Category: Eli Zaret | No Filter Sports

Episode 154: GREAT boxer. Greater GENTLEMAN!

July 2, 2020 01:42:48

Detroit’s first champion since Joe Louis.

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain, and Bob Page!

Ex-world champ HILMER KENTY joins us to discuss his career, Emanuel Steward, the Kronk, the current state of boxing and more!
A big 50th anniversary this week for Denny AND for Bob who reminisce about the night he came back from his MLB suspension.
And just to set the record straight, Mr. Giacalone, what did you DO to poor Denny to help end his career? Oh? REALLY?!
The Tigers have done WHAT? PARTNERED with a gambling sports book?! Denny: “I was SUSPENDED for doing the same thing!”
Baseball, uh, “spring training” has resumed, but Eli says we STILL don’t know what the season sked looks like.
P.C. Madness: we now learn from The Lunatics that “Honest Abe” apparently WASN’T so “honest.” HIS statue must go too!
Tag! YER it — or maybe yer NOT! Conflicting COVID tests all over now allow one PGA tour player into this week’s Detroit stop.
Ya say it doesn’t matter? Ya say prep superstar Emoni Bates won’t ever actually PLAY for MSU? Bob explains why it DOES matter.
Our Detroit radio affiliate WDFN is gone, suddenly changed to another format. Denny and Bob: sorry to hear it. Eli: SCREW radio!
Mr. Z also has This Day in Sports and a SHOCKING statement about YOUR weekly mailbag segment. It’s all right here!

Eric Hipple in Lions uniform holding a football

Episode 153: NFL MUST Go On — but with Eric Hipple’s Solution?

June 29, 2020 01:35:50

I’m going to be controversial. Quarantine and isolate. You don’t have to see your family during the season.

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain, and Bob Page!

QB ERIC HIPPLE had it bad enough just PLAYING for the Lions, but what he suffered after was MUCH worse. Eric guests!
Eli and Denny spent their weekends watching – what else? – GOLF. They seem okay with its current state. Bob’s NOT.
The NBA playing in empty arenas and now with P.C. social messages on the backs of unis?! Had enough of pro basketball yet?
The FANS, the FANS! Bob says there are no sports and no sports media without YOU — so why play ANY games this year?
Even as Bill Belichick pays up for cheating — AGAIN — he brilliantly delivers what COULD be a big blow to other teams.
What does M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E spell? “THE NHL!” The league’s idiotic draft set-up screws the Red Wings.
Johnny Manziel has put football behind him: “I just want to be happy for the rest of my life.” WE have a suggestion!
More CRAZINESS everywhere. Kansas State’s football team boycotts; says THEY will control who’s enrolled at the university.
Statues being illegally torn down or replaced. How far will it go? Two American ICONS may be next — for very different reasons.
Eli provides “This Day in Sports History,” Bob rolls out YOUR Mailbag and much more — right here!

Episode 152: Ah, the Life of an MLB Reliever!

June 25, 2020 01:32:26

A closer is a really thankless job.

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain, and Bob Page!

Guest TODD JONES pitched for EIGHT MLB teams, the Tigers TWICE! LOVED Detroit; doesn’t miss the pitching part.
So MLB IS coming back? Eli has a LONG list of all the changes that’ll be made. Fed-up Bob: Include ME out!
Denny says a change the TIGERS should make is to put Casey Mize & the other top kid pitchers in the rotation — right away.
The FL’s have a WHAT? A “new” owner? Roger Daltrey would say: “Meet the new boss — same as the old boss!” So would Bob.
As the boys duke it out over COVID-19 again, a “blame game” has now begun in sports: who gave it to whom?
Should you HAVE to wear a mask for protection now? According to ONE U.S. county — only if you’re WHITE!
Playing career over, he had two job offers: vacuum cleaner salesman or entry position in hockey. Ken Holland chose right!
Read all about it! P.C. Posse Pummels PAW PAW! Local legend Charlie Maxwell, MR. Sunday Home Run, has yet to comment.
Those stories, YOUR mailbag and much more — right here!

Episode 151: “SUDDEN Sam McDowell?” SCARY Sam!

June 22, 2020 01:31:05

Something of a terror on the mound.

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain, and Bob Page!

