MIKE ADMITS HE MADE WRONG PICK

Or not. Yesterday Mike picked Buffalo to beat the Browns at home. As we know, the opposite happened. So instead of coming on the air today and admitting he got the pick wrong, that in fact his word is not gold, Francesa instead lumped all the blame on the awful quaterback play of one Trent Edwards. Francesa moaned about the fact that "Edwards performance set quaterbacking back 10 years."

Ever notice that when a Francesa prediction goes awry, instead of admitting his error in judgement, he instead blames others? I have pointed this out before that when Mike gets a pick wrong, he usually laments that "everyone thought that would happen" but when he gets something right it's "I picked that." But today, Trent Edwards "stinks" and is to blame for Mike's incorrect pick. And Breaking News: Mike does not think this Jets game this week will be an "easy game." Wow. They are playing the only undefeated team in the NFL and Mike does not think this will be an easy game for Gang Green. Great call Mike. Great call.

FRANCESA'D UP

Mike spent the entire beginning of the show on the controversial non-touchdown by the Steelers defense at the end of yesterday's game versus the Chargers. Essentially Mike believes two things:

MIKE BELIEF #1: "This game looks bad..." Mike went on to say that something was fishy about the way that game ended and that there was no way that touchdown should have been taken off the board. Something was not right here.

MIKE BELIEF #2: "I do not think for one second there is any corruption here (with the NFL)."

So Mike, which is it? If something is "fishy" as you stated, then aren't you in fact claiming the NFL was up to something corrupt here? Mike then went on to say this about the NFL: "When they get to these coverups like this, they talk out of both sides of their mouth."

Someone else appears to be talking out of both sides of their mouth...

Chris and Mike Talk

A kind commenter here has provided this link of a Chris Russo interview with WEEI in Boston. Russo mentions that he saw and spoke with Mike Francesa for a while on Friday night. Here is a link to the Russo interview:

http://audio.weei.com/m/audio/21415153/chris_mad_dog_russo.htm

And here is my best bet on how the conversation went down:

Chris: Anndddd Goooddd Eveningggg Mike, on this Friday November 7th. And how are you tonight??

Mike: Fine.

Chris: Lots to talk about in the world. You got this Pats/Jets game on Thursday. The Phillies proved to be a pretty feisty team. You got the politics...And one more thing, you have those 2 months that you and I haven't spoken to each other since I bolted from FAN. Where do you wanna start?

Mike: Wherever.

Chris: Okay, lets go with Jets/Pats...This idea that the Jets could be a Super Bowl team is...

Mike: (interrupting) Dog, we gotta start with us.

Chris: Excellent point Mike. Excellent point.

Mike: Dog, the fact of the matter is that I still have the number 1 ranked sports talk radio show in the country.

Chris: Now hold on a minute there Mike. Let's be fair here. You've had more people in there for auditions trying to fill my spot than that Osama guy had at his presidential rallies. (LAUGHING) Say something funny Mike.

Mike: Dog, my show still gets better ratings than yours. And you've got Raismann and all your friends defending you left and right, and taking shots at me everyday, but I still outrate you every week.

Chris: Ahhh Mike...CMON!! Could ya please!! That show of yours isn't a patch on Lincecum's fanny! You have done a TERRIBLE job without me.

Mike: I'm still Number One Dog.

Chris: OHH CMON!! would ya please!!! You've got Mike from Montclair and I've got Butch from Biloxi. Who's got the bigger audience now? Now you wanna say hold on a minute there Dog, some truck driver in Mississippi doesn't count? Okay, you could say that...

Mike: (interrupting)..Dog, Have you asked Mel what your stock's at right now? You might wanna see where that number is at..I know where ours is - it's #1.

Chris: PIPE DOWN!!! And another thing, I never had to wait on line to use the bathroom at Yankee Stadium. They DO NOT need a new Stadium. They need a new Stadium like Jeanne needs another diamond ring...

Mike: Dog, I don't know where you've gone to the bathrooms, but those lines were TERRIBLE. They need the new Stadium. That Stadium was not the old Yankee Stadium...It wasn't. I once missed an entire at-bat when Andy was on the mound waiting for the bathroom...

