I don’t know how it is possible, but on the occasions that I’m turning on WEEI these days, I am inevitably hearing Gary Tanguay.

Why?

What is he possibly bringing to the table except predictable contrarianism?

I firmly believe that WEEI had a golden opportunity to make up a little ground against 98.5 the SportsHub this summer and fall, and the omnipresence of Tanguay ruined that. It’s actually hard to believe that Tanguay got canned from 98.5 because he would fit in over there perfectly now.

And Greg Dickerson? I love Greg and admire his push to continue after what he’s been through health-wise, but he is just not the answer either. What is? WEEI has tried the out of town route with Salk and Benz and failed miserably. They’ve resorted to bringing back people they had fired in an effort to compete with 98.5 in the first place. They tried the young-up-and-comer route with Mike Mutnansky, and that didn’t work either.

Speaking of WEEI:

That’s good news for Ordway, who collapsed at his Patriots tailgate two weeks ago with what has been reported as a bleeding ulcer.

****

ESPN’s decision to shut down Grantland was only a surprise in its timing. The site that Bill Simmons created for the network probably should’ve ended when Simmons’ tenure there did. It’s almost like ESPN tried to keep it going out of spite, as if to say “we don’t need Bill Simmons to run the Bill Simmons site.”

The decision seemed quick and impetuous – they announced they were shutting it down before even telling the staff (or the web host, for that matter.)

Simmons meanwhile is working on his next web venture, having hired several of his key people from Grantland and starting to plan out the vision for the site which will probably have as much multimedia content as editorial content.

****

ESPN hires Brady as New Ombudsman – OK, so they’re calling the position “public editor” now, and it’s Jim Brady, not Tom, but it’s a fun idea.

NFL TV ratings continue to climb – Chad Finn reports on how the league continues to garner huge ratings numbers despite the lack of integrity from Roger Goodell.

Mike Gorman, Tommy Heinsohn are Celtics broadcast mainstays – Bill Doyle looks at the venerable dup, who are in their 35th year together calling basketball games on television.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

79 thoughts on “The Gary Tanguay Experience Continues To Mystify”

  1. Re: Tanguay. Agree it’s beyond baffling… but what is even harder to understand is why they use him to replace Minihane… D&C worked as a two-some (Meterperel was hardly a co-host) for like 15yrs. Why do they need a replacement to begin with when he is out for a few days? And why do they bring in Tanguay who inevitably ends up creating a controversy about himself that takes up a ton of time that could be spent on what we all care about? Baffling, indeed.

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    2. You don’t think 20 minutes on $32 hair gunk applied before going on the air at a RADIO station makes for scintillating radio?

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    3. Agree with you Tom. Why the need for the 3rd voice on these shows? Also wonder if D & C ever get tired of Minihane hijacking their show. Always refreshing listening when he isn’t there because Minihane invariably makes it all about himself.

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      1. As opposed to Gerry going off on a political tangent? Inserting politics where it has ZERO place being? If it was to be a two-man booth then it should be Dino and Kirk.

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    4. DnC worked as a twosome until another station came along and stomped their grapes after which they had a shotgun wedding with Kirk (remember relegation to the dark corner when they had TV?) that coincided with a turnaround. My guess is that the brass at EEI does not favor them working as a duo both for show running reasons and because when left alone those two may tend to revert to old school ways that pose their own challenges.

      As to why GT is the seat filler – totally agree that editorially its ineffective- but maybe from a look at the car-wreck factor gets ears tuned in. The guy has gone Jimmy Myers over the wall on both his takez and his pulling back the curtain to explain how the media game is played .

      The Dickerson thing is also a liability but given the unexpected circumstances and again assuming they want a 3 person booth (hey i didnt think MnF was horrible on their own) they had to take what they could. I’d like to think that if was a planned 2 week stay they’d have gotten better coverage.

      Greg is good on Sundays but just like Butch if I hear him on weekdays I want to know its a holiday week or something.

