The once left for dead Patriots are now in danger of peaking too early, as they dispatched Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos 43-21 at Gillette Stadium yesterday.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround since the early going of the season, but if you are surprised by the fact that they got their act together, I’m not sure where you’ve been for the last 13 years.

A lot of the criticism heaped on the team in the early going was justified. Those people now get upset though when their opinions are brought up again. We’re not supposed to have opinions???? I was just going on the information at that time.

The problem isn’t with the opinions. The problem is the cocksure certainty with which they’re delivered. Of course it is going to get thrown back in your face when you voluminously declare a team not good any more or a QB in sharp decline and both statements are quickly proven woefully inaccurate.

The “last thing you saw” opinion is also tiresome. People are writing today that yesterday proves Brady Is Better.  Well, I’d like to believe that, but what were other people saying when Manning beat Brady in the AFC title game in January?

We don’t know anything right now about how the rest of the season will turn out. But there is content to be cranked out, and hot takez to be spouted on the air, and fake arguments to be had by all.

Here is a sampling of the coverage today:

Frozen Fraud: Peyton Manning comes up short again in cold of Foxboro – As much as I enjoyed this article from Chris Price, I’m leery of calling Manning a fraud.

Patriots make short work of Broncos – Jackie MacMullan closes with TJ Ward saying that the Broncos are still the better team.

Oh yeah, about Ward:

Manning unarmed against Patriots’ defensive schemes – Tom E Curran says that Manning’s arm just isn’t what it once was.

Black and blue-prints: Patriots’ plan to beat Peyton Manning a success – Karen Guregian has Bill Belichick taking lessons from Pete Carroll on how to beat Manning.

Bill Belichick gets an A for scheme of his D – Chris Gasper has Belichick avenging scoreboard operators everywhere.

Richard Seymour ‘excited’ to ring in Patriots’ Super success – I enjoyed Ron Borges’ visit with the former Patriots lineman who returned yesterday to be honored with his former teammates.

‘Interchangeable’ defense sparks Patriots – Mike Reiss looks at the parts on defense which frustrated Manning.

Get the rest of the coverage at PatriotsLinks.com.

Patriots-Broncos matchup deserved all the hype it got – Chad Finn’s Monday media column looks at the game from the TV perspective.

ESPN’s latest 30 for 30 sparkles, football still ratings king – Richard Deitsch’s media column looks at the week in review.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

68 thoughts on “Another Tomato Can By The Wayside”

  1. After a game like yesterday, it’ll be difficult to troll the fanbase, but there is some hope for the contrarians out there. Let’s try to predict what we’ll hear at 2 p.m.! Don’t cheat if you’ve already been listening today.
    * It’s not a big win because Manning ALWAYS plays poorly when the temperature is below 40. The bigger story would be if the Patriots DIDN’T WIN!
    * The Patriots have no answer for a guy like Emmanuel Sanders. Look at the numbers he put up.
    * Sanders had a much better day than Brandon LaFell (aka Bill Belichick the GM failed Bill Belichick the coach).
    * Brady’s weaponz combined for six drops!
    * It’s only one win.
    * Kraft$ are cheap.

    Like

    1. Don’t forget –
      * All the honks wearing the Patriot footie pajamas are going to say “See Bill’s way of roster building is better than loading up; which is just rubbish”.

      Like

    2. Someone pointed this out on how quickly the F+M thread on SoSH fills up with “what they’ll say”, specifically after a win. None such for D+H (and adding JT doesn’t help this). Maybe not everyone listens, but it shows the separation between the shows (Howard Stern analogy on 50% listen because they love/50% hate). It shows the sad state of media but also points to ‘interest’. Even if someone hates you, an impression is an impression.

      Like

      1. It shows that Felger is good at what he does and deserves the good ratings (and I’m sure big salary) he gets. Whether they win or lose, people want to hear what he has to say after the game. As much as I criticize the show, I tend to listen a lot. I wouldn’t comment so much on him if it wasn’t an entertaining show that got me to listen. For example, you’ll hardly ever hear me criticize Adam Jones, Mike Adams, the Pittsburgh fan on WEEI middays, etc… Its not because they are better than F&M and don’t deserve criticism. Its because I find them both so awful and so completely unentertaining that I tune them out entirely.

