Mike'd Up: The Mike Francesa Show

[Phenom]

Did Francesa spike the "Mike's On!" song? He thought it was too girly yesterday.

Edit: Guess not. God, is it awful.

Granted, I do not listen to WFAN regularly (only when I happen to be in the NY area), but the overall production value on the station seems incredibly subpar. It's downright "cartoonish" in a lot of respects.

Again, I can't speak too fluently about many of the station's on-air personalities, but why hasn't New York experienced a similar occurrence to what's happened here in Boston over the past 2.5 years? The situations seem to be pretty similar. The New York market could definitely support two sports talk stations, the afternoon drive host on the FAN is loathed by many and has a belated ego, a lot of the regular hosts are atrocious (the few times I've listened to "Joe and Evan" I've had the turn it off after about 5 minutes), AM signal, etc. Like Boston, it seems like ESPN radio is failing there, but why doesn't Entercom or another company start an FM station to challenge CBS' WFAN just like CBS did here with "The Sports Hub" challenging EEI? It would seem to make perfect sense.

 

[dcmissle]

Right into the Lets and Tomlinson interview. He couldn't be more pleased.

 

[Freddy Linn]

Rex Ryan at 1:30 tomorrow...should be gold.

 

[dcmissle]

Rex Ryan at 1:30 tomorrow...should be gold.

T minus 6 mins to throttle up

 

[E5 Yaz]

T minus 6 mins to throttle up

Unless he cancels with a case of foot-in-mouth disease

 

[dcmissle]

Unless he cancels with a case of foot-in-mouth disease

Fascinating -- confesses possible error with his brash approach. LT and Steve Young both told him it hurts the offense.

 

[dcmissle]

Now he's beating Rex up about Sanchez


EDIT -- Confirms it's not effort. "Well what IS it then ... led the league in turnovers, fumbles"

now cross-examining on B. Schott

 

[nattysez]

Rex is handling himself very well thus far.

 

[dcmissle]

Rex is handling himself very well thus far.

Now he confesses error about SB guarantees ... again, LT and Steve Young tell me it puts too much pressure on the team

 

[SteveCrawford]

[sub]Killing him for Super Bowl guarantee 'you look foolish'[/sub]

 

[dcmissle]

Mike: So you believe those guarantees?

Rex: "Yeah"

Mike: "Well you missed pretty bad then ... you went 8 and 8, collapsed down the stretch"

. . .

Mike: "Are you shaken by being so wrong? Will you be more careful [with the gurantees] or not?"


Great cross examination.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Rex on Pats-Ravens: "The Ravens are going to win this game."

 

[Worst Trade Evah]

He's talking a lot, without really saying much. There's just a lot of jibber jabber platitudes. He's got great players, they're doing great, maybe can do some things better, etc..

He's picking the Ravens over New England, of course.

 

[nattysez]

Rex says Ravens are going to beat NE because how good Ravens' defense is. Ravens will rush 4 -- Suggs will be the difference in the game -- and be physical.

Ravens "can move the ball on the Pats." "Let's face it, I'm cheering for the Ravens."

Rex says Jets played "creative defense" against Patriots and made Brady uncomfortable.

 

[nattysez]

He's talking a lot, without really saying much. There's just a lot of jibber jabber platitudes. He's got great players, they're doing great, maybe can do some things better, etc..

He's been generally agreeing with every criticism of him and his team, though you're right that he's then reverting to platitudes rather than specifically going into what went wrong.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Rex says Ravens are going to beat NE because how good Ravens' defense is. Ravens will rush 4 -- Suggs will be the difference in the game -- and be physical.

Ravens "can move the ball on the Pats." "Let's face it, I'm cheering for the Ravens."

Rex says Jets played "creative defense" against Patriots and made Brady uncomfortable.

The Pats scored 30+ points both times against the Jets this year.

God he's so full of shit he squeaks.

 

[RedOctober3829]

The Pats scored 30+ points both times against the Jets this year.

God he's so full of shit he squeaks.

I think he was referring to last year in the playoff game. Now, that has nothing to do with this year's performance so he's full of shit either way you slice it.

 

[nattysez]

The Pats scored 30+ points both times against the Jets this year.

God he's so full of shit he squeaks.

