Between the Breaks

Ever wonder what happens on the MMD show when they go to commercial breaks? Watching on YES, you get a slight glimpse into this potentially fascinating world. Mike and Chris can be fully engaged in a segment, throw to Minko for the 20/20 and then the two men immediately rise, cease talking to each other and go their separate ways. In many aspects, I imagine it to be quite similar to the scene between rounds at a championship fight. Each boxer goes into his own corner, to be tended to by his posse. For Mike, that means entering the news room, heading over to the Diet Soda vending machine. Surrounded by Francesa would be John Minko, Eddie Scezzari and Jerry Recco. For Dog, he likely races into the newsroom and is bouncing around with energy as he hovers over a 12 inch TV displaying tape delayed coverage of the French Open. His corner of Sal Licata, Eddie Erickson and Bob Huessler likely has to get him under control a bit and make sure he doesn’t expend too much energy before getting back in the ring. Here’s a glimpse into what goes on in each corner and the advice being offered to both prize fighters:

Mike’s Corner:
Minko: “Mike, you’re letting Dog bait you with his cackle. Protect yourself from the laugh. You’re very vulnerable. You’re having a hard time keeping up with him right now. He’s all over the place. You’re in a bit of a tricky spot."
Eddie: Scezzari: "Speak over him. Remember this, your words are much stronger. Dog is throwing them out left and right, but one powerful phrase from you and it’s over."
Recco: "Stick with your strenghts: arrogance, arrogance, arrogance. Dog won’t know what hit him. Bring your A-Game."

Russo’s Corner:
Licata: "Doggie, Mike is trying to sucker you right now. He’s just sitting there, barely moving, looking like he’s not even trying. It’s so tempting to go after him, but he’s just waiting for you to charge and miss miserably."
Erickson: "Don’t ever forget last June when you buried the Yankees. That was just the jab Mike was looking for and remember how that turned out."
Huessler: "Remember Seton Hall ‘89. You laughed at that one and that’s when Mike nailed you. You gotta settle down a bit. Be careful out there."

Mike Quits on Yanks

Today we witnessed what I will refer to as Classic Francesa. After Toronto went up 8-6 in the Top of the 9th, Francesa quit on the Yankees. He said there was no chance they score 2 runs off BJ Ryan. No chance at all. This was Francesa building up something as impossible so that when/if the Yanks did it, it came off as that much more astonishing. He repeatedly said the "Yankees stink" and no way were they scoring off the "great BJ Ryan." Even when Matsui came up and singled, he still said not a good matchup with Giambi up. He was extremely negative, while at the same time trying to build up the impossible. "BJ Ryan is a GREAT pitcher. I have tremendous respect for BJ Ryan." The big shock here for me is that perhaps for the first time ever, I heard Francesa give up hope on the Yankees. He gave this game away several times, calling the Yanks dead in the water. And to me, the Big Man came off as extremely phony today. And now post win, Francesa is talking about how BJ Ryan doesn't have a lot of velocitity. Where were those comments going into the Bottom of the 9th? Mikey even took over the 20/20 update with glee when Giambi hit the game-winning home run. Hey I don't see Bob Heussler hijacking your segments, Mike. A wild game for sure, but typical stuff out of Francesa.

The Bill Simmons Controversy

Mike and Chris have Bob Ryan on right now. Bob apparently schooled Bill Simmons for what Ryan considers an incorrect story that the Sports Guy wrote about the Celtics of the past and their rivalries. Mike and Chris said they like Bill. They’ve had him on in the past, but they got Bob’s back right now. Francesa chimed in “Dog and I have always had a good relationship with Bill Simmons, but you are to us, Mr. Celtics.” Dog got a little confused and called Bob "Billy." Will the Sports Guy respond to this? Would be great if Simmons called in to the show right now.

PLAY BY PLAY

One of my pet peeves is when a Yankees afternoon game is on at the same time as MMD. This creates a very annoying “Francesa thinks he can do everything syndrome.” What am I referring to? I will tell you. Mike feels the need to do play by play of the Yankees game. Now if I am a big enough Yankees fan, why in the world am I listening to MMD for Yankees play by play? But Francesa feels the need to do it and do so poorly. With Jeter on third and one out in the first, Arod stepped to the plate and Francesa declared “Toronto won’t play their infield in here.” Seconds later, Toronto brought their infield in. For some reason, Mike thinks he has to take over the broadcast duties. Hey Mikey, stick to your day job.