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      1. They must have had trouble getting a fill-in for Ordway this week as Dickerson was very obviously not in the best of health himself.

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  2. “It’s actually hard to believe that Tanguay got canned from 98.5 because he would fit in over there perfectly now”

    Well he was paid to be a homer by the Pats and Celtics when he worked for 98.5 and had a strange delusion that he was the play by play man in waiting for both jobs (seriously how insane is that!!!!). Now that he has been fired twice, he tries to make both organizations look bad for having the gall to fire him.

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    1. Grantland could never decide who its audience was. The self-conscious hipsterism and the “white guys are so over” attitude promulagated by people like Wesley Morris and John Lopez put off older readers while the obsession with ’80s nostalgia didn’t attract younger ones. I’ll miss the football articles of Bill Barnwell (although I’m sure he’ll turn up somewhere) but not much else.

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  5. Bruce…you ask an interesting question…what should WEEI do. The answer is for at least one show (I am thinking the midday) they need to change format completely. I suggest they get rid of callers, go to 3 to 5 interviews in the hour with “experts”, have round table discussions, and do a more thoughtful sports radio. Sandwich that with the morning quick attention span stuff D&C do because of the nature of morning drive and then have the true call in show in afternoon drive where there will be often reaction to what was discussed at Midday and you would have a compelling radio block. Further I suggest that if you are not going to bring in Chuck Wilson (okay I will not beat that dead horse) then Glenn Ordway would be a solid host for this type of show. What’s interesting is Dale Arnold would be great at it also. Finally, someone thoughtful and reasoned like Sean McAdam would be good there as well. It is the callers that have driven content to the lowest common denominator. I completely understand giving the fans and the public a voice. But look at the show Jim and Marjorie do on WGBH as kind of a model. Or look at the John Bachelor show. Or the old Sportsnight with Chuck Wilson. None have callers. All are interesting because they inform. I think in the Boston Market WEEI needs to try something…getting away from Hot Takez and idiot callers makes more sense to me than non passionate out of market moron who clearly have no feel for Boston, the sports legacy or its fans.

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    1. Nothing would make me happier. I can usually listen when the hosts are either talking amongst themselves or interviews. When they start in on callers, I flip to music. Phones are bad, opinions are idiotic, and it just gives the host a chance to yell at them. Maybe one in ten callers offers something useful, maybe.

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      1. Seriously? Interviews SUCK. It’s 99% cliches and platitudes. Waste of everyone’s time. You want hosts loving the sound of their own voice? There’s a platform for that. it’s called ESPN Radio. Or, really, almost any national radio.

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        1. Interviews do not have to suck. I agree that most of what is out there sucks because the guys doing the interviews do not know how to do it. However it is possible to run an interview show that is fascinating, moves quickly and does not suck. Although it is politics go listen to John Batchelor (http://johnbatchelorshow.com)…I suggest any of the Mary Kissel or Monica Crowley stuff to start and see how interviews can be done and be interesting on a regular basis. It is this type of sports investigation I would like to hear.

          Stoja I generally think you are on the right side of things on this board but I do not understand how you think interviews are more boring that listening to 30 second comments from uniformed callers followed by generally inane drivel from hosts.

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    2. There’s a reason that brand of radio doesn’t exist. It’s not 1954. It’s awful. Listen to a podcast then. I agree most callers suck but it’s better than listening to Sean McAdam drone on and on and put listeners to sleep.

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      1. I agree…listening to one person drone on will put you to sleep. It has to be a pretty fast paced show. There has to be more than one opinion presented. There has to be interesting topical and varied topics covered. I disagree with your premise. I would be the reason it is not done is cost…it is much cheaper to fill air with free callers than it is with paid guests. Still I think it can be done. Jim and Marjorie do it on WGBH on general politics for 3 hours each day to decent ratings (especially for public broadcasting) and with a pretty interesting show.

