writing.

 

[soxfan121]

Good god, this shit AGAIN?
 
Seriously...NESN - just fucking hire Eric Frede already. Or make "fucking a member of the Red Sox" an immediate termination in the contract. This is fucking ridiculous. 

 

[NDame616]

While I thought originally the Celtics' talk of "you play to lose the game" etc was funny at first, however after a second day of it I turned it off. I know as the Bs and Pats get further in their season talks of the terrible Celtics will dwindle, but I really thought day 2 of that made for very boring radio.

 

[ForKeeps]

Is he really talking openly about this? I mean, isn't Middlebrooks married? It's one thing to joke about this kind of shit, but to just throw it up on the air...

 
And now you know why he does it. It offends the sensibilities of exactly the kind of person Felger loves to tweak.

 

[Sparky Lyle]

To Celtics games?

 
 
No.  Basketball sucks.

 

[Blacken]

The defense rests.

 

[Brickowski]

While I thought originally the Celtics' talk of "you play to lose the game" etc was funny at first, however after a second day of it I turned it off. I know as the Bs and Pats get further in their season talks of the terrible Celtics will dwindle, but I really thought day 2 of that made for very boring radio.

They were at it again tonight.  I'm not sure how Felger takes a shit with that hockey puck squeezed between his cheeks.  He wouldn't know a basketball if it bounced up and hit him in the nose, and squeaky isn't much better.

 

[steveluck7]

With the news that the Texans have released Ed Reed, part of me really hopes the Patriots sign him just to see if Felger would have the balls to pan the signing not 3 months after panning the non-signing of the same player
 
edit: what am I saying? Of course he'd have the balls, this is probably a wet dream scenario for him

 

[teddykgb]

Felger is surely going to ride the tank/green teamers thing as long as he can.  They're calling him out on the team broadcasts, both radio and TV.  When the Celtics win, people can't wait to call Felger and kill him over it.  When they lose, Felger will troll the Celtics fans into calls defending and arguing for the tank.  It's like surefire radio.  Felger isn't afraid of being proven "wrong" and lord knows the dude would redefine "right" if push came to shove or just admit he was way wrong.  In the interim, he makes his show more relevant and gets more show content.

 

[Boon]

You do have to wonder how long he can be so blatantly anti-Celtic considering his station is "the home of the Celtics."  Granted, they're pretty much the only show in town, but you'd have to think someone in the Celtics' brass will eventually get tired of hearing the team/management/media/fans get trashed for four hours a day and make some noise.  They're also, you know, bad at talking about basketball.  

 

[steveluck7]

Felger is surely going to ride the tank/green teamers thing as long as he can.  They're calling him out on the team broadcasts, both radio and TV.  When the Celtics win, people can't wait to call Felger and kill him over it.  When they lose, Felger will troll the Celtics fans into calls defending and arguing for the tank.  It's like surefire radio.  Felger isn't afraid of being proven "wrong" and lord knows the dude would redefine "right" if push came to shove or just admit he was way wrong.  In the interim, he makes his show more relevant and gets more show content.

It seems like they'll let Felger be the official voice of "tank-a-palooza" while everyone else takes the opportunity to get on him after every win.  In reality, this Celtics team was never going to be "13 win Clippers" bad, conversely, obviously they were never going to be "72 win Bulls" good either. Propping Felger up as the foil for what is probably going to be a team that wins ~35 games is, as you put it, surefire radio. His tank talk should be countered by enough wins that it keeps things relatively "fresh"

 

[soxfan121]

You do have to wonder how long he can be so blatantly anti-Celtic considering his station is "the home of the Celtics."  Granted, they're pretty much the only show in town, but you'd have to think someone in the Celtics' brass will eventually get tired of hearing the team/management/media/fans get trashed for four hours a day and make some noise.  They're also, you know, bad at talking about basketball.  

