Aaron Rodgers

Episode 177: “Matt Patricia Looks Done Already”

Matt Patricia

Fans don’t even know what to say anymore.

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

  • Bob Page had some technical difficulties this morning, so he’s taking the day off.
  • The Detroit Lions have dropped their 11th straight game.
  • Eli rolls through every Lions coach since the 1970’s. How many more losses until Matt Patricia is FINALLY fired? Peter King says is look DONE.
  • The NFL ratings are way down and despite the reasons we laid out last week, Eli believes that the games have lost legitimacy.
  • Some MAJOR injuries in Week 2 include Saquon Barkley, Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Bosa, Christian McCaffrey, Drew Lock and others.
  • Fred Heumann joins us mid-show to rip the Lions a little bit more.
  • The guys show some
  • Ron Gardenhire has stepped down as manager of the Tigers. Who will be the next coach? The boys argue that the team won’t go anywhere until Miguel Cabrera is gone.
  • Justin Verlander may be finished as he is to undergo Tommy John surgery. Denny sees some light at the end of the tunnel.
  • ANOTHER sports guy is in trouble for criticizing ESPN’s Maria Taylor. This time, because she left Anthony Davis off the 1st, 2nd and 3rd All-NBA Teams.
  • Bryson DeChambeau destroyed the competition at the U.S. Open. We debate his unconventional play.
  • Eli with “This Day in Sports History,” the mailbag gets praise… on the mailbag, and much more right here!

Episode 176: D Mac: Amazing Story, GREAT Interview!

Daren McCarty

I bleed red and white. 

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

  • “The game’s too fast. I don’t think I could’ve played now.” One of the most popular players in Wings’ history, guest DARREN McCARTY, has a LOT to say with us!
  • Guest HOST Fred Heumann has covered The Big Ten(14) for many years so HE has a lot to say about conference football suddenly — huh? — being back ON now?
  • Michigan QB Dylan McCaffrey is just the latest college player to opt out of the season. But the boys agree: this AIN’T about COVID-19.
  • With a near-certain loss at Green Bay Sunday, Bob takes a peek at the FLs’ schedule and MAY yet get Denny to flip-flop on a coaching change.
  • Yep, Mr. Heumann should fit right in with THIS show. Wait’ll you hear him utterly DESTROY Matt Patricia!
  • So, are we watching football games on TV — or oh-so-hot young women hosting a fashion show?! Shame on gals like Maria Taylor? No. Shame on The Empty Suits.
  • Eek! Oh, NO! It’s (gulp) those big bullies, the Cleveland Indians, licking their chops over the Tigers series this weekend — but all is NOT lost for the future.
  • Ever researched why those famous figures are on the front of “Sgt Peppers?” How about also researching why DIFFERENT famous figures are now “seated” at Comerica?
  • Bob gets us up to speed on the NBA and NHL playoffs. Denny responds to him, “Who cares?! NOBODY’S gonna watch!”
  • The U.S. Open is underway — right after the U.S. Open just ENDED Sunday! This time it’s GOLF. Denny, ahem, claims to have nearly tamed fabled Winged Foot.
  • With Eli off, we’ll save his “This Day in Sports” for Monday’s show, but Bob’s got YOUR mailbag and WE’VE got much more — right here.

Episode 175: “Gee, Bill. How Come YOUR WS Ring Looks Different?”

Bill Scherrer

My finger is still green!

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

  • MLB’s version of Dickie V — WITHOUT the mic? THAT’S the equally “enthusiastic” BILL SCHERRER of the ’84 Tigers, our guest on the show!
  • Scherrer’s Chisox have destroyed any post-season hopes Detroit had. To make it worse, Denny continues to rip virtually everything about the Tigers!
  • By the way, Monday is the anniversary of Denny’s 30th victory of the 1968 season. Mr. McLain remembers — as WE remember too.
  • And that’s the only good news we have about the Detroit Tigers, tho one FAN thinks some COULD be on the way soon!
  • Is it September? Check. NFL season underway. Check. Is it Monday? Check. Then it must be time for the LATEST “Bob Page’s Lions Lament!”  
  • Brady bombs. Belichick blazes on — NOW with Cam Newton — in the same amazing way as ever: with OR without ANY player he’s had.  
  • A bigger story: Are all the BLM demonstrations and comments going to ruin PRO FOOTBALL as SOME feel they’ve ruined the NBA?
  • Bob is not the only one now DEMANDING to know why the wusses at The Big (14) Ten won’t allow football when almost everyone else IS!
  • How can this be? One “U.S. Open” ends. The other “U.S. Open” now BEGINS?! Just part of our Wacky World.
  • Eli has “This Day in Sports History,” Bob’s got YOUR mailbag segment — and we’ve got much more right here!

