Michael Felger
{{Short description|American sports reporter (born 1969)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Michael Felger
| image = Mike_Felger,_2024.png
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|08|06}}
| birth_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Boston University
| occupation = Sports radio host, TV host
| caption = Felger in 2024
| alias =
| spouse = Sara Underwood
| children = Emma & Tessa
| URL =
}}
Michael Alan Felger (born August 6, 1969) is a sports radio talk show host on WBZ-FM in Boston, co-hosting "Felger and Massarotti" with Tony Massarotti, a former columnist for the Boston Herald. He is also a television host for NBC Sports Boston, where he talks about sports as a co-host of the weeknight show "Boston Sports Tonight" with Michael Holley and the host of pregame and postgame coverage for Boston Bruins (with Tony Amonte).
Career
Originally from Milwaukee,{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/ |title=Boston Herald Sports Writers|publisher=Boston Sports Media Watch|accessdate=2005-12-15}} Felger graduated from Boston University in 1992. Upon graduating, he worked as an intern with the Boston Herald. He later joined the paper permanently and became the lead reporter for the Boston Bruins from 1997 to 1999. He then became their New England Patriots beat columnist, a position he held from 1999 to 2008.
Felger also hosted a sports talk radio show called The Mike Felger Show on 890 ESPN. The show ran from 2005 to 2008, at which time Felger left at the end of his contract. He moved on as an online columnist and fill-in host for Boston sports radio station WEEI while continuing his television work on Comcast SportsNet New England.
Felger began to host the Felger & Mazz afternoon drive-time show with Tony Massarotti on 98.5 The Sports Hub upon its launch in August 2009.{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2009/07/15/fm_challenger_to_muscle_into_hub_sports_talk_scene/ |title=FM start-up muscling into sports talk|newspaper=Boston Globe|accessdate=2009-07-15|first=Don|last=Aucoin|date=2009-07-15}} Felger signed a new multiyear deal with 98.5 The Sports Hub's parent company The Beasley Media Group in January 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/media/2018/01/02/new-deals-for-michael-felger-and-dale-arnold|title=New deals for Michael Felger and Dale Arnold|date=2018-01-02|work=Boston.com|access-date=2018-04-09|language=en-US}}
As of August 2024, the Felger and Mazz program was the most listened to afternoon radio program in the Boston area for 47 consecutive ratings periods, regularly earning a Nielsen rating above 25.{{cite web|url=https://barrettmedia.com/2024/08/13/mike-felger-the-consistency-of-98-5-the-sports-hubs-ratings-are-unheard-of-and-unprecedented/ |title= Mike Felger: The Consistency of 98.5 the Sports Hubs Ratings are Unheard of and Unprecedented |website=Barrett Media |date=2024-08-13}}
Personal life
Born in 1969, Felger has lived and worked in the Boston area since 1988. He currently lives in Boston's Seaport District, with his wife, FOX 25 television anchorwoman Sara Underwood with whom he has two daughters. Felger also owns a house on Nantucket where he and his family spend part of the summer.{{Cite news|url=http://www.n-magazine.com/nantucket-newsmakers/|title=NANTUCKET NEWSMAKERS - Nantucket Magazine|date=2017-04-27|work=Nantucket Magazine|access-date=2018-04-09|language=en-US}}{{cite web |title=Mike Felger |url=http://boston.cbslocal.com/personality/mike-felger/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170725220655/http://boston.cbslocal.com/personality/mike-felger/ |archive-date=25 July 2017 |accessdate=21 June 2017 |website=cbslocal.com}}{{cite web|url=http://issuu.com/baystateparent/docs/0612bsp |title=BayStateParent Magazine|date=June 2012|website=issuu.com|accessdate=21 June 2017}}
In February 2025 Felger's father Rocky passed away. In memorializing him, Felger credited his father with instilling in him a love of sports and a willingness to speak critically and passionately about local teams from a young age.
Controversies
Felger is considered a polarizing figure in Boston media due to his contrarian and often critical commentary of sport's players, managers, and owners.
Following the 2011 firing of Red Sox manager Terry Francona, Felger and co-host Tony Massarotti criticized Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry based on the widely-held belief that Henry had leaked defamatory personal information about Francona to his newspaper the Boston Globe as part of a smear campaign to justify his termination. This criticism led to an infamous on-air incident in which Henry had his driver bring him to the radio station, walked into the studio live on-air and confronted Felger and Massarotti about the allegations.[http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/2011/10/sports-media-musings-the-sports-lodge-is-on-fire Sports Media Musings: The Sports Lodge Is On Fire!] Boston Sports Media Watch, October 13, 2011 The result was a tense multi-segment exchange in which Henry denied the allegations and said "blaming me personally for being the person who said those things... that's why I came here. You're misleading the public."[https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/felger-mazz-john-henry-invades-felger-and-massarotti/] "CBS News", October 14, 2011
On November 8, 2017, Felger was criticized for statements made on the air that former Major League Baseball pitcher Roy Halladay, who died in a stunt-plane crash, was a "moron" for partaking in such a dangerous activity when he was a father with young children. Halladay had been observed doing "reckless" stunts ahead of the crash.{{cite web|last1=Johnson|first1=O'Ryan|title=Michael Felger gets static over Roy Halladay rant|url=http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2017/11/michael_felger_gets_static_over_roy_halladay_rant|website=The Boston Herald|date=9 November 2017 |publisher=Herald Media|accessdate=11 November 2017}} The comments led to a 3-day suspension from NBC Sports Boston (which runs a television simulcast of his radio show).{{cite web|author1=NBC Sports Boston|title=NBC Sports Boston on Twitter|url=https://twitter.com/NBCSBoston/status/929062298806824965|website=Twitter|publisher=Twitter, Inc.|accessdate=11 November 2017}} He apologized the next day on the air.{{cite web|last1=Antonio|first1=Planas|title=Michael Felger: 'What I've gotten, I deserve'|url=http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2017/11/michael_felger_apologizes_for_low_class_roy_halladay_comments|website=The Boston Herald|date=9 November 2017 |publisher=Herald Media|accessdate=11 November 2017}} Although it was later reported by the New York Times that Halladay had a dangerous mix of amphetamines, morphine, and other prescription drugs in his system at the time of the crash, some still felt that Felger's comments were insensitive and exploitative.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/us/roy-halladay-death-amphetamines.html#:~:text=Roy%20Halladay%2C%20a%20Hall%20of%20Fame%20pitcher%2C%20had%20a%20dangerous,.%2C%20killing%20him%20on%20Nov. |accessdate=13 January 2024 |website=newyorktimes.com |title=Drugs and Stunts Cited in Plane Crash That Killed Roy Halladay |date=16 April 2020 |last1=Levenson |first1=Michael }}
Book
- Tales from the Patriots Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest Stories of the Team's First 40 Years, authored by Michael Felger, foreword by Steve Grogan, afterword by Bill Belichick, pictures by Jim Mahoney of the Boston Herald, {{ISBN|1-58261-525-X}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://boston.cbslocal.com/personality/mike-felger/ CBS Boston profile]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felger, Michael}}
Category:Radio personalities from Milwaukee
Category:Sportswriters from Massachusetts
Category:American sports radio personalities
Category:Radio personalities from Boston
Category:Writers from Milwaukee