Michael Alan Felger (born August 6, 1969) is a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on ...

talk show host Below is a list of talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television T ...

WBZ-FM WBZ-FM (98.5 FM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, WBZ-FM is the Boston affiliate for Fox Sports Radio; t ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, co-hosting " Felger and Massarotti" with

Tony Massarotti Anthony Ezio Massarotti (born October 28, 1967) is an American author and a former sportswriter for the '' Boston Herald'' and ''The Boston Globe''. He co-hosts a sports talk radio show, '' Felger & Mazz'', on 98.5 The Sports Hub with former ' ...

, a former columnist for the '' Boston Herald''. He is also a

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

for

NBC Sports Boston NBC Sports Boston is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports events thr ...

, 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 The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

(with

Tony Amonte Anthony Lewis Amonte (born August 2, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played right wing over 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia ...

) and New England Patriots games (with Ty Law and

Troy Brown Troy Fitzgerald Brown (born July 2, 1971) is an American football coach and former player who is the wide receivers and kick returners coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played as a wide receiver and k ...

Career

Originally from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, Felger graduated from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

in 1992. Upon graduating, he worked as an intern with the Boston Herald. He later joined the paper on a permanent basis and became the lead reporter for the Boston Bruins from 1997 to 1999. He then became their New England Patriots

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

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 and Mazz afternoon

drive-time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cla ...

show with Tony Massarotti on 98.5 The Sports Hub upon its launch in August 2009. Felger signed a new multiyear deal with 98.5 The Sports Hub's parent company The Beasley Media Group in January 2018.

Personal life

Felger has lived and worked in the

area since 1988. He currently lives in Wellesley, with his wife, FOX 25 television

anchorwoman A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

Sara Underwood and their daughters, Emma and Tessa. Felger also owns a house on Nantucket where he and his family spend part of the summer.

Controversies

Always considered a controversial sports-reporter, on October 12, 2011, Felger was involved in an online feud with Heidi Watney, another local reporter, in which he claimed Watney had an affair with then

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

catcher

Jason Varitek Jason Andrew Varitek (; born April 11, 1972), nicknamed Tek, is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is currently the game planning coordinator, a uniformed coaching position, for the Boston Red Sox. After being traded ...

. Watney responded via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

by questioning Felger's work ethic and integrity, and most media critics reprimanded Felger for being unprofessional. On November 8, 2017, Felger said on ''Felger and Massarotti'' that former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher

Roy Halladay Harry Leroy "Roy" Halladay III (May 14, 1977 – November 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies between 1998 and 2013. His nicknam ...

, who died in a plane crash, was a "moron" for partaking in such a dangerous activity when he was a father with young children. The comments led to a 3-day suspension from

(which runs a television simulcast of his radio show). He apologized the next day on the air.

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 Steven James Grogan (born July 24, 1953) is a former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football at Kansas State University and was sel ...

, afterword by

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patri ...

, pictures by

Jim Mahoney James Thomas Mahoney (born May 26, 1934) is a former Major League Baseball shortstop. He was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies before the 1953 season and played for the Boston Red Sox (1959), Washington Senators (1961), Cleveland Indians (19 ...

of the '' Boston Herald'',

References

External links

CBS Boston profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felger, Michael 1969 births Living people Radio personalities from Milwaukee Sportswriters from Massachusetts American sports radio personalities Radio personalities from Boston Sports in Boston Writers from Milwaukee Boston University College of Communication alumni National Basketball Association broadcasters Boston Celtics announcers