Friday Four-Pack 5.10.24

Celtics lose. I lose betting the Derby. Dumb Boston sports radio. Big Boston radio news!

Not every day, but most days, I tell my kitchen Alexa to play 98.5 The Sports Hub at 2 PM to listen to the opening segment of Felger and Mazz.

Why? It’s the biggest sports radio show in Boston. It’s one of - if not the biggest - local sports radio show in the country. And to their credit, while the trolling tones are usually there, Felger and Mazz have an urgency to their show.

As someone who regrettably did shows that sounded the same from day to day, I appreciate that Felger and Mazz do a show that sounds different daily - again with tones of trolling the Boston fans that they’re known for.

So yeah, I was curious how they would start Wednesday’s show after the Celtics dismantled the Cavs in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals - a game with very little meat on the bone to yap about for four hours. You’d have to come up with something.

And Tony Massarotti did not disappoint. From Ryan Beaton, a producer at The Sports Hub on X.com.

Just an all-time dumb take and statement. In fact, after a good three minutes of thinking about it, it’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in Boston sports media in the last 20 years.

1. Mazz “Easy” Title Take

2. The Globe’s Ben Volin saying it is better NOT to get to the Super Bowl than to get to a Super Bowl and lose.

3. Christian Fauria saying he felt bad for Peyton Manning because Tom Brady kept beating him

Honorable Mention: While not an opinion, I once asked Celtics forward Brandon Bass about his reasons for choosing Boston as a free agent. Bass reminded me - live on the air - that he was traded to Boston and had no choice.

So yeah, I know stupid radio when I hear it. This was stupid. Dominance in the playoffs is a good thing, not a bad thing. There are no degrees of difficulty to rank championships by. It’s cut and dry - did you win or did you lose? No one looks back…okay it’s stupid to even argue this. I’m getting dumber just trying to. We all agree it was really dumb. Or was it just trolling?

As Barstool Sports’ Kirk Minihane has pointed out, Mazz is prone to stupidity. For over a year, Mazz thought he was texting back and forth with the wife of Red Sox owner John Henry, Linda Pizzuti Henry. At one point, he even did a Cameo-like video at the request of the Fake Linda Pizzutti. For a fake relative of the Fake Linda Pizzuti. That is a special kind of dumb - Mazz wanted it to be Pizzutti so bad he never bothered to double-check.

If you get a random text from someone famous and just assume it’s that person, you’re just dumb. It’s science.

So yes, part stupidity and part trolling, a Mazz specialty.

He doubled down on his troll Thursday when he ranked three Boston championships that were “least satisfying” from the last couple of decades and included the 2008 Celtics. That team, led by three Hall of Famers, beat Lebron in Game 7 of the ECF then Kobe and the Lakers in the Finals. It was an all-time season and playoff run. But also, apparently, not satisfying. 🙄🙄🙄

The original Mazz clip has now been viewed well over a million times on social media and my guess is Felger and Mazz see that as a win.

And why not? They are crushing WEEI in every demo from 2-6, why change anything?

And this is where WEEI deserves major blame. How do you not play this on your show and mock Mazz? He’s giving you material that suggests he's stupid or he’s trolling - POINT THAT OUT TO YOUR AUDIENCE!!!!!

In the past, I worked for program directors who didn’t want you to play audio of the competition because it might give them more attention. More listeners. In this case, they are beating you in the ratings by 6x. 7x. More recently 10x.

You can’t possibly send them more listeners. It’s mathematically impossible. Play the sound and mock the shit out of them. Easy!

Of course, it’s a tough card to play when your own show is just as guilty.

And with no competition, Mazz (and Felger) are free to keep firing off dumb, troll takes that get everyone all annoyed. But those same people who claim to be annoyed keep listening because the other alternative in Boston does the same thing. Just not as well.

Of course days after saying how easy the path is and how it’s not satisfying, Mazz gets to go on their air today and trash the Celtics for a bad Game 2 loss. And get a 25-share rating in the process. Sweet deal for him.