 
1. Rooting for losses is not necessarily "anti-Celtic", especially when the rooting for losses is to get the best draft pick/player possible and make the rebuild as short as possible. It is the perfect example of 'one step back to take two steps forward'. 
 
2. I would think that the management of a team that will lose the most games in town would be happy to be mentioned in the reality of a Red Sox World Series win, a Bruins team coming off a Stanley Cup loss (and odds-on-favorites to be back again this season) and the always-successful-and-in-the-playoffs Patriots. "Holley's Hockey Minute" this ain't.
 
3. Yes, they are bad but since they readily admit that, it hardly deserves mention. Felger is a Bucks fan and grew up hating the Bird/McHale/Parrish Celtics teams and doesn't try to hide it. When they need an NBA expert, they'll bring on Rich Keefe and will find a media voice to pitch in.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

People getting on him after they win are completely missing the point.  He's not saying that they can't win 30 games (or whatever), he's saying they shouldn't.  I have not had him on yet today, but yesterday he was freely admitting that they could win 30 - 35 games or whatever, his point was that so what?  They are not title contenders and they'd be better off tanking.  People may disagree with that but anyone calling him out after the Celtics win is just feeding the troll ("these green teamers don't get it.  They are delusional!  What's the point of 35 wins, you shouldn't be excited they are winning!). 
 
At this point he is loving it when the Celtics win.

 

[mandro ramtinez]

Bertrand just came on with breaking news that Carlos Ruiz signed with the Red Sox according to Joel Sherman and then came on about a minute later to report that he had been duped by a fake Joel Sherman account.  

 

[SemperFidelisSox]

Ha. Beetle got fooled by Joel Sherman's fake Twiiter account and falsely reported the Sox signed Carlos Ruiz. They even cut away to the breaking news graphic and music.

 

[JimBoSox9]

Is there where we talk about how Mazz wants to trade Doubront and Middlebrooks for Middlebrooks Trumbo?

 

[Ralphwiggum]

The Ed Reed discussion yesterday was the absolute epitome of everything that is wrong with this show.  Felger doesn't like the fact that Reed's own comments indicate that he preferred the Jets over the Pats so he constructs a story that lays at least part of the blame at the feet of the Pats for not overwhelming Reed with an offer that makes him "forget about" the fact that he knows the Jets playbook.  Where the facts don't fit your narrative, make something up.  And Mazz starts out the segment by saying that you can't blame the Pats, but by midway through the discussion its "you're right Mike" and he's right along for the ride.

 

[dcmissle]

Ed Reed was beat like a drum yesterday on the TD that put the game away for Baltimore.
 
The only question is who will be more irritated by the events that unfolded after half time last night -- these two or Francesa?

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Ed Reed was beat like a drum yesterday on the TD that put the game away for Baltimore.
 
The only question is who will be more irritated by the events that unfolded after half time last night -- these two or Francesa?

 
I doubt very much that F&M will talk about the Jets/Ravens game today.

 

[steveluck7]

I'll give anyone a pass on this one since it ended well past midnight but if you ever want a sneak preview of Monday-after-a-Pats-game Felger, tune into the post game on CSNNE. It's a nice beta test for his talking points.
Last night was Welker didn't show up and ultimately cost his team the game.
Peyton's refusal to throw, esp. when Talib was out, cost them big time.
Letting Denver gash you on the ground and being physical with the receivers at the LOS was (and will be in the playoffs) a valid gameplan against DEN

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

I'll give anyone a pass on this one since it ended well past midnight but if you ever want a sneak preview of Monday-after-a-Pats-game Felger, tune into the post game on CSNNE. It's a nice beta test for his talking points.
Last night was Welker didn't show up and ultimately cost his team the game.
Peyton's refusal to throw, esp. when Talib was out, cost them big time.
Letting Denver gash you on the ground and being physical with the receivers at the LOS was (and will be in the playoffs) a valid gameplan against DEN

 
I don't think any of those points are terrible.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

I think those are actually very valid points. 
 
