Sean Taylor's death inspires a strange day on WFAN

chrisrusso_jester.jpgOh. My. Goodness. Gracious.

This was one you could see coming straight down Broadway (the one in Astoria). In the wake of Sean Taylor's death, Mike Francesa and Chris Russo are discussing . . . social issues.

Hello? Why didn't someone at the station take charge and tackle them before they got to a microphone?

It took less than 12 hours for the late Mr. Taylor to go from dying from a gunshot wound suffered in his own home to being the latest symbol of what is wrong with America's athletic youth on WFAN.

It began with an hour-long discussion of how Taylor's anger, his love of guns and his loyalty to imagined bad influences from a troubled youth had led him inevitably down the path of . . . um, having someone break into his house and shoot him.

The comedic moments included Russo explaining why these things don't happen to hockey players and Francesa discussing his neighbors, who include Moises Alou, Jose Reyes and "Asian doctors."

The clincher came at around 2:15 p.m., when a caller informed the hosts that Taylor's father is a police chief, and that Taylor evidently did not grow up in inner-city squalor.

"Are you sure about that?" Russo said. "I wasn't aware of that. So we're using the wrong guy here to talk about dysfunctional homes is what you're telling me."

(My wife told me she read about Taylor's police chief father at 7 o'clock this morning.)

Even after that, callers kept at it, prematurely drawing conclusions about Taylor that were insensitive at best, wildly irresponsible at worst.

Sigh.

John from Whitestone called in at 2:51 to suggest a possible "rush to judgment."

You think?

Comments (26)

When will they make it to the real social issue at hand?
YOUR ADDICTION TO MIKE & THE MAD DOG!

I honestly wonder if a similar situation happened to say Don Imus would Russo and Francessa talk about Imus' pas like his drug/substance abuse, controversial statements, and how he might've ruffled some feathers in his career so perhaps that's why he got shot? Would they? Bueller? Probably not. They know Imus so they wouldn't talk about the broad perception of him. Kind of like they nor I know little to none about Sean Taylor aside from media perception and a somewhat shady past (though not even close to the level of Pac-Man Jones who they're actually lumping Taylor with). They should STFU and stop turning this show, which shall go into infamy for all of the wrong reasons, into an after school special.

I honestly wonder if a similar situation happened to say Don Imus would Russo and Francessa talk about Imus' pas like his drug/substance abuse, controversial statements, and how he might've ruffled some feathers in his career so perhaps that's why he got shot? Would they? Bueller? Probably not. They know Imus so they wouldn't talk about the broad perception of him. Kind of like they nor I know little to none about Sean Taylor aside from media perception and a somewhat shady past (though not even close to the level of Pac-Man Jones who they're actually lumping Taylor with). They should STFU and stop turning this show, which shall go into infamy for all of the wrong reasons, into an after school special.

these types of shows show their true ignorance. but they had some good points. i like how mike said thiefs are not murderers. they should talk about this the rest of the show. what are they going to talk about....the knicks, santana (well jon heyman)

these types of shows show their true ignorance. but they had some good points. i like how mike said thiefs are not murderers. they should talk about this the rest of the show. what are they going to talk about....the knicks, santana (well jon heyman)

these types of shows show their true ignorance. but they had some good points. i like how mike said thiefs are not murderers. they should talk about this the rest of the show. what are they going to talk about....the knicks, santana (well jon heyman)

M+MD are ignorant, racist pigs.

Anytime those 2 nitwits go off topic (meaning anything but sports) is a frightening thing.

Dear Neil,

Do you think you could dig up transcript of Bert and Ernie's 9/11 show where they asked Jewish people to take oath of allegiance to the US?

Dear Neil,

Do you think you could dig up transcript of Bert and Ernie's 9/11 show where they asked Jewish people to take oath of allegiance to the US?

I think it was the great philosopher Owens(Terrell) who stated "If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it's rat". This whole story stinks to high heaven. There's more than meets the eye right now.

P.S. - How much more does a police chief's son and professional athelete has to do to get arrested on a weapon's charge than you're ordinary 24 year old black man?

This just goes to show how out of touch White America is with the athletes that they cover. The problem here is that MMD think they know so much that when they put their foot in their mouth like with this situation it actually make you wonder why should we hear these guys? NYC for as diverse as it is when you look at sports radio and WFAN in particular their is no one representing us the minority. So what should happen is we need to implement the Rooney rule on sports radio because its not fair that our athletes get judged by white people and we have no one on the radio to represent and stick up for minority athletes.

I find it humorous how Russo was talking how pampered and educated these young athletes are, ignoring their education and walking on water. This coming from the son of rich guy who went to prep schools overseas, goes to a fancy liberal arts college, gets a job where he doesn't get in trouble at all for what he says whether its mispronoucing a name to saying something downright offensive. I always felt Russo was racist, just based on his commentary on hip & hop and NBA players. The hockey comment, which employs thugs to leave it on the ice, was just so ignorant on so many levels. His assumption that Taylor was a typical "thug from the U" and not the son of police chief who the worst thing he ever did was get a DUI, he was put on probation for the gun incident which happened because his ATV was stolen, and was a changed man by all accounts after the birth of his child. That takes the cake for me. They seemed to tone it down after they heard the press conference with Gibbs and Snyder. I hope they get pounded in the press.

Unfortunately, Mike & the Mad Dog were just the tip of the iceberg. Apparently, Dennis & Callahan in Boston on WEEI and even Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio were making similar diatribes saying Taylor was part of a gang element of which they had no evidence.

And they were questioning if Taylor's death was a "gang hit". Really good to go off on a tangent like that when they had no evidence to go on. But because hosts have to fill 3-5 hours at a time, this is the type of radio we get when something like this occurs.

Sure.
Fatso + Froot Loops will continue to get roasted by the likes of Best, Mushnick, Raissman and http://www.mikefrancesa.com
But for what?
They have almost no competition in sports talk. 1050 WEPN at many times has no local connection, and cannot be heard by many in this area after dark.
M+MD are on radio, for crying out loud. All they do is make money, and until either of them pulls an Imus [Russo comes awfully close sometimes] they'll still be on the air.
They've been at it a bit too long and are getting kind of stale ... and the tv simulcast exposes a hell of a lot of the rough edges.
Take a break from the boys and you'll see what a crap-fest it's become.

Neil - we need to know what the higherups have said/will say about today's show. How many Mushnick columns did they pack into that show? 30? 40? This weekend should make for some interesting reading...

you hit it on the head, neil. "insensitive at best, wildly irresponsible at worst." the social commentary should be saved for another day.

Much ado about nothing.
Love to see the contrived angst from the readers.

If your offended don't listen, just don't expect everyone to adhere to your principles or values.

Political Correctness run amok for the masses.

I agree that MMD talk our of the wrong end sometimes, but who is to say that they have to be politically correct? It's a talk show, a 5+ hour show that is filled with their commentary. So what if they are wrong or stupid, it's their show and apparently they have a big audience.

It is amazing to me that those two blowhard clowns, who get paid the most on that station, continue to make the mistakes they make. Do they ever actually prepare and do research on anything? One is pompous and arrogant, the other one just plain stupid. I can't take more than five minutes of those two fools before I have to turn the dial. Pathetic.

these guys r idiots, no wonder nobody outside of newyork has heard of them

Does Mike & that Idiot called MadDog actually watch their own show to realize what a bunch of ignorant jackasses they really are? And when you watch them, they actually try to come off as the "World Leaders" in sports and psychology! Please, hopefully management can wake up and educate these two morons.

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