Just saw this. Doesn't really affect us, of course, but it's just weird because the Fan was the Mets' station from day one, and other than Francesa, they seem to pretty much shit on the Yankees (even though the Yanks are on sister station WCBS). It'd be like if the Cubs came to the Score after they built their brand on North, Mac, and Bernstein ripping the Cubs and their fans.

Oddly enough, the Yanks have always bounced from station to station while the Mets have had continuity (either the old 1050, 1050 WFAN, or 660 WFAN), but to me it just felt right to have them on big call letters like WCBS. However, Dave in Champaign, who has his finger on the pulse of the tri-state better than I do, once said here that they should do this so that the Yankees can be on the station where old guys tell you what to think.

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It makes sense. Some of the guys there will rip the Yankees, but the station's editorial voice is Francesa and Francesa clones (same as Bernstein on the Score), so they're quick to reassure you that it's all just a joke and they realize what a privilege it is to witness The Classiest Team In Sports.

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The Bulls haven't done anything wrong, and they're not going to do anything wrong.

Craig Carton must get good enough ratings to be allowed to rip on Francesa and Waldman, at least. The idea of Francesa clones is horrifying. Just so horrifying. It's bad enough when 31-year-old slackers from Elgin Broadcasting Kollege appropriate Bernstein's act; I can't imagine a Mike Francesa analogue without my eyes popping out of their sockets like novelty glasses.

Just kinda shitty to have read all that cool stuff about how the Fan rose from basically nothing, but rising to the point of being blessed with The Glorious New York Yankees is a bridge too far.

I take it you're a Mets fan?

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It's the same thing as with the Bears being on WBBM-AM. It basically breaks into the all-news format. Maybe that's alright on weekends but the weekday games seem tough

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Middle Aged Crazy, like Uncle Terry

True, but CBS owns 1010 WINS, too, which as far as I know has no programming commitments outside the 30-minute news clock.

Anyone here ever listened to WINS? They actually loop the sound of an old teletype in the background the whole time they're talking. It's the most adorable thing. Did WMAQ do this, too? They were both old Westinghouse stations: WINS has the same ugly font WMAQ used to have.

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Fair point on Carton; he's become an institution unto himself. My main problem is Joe Benigno, who can be hugely entertaining in a tortured-New-York-B-Team-fan sort of way, but who absolutely worships the ground Francesa walks on. This manifests itself as labored, doth-protest-too-much extolling of the Giants and Yankees, in much the way that Abbattacola mentions he never, ever eats at the ballpark...unless, of course, it's a delicious Comiskey Burger at beautiful U.S. Cellular Field, which seriously has better food than most restaurants, you guys, no foolin'! The fact that basically every other WFAN host (with the notable, wonderful, heavensent exception of Steve Somers) follows Francesa into tittering like schoolgirls at the inevitable failures of the Mets and (especially) the Jets only serves to make Benigno more of a tragic figure; he's basically positioned as a clown, and he seems to be the only one who doesn't realize it.

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The Bulls haven't done anything wrong, and they're not going to do anything wrong.

Could be totally wrong about this, btw. For all I know, Benigno is totally egoless and has no problem carrying water for his favored teams' intracity rivals and their most corpulent cheerleader. But either way, it's hugely disappointing that my two favorite sports-radio stations are racing to reorgainze themselves around hosts who can't even be bothered to conceal their contempt for their listeners. I was thinking about this the other day: honestly, what's the difference between Francesa and Bernstein? A dogeared Roget's? A Twitter account? At least Francesa doesn't drape his bloviations in empty marketing focus group jargon or spend the bulk of his show engaging in racial coding and poor-shaming.

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The Bulls haven't done anything wrong, and they're not going to do anything wrong.

Dave, that's good stuff. You're solid.

I still haven't figured out how "Benigno" is pronounced "Beningo."

I've heard a few Steve Somers airchecks. It's like someone mixed Grobber, Jim Gray, and one of those progressive-FM jocks from the '70s who would read self-penned poetry before playing an entire Moody Blues album side. Weirdest fuckin' sports talk I've ever heard outside of the B&B glory days of hours spent discussing bad candy.

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I don't know, I can't imagine Dan sinking to the level of explaining how there's not going to be a 31-inch blizzard when there's about to be a 31-inch blizzard. You can't truly reach the pinnacle of being a total fucking blowhard without being a New Yorker, though Dan cut it awfully close with "when I talked to my NASA contact..."

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Dan's well on his way to Francescaville.

Wow. I have no idea where he got that.

That was heavy snow too. Everything shut down.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Ditto. I think technically it should be "Ben-EEN-yo," no?



There are all sorts of station legends about him, too. He apparently writes his opening monologues (which are brilliant art pieces--peppered with stream-of-consciousness rants, nonsequiturs, and wordplay--and really should be preserved somewhere) longhand on a yellow legal pad and then edits them as he talks, without ever stumbling, stuttering, or breaking his weird rhythm. He's also apparently as close to deaf as a person can be while still holding a job in radio; the overnight guys all have war stories about taking over after Somers and nearly blowing out their eardrums because he keeps the cans cranked to 11. He really is a treasure. A true-blue old-school New Yorker. He should do the show from a smoky dive on the Lower East Side.

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The Bulls haven't done anything wrong, and they're not going to do anything wrong.

LOL

I forgot about that. Francesa's significantly dumber, no doubt, but that actually makes me dislike Dan more. Francesa honestly can't help himself. What's Dan's excuse?

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The Bulls haven't done anything wrong, and they're not going to do anything wrong.

Just heard about 3 minutes of a Somer podcast. That is tough to listen to. Content is OK but his voice is weird.

I love the guy (can you tell?), but I don't begrudge anyone who doesn't. He's among the odder creatures in sports radio, which is tall timber indeed. Maybe it helps to grow up on the East Coast? He really does epitomize an undeniably cool but weirdly specific type of old New Yorker, but outside of that context I'd imagine he just comes off as a particularly literate weirdo. Or maybe he is just a particularly literate weirdo. Tough for me to say; again, this will shock you, but I'm something of a Steve Somers apologist.

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The Bulls haven't done anything wrong, and they're not going to do anything wrong.

I bet he has good sports thoughts but I just can't get by the voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptPBCSsPJR4

Too much awesome. Too fucking much.

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Just saw that Michael Kay has taken over Francesa's simulcast on YES, which is kind of weird after the Yankees moved to his station. As annoying and dumb as Sports Pope is, I don't know how a television network can consist of up to six hours a day of Michael Kay.

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