Tag: AJ Hinch | No Filter Sports

Episode 213: Not by TURGENEV, Our OWN “Fathers and Sons”

Welcome to No Filter Sports Podcast with Bob Page and Denny McLain!

“Write what you know:” the author’s mantra. And few know Detroit and its teams better than author TOM STANTON, our guest!
Matthew Stafford TRADED! You’d expect the feckless Detroit sports media to love the FLs’ Big Deal — and BOB to be a skeptic.
Can’t we please just play the damn game?! Still MORE Super Bowl hype all week for us. Are you Super BORED yet?
In a crazy sports year few things could be crazier than Tom Izzo not making the NCAA Tournament field.
Yet come to think of it, what could be crazier than MICHIGAN supplanting Tom’s MSU program so quickly?!
NCAA basketball is “modern-day slavery,” huh? It isn’t if the “slaves” would only take advantage of a FREE education.
The Wings’ LATEST skid is six games. Brandon McAfee says firing Jeff Blashill wouldn’t make a diff. Bob disagrees.
Yet maybe our young producer is right about this too since Bob seems to be coming around on Bonds and Clemens as HOFers.
Curt Schilling as well? Yes? Just think what this whacko might SAY standing on the podium at Cooperstown!
Denny was off today. Wonder what he’d say about the Brewers hiring an ex-GIRLS SOFTBALL PLAYER as a hitting coach?
Those stories, our necrology featuring a Detroit Tigers boyhood hero, YOUR mailbag and much more — right here!

Episode 210: Never Fear — Our GAMES are Still Here!

Welcome to No Filter Sports Podcast with Bob Page and Denny McLain!

We all agree: the world SUCKS right now, but at least we still have sports — AND its knuckleheads — to entertain us.
What team gets a home game in the Super Bowl? None EVER! Tom Brady hopes to change that in the NFC title game.
And another ex-Michigan star quarterback could also make headlines in Sunday’s AFC title tilt.
Are you betting the games? You can now do that LEGALLY in Michigan starting Friday.
The Lions unveil their LATEST five-year rebuilding program, so optimistic they gave their LATEST coach a SIX-year deal!
Why do younger Lions fans also seem so optimistic about their sad-sack team? Brandon McAfee RANTS on that!
SWEATING and SLOBBERING all over each other? The NBA’s okay with that — but handshakes? No WAY.
Bob’s sweating out Friday, hoping COVID doesn’t cancel Michigan at Purdue. Like all of us, he needs something to do!
Why are the Pistons so pathetic? ONE game tells part of the story: a guy they have and two guys they should have had.
Is Tigers G.M. Al Avila signing all these bums just to irritate Denny? If so, he’s doing a great job of it!
Is the Baseball Hall of Fame ready to put Clemens and/or Bonds in next week? Should they? Hear our spirited debate.
All those stories, YOUR mailbag segment and much more coming up right here!

Episode 209: One TRUE BLUE Ohioan!

Welcome to No Filter Sports Podcast with Bob Page and Denny McLain and Bob Page!

U-M star, Olympic gold medalist, first-round NBA draft choice — the long basketball life of guest PHIL HUBBARD!
What a quarterback dual: Brady vs Brees! But as often happens with great pitching match-ups — a DUD.
The boys recap the weekend’s NFL playoffs, look ahead to this Sunday’s title games AND to the Super Bowl.
The WHAT Bowl? A foreign concept, of course, to the Lions — now embarking on their LATEST rebuilding program.
Should they have hired Robert Saleh instead? Or Urban Meyer? Bet that if a mistake can be made, the FL’s will make it.
A great goaltender? At times. A great Detroit Red Wing? Always! And now HOWIE hangs ’em up.
Bob warned it might happen. Denny pooh-poohed him, but Michigan did indeed go down at Minnesota.
Now will COVID allow U-M to play Maryland or MSU to play Illinois? Bob asks, no, BEGS, the Big 14 for just one thing.
Denny rips his former team — again — for stubbornly sitting out free agency without a splash.
And he rips baseball’s Hall of Fame for continuing to snub one of his greatest friends and Tiger teammates.
Those stories, a top Detroit sportscaster skewered in YOUR mailbag segment and more — right here!

Episode 202: Ah, What COULD Have Been for Chuck Long!

December 17, 2020 01:37:34

He had everything going for him.

