Gerry Callahan is fearless.

Only he has the integrity to call out NASCAR and shine a light on the fact that its biggest event of the year was fixed.

This morning he insisted that there was an arrangement in place to ensure that Danica Patrick finished in the top 10. He said that other racers were instructed not to bump her car and that the neon green paint of the car assisted other drivers in letting her have the position. He stated that it’s really all about the car, and Danica was provided with a car that guaranteed a top-10 finish, and was surrounded by a gifted team which really was responsible for the showing. Danica, he said, isn’t a very good driver, and that this was simply a reward by NASCAR for all that she has done for the sport.

When asked by Kirk Minihane if he was joking, Callahan repeated his points.

OK then. WEEI, once again on the cutting edge. Clearly they’re about to turn this ratings thing around.

How long can the three-man morning last? Things are going to come to a head soon there. It’s inevitable. Maybe that was the plan all along.

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Last week I railed on the combine, questioning why outlets send their whole crews out there. I guess I was speaking from the reader/viewer perspective, as the experience is largely useless from that standpoint. For the media, it’s an important networking event. They meet executives, agents, other media people, form relationships, groom sources. It lays a foundation for future material. The player stuff is largely an afterthought.

All that said, the best column from the combine that I’ve read was a Friday feature from Tom E Curran:

2011 NFL Combine a bad scene for Mallett; was it fair?

It is a fascinating look at the grilling Ryan Mallett received at the combine two years, and is especially interesting in light of the session from Manti Te’o from this year’s combine.

Media types like Mike Florio and Jason Cole come off as complete asses in the story. They kill Mallett for talking to the media about the drug rumors around him, as Mallett said he would only talk about that subject with the teams that he met with. A perfectly reasonable stance. Why in the world would he talk to the media about it? Yet, Cole and Florio (and others) come off as entitled, whiny, self-appointed guardians of the gate. Some interesting stuff from Mallett’s agent and also from Gil Brandt, who suggests that agents routinely start smear campaigns at these events to hurt players who might be in competition with their own clients for draft position.

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Dan Shaughnessy’s last seven columns:

• It’s hard to get excited about these Red Sox
• How much like J.D. is Stephen Drew?
• Ben Cherington merits blame too
• Red Sox put all the blame on Bobby Valentine
• No chance Jacoby Ellsbury is staying with Red Sox
• Downsized expectations for Red Sox’ Mike Napoli
• Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez still complaining about Boston

Anyone sense a pattern here?

I understand low expectations for this team. But these are the stories that “represent the interests of the fan?” (as Dan claims that the media does.)

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Hard not to be impressed with the job Brian Scalabrine does on the game broadcasts. He’s good. His insight into the makeup of the team, and his ability to interpret the moves of Doc Rivers is outstanding. It’s even on little things. He mentioned on Friday and last night about Rivers playing newcomers Terrence Williams and Jordan Crawford at the same time. Initially you might think it would be tough to have two guys who just joined the team on the floor at the same time. Scalabrine pointed out that in the past, when new guys would join the team, Rivers and the coaching staff would show them just a few plays at a time in the walk-through or practice, so that in the game, they would know the same plays. They would both be at the same level. Small things, but an interesting insight into the workings of the club.

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I also enjoyed Cedric Maxwell’s calm, patient smackdown of Michael Felger in this CSNNE video. Felger starts out demanding to know what happened to Danny Ainge’s “sack” and goes downhill from there.

Predictably, Dennis and Callahan also hated Lee Jenkins’ feature on Rajon Rondo in Sports Illustrated, mostly because it was positive. They hated that it made him look like a great point guard and didn’t portray him as a selfish assist-seeking punk, and that it didn’t run down all the flaws in his game, like that he cannot shoot at all.

Michael Felger and Glenn Ordway may not have much in common these days – one is a well paid, top-rated afternoon drive radio host, and the other is unemployed – but they were united in one thought yesterday. Danny Ainge’s deadline day was a dud.

Felger, doing his best to irritate the “green-teamers,” said that we need to face the fact that “Ainge isn’t the badass GM he claims to be.”

Glenn is apparently still playing his character of the “Big O” – I guess old habits die hard – and he took to Twitter, the only outlet available to him these days, to weigh in on the day as well.

The Celtics didn’t help themselves for this year…and they certainly didn’t help themselves for the future #wastedday

— Glenn Ordway (@GlennDOrdway) February 22, 2013

OK then. A wasted day it was. Picking up a guy for absolutely nothing who can get you 20 points on any night in Jordan Crawford might not be much, but it was something the team needed.

While Felger, Ordway and the like want to bash Ainge for not blowing up the team yesterday, it does take both sides to make a deal, and apparently Ainge was willing. I’m not sure you can slam him for trades that aren’t made, especially when all the facts are not known.