        Now granted, much like with the media’s “tomato can” argument, some of this does come down to competition. I have no interest in listening to a national show or Dale & Holley unless F&M are so over the top that I can’t take it anymore. If there was stronger competition from a local show, I’d listen to it more. I have tried to listen to Ordway’s new venture more, although usually at different times of day, which is what I hear many do with his show.

        Like

        1. I admit I tune into Felger for the first few minutes and sometimes the entire first segment…but I can’t listen to any more of him, Mazz or “Beetle” than that. They’re absolutely grating. How anyone can listen to their entire show, or even half of it, is puzzling to me. They do nothing but hit the same notes, plug their same hotsportztakes, and add nothing of value or substance to carry a show of that length.

          Like

  2. I’ve always hated the narrative of Manning being some kind of choker or fraud when he plays the Patriots. I’ve noticed that when he beats the Patriots as he did last January in their most important meeting it was because he’s better than Brady and is the best QB of all time. When the Patriots win like they did yesterday then it’s back to Manning being a fraud. Which when you think of it takes credit away from the Patriots and leaves the impression that the only reason why they won is because Manning choked and it had almost nothing to do with the defense of Belichicks game plan. For some odd reason their always seems to be the “yeah but” analysis around here. Like Revis giving up a few plays. Really? Did anyone think he would never allow any completions from anyone? IDK what some of these media members were watching but he’s the same player he’s always been. I think some of these people had the impression that he was perfect in NY. He wasn’t. They just remember the games when he gave Brady fits and I also remember Moss torching him so I’m not surprised or disappointed that he could get beat by some really good WR’s every now and then. Enjoy it guys…the Pats handed the Broncos an ass kicking. It was thorough and left no doubt. I know I have been suspicious as to how good this team can be but after yesterday for the first time this year I’m really happy and confident about this teams chances of winning the whole damn thing. Especially after what we saw from Seattle and the 49ers and even yes the Cowboys who were the flavor of the month. Look at what the Cowboys had to roll out their for QB. We even have a back up QB who is better than any of these teams in contention could roll out. This team is stacked with depth. So message to the fellowship of the miserable…just enjoy it for now,ok?

    Like

    1. Well said. Regarding Revis: I actually saw some “fan” post on a message board before yesterday’s game that Talib has played better than Revis this year. Really? How does he know that? Does he somehow DVR all of Denver’s games and re-watch them after he watches the Pats games on live TV? Does he have the “all 22” coaches film so that he can see every snap that Talib and Revis play, and then evaluates their performance? Or could it be that the media around here believe, inexplicably, that Revis hasn’t performed as expected and this fan simply buys into their lazy, trollish, idiotic narrative? As you said, Revis used to get beat when he was in his prime with the Jets, too. In the modern NFL with the rules as they are, it’s impossible for CBs to go an entire game without being beaten once or twice. The great ones just don’t get beat that often. Heck, I’m pretty sure that even Deion, in his prime, gave up a few plays.

      Like

  3. So many thoughts…not so much time but here goes:

    – Many times have I lauded Tom Curran as the best football guy in NE. I think his analysis of Manning’s arm and his inability to do anything but float passes was significantly superior to any other “analysis” that I heard on this game. Watching the game with Curran’s theories in mind it struck me how the Pats were defending the Broncos….they shut off the run and dared Manning to throw. Forget the weather for a moment. They were daring Manning to throw because they new in tight situations he could not get the ball where he wanted to because he does not have velocity any more. Currants analysis was spot on.

    – Speaking of Curran’s analysis I think this is Manning’s last year. If he cannot throw more than 40 yards downfield and a couple of times it looked like he was struggling to do even that…then I do not see him playing next year. Besides he is much older than Brady…or so Brady reminded us tongue in cheekly this past Wednesday.

    – Clearly rumors of the Pats demise were greatly exaggerated. The Pats have for the past 13 years gotten better as the season progresses. What I am finding really interesting this year is the evolution of the defense. Yes they gave up a ton of yards to Manning…but they were not dangerous yards…they were clock killing yards. The Broncos were 0 for 7 on third down conversions in the first half, 3 for 13 in total and 0 for 5 on 4th down conversions. Other than the 3 passes on the first drive, Manning did not look near Revis Island because there was blanket coverage. Brandon Browner played a physical game that basically took Julius Thomas out of the game. I think Akeem Ayers showed that he has more versatility than Jones and I would like to see them both on the roster as they seemingly would compliment each other were Jones healthy.