Chris: OH COME ON!!!! The bathrooms were fine!!!! That is an ATROCIOUS argument by you!

Mike: Dog, the fact of the matter is I still have the number 1 ranked sports talk show...

Coach Francesa Calls for the ATQ

Coach Francesa offered up his gameplan for the Jets this week against the Pats:

"I wanna see them put pressure on the quarterback. I'll even give up a big play to Moss. I want them early on to attack the quaterback. In recent games, they've been doing a lot of blitzing...they've been throwing some Cowboy blitzes in there, they're shooting guys off the corners, they've been timing their blitzes well. ATTACK THE QUATERBACK. A-T-Q. That's the way to play this game. Put this kid on his rear end. Knock him down early. Make him play tough. I'd rather see Moss get a 90 yarder then for him not to take hits early in the game. Take your chances. Go get him. I'll tell ya - I'll even single Moss and run my risk at times early in the game until he beats me once. Make the kid throw the deep ball...ATTACK THE QUARTERBACK."

Nothing like some X's and O's with the Coach...

The Hall of Fame Game

Mike opened the show today praising Kurt Warner:

"when you look at his statistics, realize he won a Super Bowl and lost a Super Bowl, you know that's all Brett Favre's ever done. Win a Super Bowl and lose a Super Bowl. Peyton Manning's only won a Super Bowl. Kurt Warner, who's won an MVP, Kurt Warner is probably a Hall of Fame quaterback. I mean, that's hard to...when you think about it, if I was gonna name guys, you probably wouldn't think of (him) but he is probably close to being a Hall of Fame quaterback...his career numbers are getting to be staggering."

Now, in the past when one Chris Mad Dog Russo was part of this show, a statement like that by Francesa would open up the show to what I call the "Hall of Fame" game...Dog would throw out a player and Mike would hold court like he was a judge listening to the evidence...then callers would flood the phone lines all day asking Judge Francesa if Player A or Player B was a Hall of Famer. But here's my question. Will the Hall of Fame game work without Russo? In the past, this would have easily occupied 2-3 hours of the show, but I am very interested to see what happens today. In yesteryear, Dog would have reached for that Football Encyclopedia and started to fire off names left and right. But as we know, the Dog was left unleashed and now the blind man must navigate a once sure-fire gimmick all by himself...

Francesa Vs Florida

First it was the Tampa Rays. Now it's the Miami Dolphins. What is it that Francesa has against the Sunshine State? Is Mike angry that they went blue this election year? Mike is not ready to talk Miami Dolphins football:

"I don't take them seriously yet. I watched them yesterday. They were very lucky to win that game against Seattle. Very fortunate...I didn't think the Dolphins were very good yesterday..They have a very easy schedule at 5-4, but maybe it's me, I just don't take them seriously yet. I just don't. I just don't think they're that good yet."

This sounds strangely familiar to what Francesa said for months about a certain baseball team based in Florida. Now, the Dolphins are not the Rays. But you would think Mike would learn that anything can happen in sports. I mean, he did say last week that there was "NO CHANCE" Penn State loses to Iowa this past weekend and well, we all know how that turned out...

ROUND MOUNDS

As I glance at the Fan website, it states that Charles Barkley will be Mike Francesa's guest at 2:30. Although I have listened to MMD over the years, I can't recall Mike and Chris' opinion of the Round Mound of Rebound. Considering Barks is known for running his mouth, I can't imagine they had much nice to say. Mike and Chris usually don't like people who talk as much as them...

"Could ya please Charles, just pipe down and stick to basketball. The whole idea that the people of Alabama are going to vote for him as Governor..."
"Dog, I'm not a big believer in athletes running for political office. I'll give you Gerald Ford, Reagan and Largent but Sir Charles..."

...I'm wondering what exactly has prompted this visit by Barkley. Is this about politics? Is Charles selling a grill? Either way, it should make for appointment listening. Speaking of which, I have an appointment at 2:30, so I will miss this. Enjoy.