Not disagreeing, but just to clarify what I quoted -- Rex prefaced his remark by saying "We've beaten the Patriots three times..." then said that the way they did it was with a "creative defense" that made Brady "uncomfortable." Of course, one then wonders why they didn't get "creative" when playing the Pats this season.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

And they've lost to the Pats 4 times, giving up 30+ points in each of those losses. So WTF is he talking about?

 

[LMontro]

Mike's heavy breathing is getting close to Darth Vader levels. Not sure if it comes through on the radio but streaming online, it is pretty noticeable.

 

[Vinho Tinto]

Mike's heavy breathing is getting close to Darth Vader levels. Not sure if it comes through on the radio but streaming online, it is pretty noticeable.

I'm listening online and I've noticed it all day.

 

[Zupcic Fan]

When discussing the replay rule the other day, Mike kept referring to the ref "going under the hood" to view the replay. He then repeated this phrase somewhere between 1000 and infinity times:
Question: is that commonly referred to as the ref going "under the hood" or was Mike just pleased with himself for creating such a cool term?

 

[Freddy Linn]

Must be nice to be able to change pick after the fact

Last week, Mike Francesa claimed to listeners that before Super Bowl XLII, he picked the Patriots to beat the Giants, 20-17. With the Pats a 13-point favorite, that would have made Francesa a winner.

In fact, though, it was with great conviction and authority, that Francesa predicted, on the air, a 35-17 Pats win. The tape must be right there, at WFAN for all to again hear. What’s that? It seems to have disappeared? Not again!

Or as reader Greg Marotta put it, “Listen, I could listen to a guy lie all day — if he at least made me laugh.”

That's right Phil. Not again. Here is Mike Francesa on the Mike and the Mad Dog Show, Friday February 1, 2008 (MF Photography):

Link

 

[abty]

Mike will be interviewing Tuck shortly. For those curious about the Giants and why they turned things around he might shed some light into it. Or it's a good time to use your voodoo dolls to see if they work. It's entirely up to you.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Mike is completely unaware that 85's dad died - he was skeptical that he missed the game because of what called 'a funeral situation'.

 

[abty]

I couldn't quite get what he was saying about that. Good grief, he really didn't know? Thanks for setting the record straight. I was wondering what he was talking about (listening while working). What a joke.

 

[Dan Murfman]

Mike and the Mad Dog on now

 

[Dehere]

Just turned on Mike and Doggy. Missed most of it. If anybody can post the whole segment would be much appreciated.

 

[bankshot1]

The guys are good together they should try teaming up

 

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

That was fantastic. Lets stop this charade--you're both insufferable alone, please come back together.

OE: And here's the audior. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/842584/MMDSuperBowlREUNION013112.mp3

 

[Dehere]

Is this what it's like when children of divorce see their parents getting along at a wedding? Mommy and Daddy aren't fighting! Maybe they'll get back together!

 

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

Is this what it's like when children of divorce see their parents getting along at a wedding? Mommy and Daddy aren't fighting! Maybe they'll get back together!

Nail, hammer, head.

 

[jacklamabe65]

Dog makes an appearance with Fat Boy. Great stuff as always: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/?podcast_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.podtrac.com%2Fpts%2Fredirect.mp3%2Fnyc.podcast.play.it%2Fmedia%2Fd0%2Fd0%2Fd0%2FdZ%2FdQ%2FdV%2Fd6%2FZQV6_3.MP3%3Fauthtok%3D5561682492952255887_paiLKT2Cg9K3xl8AZEbmDDVSLgM&podcast_name=Chris+Russo+-+With+Mike+Francesa&podcast_artist=Mike+Francesa&station_id=62&tag=pages&dcid=CBS.NY

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Mike has been all over the map - everything substantive about the Pats is a negative (Gronk might not play, that defense is not good, Edelman is terrible, they have nothing at WR, they got lucky last week, the Giants are clearly the better team, etc.), but then he says this will be a close, tough game.

Stop equivocating, you fuck. Just tell us what you think, we all can see you're trying to cover your ass against a Pats win.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Mike has been all over the map - everything substantive about the Pats is a negative (Gronk might not play, that defense is not good, Edelman is terrible, they have nothing at WR, they got lucky last week, the Giants are clearly the better team, etc.), but then he says this will be a close, tough game.

Stop equivocating, you fuck. Just tell us what you think, we all can see you're trying to cover your ass against a Pats win.