    – Speaking of the Pats lack of a demise, from a programming perspective having fans call up and mock the hosts for their seemingly dire predictions is good for business however it will make for almost impossible to listen to sports chat. What I find interesting is that only Michael Felger will embrace his inner “wrongness” and he will now postulate that the Pats are the best team in the league. Nothing short of a SB victory will make this season a success. He will be wrong…beating the Jets twice and Denver makes this season a success…the rest is just gravy.

    – Lastly, why have the pre and post game radio shows become so bad? Is no one listening and therefore there is no demand for quality? A good pregame would enhance the in game listener experience I would think.

    Like

    1. “(Felger) will now postulate that the Pats are the best team in the league. Nothing short of a SB victory will make this season a success.”—-That’s always Felger’s criteria for the local teams, but especially the Pats: Win the whole thing, or the season is a failure. Every year the Pats don’t win the Super Bowl, even if they get there and lose because 1 or 2 plays didn’t go their way or a hugely important player was either out of the game or extremely limited (like Gronk in SB 46), Felger points out that they “haven’t won anything since 2004 because their roster-building approach sucks, Kraft is cheap, etc.” Winning the Super Bowl has to be the most difficult to win of all the team sports championships, because it’s a one-and-done playoff format combined with injury attrition levels that are off the charts. Seriously, what would the AFC title game result have been last year if the Pats had Wilfork, Kelly, Gronk, Mayo and Vollmer suited up and healthy? Maybe Denver still wins, maybe not, but I’ll guarantee you that it would have been a much, much more competitive game. Yet, because they didn’t go all the way, 2013 is seen as nothing but a failure by the Felger’s of the world. Insane.

      Like

    2. Pre and post game shows are only useful if you’re going to the game. Even on TV I find that I don’t watch as much anymore. They’re too busy trying to out laugh each other at some d level comedian doing bad impressions. I now find myself watching the Redzone fantasy show so I can set my lineup.

      Like

  4. Let me clarify things right away by saying that I don’t believe in things like this. BUT, if you haven’t noticed the weird similarities between this season and the 2003 season, take a look.

    In 03 they parted ways with a strong locker room leader and all pro talent just before the season, laid an egg to a divisional opponent on the road, only to come back and win the next two games followed by a loss in week 4. Then they went on a tear and won 5 games in a row with the 5th being a big win against a Denver Broncos team just before before the bye week.

    Does that sound familiar?

    I can only hope that this year has the same result.

    Like

    1. Um, noooooo. I listen to sports radio every day from 2-6 and I have been conditioned to see the similarities between this season and 2009. Remember that season? That was a season in decline, just like this team, coach and quarterback. #WindowShut #HotSportzTakes

      Like

    2. I’ve been saying that to myself all year….and this year even has had a national media figure declaring something idiotic about the Patriots early in the season, same as 2003. In 2003, it was, “They hate their coach.” This year, it was, “They’re not a good team anymore.” Just to go one with one further comparison: the 2003 team lost Roosevelt Colvin, their huge, high-profile free agent signing that offseason, to IR in Week 2; this year, it was Mayo in Week 6. Fortunately, the ’03 team didn’t lose another key player to IR until the playoffs (Damien Woody, injured in the Tennessee “freezer bowl” playoff game, capably replaced by Ross Hochstein). They lost other guys for several weeks that year, but all of them returned healthy by December. Hopefully, Mayo will be the only key guy they lose for the season this year, and Jones can get back on the field by December.

      Yes, the similarities to ’03, so far, are quite striking (we can only hope this season turns out the same way as that one did).

      Like

  5. It is quite a shame at how Mark Bertrand has destroyed any faith I had in him in his attempts to suck up to Felger a la Adam Jones and the other Felger Youth. You know it is bad when someone has a hot sportz take that is even more negative towards the Patriots than both Felger and Mazz. Today dumping all over the win, claiming the window is still closed and that the win doesn’t really mean anything. That January is all that matters. The fans can’t even be happy about the big win for one day?! One day!? Funny, Bertrand and the media have no problem at declaring the window closed, and making all these long term declarations after a single loss (or in the case of Gary Tanguay, after wins). Yet when the team has a big victory, over a team that Bertrand and his show has been portraying as superior to the Pats all season, no one is allowed to be happy about it at all.

