COVERITLIVE.COM

11:48

Boston.com - Hello, chatters -- Chad will be here in a few minutes, but feel free to get in your questions now.

12:07

Chad Finn - Hey guys -- Thanks for stopping by. Planning on sticking around for an hour and a half or so today, since this is my boss's last day and he can't tell me what to do anymore. In all seriousness, Dave Lefort, the sports editor here at Boston.com, is moving on, and I just want to say he'll be missed. Now let's talk some football . . .

12:07

[Comment From Booyah]
Do you think the Sox will pick up Tek's option for 2010? I'm guessing they won't, and it will be up to Tek to pick up the player option (for $5m?), which, let's face it, is probably about as much as he could get paid next year anywhere. What say you?

12:08

Chad Finn - I think that's exactly how it will play out, Stu. Varitek's no dummy, and while I'm sure he would prefer to remain a starting catcher here or elsewhere, he simply doesn't hit or throw well enough to do so anymore. I wouldn't mind having him back to caddy for Martinez once or twice per week, though I'm not convinced at age 38 that he'll be any better than Dusty Brown or George Kottaras.

12:08

[Comment From Joe from West Roxbury]
Chad, how have the ratings been for The Sports Hub so far?

12:10

Chad Finn - They pulled a 0.6, which, as first reported by the intrepid Boston Radio Watch website, is higher than ESPN 890 has ever pulled. And that's despite the fact that they lost a full week in the ratings book since they didn't launch until Aug. 13. They have a right to be very encouraged.

12:10

[Comment From Phil Kessel]
The team I will be playing for during the 2009-2010 season is......

12:11

Chad Finn - I tend to think something will get rekindled with the Leafs one way or the other. Joe Haggerty had an interesting column on WEEI.com yesterday in which some of Kessel's teammates' frustrations with him were spelled out. He's a remarkable natural talent, but he has to grow up.

12:11

[Comment From Guest]
What's more surprising, the Rangers still in the race at this point or the Rays out of the race at this point?

12:12

Chad Finn - Good question. Probably that the Rangers are still in it. If you thought Scott Feldman would be 16-4 at this point, you must be Scott Feldman's mom. I thought the Rays would push for the playoffs, but they've never quite been able to shake the hangover from last year. And they need to figure out what to do with B.J. Upton. Can't believe how much he is dogging it.

12:13

[Comment From Joe]
Tanguay gets annoying but I like Zolak a lot. Felger and Mazz are all I listen to during the afternoon drive. It's the morning shows that are killing me. Both shows are awful, why can't we get a decent show on in the morning?

12:14

Chad Finn - I like Toucher and Rich -- they make me laugh out loud a couple of times on my commute, while D&C tend to inspire less enjoyable emotions. It seem like they've slipped away from sports content a little bit more in the last week or so, but maybe I'm wrong. Like Mazz and Felger a lot, Tanguay and Zo not so much. I still go Dale and Holley in that time slot.

12:14

[Comment From Mike]
When we won the superbowls in 2001 and 2002 we have Anthony Pleasant and Bobby Hamilton as DES. Does Bill realize Seymour may have been heavily overrated by the media?

12:17

Chad Finn - That sort of touches on what I keep coming back to, Mike -- Belichick recognizes things that elude every single reporter in the press box or fan on the couch. Maybe he thinks Seymour slipped. Maybe he just couldn't pass up the Raiders' offer, which WILL look like a heist in two years. Or maybe he recognizes something in Pryor, Brace, or even Burgess or Banta-Cain that none of us are privvy to yet.

12:17

[Comment From Greg]
Hey Chad, I don't mean to sound contentious, but your article a few weeks ago about the pending launch of the Sports Hub...well, I'm not the biggest WEEI fan (listening to Sports Hub right now, but still listen to the Big Show) but your piece crossed over the line into being a rather shameless hit piece. You do good work, but that kind of sophistry was beneath both you and the Globe. The station does good things, especially their charity work with the Jimmy Fund.

12:20

Chad Finn - Fair enough, Greg. Appreciate the criticism. But I wrote exactly what I wanted to write -- that WEEI was in for its first real challenge. And since that piece, we've seen signs that they are absolutely aware of that, contrary to what Jason Wolfe told me at the time. They've shortened their commercial breaks. They've made more effort to talk sports in the morning. Hell, Pete Sheppard does a traffic report at 6:20 p.m. every day, which was a punch line for them a few months ago. I think part of that column that confused readers was that it was treated like a news story in the paper when my job is to write it as a column and share my opinion. Which is exactly what I did.

12:20

[Comment From Randy Moss]
This season my touchdown total will be...

12:20

Chad Finn - Sixteen. One per game, and half of Brady's passing TD total.

12:20

[Comment From Guest]
What's more likely, Seymour getting Oakland to agree not to franchise him at the end of the season, or Seymour signing an extension with Oakland for a boatload of money?

12:21

Chad Finn - Probably the former, though I don't think either scenario WILL happen. He has to report, or they'll suspend him, and he'll be an additional year from free agency. By all accounts -- most notably Rodney Harrison's -- Seymour is horrified to be going there. But he doesn't really have much of a choice.

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