WFAN’s Mike Francesa (above) claims he was wildly misquoted last week by the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick concerning the physical fitness of Philly’s Chase Utley. With a $25K bet riding on the dispute, the Mike’d Up host has challenged Mushnick to produce audio evidence of such comments, a wager the columnist finds curious given the radio station’s past inability to prove or disprove Francesa made specific remarks. To wit, Mushnick will accept Francesa’s challenge, but he’d like to go double or nothing.
Days after the 9/11 attacks, Francesa, global affairs expert (it’s a gift), launched two bigoted, backwoods and facts-depraving commentaries blaming both Israel and American Jews for America’s peril at the hands of terrorists.
Francesa also said the Jews he knows are disloyal Americans in that they would go to war to defend Israel but not the United States.
In the wake of an attack on the U.S. by Islamic lunatics, Francesa even called upon American Jews to prove their virtue as Americans, to choose between Israel, which he called “a failed experiment,” and the U.S.
As a third-generation American Jew, whose great-uncle was a WWI doughboy, and whose father was a WWII Naval Lt., then commander of the Staten Island chapter of the Jewish War Veterans, I was, shall we say, displeased by Francesa’s determination that the time had come for me to swear allegiance to the United States.
On Sept. 23, 2001, the above appeared in this column. In WFAN’s response, on behalf of Francesa, station boss Mark Chernoff denied that Francesa said any of that — despite thousands, including WFAN staff, having heard what I’d heard. My challenge to produce those tapes was ignored.
If I wrote such malicious lies, why wasn’t I sued?
Do you misspell Francesa’s name on purpose?
not this time, no. I deeply regret the (repeated) error.
You probably were but you were too busy writing another column about why Vince McMahon is the devil to notice Phil.
MIKE PWNED THAT DOOSH ON THE SHOW TODAY, PHIL IS A BITCH
I’m betting Mushy is the winner here but isn’t it a little odd that he, being a media critic, doesn’t tape record all this stuff? Wouldn’t that be an essential part of the job? Or do old school journalists do it by memory?
Or maybe he has this all on tape and just wants to watch francesspool squirm. I could live with that explanation.
Francesa responded earlier today on WFAN, insisting Mushnick had imagined or invented the anti-Israel spiel. Much of Mike’s reply consisted of stressing many of his best friends and colleagues are Jews, and he grew up in a “melting pot” ‘hood.