Mike was on Sirius with Russo today and picked the Giants 30-24. He figures Giants receivers will run wild on the Pats D.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Oh, I know. But he's setting himself up to be able to - if the Pats win - pull the tape of him saying it'll be a 'close tough game' even though everything else he is saying is suggesting exactly the opposite.

I mean, what's he basing this on? The closest I've heard to a justification is 'Brady/BB, you know, blahblahsomethingsomething'.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Oh, I know. But he's setting himself up to be able to - if the Pats win - pull the tape of him saying it'll be a 'close tough game' even though everything else he is saying is suggesting exactly the opposite.

True, he mentioned how the Pats could exploit the Giants weak secondary unless the 4-man pass rush can disrupt Brady. He said he expected a high-scoring game, but then said 30-24. He also said crap about how the SB loss forever prevents BB from joining or surpassing Lombardi. Then in the next breath he talked about how Noll is over-rated since he essentially had the same players win 4 times. He's all over the place.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Ha, I didn't hear the Lombardi quip (and he lost a title game himself). BB will never, ever touch Vince Lombardi in the NFL Pantheon, even if he ends up with 6 Super Bowls or something. Lombardi sits alone at the top - he's Babe Ruth times two.

And Mike knows it. Had BB won in '07, and won this year, he'd say the same thing. He's being disingenuous here in order to magnify 'what was lost' in that game. I don't believe for a second he believes BB had a shot at surpassing Lombardi, and if he does, he is batshit crazy.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Mike thinks the Giants OL is good in pass-protection. Who does he point to as the catalyst? Yep, David Diehl.

The mind reels.

 

[jacklamabe65]

Francessa also said that he thinks that Shaun Ellis could be a disruptive force in this game as he was against the Pats for the Jets last January.

 

[lostjumper]

Mike thinks the Giants OL is good in pass-protection. Who does he point to as the catalyst? Yep, David Diehl.

The mind reels.

Easterbrook likes this

 

[Shelterdog]

Francessa also said that he thinks that Shaun Ellis could be a disruptive force in this game as he was against the Pats for the Jets last January.

I could imagine Warren and Ellis having shockingly effective games against a cruddy giants offensive line. They've both had moments this postseason and I can imagine them digging really deep and getting something done.

Ellis's performance against the Pats last year sort of suports this notion--his post season game against NE was probably his best game of the year.

That said, anyone who thinks he's still a good player is delusional.

 

[Harry Hooper]

As a nice bookend to Francesa's pick, Russo on D+C this morning picked the Pats to win 30-24.

 

[Freddy Linn]

"Let's be honest, the Giants don't have a great running game." This is as close as he has come to criticizing the Giants.

Last in yards, last in YPC. Worse than such powerhouses as the Browns and the Buccaneers.

 

[Freddy Linn]

Francesa interviewing Schilling right now: "When the series came back to New York for game 6 I knew that it was over."

Francesa on October 20th, 2004: "The Yankees will not lose on Mickey Mantle's birthday."

 

[Dan Murfman]

That reminds me. For Christmas in '03 Dog gave him a signed Schilling shirt that said "If you thought 2001 was bad wait until next year. " I wonder what he did with the shirt.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Pats 'shouldn't even be here'.

Ravens 'ran the ball well on them, especially late'.

Right.

 

[JBill]

I've been listening off and on today, his theme is that the Giants are the better team, and they should win, but you can't count out a great player like Brady, and he is uncomfortable with the amount of talking the Giants are doing.

He also keeps saying if the Pats lose, it won't hurt Brady's legacy, but it will hurt Belichick's, because people will start to say, "and you can already hear rumblings" that Belichick never won a Superbowl after Spygate.

 

[Leather]

Pats 'shouldn't even be here'.

Ravens 'ran the ball well on them, especially late'.

Right.

Well...the last 9 rushes went (they didn't rush at all in their last drive)

9 yards
4 yards
5 yards
5 yards
7 yards
2 yards
7 yards
5 yards
-3 yards.

But, that's the fucking Ravens rushing game we're talking about.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Ok, those numbers surprise me - I remember a few good runs by Ricky Leaf, but I hate to say he is right here.

Fucking facts. They suck.

BTW, I'm a little surprised Bradshaw' foot has gotten zero burn in the media, since he's missed a lot of practice time (last week, and today), and it's been a problem for him for a while. Same with Nicks' AC joint.