I was expecting to see Tommy Heinsohn finally reach across and grab Gary Tanguay firmly by the neck last night, but it didn’t happen.

The lack of on-air talent around these parts who are able to talk about the Celtics and the NBA and not embarrass themselves is jarring. I would say at this point, there are more Bruins/NHL capable people on the airwaves than Celtics/NBA. It will probably continue that way if the Celtics slowly sink the next few years while the Bruins remain contenders.

A few pieces on the trade deadline and the state of the Celtics:

Celtics miss on trade goals – Steve Bulpett got people going yesterday by saying that certain people within the Clippers organization were trying a last-minute push to make a trade for Kevin Garnett.

The LeBron effect: Celtics bide time at trade deadline – Dan Guttenplan has written a few things lately that have had me scratching my head. This piece is actually pretty good.

A brief thought on Jordan Crawford, Celtic – I though Chad Finn had a reasoned take on the situation as well.

Crawford will get a taste of ‘discipline, winning’ with Celtics – A. Sherrod Blakely thinks that a change in scenery will benefit Crawford.

Some other stories from today:

Bruins start to tap into full potential in Tampa win – Joe Haggerty works in a Star Wars reference in describing the Bruins win in Tampa last night.

Daniel Bard has positive first outing – Scott Lauber looks at the spring debut of the star-crossed reliever.

Bogaerts, Bradley show exciting ‘glimpse into the future’ – We also got to see the club’s two top prospects in the lineup yesterday, and Sean McAdam relates that they both show what they’re capable of.

Juan Nieves’ New England journey – From yesterday, Gordon Edes looks at the Red Sox pitching coach and his early ties to New England.

Mike Salk excited to return to Boston – Chad Finn talks to the man that will be taking over the afternoon drive slot alongside Michael Holley.

Remember what I said about the NFL Combine yesterday? How all the local outlets sent their crews out? From Mike Reiss today:

1. Patriots will take a pass on meeting with non-team affiliated media. Word from the team is that head coach Bill Belichick and director of player personnel Nick Caserio will not be holding any formal media availability here at the combine. It is not required by the NFL and the Patriots are one of five teams to decline. Non-team affiliated media outlets here at the combine covering the Patriots include the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Comcast SportsNet, WEEI.com, Springfield Republican and ESPNBoston.com. Our guess as to Belichick’s thinking at this time: How does this help the team? He’d probably be peppered with questions about cornerback Alfonzo Dennard and tight end Rob Gronkowski, which is something he’d prefer to avoid.

My Twitter timeline is filled with combine stuff, very little of which has been interesting or useful. Hey Christian Fauria’s nephew is media-friendly just like him! Hey, Rex Ryan still can talk! The Bears new coach looks funny! The Jets, Dolphins and Bills are all taking aim at the Patriots!

I half expected to tune into 93,7 FM this morning and find John Dennis gone. Instead, both Dennis and Gerry Callahan were there, and they were joined by Kirk Minihane, who, as Chad Finn reports, will be the third host, and not a flash guy.

Entercom couldn’t really fire either Dennis or Callahan due to contractual obligations, so instead they added a third voice into the mix. I think we can expect Minihane to challenge some of the redundant thinking of D&C, though how vociferous he is with it is questionable. I don’t think for instance, we’ll hear him using the attack mode he used on Alan Siegel over the Boston magazine piece. He can’t do that, and be able to work with those guys each day.

So what changes will we see? Hopefully he’ll insert some reality into the conversations, make things a bit less one-sided on that show.

Speaking of challenging D&C, Alex Speier did a masterful job of it yesterday, making Callahan in particular look foolish, all very politely, and Callahan still had the gumption to claim victory after the call was over. Speier, by the way, again has the best read of the day with his piece on super-prospect Xander Bogaerts.

So what’s next for WEEI? Does Mike Adams have cause for concern over his position? Nights aren’t a priority for the advertising/ratings factions, but he does perpetrate the “old” image of WEEI, especially against the younger Adam Jones on 98.5. Management seems enamored with John Saucier, but I fear a show with him full-time would wear on one real quick.

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It’s time again for the NFL combine, and all the local outlets will be sending out their football personnel to the event.

Why?

It’s not to really cover the NFL prospects who are working out, though some reporters do more on this angle than others. The reason most of them are there is for the media availability of various Patriots and NFL people. But what do we really learn? Anything? I don’t recall off the top of my head any reporting from the combine that gave us any insight into what the Patriots will do at the draft. It’s interesting to follow on Twitter, I suppose, but there’s so much repeat material out there it’s tiresome to sort through to find anything of real interest.

I guess I’m just amazed that the combine has become the media event that it has, and that the local outlets, none of which are swimming in cash, keep sending their entire squads out there.

