Friday, July 4, 2008

MIKE FRANCESCA IS HAUNTING ME...

I am sitting at home on this Independence Day watching the Yankees as they struggle against the Red Sox (down 6-3 in the 7th as i type this) and i am being haunted by Mike Francesca. Francesca's ego might be a more accurate way to put it.

 With every Yankee poor at bat I hear his comments from earlier in the season when he proclaimed that it was the cold weather that was keeping the Yankees bats down. "Everyone knows baseball is not meant to be played in the cold." Which is odd since the World Series is played in October which is not sun bathing weather in NYC. Also, not sure how that excuse by Mike explains the fact that the Yankees don't score when it's 90 degrees and they are playing the Texas Rangers who have one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball. (Abreu just popped up to first with the bases loaded and one out, definitely had something to do with the rain. We all know baseball was not meant to be played in the rain)

 Then i watch Robinson Cano continue his season long struggles and i hear Mike's words of wisdom about the Yankees second basemen swirl in my head. "When i look at Cano i think to myself, there are a lot of hits left in that bat." Hmmm... Could it be that Cano is an incredibly undisciplined hitter and actually is not pre-destined to be Rod Carew as everyone says? Could Mr Cano actually wind up having a very bad season and has consistently selected bats with very few hits in them? 

 (ARod is now up and it is pouring and there are two outs and the bases loaded. Bad weather. Arod. Clutch situation. Good things are not going to happen.)

 The point about Cano also goes to another thing about Mike that goes through my head, which actually amazes me considering that he is someone who has watched sports his entire life. Events are not pre...

 WE INTERUPT THIS SENTENCE WITH THIS MOMENT IN NON SHOCKING NEWS
 "Alex Rodriguez has grounded out to short in a clutch situation. Yes, fans he HAS GROUNDED OUT TO SHORT. The situation was clutch and he did the most unclutch thing possible. Another moment of unshocking sports news. Highlights of his soon to come bases empty homer in the ninth with the Yankees down 6 to follow.. Back to this blog in progress...

 Events are not pre-determined in sports (except perhaps for AROD). There are upsets, the unexpected occurs, the Yankees don't make the playoffs. These things can and do happen. Georgetown lost to Villanova. Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson. Francesca has seen this stuff happen, yet for some reason he refuses to acknowledge that they can happen in the present. So as I watch the Yankees losing, I hear Francesca's ego loudly proclaim "TALK TO ME IN AUGUST." about the Tampa Bay Rays chances and I want to yell loudly. (side note: i also want to yell loudly because Ken Singleton is beyond unbearable as a broadcaster. Quick suggestion to the Yankees, you have an entire network dedicated to your team, get some good broadcasters, it helps make the games enjoyable.) Yes, talk to him in August because when the eighth month of the year comes all that it is pre-destined in sports will once again take their proper places. The Rays will collapse because they were unable to handle all the heat, the pressure that the Yankees and Red Sox are putting on them and the boys from the Bronx and Boston will once again battle it out. Oh, August, ye month that cannot cometh soon enough for us simpletons of the world.

 Mike drives me so insane at times that I find myself rooting for the Rays because it is essentially rooting against Francesca. He's become the Red Sox, the Patriots, George Bush all in one. For some reason, the "talk to me in august" proclamation just does not leave my head. Francesca is a history buff (or is it buffet?). He should know that tides change. Empires crumble and new ones rise. There are young upstarts and revolutions. These things do happen. If they didn't we actually would all be working today or celebrating THE BRITISH SURE ARE SWELL DAY. But Mike talks about the Yankees in the playoffs as if the mid 80s and 90s never happened. 

 Mike wasn't worried about the Yankees because the wild card was going to be no problem. How about now Mikey? The Rays are close to 20 games over, the Yankees are about to get swept by the Red Sox, the Twins and the White Sox (they are in the AL Central, Mike) are playing damn good baseball and oh yeah, the Tigers just found their way over .500. So it ain't going to be so easy. But unless it was the Tigers (who were terrible at first) or the Indians (who are done), Mike said "I'm not worried about them" when speaking of the Twins or Rays or White Sox. ARROGANCE.

 Quick question to anyone watching the Yankee game today: Did the folks at YES just learn how to use the blimp camera? Every pause in every at bat has been cut up with shots from the blimp including everything from abstract shaky views of the Yankee bullpen, to the new Yankee stadium to views of the picturesque Bronx. Are they getting paid per shot or something? It's insane. I get it, there are cameras on the fat airplane up there and then can show the stadium from really far away. Awesome. Move on. Please.

  Simply put the dude is haunting me. His ego, his arrogance, his proclamations. Every time something bad happens with the Yankees or a player like Cano or when the Tampa Bay Rays win a game, I just hear his voice in my head. It's driving me crazy.

 My dad tells a story that when he was growing up in the Bronx and the Giants and Dodgers were playing in their famous Bobby Thompson playoff game, that when the ball went from Bobby Thompson's bat over the fence, his friend, a Dodgers fan, took a baseball and simply threw it completely through his television set. Perhaps this is what I need to do. The next time Mike hosts the show solo and utters the words "Talk to Me In August," I will take a baseball and throw it into the television.

 This potentially will solve two issues. The voices of Mike Francesca will leave my head and we can finally purchase a flat screen tv.

 HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY FROM US AT MIKE AND THE MAD BLOG. Hope all your heads are free of the voice of Mike Francesca.