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

One of the greatest QB’s in Big Ten history, CHUCK LONG, never lived up to that potential in Detroit. Chuck tells all!
The Lions hire Chris Spielman, not to run the show, but only to assist in the hiring of a GM and coach. Bob: WTF?!
If only ALL the Lions had the guts of center Frank Ragnow — playing an entire contest with a FRACTURED THROAT!
The MNF matchup between the Browns and Ravens was a great game — but a COSTLY one for Denny and others.
Jim Harbaugh says he’s IN. And what LOOKS like a good recruiting class just may keep him “in” — for a while.
MSU’s Mel Tucker landed a couple quarterbacks on signing day, though the one he needs MIGHT already be in the fold.
Congress continues to meddle in big-time college sports. Is this a good thing? Denny, Eli — and CHUCK debate.
Miggy says he wants to play first base again. AJ Hinch: “Okay.” Denny: “Ridiculous!”
In this P.C.-mad world MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred makes a controversial decision. Was it fair?
Will MLB and the other pro sports REQUIRE all players take a COVID vaccine in order to play?
Those stories, PLUS Bob rips the bogus Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, YOUR mailbag and MORE — right here.

Episode 198: Two-Sport Star — to Superstar COACH!

But we know him best as a running back for Bo.

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Bob Page, Denny McLain & Fred Heumann sitting in for Eli Zaret!

One of the great athletes in Michigan high school history is now one of its great MENTORS: our guest, THOMAS WILCHER.
OUTRAGEOUS! How DARE Herbie claim Harbaugh doesn’t want to play Ohio State! But, uh, DOES he? Really?
A Wednesday afternoon NFL game? The boys agree: an abomination in damn near every sense.
And now COVID-19 begins another reign of sports terror: the NBA says 48 players just got it!
So you think nothing excites curmudgeonly Bob? Just ask him about Michigan State basketball this year.
Denny’s excited about his beloved Bears’ “Polish kid” versus the Lions, then gets the word: Trubisky is NOT Polish.
Dennis Dale McLain — JEWISH?! Oy, who knew?! He’s FULL of surprises today:
Teddy Ballgame once said WHAT to him? Denny in a fistfight with a teammate in the Tigers’ locker room?
A 27-year-old former World Series hero is on the open market “CHEAP.” Should the Tigers grab him?
Fred knows whom HE wants to see the Tigers sign. Bob AND Denny: “Fuhgettaboutit!”
Those stories, YOUR mailbag segment and much more — right here!

Episode 192: SO Close at Augusta — Yet SO FAR!

Not to be!

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Bob Page, Denny McLain and Lary Sorensen filling in for Eli!

It’s Masters week — in NOVEMBER! Ah, 2020. But we’ve got a GREAT guest to talk about it: Michigan’s own DAN POHL.
Was Danny the best golfer the state ever produced? With The Mitten’s weather, the list sure ain’t long but we’ll take a look.
Ohio State’s Urban Meyer as head coach of (gulp!) The University of MICHIGAN? Get outta here!
The 0-9 laughing stock New York Jets in the playoffs? Get outta here! The LIONS could still make it too.
Old pals Lary and Bob have a BIG, uh, “discussion” about MONEY in baseball.
J.T. Realmuto, George Springer and DJ LeMahieu have all REJECTED $18.9 million for 2021. Could any land in Detroit?
Chris Fetter HAS landed in Detroit as Tigers’ pitching coach. It’s Lary against his boyhood idol, Denny McLain, on THAT one.
Could a student be admitted to the University of Michigan, let alone survive academically, without PERFECT English fluency?
That issue is part of a red-hot battle that may soon turn U-M vs MSU basketball into the NEW Duke-Carolina.
And a horrible tragedy in the sports world leads us to reexamine one of the wildest college bowl games ever played.
We’ve got those stories, YOUR mailbag and much for you — right here!

Episode 191: DOWN from “Mt. Rushmore” and ONTO Our Show!

Congratulations on a career well lived.

