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

[upstater1]

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.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

That trio including Murray are pathetic. Can’t take anything they say seriously, they just hate and will rip on anything Pats. Callers….well like posters in here. Some have valid points and astute observations. Others are clueless.
They are what they are. Their brand is negativity, I guess it works for them.

 

[Ring 6]

Of all the things you can do with your time listening to that should never be one of them.

 

[Bill Lee]

The fact you spent the time to type all that in shows that they are doing just what they set out to do, trigger you.

Like all trolls, the best way to make them go away is to ignore them.

 

[reflexblue]

I stopped listening to sports radio twenty years ago, mainly because of the idiots that called in. It seem to me that hosts like felger and spazz, eddie andelman, glen ordway had their favorite idiots that would have idiotic view points like Dakota from Braintree, or Al from Everet.

 

[ErniesPinkStripes]

I'll turn them on in the car occasionally but I haven't taken anything they say seriously for like 15 years - as long as you go in with that mindset it's whatever. 90% of the time I listen to my music/podcasts

Besides the MMPD, lately I enjoy What Went Wrong which talks about movie productions, behind the scenes details, screw ups etc. - interesting stuff

 

[yukon cornelius]

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 anyone 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.

talk shows, podcasts, etc have for a long time been using fake callers to drive their narratives, push their storylines along.....I'm sure it is just a matter of time until they also use AI

that being said if you listen to that show and take it seriously, you are probably going to call with dumb takes

 

[Brotherblues]

Next time make it 12 months. Then 2 years. And so on. Baby steps. YOU CAN DO IT.

 

[Vindicate]

I'm in MA a lot this year and tried listening to the radio. Insufferable. At least the bad arguments here are rooted in wanting to have the best team. The radio hosts seemed more like sour grapes than anything else. Boring, bad analysis.

 

[203Pat]

The people who get worked up over Felger and Mazz never cease to amaze me. They flat out tell you they manufacture takes for the show to rile up the fans. They are sports entertainment radio not sports analysis radio.

 

[borg]

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 anyone 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.

Let's be honest.....
If their criticisms were directed toward any of the other 31 coaches, teams, & players, most here would be agreeing and/or laughing along with them.

1) Belichick has major personality disorders. (Typed by a loyal Team BB member)
2) Schooler does act like a WWE wannabe and has had a few horrible games.
3) Availability is everything in the NFL and Gonzalez has played in 20 out of 36 games (55%)
4) When Pete Carrol races down the field all pumped and jacked, this board erupts in disdain (His gum chewing irritates the hell out of me)

 

[Bill Lee]

I'm in MA a lot this year and tried listening to the radio. Insufferable. At least the bad arguments here are rooted in wanting to have the best team. The radio hosts seemed more like sour grapes than anything else. Boring, bad analysis.

There's articles on the Internet where Felger says his outlook was shaped by spending Sunday afternoons with his dad screaming at the TV about how god-awful the Packers were. Basically he's a method actor using that energy to drive his performances.

If you see him talk outside of his radio show he's no idiot. He's a BU grad in journalism and was a beat writer for a decade before he discovered his niche in radio. He figured out early that more people tune in to get their anxieties triggered rather than to hear feel-good kind of chatter. He's ridden that wave to marrying the lovely Sarah Underwood and having property in the Seaport district and Nantucket as per Wikipedia.

As PT Barnum said, there's a fool born every minute.

Both Barnum and Felger cashed in big time on those fools.

 

[jmt57]

The sports shock jock schtick is nothing new.

Nor is the audience having a cultish sycophant devotion to said host, or having hawt takz that mimic and flatter the host.

That was exactly what the Jim Rome Show was 30-plus years ago, with nationwide tours to his devoted followers

 

[TommyD4207]

The sports shock jock schtick is nothing new.

Nor is the audience having a cultish sycophant devotion to said host, or having hawt takz that mimic and flatter the host.

That was exactly what the Jim Rome Show was 30-plus years ago, with nationwide tours to his devoted followers

And led to Jim Everett kicking the dogshit out of him on live TV.

 

[jmt57]

And led to Jim Everett kicking the dogshit out of him on live TV.

It boggles my mind that not only did Rome continue to find employment after that, over the years his popularity increased exponentially.

Proof that large amounts of the public prefer low quality crap over something of substance.

 

[203Pat]

And led to Jim Everett kicking the dogshit out of him on live TV.

Chris*

 

[A Defiant Goose]

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

 

[WinstonSmith]

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

I don't care what other folks listen to, but it's 2025 and there are many other options (including local) that are far superior to what the two local stations offer.

I haven't listened in years because of the abundance of high quality podcasts that I can listen to whenever I want.

 

[Bill Lee]

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?

OMG! You have heard of podcasts, no? They are named that because of the Apple iPod that was released in 2001. Plenty of great NFL content there. if not, there's also this thing called audio books. Someone reads a book to you. Try it some time!

I love radio, but it's not like I have no other choice but to listen to it. In fact I rarely do these days.

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!

********. The lazy and dumb take is that we have no other choice but to turn on the radio and listen to whatever comes on it.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

I don't care what other folks listen to, but it's 2025 and there are many other options (including local) that are far superior to what the two local stations offer.

I haven't listened in years because of the abundance of high quality podcasts that I can listen to whenever I want.

For me, putting a podcast on means I gotta sync my phone up to bluetooth, scroll, pick one, choose an episode that sounds interesting, etc.

Most of the time I'm not driving more than 10 minutes anywhere. Not worth setting anything up other than the FM station it's already set to