The fact that I am merely writing this article, Boomer Esiason and Sal Licata have accomplished what they set out to do. However, that doesn't make it right.
Let's start with Sal Licata, the man who was fired from WFAN as a Board OP back in 2010. I wasn't there, so I cannot confirm the reason behind it, but you can Google Sal Licata and Connecticut School of Broadcasting. Just like fellow former WFAN host, and absolute upstanding citizen Craig Carton, who went to jail and still got rehired by the station, WFAN hired Licata back. That alone raises questions about WFAN's standards. Both of these individuals, I struggle to use the word 'broadcasters or men' for them, are addicts to the Hot take. By definition, a hot take is a quickly produced, strongly worded, and often deliberately provocative or sensational opinion or reaction (as in response to current news). So much so that they, in fact, simply make things up. Last year, all you heard from Sal Licata was that Pete Alonso was a cancer, he is hated in the locker room. This is from a man who wouldn't know where the Mets clubhouse was, even using Google Maps or Waze.
He got what he wanted though, retweets and dialogue. But at what cost? Pete Alonso is a professional baseball player and a human being; he goes about his business in a professional manner. Trust me, I've been in the locker room, I cover games, I talk to the players as well as Pete, he is not now or has ever been a cancer in the locker room. Unfortunately, we have become a society that allows people to simply say things on social media without any facts to back them up, all in the hopes of a retweet or a response, either positive or negative. That was Sal's narrative last year. Now, 4 games into the season, his new hot take is Francisco Lindor isn't having fun being a Met, the pressure is getting to him. Again, 4 games in, still no sight of Sal at Citi Field or Clover Park for that matter. As someone who has had the privilege of covering Henrik Lundqvist's entire career as a Ranger, and Curtis Granderson's tenure as a Met, I have to say that the only person I would mention along with those two as far as professionalism, and going out of their way to be attentive to the media, fans, and everything that comes along with being a player in New York, in good times and in bad, is Francisco Lindor. I do not ever have to ask Francisco for an interview; every time after he takes batting practice, he stops and says, "Let's do it," and we talk. Does he like losing? No. Does he feel pressure to put the team on his back? Yes. Would he feel the same in any other uniform? Yes, it's because he wants to win, it's in his DNA. However, you will never ever see Francisco without a smile; you will never see him not working hard or helping teammates. I have spoken to several of the new players that have come from other organizations about what players have impressed them in the locker room as far as leadership, and everyone to a man mentions Francisco. It's just so irresponsible that someone can get on the air and say whatever they want to a huge audience (why they have a huge audience is beyond me, but hey, Jerry Springer and car wrecks always draw attention) without any basis in truth.
Now, let's turn to Norman Esiason, who, as a former professional athlete, should know better. Reacting to Pete Alonso going to a concert a night before a game, Norman actually said this: "There was Shoeless Joe, and now there’s Clueless Pete,” Esiason said. “Clueless Pete decides to go to a concert at UBS Arena, which he has every right to do…but if you want to talk about someone who doesn’t understand the big picture and what’s going on around here…you gotta understand, you had all offseason to go to parties and screw around and go to concerts and do whatever you want, and nobody would say two bits about it. But when you go on stage at a concert after you lost your first two games and have a game at 1:40 the next day, that’s a bad look, and you’re gonna get roasted for it. I’m sorry, that’s just not parcel to a winning athlete with a winning DNA and somebody who wants to lead their team out of the abyss.”
This is so interesting coming from a former professional athlete who, believe it or not, had a Big Mouth Clause written into his contract because Bengal management was so concerned that he was too focused on writing a book and having a TV show instead of focusing on football. It's interesting that Norman did go out of his way to say you can do anything you want in the offseason and no one would say a thing. I guess that's because in the offseason after losing the Superbowl, all Norman did was build his brand, taking every ridiculous commercial he could, including the infamous Diet Coke Goldilocks and the Three Bears commercial. I guess he needed to drink Diet Coke because he needed to fit into Hanes for that commercial or look good for his soap opera appearance, and of course, he must have had some downtime at LA Boom, the club he co-owned with teammate Cris Collinsworth.
All of that took place in an offseason after the Bengals went 12-4 and lost in the Superbowl. Just wondering if Norman spent some downtime in the offseason or more time working on strength and conditioning, maybe the Bengals would have fared better than 8-8 the next season, in fourth place and out of the playoffs? Maybe if Norman wasn't so consumed by his entire life of hearing himself talk, he would have had a winning record as a QB, as opposed to 13 games under .500 and only making the playoffs two seasons out of the 14 years he played. As Norman's son-in-law is Matt Martin, I would love to know if Matt Martin ever went to a concert or a football game for that matter, during the early part of a season ,oh for instance maybe two games in, like maybe a Jets Broncos game for instance, if he would dare open his mouth.
Too bad the Big Mouth Clause wasn't in perpetuity; we would all be a lot better off.
I'll hang up and listen, on second thought, I'll just hang up...