Episode 164: The Amazing Baseball Odyssey of Jim Essian

Jim Essian wearing A's hat

Crisscrossing America for 17 years!

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

  • Just say “no” — to BO?! To ARA? To DUFFY?! How one of Detroit’s greatest all-around athletes, JIM ESSIAN, did it! 
  • The PGA Championship is underway! With NO fans —  AND with Eli asking a good question about two top stars.
  • While MLB is a mess, the NHL and NBA “bubbles” seem to be working. But hockey and basketball in AUGUST?  
  • And Bob sez, “C’mon, how much does ‘Black Lives Matter’ REALLY mean in the NHL?”
  • Imagine! College football players to coaches: “Here’s a list of demands or we’re not playin’!” THIS is happening NOW.
  • Why this CRAZY Big Ten schedule!? M v OSU in OCTOBER? Producers Brandon McAfee and Marc Fellhauer think THEY know. 
  • Kelly Stafford is furious at the NFL for Matt’s false-positive COVID test. Have OTHER testing mistakes been made?
  • Is our P.C. society SO nuts that a coach can’t even QUOTE someone dropping an “N-Bomb?” Black players USE it!
  • We MUST support local journalism in our free country. But Bob wonders how much we’re willing to PAY to do so.
  • Those stories, “This Day in Sports,” a tribute to Denny in YOUR Mailbag — and much more right here!

Episode 159: Dombro’s NEWEST MLB Challenge

Dave Dombroski

Nashville!

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

  • What REALLY happened to DAVE DOMBROWSKI with the Tigers AND the Sawx? The long-time top MLB exec joins us!
  • Canada just says “NO” — to the U.S.! But if the Blue Jays can’t play at home does it matter — with no fans at games anyway?
  • What are MLB games like now without spectators? Bob reports on his Yankees-Mets experience of the weekend.
  • And the PGA Tour experience with no gallery? Eli says he loves golf so much it’s STILL good. Denny and Bob disagree.
  • Now, boys, BEHAVE!!! ANOTHER COVID-19 melee breaks out — but don’t worry, folks. We kept it short.
  • Ditto the latest from the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Eli suggests what they SHOULD have named it.
  • No young black man’s gonna “snitch” on other young black men murdering black men, yet the NBA now has a “snitch line!” 
  • Is the NFL REALLY going to play its violent, contact sport in the new NO-contact world of today?
  • What about college football? Even MORE, what about all the workers who make their livings from football games?
  • “HETEROsexual discrimination?” One of hockey’s biggest names is claiming just that in a new lawsuit!
  • Those stories, “This Day in Sports” PLUS “This Day in NO FILTER SPORTS(?)” in YOUR mailbag — and much more!

Episode 146: Campy Russell: An American Success Story

Campy Russell

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 141: Jimmy Carson: NHL Star to Business Star!

Jimmy Carson playing hockey

“I get to help a lot of families.”

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

  • “Sorry, we just traded you — for Wayne Gretzky!” JIMMY CARSON, the only OTHER teen to score 50 in one season, is our guest! 
  • So Denny, tell us about, ya know, that OTHER time you were almost arrested — and you had your LIFE threatened?
  • It was a VERY busy weekend for Eli. His beloved golf is back — well, kinda — AND he broke a Michigan law!
  • But Eli’s on edge. So are a LOT of people in Michigan self-quarantining. Now the FAMILY DOG seems to be on edge too!
  • What’s MLB gonna do now? We’re all waiting, while a big college baseball program falls victim to COVID-19.
  • If MLB does play this year, we know who its highest-paid player will be. Trout? Max? JV? NO! Wait’ll you hear.
  • And whither college football? Bob has the SECOND-worst scenario next to NO game: U-M v MSU a controlled scrimmage!
  • The once-beautiful Phyllis George has passed away. Eli and Denny lament but BOB points a finger!
  • Denny STONED for the first time ever? He STILL thinks the Packers will trade Aaron Rodgers to his treasured Bears.
  • And what kind of show would this be if we didn’t run down the NFL’s weekend rap sheet for you?
  • Those stories, YOUR mailbag featuring a certain ex-organ player warbling plus much more right here!

