Michael Felger: Radio Monarch

(Photo courtesy of @barstoolsports on Twitter)

This afternoon on Felger & Mazz, I heard some caller accuse Michael Felger of being too negative and not giving the Bruins enough credit for their play of late. As you can imagine, Felger cut him off, yelling that “there’s a difference between [me] being negative and you being a whiny b-tch!” Now if that isn’t the most Felger quote I’ve ever heard, I don’t know what is.

While Felger and Mazz are technically co-hosts, Felger certainly assumes the leadership role and sits in what’s known as the “a-hole chair.” He makes his fair share of edgy takes: he engaged in a public spat with sportswriter Michael Hurley over his opinion on paid paternity leave, accused Jason Varitek of engaging in an extramarital affair with reporter Heidi Watney, and faced backlash over crude comments he made about the death of late MLB pitcher Roy Halladay. Along with his history of prickly statements, Felger has a reputation of being exceptionally rude to callers, athletes, and pretty much anyone who disagrees with him. He’ll rarely leave a caller that disagrees with him on the line for longer than 30 seconds.

When I lamented Felger’s continuous stream of brash comments, Box Score Bishop reminded me that “that’s just their schtick,” and he’s not wrong. It’s that no-bullcrap attitude that attracts many viewers; when people want to know what to think about a particular issue in the sports world, they go to Felger and Mazz because they know that these two won’t beat around the bush.

But Michael Felger has extended his influence over the other members of the show in ways that many people fail to recognize. I’m here to show you the truth, to illuminate the ways in which Felger employs psychological schedules of reinforcement to create loyal servants out of Big Jim Murray, Jimmy Stewart, and even Tony Massarotti in some capacity.

Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool that BF Skinner discovered as a part of his theory of behaviorism. Skinner hypothesized that the most effective way to control a person is through the administration of rewards, but that an important piece of positive reinforcement is that it be applied on a variable ratio schedule. This means that reward is given randomly; the subject being controlled believes that each time he completes a certain action, there is a chance he will be recognized. If he’s rewarded every time, he’ll become complacent and fail to regularly complete the action, so regular rewards are less effective.

To employ positive reinforcement, you need to have a currency that holds value in the eyes of others. Michael Felger’s currency is approval. Exercising excessive negativity, Felger establishes a high bar in terms of what pleases or impresses him. You very rarely hear Felger admit to being wrong or praise someone for a good take. Felger’s like that mean father who spends most of his time yelling at his kids, but when he finally offers a compliment, it means the world to the receiver. Felger relishes the “grumpy middle-aged man” role, and this attribute allows him to effectively dole out praise.

Every once in awhile, when Jimmy Stewart gets courageous enough to turn on his microphone, Felger will say something like “wow, very good, gold star,” and you can feel (through the radio) Jimmy Stewart start to glow with pride. It’s usually after a particularly negative comment, and you can hear the patronizing nature and condescension in Felger’s voice as he says it, but it doesn’t matter. J-Stew is hooked on the drug that is Felger’s love, and there’s nothing he can do about it.

Felger’s good about it though; he doesn’t give away compliments at will. He does, however, praise his “inner-circle” (Jim Murray, Jimmy Stewart, and Greg Bedard) frequently enough that they continue to yearn for his approval. Mazz is alright, as he doesn’t spending as much time kowtowing to Felger, but he too is exceptionally negative.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Felger & Mazz broadcast has turned into Michael Felger surrounded by a slew of Michael Felger wannabes, all offering the most cynical take they can dream up. I’ll be honest and say that I love the show--this isn’t so much a criticism of the content of the broadcast as it is an analysis of Felger’s control-freak character and explanation for why things have become the way they are.

It’s time to make the general public aware of the truth: Michael Felger has swindled every member of that broadcast under his control using basic psychological techniques. What a savvy, power-hungry genius.