Wayne Fontes

Episode 174: Doug English: a True LION on the Field

Doug English

One of the league’s true warriors.

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

  • He didn’t win a Super Bowl. No Detroit Lion ever has (or will?), but guest DOUG ENGLISH remains one of the most popular players in team history.
  • It’s opening week in the NFL. Coaches upset over no fans at their home games, the threat of BLM and National Anthem protests. What a kerfuffle already!
  • Oh, and Bob wonders what the league will do if/WHEN a player tests positive for COVID-19. Would they panic and cancel a game on a Sunday morning?!
  • Few teams have the long tradition of the Detroit Tigers. So when they set a new low for futility at Milwaukee THAT was really saying something!
  • Now what to do with struggling Matthew Boyd? Denny: TRADE HIM. But why wouldn’t the Tigers call Denny —  or Lolich or Tanana — to at least pick their brains?
  • Eli says the quality of the NBA Playoffs has been stellar, but Bob is among the pissed-off millions who haven’t watched a single game yet.
  • As if the NBA needed MORE controversy, the Stephen A. Smiths of the world cry (surprise!) “WHITE PRIVILEGE” over Steve Nash’s hiring.
  • The NHL Playoffs have been excellent too — for those few outside Dallas and Las Vegas who find the Stars vs the Knights in summertime compelling.
  • Eli has “This Day in Sports History,” Bob’s got YOUR mailbag segment — and much more right here!

Episode 169: DEXTER BUSSEY in the Battle of His LIFE!

Dexter Bussey

Typical Dexter Bussey: No complaints

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

  • One of the most popular Lions in memory, DEXTER BUSSEY, joins the boys on his career, unusual POST-career — AND his health! 
  • You’ll hear the voice of legendary sportscaster Bob Reynolds on Dex. WHAT? Never heard of BOB REYNOLDS?! It’s NOT all pretty. 
  • Not only did the Tigers actually win a GAME against Cleveland, they won the weekend series!  
  • Now what? Does Al Avila go for broke or does he start trading guys for more “prospects” - SUSPECTS - at the deadline? 
  • The PC Posse continues its takeover of sports, UNLESS, as Bob points out, you’re a black NBA player making a racist comment. 
  • And to think of Mike Milbury being “canceled” for a totally innocuous statement — whether YOU like him as a commentator or not. 
  • Resident golf mavens Eli and Denny go NUTS over what Dustin Johnson did last weekend! Does Koepka eat humble pie? 
  • Did they just hold one of the greatest events of the sports world in veritable secrecy?! Almost seems that way! 
  • Denny may not like it, but one NFL team now says there WILL be fans at ITS home games this year. 
  • Those stories, Eli with “This Day in Sports,” Bob with YOUR mailbag and much more right here!

Episode 153: NFL MUST Go On — but with Eric Hipple’s Solution?

Eric Hipple in Lions uniform holding a football

I’m going to be controversial. Quarantine and isolate. You don’t have to see your family during the season.

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

  • QB ERIC HIPPLE had it bad enough just PLAYING for the Lions, but what he suffered after was MUCH worse. Eric guests!
  • Eli and Denny spent their weekends watching - what else? - GOLF. They seem okay with its current state. Bob’s NOT.
  • The NBA playing in empty arenas and now with P.C. social messages on the backs of unis?! Had enough of pro basketball yet?
  • The FANS, the FANS! Bob says there are no sports and no sports media without YOU — so why play ANY games this year?
  • Even as Bill Belichick pays up for cheating — AGAIN — he brilliantly delivers what COULD be a big blow to other teams.
  • What does M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E spell? “THE NHL!” The league’s idiotic draft set-up screws the Red Wings.
  • Johnny Manziel has put football behind him: “I just want to be happy for the rest of my life.” WE have a suggestion!
  • More CRAZINESS everywhere. Kansas State’s football team boycotts; says THEY will control who’s enrolled at the university.
  • Statues being illegally torn down or replaced. How far will it go? Two American ICONS may be next — for very different reasons.
  • Eli provides “This Day in Sports History,” Bob rolls out YOUR Mailbag and much more — right here!

