Chris Carlin, Bart Scott and Maggie Gray Officially Announced As Mike Francesa's Replacements

Me, when WFAN made this announcement:

Snoooooooooze. I dont wanna be rude here. I’m not trying to be a dick. No reason to bash those three people who are just trying to make a good radio program in their new time slot. But goodness gracious this is NOT a good choice by WFAN. I like Chris Carlin. Continent has been around for a long time. Hes even had some classic memorable moments (Pandemonium in Piscataway!) Maggie Gray is very cool. I’ve heard bits and pieces of her on Moose and Maggie and I follow her on Twitter. I actually thought she would be a good fit at Barstool. And Bart Scott is Bart Scott. I think hes a funny guy to interview here and there. Get some truly candid answers and a few sound bytes a la “CANT WAIT!” Hes mildly entertaining in very short doses and so I think him being a full time radio host is preposterous.

And the only thing more preposterous than that, is mashing all three of these people together and thinking they can replace the most successful and most important sports radio show of all time. I mean that is a laughable idea. Truly had a laugh out loud moment when they announced the threesome. This is such an old, backwards way of thinking from old, backwards radio execs. Thinking that you can just grab three individuals with little to no chemistry, little to no reason for them to be paired together for show, and little to no reason or logic behind them specifically being the replacement for Mike Francesa – and think they are gonna save the station as they go through a very tumultuous time – is just very naive and tone deaf.

My only thought is that WFAN knew that replacing Mike was an impossible task and this is sort of the placeholder for now. Like in 12 to 18 months the real replacements are coming down the pike? That way their real choice isnt set up to fail by having to replace the Sports Pope. Instead their real choice is replacing Carlin/Maggie/Bart Scott, a much easier task.

Overall, I just thought this was WFANs chance to recognize the evolving landscape of the industry and change directions for the future. With the Craig Carton disaster jeopardizing the morning and the departure of Francesa killing the afternoon, this was WFAN’s chance to forget about the old ways and join us in the new world. Take a risk. Go a different direction. Get younger, Get funnier, get more advanced and forward thinking. I’m not even talking about Barstool with all that. Obviously we learned from a ESPN partnership, Barstool trying to get down with the big, proper, old school titans aint gonna work. So it didnt have to be a Barstool guy they tapped for the replacement, but maybe SOMEONE who embodies SOME of those qualities? Because they kind of have this built in excuse of A) “Craig Carton fucked us” and B) “How can you replace an immortal?” and so why not use this pivotal turning point in the station’s trajectory to break the mold, do something different, and commit to a whole new WFAN? If you stumble out of the gates, you have that built in excuse. That excuse allows you to weather the storm of growing pains while your audience adapts and changes. Instead they stayed traditional and boring. Theres no adapting or changing, really. Its just gonna be a regular ass radio program with three people artificially smashed together trying to do what Mike Francesa invented 30 years ago. I wish them the absolute best but, boy, WFAN did not do them any favors with this approach.