19 comments:

Matthew "The Falk" Falkenbury said...

Francessa beat up on a weakling(Tampa Bay Rays), and that's all he did. The rest is just smokefilled coffee-house crap. He tortured and tormented all the fans with his August comments. He didn't like the Rays. So, he killed them. And why? Because they couldn't win from 1998-2007.

lt sam weinberg said...

well done matthew. very very well done. nothing make us happier here at mike and the mad blog then communication about those two using the words of Kaffe, Jaffe and the crew.

Anonymous said...

Damon calls out his teammates -- where do I start? First, as a Yankee fan, I never liked Damon because of the way he sucked up to Steinbrenner when he was in Boston. He has no loyalty (I know, it's about the money, blah blah blah). Second, he was on the Red Sox. Enough said. Third, It should be Jeter or Posada (aka, a real Yankee) saying that, not a free agent. Grow some balls, Jeter!

gabagool said...

Ok. I'm gonna defend Afraud the same way he is ALWAYS defended by Afraud nutsack riders. Ready?

"Oh yeah, well, well, welll......ah...what about jeter, huh, I guess his dp in the first doesn't count huh.....it doesn't huh......uhnmmmmm Youre NOT A FAN!!!!"

There it is. Every time ANYONE writes ANYTHING about ARODS absolute NON CLUTCHNESS, which has been documented by EVERYONE, and talked about EVERYONE, they bring up Jeter, or Posada, or Giambi. As if bringing up someone elses SUCKNESS somehow absolves AROD from yet another GULP! situation.

Fine. Jeter sucks. Posada sucks. Giambi sucks. BUT NOBODY, NOBODY, NOBODY IS AS UNCLUTCH AS AROD. NOBODY.

And I just shake my head. Take last year for example. This stiff has over 600 abats. IN these 600 abats, he puts up unreal numbers. A whole season of proving to himself that he can hit as well, if not better, than ANYONE. What does the world most FRAGILE self image do? Strikesout for the first time in the post season, and the rest of the playoffs is over for him........

One lousy post season at bat nullifies the WHOLE SEASON for Mr. Madonna. I just don't understand.
He sucks, the Yanks suck, this whole season sucks.

Matthew "The Falk" Falkenbury said...

Thank you Lt. Weinberg, as someone who played Lt. Johnathan James Kendrick in the play version of the movie in HS, i'm a big fan of A Few Good Men, and of your blog.

gman26 said...

Your passion is comforting, Falk
It's also useless. Mike Francesa needed a trial lawyer today.

gman26 said...

For 'the falk' and others. Here is a link for the screenplay of a Few Good Men. We don't quote this shizzle by heart.

http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/fewgood.shtml

Anonymous said...

In other Fatcesca news: Bronson Arroyo pitched a decent game yesterday as the Reds shut out the Nats. Arroyo could now be considered a better pitcher than Rasner.

Anonymous said...

Could it be that Mike & the Mad Dog are just faking the "uncertain future of the show" as a ploy to get more money from WFAN and Yes?

thanks,
Pat

Anonymous said...

Any vids out there of that Russo impersonator (the one who did the Pacman Jones skit) doing the 2003 Giants tirade?

lt sam weinberg said...

just scroll down, it's on the site.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget what Mike will do if the Rays hold on and win the pennant. He will say, "Nobody expected this. We ALL thought they would fold."

Well, I will go on the record right now and say I think they are good and have a real chance.

If it weren't for Mussina, the Yanks would be done already. Mike said he sucked before the season, while saying how great Hughes and Kennedy were going to be.

First Time, Long Time said...

Gman, Falk...

Take the night off. Gman, Go see your wife, see your kids. Falk, do whatever it is you do when you're not here.

Matthew "The Falk" Falkenbury said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Matthew "The Falk" Falkenbury said...

To tbe M&MD Bloggers:

I joined the blog as a fan because I wanted to live my life by a certain code, and I found it at the M&MD Blog. Now you're asking me to vote on your website saying which host would be better solo. You're asking me to say i'm not a fan of both. If WFAN decides that what Mike and Chris did on air was wrong, then I'll accept whatever punishment they give. But I believe they are right for each other sir, I believe they did their job, and I will not dishonor myself, my radio, or Mike and Chris so I can go have one of them fired in six months... Sir.

Anonymous said...

Anybody actually read the SI article about Lincecum? The way I read it, they basically think he's a strong candidate to break down at anytime because his delivery is so crazy. For this guy to be going on and on counting out how many pages they devoted to the kid, I really don't think he even read the article because it wasn't all that much about him as much as the mechanics of his delivery. Waiting for the other shoe to drop because there's no way a body should be able to take it.

I've never actually hoped for an athlete to get injured before this summer, but Mad Dog has driven me to this point. Over/under on number of times he says the word "Lincecum" tomorrow: 168.

First Time, Long Time said...

ondy...of course Chris didn't read the article at the time of that interview with Verducci. Why would he come prepared? Actually, he revealed the reason he didn't read it before Verducci came on air is that he cannot read printouts from the computer. He can only read straight from the magazine.

Anonymous said...

Dog said he eventually read the article, and it took him an hour and a half. Seriously, you can read the entire magazine in less time than that.

First Time, Long Time said...

By the way, listening to Doug Melvin, i kind of want to shoot myself. You just got CC Sabathia. Show some emotion in your voice. I am falling asleep..