        Podcasts are not the answer because they are too slow and often self aggrandizing. 5 topics an hour. 10 minute interviews or round table discussions per topic. It has to be better than listening to callers.

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      2. 10 or 15 years ago McAdam had some interesting things to say but as he’s aged he’s become very bland and predictable. Perhaps it comes from changing jobs so often.

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    3. I would be in favor of an experiment like this. In reality, how is the formula of any show different than any other show? They all utilize #HotSportzTakes as jumping off points for discussion, whether those be from the hosts or the callers. Some are more salacious than others, but literally ever show follows the same formula. So why not try an informed panel show? Opinions from the people who actually cover the teams?

      Or my own personal favorite, some sort of show modeled after “The Soup,” where a host (and its panel/guests) skewer athletes, sports personalities and media with commentary and radio sketches.

      But the problem is, literally as I type those sentences, people don’t want different. And midday is absolutely not the place to try such an experiment. It would be a ratings disaster. And sad as it might seem, I think those of us that can sniff out a #HotSportzTake (or, as I tried to explain it to my dad, “a contrarian opinion that exists solely for the purpose of insulting the intelligence of those around you”) are actually in the minority. The mouth-breathing majority would tune in and any satirical humor would just fly over their heads. Any real discussions based on facts would be boring. Ratings would plummet, heads would roll, and Gary Tanguay’s phone would ring.

      Dogs and cats .. living together .. mass hysteria.

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  6. Tanguay is ‘EEI’s new court jester. The other hosts can make fun of his opinions, weight, hair, voice, farts, etc. and he’ll sit there and take it because he’s a 51 year old unemployed guy who’s desperate for a paycheck. He’s a cheap laugh.

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    2. The “oh he’s a dumbass and lets make fun of him” only works so long, for me. I have no clue about others.

      I’d really like to know if it works. No way to really gauge via PPM/Arbitron but online streams. They get those numbers instantly and can do a H-2-H of each show with and without him. Nothing fancy but I’d be interested to know.

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  7. It wasn’t broken before, but it’s broken now. Move Dale and Holley back to 10-2 and bring back the Big show with the Big O and the rotating co- hosts. I’d rather listen to four hours of radio static than Tanguay.

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  8. Here’s an idea for why Gary Tanguay is always on WEEI – because he’s genuinely entertaining and while he does proffer some disagreeable arguments (his insistence that Tom Brady is somehow guilty despite all proof to the contrary is what has everyone up in arms lately) he also offers some legitimate insight and also humor, when others criticize his hair etc. Tanguay was perfect on the Patriots pre- and post-game shows in concert with Andy Gresh and his superiority in both stands in stark contrast to the mediocrity of Mark Bertrand and the always-stuck-up Chris Gaspar (Steve DeOssie is the one positive now on the WBZ-FM post-game show).

    If anything WEEI should finally get rid of Michael Holley – who in 13 years has NEVER added anything to that station beyond full-of-himself bromides – as well as Kirk Minihane (a bully who even when he’s right manages to get it wrong) and Mike Muttnansky and replace them with Christian Arcand, Tanguay, and Gresh.

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    1. What. The. Fukk. No…seriously. I was convinced there wasn’t a human being alive who liked Tanguay. I stand corrected. I found bigfoot. WOW.

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      2. How about you found someone who is more objective than you? Is it his opinion on Brady that makes you hate Tanguay? If so – and it appears the hatred by fans is exclusively based on that – it’s a shallow and less-than-credible standard to judge by.

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        1. You’re a fukking idiot if you think people hate him JUST because of his opinion on Brady. He’s the most hated man in New England sports media for a myriad of reasons. But hooray for you though.

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    2. I never thought I’d ever see the words “Tanguay” “was” and “perfect” would EVER be typed in succession.

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  9. What were the head-to-head ratings last week between Game 5 and Denver/Green Bay? Obviously the NFL won the night but by how much?

