Mike Francesa Calls Into WFAN's Morning Show Boomer And Gio And Goes BERSERK
OK so let me catch you up on the latest from the greatest soap opera reality TV show in the world, WFAN Sports Radio. Mike Francesa has been CRUSHING the Giants recently. And most of it is obviously deserved, as they’ve been the biggest shit show franchise in the NFL for a while now. Where things got dicey was when he began to comment on the Giants 6th round pick Corey Ballentine. The Division II D Back from Washburn University was shot in a drive by shooting just hours after being drafted. Mike had this to say:
Now, Boomer and Gio in the morning reacted to Mike’s take. And to be fully clear, they reacted to the exact same twitter video embedded in this blog. They didnt hear his show live. They didnt hear what he said before and after. They just heard this clip and their reaction was that Mike really doesnt sound great here. Boomer and Gio basically said that blaming a kid for getting shot in a drive by is a tough take. Well Mike took exception to that, called in the show, and went ATOMIC. Mike even calling up is a sign that he was ready to go nuclear. And then he pulled no punches:
To be honest, I kinda understand both sides. On its own, in a vacuum that twitter video looks tough. It sounds like Mike was basically blaming a kid for being a victim of a senseless act of violence. He started to sound very stupid for a moment there. But then he back tracked it and clarified and softened the blame game. And I think thats Mike’s larger point is that it was taken out of context and if you listen to what he says before and after that clip, he clarifies his point that it can happen to anybody. To be fair to Boomer and Gio, really no part of your take should including blaming Coery Ballentine or the Giants for a drive by shooting. To be fair to Mike, being criticized based on a twitter video posted by a guy who has a CLEAR axe to grind against Mike is pretty lame. Funhouse is a notorious Francesa hater and so you have to understand that everything he posts and which parts of Mike’s show he chooses to publish are only parts that will make him look stupid or controversial. It would be like a fellow blogger here publicly bashing a coworker here based on something from the comments section or something from a Twitter troll. I think Mike started toeing the line of a very stupid take, no doubt. But I think he mitigated it enough and explained his take, enough, with more context and so he had a right to be mad.
But my main takeaway is how much Boomer and Gio backed down. Maybe they realized it was unfair to not include the context of his full quote. Or maybe they didnt want to rock the boat too much? But all I know is that was a chance for some big time, WWF, Pay Per View, drama filled fireworks and they just let it be. Maybe thats taking the high road or not engaging in any over the top antics, but man oh man how great would it have been if Gio just went OFF. What if Gio was just fed up and all the playful-but-serious joking and ball busting turned into all out “FUCK YOU.” If Gio just picked up the baton from Craig Carton and ran with it and had an all out feud with Mike. The sports radio nerd in me would love nothing more. In the meantime, 3pm, Mike’s On, Must Listen.
PS – If anybody, from Boomer and Gio down to everyday fans, cant understand that the internet clips from Funhouse are intended to bash Mike, you’re an idiot. Funhouse doesn’t alter any clips. Its not manipulated or anything like that. But when you pick one or 2 minutes out of a 4 hour show, you can frame things in a way to make a guy look bad. I enjoy Funhouse clips, but I can take it with a grain of salt. If you cant do that, you’re being unfair and to be honest, you’re being an idiot.