Mike Francesa Reading Off His Phone Is Electric Radio

People have piled on Mike Francesa since he came out of retirement to pontificate about sports and change the app game. We’ve been guilty of it around here from time to time. In our defense, of course, the legendary broadcaster has provided ample opportunity and his wacky moments are dutifully documented and tagged by above-average Twitter accounts.

His latest misadventure came when he attempted to break down the defensive talent available in the NFL Draft. His transgression? Using his phone to look stuff up.

Now, count me among those in the extreme minority who is perfectly okay with this. For one, I’m not totally convinced he’s not simply calling up a notes app, which would be far better than scrolling the internet.

Sure, it’d be nice if Francesa could pull these names from his stable of rote knowledge but, at this point, you and I both know that’s not going to happen. Getting sixty percent of the prospects’ information wrong would have brought us to the save spot: a viral clip.

Think of it this way. A great radio man is always prepared for a pop quiz. A decent one can stumble though an open-book exam. Francesa is the latter right now and will continue to be until he inevitably decides to pull the plug on this second act.

The real takeaway here is that the whole ordeal is excruciatingly boring. Like, who wants to sit through hours and hours of a person with a vague idea on the topic slowly go through and list pronouns? Once the veneer of respectability crumbles, why remain patient while the host desperately tries to tread water?

That goes not just for Francesa, but thousands of other sports talkers. Standing out, doing something different is important in 2019, or at least one would think.