Forget about any talk about Mike Francesa riding into the sunset. The 59-year old plans to be around for a while after signing what is termed “a long-term” deal with WFAN today.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the contract runs through 2017.

From CBS Sports Radio:

Sports Radio WFAN (660AM/101.9FM) announced today it has signed a long term agreement with Mike Francesa, keeping the venerable personality as host of PM drive (weekdays, 1:00-6:30PM, ET) on the award-winning station for several years to come.  Francesa joined WFAN in 1987, the same year the station launched as the country’s first all-sports station, and boasts more listeners than any other local sports radio host.

As part of the agreement, Francesa will also bring his long running Sunday morning “The NFL Now” show to CBS Sports Radio beginning this fall.  The program is broadcast live

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Chad Finn of the Boston Globe breaks the big story about Glenn Ordway, a sports talk radio fixture.

Finn writes:

A seismic shakeup at sports radio station WEEI is apparently imminent, with longtime host Glenn Ordway being replaced on its afternoon drive program by Mike Salk, a Boston native who has co-hosted a program on 710 ESPN in Seattle since 2009.

Ordway confirmed that he was leaving the show in the opening segment of Wednesday’s program.

Multiple industry sources have said that Salk, a Buckingham Browne and Nichols graduate with previous Boston radio experience at 1510 and the now-defunct ESPN 890, has been heavily pursued by WEEI to replace Ordway, a staple on the Boston sports radio scene since the ’70s, and that he will accept the job.

Salk did not respond to a request for comment. It is uncertain

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Dino Costa has been off the air since last Thursday. The Mad Dog Radio host explained in a post on his site after he received the news last week.

He writes:

On the other end was program director, Steve Torre.

The purpose of the call?

To inform me that I was suspended indefinitely because I accepted some money from a fan in Las Vegas to go to his Super Bowl party in Las Vegas.

I agreed to do this for the sum of $3500.

—>Plus airfare.

—>Plus hotel.

—>Plus a car service to and from the airport.

Torre told me I ran a ‘contest’.

No, I did not.

This was spontaneous, this was off the cuff, this was, in the end, radio genius.

I need not anyone at SXM to agree with me on this – it was radio genius.

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Interesting piece on Mike Francesa by Joe DePaolo of SB Nation Longform. DePaolo gets into the essense of the WFAN personality by describing his self confidence/arrogance.

DePaolo writes:

This is a frequent criticism of Francesa – his aggressive treatment of callers. The critics say he talks down to callers and belittles them. To a certain extent, Francesa will plead guilty as charged. His every utterance on the air is governed by his unshakable belief that he knows more about sports than his audience.

“I don’t believe this idea that everyone knows as much as I do,” Francesa says. “If I go to the doctor’s office, I don’t think I know as much as the doctor. He’s spent his life learning his trade. If I go to my accountant, I don’t know as much about the tax laws as he does. I’d

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We love lists. Yes we do.

In fact, some people (me) even write a book with the list theme: The Great Book of Chicago Sports Lists. And even another: Golf List Mania.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Talkers.com is getting a lot of traction for its list ranking the top 100 personalities on sports talk radio.

Here’s the top 10 of the “Heavy Hundred.”

1. Mike Francesa, WFAN, New York

2. Jim Rome, Premiere Networks

3. Dan Patrick, DirecTV/Fox Sports Radio Network

4. Boomer Esiason, Craig Carton, WFAN, New York

5. Mike Valenti, Terry Foster, WXYT, Detroit

6. Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, ESPN

7. John Dennis and Gerry Callahan, WEEI, Boston

8. Tony Kornheiser, WTEM, Washington

9. Doug Karsch and Scott Anderson, WXYT, Detroit

10. Angelo Cataldi, WIP, Philadelphia

Initial reaction:

OK, Francesa, given the weight … Continue Reading