Last show for the sports Pope

[JustinesGuy]

After 30 years Mike Francesa is leaving WFAN today. Whether you hate his in your face blunt style or you love it Mike(along with the Dog) transformed sports talk into what it is today. When there was a huge sports moment many could not wait till 1 pm to hear Mikes unique take. Personally I was there from almost the beginning listening in 1990 as a 5th grader after school. Clearly a lot has happened in my life from then to now and being in sales and in my car 6-8 hours a day there will be a void. I encourage you to tune in to 660 am for a few minutes. As usual should be a good listen.

 

[meyers7]

After 30 years Mike Francesa is leaving WFAN today. Whether you hate his in your face blunt style or you love it Mike(along with the Dog) transformed sports talk into what it is today. When there was a huge sports moment many could not wait till 1 pm to hear Mikes unique take. Personally I was there from almost the beginning listening in 1990 as a 5th grader after school. Clearly a lot has happened in my life from then to now and being in sales and in my car 6-8 hours a day there will be a void. I encourage you to tune in to 660 am for a few minutes. As usual should be a good listen.

I listened to them some a few years back. Too NYC centric for me. Besides the fact like most "sports" guys they seem to know little to nothing about sports outside of Baseball, Basketball and Football. But obviously they have/had quite a following from other "sports" guys.

 

[JordyG]

I have been a sports fanatic and a NY-er all of my life. Clearly Francesa is one of those who changed the sports banter landscape forever. That however doesn't mean that I found his and Mad Dog's style interesting, listenable or tolerable. The best thing I can say about their particular era is it's over. Done and done. The fact, as noted, that they knew little about sports beyond baseball, basketball and football is frankly the legacy carried by most who to this day helm today's sport banter shows. Nothing has changed.

 

[Big Mick]

After 30 years Mike Francesa is leaving WFAN today. Whether you hate his in your face blunt style or you love it Mike (along with the Dog) transformed sports talk into what it is today. When there was a huge sports moment many could not wait till 1 pm to hear Mikes unique take. Personally I was there from almost the beginning listening in 1990 as a 5th grader after school. Clearly a lot has happened in my life from then to now and being in sales and in my car 6-8 hours a day there will be a void. I encourage you to tune in to 660 am for a few minutes. As usual should be a good listen.

Have to disagree with most of your points:

.......Whether you hate his in your face blunt style or you love it Mike (along with the Dog) transformed sports talk into what it is today....

Are you serious? Mike was (and is) a Pompous ass. MADDOG was a fun listen though.

.....When there was a huge sports moment many could not wait till 1 pm to hear Mikes unique take...

Again I ask: Are you serious?

..... I encourage you to tune in to 660 am for a few minutes. As usual should be a good listen.

An awful listen. Rude, know everything slob.


Final thought: GOOD RIDDANCE....

 

[JavaMan]

Sorry, but ...anybody and everybody who intentionally demeans, belittles, or humiliates others, especially if their motivation for doing so is recognition, fame, power, or financial gain, is at the very bottom of the barrel of my favorite people.

​

 

[JustinesGuy]

Have to disagree with most of your points:


Are you serious? Mike was (and is) a Pompous ass. MADDOG was a fun listen though.


Again I ask: Are you serious?


An awful listen. Rude, know everything slob.


Final thought: GOOD RIDDANCE....
[/QUOTE

The saying goes:

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?

Since they took off in the mid 1990's the formula was copied and copied by many networks.
They were number one in ny drive forever. Not much better than number one and continuously imitated. Mike will be missed Monday afternoon or the next time there's that huge story.

 

[JustinesGuy]

Sorry, but ...anybody and everybody who intentionally demeans, belittles, or humiliates others, especially if their motivation for doing so is recognition, fame, power, or financial gain, is at the very bottom of the barrel of my favorite people.

​

You completely lost me there.

 

[Big Mick]

......Mike will be missed Monday afternoon or the next time there's that huge story......

NAH!

 

[Golden Husky]

I worked with Mike--before he became a broadcast personality--and sometimes would see him at Runyon's in NYC. I never listened to his radio show but remember him as a good guy. Enjoy your retirement, Mike.