    Like

    1. Listening to him on the Patriots.com post game show, he is entirely different. His relationship with Paul Perillo is also different there than it is when the two are on F&M.

      Like

  6. I used to be a big fan of the DA Show on 98.5, but he has clearly enrolled in the Felger, YARM, Wilbur, and Shank School of Trolls.

    “Brady zealots are blind to his playoff dog poop piles every January.”

    Like

    1. Since he’s gone national it seems like he goes out of his way to be overly critical of all New England/Boston teams.

      Like

  7. They still won’t prove a damn thing until they beat the Dolphins who are undefeated against the Patrots this year! Just wait for this one.:)

    Like

  8. I truly believe that talk radio is the same as what they call reality TV. Phony. Nothing is what you see or hear, if your not over the top they will not watch or listen. I liken Felger and Maz to the Kardasheins. Mike is Kris and Tony is Bruce.

    Like

  9. did anyone hear tim benz twist himself into a pretzel trying to defend his brady was bad narrative. Awful radio. And I usually am a fan of midday show

    Like

    2. ThanksDad Benz loves to play the victim card. His constant trolling of Chris Villani is hilarious…

      Like

    3. I just heard it now on D&C. I guess D&H also “addressed it”.

      It’s one thing to “toe the line” on approaches to covering local teams. I think F&M do this successfully, in the same way Skip Bayless does on First Take. How long that lasts? Difference being national vs. local, though, and I have no clue if it works. Being entertaining > boring wins out in Entertainment Sports Radio.

      My general question about this always goes to, “How can you survive in a market if you’re not at least some genuine fan of a team?” It’s the same if you were covering any topic (politics?) that’s dividing.

      (Bruce r/t’d a quote from a Bengals reporter, after we won there, about how can you be a ‘fan’ if you can’t enjoy a win.)

      I don’t know.

      In sampling other radio, even in different sports, certain markets you’d either not be hired or dead in a month if you weren’t. CFB comes to mind, especially in the SEC, but it’s not limited to that part of the country.

      Ex: What if Tony Marinaro from 680 up in MTL was hired to do radio here? I’d doubt it’d last long but at least Steve from Fall River and Danny from Quincy would finally be welcomed calls.

      You can be skeptical of approaches with a team but present an argument or case in such a way as to not be trolling. We all know who in the media approaches journalism here (cprice, etc.).

      Not that many people had any hope for him when hired, and he’s shown his true colors, but really the Fall book will tell us more, which is all that matters.

      Like

      1. I heard that clip of the Dale / Benz crossover as well. Dale called Benz out for his Strawman arguement. Dale is absolutely right and it’s nearly the same argument that Benz has been attempting to pick with Villani. Benz wrote and said that Brady was slipping. Slippage is a reference to a career arc. There is a big difference between “slippage” and simply “not playing as well as he could” or “not playing well.”

        Benz is apparently incapable of admitting that he was wrong, so he’s also lashing out at the Trent Green’s of the world for doing just that.

        Like

        1. But, didn’t a # of people say the same thing? Dilfer issued his mea culpa. Minihane, Tanguay, as well.

          You pointed out how they should have framed their argument, if they didn’t want to be caught in this bind.

          Maybe they never intended it to be that way? We all slip? Others, like GearBear, I think wanted to embrace his new found love for the “Felger Youth” club.

          Why I think people are calling Benz out is he’s already been identified as an outsider, and trying to bring up Spygate here destroys you, forever, with many. You can’t go back. It’s the problem with bringing in an outsider who then tries to understand such a provincial market, learning on the job. If that affects their rating? I have no clue, but it brands him, in the eyes of many, as a heretic. To me, once you “cross that line”, it’s over (Felger and other locals we label as contrarians know they’d murder their career here.).

          Like

          1. People were calling out Minihane and Tanguay too, but from what I heard Minihane said that he was incorrect. Tanguay came pretty close when he told Gresh that he was “emotional” after the Jets game.

            Benz is doubling, tripling down…He just can’t bear to utter the words, “I was incorrect.” Instead he has moved the goal-posts and lashes out at Villani and Dale.

            Did I misunderstand your response? I may have.

