Mike Francesa rips Fox sideline reporter Kristina Pink for not mentioning wind

If Mike Francesa wants one thing from NFL sideline reporters, it’s to make sure they let the audience know when it’s windy at a game.

Adam Amin, Drew Brees, and Kristina Pink were on the call for Fox’s coverage of the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers Sunday afternoon from a windy MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. And while Brees probably knew he was going to be under a microscope as he made his analyst debut for Fox, it was Pink who drew the wrath of Francesa.

Francesa recognized the wind would be a factor the minute he stepped outside and went to church Sunday morning, but the Fox broadcast still should have referenced it for everyone else. Amin opened the broadcast, saying it felt like November, and the Fox weather graphic noted the 18mph wind. But after Pink failed to state the windy conditions, Francesa was left wanting more.

“Can somebody tell the sideline reporter before the game,” Francesa began to rant. “When they’re gonna do a standup, you’re in Giants Stadium – which is one of the windiest stadiums in all of football – on a day where it is blowing upwards of gusts to 38, blowing in the high-20s all day, the wind is gonna be an enormous factor in the game. Never mentions the wind in the standup. Why bother?”

Francesa knows about the importance of wind reports from experience. Earlier this year, the legendary sports radio host recorded his podcast with stitches across his forehead, telling the audience he suffered the injury when the wind blew the trunk door down onto his head. Maybe Francesa’s fate would have been different with a prior wind report.

Pink mentioned the quarterbacks during her pregame standup on the field. She mentioned Jordan Love’s newfound focus on fundamentals and Jameis Winston being a possible spark plug for the Giants. But she didn’t mention the wind. And if an NFL sideline reporter isn’t going to report on the wind, then Francesa sees no need for the report.

Sideline reporters are used to fans questioning their value to a broadcast. But being devalued as a sideline reporter for not mentioning the wind factor was probably a first for Pink.