Tom Seaver

Episode 173: Detroit’s own Ernie Whitt: CANADIAN Sports God!

Ernie Whitt

I tricked them for a lot of years!

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

  • “I might be the best manager who was never hired.” Yet ERNIE WHITT had one helluva playing career with the Blue Jays. The Detroit native joins us!
  • One of the toughest opponents Denny’s Detroit Tigers ever faced has left us. Our thoughts on the passing of Lou Brock.
  • The Tigers lost their critical series at Minnesota, but the boys are still impressed by what they’ve seen from many of the youngsters.
  • College football is BACK! Well, ya know, KIND OF “back.” Is it getting too late for the Big Ten(14!) to try to play?
  • The NFL WILL play starting Thursday night! Bob wonders how much of a BLM demonstration there might be, on and off the field.
  • The Lions signed one of the most famous names in football: running back Adrian Peterson. But will it really help this sad-sack franchise?
  • Eli LOVES his playing but is underwhelmed by his apparent I.Q.! Dustin Johnson vying for (gulp!) $15 million at the PGA Tour Championship. 
  • Part of a wild Labor Day sports weekend: Novak Djokovic DQs himself from the US Open? Kirk Herbstreit weeping on TV?
  • Those stories, Eli has “This Day in Sports History,” Bob’s got YOUR mailbag segment and much more right here!

 

Episode 172: Shep: LIVIN’ THE DREAM!

Matt Shepard

It’s a blast…every single day.

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

  • So how do you get to be an MLB play-by-play announcer? Guest MATT SHEPARD had a VERY unusual path to the Tigers!
  • The sports world mourns the death of one of the greatest pitchers ever. The boys reminisce on Tom Terrific.
  • The Tigers’ win streak ended at six. With five games against the Twins now on tap, is this the season’s telling point?
  • Looks like Eli’s suddenly started to watch the NBA playoffs. He did NOT like what he saw from one game in particular.
  • Bob on the NHL Playoffs: Is the great Zdeno Chara finally finished at 43 — or just finished in Boston?
  • Get ready, gamblers! Denny has his pick on Saturday’s Kentucky Derby for you — NOT! 
  • Legal sports gambling rages on. Denny updates us on what the Cubs are doing — and WHAT’S that about MJ?!
  • Big Ten(14!) football after all? President Trump will want to take credit IF that occurs — but would he deserve to?
  • MSU’s Kirk Cousins raked over the coals by the media for his ideas about COVID-19! Denny and Eli to the rescue.
  • How much would YOU pay for a presence at FL’s games? “ZERO?” Producer Brandon McAfee sez $100 but he does have limits.
  • Eli with “This Day in Sports History,” Bob’s got YOUR mailbag segment and much more right here!

Episode 163: MISTER MICHIGAN: Brandy himself!

Jim Brandstatter broadcasting for U of M

A very timely guest!

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

  • What did Bo know and when did he know it? Just one of MANY topics for us with U-M football voice JIM BRANDSTATTER!
  • So why would Bo allegedly allow sexual abuse by his own team doctor to go on? Eli’s sources have an explosive theory!
  • How could Michigan lose a five-star tackle from right under their noses? The kid’s own father wants to know that too.
  • Seven-inning games?! Eli’s so upset with MLB’s silliness he cries, “START THE DAMN GAME IN THE THIRD INNING THEN!”
  • And now MLB is one-sixth through its season. Not weird enough? As of Monday the Tigers would be in the playoffs!
  • Long-time sportscaster Jamie Samuelsen has died at just 48, joining a host of Detroit media members already gone too soon.
  • Denny’s got figures on the NFL players who’ve opted out of the season. Bob asks again, “didn’t anybody PLAN for this?”
  • The NBA is back! NHL too! Both leagues started off with showy Black Lives Matter displays. Has BLM gone too far now?
  • Bob with a bold prediction for Michigan State basketball, which just went through a VERY eventful week.
  • Those stories, “This Day in Sports,” YOUR mailbag segment and much more coming up right here!

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

Sam McDowell pitching

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 122: “Panic at the DISCO?” Panic EVERYWHERE!!!

Group of medical face masks

It’s not panic. It’s called precaution.

