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theliontamer37 t1_j9fo9me wrote

I really don’t understand why anyone still listens to this show. Both of em are just complete clowns with very little actual sports knowledge.

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VMP85 t1_j9fxbfq wrote

What is the alternative? EEI has been garbage for more than a decade.

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_jubal t1_j9he0os wrote

Podcasts.

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putinmcockiner t1_j9hpxoq wrote

Who’s putting out 4 hours of podcast content on Boston sports every day?

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fadetoblack237 t1_j9hvn7p wrote

I can't even imagine being so into Boston sports that I need to hear 4 hours a day of talk about it. That's more then the amount of actual play time they are talking about.

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putinmcockiner t1_j9hwp8o wrote

I mean I don’t listen to all four hours, most days hours 3 & 4 are just repeating hours 1 & 2, I was just making the point that podcasts aren’t really an option if you like to listen to sports radio each day.

I also don’t listen live instead opting to wait for the episodes to be uploaded as podcasts and that cuts the runtime down to 45 minutes for every hour before skipping the ads.

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britchesss t1_j9hbxkv wrote

I used to love dale hawley and keefe

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TheArcReactor t1_j9i72g6 wrote

Dale and Holley were great, Michael Holley was easily one of my favorite sports guys. He knew what he was talking about and he kept the non-sports talk to a minimum without making the conversations ever feel forced.

It wasn't long after those two left that the morning shows became about hot takes and stopped having sports be the main focus, the amount I've listened to sports radio has done nothing but decline since Holley stopped being a part of Boston radio, now I don't listen to any at all.

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kajana141 t1_j9htpls wrote

Longer than that. I turned them off in 2004

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MyMostGuardedSecret t1_j9k82bt wrote

Either podcasts or just don't listening to sports radio at all.

I stopped 3 years ago and my sports fandom has only improved.

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frenetix t1_j9g1i9w wrote

Mazz used to be an actually knowledgeable baseball writer. He gets a vote for who enters the Hall of Fame. I don't know if radio broke him, or maybe he's always been an idiot and radio lets that come to the forefront.

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chisel_jockey t1_j9g4tav wrote

What’s infuriating is that it’s an act/character he puts on for the evening drive show with Felger. I haven’t listened to either their show or WEEI in years, but it used to be very apparent when the baseball writers show was on immediately after Felger and Mazz; he completely dropped the schtick and actually had decent insights on the Red Sox and baseball in general. Felger and Mazz are just total bozos trying to take controversial stances for the ratings. And it’s annoying as hell when you just want some decent discussion on local teams instead of “entertainment”

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chucktownbtown t1_j9gfpdh wrote

This guy gets it. Felger and Mazz are personalities that play a certain character on the show. They stick to it because they have strong ratings (very strong). Both very likely pull in north of $1M annually from the show + endorsements.

Why would you change if that’s what brings home the bacon?

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doctor-rumack t1_j9gp8ok wrote

This is why I can't stand Mazz, but I understand why he does it. When he was the beat writer for the Red Sox while working for the Herald in the late 90's/early 00's, he was an occasional guest on Ordway's show on 'EEI, but eventually worked his way into regular appearances along with with other Herald, ProJo, and Ledger guys (Globe banned their writers from appearing on WEEI for a long time, not sure if they still do).

Massarotti was actually a kind and humble guy in the beginning of his radio career. He was a baseball encyclopedia and his opinions were always balanced and well-spoken. Then he started getting more aggressive with callers and his opinions (Ordway called this his Angry Tony persona), and it was clear he was taking advice to be more controversial to secure a more lucrative future in radio. Obviously he succeeded, hence why I understand his reason for acting like an asshole.

I do think it's an act, and that he's not as bad of a guy as he comes off as, but it comes at a price. I couldn't listen to him on Red Sox broadcasts because I just associated his awful radio persona with what I saw watching the team. I have no sympathy for Tony at this point, and I'd be fine with his career going in the direction of two other loser scumbags formerly at 'EEI, John Dennis and Gerry Callahan.

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nhf1918 t1_j9hkezr wrote

I just really don’t think he deserves to be compared to Dennis and Callahan. Those guys were undoubtedly racist bastards. They said questionable things almost daily. Tony totally deserves criticism and punishment for what he said but the guy talks on air for thousands of hours a year and just fucked up.

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CJRLW t1_j9mletc wrote

Yea Dennis & Callahan were on a whole nother level compared to Mazz. I don't get the impression that Mazz is a bad dude, whereas D & C are actual human garbage (moreso C).

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Constructestimator83 t1_j9h65iq wrote

Felger usually has good hockey takes. He can troll like the best of them (never came close to Adam Jones though) but it’s good background noise when I’m working either way.

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pccb123 t1_j9h4m2w wrote

Agreed. I was starved for Boston sport content when I was living out of state and started listening to felger and mazz for Murray, who was a classic cranky but funny Boston fanboy, until he became a caricature of himself with the "grumpy old man yells constantly about woke youths" character. Now I dislike him as much (maybe more at this point) than the other two.

I didnt mind Mazz as much as the other two tbh but mostly just tune into some guests (mostly just Gasper and Bedard for pats stuff) but its become just another outrage ratings grab so I quit listening.

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theliontamer37 t1_j9g2uka wrote

He was a good writer. Radio got to his head. He just loves to hear himself talk, and it’s usually nonsense. He was one of the more vocal local ppl who said we should trade Brady in ‘14, and sticked with it for the next 5 years. If that doesn’t show ppl how much a moron he is idk what will.

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Quiddity131 t1_j9hc05r wrote

> He was one of the more vocal local ppl who said we should trade Brady in ‘14, and sticked with it for the next 5 years.

