By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

***UPDATED WITH DIRECT FELGER QUOTES MONDAY, JAN. 2, 1:15 p.m.***

The New Year’s Rockin’ Eve came to Boston a night late (and sans the aged Dick Clark), but the folks who managed to make it to midnight on Sunday evening were treated to a classic “Only in Boston” event on CBS4’s “Sports Final” (with the aged, Babbling Bob Lobel).

The fabulous Flutie outrage came courtesy of the Herald and ESPN Radio Boston 890 AM’s Michael/Mike Felger and carried over from the station’s afternoon airing of “Patriots 5th Quarter.” During that show (a portion of which was replayed, for effect, during “Sports Final”), Felger found the Flutie dropkick fascination quite perplexing and challenged Steve Burton for making it such a big topic over “little Dougie.” (There was also a mention of a skirt, but it was unclear to these ears who, in fact was wearing that skirt.)

(For those counting at home, this is the second time in seven days that Burton has been injected into the story, while “reporting” on it. Last week, the sometimes shaky Burton was involved in a mini-incident upon questioning Bill Belichick’s player usage after the Jets contest.
For true Boston sports media conspiracy theorists (not including Shots), this could be a case of Felger sticking up, in a way, for his boy, Belichick, by calling Burton on the carpet for his Flutie-loving ways.)

By the time local legend, Lobel got his sit-down time with Felger during “Final” (along with overmatched Steve DeAwful DeOssie), there was blood in the waters and LobieShark attacked Felger for questioning anything that has to do with King Doug of Natick.

“You crossed a line (with this one),” Lobel said, leaning so far forward in the set’s brown leather loveseat that he might have been hanging on by less than half a cheek. “Do you want to apologize?”

Felger declined (thankfully), saying it was nothing personal against Flutie, simply a rebuttal to all the “Flutie Flakes,” as he called them, who fall head over heels for every Flutie “moment.” Burton, he said was chief among the Flutie fawners. “I just have a problem with all this Flutie talk,” Felger said.

On Monday, in an email to Shots, Felger expounded a bit: “It’s hard to top Burton when it comes to Flutie worship. As I said last night, most of the comments regarding Flutie weren’t (aren’t) really directed at Doug. They’re more directed at Burton and those in his club.”

Thinking Felger had committed Boston blasphemy on his show, Lobel incredulously asked: “What is wrong with you?” Sadly, Lobel hardly seemed to be kidding and DeOssie was also dumbfounded by the perceived brashness of Felgie.

DeOssie, the BC Eagle and fellow Flutie fawner, idiotically attributed Felger’s anti-Flutie sentiment to the fact that Mr. Underwood attended “second fiddle” Boston University. DeOssie then had the gall to compare the Flutie dropkick Murphy to one of Adam Vinatieri’s monumental kicks.

How on earth can a game-clinching kick in a single-elimination tournament have any similarity whatsoever with a mostly meaningless kick that, as Felger pointed out, was a bit of a “mockery?” That ridiculous statement was beyond comprehension, even from a Big Show Big Talker.

Felger, it should be noted, is a proud Wisconsin native and he explained that not everyone now residing in this region drank the Flutie Fluid (my words) growing up. Furthermore, a lot of people just don’t get what the obsession is, Felger opined.

The simple truth is, Felger is 100 percent correct: Flutie, in these parts, is a phenomenon that defies explanation at times. There’s nothing wrong with a columnist/radio host challenging the BCnistas who would like you to believe Flutie walks on water (and could drop kick off it too).

[From a purely football standpoint (wouldn’t it be odd to have a talk about the game itself?) Felger was also questioning the strategy of going for one and the “risk” a miss on the dropkick entailed.

Assuming Miami still converted its field goal to make 28-20, the dropkick miss would have made the game a two possession contest down the stretch (28-19). Also, a successful two-point try INSTEAD of the dropkick, would have given the Pats 21 points and a better chance to tie the game with a touchdown and a conventional extra point. The play-by-play is here if you need visual proof. It’s worth checking out for the play’s description, anyway.]

Now, whether or not this is a calculated move by Felger to make a grab for listeners during this, a major sports week, heading into what could be a major month of Patriots talk, is not something we’re equipped to answer. For his part, Felger said in that same email to Shots on Monday: “I didn’t say it with the radio in mind. I was just having some fun with a subject that seems to touch a nerve.”

We will say this: Felger has, in the past and in private praised the creative abilities of some of WEEI 850 AM’s storyline assemblers. He is very keenly aware of what makes good radio and how difficult it can be to generate. To play this one out for a couple of days would be a positive development in the emergence of ERB and Felger will likely find support for his stance.

Talk will certainly – we hope – focus on the Jacksonville game for the bulk of the week, but if Felger can lure some people over to hear his thoughts on Flutie, they might just stick around for some of the other programming his afternoon Drive provides.

. . . CBS4 also used “Sports Final” as a launch pad to tout what its calling “Extended ‘Pats in the Playoffs’ coverage.” The Lobellers will likely see similar initiatives from the other locals who will ride the Pats bandwagon just as far as it will take them. The heavy favorite at this time of year is always ABC5 because of its phenomenal “behind the scenes” access derived from its own, weekly Pats shows.

. . . You don’t realize how big a presence ESPN’s Chris Berman is until you learn that he’s got the power to call plays for the world champions. Boomer rose to a whole new level with this one.

. . . One other strong clue that Felger knows what he’s doing and is starting to do it well: He signed his email to Shots with the good-natured, “Go BC!”

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shots@bostonsportsmediadotcom