The only thing I disagree with is the (and will be in the playoffs). If after the gashing Manning has taken about taking the bait on the run and they ran the exact same game plan again, I'd be disappointed.
 
Welker was invisible most of the game and he should have done more to call off the receiving players.
Peyton's refusal/inability to throw when Talib was out was huge.
They ran down the Pats throats and had 2 full scoring drives in 5 quarters. 

 

[steveluck7]

I don't think any of those points are terrible.

Oh, neither do I. I was just pointing out that he debuts these takes immediately after the games. It seems a favorite pastime in this thread is some version of "what will Felger say about this?" but there's no really need to do that after patriots ( and bruins playoff) games.

 

[ForKeeps]

Turned to CSN when I got home last night, just in time to see Felger read an email from some dude who had clearly watched Felger's post game show and then listened to him for 4 hours on the radio yesterday just regurgitate every talking point Felger was promoting. At the end Felger goes, "I agree that with that 100%." These guys have devolved into total self-parody. They should change the name to "Mike Felger's Echo Chamber featuring Marc Bertrand."

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Did anyone listen to Mazz' "Hot Sports Take" at around 5:15 last night? It was dreadful and he started off by saying, "I know most of the audience doesn't care about this but ..." and went on a 10-15 minute diatribe about how when decisions go right for Belichick he will spend a lot of time talking about it and when he doesn't, he says about two words. It sounded like he worked on this thought for most of the day (he had examples from prior press conferences cued up) but the examples he had weren't comparable*.
 
* He compared BB talking about giving the Broncos the ball on Sunday night in overtime to the official's call in OT of the Jets' game this year.
 
1. He's right, I don't give a shit whether BB talks, this is a media bitch session that literally effects maybe 15 people in the entire country. Boo hoo, my notebook isn't filled up.
2. His examples are completely wrong. The Jets' call wasn't a "decision" by BB like giving up the ball was. I would argue that it's more of a philosophy, which if you want to split hairs is a decision but Sunday night's decision wasn't based on a season-long philosophy, it was based on outside elements. Hell, he could have gone with fourth-and-two which is a much better example. But he didn't because he's, well, he's Tony Massarotti.
 
Normally I didn't get my panties in a twist about things like this because I understand what they're doing, but this was so blatant, so see-through, he and Felger really must think that their listeners are retards.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Did anyone listen to Mazz' "Hot Sports Take" at around 5:15 last night? It was dreadful and he started off by saying, "I know most of the audience doesn't care about this but ..." and went on a 10-15 minute diatribe about how when decisions go right for Belichick he will spend a lot of time talking about it and when he doesn't, he says about two words. It sounded like he worked on this thought for most of the day (he had examples from prior press conferences cued up) but the examples he had weren't comparable*.
 
* He compared BB talking about giving the Broncos the ball on Sunday night in overtime to the official's call in OT of the Jets' game this year.
 
1. He's right, I don't give a shit whether BB talks, this is a media bitch session that literally effects maybe 15 people in the entire country. Boo hoo, my notebook isn't filled up.
2. His examples are completely wrong. The Jets' call wasn't a "decision" by BB like giving up the ball was. I would argue that it's more of a philosophy, which if you want to split hairs is a decision but Sunday night's decision wasn't based on a season-long philosophy, it was based on outside elements. Hell, he could have gone with fourth-and-two which is a much better example. But he didn't because he's, well, he's Tony Massarotti.
 
Normally I didn't get my panties in a twist about things like this because I understand what they're doing, but this was so blatant, so see-through, he and Felger really must think that their listeners are retards.

 

[steveluck7]

I heard that and had the same thought as he was comparing his decisions vs. official's calls. On top of that, he was comparing post game press conferences to Monday conference calls.
To me, It's not about praise for a smart choice, it's simply being in a good mood after a big win.
After a loss, BB is just as likely to give a one-word answer to a question about a decision of his that worked out... he is grumpy after a loss, he's entitled to be.
 