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    1. I am sorry but as much as I hate Goodell and the NFL this is all on Jerry Jones and his idea that winning football games trumps any morals and ethics. Its clear Dallas and the the NFL knew the severity of Hardy’s actions. Its clear a decision was made by Jones to put the pass rushing needs of his team ahead of common decency. The NFL is only complicit in that they were stuck between doing whats right and the desires of arguably their most powerful owner. After alienating Kraft, Goodell and his people calculated that alienating Jones probably would not be the smartest move. Even with that the commissioners office tried to suspend him for 10 games. I doubt they could have gotten away with a lifetime ban legally. So if the arbitrator had upheld the 10 games Dallas just waits 6 weeks longer to put Hardy on the field. The NFL could have leaked the pictures and hoped public pressure would keep owners (Jones) from hiring this guy but I am not sure that would have worked..at least not in Dallas’ case as they were/are desperate to be relevant.

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      1. Its clear Dallas and the the NFL knew the severity of Hardy’s actions

        Yup. And, lets see how fans react with where it counts. Sadly, I have 0 hope or faith here (mixture of ignorance and folks who can’t go 12h w/o being outraged @ whatever is the latest thing.)

        The Twitter outrage is neat, really. Put your m-therfu-king money where your mouth is if you really care that much instead of just keeping up with whatever is the latest in outrage trends.

        keep owners (Jones)

        Had some free time in the shop, so WEEI was on. Mutt sadi something that I’d want to requote, which is lets see some other owners actually say something–oh, like they did with the Goodell/Brady garbage. Then the pressure is on. Nothing so far, but one can only wait|hope.

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    1. I understand that the NFL did try to suspend him for 10 games, and that it’s not Goodell’s fault (for once) that he only served a four-game suspension. However, why the hell is this guy not in jail? Forget the number of games he did or did not miss…..this was a horrible, horrible crime he committed. That an NFL team would employ him anyway, even knowing what he’s done, is very telling (and believe me, if not Jerry Jones, who is a jackass, some other team would eventually have come calling; premier pass rushers in their physical primes aren’t so readily available). These are the guys that Kraft decided to play nice with……(not really his fault either, I know that). The entire situation is nauseating.

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      1. I disagree, it is Goodell’s fault. If he had a legit punishment policy in place rather than “I can make this up as I go along” , whatever punishment came down wouldn’t be overturned.

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        1. What you say about Goodell is 100% true. I’m not sure upon what grounds Hardy’s suspension was reduced, but I’m sure Goodell’s incompetence in handling the case was one of the top three reasons.

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      2. The CJ thing itself is a whole other bag. Easily discussed anywhere but I’m more focused on the sports/NFL/media aspect since it’s germane to the board.

        The NFL cover-up, scripting and how their partners just bent over is disgusting.

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  14. (original tweet was from Bert-y Breer.)

    All of us here get it, Bert. Gotta put food on the table. Stop masquerading yourself as a Walter Cronkite, though. Thanks–those who get reality. ILL HANG UP N LISTEN!!!

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    1. I don’t see how Breer is the bad guy in this for publishing Jones’ statement. If he writes something condoning, explaining or justifying the decision to hire Hardy as an opinion piece have at it. I don’t like Breer but he was originally on the Dallas beat and he has connections with the organization.

      Its a horrible situation…one that the NFL had to know was coming. The fact that the competitive nature of the owners makes them believe that winning at all costs justifies whatever they do has caused unbelievable issues for the NFL since Goodell took over because he is ill equipped to moderate and guide the league through these land mines.

      The league spent $10 mill torturing Tom Brady over footballs. Hardy, when he mentioned Giselle in that presser gave Goodell a way to suspend him for the rest of this year…he could have said Hardy clearly had no remorse and as such he will sit 12 more games and maybe he will realize women are not objects. He did not do it because it would have taken leadership. Instead he now has this mess on his hands. Like I said below. The real culprit is Jerry Jones. He gave Hardy a contract all because Hardy can get after a QB. Let them stew in the firestorm. Besides its not like Hardy let no air out of a football. Had he done that then….

