Catching up with Mike Francesa as he turns 70

Mike Francesa was 35 when “Mike and the Mad Dog” debuted on WFAN in 1989, now precisely half a lifetime ago. He turns 70 on Wednesday.

Seventy! Does that sound weird to him?

“The obvious answer is that it beats the alternative,” he said. “But yes, it’s a little weird.”

The goal now, he said, is to be live to be 90, “and then I take my chances on the next 10 years.”

The good news for Francesa and his family is that he seems well-positioned for a healthy and happy stretch run.

For one thing, he said he is healthier now than he was during the grind of 5 ½-hour daily shifts on WFAN, especially regarding his weight.

“My weight is much better than it was then,” he said. “It’s just a lot easier now, schedule-wise, and I get out on the golf course a lot.”

He also has found a professional niche that allows him to stay involved in sports talk without the pressures and limitations of a full-time gig. For the past two years, he has done a podcast for Rush Street Interactive tied to its BetRivers brand. He recently re-signed for another three years.

To this point, Francesa said he has averaged three or four podcasts a week but plans now to aim for one every weekday most of the year.

The durations of the pods vary, but they are far shorter than his old WFAN shows, and can be done on his own schedule from a home studio.

“I have complete freedom to do whatever I want, and I do it whenever I want,” he said.

Francesa initially left WFAN in 2017, returned in 2018 and left again in mid-2020. He knew anything that followed would give him less visibility, but he is fine with his current lower profile.

“All I ever missed was not having a forum when I wanted it, and now I have that,” he said.

Francesa said more and more listeners, especially those in his age bracket, are catching on to the podcast process.

“When I’m out, it's funny, there are still a lot of guys who will come up to me and say, ‘Oh, I miss you.’ And I'll say, ‘Well, you know, you can get me.’ And it’s, ‘Oh, I don’t know how to do that.’ But it's less than it was.”

Chris Oliviero, market president for Audacy New York, WFAN’s parent company, said, “I’m happy for Mike, because he’s doing what he wants on his schedule, and he’s earned that after all these decades.

“I love Mike. I still talk to Mike. I value my conversations with Mike.”

Francesa said he still listens to WFAN sometimes when he is in his car.

Like many old-school radio personalities, he is not a fan of the trend at WFAN and other stations around the country toward non-sports “guy talk.”

He said he and his former partner, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo resisted the early push for that, but he recognizes it is now an accepted part of the radio landscape.

“It's just a very different generation,” Francesa said. “It’s moved away from real sports talk – real, hard-edged, passionate sports talk.”

Russo, who left WFAN in 2008, is as visible as ever, now that he has added weekly appearances on ESPN’s “First Take” to his shows on SiriusXM and MLB Network.

Francesa said he is happy for Russo’s ongoing success. “More power to him,” he said.

Their relationship has had ups and downs over decades, but he said they now communicate every month or so via text about professional observations or family news.

Francesa, who was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018, was pleased to have Russo join him in 2022.

“I thought it was important for him,” Francesa said. “I thought it was something he deserved. I was very happy when he got in.”

Francesa and his wife, Roe, still live primarily in Manhasset but also have a home in Florida. His twin older children, Emily and Jack, are first-year students at Villanova and Hamilton. Jack is a football tight end at Hamilton.

His younger son, Harrison, is a high school senior who has sports talk aspirations and has interned with Barstool Sports.

In addition to family, golf and podcasts, Francesa continues to follow his passion for horse racing. His latest star is Reynolds Channel, owned with his partner, Lee Einsidler, the CEO of Casamigos tequila.

When Einsidler proposed the name, Francesa quickly approved, since Reynolds Channel is the body of water in Nassau County on which he spent much of his Long Beach youth.

Reynolds Channel raced only once last year as a 2-year-old, but his owners and trainer Bill Mott hope to get him qualified for the Kentucky Derby in May.

Francesa said his “goal in life as a horseman” has been to have an entry in the Derby with a reasonable chance to win.

“A lot of people who have been racing their whole life, and have put a lot more effort and money into it than I have, have never gotten to the Derby,” he said.

“It’s not easy. It's always a long-shot dream. But it's always been my dream.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.