See - Francesa sees himself and, begrudgingly, Imus as the only reasons all sports radio took off. Smulyan should be merely a footnote as far as he is concerned. And yesterday he was at his repugnant worst.
A few examples -- July 1, 1987 was the initial broadcast of all sports format WFAN. Smulyan sold the station in 1991. Francesa told him yesterday, "Oh, you must be sick you sold the station before it had really become successful!"
Jeff sold it for $70 million dollars - the most ever spent on a station at the time.
Jeff bought the Seattle Mariners in 1989 for $70 million - selling it 3 years later for $100 million. Francesa pressed him on this, too: "Oh, it must kill you that you sold. You see Jeffrey Loria and he's going to make a billion dollars in just 10 years! Must make you sick!" (He will but it's now been his team for 15 years and counting.)
Those two attacks on the 70 year old Smulyan were distasteful enough but Francesa didn't stop there. He relayed a 'story' purportedly about Pete Franklin. Francesa claims that when the station hired he and Chris Russo, Franklin called Mike in his office and said to him, "You're great Mike. You are a great hire. But this Russo? He's an idiot!"
Sure he did, Mike. It never happened.
Guess Francesa expected a bit more...loyalty out of Smulyan.
What did Francesa do for an encore? After he got rid of Jeff Smulyan he claimed 2 sources told him that the Mets fan, Cameron Scher, kicked out of Citi Field for wearing the 'Fire Terry Collins' shirt had been kicked out 2 nights in a row. Yep, sources told him.
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