SAM McDOWELL: I worried about killing a batter my entire career. Sam has an amazing life story and he joins the boys!
We have a winner from the Belmont Stakes — DENNY! Others say ANYBODY coulda picked Tiz the Law.
Eli (GULP!) went OUT to a restaurant Saturday night and almost NO ONE was wearing a mask! He’s still with us — so far.
Many athletes have tested positive for COVID-19, not that they’ll have symptoms. Should sports just go away at this point?
Controversy over the Confederate flag NOT going away for a while — but a NOOSE hung in the garage of a black NASCAR driver?!
Muhammad Ali Jr. says his late father – and Eli’s hero – would not have supported BLM. Eli pooh-poohs him.
The Pistons hired – WHO? – Troy Weaver as GM. Bob only wonders why there’s an extra executive ABOVE him.
The DH is FINALLY coming to the National League! When you hear Mr. McDowell talk about HIS HITTING, you’ll know why.
Two statues of well-known former team owners REMOVED. NYC even removes a statue of Teddy Roosevelt!
When the Tigers DO play again, don’t be surprised if THEY remove the statue of TY COBB from Comerica Park.
Those stories, YOUR mailbag segment and much more right here!

Episode 150: The TWO Comebacks of Ratso!

June 18, 2020 01:28:36

You’re going to do what’s called upon you.

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain, and Bob Page!

Average pitcher. Heart attack at age 27! Then lights-out reliever — ex-Tigers star JOHN HILLER’s got GREAT stories!
Eli says Colin Kaepernick has gone from kryptonite to Man of the Year! NFL owners only wanna know if he can still PLAY.
With no fans allowed, the PGA Colonial had its best TV ratings in 16 years. But were folks THAT interested — or just BORED?
We run down some of the NBA’s RIDICULOUS COVID-19 rules for resuming its season in a bubble.
And if THAT’s not comedy enough for you, Kyrie Irving wants to start his own competing PLAYER-owned league.
MLB players/owners continue to make a mockery of what Denny claims IS “our national pastime.” He gets big pushback on THAT!
And now the two GREEDY sides may at some point institute soccer-like advertising on uniforms?!
The first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown will finally be run Saturday. Denny has a hot tip! Bob: CAVEAT EMPTOR!
Meanwhile, the insanity continues in society. Statues are coming down or vandalized from BOTH political sides.
Long-time MLB hurler Lary Sorensen writes us in YOUR Mailbag about ONE HOFer he used to EAT UP. (Hint: believe it or not, it was our most recent guest!).
Those stories and much more right here!

Episode 149: The GREAT Rod Carew

June 15, 2020 01:35:43

No easy out.

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain, and Bob Page!

Baseball Hall of Famer ROD CAREW joins the boys to talk about his amazing career, amazing new HEART & more!
So Jim Nantz began Saturday’s PGA telecast with a tribute to George Floyd? Bob asks where the Tour’s BEEN all these years!
Is Rob Manfred going to save MLB’s season by FORCING the players and owners to (finally) get started?
The NBA has a plan to come back, but Kyrie Irving says it SHOULDN’T until “Black Lives Matter” is accomplished!
No word from the NHL on its restart as one star coach asks how an NFL comeback’s possible with “social distancing.”
What if Gibby’s World Series homers had been played in EMPTY STADIUMS?! Eli on board with Bob: there MUST be fans!
ESPN’s doc on the steroid-laden 1998 home-run race premieres. Why are McGuire & Bonds welcome in MLB but not Sosa?
Mr. Z always has terrific stories about Allen Iverson who just turned 45. You won’t believe what happens when he turns 55!
What happened 55 YEARS ago? Denny: ROD CAREW broke in? Uh, NO, Denny! He finally got the answer.
Those stories, YOUR Mailbag segment and much more right here!

Dennis Polonich playing hockey for Detroit Red Wings

Episode 148: How on EARTH Did Polo Do It?!

June 11, 2020 01:28:14

He had a huge heart.

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain, and Bob Page!

Was he, pound for pound, the best fighter in NHL history? Ex-Red Wings fan fave DENNIS POLONICH joins the boys!
Eli fesses up: as a New Yawk guy, he LIKES hockey but just didn’t grow up with it. He likes most hockey players even more.
The Tigers take slugger Spencer Torkelson #1 overall in the MLB draft. Bob cautions about getting TOO geeked.
Commissioner Rob Manfred: baseball WILL be back in 2020. Where he got THAT info, who knows? But Denny agrees.
NBA players are beginning to balk about resuming their season in Orlando with no family, no friends allowed to visit.
NASCAR has made the decision to ban Confederate flags at race events. But how will they enforce it?!
Allen Iverson just turned 45 this week and you can always count on Eli for some GREAT stories about A.I.
The PGA Tour is BACK! No fans, of course — and already some of golf’s biggest names are complaining about that.
Those stories, YOUR weekly Mailbag and much more right here!