 

[Adesmar123]

After 30 years Mike Francesa is leaving WFAN today. Whether you hate his in your face blunt style or you love it Mike(along with the Dog) transformed sports talk into what it is today. When there was a huge sports moment many could not wait till 1 pm to hear Mikes unique take. Personally I was there from almost the beginning listening in 1990 as a 5th grader after school. Clearly a lot has happened in my life from then to now and being in sales and in my car 6-8 hours a day there will be a void. I encourage you to tune in to 660 am for a few minutes. As usual should be a good listen.

How could anyone like him?

Mike Francesa parody meets ‘Star Wars’ in final 'Mike Zaun' video

 

[Golden Husky]

How could anyone like him?

Mike Francesa parody meets ‘Star Wars’ in final 'Mike Zaun' video

I knew the man, not the radio personality. And what I knew, I liked.

 

[Bonpland]

I listened to FAN from the day it went on the air. From when it was Mike and Ed at 10:00 to 1:00 and Russo was doing late night fill-in spots. When they put them together they were an instant success, but in the long run they were less about sports talk and more about sports gossip.

They were two guys venting their opinions from a barstool. For fans it was entertaining but as mentioned they had no interest in reporting sports other than the ones that they both loved (plus occasionally commenting on Mike's interest in horse racing and Dog's love of tennis).

Once Mike was on his own he was more likely to talk about who Jeter was dating than he was to comment on the World Cup, the Olympics, college sports (save the Final Four) or any other sport that he refused to recognize.

He celebrated when he got things right (Kansas winning the NC with Danny Manning, or the Yankees pulling off a World Series win in '96) but never owned up to when he got things completely wrong. (Does anyone else remember his histeronics the afternoon before the Red Sox won the '04 series? "Someday the Red Sox may win a World Series, but not this day.")

He and Dog definitely changed sports talk in the country but not for the better. Wherever you travel now you are subjected to local boviating sports "experts" trying to achieve success by emulating Mike's particular brand of arrogance.

Then why did I listen for as long as I did? Because us sports fans are looking for updates and interviews and John gave us the updates and both Mike and the Dog generally behaved themselves when they had a head coach or a star athlete on the other end of the line. But once Mike was on his own and had no one to pull him back occasionally he just ran with his own ego.

I'd love to have a sports talk station to check in on from time to time but I sample when I travel and the sports radio listening landscape out there is full of self important, highly opinionated "experts" who cover little more than what they personally like. Mike's extraordinary success in NYC has played a large part in shaping that landscape.

 

[JustinesGuy]

I listened to FAN from the day it went on the air. From when it was Mike and Ed at 10:00 to 1:00 and Russo was doing late night fill-in spots. When they put them together they were an instant success, but in the long run they were less about sports talk and more about sports gossip.

They were two guys venting their opinions from a barstool. For fans it was entertaining but as mentioned they had no interest in reporting sports other than the ones that they both loved (plus occasionally commenting on Mike's interest in horse racing and Dog's love of tennis).

Once Mike was on his own he was more likely to talk about who Jeter was dating than he was to comment on the World Cup, the Olympics, college sports (save the Final Four) or any other sport that he refused to recognize.

He celebrated when he got things right (Kansas winning the NC with Danny Manning, or the Yankees pulling off a World Series win in '96) but never owned up to when he got things completely wrong. (Does anyone else remember his histeronics the afternoon before the Red Sox won the '04 series? "Someday the Red Sox may win a World Series, but not this day.")

He and Dog definitely changed sports talk in the country but not for the better. Wherever you travel now you are subjected to local boviating sports "experts" trying to achieve success by emulating Mike's particular brand of arrogance.

Then why did I listen for as long as I did? Because us sports fans are looking for updates and interviews and John gave us the updates and both Mike and the Dog generally behaved themselves when they had a head coach or a star athlete on the other end of the line. But once Mike was on his own and had no one to pull him back occasionally he just ran with his own ego.

I'd love to have a sports talk station to check in on from time to time but I sample when I travel and the sports radio listening landscape out there is full of self important, highly opinionated "experts" who cover little more than what they personally like. Mike's extraordinary success in NYC has played a large part in shaping that landscape.

