Francesa called into another WFAN show Tuesday morning to defend some of his commentsGETTY IMAGES
WFAN's Mike Francesa has been "under siege more than ever from social media critics" since making his return to the airwaves last year, and his long rivalry with ESPN Radio 98.7 N.Y.'s Michael Kay has "become a ratings race," according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. Francesa's job is "not to be right, or to be liked, and never has been." Instead, it is to be "cared about and listened to." When Francesa called into WFAN's "Boomer & Gio" show Tuesday to "take issue with their comments about his comments" about a shooting involving Giants draft pick Corey Ballentine, "the aftershocks were predictable." The story "shot up Newsday.com's most-viewed list." N.Y.-based WABC-AM's morning radio show yesterday, which is "not primarily about sports, spent an entire segment on Francesa" (NEWSDAY, 5/2). In N.Y., Andrew Marchand noted when Francesa called into "Boomer & Gio," he "yelled that the morning duo had wronged him" in discussing his comments about Ballentine and his late college teammate Dwane Simmons, who were involved in a shooting incident over the weekend. Francesa "also didn't like" that hosts Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti said that he "played favorites to those who feed him favors" (N.Y. POST, 5/1). Francesa, during his seven-minute call, said, "How much misinformation can you guys give out in five minutes?" At one point, Francesa said to Giannotti, "You do your show, I'll do mine. OK? But if you're going to quote me, quote me correctly" (NEWSDAY, 5/1).