            The other person is Karen Guergian but I think so few people pay attention her that it doesn’t matter. A few weeks ago she announced that the Pats COULD not win the SB this season. Then after the Denver game, she’s ready to open up the window again.

            Like

  10. I know it’s like making fun of a retarded kid, but I’d like to dissect Gary Tanguay’s “article” posted on csnne.com yesterday.
    The title is “I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong!” What a shock. Tanguay is waffling on his “Window closed!” assertion that was made not even 3 weeks ago. After a win, mind you.
    He starts by giving Bryan Stork all the credit for the offensive line’s improved play. Does Stork deserve some credit? Maybe. But to say he’s the difference is an oversimplification that I don’t even think a sports radio caller would make. I mean, Jesus, Tanguay — maybe the entire line has improved? Perhaps the coaches have made adjustments? Nope, in Gary’s world everything is black and white. Bryan Stork, a rookie center with 4 starts in 6 games of NFL experience, and his magic beans are what turned it all around.
    He follows this up by giving TB credit and letting us know that he wasn’t one of the morons calling for Brady to be traded or benched in favor of Garroppolo. Cause Gary Tanguay would NEVER make such rash statements. He’s much too even keeled and objective for that nonsense.
    He then praises the acquisitions and play of Akeem Ayers and Jonathan Cassilas. Cassilas deserves “a ton of credit” for his special teams contributions. The special teams unit that had been great in the 8 previous games. Thank god they brought in Cassilas to fix it. And Gary calls Ayers the kind of find that BB does better than anyone. A guy nobody has heard of that comes in and just makes plays. Based on 1 game and 1 sack. Very measured response, Mr. Tanguay.
    And the icing on this turd cake? Gary closes it out by writing that he isn’t ready to say that the window has reopened . . .
    HUH?!? Then what the f were you WRONG, WRONG, WRONG about??
    The article exemplifies why this guy is such a joke. He can’t even figure out how to do the same shtick that 90% of the sports media is doing right now. No one can take him seriously or even be angered by his overreactions that change from minute to minute. It’s no wonder he can’t hold down a job.

    Like

  11. I somehow found myself reading Borges’ column on Brady vs. Manning last week. It was terrible and full of cliches (although surprisingly pro-Brady) but I’m glad i read it. Today, Grantland ran one of it’s parody hotsportztake columns that may have, in an interesting twist, stolen from Herald’s Plagiarist-in-Chief . Here’s a comparison of both using the terrible column device of a one-line paragraph:

    Grantland: But this isn’t fantasy. This is reality.

    Borges: You like fantasy? I like reality.

    There are a few other similarities, including platitudes like “when it matters most” and both seemingly reference weed. But i think Ron should demand an apology for Grantland stealing his good work.

    http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/ron_borges/2014/10/borges_peyton_manning_over_tom_brady_fantasy

    http://grantland.com/the-triangle/hotsportstakes-peyton-manning-and-the-patriots-celebration-penalty/

    Like

    1. “I somehow found myself reading Borges’ column on Brady vs. Manning last week.”

      There’s something so unintentionally funny in that statement.

      I immediately thought of the Seinfeld “Fusilli Jerry” episode. “It was a million to one shot Doc.” Somehow I just found myself reading Borges.

      Like

    1. Your (and my) SOS has been answered:

      ‏@WWIIFelger Stay tuned right here for Axis Jonesy at the top of the hour for more unbiased radio. If you want propaganda listen to Murrow.

      Like

  13. Remember when Felger cried like a little beeeeotch on WEEI when Sean McAdam put him n his place with the Mr.baseball reference? I’ve noticed that when someone every once and a great while will dare to really challenge him on something, Felger gets really defensive and the act is over and he starts getting angry at that person for challenging him when he’s out of smartass answers or opinions.

    Like

    1. Oh, dude, I remember him almost walking off the set of Sports Final in the late 90s or early 00s because they used a bad picture of him for a graphic that intro’d a segment he was going to do on the Bruins. I think it was intended to be a reoccurring thing, but I never saw it again after he nearly came to tears during the first airing. His face turned bright red and he started whining about whether or not it was going to be a serious segment and basically said he wouldn’t do it if they were going to use intentionally bad photos of him. This was live on air, mind you. It was a pretty unprofessional way to handle it and he came off like a complete baby. I mean, he spent about 45 seconds of what was probably intended to be a 4 or 5 minute spot just crying about his picture. Eventually Bob Lobel talked him down and said something like, “Why are you so wound up? You’re married to the local news babe.” Which did nothing to placate Felger. I’ll never forget it, and I know that behind all his preening is a thin skinned baby who doesn’t want to be challenged on any level. Which is obviously why he has The Echo as his cohost.