Episode 140: The Greatest Legend in MLB HISTORY?!

Jim Abbott

The No-Hitter in Yankee Stadium was really special.

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

  • How did JIM ABBOTT do it?! Born without a right hand - yet became a star pitcher at U-M AND in MLB?! Jim joins the boys!
  • Sports are slowly coming back — but maybe not MLB. WAAYYY too many money issues, as we’ve reported previously.
  • So that begs the question: do people NEED sports or do MORE people HATE sports? Eli has some passionate thoughts on that.
  • But there’s plenty to do and watch without sports — as Denny found out during an impromptu stroll down Memory Lane!  
  • What about the NFL? Bob details a LOT of issues that may keep IT from opening too. No more TAILGATING?!
  • Not guilty! A judge has dismissed the charges from the Nassar Nightmare against former MSU President Lou Anna Simon.
  • Meanwhile, there’s surprising news about former Spartan star linebacker, the late Mike Labinjo.
  • Ohio State and Michigan SCARED of a football rival? MSU, Penn St and Wisconsin too? Not YET, at least, but maybe soon?
  • Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland (mercifully?) blown out of the Monday Night Football broadcast booth. NOW what?
  • Our producer Brand McAfee makes a SHOCKING confession about his childhood — and STILL can’t let go of it! 
  • YOUR Mailbag may now have a theme song! You, uh, might NOT want to hear it as warbled by DENNY McLAIN, though. 
  • Those stories and much more right here!

Episode 135: “Local Boy Makes GOOD?” Makes BIG STAR!

Gus Johnson

On his way up he did all kinds of things!

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

  • Did you know that national play-by-play star Gus Johnson is from Detroit AND was a great athlete in his own right? Gus Guests!
  • Meanwhile, Denny suddenly reveals a STUNNER about one of the most beloved play-by-play men in HISTORY!
  • Larry Adderley has died. Bob’s ex-colleague at WXYZ-TV a victim of Alzheimer’s — as is ANOTHER top Detroit sportscaster.
  • Can’t ANYONE stop these bull-bleep NFL post-draft analyses? NOBODY KNOWS who had a good or bad draft! We’ll talk in FIVE YEARS!
  • The ESPN coverage itself is a BIG part of the problem. But we all watched, didn’t we? Did you like what YOU saw?
  • What does your high school kid need to gain entrance to prestigious Tulane? A damn good jump shot! We explain.
  • “The Last Dance” episodes 3 and 4 aired over the weekend featuring the Bulls vs Pistons 88′ - 91′. Had enough Rodman YET?
  • Denny tells of once facing the hardest-throwing pitcher who ever LIVED! RIP Steve Dalkowski.
  • Good news! He also says there may be hope for a legendary Tigers World Series opponent whom we’d THOUGHT to be dying.
  • Those stories, Eli — WHAT?! — uptight about YOUR Mailbag and much more right here.

Episode 127: SO GREAT! SO What Happened?!

Drew Henson in U of M uniform holding a footback

Sports can very, very cruel.

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

  • And a happy (albeit belatedly) 76th birthday to Denny!
  • Hard to believe that maybe the BEST all-round athlete in Michigan HISTORY is now 40!
  • We’ll ask DREW HENSON about his two-sport career and WHY the former U-M QB never made it in the pros.
  • Eli and Bob, old pals, actually start YELLING at each other over - what else these days? COVID-19.
  • It’s OPENING DAY in Detroit! But instead of REAL baseball we have - huh? - a simulated game?
  • Sports still going on: soccer in a couple foreign nations. How many 1-nil matches so far? We’re STILL counting!  
  • Thank goodness the NFL Draft WILL happen. It’s giving fans and media pundits something to TALK about.
  • “The rich get richer.” In THIS case the old saw means Ohio State versus Michigan in football.
  • Jim Wynn and Curly Neal have died. Bob & Eli recall playing AGAINST Neal WITH the late Mark “Doc”Andrews.
  • Those stories, YOUR mailbag and much more coming up here.