You knew Bob Raissman would have something to say. He's hated Mike since the stone age.
Mike Francesa’s WFAN return a pathetic, short-sighted move by station brass
BOB RAISSMAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Wednesday, April 25, 2018, 2:41 AM
There’s really only one logical takeaway from WFAN suits’ decision to bring Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa back to afternoon drive: They are unwilling to go through short-term pain to achieve long-term gain.
Think about it, they are bringing back a guy who for two years said he wanted to retire from their station, a 64-year-old Gasbag who for the last few years complained, bytched and moaned about his situation at WFAN. Now they will market him as some kind of conquering hero returning to his pulpit to save the afternoon.
There’s only one word to describe it: Pathetic.
By the way, will Francesa be offering refunds to those who attended his retirement events?
In honor of Francesa, 10 greatest sports stars to come back
Anyway, the Entercom (it owns FAN) suits who hired Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray and Bart Scott — Mark Chernoff and Chris Olivero — do not have the courage of their conviction to even give CMB a year to achieve the kind of chemistry needed to move the needle. The trio didn’t even get a football season.
Francesa will return to WFAN afternoons, hitting the airwaves from 3-7 p.m. That would slash “CMB” time, leaving them to split the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. slot with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts.
Clearly, the weasels panicked, something professional management is not supposed to do. So, instead of thinking long-term, they take the easy way out and bring back the Pope, believing he can quickly return WFAN to No. 1 in afternoon drive. He better. For under these circumstances, where he backstabbed CMB to get a job he said he had no use for, nothing short of a
PAID CONTENT BY STATE FARM
From My Future Self
WFAN suits panic and are bringing back The Sports Pope to the afternoon drive slot.
(CINDY ORD/GETTY IMAGES FOR SIRIUSXM)
No. 1 finish is miserable failure.
Mike Francesa returning to WFAN in the 3-7 pm time slot: sources
And don’t try to spin this as FAN just moving CMB to another time slot. WFAN is burying CMB. Since they have two-year deals, FAN suits don’t want to pay them for nothing. So they will split the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. slot with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts. With CMB’s combined $1.5 million salary, along with Joe and Evan’s salary, the budget for that time period has been busted. After two years, someone/ones will be out the door. So now you have five mouths worried about their future.
After seeing how Chernoff and Olivero screwed CMB, why would any other Talkie trust them.
Thanks, Mike.
It’s not bad enough you lied about your future, now you are going to cost multiple people their jobs. You will be great for morale at the station. More reason for those who already can’t stand Francesa to despise him even more. For Francesa, this is business as usual. He planted the seeds for his return on MLB Network when he callously laughed, with Chris (Mad Dog) Russo, while speculating who would be the next in line to be tossed out of WFAN.
Mike Francesa’s ego has led him toward possible WFAN return
ited Digital Access to NY Daily News?
Try 13 WEEKS FOR ONLY 99¢
Get ready for Mike Francesa's latest con job when the Sports Pope returns to WFAN next week
BOB RAISSMAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Thursday, April 26, 2018, 1:34 AM
Friends and foes of Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa won’t have to wait long. He will walk (on water, no doubt) back onto his WFAN Balcony either Tuesday or Wednesday to launch his second reign of pomp and pomposity.
Waiting to greet him – probably on bended knee — will be FAN boss Mark Chernoff, who desperately wanted Francesa to return to the Papal Power Chair and, when given the opportunity, dropped dime on CMB (Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray, Bart Scott), giving them absolutely no chance to succeed.
So he banished them to playing sharezees with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts.
Only Francesa — who gets a new five-year deal (but has told management he will stay past that) — knows whether he will bless Chernoff or any other of his WFAN supplicants. They will smile in his face, when in reality they hold him in utter contempt. Only Francesa knows what he will say when he speaks into the microphone for the first time since his bogus retirement.
Boomer Esiason: Mike Francesa's return to WFAN 'looks pathetic'
Mike Francesa will have no problem spinning how his WFAN return will help all at the station.
(CINDY ORD/GETTY IMAGES FOR SIRIUSXM)
Make no mistake. This will be easy for Francesa. History shows he has no problems lying. He is also delusional. For him, the only opinion that counts is the one from the guy who is staring back at him in the mirror. Does this mean Francesa has no conscience? We are not willing to go that far.
So he knows he back-stabbed Carlin, his former producer. He knows he is now responsible for driving Carlin’s, Gray’s and Scott’s radio career into a ditch. No sweat off Francesa’s back. He’s already satisfied his mammoth ego. Like our president, Francesa (who does have better hair than Trump) is a narcissist for the ages. When someone thinks he is always right, why sweat the little things — like destroying someone else’s career(s)?
Francesa will sit behind the microphone with a poker face and spin. He will say he has returned to help WFAN and all the people who work there. He will concoct some cock and bull story about how this experience will make CMB even stronger and probably then say he deserves to be taken to task for his fraudulent retirement tour.
