pandemic

Episode 195: T Mills: A Life in Basketball

Terry Mills playing for Detroit Pistons

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!

Episode 194: Scared of Butkus? Not a Young GREG LANDRY!

Greg Landry holding a football

But you always wanted to know where he was…

It’s the latest No Filter Sports Podcast with Eli Zaret, Bob Page, Fred Heumann AND Lary Sorensen!

  • Okay, so maybe they weren’t “glory days,” but the Detroit Lions of our guest, GREG LANDRY, were at least FUN!
  • NOW, Eli says the COVID crisis has taken the “fun” element OUT of sports. Bob, Fred and Lary disagree.
  • Still, what a world we’re in! MSU’s football game a COVID cancelation. MSU basketball expecting cancellations. 
  • Sports TV ratings are way down and surveys indicate most of you will not go to live events til there’s a COVID vaccine.
  • All those kids! What WERE the Pistons thinking about in the NBA draft, which was at least high on MUSICAL talent.
  • With another embarrassing loss for U-M a possibility Saturday, would the Jets try to hire Jim Harbaugh anyway?
  • Easy come, easy go. One airhead MLB player loses a guaranteed $24 million for taking steroids!
  • “This Day in Sports” finds one of our fans bravely staying at his battle station during “Malice at the Palace!”
  • Those stories, Lary ripped by Howard Cosell on national TV, YOUR Mailbag and much more — right here!

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 191: DOWN from “Mt. Rushmore” and ONTO Our Show!

Mike (Doc) Emrick

Congratulations on a career well lived.

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

  • The greatest hockey announcer EVER? Many say that about the personable MIKE “DOC” EMERICK, our guest today!
  • But who’s interviewin’ whom? Michigan resident Doc has plenty of questions for Denny about the ’68 Tigers.
  • Eli’s U-M sources report that it’s all over for Jim Harbaugh. The proverbial “mutual decision” to come at year’s end.
  • After the humiliation at Iowa, Bob asks why, among hundreds of coaches, MSU was so bent on hiring Mel Tucker.
  • State won’t get any help this week against Indiana — at least not from Eli, who’s jumpin’ on the Hoosier bandwagon!
  • How much will new manager A.J. Hinch mean to the Tigers — and what about his coaching hires of the weekend?
  • The Lions go belly-up again. Let the LATEST five-year rebuilding program begin! But with (gulp!) Sheila Hamp Ford guiding it?
  • The Masters in NOVEMBER? It starts this week! Eli and Denny guarantee the biggest current name in golf will NOT win.
  • And a Red Wings favorite says a classy good-bye with a thank-you note to Detroit and his home state.
  • Those stories, Eli has his “This Day in Sports History,” Bob has YOUR mailbag and much more right here!

Episode 190: Jim Miller and All Things FOOTBALL!

Jim Miller in Michigan State football uniform

We want to hear all about it.

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

  • What a football journey JIM MILLER has been on! The ex-MSU and NFL quarterback cum star radio commentator joins us.
  • Fred’s Central Michigan alma mater leads the MAC pack BACK on national TV. Season ON! Finally.
  • Game OFF. Wisconsin-Purdue a COVID cancelation. Will the Badgers be healthy enough in time for Michigan?
  • Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence ALSO a “COVID cancelation” — and at the worst possible time for fans.
  • Bob wonders if Saturday’s tilt at Indiana is a must-win for Jim Harbaugh and his future in Ann Arbor.
  • Rocky Lombardi goes home to Iowa for a tough game against the Hawkeyes as Michigan State mysteries continue.
  • Hard to choose just ONE “Crummy Game of the Week” in the NFL but the Lions at Minnesota is in the mix!
  • Whatever happened to the glory days of Detroit’s hard-hitting sports media? LONG gone now, to be sure.
  • “Never complain, never explain” was the mantra of Henry Ford II and NOW of a famous ex-college football coach too.
  • Those stories, YOUR mailbag segment and much more all coming up right here!

 

Episode 189: From BO to — BODY PARTS?!

Steve Smith

What did you sell to people?!

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

  • A tough day for a former MICHIGAN football star to join us, but ex-QB STEVE SMITH sucks it up and faces the music!
  • Who’da BELIEVED what happened?! Not FRED, who sez he’s never experienced anything in his career like MSU’s upset!
  • Days later it’s STILL big news: the Tigers hire A.J. Hinch! Bob already wonders how A.J. and Al Avila will get along.
  • And was Hinch and the Astros’ sign-stealing really THAT big a deal in the wake of new charges against a famous MLB manager?
  • HBO fan Eli hips us to a great new segment about baseball’s Negro Leagues on his favorite show, “Real Sports.”
  • What (lame) excuse did one of baseball’s most legendary figures once give Bob for not allowing black players in?
  • Wait til you hear how long it takes the boys to FINALLY get to the Lions! Do fans really care much about the Lions anymore?
  • Quick now: name the five greatest people you’ve EVER known. Fred puts a member of the Lions’ next opponent on HIS list!
  • Those stories, Eli has his “This Day in Sports History” and Bob has YOUR mailbag — right here.