Mike and the mad dog and then mike were very much in tune with there audience. At least half the show was callers and they did have a part in steering the show in a direction. When the knicks were hot with Ewing and Riley it dominated the talk. When the Yankees were starting there run and then dominating that's what people wanted to talk about. The core audience can care less about soccer, bowling cricket, and to an extent hockey and college football. There's a saying, give them what they want!! Numbah one for better part of 30 years proves that point!!

When you talk for 6 hours a day you going to get some things wrong and some things right. I do think that the last 2-3 years, maybe since he left YES his shows lacked some of that non sports talk we loved. Less and less of talking about politics, awards, movies etc. Also yes he wasn't as self deprecating in later years. A small price to pay.

 

[greydog]

And in other opinions; From Phil Mushnick, NY Post:

"I’ll give Mike Francesa this: In my 44 years in this business, I have never dealt with, known or covered a more inexorably conceited, condescending, factually wrong, name-dropping, dissent-intolerant, megalomaniacal, pompous, boastful, hypocritical, self-entitled, self-anointed, self-delusional, unilaterally rude, humorless, imperious and dishonest person in the media. Other than that …"

https://nypost.com/2017/12/14/the-missing-voice-of-reason-who-could-talk-sense-on-nfl-insanity/

 

[Big Mick]

And in other opinions; From Phil Mushnick, NY Post:

"I’ll give Mike Francesa this: In my 44 years in this business, I have never dealt with, known or covered a more inexorably conceited, condescending, factually wrong, name-dropping, dissent-intolerant, megalomaniacal, pompous, boastful, hypocritical, self-entitled, self-anointed, self-delusional, unilaterally rude, humorless, imperious and dishonest person in the media. Other than that...

Go on Phil - wish I had been as clear in stating my opinion.

 

[JustinesGuy]

Go on Phil - wish I had been as clear in stating my opinion.

If I told you what I think about PM on here I would be banned

 

[Big Mick]

If I told you what I think about PM on here I would be banned

+1

 

[stamfordhusky]

And in other opinions; From Phil Mushnick, NY Post:

"I’ll give Mike Francesa this: In my 44 years in this business, I have never dealt with, known or covered a more inexorably conceited, condescending, factually wrong, name-dropping, dissent-intolerant, megalomaniacal, pompous, boastful, hypocritical, self-entitled, self-anointed, self-delusional, unilaterally rude, humorless, imperious and dishonest person in the media. Other than that …"

https://nypost.com/2017/12/14/the-missing-voice-of-reason-who-could-talk-sense-on-nfl-insanity/

I think Mushnick was directionally correct, but he was way too kind. Francesa was all of the above and a lot more. An obnoxious pompous hurtful arrogant unknowledgeable dishonest a.

 

[JustinesGuy]

I think Mushnick was directionally correct, but he was way too kind. Francesa was all of the above and a lot more. An obnoxious pompous hurtful arrogant unknowledgeable dishonest a.

A lot of truth here but hurtful ha ha. Did I miss the criminal mike francesa stories. We can all pull up our big boy or girl pants up right ha. A bit of hyperbole there

 

[chj001]

While Mushnick certainly had a bug up his a . . where it concerns Francesa, he had the gist of it right. Francesa is a pompous, "thinks-he-knows-it-all-but-doesn't" jerk. He was often rude to his callers when he disagreed with them, and when it turned out that the caller's view was correct, Francesa would deny ever having taken the opposing view. Much of Mike & the Mad Dog was unlistenable. When they discussed a topic, each would have 2 or 3 points to make and they would go back and forth, like a tennis match, repeating these few points over and over ad nauseum for 10 minutes or more. My [least] favorite feature was when they got the TV ratings for the previous day's sporting events, and one would guess ("10.2", e.g.) and the other would reply with feigned surprise in his voice, "No, it was a 10.4!!!" Yawnfest. Also when they ventured beyond their areas of "expertise," like when they talked about classic movies, they demonstrated their conceit that they thought they knew what they were talking about, when they clearly didn't. Did I listen? Sure, more than I care to admit. It was the only game in town. It was also like listening to (watching?) a train wreck. But more often than not, after 5 or 10 minutes, I would be forced to turn them off in a fit of rage. Good riddance.

 

[GiladKatzDeli]

I grew up on Mike & the Mad Dog (Mike and the "angry puppy", as Steve Somers would say). Some people loved them, some didn't, but people definitely listened.