Every get the feeling the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick might enjoy his afternoons more if he blew off sports radio and just stuck to the Lifetime channel?
Monday, I stopped at WFAN, no malice aforethought, so help me. Within moments, Mike Francesa said CBS’s Jim Nantz, author of his just-out memoirs, would be on the next day. OK.
Then Francesa, on behalf of Chris Russo and himself, added, “We’ll see what we can do to make it [Nantz’s book] No. 1 on the bestseller list.”
This, at first, seemed like a funny line. And a rare moment, too. Since when did Francesa engage in self-deprecating humor?
But then Francesa made it clear that he was serious! He wasn’t kidding!
Russo sensed it, offering a brief protest in response to what Francesa had just said, but by then it was too late; Francesa was off to that grand place (or is it palace?) in his head, that elite club into which only king-makers and holy emperors may enter.
Francesa next said that it would be difficult to push Nantz’s book to the top given that Barbara Walters’ book is being released at the same time, a book, Francesa noted, that had already received a ton of publicity. Darn the timing, the best Francesa could do for Nantz was grant him the No. 2 spot on the bestseller list.
And although Nantz’s book has nothing to do with Mike Francesa, Mike Francesa let listeners know that it has everything to do with Mike Francesa. Yup, now he thinks he’s Oprah Winfrey.
Baba Wawa did have the competitive advantage of sleeping with Senator Ed Brooke, however, so perhaps Nantz was doomed to also ran status. During yesterday’s program, Francesca railed against Carlos Beltran “partying with Marc Anthony and J Lo,” proving that while WFAN’s afternoon mouthpiece might be far too busy to follow ice hockey, he’s pretty up on Page 6.