Out-of-towner listening to Felger and Mazz for first time in 9 months

[Tunescribe]

I listen to that show pretty much daily and enjoy it. The trick is you need a discerning mental filter to separate wheat from chaff. Some 65 percent of it is occasionally entertaining, pot-stirring nonsense. About 25 percent is useful information and 10 percent timely sports-news alerts.

I have it on when doing other things including driving. Especially during football season, regular guests like Bedard are a must-listen for Patriots fans, IMO.

 

[Jackson 2]

I caught the Monday podcast yesterday night and the first 3 callers struck me as really weird. I'll list what they said below, but my larger takeaway is this:

Felger and Mazz cultivate callers that either largely mimic their twisted takes, or else there's something in the water around Boston.

The first 3 callers of the show made 3 points:

1. "Belichick was hard to take as a HC because of his press conference demeanor even when he was winning SBs. But Mike McDaniels is acting like Scarface and he's losing which makes him doubly hard to take."

Now, do Boston area fans really share the media's hatred of Belichick's demeanor? The media hated him because it was their job to despise an un-media friendly coach. But why does this carry over to the fans? People anywhere else in the USA wouldn't care at all about this. Most would probably enjoy their coach snubbing the media. Why do Boston fans follow Felger's lead on this? It's bizarre.

2. "Schooler is here to make special teams tackles and he acts all tough all the time but he was flat on his back on the PR return. Schooler should be cut!!!"

Felger says Schooler is so annoying and he acts like a hardo (how do you spell that). Did not disabuse the idea of cutting Schooler.

3. "Gonzo should be traded tomorrow because he's constantly injured. Get rid of him."

This speaks for itself.

4. "Vrabel humiliated himself running down the field for Gibson's TD."

Felger and Mazz said he looked like such a "homer." ??? I have no idea why they called Vrabel a homer. He's the coach of the team. He's supposed to root for both team's equally?

These two talk show hosts have some truly bizarre takes which are largely imitated by their callers. I was reminded why I haven't listened to the station since last October.

They're morons...

 

[DarrylS]

They are all morons who seek to create "nontroversies" to spike their ratings, I used to limit my listening solely to Patriots Monday, but now do not listen at all.
In the early 2000's I learned about the Patriots with the likes of DeOssie, Smerlas et al... but now all these hosts do is whine and ***** about anything and everything.. What pissed me off was that folks who know a lot about this team, Zolak for example, seldom push back at the idiocy spewed by Bertram et al.

 

[farn]

I used to love sports radio. Then, years ago, the WEEI crew started yelling over one another and things got less entertaining. And 98.5 isn’t any better.

 

[stinkypete]

Fegler is from Milwaukee and is traumatized from growing up watching his Bucks get swept by Larry Bird’s Celtics in the first round of the playoffs every single year as a boy. He came to Boston hating Boston.

The Belichick hate on Folgers and Mazz is petty and reflects a sense of entitlement. They believe that coaches are obligated to tell the full truth to the media (tell that to a politician), and they still - two years later - can’t get over the fact that Belichick wouldn’t give them the time of day.

I loved Belichick’s demeanor. It was endlessly entertaining to me. And, I respect the hell out of the fact that he doesn’t give the media what they want.

 

[Kdo5]

They said 3 of the 4. I was CLEAR in the original post that the CUT GONZO only came from a caller. Another one said CUT SCHOOLER and so they went off on Schooler as liability who acts like a hardo. What I wrote about their reaction to Vrabel's run down the sideline was verbatim.

I heard the part about Vrabel. They said it was cringe-worthy and that fans would be mocking it if it were Dan Campbell or the like doing it. And they are right. They didn’t use the phrase “embarrassment”. They made fun of it, little more.

For people who hate this show you guys sure proclaim to listen to a lot of it.

 

[upstater1]

I heard the part about Vrabel. They said it was cringe-worthy and that fans would be mocking it if it were Dan Campbell or the like doing it. And they are right. They didn’t use the phrase “embarrassment”. They made fun of it, little more.

For people who hate this show you guys sure proclaim to listen to a lot of it.

Really weird post from you.

You call me out for precise verbiage but then quote me saying "embarrassment." Where did you come up with that? I said they called him a "homer."

Then you say "I listen to a lot of it." What does that mean? 10 minutes in a year?

 

[PatsfanTN]

I’m forced to listen to them as Nashville area sports radio is so bad, plus I like to keep up on the pulse of what’s happening with the team. I listen to the Greg Hill show in the mornings and then switch between felger and WEEI on the way home. Felger has made me chuckle at times and supported my negativity during the dark last couple of years. Take em with a grain of salt, it’s entertainment purposes only.

