Mike Francesa Went Berserk on a Local Pol Who Said Daily Fantasy Isn't Gambling

There were hearings in New York about daily fantasy sports today. Mike Francesa fielded a call from Long Island Assemblyman Dean Murray, who argued that FanDuel and DraftKings are more skill than luck. This enraged the Pope, who said that these sites are just bookies, and trapped the politician with the challenge of explaining the meaning of Parimutuel gambling. And on and on it went. This tantrum brought a wide smile to my face, and I’m sorry if you can’t grasp the layers of humor in it.

After the call — and after this clip ends — Francesa explained that he’s not against the existence of daily fantasy. However, he said it should be regulated like horse racing (longtime listeners are aware Mike knows a thing or two about this) and other forms of legal gambling that are a combination of skill and luck. This would seem to be a reasonable compromise going forward, but we’ll be subjected to a lot of dry legalese between now and then.

[Disclosure: TBL is owned by USA Today Sports, which operates the daily fantasy site FantasyScore.]