Although Tanguay followed up on this on CSN last night. He went off on Felger about it. He started the segment by saying that he didn't care about Bill's answers, etc. but then went on for a few minutes then lost it when Chris Gasper mentioned that BB exhibits poor sportsmanship after a loss. Tanguay stood up and yelled at the 3 of the guys on the panel then literally punted his notes.
He then tried to end it by reiterating that he didn't care to which Felger replied "Then why did you make us do this segment and spend 8 minutes on it?" High comedy and undoubtedly a work by Tanguay but still entertaining

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Steve, I saw a bit of that on CSN this morning and I ignored it because it was an obvious fish for Tanguay to go viral like he did a few months ago when he called Minnihane an idiot.
 
Also, Mazz neglects the basic human nature of when things go poorly, you don't want to talk about it and when things go well, you do want to talk about it. I know BB gives off the impression that he is a robot, but he's not. This is such a dumb "controversy" I can't believe I'm even writing about it.

 

[pedro1918]

I heard it and listened for a couple of minutes.  Then I turned off the radio because, as Mazz correctly pointed out, I don't care about how difficult BB makes it for reporters to fill their notebooks. 
 
I listened to music and I really enjoyed it. 

 

[joe dokes]

And also there's a fine if you talk about officials' calls. And its bad coaching to give players excuses. And on and on and Mazz is stupid.

 

[Haunted]

I heard the last few minutes of it but was unsure of the context.  Then I heard Felger say something about it being the measure of a man, and that was that for me; it simply reminded me why I don't listen to these buffoons anymore.

 

[Corsi]

I think I just heard the best troll over.  Some idiot just called F&M and said Manning is better than Brady because he has a higher Super Bowl winning percentage.

 

[Dummy Hoy]

50% vs. 60%?

 

[jmm57]

I thought it was even worse, I thought he said Manning is better because if he wins the Super Bowl this year he will have a better Super Bowl winning % than Brady.

 

[Buffalo Head]

I wish someone would call and declare that one is better than the other this season based on their fantasy stats.

 

[Granite Sox]

Mazz: "Goodbye.  Good luck finding a cab in the middle of the night."
 
Felger: The Red Sox fans are frauds.  Mazz has been getting killed because he's had bad things to say about Ellsbury for two years, and now the fans saying Ellsbury is no good (and agreeing with Mazz) are coming out of the woodwork.  Frauds.
 
Both think $$ are ridiculous.  (I don't think anyone except Yankee management and Boras disagree with this.)
 
They're tilting at windmills.

 

[Corsi]

It's a ridiculous argument.  Last year, Ellsbury was playing on a one-year, $9M contract.  He's now playing on a 7-year, $148M contract.  It completely changes the dynamic of the argument.

 

[Corsi]

Red Sox fans "gush" over Ellsbury?  Have I been living in a cave?

 

[SidelineCameras]

Red Sox fans "gush" over Ellsbury?  Have I been living in a cave?

 
The pink hats do. He's so dreamy. 
 
Edit: And, to be fair, people love the speed. The Red Sox don't get a player with his skill set too often. It's just that no one on SoSH is surprised to see him go, so the gushing around here is at a minimum,

 

[NortheasternPJ]

 
The pink hats do. He's so dreamy. 
 
Edit: And, to be fair, people love the speed. The Red Sox don't get a player with his skill set too often. It's just that no one on SoSH is surprised to see him go, so the gushing around here is at a minimum,

 
To the people who call F&M, they do love Ellsbury. They don't get a lot of stat geeks calling and agreeing with them. They get the pink hats, casual fans, dumbasses who will wait on hold for 90 minutes to state something that 8 other callers have stated. Plus usually when a stat geek calls up they're so poor about getting their point across the get blown up anyways.

 

[riboflav]

Mazz is getting a lot of pushback on twitter for referring to dumb fans as "ladies." I didn't hear it myself but you got to like how he'll always push the envelope and walk the tightrope of edginess. 