      Like

  14. I didn’t listen to DA much when he was in Adam Jones slot, but have caught the overnight national show a few times and it’s a “fun” show, enjoyable in spurts. I enjoy the “Mothership” stuff. BEAM ME UP!!!! I enjoy “Brandon Weeden is a bum”

    Like

  15. They signed Tyrone Poole that offseason as well, and he was very, very good as the #2 corner opposite Ty Law. That was their best secondary of the BB era, rounded out near mid-seasom when they converted rookie Eugene Wilson from CB to safety next to Harrison, and Wilson responded with two very good seasons during which he made a ton of big plays (e.g.–two picks against Roethlisberger in the ’04 AFC title game). Law got injured in Pittsburgh the following year and missed the entire SB 39 run, so they never had that full 2003 group together again. Hopefully, this year’s group will be able to match or even exceed that one.

    Like

    1. I read through that whole exchange; @armyrossi is clearly a Felger & Mazz stooge, and is basically just repeating all their talking points (despite claiming he doesn’t like Felger). -_-

      Like

      1. Yep that is pure, unadulterated Felger Youth.

        They openly root against the teams that they claim to be fans of and for things to go wrong, so that they can crow about being smarter than the coaches and management.

        Funniest part is the dude tweets 5000x per day to his 89 followers, including, before Curran tagged him with the “Felger Youth”, retweeting Curran. Now he hates Curran. Felger Youths are very sensitive, just like their leader.

        Like

  18. If Gary didn’t spew such nonsensical bullshyte like “they will never get better. This is what they are!” over and over again to Gresh on the PGS, then he wouldn’t have to issue a mea culpa (of sorts). But being a jackass gets him attention and then helps him fill his column quota.

    Like

  19. A quick-hit thought on Twitter: Compared to the Patriots and the Celtics (can’t compare the Red Sox during the off-season) The Bruins organization run an EXTREMELY competent feed.

    If you compare what the Bruins post, to what the various beat writers (Haggerty, Conroy, Benjamin) post, especially when it comes to quotes from players and team officials; the beat writer’s feeds are repetitive and pointless.

    If this is the future of “news”, I would think the media companies are terrified.

    Like

    1. One thing I don’t understand is why the beat writer’s feel the need to tweet what is essentially play-by-play during the games…

      Is this what has replaced Bob Ryan’s “gamers”?

      That’s what the TV and radio is for. Do people that are at work or whatever during the games, follow their twitter feeds for play-by-play? I don’t get it. Just give me the quotes. I want to hear from the players and the coaches. I’ll read your “gamer” if you’re competent enough.

      Like

      1. If I’m at work, or in the car (not driving) and don’t have control over the radio or can’t stream the audio, I’ll check twitter for updates. I don’t want pitch by pitch or play by play. However, highlights of big plays and the like aren’t a bad thing.

        Like

        1. Thank you for responding! So indeed, there is a need being filled here. Very interesting. Thanks again.

          Like

          1. Just something else I was thinking about listening to cfb on Sirius today while driving from place to place, using Twitter allows me to get some “feel” for the game that a pure stats-based feed on an app would not allow.

            Like

  20. Looks like Bill Simmons got bored not being in the media:

    https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/with_replies

    http://thebiglead.com/2014/11/06/mike-golic-on-bill-simmons-lebron-comments-he-grabbed-a-headline-which-is-something-i-know-he-loves/

    http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/bill-simmons-kinda-sorta-calling-roger-goodell-liar.html

    Best zinger(s) so far:

    @BryanDFischer Going to be interesting to read Bill Simmons on Bleacher Report in a few months.

    @johnpboyle The 30 for 30 on the Bill Simmons-ESPN divorce is going to be spectacular.

    Like

    2. I won’t get into the whole media DB on media DB crimes being committed here, but let’s look at his comparison of Lebron to Pujols.

      It’s long been forgotten now, but A LOT OF people praised the Cardinals for (fiscal sanity) letting him walk.