Episode 178: Welcome, Lary! THIS is How We Roll!

Lary Sorensen

Good luck?!

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

  • Ex-MLB and U-M pitcher Lary Sorensen will have a role in many of our future shows. Did HE get an earful today as the boys fuss and FEUD! 
  • First — a fiery exchange over new Lions’ boss Sheila Ford Hamp. As usual, it’s Eli and Denny vs. Bob with “let’s give her a chance!” vs. “what a joke!” 
  • Then later, a REALLY “fiery exchange” between Denny and Bob over baseball!
  • Denny also continues to insist the FL’s will NOT fire Matt Patricia this year. Eli: hold the phone on that one with an 0-4 start looming.
  • The legendary Gale Sayers passed away this week at 77. Was he the first great BLACK halfback ever?
  • Sayers was arguably THE greatest running back PERIOD. So, who was MLB’s greatest starting pitcher? Bob says only that nobody’s ever been BETTER than de Grom.
  • With the Tigers’ season essentially over for some time, what to do about Miggy SUDDENLY looking like MIGGY again? 
  • A listener wonders where on EARTH Denny got his “scoop” that the Tigers would name Lance Parrish to replace Gardy?
  • Get ready for a whopping 16 teams in the MLB playoffs — permanently — or even more! Ya like that idea?
  • Since Denny has ZERO interest in hockey, that must mean none of YOU cares about hockey — right? Bob still pays tribute to two famous Michigan hockey products.
  • Eli has “This Day in Sports History” then wages another battle with Bob over YOUR Mailbag. WHEW! What a DAY! Those stories and more right here. Be ready!

Episode 152: Ah, the Life of an MLB Reliever!

Todd Jones

A closer is a really thankless job.

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

  • Guest TODD JONES pitched for EIGHT MLB teams, the Tigers TWICE! LOVED Detroit; doesn’t miss the pitching part.
  • So MLB IS coming back? Eli has a LONG list of all the changes that’ll be made. Fed-up Bob: Include ME out!
  • Denny says a change the TIGERS should make is to put Casey Mize & the other top kid pitchers in the rotation — right away.
  • The FL’s have a WHAT? A “new” owner? Roger Daltrey would say: “Meet the new boss — same as the old boss!” So would Bob.
  • As the boys duke it out over COVID-19 again, a “blame game” has now begun in sports: who gave it to whom?  
  • Should you HAVE to wear a mask for protection now? According to ONE U.S. county — only if you’re WHITE!
  • Playing career over, he had two job offers: vacuum cleaner salesman or entry position in hockey. Ken Holland chose right!
  • Read all about it! P.C. Posse Pummels PAW PAW! Local legend Charlie Maxwell, MR. Sunday Home Run, has yet to comment.
  • Those stories, YOUR mailbag and much more — right here!

Episode 124: LOVE Him? HATE Him? It’s ALL in the Game!

Bob Parker wiping forehead with his hand

Rob! Don’t Do that!

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

  • He ain’t shy! He IS opinionated, controversial, outspoken AND funny! He’s media star ROB PARKER, our guest today.
  • For once, Bob just listens! After all, with SO many FL’s moves we need to hear from guys who (strangely) still follow the team.
  • Denny’s upset. He can’t BELIEVE what’s gone on with Brady and WHERE Tom’s headed now.
  • Denny’s happy. His beloved Bears are moving on from Mitch Trubisky, just part an an amazing QB shuffle in the NFL.
  • Eli’s upset — with a few of Rick Pitino’s comments after signing on to coach Iona (whatever THAT is).
  • Hey, we gotta fill the show up SOMEHOW with no sports! Eli and Denny hope you won’t mind if they repeat a couple (great) stories.
  • RIP ex-Michigan boxing star Roger Mayweather, Floyd’s uncle, at just 58. 18 YEARS as a pro fighter?! You can guess the rest.
  • What if the 1968 Hong Kong Flu had shut down sports as the Coronavirus has? NO 31 for Denny, NO Tigers World Series!
  • Eli has checked some of our show reviews online and the results are quite flattering (to ELI) and humorous.  
  • But poor Bob! Boo-hoo, some fans are picking on him! One in particular in YOUR mailbag too. BOB “picks” right back!
  • Those stories and much more right here.