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  16. Tanguay is an SNL skit played out in real life. I don’t care if he’s playing the contrarian role or whatever his act is. My problem is that he has never once said anything insightful about anything. Never once left me saying: “i hadn’t thought of that.” That’s hard to do when you’re on the air this much, for this long. And the kicker in it is that he doesn’t even know this! To Gary, having a deep voice means having deep thoughts. Uh, no.

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    1. I doubt he possesses the requisite depth of thought to consider topics like “depth of thought.” I really miss the old days when the airheads just showed the highlights and read the scores and kept their ill-formed opinions to themselves.

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  17. Coach DeGuglielmo took heat and servings of blame pie from many in the local media and fans during the team’s slow start last September. Let PRAISE BE RAINED UPON THE GREAT COACH GUGS.

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    1. This is a fascinating story to me. As best I can tell OL coaches like to never be seen or heard from. This guy had the unfortunate luck to replace Scarneccia, who some think was the greatest coach ever. The line did struggle last year but has not since about game 5 or the reemergence of Gronk both as a receiver and a blocker. The Pats line is under siege. Yet Brady keeps on ticking and they even added running as a dimension this week. Coach Deguglielmo deserves much praise or at least thoughtful pieces on how he is piecing together a line from undrafted rookie FA’s, players playing completely out of position, and guys who should be on the practice squad.

      I was hoping that Cannon might be back next week. If that had happened then they could have had him and Vollmer at the tackles and cobble together guards. But without Cannon or Vollmer there will have to be a roster move…if not two. Or maybe Williams plays tackle. The giants are not going to be as easy as Washington was…so they need to have healthy bodies in front of Brady. This is what Gugs is getting paid to do!

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      1. Lewis torn ACL. Still waiting for updates on Vollmer and Harmon.

        Flemming at LT and The Stork at RT next week?

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        1. They have a couple of OL’s on the practice squad right now. Not sure if any of them are tackles, but if ALL of their current injured O-lineman can’t go next Sunday, at least they have a couple of options down there on the P-Squad. The Lewis injury really sux. I was hoping that maybe they’d dodged a bullet there, but given that it looked almost exactly like Welker’s blown ACL moment in Houston six years ago, I pretty much was resigned to the fact that he was done for the year as soon as I saw the replay. I like Bolden as a RB. Always have. I’d like to see him be given the first shot to replace Lewis, but they’ll probably go with White initially.

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          1. And this is why the reporting in this town is driving me crazy. There is no talk about who the Pats can turn to…its just “oh my god what will they do” talk. There are options. Chris Barker was a guard in college at 300 lbs I think he is small to play tackle but maybe he could play guard and they could kick stork outside. The more intriguing guy is the mammoth Blaine Clausell. A 4 year starter at Left Tackle at Mississippi State. He was raw by pro standards coming out. But the Pats have a history of plugging guys like this in and having them succeed. I think the move is to promote Clausell if they have seen anything at all in him the past few weeks. We will see if any reporter in town talks at all about him as an option.

            At running back I think they consider bringing Cadet back. For some reason White has not clicked. Bolden is not the answer…to small to be a big back, too slow to be a scat back. BB likes him but I don’t see him as a long term answer.

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          2. I know. I don’t think the O-Line issues are permanent. Vollmer may miss a few games, OK. But Cannon probably is getting closer to a return, and they do have a P-Squad option or two available. Also, Stork’s return is a boost. Replacing Lewis over the long term is more of an issue, but if the answer is not on the current roster, there are options out there in free agency, like Cadet, or that Archer guy the Steelers just released (whom every Pats’ message board GM has been mentioning ever since Lewis went down at 3 p.m. Sunday). I think White gets the first shot, of course. He looked pretty good in pre-season, I thought. The only problem is that he looked pedestrian compared to Lewis, who is simply dynamic.