      And that is because in 2011, his final season with the Cardinals, Pujols’ run production was at the “replacement level” through the first 51 games of the season…

      Like

    3. Simmons is so thin-skinned. It’s really incredible. He simply cannot let any criticism go unanswered, and he always has to respond with a personal shot (…”I never respected their show…”). Why can’t he just call up Golic on the show and debate him? I’m sure they would have put him on the air and all of them would have had a good laugh about it after the discussion had run its course. Nope…he just had to take to public sniping and insults through social media like the immature, thin-skinned jackass he shows himself to be far too often.

      Like

  21. My newest pet peeve? The narrative on Felger & Mazz, especially from Mazz, continues to be that Brady won’t (or at least shouldn’t) play for a measly $7 million dollar contract next year. Mazz said this afternoon that Brady should hold out next season. Said logic ignores the fact that they are looking only at the base salary figures, and are not considering the guaranteed signing bonus that Brady got when he signed his new deal in 2013. At the time, it was reported as $30 million dollars. This $30 million gets completely ignored by them and is tantamount to blatantly lying about Brady’s contract for the point of stirring up as much controversy and trolling as possible (unless Mazz is so dumb and forgetful that he doesn’t know about that $30 million, which I suppose can’t be discounted as a possibility.)

    How exactly this $30 million got paid out I’m still trying to figure out; I found a USA Today article that mentioned it was/is paid out in 4 installments over the 2013, 2014 and 2015 season, meaning Brady is getting an additional $5 million on top of his base salary for 2015, if that is accurate. Miguel’s cap site implies that it was paid all up front in 2013, at least at the bottom of his page for Brady. If that is accurate, than Brady got paid $31 million in 2013, but is only being paid $2 million now in 2014. So why isn’t he holding out now then? That’s less than 1/3 of his “insanely insulting” $7 million base salary for 2015.

    Whichever is accurate, one thing is clear, the $7 million dollar figure Mazz keeps throwing out is not accurate.

    Like

    1. Balance Sheets and the math needed to understand them has never been either Felger’s or Mazz’s strong points.

      Like

  22. What happened to sports talk that now they think they are
    the story? And the lead story? Oh boy,
    where do I begin. Girls and boys please
    let the talent (the teams, players, etc.) be the story not you.

    I read a couple of
    reports today from NATIONAL media types, not local. It wasn’t pretty.
    Kristopher Mortanddaughter and Michelle Gold both said that the local on air
    sports talk in Boston is in decline. And
    it gets worse. There are rumblings, that Felger and Dennis, both were seen before
    their shows talking to Jerry Thornton. Supposedly there is a clip. I haven’t seen
    the clip but why bring any truth to the story.

    In the clip, I read Felger and Dennis’ body language. Both
    said that they need Thornton. Jerry is
    clearly unhappy with his options. One unnamed source at 98.5 went as far to say
    that Beetle isn’t the answer and why didn’t we get Thornton. Word was that 98.5 was up against their crap..sorry
    typo cap. WEEI was going to pounce and get Thornton but they were still in hour
    three reviewing the selectman meeting in North Adams.

    What a pile of garbage from a bunch of, let’s say, the land
    of Lilliputian. Have you seen these Napolean’s? If I put the tuba player of the
    Pats that they denigrated on one side of a seesaw and all these lightweights on
    the other, I would take the tuba player.

    Here is your lineup:

    Felger – sweater vest..really..classic Belichick with the
    hoodie..trying to make yourself look more imposing..doesn’t work..you look like and
    are a sally..classic Greg Marmalard from Animal House ..google it.

    Dennis – You checked out at least 4 chins ago..congrats on
    the nuptials..keep the questions to
    one..not..Guest XX..what is your mood..and if your mood is good..and if
    your mood is good and you have a pop tart in your mouth..

    Callahan – nice hair..nice hair..name me the 50 governors in the US..and when you do I will fall asleep again..thanks for the
    boredom..by the way..your football tough..lol.please..

    Massarotti – keep cashing the checks my friend..I would
    suggest direct deposit..

    Minihane – I quit – No really I quit – No really I quit – No
    really I quit..No really I will take on the anybody..look at the list..a who’s who
    of icons..let us name the pantheons together..Haggerty, Bean, Dell,
    Andrews,..You are an animal..just ask you..also I would say you are cross
    between Eddie Munster and Eddie Haskell..I know..both those characters were on
    the small screen..sorry..tell me another cinematic story..i love that part of
    the show..and..YOU are reading this..

