Mushnick vs. Francesa

"What a shame that Ryan Braun, last week named the National League MVP, didn’t take a few seconds to give credit where credit is deserved.

Braun, after all, became a lock to win the award even before the season began, when our incomparable all-seeing and all-knowing evaluator of human athleticism and horse flesh, Mike Francesa, dismissed Braun as nothing special, not even among the majors’ top two-way outfielders.

Francesa even ridiculed and stepped on a caller who asked him how he could not include Braun on his list of the best outfielders in the majors."

Hilarious that Mushnick remembers this conversation and calls out Francesa.

More ridiculous that I remember this conversation on Francesa's radio show.

It's quite true that Francesa dismissed Braun's credentials. But the topic was whether or not MLB had any OF superstars. Where are the Willies, Mickeys, and Dukes?

So Francesa wasn't so much dismissing Braun vis a vis Braun's peers, he was dismissing Braun vis a vis other OF superstars in MLB history.

I'm hardly defending Francesa -- this is the sports radio host who doesn't know who Al Albuquerque is -- and Francesa probably has no idea how good Ryan Braun is. But Sherman is slightly misrepresenting the conversation.


"There is no one who speaks more authoritatively and more imperiously — and gets more colossally wrong — than Francesa. He can turn a three-TD road ’dog into a blowout winner simply by stating that the visitors shouldn’t even bother to get off the bus. Good thing he didn’t take the U.S. in the Cuban Missile Crisis."

Cuban Missile Crisis ???


Here's the thing: Every person who picks NFL games is wrong half the time and they always have a short memory.

For inexplicable reasons, they're paid for their opinions.

For even less explicable reasons, lots of people listen.

So, as long as this occurs, Mushnick will always have a lot of fodder for his Scorecard of Life.