SU was very surprised to see this announcement today from WFAN’s Mike Francesa as reported on yahoo.com:
“Popular sports talk radio personality Mike Francesa is set to depart New York’s WFAN at the end of next year.
“I’m not saying I’m leaving the business. I’m leaving Monday to Friday, five and a half hours, F-A-N,” Francesa told Katie Nolan on “Garbage Time.” “I am not saying I’m not going to work again. I’m not saying I’m not going to do anything ever again. What I’m saying is, that part of my life, at the end of ’17, that is ending.”
His departure will mark the end of a 30-year run with WFAN, which he joined in 1987, the station’s inaugural year of operations.
In September, the relationship Francesa had with Fox Sports 1 to simulcast his radio show ended after barely a year, during which the host later said, “I take all the blame, it’s my fault, I made the mistake and it was my error in judgement, no one else’s.” Francesa was referring to his decision to move the show from YES Network to Fox Sports 1, which he described as “trying to put a square peg in a round hole.”
Francesa’s relationship with the brass at CBS Radio, owner of WFAN, has been similarly embattled, saying in April that his relationship with the network has “never been worse.” He told Nolan that the fraying tensions led to a discussion about a pre-emptive exit from his contract that never materialized. “They never offered me a reasonable way out,” the ex-“Mike and the Mad Dog” co-host said.”
While he is arrogant, pompous and dismissive (maybe he should run for President?), SU has learned to enjoy Francesa over the years. No one, and I mean no one, can talk in triplicate the way Big Mike can whether it’s asking a question in the same way 3 times or cutting off a caller and saying the same thing again and again and again. This is true art form. I will miss him. Could a reunion with Mad Dog be in the offing for 2018? SU says he is more likely to cut back on the hours and do more feature types of things. End of an era.
Perhaps Michael Kay on ESPN Radio will use this as an opportunity to jettison Don La Greca and go back to his original format where he was the sole talker. He has become umlistenable with his co-hosts. He now has 2 years to fix it.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
I would like to see Trump and him sit done and talk.
Ha ha, yes. After 5 seconds, they would just talk over each other for 5 minutes straight before realizing that they were even doing it. That would be my over/under.
Not really a surprise. Over the past 1-2 years he’s been hinting at this and by hinting I mean fielding an hour of calls on the subject of his future plans and answering them all with something along the lines of, ‘I’ve made my decision about my career and nobody but me knows what it is but the listeners will be the first to know when I announce it,’ and so on. And so on. And so on.
I find his show fairly entertaining. Filling an entire afternoon with that format is very challenging. You don’t really get a diversity of opinion and you rarely learn anything new but you can be entertained. The Michale Kay show is nearly impossible to listen to. They make regular attempts to crossover and appeal to the non-sports fan and it’s just brutal radio at times. I will give Fransesca credit for having a reasonable perspective on sports vs. real life as well as the present time vs. sports history. He will field calls where people ask “Who’s better, Matt Harvey or Tom Seaver?” or “Was Ken Griffey, Jr. the best center fielder ever?” and correctly provide the appropriate perspective. Most of the other shows you tune into are ready to say that ‘last night’s game was the best anyone has ever seen.’
I will miss his show. For a while I’ll complain about how bad the replacement is. And then I’ll find some good audiobooks and stop killing brain cells during my commute.
I have tried to get past his arrogance over the years but could not. Rarely did he hive anyone a chance to debate him. His constant interruptions gave no one a fair chance.
Good riddance to him.
PS. Michael Kaye another gem for other reasons isn’t much better.
I like Don LaGrecca. He is a smart guy and gives people a chance to talk.