Mike Francesa Clapping Back at Michael Kay Without Naming Him Is Peak Francesa

Last week, ESPN 1000’s Michael Kay went on a joy ride on Twitter after his show beat Mike Francesa’s in the ratings for the month of June. Francesa, on vacation and only peeking his head above water for 30 for 30 promotion/reaction, did not respond until he returned to the WFAN microphone. Francesa explained that he won April and May soundly, but lost June narrowly, and still won the quarter head-to-head. (Lite FM, whatever that is, won the ratings period in the NY market, so kudos to them.)

Even though I’m spoiling it for you, you have to make it to the end when he say, “Here’s what they did — they lost the game 48-20, and won the fourth quarter 10-9, and claimed victory.”

To clear up some semantics, the quarter book obviously does carry more heft than month-to-month. Nevertheless, Nielsen has been measuring monthly in New York for upwards of a decade so it’s not as though Kay’s winning June was something he pulled out of thin air. However, this round still goes to Francesa.