Episode 147: He’s Multitalented and Multifaceted! He’s John Smoltz!

June 8, 2020 01:35:11

Maybe I would have been the next Lawrence Welk. Who knows?

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain, and Bob Page!

Ah, what might have been for JOHN SMOLTZ and the Tigers! The MLB Hall of Famer from Lansing is our guest!
Smoltzie just wants to be doing TV baseball again, but politics and demonstrations have taken over the sports world instead.
Will the NFL now let its players stage protests during the national anthem?! Bob wonders where THAT might lead.
For all you Caucasians, are YOU now “embarrassed to be a white person?” Don’t laugh! An NBA coaching star says HE is!
During a demonstration, what would happen if you caught a punk destroying your car? Well, YOU might be arrested!
Producer Brandon McAfee and the boys take a vote: would they watch a big game with no fans to cheer?
Ultimate Fighting Champ Conor McGregor retires — again. Eli and Denny yawn: “he’ll be back.”
Golf IS back and now you can even use a special cart with a partner (GASP!) — if you’re really THAT worried about COVID-19.
Wimbledon? Canceled! The U.S. Open? Probably not, but would it be worth watching without “The Big Three?”
Those stories, a listener wants to ask Denny’s questions FOR him on YOUR mailbag segment and much more — right here!

Episode 146: Campy Russell: An American Success Story

June 4, 2020 01:41:21

What a career!

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain, and Bob Page!

The boys welcome ex-Michigan and NBA star CAMPY RUSSELL to the show, who says the NBA’S “show” MUST go on!
As if COVID-19 weren’t enough of an issue, society’s racial unrest is suddenly tearing apart the sports world.
The controversy’s also caused a long-time NBA announcer to lose his job while one NFL coach is trying to hang on to HIS.
And will a Florida State football star lose his spot on the team after publicly calling his head coach a — WHAT?!
The MLB season is in serious jeopardy over the usual millionaires vs billionaires squabble. DENNY sets a deadline!
The NBA and the NHL WILL return — but at this point, how many people even care anymore?
And how many brave souls would turn out in the brutal South Florida summer to watch Major League SOCCER?
Eli talks with former guest, attorney DAN WALLACH, then says Duke’s Zion scandal will NOT be a big problem. Bob’s not sure!
Denny asks why it seems like SO many sports figures are now dying. Wes Unseld, Pat Dye and Johnny Majors just this week.
Lenny Dykstra has lost a defamation lawsuit against an ex-Mets teammate. Why? TRY to stifle your laughter.
And YOUR mailbag segment NOW has nearly sent Eli into apoplexy. Those stories and much more right here!

Episode 145: The Remarkable Life of Trixie!

June 1, 2020 01:39:54

He wore the Tigers uniform fo 28 years…more than anyone in team history.

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain, and Bob Page!

The man who wore a Tigers uni longer than any? DICK TRACEWSKI — also Koufax’s roommate in L.A. — is our guest!
What NOW for MLB? Well, the post-season’s probably gonna be FRIGID! IF they DO play.
Minor League Baseball in a HEAP of trouble but one Florida club has a unique way of making money now anyway!
The NBA and NHL resuming? Eli asks how many even care about sports anymore, especially with all the trouble in the U.S.
COVID-19 talk is everywhere and one of the NHL’s top young star’s career may be in jeopardy due to the pandemic.
No caddies allowed on the LPGA? MLS at war over when and if it can start playing soccer again? Yet the coast MAY be nearly clear.
For instance, Korean MLB could serve as a model for baseball to return. It’s had no outbreaks since resuming play.
LOOK! Denny is now ready for 1967 to begin — JUST in time for 2020 as he asks Eli for advice about (GASP!) marijuana!
Detroiter Brad Keselowski has won his second straight NASCAR race. Denny recalls interviewing him when Brad was THREE!
How do you go through $44 million and wind up broke? Ask baseball’s Esteban Loaiza AND Mike Tyson among others!
Watching the Lance Armstrong doc on ESPN these days? Bob: He’s a lying SOB. NO! Eli to Bob: Aren’t you being a hypocrite?
A silly fan’s suggestion in YOUR Mailbag to (GULP!) get rid of BOB and hire — SERIOUSLY?! Those stories and more right here!