 

[Patsfan1645]

I would rather listen to this.....more productive.

 

[Sect140]

The "just stop listening to them" take is so dumb and lazy. It's one of the biggest sports markets in the country and probably the winningest market of the last 25 years. There are two sports stations. What exactly else are you supposed to do? These guys don't get high ratings because "lol they troll and you fall for it" they get high ratings because it's a successful sports town with 2 sports radio options.* THAT'S IT!

*One of which, I may argue, is pushed ahead of the other by having an NBC Sports Boston simulcast.

Put it this way. Swap every host of every time slot with 93.7 and I don't think it makes a big difference in ratings

They are popular because a majority of Boston sports fans are an extremely negative bunch. I stopped listening several years ago. As I’ve said many times on this subject SIRIUS radio is some of the best money I spend a month, NFL radio actually is real sports talk.

My brother still listens to F&M, he texted me Monday and said Felger, Mazz and Murray were in a bad mood probably because the Pats won. I don’t know if Felger still says it but he used to say why would we let facts get in the way of a juicy story, why do people listen to someone who admits that the truth isn’t a priority?

 

[Kdo5]

I listen to that show pretty much daily and enjoy it. The trick is you need a discerning mental filter to separate wheat from chaff. Some 65 percent of it is occasionally entertaining, pot-stirring nonsense. About 25 percent is useful information and 10 percent timely sports-news alerts.

I have it on when doing other things including driving. Especially during football season, regular guests like Bedard are a must-listen for Patriots fans, IMO.

Bonus is that they talk sports or whatever directly related to it or relevant people pretty much entirely. Whether you like it or not at least they aren’t constantly going on tangents about uninteresting crap like the other shows on the station do.

 

[Guts]

Its not just Boston
Regional sports radio have a bunch of whiney ass callers even when the teams are good

 

[Bill Lee]

I listen to that show pretty much daily and enjoy it. The trick is you need a discerning mental filter to separate wheat from chaff. Some 65 percent of it is occasionally entertaining, pot-stirring nonsense. About 25 percent is useful information and 10 percent timely sports-news alerts.

I have it on when doing other things including driving. Especially during football season, regular guests like Bedard are a must-listen for Patriots fans, IMO.

It's kind of interesting to me that Bedard has become the voice of reason in the Boston sports media world.

I listen to his podcast that he tapes right before he goes on the F&M show and it's clear he's mentally fortifying himself for the F&M gig.

He says things like (paraphrasing) "ok, this is how F&M are going to twist this thing but in reality it is"...

And he is starting to get into more "exaggerate for effect" nonsense so IMO the F&M stuff is wearing off on him a little bit.

 

[Bill Lee]

I used to love sports radio. Then, years ago, the WEEI crew started yelling over one another and things got less entertaining. And 98.5 isn’t any better.

Can say the same for political talk shows we refer to as "news channels".

It used to be inspiring watching people with different points of view exchanging ideas and trying to find a middle ground while remaining civil.

Now it's a bunch of baboons flinging poo and preaching to the choir just to get ratings.

As above I'd say the tipping point was when CNN introduced Crossfire in the early 80s.

Once everyone saw it was ratings gold, it was all over.

 

[Bill Lee]

I’m forced to listen to them as Nashville area sports radio is so bad

No you aren't being forced, you are making a choice. To get them in Nashville you are going out of your way to listen to them.

plus I like to keep up on the pulse of what’s happening with the team.

It seems to me that you have FOMO, fear of missing out. It's a really powerful thing.

I listen to the Greg Hill show in the mornings and then switch between felger and WEEI on the way home. Felger has made me chuckle at times and supported my negativity during the dark last couple of years. Take em with a grain of salt, it’s entertainment purposes only.

I don't understand why displays of stupidity and derision are entertaining.

I think there are elements of FOMO, tribalism and schadenfreude going on there.

 

[Koma]

I would rather listen to this.....more productive.

Quint?

 

[Bill Lee]

They are popular because a majority of Boston sports fans are an extremely negative bunch. I stopped listening several years ago. As I’ve said many times on this subject SIRIUS radio is some of the best money I spend a month, NFL radio actually is real sports talk.

My brother still listens to F&M, he texted me Monday and said Felger, Mazz and Murray were in a bad mood probably because the Pats won. I don’t know if Felger still says it but he used to say why would we let facts get in the way of a juicy story, why do people listen to someone who admits that the truth isn’t a priority?

