Sources tell the Blitz that long time Mike'd Up producer Eddie Erickson is the latest in a long line of victims at New York's Number 1.
The alleged pecking order at WFAN starts with females, moves on to interns, before coming to rest with anyone who works on the Mike Francesa show. Tales of intern abuse became legendary after Deadspin published several pieces on it. Females face glass ceilings and the roughness of an almost all male 'locker room' atmosphere. Work for Francesa? Forget about it.
Several sources indicate that Erickson left the station due to Francesa's harassment. One told us, "He [Eddie] could no longer deal with Mike's 'moods,' as we refer to them here. Chernoff and HR do nothing when it comes to Francesa. This is not a secret. Any reader of TheMikeFrancesa.com knows it. Mike has belittled staff on-air for years without any repercussion from management. See Eddie, Sal Licata, Chris Carlin. They've all been harassed on-air. And you can't get rid of all that tape."
Another source indicated that through it all, Erickson kept his cool. 'Reports of Eddie losing it in a brawl with Francesa are a bit extreme. No fight. Exxagerated.' The extra X was their emphasis.
A third person pointed out that there was no argument about Erickson wanting on-air time. "Any person reading the Blitz or even a casual listener of the show has heard Mike say many times that few are like Erickson - he wants to produce and doesn't want to be on-air. Yet earlier this week when Francesa talked about CBS hiring for the now vacant spot...he goes out of his way to point out that it is not an on-air spot. Even the CBS job req lists it that way. (This is NOT an on-air position is how it reads, emphasis, theirs) Why is he going on and saying it isn't an on-air spot? Do you think it was so he could say Eddie left because he wanted to host somewhere down the line? Of course! His ego keeps him from recalling that Eddie doesn't care to host. Because if Mike says it on-air it has to be true and my stupid listeners believe everything."
WFAN. Where the inmate runs The asylum. Hey, let's be honest, it is his studio.
Mark Chernoff refused comment on this story.
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