Felger was also big on pushing Brady out of town. Among other things he claimed Brady used steroids, claimed Brady was putting in hardly any effort, claimed Brady had illegal dealings going on with Kraft surrounding Alex Guerrero, took any opportunity he could to bash the TB12 stuff, claimed Brady would completely fall off a cliff like Favre did, and has pushed his chips in probably more than anyone in the local media that Brady is a cheater over Deflategate (when pretty much anyone these days knows it was just the weather).

...the second Brady leaves for Tampa? Felger bashing Belichick and the Patriots endlessly for "running Brady out of town".

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DRZ36 t1_j9g7ha6 wrote

It’s pretty clear to me what happened. Talk radio only works if you piss people off. Felger knows nothing about sports, but he knows how to rile up a fan base and get people calling in, yelling at him and engaging with the show.

You can see Mazz try to be more like Felger, and it’s always transparently flat.

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Reddit_User_Loser t1_j9gscfn wrote

Their whole shtick is to be condescending douche bags and give vague hot takes to get people to call in angrily and say stupid things so they can say “Oh but I didn’t actually say that, what I said was…”. It’s the radio version of garbage reality TV. They’re only on the air because it works.

It’s like the 2nd date update on 96.9. It’s all scripted fake phone calls to elicit reactions or keep people listening through the commercial breaks.

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Raineman t1_j9ha68j wrote

One of the main reasons I like to listen is the no pleasantries, no nonsense attitude. I don’t give a shit about their personal lives or what they think of pop culture like every other sports talk show thinking they’re Howard Stern. I have very limited time to tune in so if I have 30 minutes I know I’m getting 30 minutes of sports talk.

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lucky_chalms t1_j9gwh9p wrote

Not only do people listen. It’s one of the most listened to sports talk shows in the nation. Recent controversy aside, maybe it’s you.

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theliontamer37 t1_j9gx3l4 wrote

Lmfao I didn’t say ppl don’t listen , I said I don’t understand why ppl listen to that garbage. Millions of ppl watch the bachelor/bachelorette every week, doesn’t make it a good show. Again, they’re clowns and the callers are usually worse.

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lucky_chalms t1_j9h4hf3 wrote

Researcher: The average radio listener listens for eighteen minutes. The average Howard Stern fan listens for - are you ready for this? - an hour and twenty minutes.

Pig Vomit: How can that be?

Researcher: Answer most commonly given? "I want to see what he'll say next."

Pig Vomit: Okay, fine. But what about the people who hate Stern?

Researcher: Good point. The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day.

Pig Vomit: But... if they hate him, why do they listen?

Researcher: Most common answer? "I want to see what he'll say next."

Maybe be a little more open minded. Your opinion isn’t the only one and is certainly in the minority.

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theliontamer37 t1_j9h6m49 wrote

Lol Your quote just proves my point that a lot of ppl hate listen to their show. Doesn’t make them as well liked as their numbers show. Again, any legitimate sports fans know they’re opinions are trash.

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Quiddity131 t1_j9hcotc wrote

That's not the point though. I'm sure Michael Felger is ecstatic that people hate him. All that matters to him is that people tune in such that his ratings are high and he can continue to get paid a lot of money to work 4 hours a day.

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theliontamer37 t1_j9heqlr wrote

Oh I’m not saying he’s not successful at what he does. He definitely loves the hate. My whole stance is that he has trash takes, isn’t entertaining, and isn’t nearly sport literate enough to be as big as a host as he is.

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Quiddity131 t1_j9keq3u wrote

I think Felger knows his stuff pretty well, he is well informed and does the research. But that doesn't translate into how he comes off on the air as he is all about leaning heavily into the schtick of being a big time troll. Does he have trash takes? Absolutely. As to if he's entertaining, well ultimately the high ratings bear it out. People like us want something of higher quality but it seems like the masses are fine with content that is all about trolling the audience and getting them mad at him.

Mazz and Jim Murray? Idiots who hardly put any effort in.

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fadetoblack237 t1_j9fqw1k wrote

That's Boston sports radio in a nutshell. As far back as I can remember, these shows were all conservative radio masquerading as sports talk.

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jamesmd14 t1_j9fzan0 wrote

Found someone who’s never listened to 98.5 right here.

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Quiddity131 t1_j9hc9dv wrote

Felger and Mazz actually hardly ever talk about politics and when they have they more often than not display leftist positions.

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tomjoads t1_j9k3eqn wrote

They aren't even close to leftists, maz is a conservative catholic

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CoolAbdul t1_j9gjv10 wrote

Don't know why the downvotes. This is a dead-on accurate take.

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ftlftlftl t1_j9h0rsr wrote

You're thinking of EEI where they are "sports" but the morning show used to be a Trump Forum. Sports hub is literally the opposite on every show.

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Quiddity131 t1_j9hcgw5 wrote

Its downvoted because its not true. That describes say Dennis & Callahan (gone from the market for what, 10 years now?) or Glenn Ordway (also no longer on the air). It does not describe Felger & Mazz.

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[deleted] t1_j9h4by7 wrote

If it weren't for Boston sports fans in every sub pissing and moaning about these guys every day I wouldn't hear about them at all.

This issue aside, this is separate, maybe everyone should just try...idk...not giving a fuck about Felger and Mazz? Wouldn't hear about em at all if it weren't for you guys just always whining about it, saying the same exact shit day in and day out. Just turn it off.

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Quiddity131 t1_j9hcvzg wrote

The biggest way critics of Felger & Mazz will succeed and get them off the air is to stop listening to them and to not talk about them at all. They get ignored, they become irrelevant and go away. The problem is people can't help but listen to them, especially those who don't like them.

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