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          3. I agree with you the OL will be okay long term. They will get Cannon back, they should get Vollmer back. That would help greatly. Mason looks like he dodged a bullet. Archer would not be a good fit…but who knows what the Pats will do.

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          4. Your post highlights that what is on the radio is not reporting. The hosts sometimes talk to real reporters like Jeff Howe and Reiss, but after that it’s right back to the “entertainment”.

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          5. Except…no one in printing is writing about this either. Its like they are in some fog where they just wait to see what is going to happen while they say things like “oh my…what are they going to do…” and “Next man up..” The reporting both on the radio and in print is bad; which surprises me because normally the print stuff covers these topics. So far not one posting or article on the 2 OL’s on the PS. No talk of available free agents. One mention…I think it was Curran…that Cadet is still available for the RB spot. Heck Welker getting signed by St. Louis is getting more play.

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  18. Tony Mazz: “The Patriots did not play well yesterday.”

    That’s YOUR take away, you pathetic little midget?

    The (makeshift) offensive and defensive lines didn’t play well? The defense didn’t hold the Reskins to 3 points before a meaningless, garbage time touchdown? Logan Ryan didn’t play well? Special Teams didn’t play well? Brady threw his first bad pass of the season and didn’t play well? Lafell was a bag of hot garbage?

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    1. And last week he was the guy who said it was a “waste of his time to watch any more Patriots home games this year.”

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  19. Gnarly Tanguay epitomizes the ‘White Sports Media Hack’ persona perfectly. He and the whole collection of them just DRIP ‘Connecticut School of Broadcasting’ with no redeeming talent to do anything else in life and a pension for being aloof, haughty, and boorish.

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    1. That “you’re with me, leather” story from several years back pretty much told me all I ever needed to know about that overrated poser (married, with children, at least at the time, and you KNOW that wasn’t the only time he’d done something like that while on the road). I also can’t believe he still does all those idiotic sound effects when he’s narrating NFL highlights. Is this still 1991 or something? People who watch ESPN are still into that kind of juvenile idiocy?

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      1. Sadly, they do. If you either care about the news or need it for your rosters? Twitter.

        But, it’s part of the NFL addiction. Remember about 1-2 years ago when some of the networks expanded their pre-game to like 12 hours from one or two? Most get 1M+ viewers and pull in solid integer shares.

        Part of the irony is that there were two stories ESPN did go into its usual “complete coverage” mode, including an OTL pieces. I recall one being out the Redskins GM and some female reporter, and the other was
        a head coach of some big D1 college basketball program who got busted for harassing a local beat reporter that was female.

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    2. The Cris Carter role here was kind of buried in this piece (since he’s not named in lawsuit). It wasn’t clear whether Carter was married at the time or he’s just cuckolding some poor schlump from Connecticut. We’re always being told what a straight up, moral guy he is – after earlier transgressions – but that’s not really the case here.

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  21. Here’s the narrative this week for the Giants game, lead by that mouth breathing toad Jimmy “I guarantee you the Pats are trading for Jason McCourtey” Stewart — THEY’VE BEATEN YOU THREE TIMES!!”

    As Bedard said “what year are you living in?” Ugh. Can’t just talk about the game on it’s own merit, nooo, we need to create and manufacture some B.S. fantasy story line. After the Bedard segment it was immediately over to Dale & Holley. And Felger has been really good the last couple weeks but now he’s back to angry, cynical Mike. Unlistenable garbage.

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  23. This lawsuit by Lobel is total BS. He’s not a member of the club. He’s not being denied membership at this club because of a disability. They’ve told him he can use his cart everywhere but on the greens. I guarantee that he’s never paid a dime for golf. drinks or food at this club. Yet he thinks he’s entitled to $250K? He must be desperate for $. Sad.

    http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/11/11/bob-lobel-accuses-newton-golf-course-discriminating-against-disabled/W2ZPSHMvr5Pd9VlAKjA9wM/story.html

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