Emoni Bates

Episode 193: One of MSU’s Greatest: “What? US Worry?”

Newspaper photo of John Miller

Just play hard, keep your mouth shut, and good things will happen.

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

  • Was he THE best ALL-AROUND high school football player in Michigan HISTORY? Ex-MSU star JOHN MILLER guests! 
  • Is it POSSIBLE? Is what ELI saying about Jim Harbaugh the TRUTH? Or is it just WILD speculation? 
  • Meanwhile, Harbaugh has to settle on a quarterback to start at Rutgers Saturday. Could M even lose THIS game?
  • MSU has a QB controversy of a different kind. As Casey Stengel asked of his ’62 Mets, “Can’t ANYBODY here play this game?!”
  • Thanks to the amazing Matt Prater, the Lions’ playoff hopes are alive. Will that still be true after Sunday’s game at Carolina? 
  • Kim Ng is the first WOMAN GM in MLB history! The boys liken that to all the pony-tailed ZEBRAS we’re now seeing in football.
  • Nominations are out for this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame class. Fred has a BIG disagreement with most on who should get in!
  • Even golf wacko Eli thinks The Masters was bizarre without (sniff-sniff) “patrons.” Bob asks a good question about Tiger.
  • The NBA Draft is here. Pistons pick 7th overall! Their former and long-time TV reporter Eli Zaret is excited — NOT!!!
  • All those stories, “This Week in Sports History,” YOUR mailbag and much more right here!

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

Dan Pohl golfing

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 168: Tom Izzo: Coach of the PISTONS?!

Frank Izzo

I think he regrets not taking that job.

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

  • Eli’s on vacation so veteran sportscaster FRED HEUMANN joins us with some big opinions and stories!
  • Casey Mize makes his LONG-awaited MLB debut! MOST of us thought he did well. NOT Denny!
  • Al Avila says on a Friday that Mize and the other kids are NOT ready. By MONDAY they ARE?! Bob thinks he knows why.
  • Thom Brennaman commits the ultimate TV/radio sin: not so much WHAT he said, it’s the cardinal rule he FORGOT!
  • Fernando Tatis Jr. hits a grand slam on a 3-0 count with his team up by SEVEN in the 8th inning — and the feces hits the fan!
  • The NFL is now considering a postseason “bubble” which has worked for the NBA and NHL.
  • Most of COLLEGE football is not going to play at all. Players, parents and one prominent medical expert are VERY unhappy.
  • A potentially GREAT Michigan O-lineman has already seen enough. HE’S heading to the pros!
  • One of the legal world’s greatest truisms: how much “justice” can you afford? In Robert Kraft’s case, a LOT!
  • Those stories, “This Day in Sports” — just for Denny McLain, YOUR mailbag and much more right here.

Episode 156: Darn Right: He IS “THE MAN!” He’s Tom Izzo!

Tom Izzo

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

Hall of Fame, national title, even unofficial Mayor of Lansing. TOM IZZO joins us on his great career, COVID-19 and MORE!

  • After all MSU’s star recruits of late the question is if there’ll BE a basketball season this year. Or any OTHER season?!
  • Bob MAY be coming around to watching sports without fans — but still gives us an example of how it’ll suck anyway.
  • What’s left of The Palace of Auburn Hills to be torn down Saturday. Eli reflects on his many years covering the Pistons there.
  • “Children should be seen and not heard.” Two idiots in sports show us that some JOCKS should be seen and not heard!
  • When he’s not busy slamming the U.S. Colin Kaepernick likes it here just fine, thank you. The dough’s ROLLING in!
  • More pressure on the Redskins and Indians to change their nicknames, but the Blackhawks join the Braves in saying NO.
  • Ex-Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is moving to Nashville in an attempt to bring MLB there. Denny LOVES it.
  • Eli has This Day in Sports, Bob has YOUR mailbag and much more right here!

Episode 154: GREAT boxer. Greater GENTLEMAN!

