Matthew Stafford
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 212: Our Guest? One of Detroit’s Greatest Sportswriters!

Welcome to No Filter Sports Podcast with Bob Page and Denny McLain!
- The Baseball Hall of Fame has elected NOBODY this year. SHOULD they have?
- TOM GAGE, in the writers wing of the Hall himself, is a long-time voter and, boy, does he have a LOT to say to us!
- Bob wonders if you were thinking what he was last Sunday: did Belichick actually WANT Brady to win?
- How much “justice” can you afford? Brady’s former boss can afford a LOT, as it’s turned out!
- Producer Brandon McAfee has an interesting suggestion for the Lions in their quest to deal Matt Stafford.
- Remember that guy, Tom Izzo? Seems like AGES since he and his MSU basketball team have played.
- Yet the NBA is having even more COVID issues than Michigan State did AND that Michigan basketball now has.
- Don’t be a smart-aleck! The Pathetic Pistons are NOT gonna halt their season. Who would ASK to play for THEM?
- Denny: “If there’s a lotta fish on the table somebody’s gonna start eating ’em.” HUH?! He, um, DOES explain.
- What’s this — Al Avila with a smart free-agent signing? The boys all agree on something — for once.
- Those stories, answers to questions you may now have about this show in YOUR mailbag and more — right here!
Episode 211: Denny and The Hammer

Welcome to No Filter Sports Podcast with Bob Page and Denny McLain!
- Super Bowl LV is set: Tom Brady VERSUS — “the greatest quarterback ever?” At least according to Denny!
- Matthew Stafford is OUT as Lions quarterback. Good for MATT! But what now? Is SHEILA really gonna make the call?!
- Who better to comment on the death of the great HANK AARON than a former Braves teammate named DENNY McLAIN?
- But Denny reveals a shocker from that era when asked if he and Hank ever had a few pops together out on the town.
- Are the Wings dead — already?! They sure played dead in Chicago over the weekend.
- Sunday’s loss saw the debut of ex-coach Mike Babcock in-studio on NBC Sports. Bob rips NBC’s Empty Suits a new one!
- Sure was great to see the storied Wings-Black Hawks rivalry renew. Wait’ll ya hear THIS story about Stu vs. Probie!
- U-M basketball WAS rolling but now has to sit down for TWO WEEKS — a victim of its OWN administration.
- C.Y.A. (“Cover Your Ass”) may be a military term, but it sure looks like Jim Harbaugh is buying into it.
- The Tigers’ Al Avila keeps buying into his own, as Bob puts it, “Bum of the Month Club.”
- Mercy, mercy, ME — still another black eye for a once-proud athletic department which USED to be just “The U-D!”
- In YOUR mailbag segment, a listener turns the tables on Denny: “So, did YOU ‘ever think about coaching?'”
- Those stories, Brandon on The Big Fight, Mr. McLain back on the appearance circuit — 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 204: Good-bye, 2020: UGH! Good-bye, ELI?

It’s hard to separate sports from reality.
It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain and Bob Page.
- Happy New Year, everybody, as we ALL look ahead with hope for better days to come.
- Maybe COVID didn’t hit YOU or yours. Maybe YOU made big $$$ in the market. No matter, good riddance to 2020!
- It was a year that perhaps has triggered a major change in Eli’s very life as he’ll explain to you.
- Denny actually became LOOPY over Saturday’s Lions’ fiasco, a game SO ridiculous that one die-hard Lions fan even …!
- Then listen to Denny become MORE loopy when Eli reads him a quote from Tigers G.M. Al Avila.
- HOW many TD’s in ONE GAME?! Our producer Brandon McAfee relates a tale of woe from football’s fantasy leagues.
- Tom Gores takes heavy flak from Eli — again — as Denny reveals how HE suffered from Gore’s hand in PRISON!
- Remember the NFL’s CHICAGO Cardinals? Yes? The boys do, which means they — and likely YOU — are OLD!
- Still another baseball Hall of Famer has died. Denny recalls PHIL NIEKRO and Phil’s late brother Joe. He played with both.
- Those stories, Bob has another edition of YOUR mailbag — and much more right here!
Episode 203: When the Irish “Tied One for the Gipper!”