    Merloni – fake laugh..cmon man..couldn’t be phonier

    Gresh – Easy big boy –
    you are definitely a man amongst very small boys in the Boston media besides
    Zolak..but lose the I am MR interior line crap

    Benz – nice try..can I recommend UHAUL

    Fauria – The only dude that isn’t phony

    Like

      1. One more thing.

        The sorry I hit the wrong button and hung up on somebody.

        What? No you are not.

        One more thing.

        This garbarge about we will get to

        Like

  23. Felger doing what he does best today – strawman arguments! Took Tanguay’s column, which was just Gear Bear speculating and guessing, and Felger makes it FACT, and makes it an indictment on Brady. Leave it to Felger and YARM to just sh!t on everything good the Patriots have done this past month. It’s the bye week so lets go back in time to September and act like then is now just so we have something to go crazy about.

    WTF kind of radio is this? Like, REALLY, Mike.

    Like

    1. Doom and Gloom. It works. Look at the ratings. There is a segment of fans that LOVE this stuff. These are the “fans” that would rather their favorite teams fail, so that they can crow about more “right” than Neely, Claude, BB, Kraft, Farrell, Cherington, Ainge (well not really, no one except for us diehards cares about the Celtics), etc.

      Like

  24. Hope they put a clip up, but that was a great burn of Mike and Mike by T+R (7AM hr first segment). Summed up how soft the show perfectly.

    Like

  25. Digressing from the “Trade The Quarterback” storyline for a moment …

    Did anyone else hear the scorching hot take yesterday on F&M at about 5:30 or so when the panel started discussing which baseball free agent signing would make the biggest splash here? Mazz said that trading for Stanton would amount to a bigger story than the trading, and subsequent re-signing, of local fan favorite Jon Lester. I just can’t believe this guy used to cover baseball daily for a living.

    Then they close the segment with the notion that probably NO SIGNING can rejuvenate interest in the team (or “move the needle” as they like to say) due to market over-saturation and people realizing 2013 was a fluke. I nearly drove off the friggin’ road.

    This, of course, came after a lengthy discussion about how the Bruins were never going to win a Cup with this collection of players. The Bruins, who, by the way, are one point out of first place in the Atlantic Division, and winners of seven of their last nine. But since they’re definitely not going to win it all, why bother watching? Why bother enjoying anything at all, amirite?

    Suffice it to say, Pandora and other streaming radio services have seen an increase in use over the past month.

    Like

    1. This week, I’ve heard Ordway mention a comment (I think this was Monday) that D&H “books have been better” and JD on D&C said the same. Obviously, you can call JD bias, but he’d be dumb to lie about it. Ordway saying it, before he did, made me wonder.. has their real shift in the past year chipped away?

      Like

      1. I’ll just state right off that I mostly listen to Felger’s show. I think it’s the most relevant and that show has more highs than lows. Saying that…I do find my self listening more and more to Dale and Holly. Sometimes I just want to hear someone discuss the games and not conspiracy theories and who in the media is a ball washer. I really loved F&M when they first started because they gave you a mix a both. Now they took what was one piece of their show, the contrarian angle and have built their entire shows around it. It’s too much even for me. I love skepticism but a HEALTHY dose of it. Not a whole show of it with everyone around you too afraid to call him out on it from time to time. Minihane rips the same takes from Felger but it works better on D&C because Jerry will challenge him on it. I feel like Kirk and Jerry took what F&M does but they are doing it better because there’s actual back and forth. Not like on F&M when on the rare occasion when Mazz speaks up then Felger shuts down the conversation by saying they agree to disagree. That’s fine when you’re at work or a family outing but this is talk radio and he doesn’t want to talk about something when he can’t win the argument. You can tell he was raised by lawyers. Then you have Beetle who had his balls sniped because on patriots.com he’s completely different then on the Hub. On patriots.com the pats could win it all, on the hub “window closed”. Pathetic.
        If the station had any balls they would hire Ordway away from his basement show and pair him with Felger. That would be excellent. Just like the old days on WEEI when Glen never let Felger off the hook for his stupid conspiracy theories.

        Like

Comments are closed.