Exactly. Felger is a performance artist, not a journalist or analyst. He's laughing all the way to the bank.

I personally found Sirius to be hard to take. You have to be a real football omnivore to enjoy it, IMO, because often you get a lot of deep dives on teams and/or players you may not care to know more about. To me I'd listen for a while then they'd go on a dry spell where they'd rat hole into such a thing and I'd be changing the channel. Same was true when ESPN tried to have a national network doing sports talk. They'd be okay for a while then they'd get into a deep dive on the right side of Arizona's offensive line and I'd nope out of it.

For me my podcast player has a couple Patriots-focused podcasts for the deep(ish) dives and a couple national podcasts known for having a "guys around the water cooler" approach to their coverage. I have tried to add more football podcasts but haven't found too many ones that fit these criteria. That's OK because I have interests in other sports podcasts and in other podcasts for my other interests and hobbies so I never run out of things to listen to.

 

[Rob0729]

I think the biggest problem with Felger and Mazz is that they do contrarian radio in a time when everyone is doing contrarian radio. Hard to be the contrarian when everyone is agreeing with you.

I thought they used to do a good job when they were the counter programming to the Big Show. Those guys were all homers and laid on the ass kissing really thick. It was easy for Felger and Mazz to counter program against them.

Today, everyone seems to be copying the Felger and Mazz formula. Sure none of them do it as good as Felger and Mazz, but their existence requires Felger and Mazz to ramp up the contrarian BS to ridiculous levels. They spin even the best of news that seems unspinnable into something that spells disaster for the local team they are talking about. It makes for bad radio and forced takes.

 

[Bill Lee]

I thought they used to do a good job when they were the counter programming to the Big Show. Those guys were all homers and laid on the ass kissing really thick. It was easy for Felger and Mazz to counter program against them.

That's a great point.

One other sport I like is F1 auto racing. A lot of the coverage to me comes across as the media members pulling their punches instead of saying what they really think. A big reason for it is there are only 10 teams and on each team there are really only three people that are news makers, the two drivers and the one team boss ("principal"). And a bunch of these aren't really news makers because their teams are bad or because they don't say interesting things. So you have hundreds if not thousands of media members fighting to talk to less than 30 people. Of course if they are too harsh they won't get anything out of those people so they can't go into F&M mode.

Also their sport really doesn't have this nonsensical thing we call "NFL insiders" where somehow we promote one media member to some sort of elevated status so it's now okay for another media member to interview a fellow media member and present it as being newsworthy.

So the media members who do want to stay in the good graces of the few actual news makers do have to kiss ass or risk getting cut off, and IMO it shows in their coverage. It's really pervasive too, with the "wannabes" who don't even have a shot at getting time with a news maker already conforming to the expected norm.

Today, everyone seems to be copying the Felger and Mazz formula. Sure none of them do it as good as Felger and Mazz, but their existence requires Felger and Mazz to ramp up the contrarian BS to ridiculous levels. They spin even the best of news that seems unspinnable into something that spells disaster for the local team they are talking about. It makes for bad radio and forced takes.

Same thing in politics. One person gains favor by taking extreme positions, then their biggest fear is someone coming along that is willing to take even more extreme positions, thus they take a more extreme position. This leads to the polarization we have these days.

One of the dangers of the "shock jock" phenomena was that it made extremism acceptable, but we've gone well past that now. I'd like to think a corrective force will come along some day, but am not thrilled by that idea. The last time this happened it took a world war to sort things out, and I am not in favor of one of those.

 

[Sect140]

Exactly. Felger is a performance artist, not a journalist or analyst. He's laughing all the way to the bank.

I personally found Sirius to be hard to take. You have to be a real football omnivore to enjoy it, IMO, because often you get a lot of deep dives on teams and/or players you may not care to know more about. To me I'd listen for a while then they'd go on a dry spell where they'd rat hole into such a thing and I'd be changing the channel. Same was true when ESPN tried to have a national network doing sports talk. They'd be okay for a while then they'd get into a deep dive on the right side of Arizona's offensive line and I'd nope out of it.

For me my podcast player has a couple Patriots-focused podcasts for the deep(ish) dives and a couple national podcasts known for having a "guys around the water cooler" approach to their coverage. I have tried to add more football podcasts but haven't found too many ones that fit these criteria. That's OK because I have interests in other sports podcasts and in other podcasts for my other interests and hobbies so I never run out of things to listen to.

I listen to a few Patriots podcasts on my daily walks or workouts at the gym.