Episode 129: Had Enough of the FL’s? Marc Spindler Has!

Marc Spindler in Detroit Lions uniform

They lack a lot of things.

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

  • What a comedian! What an entertainer! And ya say this guy MARC SPINDLER played a lotta FOOTBALL too?
  • Eli and Bob vow to stop discussing their differing positions on COVID-19. ELI quickly breaks it! Bob won’t.
  • When will sports start again? Bob THINKS he has an idea based upon a feature in the Detroit News.
  • He claims you’ll likely never see Tom Brady play for Tampa — or anybody else — ever again!
  • Tom Dempsey has died of COVID. What older Lions fan will EVER forget where he/she was for “The Field Goal?!” 
  • E-sports continue to thrive in the sports-less world and tempers are hot! NASCAR drivers “rage-quitting” over video games?
  • Seen the new HBO doc on cheating in college basketball? ELI’s all over it. Bob: BFD.
  • Here comes the P.C. Posse ridin’ in over them yonder hills! Mike Leach now in trouble for sharing an UN-P.C. meme.
  • Earth to Denny! Come in! Earth to Denny! We somehow LOSE MLB’s last 30-game winner in the middle of the show!
  • What could be worse than THAT? Well, how about a show where YOUR mailbag is unceremoniously DUMPED?!
  • We’ll explain what happened (no tears from Eli!) and have MUCH more for you right here.


Episode 128: Most loved? Most hated? Most FEARED? Our GUEST!

Former NBA Columnist Peter Vecsey

He took no prisoners. 

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

  • NBC-TV and New York Post star Peter Vecsey sets down his famous Poison Pen to join the boys on - what else?! - the NBA.
  • We gotta do it, folks - first thing EVERY show now. The latest horrors from COVID-19 AND the panic destroying our economy.
  • A “sport” still going on: video game basketball! Two young producers take three geezers by the hand and explain what THAT is!
  • Among MORE sports cancellations? Wimbledon! The British Open may be next.
  • And what if horse racing’s Triple Crown is called off? Four famous Tigers/ex-Tigers are dreading that! We’ll tell you why.
  • MORE trouble for Michigan State! THIS time it involves Tom Izzo himself and it COULD be serious.
  • Still working? Have any money coming in? How would you like to make five grand a DAY - and not HAVE to work for it?
  • That’s what’s happening for many MLB stars while the league ponders six-man starting rotations IF baseball returns soon.
  • What’s the ONE topic ALWAYS off the table among big-time athletes? Bob explains how a guy just violated it!
  • Those stories, YOUR weekly mailbag and much more right here.

Episode 109: Chris Spielman: A Football Life

Chris Spielman playing in Lions uniform

In A Violent Game, Spielman Stood Out as One of the Fiercest

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

  • With The Super Bowl almost here, ex-Ohio State and Lions star Chris Spielman is our guest on the show!
  • BOB, at least, remains in shock following the death of Kobe Bryant. Eli and Denny? Slightly different story.
  • A longtime private pilot, Denny takes us through what may have happened with the doomed helicopter.
  • Did you know Kobe was almost a Piston? We explain — while Eli says the current Pistons need to start tanking NOW!
  • MSU basketball stock? UP, despite a tough loss at Indiana. Michigan’s? DOWN. Eli’s pessimistic. Bob is  NOT.
  • Castellanos signs a big free-agent deal with Cincy. And YOU thought the Tigers smart enough to bring Nick back?!
  • Yes, the SB is indeed finally upon us. Excited? Or have you had WAY too much football at this point?
  • HUH? ANOTHER SB was played this past weekend? We explain why it was kinda like the blind leading the blind!
  • Zion Williamson getting unusual medical treatment from the Pelicans. Eli has those details.
  • Simona WHO? Is she one of those “big girls” who DO cry? Meanwhile, Tiger is back. What does it mean for golf?
  • And 2019 MIGHT not have been the worst year for Detroit sports after all. THAT’S in YOUR mailbag plus more right here.