The Game of the Century!
It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain and Bob Page.
- MSU’S CLINT JONES guests on playing in the storied 10-10 game, on being a black STAR in the turbulent 60’s and MORE!
- GOLF’S next black star? Eli will tell you all about him — and choke back his tears as he does.
- College football’s four-team playoffs are now set, but does Notre Dame really belong in them?
- One thing’s sure: no matter WHAT Denny predicted here, the Lions won’t be in ANY playoffs.
- And while wiping the egg off his face from that, is he taking his frustrations out unfairly on Matt Stafford?
- WHAT?! A plain mayonnaise sandwich? Denny: YUM! Eli: Have I got a mayonnaise for YOU!
- “Typhoid Rudy” signs a $200 million deal while Bob tells us what ONE dollar once meant to two great NBA centers.
- The NHL announces a January return with new divisions due to COVID. Will its players first have to be vaccinated?
- And they called Pete Rozelle “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas?” A LOT of “grinches” will steal THIS Christmas.
- Bob rips MSU basketball a new one — but then Tom Izzo does too! And, OMG, such STUPID BLACK uniforms!
- Those stories, a big loss for the Tigers, YOUR mailbag segment and MUCH more right here!
Episode 202: Ah, What COULD Have Been for Chuck Long!

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 201: “Yee-Hah!” The Wild Ride of Mike Henneman!

I went to Toledo with an attitude.
It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Denny McLain and Bob Page.
- Tigers reliever, RODEO star, finding his long-lost family, marrying a teammate’s widow? What a journey for MIKE HENNEMAN!
- Bob is APOPLECTIC, stammering in anger, spittle flying. Now the P.C. Posse’s even killed the CLEVELAND INDIANS!
- “Champions Week?” How about “LOSERS WEEK” — courtesy of the Big Ten(14) with its cockamamie football schedule.
- And does Ohio State really deserve to be crowned a “champion,” having played so few games?
- Another Sunday, another loss for the Lions. Weirdly enough, Eli and Denny somehow are seeing hope for them.
- The Tigers do NOT figure to have much hope in 2021. Maddeningly, Al Avila’s making no apologies for that.
- Eli rants about a Detroit Pistons team that oughta wear name tags at practice just to become acquainted.
- Wayne Gretzky’s rookie card has sold for a staggering sum! Resident sports memorabilia expert Denny explains why.
- Both undefeated, both in the nation’s top 20, but Bob says there’s a big diff between U-M and MSU basketball.
- Those stories, Eli with “This Day in Sports,” YOUR Mailbag segment and much more — right here!
Episode 195: T Mills: A Life in Basketball

What a business!
It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Bob Page, Denny McLain and Lary Sorensen filling in for Eli!
- “A MICHIGAN MAN will coach a Michigan team!” Yet ONE Michigan team was NOT happy to hear that as we learn from our guest, former U-M star TERRY MILLS.
- Neither Denny nor Lary’s been with us since MLB got its first woman general manager. Denny claims there was another woman “G.M.” before her!
- A “snoozer” for the Lions in their latest humiliation? Bob took that term literally and now has sage advice for SOME FL’s fans who still could use it.
- Lions-Texans? Cowboys-Washington? Thanksgiving has TWO turkeys before a great match-up Thursday night. Will the Steelers run the table this year?
- An exciting, dramatic game! A triple-overtime WIN on the road! So, is it fair that so many Michigan football fans STILL seem so unhappy?
- U-M grad Lary says all those injuries were no excuse for nearly losing to bleeping RUTGERS. Bob: Rutgers’ doormat days are DONE.
- COVID cancellations still wreaking havoc across college football but is that what really caused Clemson’s game to be called off at the last moment?
- For most people, the disastrous year 2020 should have been called off. Yet even with these new vaccines, will 2021 be much different?
- And what a wild week it was in the NBA with a plethora of trades. Are the Pistons really any better after their huge roster makeover?
- We’ve got those stories, YOUR mailbag segment and much more — right here!