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The NBA trade deadline is this afternoon at 3:00pm ET. Either Danny Ainge is going to blow up the Celtics, or he’s not going to be able to do anything. It’s very hard to believe that Ainge will be able to keep his key pieces, and also add a piece that is going to increase their chances of being a contender this season.

I tend to think the Celtics will not make a major move, but it won’t be because of lack of effort from Ainge. Of course, I thought the same thing two years ago when the Perkins/Green trade went down.

The guy who is probably going to have any move first is Adrian Wojnarowski. @WojYahooNBA He has become the Adam Schefter of the NBA, breaking news from all over the league, usually ahead of just about everyone else.

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Shoot, I was really hoping Dan Shaughnessy was going to write a column finger-wagging the Patriots over Alfonzo Dennard.

The Celtics begin the post-All Star Break portion of their schedule tonight in Denver. With the NBA trade deadline coming up on Thursday, the Celtics team that next plays in the TD Garden could look a lot different from the one that last took the court there. Then again, it could look just the same.

It’s clear no one really has an idea of what’s going, what with the dozens of reports, rumors and rebuttals out there. Some say a Kevin Garnett for Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan is entirely viable and only needs KG’s approval. Others say the teams haven’t discussed it past casual talks. Another says the Celtics discussed a Rajon Rondo for Dwight Howard deal prior to Rondo’s ACL injury. Some think that one should’ve been made, while others say absolutely not.  A Brandon Bass/Jeff Green for Josh Smith deal has also been floated out there. Others say the Celtics have no pieces to make a major deal.

The Celtics will likely make some sort of move, even if it is minor, just to get some bodies onto the roster. With Rondo, Sullinger and Barbosa out for the season, the team needs players just to practice. They did sign Terrence Williams to a ten-day contract yesterday.

Well-rested Pierce key to a Celtics second-half run – If no major deals are made, A. Sherrod Blakely says that Paul Pierce not playing in the All Star game could be a bonus for the Celtics.

Avery Bradley sets himself apart with defense – Mark Murphy has a nice mini-feature on the Celtics guard and his defensive mentality.

Remember, people – that Rondo guy is pretty good – Ryan Hadfield says that we shouldn’t be so quick to say the Celtics are better off without Rondo.

What will Danny do? – Chris Forsberg says that the Celtics boss has some huge decisions to make this week.

For Mike Napoli, a new outlook at a new position – Alex Speier has the veteran returning to his roots.

Cornerstone at the hot corner? – Joe McDonald has Will Middlebrooks hoping he’ll be a mainstay with the Red Sox for a long time.

Red Sox cast for 2013 assembled with winning personalities – Gerry Callahan loves the new personalities on the team.

Red Sox assign Pedro Martinez to help Felix Doubront, Rubby De La Rosa – More Pedro, please.

Vega’s football journey comes full circle – The Patriots officially announced the signing of defensive end/linebacker Jason Vega from Northeastern and the CFL. Mike Rodak has a feature on Vega’s career path.

Aqib Talib best choice to tag – Ron Borges thinks that if the Patriots use the franchise tag at all, it should be on Talib, not Wes Welker or Sebastian Vollmer.

So what’s the next shoe to drop at WEEI?

Following the report by Chad Finn on Boston.com, Glenn Ordway did come on the air today and he confirmed that he is out at WEEI after 27 years.

He made no attempt to spin the initial news and say that it was a mutual parting, or anything like that, he said that the company made this decision because the ratings of his show where not what they needed to be.

He started by talking about about his annoyance, not at Finn, but at the fact that this was leaked to Finn by someone involved with the station. He was not happy with how the Kevin Winter situation earlier this week was handled,  confirming that Winter was fired, and didn’t like the leaks involved with that situation, saying he felt bad for Winter.

Some other items from the first 90 minutes of the show:

• He is not retiring. He’s got some projects he’s been working on, which he feels are the future of the industry and he will be seen and heard in the future.
• His plan is to stay through the end of the week.
• There was a lot of talk about what they’ve accomplished at WEEI, the record ratings they got, and how so many of the competition (Felger and Mazz in particular) got their on-air start with Glenn on the Big Show.
• Ordway was overall extremely positive about his time at the station, and the people he worked with. (Except for the moles.)
• Talked about Eddie Andelman, actually said his name on the air, and told some stories about how much Eddie hated Fred Smerlas, and that Glenn had fired Eddie’s son from a weekend show.
• He was pissed off at the reports that Pete Sheppard had been fired for doing something or that he and others at the station got Sheppard fired.
• Shocker: They play characters on the radio. It’s fake, goof.

It should be an interesting rest of the week, provided he actually does come back the next three days.