Mike Francesa

It’s easy to see how the NFL’s New York Jets and MLB’s New York Mets can be confused, but it’s rarer to see those confused on-air three times by a New York media figure as prominent as WFAN host (and former Fox Sports 1 personality!) Mike Francesa. Francesa did just that Friday, though. Here’s the clip, from Funhouse:

So, a caller brings up the Jets’ number of one-o-clock (and thus, non-primetime) kickoffs, Francesa talks about how “unbelievable” it is they’re playing 13 games at that time, and then he starts talking about their Thursday Night Football game against the Bills, but calls them the Mets. And he does so not once, not twice, but thrice!

“The Mets are in primetime one time, which they have to be, and that’s on a Thursday night against Buffalo. That’s it. I mean, one time. That is unbelievable. They have really given the Mets…they’re treating the Mets like they’re going to have an awful year, and it kind of looks like they will.”

It does seem appropriate for the Sports Pope to deny the Jets thrice. And the Mets probably would have an awful year if they played in the NFL. They do have one former Jets player in their minor-league system in Tim Tebow, but his career there wasn’t exactly a high point, and the rest of the roster doesn’t have much football experience, as Funhouse went on to note:

Fortunately for the Mets, they’re still playing in MLB, and they have three primetime Sunday Night Baseball games even before June. The Jets can’t say the same. We’ll have to be on the lookout to see if Mike brings the Brooklyn Nets’ NFL primetime games up next. Errors happen, but this one’s particularly funny given Francesa’s obsession with discussing New York sports and almost nothing else.

It’s been quite the week for Francesa on just the NFL scheduling front, as he also referenced the Giants’ Week 5 game against “San Diego” (the now- Los Angeles Chargers) Thursday:

Also this week, Francesa discussed the Pacers’ “Jeff George” (he meant Paul), narrated sending a text to Bill Simmons on-air, mumbled his way through a Kristaps Porzingis press release (and was repeatedly mocked for it by WFAN colleagues Boomer and Carton), and Deadspin also ran a big piece on one of the infamous “lost” Mike and the Mad Dog tapes from the week after the September 11 attacks in 2001, bringing up that “loyalty oath” discussion again (no specific “loyalty oath” references were found, but Francesa and Russo did berate a caller who talked about loyalty to Israel). And Friday also marked the official premiere (at the Tribeca Film Festival) of the 30 for 30 on Mike and the Mad Dog; it will air this summer on ESPN. Hopefully Francesa gets his New York team names right in that one.

[Funhouse on Twitter]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.