Thursday, May 28, 2009

FRANCESA GLOSSARY

We all know the terminology that Mike Francesa uses on a regular basis, but sometimes we need to stop and make note of it. We think this is especially important since he has been solo for 9 months now. Without a partner, there is a good chance his vocabulary has changed, with new words entering the mix and others fading into obscurity. Here are entries into the Francesalingua:

Bizarre – Francesa has been using this a lot recently, especially after the Mets win a game. Using 'bizarre' is his way of diminishing the Mets, but it also is an admission that he is at a loss for words at how they can defy him.

I understand – I don’t remember this as much when Dog was around. He must use this because he has no partner to argue with him. So he has to create a phantom debater, eg. "I understand the economy is bad." The usage is very similar to ‘this whole idea’ or 'the whole notion'(See the glossary on the right for 'whole notion' definition).

No question - When Mike asks a question of an interview subject, then answers it himself, then waits for subject to agree and finishes with "no question" cementing the fact that there indeed was no question ever asked ("absolutely" is another form of "no question")

Canonize - This term is applied to the Mets solely when they are high on a young prospect - as in "the Mets canonized Murphy". However, this term will never be applied to the Yanks. You will never hear "the Yanks canonized Hughes and Kennedy."

Folks - Folks is used to address the callers and listeners of Mike'd Up. If you listen closely the way mike says it, it sort of has a condescending tone to it.

Gamer - These are guys Mike would go to war with any day and divorce Roe for in a heartbeat...Youk, Jeter, the entire Phillies offense, etc. Sorry. No Mets allowed.

We welcome more entries into the updated Francesa lexicon.

(Editors note: This is a joint joint between FTLT and gman26)

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike is killing the Mets again? After a sweep? The culture of the Mets?

Give it a break Mike!

JD

First Time, Long Time said...

what's he saying? this is classic mike deflection...he doesn't want to talk about the Yanks success because he wrote their season off two weeks ago and he doesn't want to acknowledge how badly he overreacted. And we all know he certainly doesn't want to give praise to the mets for sweeping a series. So instead focus on Fernando Martinez and home run replays..

Anonymous said...

Mike is upset because Jerry Manuel did'nt spank the kid for not running and claiming that lack of hustle has something to do with "Met Culture".

Mike is handwaving callers left and right who don't think the HR ball hit the sign. I'm a Met fan and still don't know if the ball was a HR or not. One caller had a good theory about the trajectory of the ball after it bounced back onto the field and Mike totally dismissed the call.

Why can't Mike just tell it like it is-- a freak play and we may never know if it hit the sign or not and maybe the mets benefitted from the replay?

Mike was about to get on Gary Cohen for calling Castros double a HR but seemed to back off a bit.

JD

KBilly said...

In defense of the Fat guy, the Mets have been winning in pretty strange ways lately.

Whatdoyouhave? said...

He LOVES te Sawx now and I hate it.

Notice how he says about the Twins losing 2-1 "they got a bad call, but hey, they got outplayed" - Meanwhile when the Mets win a game like last night when there was a call that maybe was in there favor, (or in past weeks with the Beltran stolen bases) he goes on and on about the calls. Infuriating

bigjf said...

Guys, the Mets trotted out a AAA team (aside from Santana) and swept a putrid Nationals team. You can't give the Mets credit for that sweep. Anytime the Nats get a win, it's a disgrace at this point. They're that bad.

Anonymous said...

Well, you certainly have to agree that he's been spot on with his Adam Dunn opinion. That guy sucks. So much better to go into the season with a bunch of guys who play the "right way" and aren't too reliant on the home run. Grittiness, singles and dirty uniforms are so much better than HR's and walks.

God, I hate the Mets. And, I am a Mets fan.

Unknown said...

My favorite FATSO terminology

1) "The Kid"
2) Bizzare
3) "The Core"
4) "The Old Guard"

Unknown said...

"Model Franchise"

KBilly said...

New layout. I like the blue.

brian12566 said...

"we're back" that is a classic.

Unknown said...

Chris Russo and Neil Best ran a train on Roe in 2007. That is how the feud started.

JC said...

Actually i heard it all started with rumors of Mike & Jon Heyman with "Jeannie"

Loki said...

