WFAN

[soupcan]

If you go to WFAN, on the front page there is a list of the station's 'personaliities' and next to them are sound clips from their various shows.

I'd post links but can't figure out how.

Two clips that I'd recommend are the Mike & The Mad Dog Corey Lidle interview from October 9. It's about 14 minutes long and quite amusing. Seems Mr. Lidle took umbridge with something M&MD said about him and called in to defend himself. Lidle quickly shows that while he may be a professional baseball player he is clearly an amateur on the airwaves.

The other clip is about 44 minutes long and it's Steve Somers and Jerry Seinfeld discussing baseball, sports, etc. Not as funny as I had hoped but interesting nonetheless.

I believe that you have to have 'RealPLayer' to listen to these.

[soupcan]

I'm not usually one to toot my own horn but you gotta admit my timing was pretty good on this one.

[Valadius]

Holy crap. Wow.

[Guest KC]

"amateur on the airwaves" on the same day something like this happens is
pretty freakin' weird.

[soupcan]

I'm Nostra-dumb ass!

(Credit to Nymr83 for that)

[Zvon]

soupcan wrote: I'm Nostra-dumb ass! (Credit to Nymr83 for that)

Yep--that should stick forever-
would it be fair to INSIST its added to his avatar space by managment?

[soupcan]

Hopefully you guys listened to these yesterday because they ain't available anymore.

I'm baffled. Why would they pull that Lidle spot now when interest in listening to it would be at an all-time high?

Strange decision.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Respect for the dead --- if only symbolic --- trumping interest in hits, I imagine.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Probably because M&M are now ashamed of what doofuses they were when Lidle was on the show.

[soupcan]

Since when does that take precedence over dollars? Especially in the media industry?

Besides, the interview itself wasn't disrespectful in any way, sure Lidle came off as a boob but it revolved solely around baseball.

[Theoldmole]

Mike and the Dog ashamed of being doofuses?

[Guest Edgy DC]

They're easily the number one sports outlet in the market. They can afford to pretend to take the high road. In the long run, that's probably the $marter move for the market leader.

[MFS62]

Bob Raissman's column from today's Daily News;

]Guilt & regret, but Dog barks on Monday, it was business as usual for Mike Francesa and Chris (Mad Dog) Russo. While rehashing the Yankees' Detroit debacle, they descended on Cory Lidle and pounded him. Pounded him pretty hard. Still, longtime listeners have heard worse crunch jobs from the boys. But Randy Miller, a reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times, who covered the pitcher when he was with the Phillies, text-messaged Lidle and suggested he call WFAN to defend himself. So, there was Lidle phone-to-phone with FranDog. Lidle said he was just trying to "enjoy my day" in New York when he heard he was getting trashed. The idea of a guy whose team was embarrassed in baseball's sacred postseason enjoying himself offended the sensibilities of Mr. Russo, who, on this particular occasion, elected to deliver a sermon on the proper protocol for handling playoff defeat. "First off, no Yankee fan should enjoy the day in New York," Russo said. "If I'm a Yankee I'm in hiding. I'm not enjoying a day in New York." "So I'm not allowed to enjoy the day in New York?" Lidle asked. "What am I supposed to do go cry in my apartment for the next two weeks. Is that what I'm supposed to do?" Two days later, Cory Lidle was dead. As Francesa and Russo reported news of Lidle's plane smashing into a 50-story skyscraper on the upper East Side, that usual spark in Russo's eyes turned into hollow shells. His face portrayed disbelief. And perhaps some guilt. Since May, Russo had put a bull's-eye on Lidle. He let it all hang out on the pitcher, showing exactly why he is known as Mad Dog. He blasted Lidle for hammering Barry Bonds about steroids in Sports Illustrated and giving his former high school buddy - and A's teammate - Jason Giambi a pass. Russo even threatened to stick his gripe in Lidle's face when the Phillies came to Shea. In August, after Lidle was traded to the Yankees as part of the Bobby Abreu deal, Russo brought Brian Cashman into the Lidle hit parade, calling the Yankees GM a liar for saying he would have never made the deal if the pitcher was not included. Cashman, taking the bait, totally lost it on the air ("I'm not lying," Cashman screamed) but Russo continued his relentless pursuit of Lidle. Off the air yesterday, standing at a Shea Stadium bar while talking over a cell phone, Russo recounted these moments. His voice was questioningly sad. "Do I wish right this second I had a better relationship with Cory Lidle? Yeah, I absolutely do," Russo said. "(But) you got to do what you got to do. I don't know what to tell you. You can make the argument that I look like a heel....I've been ripping him for five or six months. Does that make me a bad guy? I'll let others evaluate that." Russo's mouth is not equipped with a set of brakes. Opinions must be offered unconditionally. Those with vanilla flowing through their veins need not apply. When the job description is to slice and dice, you never wonder if the object of your scorn is going to wake up breathing tomorrow. Things move fast. Saturday it was the Yankees hitting rock bottom. Sunday morning George Steinbrenner wanted to fire Joe Torre. Tuesday afternoon Torre is still the manager. And yesterday afternoon Lidle dies after his plane flies into a side of a building. Now, Russo is wondering what would have happened if Steinbrenner had fired Torre followed by this tragedy. What would he and Francesa had have said then? The idea quickly leaves, replaced by one realization: Yesterday afternoon the talkies were at Shea to talk about a Mets playoff game. Under normal circumstances, Russo probably would have laughed about the Mets - due to circumstances beyond their control - once again being relegated to a media afterthought. On this day, there was nothing to smile about. Only a strange feeling. When you make your living offering opinions - many harsh and offensive - there are no give-backs, no do-overs. But yesterday, for Chris (Mad Dog) Russo - there was sadness. And even some regrets. Originally published on October 12, 2006