Meanwhile, there’s huge Boston radio news. Is Adam Jones getting moved off afternoon drive on WEEI? A Kentucky Derby video review. And a huge development for sports fans and horseplayers in New England.

But first, the Celtics lost badly in Game 2. We start there in today’s Four-Pack.

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On the Celtics and Cavs…

Yeah, I’m still not worried.

I’d love to go all Mazz and tell you last night’s stinker was a sign of another Celtics postseason let-down, but I can’t.

The Cavs shot 46% from three. The Celtics shot 22% from long-range, including an impossible 2-15 (13%) on open threes. In some ways, it was Game 2 vs. Miami all over again.

The Celtics had a double-digit lead and could not put Cleveland away, which has been their issue now for three post-seasons. They’re now 9-11 in their last 20 home playoff games. Brutal

The crowd sucked. Shooting sucked. Defense sucked.

They’re also much better than Cleveland. And New York. Or Indiana.

When they don’t hit their 3s they look bad. When they do, they look unbeatable. Annoying? Sure, but they usually hit their 3s and are better than any of these teams over seven games.

They responded vs. Miami in Game 3 and I suspect it will be more of the same against the Cavs on Saturday night.

Panic Level: 0 out of 10.

Feel differently? Comments are open below for all your hot takez.

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On the 150th Running of the Kentucky Derby…

3. Mystik Dan (20-1) 
Mut: His one fast race going long came when he benefited from a sweet rail trip at Oaklawn. Heard some suggestions this week jockey Brian Hernandez will try and get a good spot inside and take the shortest route home. Even if he does that, a minor award seems like his ceiling. Unlikely to be on my tickets. But my dad's name is Dan so....

I forget where that was discussed, but the idea was dead on. Hernandez needed to give Mystik Dan the best Kentucky Derby ride of my lifetime to get the coveted garland of roses and he did. And I didn’t like the winner for a nickel.

Turned on the office camera for some additional Derby leftovers.

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On The Brook - our new partners here at MutStack.com…

I love horse racing. I love handicapping and talking about races.

As Dave Portnoy once flippantly said, “Mut loves the ponies.”

He’s right.

Truth be told, it has been a brutal go of it for us racing fans here in New England. Saratoga Race Course is 200 miles from downtown Boston and is essentially our home track.

Suffolk Downs? Gone. I mean, you can wager there but live racing there is never coming back. Rockingham Park? It’s a cluster of nice townhomes now. There’s a big mall nearby. Swell.

Most new casinos that have popped up over the last few don’t do anything for the horseplayer. Given truth serum, their executives would admit they don’t care about the horseplayer.

One exception is Mohegan Sun, who under Brad Bryant and his team, have gone above and beyond for the horseplayer since the renovation of their sportsbook.

Thankfully, we can add another exception to the very short list of places that keep the horseplayer in mind in 2024 - especially with the newest addition to the property.

I was lucky to get a sneak peek of the new $1 million screen set-up at The Brook Casino in Seabrook, NH earlier this week.

👀👀👀

It’s awesome.

Yes, there were already hundreds of high-def TVs in and around the casino floor and sportsbook at The Brook. But this week, they added a giant screen that spans across the entire front wall of the smoke-free DraftKings Sportsbook.

At 144 feet wide by 9.5 feet high, it’s a monster. And with the ability to flex the screen into dozens of different configurations, it’s perfect for showing multiple tracks for betting races - in addition to live sports. Best of both.

There are dozens of personal betting kiosks. Couches with tables for groups. Live tellers on hand for all the big race days…they built this place out for horseplayers.

And sports fans. The Brook’s massive ‘sports deck’ just off the sportsbook has a big screen that can show the races during the day and Bruins/Celtics/Red Sox games at night.

I would be annoyed if one of my sports betting, sports fan, or horseplayer friends didn’t immediately text me after getting a look at the new screen. And that’s why I’m writing about it today - so you’ll be one of the first to know and take advantage. It’s going to be a go-to spot all summer for Boston sports fans.