This new color scheme gives me a headache. The text doesn't pop out anymore. Maybe you could make the text section a brighter color?

bigjf said...

"Hybrid" - Mike's idea for the Yankees rotation, where Hughes and Joba share a game every 5 days.

And I don't like the blue layout. Can't read the text too well...

Anonymous said...

Mike used a word today while describing the handling of the yankees catching position and how Posada may react.

The word was something like "rekindle" or something similiar.

Now with no Mets/Yanks last night I did watch a portion of the spelling bee championship last night so I feel a bit intelligent(lol), but I'm not sure if the word Mike used is really a word or if Mike just made it up.

Of course he did use it in a sentence but he totally lost me.

I guess I'll need the origin of the word or other pronunciations to properly spell it.

JD

Whatdoyouhave? said...

OK we're all impressed with your memory of '96 World Series run, Mike. That was an aberration of how to win a WS. Remember when Yanks lost in '01? It was because they were up against the best tandem of starting pitchers in WS since maybe the Dodgers in the 50s.

I'm actually prob for Joba in the pen eventually taking over Mariano's role, but I just can't stand Mike constantly making same argument over and over never ever going to budge

Rob NY said...

I don't know if any of my fellow readers here call in regularly but if you do PLEASE tell mike he is a moron about the whole b jobber thing. Something nobody brings up is that he has a man crush on Beckett and Santana but thinks starting pitching is somehow less important than the magical 8th inning.

If you call remind him that joba won't be mariano rivera, the greatest closer of all time, he'll be papelbon. A really good closer. But Beckett is more important for the sox two series wins and last years loss than anything papelbon has done. I want joba to be josh Beckett and single handedly win 2 games in a five game series, himself.

What good has mariano been when the angels, tigers, and Indians SMASHED our starting pitching? It's insane. He looks at a 23 year old beast and says he'll never be a great starter but slots him in to be the best closer ever to live based on 23 innings 2 years ago? Get freaking real. Somebody PLEASE ask him if he'd build a team around K-Rod or Beckett, then ask him to shut up.

I'll keep trying to get through too but I'd love to hear him flounder to answer that scenario. Handwave this diet coke drinking MORON! why do we listen?

bigjf said...

He brought up Kazmir today, which is a fair comparison, but Mike killed his own argument by doing so. Kazmir was the #1 or 2 starter on a Rays team that went to the world series! So how come no one clamors for Kazmir to move to the bullpen?

Then he went on to compare Joba to Halladay. Yes, Mike, that's a good one. A 23 year old in his first full year of starting in the majors...let's compare that to a 31 year old who has fine tuned his craft for years. The idea that we can even mention Joba in the same sentence as Halladay gets me excited as a Yankee fan.

Rob NY said...

Obviously Beckett wasn't with the sox for 04 but he single handedly spanked the Yanks in 03 and carried the sox on his back in 07. Schilling was their man in 04.

Starters can carry your team. Complete games and shtouts>>> saves.

gman26 said...

It's Carolina blue for chrissakes! Wtsherman understands. As per your suggestions, I darkened the text color. How does that change the readability. I was trying for Met Orange on the sidebar but it didn't look great.

I briefly listened today and heard reminiscing about the '04 ALCS. He talked about Damon's Game 6 'Grandslammer' and Ed Coleman's deceased father. He also brought up some Bernie homer against Pedro. What brought all that on?

And what was with the guy telling him that one of the callers was Chazz Palmentieri?

bigjf said...

gman, I think the text is ok, but all that blue just kind of gives me a headache. I thought the old layout was better. But please don't try to turn this into a Mets blog with those colors. I'm fine with debating with a bunch of Mets fans, but this is a Mike Francesa (and some Chris Russo) blog, not a Met blog.

Loki said...

I COMPLETELY agree with what bigjf said...

Johnny said...

Wait a second!
Wait a second!
Wait a second!

Loki said...

What the fuck is with the stacked bowl of Reese's Pieces right next to Mike? He must've been cravin em'

Whatdoyouhave? said...

I agree bigjf

First Time, Long Time said...

nice job outta Mike in the open..yesterday Mike revealted that he took his son jack to the mets game and he had to reveal that jack got to run around on the field before the game and then Mike "stopped by Omar's suite"...nothing like a day at the ballpark living like the rest of us mikey...