Later

[Guest cooby]

I am sad about Lidle, but I will say the same thing I said when my brother in law died crashing his private plane:

He died doing something he loved.

I am sure the end was still terrifying.


Not that I ever listen to Mike and the Mad Dog, but hopefully they will think twice before they have to resort to insults in order to produce a topic.

[soupcan]

I think Chris Russo is as big an ass as anyone but to say he did anything wrong or he should feel bad because of how he treated Lidle is wrong.

He never wished death upon the guy, he simply disagreed with a lot of the things the guy said and did and stated that. Why should he feel any guilt at all?

Just because Lidle died a horrible death two days after they had an argument on the air doesn't mean the guys on the radio caused it. This is stupid.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]"Does that make me a bad guy? I'll let others evaluate that."

Thanks.

]Those with vanilla flowing through their veins need not apply.

Huh?

]When the job description is to slice and dice, you never wonder if the object of your scorn is going to wake up breathing tomorrow.

Is that the job description?

[metirish]

I agree with soupcan, Russo's beef with Lidle went back to the start of the season when Lidle bashed Bonds but never said a word about his friend Giambi and steroids.

Francesa and Russo are total wankers though.

[Guest cooby]

Wankers, I love that.

Also I really doubt that God caused Cory Lidle to crash just to get back at little old Chris Russo. That would hardly be just.

If he feels guilty about it though, good for him.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I don't know if his job description is to slice and dice, but he is a commentator, and he's paid to be outspoken. He should feel free to criticize those he disagrees with. Does anyone really think he should have paused and thought to himself, "Gee, Cory Lidle might be dead next week. I can't say anything about someone who might one day be dead."

[Guest Edgy DC]

This seems obvious, but... having firm opinions (even ones that are right 60% of the time) doesn't mean being a raving dick about it.

[soupcan]

Edgy DC wrote: This seems obvious, but... having firm opinions (even ones that are right 60% of the time) doesn't mean being a raving dick about it.

But even if he is a raving dick - he still has no reason to feel guilty.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Sure he does.

Raving dicks should feel guilty every damn day. Until they stop raving like dicks.

Raving dicks on the airwaves have repercussions throughout society.

(I'm raving like a dick, aren't I?)

[soupcan]

Guilty about being raving dicks not guilty about someone dying two days after they were a raving dick to that person. Feel bad about that sure but guilty? No.

Guilt implies that you could've or should've done something differently that would have resulted in a different outcome.

I can't see how being nice to Lidle would've or could've prevented his death.

