In the world of sports talk radio – a world which I am becoming more and more disillusioned with – Tuesday night’s Celtics loss to Miami is reviewed in terms of absolutes. The Celtics can’t beat the Heat. Jeff Green sucks. Rondo is still a punk, and KG is classless.
Apparently they should not even play the rest of the season, since they don’t have a prayer of beating Miami. That’s the takeway if you listened to any radio or were on Twitter yesterday.
The KG thing slays me. Someone on the radio yesterday did actually make a salient point, of course I can’t remember who it was, it was on 98.5, so it was either Toucher or Gresh. Yesterday was a busy morning, so I apologize for not remembering who or when it was. Anyway, the point was that so many people today complain about modern athletes and sports, how there isn’t the dislike of each other like there was in the “old days.” Modern athletes are all buddies, they play AAU ball together, they form super teams, they hug and embrace. KG went “old school” on Tuesday night by giving Ray Allen the cold shoulder, a move decried by some in the local media as classless and lacking in “social graces.”
In reality, KG did exactly what these same people want, he put some dislike back in the game, and yet they criticize him for it. Other than that point, radio was a wasteland yesterday with Felger putting his usual Celtics/NBA hate on the front burner, and Ordway pontificating his 25-years-ago NBA knowledge.
Thankfully the written media is a bit more level-headed when it comes to post-game analysis.
Heat-Celtics show gets better, but the game reveals all – This was from yesterday, but I wanted to welcome Paul Flannery to the ranks of SB Nation. WEEI.com’s loss is SB Nation’s gain.
Opener not good start – Steve Bulpett has a similar introduction to mine above, but reassures that things will get better.
Celtics need to get it together defensively – Gary Washburn says that improvement needs to begin on the
What we saw isn’t what we’ll get with Green – Yeah, Jeff Green wasn’t very good on Tuesday night. It was also his first real NBA game in 17 months. A. Sherrod Blakely says that the opener is the exception, not the norm for what Green will be like this season.
Green’s a beat behind – Chris Forsberg has Green vowing to show more heart – no pun intended – going forward.
Time might already be right for Red Sox to strike for pitcher – With the Angels facing a Friday deadline, Brian MacPherson thinks that they might be ripe for a deal with Boston for starting pitcher Dan Haren.
Changing free-agent landscape about to affect Sox and Ortiz – Sean McAdam looks at rule changes for this offseason that impact the negotiations with David Ortiz.
Is Xander Bogaerts the Red Sox’ shortstop of the future (and when does the future begin)? – Alex Speier with a look at the Red Sox top prospect.
Pitching coaches are unusual choices to manage – Amalie Benjamin looks at the history of pitching coaches as managers, and why so few succeed.
Travel itinerary gets easier for Patriots; schedule doesn’t – Wait, I thought the Patriots once again had the weakest schedule in the history of the NFL, one gift-wrapped to Bob Kraft by the NFL? Glen Farley says that while the amount of travel will be less in the second half, the quality of opponents will be tougher.
Here’s what we know about these Patriots – Bill Reynolds says that if we know one thing about Bill Belichick-coached teams it is that they usually improve as the season goes on.
Big-hearted Zoltan Mesko a superstar to those in need – Karen Guregian has a look at the punter’s superstar work with children and charities.
Boston Sports Media Watch 
In the end that’s what sports talk radio is all about (around these parts anyway) That’s the only way they know how to talk about sports. They regularly contradict themselves in order to “inspire debate”…..on D&C they were patting themselves on the back, “SEE! we told you Pats needed to blitz more!”…just wait until Pats blitz and get burned then watch them backtrack.
You can tell it’s a bye week (after a 45-7 victory) in order to bitch they had to resort to complaining/mocking Tavon Wilson for the Rams LONE TD…then skipped ahead to NEXT YEAR when the Pats will (in their minds) let Welker walk. They were foaming at the mouth about the possible “DRAMA” that would bring…..They are hoping Brady flips out publicly should they let his buddy Welker get away…
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I didn’t realize people even listened to talk radio anymore – spare yourself the frustration
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Is it a coincidence that Boston pushed Miami to 7 games (and honestly should have won that series) while the full of hugs Thunder got demolished in 5 games by the Heat? Hate brings out the best in teams during these long series and can sometimes propel an upset
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Your point makes no sense. The Thunder were full of hugs for each other, not for their opponent — and the Celtics did their best work when they were just as closely-knit as the Thunder were last year. And the Thunder were in a position to win or tie every game they lost in the series except for the last game, so they were hardly “demolished” in the series. OKC was a crappy noncall away from possibly going into Miami up 2-0, don’t forget.