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

The greatest hockey announcer EVER? Many say that about the personable MIKE “DOC” EMERICK, our guest today!
But who’s interviewin’ whom? Michigan resident Doc has plenty of questions for Denny about the ’68 Tigers.
Eli’s U-M sources report that it’s all over for Jim Harbaugh. The proverbial “mutual decision” to come at year’s end.
After the humiliation at Iowa, Bob asks why, among hundreds of coaches, MSU was so bent on hiring Mel Tucker.
State won’t get any help this week against Indiana — at least not from Eli, who’s jumpin’ on the Hoosier bandwagon!
How much will new manager A.J. Hinch mean to the Tigers — and what about his coaching hires of the weekend?
The Lions go belly-up again. Let the LATEST five-year rebuilding program begin! But with (gulp!) Sheila Hamp Ford guiding it?
The Masters in NOVEMBER? It starts this week! Eli and Denny guarantee the biggest current name in golf will NOT win.
And a Red Wings favorite says a classy good-bye with a thank-you note to Detroit and his home state.
Those stories, Eli has his “This Day in Sports History,” Bob has YOUR mailbag and much more right here!

Episode 189: From BO to — BODY PARTS?!

What did you sell to people?!

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Bob Page and Fred Huemann filling in for Denny McLain!

A tough day for a former MICHIGAN football star to join us, but ex-QB STEVE SMITH sucks it up and faces the music!
Who’da BELIEVED what happened?! Not FRED, who sez he’s never experienced anything in his career like MSU’s upset!
Days later it’s STILL big news: the Tigers hire A.J. Hinch! Bob already wonders how A.J. and Al Avila will get along.
And was Hinch and the Astros’ sign-stealing really THAT big a deal in the wake of new charges against a famous MLB manager?
HBO fan Eli hips us to a great new segment about baseball’s Negro Leagues on his favorite show, “Real Sports.”
What (lame) excuse did one of baseball’s most legendary figures once give Bob for not allowing black players in?
Wait til you hear how long it takes the boys to FINALLY get to the Lions! Do fans really care much about the Lions anymore?
Quick now: name the five greatest people you’ve EVER known. Fred puts a member of the Lions’ next opponent on HIS list!
Those stories, Eli has his “This Day in Sports History” and Bob has YOUR mailbag — right here.

Episode 185: Role Model for Girls? Role Model for ALL!

She just happens to be a woman.

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

Wow, a WOMAN guest — our first one ever! And what better choice than hockey trailblazer Manon Rhéaume?
All the sturm und drang, all the controversy over MLB’s COVID-bastardized season — yet justice is done anyway.
After seeing the talent level of the playoff teams, now it’s Eli’s turn to be angry with Al Avila and the Tigers.
Denny takes exception to the hot-dogging from some of the players. Bob doesn’t dig the fraternizing.
A win at Jax and now it’s on to the playoffs! Don’t SOME members of the media and Lions fans EVER learn?
“Who the hell was YALE LARY?” The uneducated young generation scoffs. Bob gives ’em a MUCH-needed lesson.
And Eli gives the young an important black history lesson in his “This Day in Sports.”
Big Ten(14) football is BACK! Could lowly Rutgers destroy Mel Tucker’s MSU debut? What if Harbaugh loses at Minnesota?
Take a bow mid-Michigan! Two of your native sons brought us Sunday night’s thrilling Game 7.
And from Michigan’s Thumb comes news of the retirement of one of broadcasting’s all-time greats.
Those stories, Bob has YOUR mailbag segment and WE’VE got much more right here!

Episode 184: A Boyhood Baseball Card Come to LIFE!

He led the league in triples his rookie year!

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

A trash-talking softball player — in his 80’S?! THAT is ex-Tiger JAKE WOOD who still thanks baseball every day for his life
YOU’VE got nothing to do — right? So you’re obviously watching EIGHT HOURS of baseball every day — right?!
All those impressive young pitchers in the MLB Playoffs? Fred’s upset! He says the Tigers’ kids are NOT in the same league.
Meanwhile, still another new name’s in the hat to become Detroit’s latest manager. But how attractive really is the job?
Bob finally gets some company on the show: Fred joins him in walking sports’ COVID-19 tightrope!
Nick Saban is the latest big-name to fall victim — but HE’S ready to coach Bama versus Georgia Saturday night.
Ex-MSU All-American Le’Veon Bell already banished by the Jets. Fred knows him well. What IS this guy’s problem?
The Big (14) hasn’t even started its delayed football season, yet here come Tom Izzo, Juwan Howard and basketball!
It’s The Clash of the Titans Sunday in Jacksonville and Denny has some surprising news about the FL’s.
Yet it won’t be nearly as surprising as when he tells you the identity of his TRUE baseball idol.
Those stories, YOUR mailbag segment and much more right here!