[seawolf17]

It's his job to rave like a dick. If he didn't rave like a dick, he wouldn't have any listeners. The whole point of sports talk radio is to make you yell at the radio enough to make you keep listening through the commercial breaks.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Unless it's a suicide

[Guest Ned Fengus]

Most of us probably had parents who said "If you don't have something nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all" on occasion. If you didn't, I'm sure you've heard the axiom. Difficult words to live by, but virtuous enough to at least give an effort. I have tried to live this way and I have tried to pass it on to my children - with poor results.

I am now going to ignore this good advice because the only way I can convey the way I feel toward these two blowhards is by pointing out what they do on a regular basis. They are amazingly pompous (more on that later), arrogant, rude, condescending & and any other like-adjective you would care to apply to them. They are also extremely popular, a fact bore out by their high ratings. What does THAT say about those who listen to them and provide those ratings. I guess the same goes for "followers" of Howard Stern or Jerry Springer. Sleaze sells. Vitriol sells. Invective sells. Hate sells. It's shame really. What clued me in to the "character" of these "fellas" was this. I really hadn't listened to them at all until about a year or so ago. I live in the D.C. area and while I am blessed to be able to listen to WFAN at nights (games & Steve Somers), I am rarely able to get a signal during the day. I had been reading about the duo for years, but never really got to hear them - until one fine day. It must have been a fine day (atmospherically) as I was listening to them fairly clearly at about 4:00p. It must have been John Lennon's birthday or the anniversary of his murder and they were talking about him. A caller gets on the line and attempts to relate his "brush with fame" regarding Lennon. He never got to tell the audience about it. Why? Because blowhard #1 (Francessa) kept interrupting the guy with his opinions about how great John Lennon was and actually cut the call off w/o this guy getting to tell his story. Can you imagine? (no pun intended) This guy has a brush with fame with one of the WORLD'S MOST famous people, and Francessa has the pompous gall to talk over the guy and basically think that his "oh yeah, Lennon was great" crap would be more interesting to the audience.

Right then and there, I realized that I had not missed much over the years. I did listen to the archive of the Lidle interview, and it was shameful. Many will say that they were just doing their job. Perhaps, but Francessa couldn't resist the opportunity to be pompous and arrogant once again. When Lidle expressed and interest in coming to meet them, he had to say that he "had never really given Cory Lidle much thought. As far as Russo goes, he's just as bad, IMO. You've heard the phrase - "He's (she's) got a face for radio", right? Well Russo has a voice for the carnival.

So, the bottom line is that you "reap what you sow". These guys felt small yesterday when they found out that the guy they crucified two days earlier had met his end in a horrific accident, even wondering if their "treatment" of him might in some way have contributed. Of course this moment of regret will be just that - a moment. Today they will be back on the air as pompous and arrogant as ever. Making predictions as if they were Nostradamus, putting down athletes and generally making asses of themselves - at least in this reporter's opinion.

On edit: I apologize for the tome, but it is something that has been eating at me for a while.

P.S. - what is it with this site? It always wants me to re-log in

[Guest cooby]

]even wondering if their "treatment" of him might in some way have contributed

That's just freakin self centered, if they thought that

[Guest cleonjones11]

Media sales and ratings are raised by fear and consumption by any means and anyone available.

It's all around us...not just sports...

[Guest Edgy DC]

Jeez, I can't think of a better reason to be decent to somebody than the idea that it could be one of the last interactions that person has.

I am the newly appointed part-time coordinaor of a non-profit. Since I started, there has been a board-member who has been a pest. He misrepresents himself as being in charge of the program when he's dealing with collaborators and constituents, he interferes with my handling of our volunteer base, and antagonizes suppliers that I'm trying to gingerly goose along. Tonight, I have to confront him at a board meeting, maybe insist on his resignation, and possibly to ask the board to move to dismiss him if he won't seriously desist in his behavior.

And I know that (1) it's a personality flaw that he probably has less control over than I wish, (2) he has very little going for him, has put a lot of time (most of it destructive) into this program, and (3) lives at home with his mother, who is in the hospital and maybe seriously ill.

If I don't handle this well and behave decently, you bet I'll feel bad. Yeah, I think about what'll happen If I ripped him on Thursday and he was dead on Saturday, sure.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Ned Fengus wrote: On edit: I apologize for the tome, but it is something that has been eating at me for a while.

Love the tome. More paragraph breaks, though.