Boxer Hilmer Kenty

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!

Episode 105: FOOTBALL? Where Do We START Today?!

Lamar Jackson playing football

Let’s not start there…

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

  • Not embarrassed ENOUGH yet, Spartan Nation? Bob unloads on his alma mater after a Detroit News expose on MSU football.
  • He, uh, is none too happy with MSU basketball’s humiliating display at Purdue either.
  • The boys recap a WILD Sunday in the NFL playoffs and get into a near screaming match about Saturday night’s game!
  • ESPN wants to steal Tony Romo, Eli and Russell Wilson, a Dearborn PIONEER, a former “student-athlete” speaks — or TRIES to!
  • SO many football stories and, oh, btw, there ALSO is the matter of a little football game being played Monday night.
  • Sir Charles himself to the rescue of John Beilein, though nobody could quite rescue John’s ex-team on Sunday.
  • The P.C. Posse riding herd over sports too. When do nicknames, logos and mascots NEED to be changed? And when NOT?
  • What was it like to actually go to a game at the legendary shrines of The Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field? ELI knows firsthand!
  • And what was it like to know a man who broke into MLB in 1909 — with the Brooklyn SUPERBAS?! DENNY has that answer!
  • Those stories, YOUR weekly mailbag and much more right here.

Episode 99: Ray Scott: I Could NEVER Coach in Today’s NBA!

Ray Scott in Piston's uniform

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

  • The NBA a “BUSH LEAGUE?!” It sure WAS and a man who lived the era, ex-Piston Ray Scott, joins us to talk about it all.
  • Yep, the FL’s lost again, but now FL’s ADDICTS are EXCITED about a high draft pick! Bob sez they’ll just blow it anyway.
  • What is the best football broadcast team YOU’VE ever heard? We’ll tell you about OUR pick.
  • Would Urban Meyer really coach the Cowboys? Simple question/answer? NO, as Eli and Denny gang up on Bob AGAIN! 
  • Denny and Bob even duke it out on baseball’s new computer umpiring. Mr. McLain seems to be singing a new tune.
  • The Tigers have a couple new free-agent signees but the question persists: does Al Avila have a CLUE what he’s doing?
  • Super-agent Scott Boras is now guaranteed a cool $50 million for this past MONTH! His CLIENTS signed for a BILLION!
  • Trouble for Minor League Baseball? There’ll be trouble for ALL if MLB puts more than 40 MiLB teams out of business!
  • If you’re a basketball fan you likely watch the NBA — but millions AREN’T. Would an in-season tourney aid TV ratings?
  • Those stories, the Dead Wings with their “Coach for Life,” YOUR weekly mailbag and much more right here.

Episode 85: Mr. McLain, Do You GAMBLE on Baseball?!

I had a great night with that home run!

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

  • So, does Denny still have such little respect for “Mercenary Max” Scherzer NOW? 
  • The boys wrap up the World Series and pull no punches about the umpiring and managing we saw.
  • And to think that Denny picked the Nats to win it all! Rest assured, he’s NOT too shy to mention that — or his BETS!
  • The FL’s go to Oakland to face the Raiders with a ONE-GAME win streak! Exciting! But Bob sez fans know what usually comes next.
  • Michigan and Michigan State have byes this Saturday. Well, the Wolverines, ya know, TECHNICALLY …
  • Meanwhile, the broken record keeps skipping: still MORE trouble for MSU off the field.
  • Ypsilanti, Michigan high school hoops superstar Emoni Bates has landed on the COVER of S.I. — at age 15! Too much, too soon?
  • Eli strikes out on the meaning of “load management” in sports. Oh, you too? You likely won’t be happy to learn what it is.
  • Boo-Hoo! The Pistons are under .500 cuz they have injuries. So how have the Raptors flown out of the gate without Kawhi?
  • Plus Gary McCord surprised, unhappy by his firing at CBS, we hear from YOU in our weekly mailbag and much more right here!