The Time Mike Francesa Ripped Marv Albert for "Vulturing" Ian Eagle's Job

Let me preface this by saying if you have audio or video from the June 15, 2004 edition of Mike and the Mad Dog, please slide into my DMs and we can be best friends. Anonymity guaranteed.

So as it turns out there was a time where, in light of Mike Francesa’s actions in returning to WFAN and triggering the demotion of his replacements, Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray, and Bart Scott, his words can be thrown back at him.

Preserved by a story in the Hartford Courant three days later, Mike Francesa and Chris Russo had a field day ripping Marv Albert, 63 at the time, for taking Ian Eagle’s job as broadcaster of the Nets away. Marv had been fired by the Knicks because James Dolan didn’t like how he criticized the team on MSG.

Some choice excerpts from the program:

"Francesa said Albert’s talks with YES are “vulturing” a job from Eagle. “Let the kid have a job,” Francesa said. “The poor kid!” Russo said. “[Albert] has plenty of money. Geez, let somebody else have a chance.”"

And:

"“Marv is getting a pass because he is Marv,” Francesa said. “Dog and I have always had a very good relationship with Marv. He’s obviously very angry with Dog and myself right now. But you know what? Right is right and Marv is wrong.”"

And:

"“Here’s the other point of it” that apparently applies to Eagle, Francesa said. “Marv’s not young. He’s been around the block. He’s been doing this for a long, long time.” Said Russo: “He’s 63 years of age! Marv has worked his whole fricking life. He’s made millions and millions of dollars.”"

Okay, you get the point. It should be noted that Ian Eagle was their guy. He was a producer at WFAN shortly out of college and they felt personal attachment to seeing him succeed. Nevertheless, this is very similar to what Francesa is doing to Chris Carlin, who produced Mike and the Mad Dog for years (even if their personal relationship is, uh, not so strong these days).

But, if anything, what Francesa is doing is worse. It’s not like he was fired from WFAN and needs a new job. Marv was released for having the audacity to speak the truth about a bad Knicks team, of which there have been many since. Francesa left WFAN on his own accord, couldn’t find a situation that paid enough for his liking elsewhere — Russo tried to broker a deal with SiriusXM but it did not come to fruition — and returned in a power play.

Ultimately, none of this matters if Francesa beats Michael Kay in the ratings and WFAN makes money, but it’s a clear example of hypocrisy.