 

[StuckOnYouk]

they're very hard to listen to, I listen to them once or twice a week before I have to turn it off after 10 minutes.
 
Turned it on today and Felger was saying Sox fans who say the Yankees overpayed 7/152 can't like the 5/100 deal the Sox offered because both deals were about 20 million per year.
 
Hard to understand how he could be that dumb. It's the extra two years at the end, you dingbat. Usually it's Mazz who I think is the dumbass

 

[NortheasternPJ]

they're very hard to listen to, I listen to them once or twice a week before I have to turn it off after 10 minutes.
 
Turned it on today and Felger was saying Sox fans who say the Yankees overpayed 7/152 can't like the 5/100 deal the Sox offered because both deals were about 20 million per year.
 
Hard to understand how he could be that dumb. It's the extra two years at the end, you dingbat. Usually it's Mazz who I think is the dumbass

The easy answer is they are not dumb.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I actually thought that they were pretty good this evening. Felger admitted that he was trolling because he agreed with the conventional wisdom that the Yankees screwed up but explained that they needed something to talk about. 
 
That's talk radio.

 

[Patriot_Reign]

joey from quincy had an excellent call in the four o'clock hour yesterday
basically calling felger a fraud for repeatedly asking where the army of ellsbury fans were

 

[NortheasternPJ]

I loved that they had a few min of soccer talk today. Only if they had turned off Tonys mic it'd have been better. I wish they had another segment on it. It's refreshing from the normal 8 topics.

 

[ForKeeps]

I thought Felger told me that Napoli was gonna "stick it" to the Red Sox because they (or Larry, because Mike somehow knows what goes on in private negotiations I guess through his flawless intuition?) "dinked around" with him on his deal last year? I guess someone forgot to tell Napoli that he was supposed to be disgruntled cause he apparently took less money to stay here.
 
I wonder if Felger is shameless enough to point out that they still cost themselves 6 million dollars by reneging on his original deal. In fact, if I can play the role of Felger for a moment, if he really believes that Napoli got screwed by the Red Sox and should have held it against them, shouldn't he come out now and call Napoli a sucker? I mean, if he wants to be consistent, that is.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Mark this down: Felger wouldn't be surprised if the Patriots still make the Super Bowl and win it.
 
December 9th, 2013. 3:03 pm

 

[mmolleur]

I thought Felger told me that Napoli was gonna "stick it" to the Red Sox because they (or Larry, because Mike somehow knows what goes on in private negotiations I guess through his flawless intuition?) "dinked around" with him on his deal last year? I guess someone forgot to tell Napoli that he was supposed to be disgruntled cause he apparently took less money to stay here.
 
I wonder if Felger is shameless enough to point out that they still cost themselves 6 million dollars by reneging on his original deal. In fact, if I can play the role of Felger for a moment, if he really believes that Napoli got screwed by the Red Sox and should have held it against them, shouldn't he come out now and call Napoli a sucker? I mean, if he wants to be consistent, that is.

Promptly on today's opening Felger said that because "Larry"  stuck his nose in and dick*d around, it cost  and extra 6 million.  

 

[wutang112878]

In the opening discussion Mazz was all over the place.  They talk about the Napoli signing and how his $16M salary this year and next is $3M more than it would have been if they just gave him 3/$39M.  Solid point.  Mazz highlights the importance of the $3M by citing how close they are to the luxury threshold, and the $3M might hold them back from adding something this year.  Solid point.
 
Two minutes later they talk about their other signings and how they dont seem to be willing to go 3 years with anyone.  Felger asks why this is important, and Mazz says that to get anyone of great value they probably have to extend themselves to a 3 year deal, like Beltran who Mazz wanted them to acquire. 
 
So we should be worried about the $3M extra for Napoli, but signing Beltran to a $15M AAV deal is what they should do.