Every longtime WFAN listener has heard Artie in Brooklyn grace the airwaves to rant about his beloved New York Jets, and now Steve Harvey knows Artie too.
Apparently, Harvey has an arbitration-based reality court TV show where he plays the role of a judge. Harvey is not a real judge, but he plays one on TV. And Monday night, WFAN caller Artie in Brooklyn (Artie Panagiotakos) was on the show, suing his friend Vinny Borriello for $1,800 over a football survivor pool.
If you’re not a WFAN listener and you never heard Artie in Brooklyn’s voice scream through the speakers of your car, quotes won’t do this clip any justice, you have to watch.
Steve Harvey, meet WFAN caller Artie in Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/6rKmCmGy5H
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 10, 2023
According to the defendant, Artie’s friend Vinny Borriello, picks for the survivor pool in question are due Friday night. If the pick isn’t made in time, the player automatically receives the consensus pick, which is already pretty forgiving, many pools consider a non-pick as an automatic knockout.
Saturday morning October 30, 2021, Artie sent in his pick, but it was too late, Vinny informed the frequent WFAN caller that his pick was auto selected as the Cincinnati Bengals over the New York Jets. Sunday October 31, 2021, the short-lived Mike White craze began as he led the Jets to a stunning victory over the Bengals and subsequently knocked Artie out of the pool.
Refusing to accept defeat, Artie continued making his picks for the remainder of the season and would have won the pool had he not received the Bengals as an auto-selection, which is why he’s now suing his friend for $1,800. It’s important to note, their friendship has not ended over the squabble, it just landed them on Judge Steve Harvey.
And after Harvey learned that Artie, a physical education teacher, planned to use the $1,800 to take his students golfing, the comedian and acting judge dismissed the lawsuit and awarded the plaintiff $5,000 to fund the field trip.
Glad that’s settled, but someone should show this clip to Aaron Rodgers. Maybe this is what everyone cautioned Rodgers about when they forecasted his potential clash of the titans with the scary New York media. It’s not tough questions from reporters that Rodgers has to worry about, it’s the raucous Jets fans calling into WFAN Monday morning after a loss.
Every media market might have sound beat reporters to press Rodgers after a game, but not every media market hammers the phones the way sports radio does in the northeast. Certainly, no other media market has Artie in Brooklyn.
