Apparently our favorite sports-radio hyena ripped Matthew Cerrone today for something he wrote about Mike Pelfrey. Francesa lobbed some personal attacks Cerrone’s way and then asked, “Who reads blogs anyway?”
What amuses me more than Francesa’s after-the-asteroid roaring is that is I found out about it on Metsblog. Which might surprise him, but not me. It’s been years since I listened to WFAN outside of Mets hours. Why on earth would I? I get more-timely news from blogs. I get better analysis from blogs. I get better fan comments and reactions from blogs. In fact, except when Mike Francesa says something amazingly stupid and/or reactionary, these days I barely remember he exists.
Who listens to sports radio anyway?
I was listening, as I sometimes will the day after a great Mets night (despite 21 years of evidence suggesting a different course). It was quite surreal — and absolutely stupid.
Funny thing is that all the behavior an uninformed “observer” might assign to a blogger — inaccurate information (Matt is about a decade older than Pelfrey, not younger or the same age), cheap shots regarding superficial appearance issues (a little stubble equals the need for a bath?) and pointless diatribes — emanated from a mainstream media microphone. Matt Cerrone can defend himself, but Matt’s a professional, and not just because somebody pays him for blogging.
Let’s not be kneejerk in response. There are fine radio talk hosts and there are lousy bloggers. But you wouldn’t know it by having listened to WFAN this afternoon, and you sure wouldn’t know it by reading MetsBlog.
You, sir, are a glutton for punishment. I wouldn’t listen to Francesa if he called me on the phone with tomorrow’s Lotto numbers.
Can’t hear you. Noise from banging my head repeatedly into wall drowning you out.
I never listen to that crap.
Today’s events illustrate why.
I do. I listen to it, mostly because I know SO many others do too, and so it’s yet another good way for me to be aware of what people are talking about, how fans are thinking, etc… Plus, his work, like it or not, has an impact on the market place… all of which, given what I do, I need to be aware of.
Francessa is the worst thing that ever happened to sports radio. Has he ever asked a question once and waiting for the response ? He is constantly repeated himself, answering his own questions and bashing the Mets every opportunity he gets. His pinstripe panties are so far up his ass and he has his own personal agenda for every guest he has on that show. I can’t wait to read Mushnick in the Post, because I know he will bash him and expose him for the fraud he is.
I’ve been listening to Francesa since 1999, when I happened upon him and The Dog as a pizza delivery boy during the NLDS. His arrogance is well-documented and at times I do find him insufferable, but he does share something in common with you and me: he adores baseball.
His remarks about Matt’s post substantiate the views of those people who rightly label him “arrogant” and “pompous” and also demonstrate how unaware he is about the popularity of new media outlets, like MetsBlog and Faith and Fear.
Having said that, thus far this season he has been very even handed in his assessments of the Mets and, particularly, Jerry Manuel.
Also, FWIW, I suspect Francesa has a secret crush on the 2010 Mets. My sense is it has something to do with his wife’s family being Mets fans, but I don’t want to speak out of school without authentic knowledge of his in-laws’ allegiances. I know he’s been to several Mets games already this season with his children because he has discussed it openly on the air.
Cerrone took his post down. Hmmn. What exactly did Francesa say and what was Cerrone’s response?
No, it’s still up. Scroll down the page and you’ll see it: “Opinion: I’m Proud of Mike Pelfrey.”
I’m strongly suspecting the two of them are in cahoots, actually. How many extra page hits did Francesa get for him today? If you want someone who doesn’t have as big an audience as you to be ignored, you don’t go on and on about how everyone should just ignore him.
Beyond that, though, I have to ask: Why does the Mets’ flagship station, which has only sports talk on it, have as its most prominent on-air personality a Mets hater who bleeds Yankees pinstripes? I cannot imagine the Angels or the A’s or the White Sox putting up with that kind of BS. Is it because they think most Mets fans hate their own team most of all? (And who knows, maybe they do.)
Bring denounced by Mike Francesa should be a badge of honor within the blogging community — somewhat akin to what being on Nixon’s enemies list was to the New Left…
I’ve been a big supporter of the New Left ever since Hisanori Takahashi was added to the rotation.
Sorry guys, but I have yet to find a better way to drown out the voices in my head than the FAN. Got it on under the covers right now. The comments from the masses online may be more nuanced and insightful, but they don’t come with the same air of desperation and yearning for contact found on the radio with which it is so fun to sympathize. Also, how could anyone who reads this blog miss the Steve Somer program every night?
I’m with Dutch (or Grim) in terms of the human element for why I continue, despite my disappointment with most FAN (and ESPN 1050) hosts, to switch it on. It’s not for news or insight or brilliant debate or witty repartee. It’s for the company. Of course I can read the best Mets anywhere en blog but sometimes I want to hear a voice. Oft times, I want to shut that voice off within 30 seconds, but the impulse is to have it chatting in the background, proving that somewhere out there someone is literally articulating my subject of matter of concern — not so much what I’m thinking, but going to the trouble of talking about it.
also @ wheaties, I agree about the secret crush. When Ike Davis hits XX homeruns, he’ll tell us he told us so (though, he’ll probably say the same if the kid flops, too).
[...] addresses the comment, then removes the post. Then Mike backtracks (a little). The bloggers unite, calling out Mike and every other old-school media dinosaur who couldn’t power on a computer if their life [...]
I listen to Francesa the same way I listen to Limbaugh. It is entertaining shtick, taken in small doses. The problem with all the WFAN hosts, excluding Richard Neer, is that it is so shtick driven, from Steve Somers insisting on the “Metropolitans” to Craig Carton’s Howard Stern imitation. I think that the movie “Big Fan” nailed this world down pretty good, even if the conclusion of the movie was an unsuccessful copy of something like “Taxi Driver”.
For some odd reason, Cerrone pulled his post. Whatsupwitdat?
Setting aside his anti-Met bias, Francesca is a horrible broadcaster. He is endlessly repetitive, not insightful, and an utter blowhard. The only reason he is famous is because he was first. Let’s be honest, there are dozens of people in New York who could do a better job.
I can only take non-game FAN in tiny doses. Even the other hosts are a tough listen; with all the updates and 35 minutes of commercials every hour, it’s just annoying.
Mike Francesca sucks. He’s audio valium, puts me right to sleep. He’s appointed himself Dean Of NY Sports, which is funny because I don’t remember there being a vote. He’s even worse without Russo to interrupt his continuous bursts of hot, gassy air.
Can’t listen to sports talk generally because too many topics don’t interest me, too few hosts are more than a loud mouth and a comical accent. Could never listen to Francesa for those reasons (his accent grates on even this life long Queens resident) but most of all because he 1) is a complete homer for the teams and athletes he likes, 2) is a complete hater on the teams and athletes he doesn’t and 3)looks with utter disdain on pretty much everyone else, worthy of generating contempt only when one says something that contradicts how he feels at that moment.
That said, he has been the inspiration for a hysterical fake Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/MikeFrancesaNY
Francesa has now officially said “Hey, Let’s be Honest” more times than Somers has said “the bottom line is”. Not by much but he’s in the lead.
“Let’s be honest”
“no question”
You can’t listen to Francesa for 20 minutes without him saying one of both of these phrases. Try it!