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Mike Francesa was late. In his heart of hearts, he must know that. He should have walked away for good the first time. But now he does, retiring for real on Thursday. Better late than never. On his WFAN show Thursday, he talked about the coronavirus pandemic making him more aware of wanting to increase …
Mike Francesa was late. In his heart of hearts, he must know that. He should have walked away for good the first time. But now he does, retiring for real on Thursday.
Better late than never.
On his WFAN show Thursday, he talked about the coronavirus pandemic making him more aware of wanting to increase his time with his wife and children and enjoying his home in Florida.
At 66, with a place in radio history, that is where he should be. And not fumbling around for a half hour every day on FAN, bored and uninterested with his only real resonance being the Twitter handle, @BackAftaThis mocking him with bumbling clips.
By the end, the audience had caught on and the man who had been No. 1 could not find listeners. ESPN New York’s “The Michael Kay Show” crushed him in the last book.
When he initially retired at the end of 2017, he was given a farewell tour befitting a king. If he had just gone out then, he would have saved himself a lot of embarrassment. He could have avoided the $8.99 per month app that in the history of bad ideas is one of them.
Entercom allowed him to send FAN into turmoil, forcing it to annul a new, diverse show featuring Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray and Bart Scott after just a few months in afternoons.
CMB found its footing in middays, but Francesa’s earthquake eventually resulted in Carlin and Scott exiting to ESPN New York. Francesa said he came back to start the app, but it was gone a year later with no evidence he had many subscribers. It was all so predictable.
The shame of the end of Francesa’s time on daily radio is that it so easily could’ve been great. For him and for his fans.
Francesa is not important in New York radio history because he was a solo act. By himself, he lacked energy and humor. Alone, he used the “Mike & the Mad Dog” legacy to prop him up for years.
With Christopher (Mad Dog) Russo, there was magic. The duo wasn’t perfect, but their timing and their chemistry was on point.
When Francesa rose on FAN, when he cared, he had real sources and things to say. He grew up as a CBS Sports editorial assistant and got his hands dirty, gaining insider knowledge with also a keen skill of faking it.
With Russo missing just the right screw to be an all-time radio host, the duo was an ideal match. After his first retirement, Francesa should have put his ego to the side and worked once or twice a week with Russo on SiriusXM. Instead, without any other real offers, Francesa asked back on WFAN.
He flailed, but he just could not bring himself to leave the (home) studio.
Now, he finally does. There will be one last daily quickie on Friday. Then, that’s it. It is time. Good for him.
