Weekly Mail December 17, 2017

Hey:

So this will be the final regular Weekly Mail for the year, as the next three weeks will be specials. I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for reading this every week. This blog service records all the times the link was clicked on, and since September, many of my blog posts have had over 100 hits (my tribute to my father in law had 215 hits) The more eyeballs I get, the more I can charge my advertisers. And I pass those savings onto you. So please keep reading people!


TERRORISM: Bumbling Bomber

Last Monday, some wanna be ISIS nut tried to blow himself and several commuters up in the tunnel that connects the 7th Avenue subway with the 8th Avenue subway on 42nd Street. Like Jerry Seinfeld once noted, those who try to kill themselves and fail now have one more thing they can't do right to add to the list.

I don't mean to make light of suicide and if this guy had succeeded in his quest, this would be a very different post. But all he did was screw up the morning commute for many, and not even that badly at that. The cops and first responders did their usual outstanding job and life went on. I do shutter to think what would have happened if this creep was able to do what he set out to, but luckily he wasn't. Idiot.


MEDIA: Francesa says Goodbye

A few years ago, my mom bought me a book called Fraternity: A Journey in Search of 5 Presidents. The author, Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene set out to talk to all the ex-Presidents who were alive at the time. His first interview was with Richard Nixon.

Greene said as he was leaving his meeting with Nixon, he began to feel a weird sense of sentimentality, "as if I was saying goodbye to an uncle I never got along with, but now would probably never see again."

I kind of understand where he was coming from, because that's kind of how I felt listening these last few days to Mike Francesca's final shows. As much as the pompous blowhard pissed me off over the years, he's been one of the few constants in my life.

The first time I heard him, I was with my dad on a Saturday morning, listening to Francesa on a college football show on the FAN. I had never heard anybody on the radio who sounded like that. I almost thought it was a joke.

The original weekday lineup at the FAN was Greg Gumbel, Jim Lampley, Art Shamsky, Pete Franklin, Howie Rose and Steve Somers. Francesa and Ed Coleman would take over for Lampley when he moved to Los Angeles. With Eddie C, he was a pleasant listen, knowledgeable but low key.

When Franklin left in a contract dispute, the decision was made to team up Francesa with Chris Russo and call it Mike and the Mad Dog. That was September 5,1989. I was 16.

Now 28 years later, both Francesa and Russo are off the FAN. It's weird. How many media people can you say took you from your junior year of high school into your mid 40's?

That's why I'm feeling a touch sad.

To be sure, he got very hard to take these past few years. In an online interview on WFAN.com, Francesa was asked about Phil Mushnick, the NY Post columnist who has been one of his biggest critics. Francesa answered that they got along fine in the beginning, but about 20 years ago, things changed.

20 years ago, 1997, was when Bill Parcells took over the Jets. And that's where I felt Francesa began to become hard to take. He made no bones about his friendship with the Tuna, adopting a sort of "I know something you don't know attitude" towards the audience

From there he seemed to rely more on schtick than substance.

He had such a beef with Rex Ryan, that he suggested that the Steelers let the Jets back into the AFC Championship game on purpose in 2011. That sticks out as the stupidest thing I ever heard him say. I'm sure I could come up with others. Oh, here's one... When Russo left to get his own station on Sirrius/XM, Francesa claimed someone told him it was like when the Beatles broke up. WHAT?!

Yes he was as the great Ed (Auggie) DePuy would say, a legend in his own behind, but doing anything for 30 years is an accomplishment. And I've been listening to him, from high school, through college to all the jobs I've had. It's going to be weird not hearing him on the FAN anymore.

And yeah, a bit sad.

POLITICS: Roll tide!

No, I am not changing my tune and rooting for that scumbag Nick Saban. I hope the Bill Bellichik of college football gets destroyed on New Year's Day.

I'm talking about the big thank you we all owe Alabama for not putting that slime-ball Roy Moore into the US Senate.

I don't know if he really did try to pick up girls at 8th grade dances, but too many accusations came out for it to be just a coincidence. There were just too many question marks with this dude. Surely, there had to be some Republican in Alabama with less questionable character.

And his wife didn't help matters any, when she said that her husband couldn't possibly be an anti-semite, "because one of our lawyers is a Jew."

Well, then....

I once heard a comedian (I  don't think it was Jeff Foxworthy, I think it may have been Kinky Friedman) say that a redneck can turn the word "Jew" into a 10 syllable word. Well, that's what Mrs. Moore did last week. If Moore's fate wasn't sealed before that, that probably did it.

Anyway, thank you Alabama.


And speaking of disrespecting the Jewish people, I sincerely apologize for not wishing my Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah on this page last week. A Happy and a Healthy to all who celebrate.


Christmas Eve Special next week. It's been a bit slow going, so I shouldn't hype it up too much. Hopefully I can pull it off in the next few days.

Have a Great Week!