Goodbye Mike Francesa: The Most Loved (and Hated) Broadcaster in New York

And what did Francesa have to do with that? Absolutely nothing.

 

Yup, nothing at all. The station was doing great before he and the Mad Dog got on the air.

 

I don't know if it was or wasn't. Nor do I care.

I just know giving Francesa credit for supposedly being an innovator who was "first" is nonsense. He had nothing whatsoever to do with WFAN's decision to try a 24 hour sports format, and his show's format merely copied what plenty others were doing before him.

 

It wasn't like Francesca was on for 24-hours a day. Let's not forget who the morning guy was "when it suddenly got popular" or the impact of moving down the dial to 660.

 

OK, fair enough. Maybe I didn't give him enough credit. He and Russo weren't "first" to do sports talk, they were the first to do it so successfully. They were the headliners of a crew that made 24-hour sports talk radio a viable format. I mistakenly assumed a room full of sports fans and writers would get my meaning in a quick post. I apologize for not being more specific.

Oh, and nobody said Francesas had anything he had to do with WFAN's decision to try the format. But he was at the station doing college football from the beginning. He was unquestionably a massive part of the station's success and, as such, he was a massive part of the success of sports talk radio as a format.

If you want to pretend otherwise, well, have fun.

 

Imus is a legend in his own right who was a big part of the station's success and whose career came to an ignominious end. But there was also six hours of airtime between his show and Mike and the Mad Dog, so let's not pretend he was a lead in.

We could talk about Steve Somers and Lampley and Suzyn Waldman and all the rest of the people who were on the station at the time, too. But Mike and the Mad Dog were the afternoon drive guys and they were a huge part of the station's success and, by extension, the success of the format.

 

This is such a dumbshit statement that it barely warrants a response.

Basically it's a view that can only logically be rooted in the premise that success only counts if it happens in NY. Sorry, but you're so wrong, others were doing it quite successfully in their own market long before Francesa copied them. The fact that you didn't hear about their success where you are doesn't change that fact.

 

So there were other broadcasters who successfully helped carry a 24-hour sports talk radio network before them? Interesting.

 

Imus was that station's top biller for years, even when Francesca and Dog were on.

I liked the show when it was the two of them. With just Francesca, it's a get-off-my-lawn fest.

 

OK, I'm about done participating in this inane exercise in goalpost movement.

I'd just, again, point out that this silly exchange began with your claim that Francesa was the "first" to ever do what he did. Well, the only damned thing you've described that was first-ish was the 24-hour-format, which Francesa had NOTHING whatsoever to do with, they were already doing that before he came aboard. And the only thing he did do, his show, merely copied the same format others were already doing.

But, whatever, if you wanna perpetuate a myth that he was an innovator inventing something new, have at it. Some of us know better.

 

Ugh. @Dickwhitman knows I hate to do this, but you are responding to an imaginary post. You read - and apparently only comprehended - one sentence of an admittedly brief and simplified post.

You skip over the part where I wrote that "he and Russo defined the genre, made sports talk radio a viable business model and gave every wackadoodle thereafter an opportunity to do their thing."

That's not an unimportant part of my post. I suppose I should know better with this board that I needed be more specific. For that, I apologize. I should have written, "He was the first successful drive-time co-host on the nation's first 24-hour sports radio network. It's that simple. He and Russo defined the genre, made sports talk radio a viable business model and gave every wackadoodle thereafter an opportunity to do their thing."

Frankly, I gave some of you too much credit in thinking you would understand the sports world well enough that I shouldn't need to get that specific. Words matter, and I didn't use enough of them. It's not an intentional moving of goalposts. Given that the discussion began with the 30 for 30 special, I kind of assumed that most everyone was familiar with the fact that he and Russo were hosts of the most successful drive time sports talk radio show, well, ever.

But please, tell me more about how nobody outside of New York should care about Mike Francesa and Chris Russo. I mean, they're basically the same as that fill-in host from Cleveland in 1987!

 

Imus wasn't a lead-in, but his appearance on the Fan gave the station an identity, somebody the locals knew and liked (just not as much as Stern). For anyone to last 30 years in a market, at the same station, is an accomplishment, probably especially in New York. For that I give Francesa a lot of credit.