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Tribune News Service
Sport
Zachary Ripple

Zachary Ripple: Pair of Boston sports radio hosts mock Halladay's death, say it's 'not a tragedy'

A majority of those who heard about Roy Halladay's death on Tuesday were devastated and saddened by the news.

Boston sports radio hosts Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti made it clear that they are not a part of that sympathetic crowd.

The duo, who host a show on 98.5 SportsHub in Boston, decided to air a disgusting segment about how Halladay "got what he deserved," including Felger calling Halladay a "moron," an "idiot" and a "jackass" repeatedly.

"It angers me. Someone, who, I guess, I don't know, is so cavalier about life and just doesn't appreciate the tenuousness of life and is willing to screw around with life and death," Felger said. "Especially when you have children, or a family."

Felger's rant didn't stop there, calling Halladay's decision to be a recreational pilot "offensive" before mocking the former MLB pitcher as essentially nothing more than a thrill-seeker.

"Your little joy ride is that important to you, that you're gonna risk just dying?" Felger said. "You're 40 years old and a multimillionaire with a loving family, and to you, you have to go get that thing where you can divebomb from 100 feet to five above the water with your single-engine plane with your hand out the window.

" 'Wheee! Wheee! Yeah, man, look at the G-force on this! I'm Maverick!' " Felger exclaimed in a mocking voice, followed by making explosion sounds. " 'Yeah, man, look at this, this is so cool.' And you die, splat."

Felger did most of the talking, with his co-host weighing with little sympathy.

"What bugs me about a story like this is when they use the word 'tragedy,'" Massarotti said. "A tragedy is what happened at that church in Texas this past weekend, or an orphanage burning down. This? You know what the risks are!

"If you're a thrill-seeker and you die this way, you know the risks. It's an unfortunate circumstance, not a tragedy."

It's hard to understand how two people could be that insensitive to the whole situation, and it's quite absurd for the pair to be calling anyone's behavior "offensive" when these are the kind of disgusting things they choose to say.

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