Mike Francesa had to scramble to get on TV Sunday
Doggone it, I was going to tell a story about Mike Francesa's adventures on his "Mike'd Up" show last night, and I forgot to do it before he went on the air, and now it appears he already told the story, only I couldn't hear it even though he's sitting 100 feet away from me because the speaker on my eight-year-old laptop is busted so I can't listen to the live stream and now apparently I am going to have to go the entire week without listening to WFAN, which given my job is really, really disturbing. And meanwhile, our Web editor is waiting for more material to post, which I promise to get him by 3 p.m EST, because I have an interview scheduled at 2. Sorry.
I HATE it when Mike and Chris beat me to their own stories. Anyway, here it is, as relayed to me by Mike's producer, Doug Safchik, who asked me to mention that it was a great team effort by all involved:
Francesa was scheduled to do the show from the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, but at about 11 p.m. ET the satellite truck lost power. Fortunately, Bruce Beck was at the stadium doing a live shot for the 11 o'clock news on Ch. 4 so Mike grabbed a cab at 11:07, and said cab likely exceeded the speed limit to get him there at 11:33, two minutes before the show airs.
Lauren Spencer, executive producer of WNBC sports, sweet-talked the as yet uncredentialed Francesa past security. Beck began the show while Francesa got set up, and then Mike proceeded to wing it, having no idea what was being shown on TV other than what Safchik was whispering in his ear.
That's it. I'm sure Mike told it better than that on the air. At least I hope so. I'm getting a new laptop when I get home if this one makes it that far.
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Comments (8)
Congratulations, Best. You have sucked up to more people in one single blog post that I thought humanly possible. Who the hell is Doug Safchik anyway?
I'm probably 100 yards from you right now, but I'm buried in my hotel room trying to crank out another back page story for Newsday. Maybe I'll see you later.
I guess all those drives back and forth up to Bristol has caused some kind of short-term memory loss for Mr. Glauber. As I recall, when I was his TV producer for the entire 2006-'07 NFL season for WNBC's Gameday NY, whenever he needed a turkey sandwich (or any other free grub for that matter) he certainly remembered who I was.
Best Wishes Bob - Neil, keep up the excellent work.
NB - I actually caught Mike'd Up last night and he did a great job (and I am not his biggest fan). The only strange part was at the beginning when Bruce Beck was saying the Mike would be there after the first break and then you saw Mike's shoulder and half of his face going in and out of the screen. bizzare indeed.
Was Mike drinking a Diet Coke?
I'm not sure what was more heroic, Francesa in the rain or Murrow during the blitz.
You can try using headphones with your laptop, providing the sound card is still good. Just a thought. Good luck.
you cannot stop Mike F, you can only hope to contain him!
Please ...... he'd eat his way out of that container in :02 flat.