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Mike Francesa coverage

Neil Best

Mike Francesa will become an unrestricted media free agent effective at midnight Friday, a status he has not experienced in nearly three-and-a-half decades. 
"It’s been a long time," he told Newsday on Wednesday. 
Even though Francesa’s final show on WFAN was in July of 2020 – when he ended what had been a limited role on the station – he has remained under contract to Audacy, WFAN’s parent company. 
He was limited in what he could do on other outlets and has turned down most requests to appear even as a radio guest. 
The limited exceptions have included a couple of mini-reunions with his former partner, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, on SiriusXM. He also appeared on WFAN to wish departing former colleagues Joe Benigno and Steve Somers well. 
But now, at 67, he is plotting his next media move, free to do as he wishes. Two things he said he will not do: Work full-time anywhere, or work in any capacity at WFAN. 
It is not that he has ill will toward his former station. He considers himself a FAN lifer. But that ship has sailed. 
"I have no interest in going backward," he said. "My time at the FAN is done. My story at WFAN is written. That wouldn’t interest me . . . I’d like to see the people there get opportunities." 
Francesa left Audacy on good terms but has acknowledged regrets about his messy final act, including a return to the station in May of 2018, four months after an elaborate farewell that lasted most of 2017. 
He left his full-time job again after 2019 and spent the first half of 2020 with a limited presence on Radio.com and WFAN before departing altogether. 
Since then, his public sharing of sports opinions mostly has been limited to his Twitter account. 
"From a FAN standpoint, to me, the book is closed," Francesa said. "But that doesn’t mean I still don’t feel like broadcasting. I’ve missed the audience. I’ve missed the buzz. I’ve missed some of that. It’s just logical." 
Now anything goes. So what will it be, if not WFAN? 
Francesa said he has had offers but is focused on something "that would be fun or gives me a chance to have a new experience . . . Maybe I’ll surprise somebody and do something that would surprise me." 
He mentioned perhaps being involved in a show as a once-a-week contributor, which is something that fans long have suggested he do on Russo’s show. 
"Nothing’s been discussed," Francesa said. "I would say right now, probably not. I think he’s got a pretty full schedule. He hasn’t offered that. He’s the one who has a show. I don’t. 
"I don’t know if I would do something like that. I don’t say ‘no;' automatically. I don’t know if it would make sense. But like I said, everything’s pretty much open now." 
Francesa said the past one-and-a-half years have afforded him valuable time with his three children as they near college age. When they leave home, he and his wife, Roe, plan to spend less of winter in Manhasset and more in Florida. 
Speaking of Florida, the primary focus of Francesa’s attention for the next several months will be the highly regarded horse he co-owns, High Oak, who will race on the Florida circuit this winter with an eye on a Kentucky Derby berth. 
"It’s my dream," Francesa said. "One of my goals in life, from many, many years ago, was to get a horse that had a chance into the Derby. I didn’t say win the Derby. I said I want to be there right as they get ready to enter the gate with a horse that has a legitimate chance to win. 
"We have the horse. I think he’s that kind of horse. The question is: Can you keep him healthy? Can you get him there? Can he get the racing luck he needs and get there?" 
Francesa will take that as it comes, like life itself. He said at his age, he finds himself tweeting RIPs too often. He thought about that when he learned that John Madden had died on Tuesday. 
"In the early years, he was a fixture on ‘Mike and the Mad Dog,’" Francesa said. "He loved ‘Mike and the Mad Dog.’ That was early Madden, vintage Madden. He was so gracious to us. He was on all the time." 
Time marches on, in life and on radio. WFAN has undergone a significant generational shift over the past two years, to the point Francesa said he sometimes does not recognize the voices he hears on the station. 
"Everything that I had to do was written and done and accomplished," he said of his time at WFAN. "I’m very proud of my time there, but I think that’s over with." 
He added, "The wheel keeps moving. You have to move with it . . . FAN has had a storied life. Now it’s clearly into that second generation. It’s in the next generation, and it’s got to prove itself all over again. It’s a business where you have to prove yourself every day. Nothing stays forever."

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What's next for Mike Francesa? Former WFAN star mulls return to broadcasting