If you want to check it out for Preakness, they’re throwing a huge Preakness Party and giving MutStack readers a 20% discount on reserved seating. Get your own kiosk for the day. Or a group table with a dedicated waitress. See their ad above for details.

Of course, you can also watch and bet on the races without the reserved seating, but they wanted to do something for MutStack readers and offer you a discount.

The pictures do not do it justice. Go see it for yourself.

The Brook has made a major commitment to horseplayers and sports fans with this renovation. And we all get to benefit thanks to the new setup.

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On your Friday MutStack Notes…

• After months of speculation, Rich Shertenlieb took to social media this week to announce he was headed to 100.7 WZLX to launch The Rich Shertenlieb Show. The former co-host of 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher and Rich replaces the WZLX morning show team of Pete McKenzie and Heather Ford. They were 7th in ratings M25-54 last book.
  
  Start date for the show? Unknown. Co-hosts? Those were supposed to be announced in “the next few days” but that never happened.
  
  The whole announcement was very….FM Radio. WZLX (iHeart Radio) announced McKenzie and Ford were out on Monday morning and the Shertenlieb news came via social media just hours later. It feels like some executive got very excited about making the announcement and it got rushed.
  
  It’s tough to comment on the show without hearing it or hearing who the co-hosts might be. I’d bet given the popularity of the classic rock format and Shertenlieb’s name value in Boston, it will be a Top 5 show M25-54. The show is likely to impact the ratings of both The Greg Hill Show and Toucher and Hardy, but could have more of an impact on the latter since Rich was on that show for so long.
  
  Rich and Fred Toucher had a nasty, nasty breakup: worse than was even really talked about on the radio from what I was told this week. If Rich and or Fred start talking about that, it should make for some good radio for us. Will they? Doubtful, but we can hope.
  
  I thought Fred took a clear shot at Rich on Tuesday with this comment. And Fred seems like the one who won’t be able to help himself in taking more shots at Rich - he has done so on occasion over the last few months on his show.
  
  There will be much more to comment on once Rich starts his show, names his co-hosts, etc.

• Not to be outdone, Sports Radio WEEI might have tipped their hand at a potential move on their own on Thursday.
  
  With Christian Fauria traveling, Adam Jones moved from his hosting chair in afternoon drive to the second chair in the midday slot with Andy Gresh. Gresh opened the show by calling the pairing “an arranged marriage…we’ll see how this goes.” From there it was right into some terrible Bruins talk, but the point was made - our bosses want to see how this sounds.
  
  Andy Hart could have filled in for Fauria, but Jones got the call, clearly as some test with Gresh. Or just him in a different role. Hart ended up filling in for Jones in the afternoon.
  
  I have written multiple times that WEEI management has considered just moving their current pieces around - rather than bringing in new voices - to a station losing badly to their rival. They wanted Shertenlieb but could not make it work financially. That was one of the issues.
  
  Moving an afternoon drive host off his OWN show to fill in midday does not happen - unless it’s part of a bigger plan of moves. It would be a clear demotion for Jones. He was back in the same seat with Gresh Friday morning, it was not a one-off appearance.
  
  Don’t know exactly how the dominos will fall, but I read this move as a sign that if management can get the talent on board, WEEI will move some voices around over the next few months.

• Like 99% of people with a sense of humor, I thought the Brady roast was great.

• An amazing 48 hours on HRX (Horse Racing X/Twitter). Dave Portnoy throws Fox Sports’ Jonathan Kinchen under the bus on The Unnamed Show: said he bet Fierceness in the Derby thanks to JK. Kinchen gets chirped on social media. He fires back. And again. His boss jumps in with a now-deleted tweet. And not to be outdone, Jason Kelce claimed that Secretariat was on steroids! “Juiced to the gills,” per the former Philadelphia Eagle. He then apologized. Maybe racing is back!

Secretariat being “juiced to the gills” seems like a good place to pull up for the day.

Enjoy the weekend of playoff games. Good luck with all your bets. Back next week with a Preakness Podcast, likely posted here Thursday.

Thanks for reading. And watching.

Good weekend.