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

  • The most famous AND controversial ump in MLB, COWBOY JOE WEST, joins us today with LOTSA great stories!
  • Stand by, ladies and gents, cuz ELI ZARET has a special announcement to make! Whether you’ll believe him is …
  • Help! Help! We’re ALL gonna DIE of Coronavirus! At least Eli and Denny seem to think so. BOB calls “bulls—!”
  • Sports betting is now legal and open for business in Michigan! Only problem is, there may not be any sports to bet on.  
  • First tennis, then college basketball tournaments, then the NBA and MORE! OMG, what will we DO without SPORTS?!
  • Um, spend more time with our loved ones and friends? (Gasp!) read BOOKS? Get off the couch and go work out?
  • The TPC is still on — as of THIS writing. Can slumping Brooks Koepka win? HE sez he’s gotten some VERY special help.
  • Tom Brady is launching a production company. Make Eli LAUGH! HE knows what a daunting thing that is to do.
  • Ex-MSU football assistant Curtis Blackwell is back with ANOTHER lawsuit, now alleging Mark Dantonio is a RACIST! Yeah, right.
  • Gronk to become WHAT? A pro wrestler for the WWE? Our resident expert, producer Brandon McAfee, is all over it! 
  • Those stories, YOUR mailbag segment 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 95: DIRECT from Hamtramck AND MLB — It’s “WIMPY!”

Tom Paciorek (Hawk and Wimpy)

You never lose a nickname! 

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

  • FUNNY guy, GREAT personality! Tom Paciorek shoulda been a media star after his MLB career! Wait. He WAS! And he’s our GUEST!
  • A special thanks from Denny to YOU and to so many others for the condolences pouring in over Sharon’s passing.
  • Sweet Lou failed again with HOF Vets Committee voters. An injustice? Did his personality cost him? 
  • Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller DID get in but Bob attacks Miller for MLB’s money INSANITY. Eli and Denny attack Bob BACK!
  • And those two big bullies ALSO air it out with poor Bob on Ken Harrelson, who MAY be about to go in!
  • The boys are NOT getting along! Eli gets BIG pushback from Bob: won’t he PLEASE stop talking so much about the FL’s?!
  • And Mr. Z recaps, uh, some kind of heavyweight title fight this weekend. Quick now! Name ANY current champ you can!
  • It’s U-M (gulp!) vs Alabama in ONE bowl game and MSU (gulp!) vs Wake Forest and its hi-powered offense in another.
  • Eli takes us on a (comical) tour of some of the VERY BIG bowl games on the slate for lucky US.
  • PLUS, a WOMAN head coach in the NBA(?!), M and MSU basketball, YOUR comments in the mailbag and more right here!

Episode 81: ’84 Tigers Hero to — Stand-Up? DON’T Miss this Interview with Ruppert Jones!

Ruppert Jones baseball card

“I don’t want to get out of my lane.”

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

  • A hero of the ’84 World Series champs, Ruppert joins us to discuss that magical year, why he didn’t come back, his personal struggles and more.
  • Oh, so you say the FL’s were “robbed” by the officials at Green Bay? Eli’s pissed too, Denny disagrees and, as usual, “The Bob Page Lions’ Lament” sez … 
  • It’s the NEW “biggest game of Jim Harbaugh’s coaching career” Saturday night at Penn State. Is it really make-or-break time for him? 
  • We only know one thing about the MLB Playoffs: the Nats are going to the World Series. And who called that one? He’s NOT too modest to say!
  • “Fired up?” Denny ‘s APOPLECTIC! He’s almost frothing at the mouth about juiced (or DE-juiced) baseballs — as Eli sadistically presses his buttons.
  • Basketball’s Jim Calhoun has done something so reprehensible Bob’s shocked that he’s not in jail already!
  • Are you getting your money’s worth at an NBA game? A new study implies NOT and Eli confirms — while Denny just DOESN’T get it.
    LeBron’s controversy is the latest story to remind us that politics and sports, like it or not, are inextricably bound.
  • Those stories, Eli walked out of the arena and missed WHAT? Reggie Jackson ALMOST redeems himself with Denny plus much more!
  • And don’t forget: Mike Lucci, named to the All-Time Lions team, will join us on Monday’s show.
 

Episode 43: “What Hall-of-Famer Did You Say Was a Total A-HOLE?!”

Reggie Jackson batting

He walked by me as if I didn’t exist.

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

  • The LAST player you’d think wouldn’t  show up for a game in the NBA Finals? Draymond Green?!
  • And it gets worse as the former Spartan star has stuck his big foot in his big mouth — again!
  • Attendance down, pathetic team. What have Ilitch and Avila done to the Tigers?!
  • Players against the media: Sir Charles versus KD is just the latest feud on the list.
  • “A fool and his money are soon parted,” said Aesop. Sports’ latest “fool” is an MSU great.
  • Boozing it up in the SEC, Eli — on “Jeopardy?” And much more right here!