 

Episode 103: Cash ‘n Cousins: MSU WOWS on the Weekend!

Cassius Winston and Kirk Cousins

They’re young men, and they get excited.

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

  • Don’t you worry, gang — it’s baaaaack! Though YOUR weekly mailbag never actually went away.
  • NFL Playoffs? SO much to talk about from “Private” Kirk to Brady & Brees failing to — what else? — controversial officiating.
  • Off the field Jerry finally makes a decision to bleep or get off the pot! Could Lions legend Joe Schmidt have coached for him?
  • U-M loses two more KEY players though they’re may not be ready for the NFL. A sign of unhappiness with Harbaugh?
  • Michigan State humiliates Michigan AGAIN. Eli’s already asking, “Is Juwan too nice a guy?” Bob: “Just you WAIT!”
  • The Pathetic Pistons reach a new nadir: TWENTY of their shots blocked in a single game! 
  • The PP’s are still not as awful as the Red Wings, who’ve now lost 20 of their last 23! Bob has a FULL report.
  • Yet Denny argues from experience that the young Wings will NOT be ruined by this horrendous losing.
  • Oh — and he’s really not happy about the cancellation of TigerFest this winter! 
  • Those stories and much more coming up 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 97: Will Jeff Bezos Buy the Lions?!

Jeff Bezos

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

  • Will Jeff Bezos buy the Lions?! https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/rumor-jeff-bezos-has-visited-detroit-twice-to-talk-about-buying-lions/Bob tells why that might NOT happen.
  • He’s the proud owner of a USFL championship ring AND played in TWO Super Bowls: Ray Bentley is with us today!
  • Ray’s Michigan Panthers lead into old USFL stories and the VERY famous owner not ALLOWED to buy an NFL team.
  • Other NFL stories? Is the “R word” now a firing offense? And what’s wrong with “white women?!”
  • One NFL NON-story? The FL’s lose their seventh straight. But why count — other than the days til Matt’s gone?
  • Oregon conquers Ann Arbor and Bob didn’t like what he saw in Saturday’s game, particularly from Juwan. 
  • Is ONE reason MSU has been so disappointing the personal tragedy of its star player?
  • The Army-Navy game under fire for a televised “white supremacy” sign from two cadets. Or WAS it that?
  • LSU QB Joe Burrow has won the Heisman, a trophy Eli disdains. He’ll tell you why.
  • He also RAVAGES what USED to be Sports Illustrated. Those stories, YOUR mailbag and much more right here!

Episode 94: The Red Baron Himself Reminisces!

Red Berenson in Red Wings uniform

Life is good!

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

  • A somber note to start this show: Denny is not with us due to the death of his beloved wife Sharon.
  • Eli recounts in moving detail their long-time — and up-and-down — love story.
  • But the great Red Berenson IS with us on so MANY historic hockey moments he was part of, the Wings, U-M and MORE!
  • U-M and MSU basketball BOTH utterly HUMILIATED Tuesday night! But Bob says the two losses were VERY different.
  • Does Michigan football really want to (GULP) play ALABAMA in a bowl game?! Ohio State redux?
  • Could another new twist on MSU’s Larry Nassar disaster leave MSU declaring BANKRUPTCY?! 
  • He said, HE said? Bob’s interaction with powerful MSU Trustee Joel Ferguson has created some waves!
  • NFL coaches are on the hot seat — but not Matt Patricia? Eli has lowlights of the early years of many FL’s coaches.
  • Babs SMEARED for mistreatment of ex-players like Johan Franzen, but wouldn’t the Wings STILL be better off with him NOW?
  • PLUS, whither the Pistons? Rudy T once WOWED Eli but ATTACKED Bob(!), YOUR mailbag and much more right here!