Guapos Toenails said:
What's wrong with this? I mean except everything that Mazz says. Felger is not the problem. Felger is at his best when he is "Indignant Felger" and this is right up his alley. Now the whole Reiss/Welker thing pissed me off more than the Iginla thing...but so what? It's listenable radio.
What's wrong with that is Mazz is supposed to be half of the show. He's intellectually absent, so the entire program consists of Felger railing against a straw man.
The idea of the show, theoretically, is you're pairing the histrionic, emotional Felger with the wiser, more level-headed member of the BBWAA. Felger brings the emotion, and Mazz brings the perspective. When the show first started out, that's the way it was. But over time, Mazz decided it was easier to ride Felger's coattails and spend time conjuring up imitations of the callers instead of actual sports opinions.
For a while, that worked too. WEEI was giving us a tired format in the afternoons until 2011, when they then decided to give us the most awkward pairing in radio this side of Minihane joining D&C. The memories of Ordway, Smerlas and DeOssie ignoring the Bruins and ball washing the Patriots were still fresh in our minds, and Felger was a breath of fresh air. He loves hockey, loves the Bruins and isn't afraid to ask "why?"
The Red Sox were a disgrace for 18 months, and Felger wisely created the perception that "The Sports Hub" was the only place to go to hear what's
really going on with the Red Sox, because the beat writers and rights holders (WEEI) are in the bag for the team. After all, he was the only one who called out Josh Beckett, just like he was the only one who called out Randy Moss.
But now, as others have mentioned, WEEI has gotten better. They talk hockey there too, and though it's not always great hockey talk, neither is anything you'll hear on "The Sports Hub." Salk and Holley, though the show isn't perfect, can talk intelligently about all of the three major sports going on right now. (The jury is still out on football. Holley may have some conflict of interests there, and I don't know how strong Salk is on the NFL.) Merloni, in my opinion, has been the best listen on the Red Sox thus far this season. He nailed it on Jackie Bradley, and also understands 20 at-bats for Jose Iglesias isn't a reason to appoint him the shortstop of the future.
On the Red Sox, the conversation has evolved beyond ownership bashing. We actually want to hear about the games. Felger never covered baseball, so he takes the "football mentality" to it, treating one week in April like a large sample size. This is where Mazz, the distinguished baseball reporter, should step in. But he doesn't. He kind of builds an argument against Iglesias, but realizes it would require some research to back it up, so he quiets down.
The show is four hours of Felger arguing against a straw man, with some sound effects and celebrity callers thrown in. There needs to be a straight man now. I thought Beetle was going to be it, but he's only in his 20s. It needs to be somebody else with a reputation. Felger and Mazz is the most visible sports show in this market right now, it's a great gig. Nobody with an interest in broadcasting or radio wouldn't be interested in it.
So long story short, to me, the overarching problem is Mazz. One half of the show has been out to lunch for a couple of years, and now that the narrative has changed/WEEI has gotten better, it greatly hinders the show.