WFAN Production Meeting

Here at the blog, we've often wondered about what a typical pre-MMD show production meeting is like. Here is our best guess:

Time: 12:55PM, Location: WFAN Cafeteria (Seated inside cafeteria are Program Director Eric Spitz, Mike Francesa and Russo)

Spitz: Mike, Chris. Lot to talk about in the world of sports today.

Chris: Spitzy fired up today Mike.

Mike: I’m not sure what that means.

Spitz: What do you guys think we should open the show with?

Chris (fiddling with his headset in his hands, ignoring Spitz): Mike, I am telling you, I cannot root for this Dutrow (pronounces it DUHTRUH).

Mike (reading through the classifieds of the NY Post, also ignoring Spitz): He’s making it tough Dog, he’s making it tough.

Chris: I mean, could ya PLEASE pipe down.

Mike: Gonna be tough to beat him.

Eric Spitz: Uhh guys, today’s show. We’ve got the Stanley Cup, Mets playing well, Yanks, NBA Finals starting. Where should we start today?

Chris: Mike, did you see there’s a new JFK book that’s out?

Mike: I heard some grumblings about it from a few people I know. Tough spot for a book right now.

Chris: That’s a good point Mike. Weather getting nice, you got the politics, NBA Finals. Very tough spot. VERY GOOD JOB Mike.

Eric Spitz: Guys, we’re on the air in a minute.

60 seconds later

Chris: And Goood Afternoooon Everybodyyyyyyyy!!!! And how are you today Mike?

Mike: I’m fine.

Chris: Where do you want start today? We got the NBA Finals, GREATTT ending to the hockey game, Mets, Yanks, we'll get to the antics of Eddie Erickson at the Adam Sandler movie premiere a little later...Where do you want to start?

Mike: Wherever.

Chris: Well Mike I was about to turn the TV off and go to sleep and I flick it over to NBC, final 2 minutes and the Penguins score to make it a one goal game. A terrific job out of Pittsburgh to make it interesting.

Mike: Dog, nobody cares about the NHL. We can’t start with hockey.

THE PREACHER IS IN SESSION

Mike none too happy with the Yanks handling of this Joba situation. Here’s a bit more of what’s on the big man’s mind today:

“This is a 3 ring media circus created by the owner! If all your starting pitcher can do is go out there and give you 2 innings, he shouldn’t start!!! The idea this man left the game last night, he pitched 2 and a 1/3 innings, he threw 60 pitches, he allowed 2 runs, he gave up 4 walks, he had to tip his cap from the ovation – FOR WHAT!!! SHOWING UP!? I mean this THING HAS GOTTEN STUPID! This whole thing has gotten so STUPID, the Yankees look like MORONS the way they are handling this thing! Let’s hear it for Joba – he pitched 2 and a 1/3!! 2 and a 1/3 innings, what are we DOING HERE, WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE!!! 2 and a 1/3 innings! Feinstein was right, these may have been the most over hyped 7 outs of all-time. It has gotten stupid! Enough. Get him to the point where he can pitch 5 innings. If he can’t, you know, let’s wait till he can. This is silly. He’s gonna pitch 2 innings? This is silly. I mean c’mon now please, the guy pitched 7 outs and he gets a tip of the hat??

And not to leave the Mets out of things:

“The Mets were pretty dumb too. You can’t pitch Pedro, why don’t you take him to Antarctica for his first start!! It was 30 degrees last night in San Francisco!!! He could have pitched at home, he could have pitched in San Diego! They took him to San Francisco, he had ear muffs on last night!!! What were they looking to pull a muscle!! Common sense is rare among these teams!”

I haven’t seen Mikey get this agitated in a long time...settle him down, Dog.

The $200 Million Question

Mikey on a bit of a rampage today.

"The Yankees are spending a lot of time talking about next year. And they have NEVER done this. It's not gonna sit with Jeter, it's not gonna sit with Arod, it's not gonna sit with Mariano, it's not gonna sit with Giambi, it's not gonna sit with these veteran players. The Yankees are not built for next year ever. You got rid of Joe Torre, you got a $200 million dollar payroll, you sold 4 MILLION seats, it's the last year of Yankee Stadium...you CANNOT do this and I'm telling you, rumblings across the board, the veterans didn't like this. I've heard it from a couple of people who are around that team. They didn't like this, they thought it was a move that sent a bad message that it's about next year and not this year. This kid is NOT going to be a major factor this year. He was a much bigger factor the other way..."

I love when Mike turns his opinions into the opinions of others. And I love classic Francesa when he cites that he's "heard it from a couple of people." He loves to try and hold that card over everyone's heads.