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Listening to EEI this afternoon, it was fairly obvious Ordway & Holley hated the Talib trade, yet didn’t have the balls to just come out say it. Maybe because they had no facts or stats whatsoever as to why they disliked the move, other than repeated references to “off-field issues” that could affect the locker room. They either didn’t want to call out Belichick, or they had no idea who Talib was until they googled him after the trade came across the wire (far more likely).
Holley is the biggest Patriots “Insider” fraud in the market. He rarely, if ever brings meaningful insight or inside information to the table, despite all the supposed connections made and time spent embedded within the organization. When he tries, he’s usually wrong, or comes off as woefully uninformed (like today). I was optimistic when Holley first moved to the Big Show, but he’s been a big-time flop. Goes to show you just how much weight Dale was carrying – hell, he even makes Minihane sufferable on Saturdays.
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Greg Bedard sums up the reaction perfectly:
@GregABedard When Belichick was hoarding picks & trading back, fans thought picks were precious. After Albert, Ocho & now this, “They don’t matter.”
On the other side of the dial, Felger+Mazz “loved it” but I think this was more out of them being sick of Hoodie hoarding picks and them wanting him to use them on something instead of trading 3rd round picks for 4x7th round picks. So, I discount this reaction as something to “trust”.
Overall, I thought Bedard sumed it up the best.
Reiss had similar things to say as Bedard about it being “risky” but if it works out (Superbowl), then worth it. A 4th round also indicates that we’re looking to resign him (he’s an UFA at the end of the season).
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for a 4th rounder, I’m OK with it the guy has talent no doubt about that…..but who really knows how it will end up working out?….time will tell (that’s why I’d be no good at talk radio. I could make some bold statement either way but it would just be a guess)
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That would have been the intelligent thing to do. It could blow up and we go without a 4th round. If it
works out and we’re in NO, Hoodie is a genius.
It sounded like both radio stations were just “reacting” to the news as it fit their memes, instead of saying that they did not know and using the resources of social media (Bedard/Reiss were tweeting good stuff right away).
Reiss had the best breakdown I saw this morning on it
http://es.pn/WfcVPo
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Holley sort of vaguely recognized the name, Ordway had no clue. Once they reminded themselves of what the issues were, they were remarkably negative, for them. (I hadn’t listened to them in awhile since I can’t get 93.7 at work. This was serendipitous.) I don’t think your balls bit is accurate, but then, you’re clearly not here for accuracy anyway.
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there’s a switch..Holley and Ordway were negative and Felger was absolutely gushing about how much he “LOVED” the trade….
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Wonder if any of these dumb punks on the radio ever heard of Ty Cobb?
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So, we just traded for Talib:
Thus far, people have ranged from loving it (remember when we traded for 85 and Haynesworthless?) to the “wtf” because we paid with a 4th round pick (overpriced according to most)
Greg Bedard sums up the reaction perfectly:
@GregABedard When Belichick was hoarding picks & trading
back, fans thought picks were precious. After Albert, Ocho & now
this, “They don’t matter.”
He wrote the same and Reiss has something similar on the ESPNBoston blog (minus the crass humor).
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Welcome to the anti-sports-“talk” radio bandwagon, Bruce. I listen only if I hear an interview is coming. The “talk” is garbage.
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Ask yourself these two things: Do you hear anything on sports talk radio that you didn’t already know? And/or, are you entertained by it?
The answer to both of these questions, aside from the paid appearances by Brady & the Hoodie, is a resounding no. Andy Gresh is an obnoxious fool who possesses no greater knowledge of the game than I do… Glenn Ordway’s time has come and gone and insight was noever his strong suit in the first place… D&C are a couple of douche bags… and I could go on, but you get the point.
I have decided to just ignore sports radio and watch the games as an informed fan without listening to the noise between them. I enjoy being a sports fan much more without sports radio, and I would encourage any of you to try the same.
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