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"It’s enough already!" Steve Somers said on Monday as he fended off one last attempt at praise. "After 34 years, that’s enough of this guy. Out with the old, in with the new!" 
Well, that has been part of the point over the past two years as WFAN has undergone a generational transition in which most of the station’s remaining late-1980s originals have left. 
But as Somers’ farewell hour-plus illustrated, that process can be emotional, given the ties longtime staffers have with one another, and more importantly with listeners. 
That was as true with Somers, 74, as anyone, given his unique style and empathetic approach, particularly during the wee hours that were his specialty. 
Longtime fan Jerry Seinfeld opened the farewell show’s calls by thanking Somers on behalf "of all the sports fans that enjoy your rhythms, your humor, and I would say especially your kindness and humanity. You always try to be decent in your shows, and I always thought that was very refreshing." 
Somers’ final full show was Friday night, but WFAN gave him an additional hour to say goodbye starting at 1 p.m. Monday, which bled into the first 20 minutes of "Carton and Roberts." 
Those who took part in the finale included Seinfeld, former Yankee Bernie Williams and WFAN luminaries past and present, including Mike Francesa, Mark Chernoff, John Minko, "The" Eddie Scozzare, Rich Ackerman, Steve Levy and Paul Arzooman — who worked with Somers on his elaborate audio creations. 
Francesa praised the "incredible impact" Somers had on the station. He called Somers as big a part of WFAN "as anyone who has ever stepped through the doors." 
Afterward, Somers joked, "I’m surprised Mike didn’t refer to me as a ‘compiler’ for lasting 34 years." 
Minko said Somers’ impact was "immeasurable." 
"The attention has been overwhelming, certainly surreal," Somers said of the outpouring of support in recent weeks. "You can make the argument over the top, too. 
"But know this: So much, absolutely, appreciated. For those I did not put to sleep late at night, the heart and the thanks goes to you. With love and plenty of respect, always, I’ll never forget you for making the last 34 years the happiest of my life." 
Seinfeld called in from Hollywood, where he said he is making a movie about the invention of Pop-Tarts. Somers did get Seinfeld to make one comment about his beloved Mets: 
"You have to give [owner] Steve Cohen a chance. I’ve met him, I like him, I think he’s very smart. I think he’s motivated, but this is a new world for him, so you have to give him a chance." 
Scozzare made a wisecrack about Somers now joining the "involuntary retiree club for FAN" with Minko and Chernoff. Somers had hoped to continue working but not on the overnight shift, which is what he was offered. 
Eventually Somers decided the tribute had started to sound too much like a eulogy. He tried to hand the baton to Craig Carton, but Carton insisted he say goodbye alone in the studio one last time. 
Somers thanked his listeners, wished them "the best of everything" and encouraged them to continue "listening to the best talk radio station in New York City and in America." 
Then, as he did early Saturday, he ended it with Vera Lynn’s classic recording of "We’ll Meet Again."

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One final farewell to 'Schmoozer' as Steve Somers hosts his last hour on WFAN

One final farewell to WFAN's 'Schmoozer'

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Steve Somers, WFAN’s longest-serving daily host, will be leaving the station "more sooner rather than later," he said on the air early Thursday morning. 
After he made several allusions to his imminent departure early in the three-hour show, callers asked him for more details in the final half-hour or so, and Somers described the decision as a "mutual thing." 
"I’m at peace with it," he said. "I’m not being fired." 
Somers, 74, said he was offered a return to his old overnight shift but declined it. 
Shortly before 2 a.m., he told a caller, "What I’ve done before, I don’t want to do again, working five hours overnight. They made it clear that they wanted to keep me around, but the bottom line is the time period. I would need to recharge the batteries and so forth and so on. 
"One thing I don’t want to do is have a farewell tour. [Mike] Francesa had that, and Joe Benigno had that, and I don’t want to go through all of the gladhanding, the hugging and the kisses and all that stuff. That would embarrass me, number one, and number two, I would rather share the information with those people who gave me the support and gave me, really, a life and gave me a career as far as that goes and that’s the audience late at night." 
WFAN did not set a date for Somers’ last show. Chris Oliviero, a senior vice president for Audacy, WFAN’s parent company, issued a statement that said, "Yes, sadly it is true. Steve will be wrapping up his full-time run at WFAN sometime this fall. He is without a doubt one of the most important building blocks in the history of WFAN. 
"Steve and ‘the FAN’ became stars together. The voice, the wit, the humor, the catchphrases, all iconic. Now we have to convince him to give us all, especially the listeners, a chance to celebrate him, because he is worthy of the accolades." 
In a subsequent phone interview with Newsday, Oliviero reiterated his priority to arrange a proper sendoff, saying, "We do really want to do something big for him. That’s my job to coax him to do something. I’m going to make that my personal challenge." 
Somers said he might return for occasional appearances as a fill-in and reiterated he will leave on good terms after speaking to WFAN executives Oliviero and Spike Eskin. 
"You want to give people a chance who are young and who are talented, and this station is doing that," he said. 
 
 
In an interview with Newsday in March, Somers called himself "the last one standing" from the original roster of hosts and indicated he might not be at it much longer. 
 
"Maybe I’m the next one not standing, who knows?" he said. 
 
He added then, "I understand where the direction of the station has gone, and I don’t have any ego problems at all, certainly not at this stage . . . I think so many of the young people at WFAN, both on the air and on the other side of the microphone, are very bright and very, very talented. 
 
"You want to keep up with the times, and again, I totally understand where I’m at at this stage of my life and this stage of my career." 
 
Among other things, Somers is known for his friendship with regular caller and Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld. "Jerry from Queens" returned to the show in April after a long absence. 
 
Somers had been upset with Seinfeld for several years over what Seinfeld characterized as a misunderstanding, telling Newsday, "Ridiculous. I love Mr. Somers."

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Steve Somers leaving WFAN 'sooner rather than later'

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Newsday

Mike Francesa cropped

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