Bill Buchanan, “Mike Zaun,” joins the show to discuss viral fame from his Mike Francesa parody, a behind the scenes look at his Mike Zaun videos, Francesa retirement from WFAN and more

Bill Buchanan “Mike Zaun”

As many of you assuredly already know, Mike Francesa is retiring from WFAN on Dec. 15 after 30 years behind the microphone. We’ve got a big show planned to send off the Pope that week, and here’s a small taste of it. Bill Buchanan, who you might know from his Mike Francesa parody videos as Mike Zaun, is one of many guests who will be featured on the Mike Francesa Goodbye Tour Extravaganza Show on Dec. 13 and 14. Let’s find out how Mike Zaun came to be.

Before we get into Episode 94, as a reminder, The Bridge is broadcast as a one-hour radio show every Wednesday night at 7 ET / 4 PT on Sports Radio America. A rerun is then aired the following hour as well. Once the dust settles from that live broadcast, the show is released as a podcast on iTunes and on this website the following day on Thursday. You can listen to the show every Wednesday on Sports Radio America here or through the TuneIn app, and find some bonus content, including a weekly gambling segment, when the show comes out in podcast form.

  • “Sports News Read Like Real News” gave a flashback to the original Buffalo Bills dildo tosser (3:22).
  • The Bridge Question of the Week is: What is your favorite Mike Francesa moment, and why? Leave a voicemail or text in your answer to 929-BRIDGE7, that’s 929-274-3437, and you’ll make it on the next show.
  • A flashback to one of the more popular segment’s on last year’s Christmas Spectacular, Who’s Comin’ for Christmas, which runs down the guests that might show up at your door for the Christmas party or Christmas dinner, and what professional coaches best represent them (10:16).
  • This week’s guest is Bill Buchanan, you might know him better as Mike Zaun – the portrayal of Mike Francesa as if he were doing a show during some big events in history and other pop culture moments in recent years. Bill’s first parity videos went viral with Francesa fans and throughout sports radio, including WFAN, and continue to be popular upon unexpected releases of them. He also for the chance to do his impression for the sports Pope himself at FrancesaCon. We’ll chat about going viral for his Mike Francesa character, Mike Zaun, what his inspiration was for making the videos and putting them together, what it was like to do his impersonation in front of Mike Francesa himself, what Mike means to sports radio and his retirment, and more.
  • Follow Bill on Twitter -> @BizarroZaun@BigActionBill. The interview starts at the 18:24 mark.

– In the interview, we discuss:

When he first started listening to Mike Francesa (18:33), what makes Mike stand out (20:27), when he realized he had a good Francesa impersonation and the idea for the videos (22:22), when the videos went viral (26:18), turning the parody into a series (27:58), the research that went into the videos and teaching some history lessons in the process (30:44), if he has a favorite video of the three wars (32:51), getting to do his Mike Francesa impersonation, for Mike (37:02), Mike Zaun meets pop culture (39:16), if “Mike Zaun” is retired (41:10), what he’ll miss the most from Mike leaving WFAN (42:35) and him impression of Mike Francesa on coaching the Yankees (44:46).

  • “The Toll Bridge with Donnie RightSide.” Donnie is a professional handicapper who knows a thing or two about the lines of the sports world and joins The Bridge for a weekly segment to help us get on the right side of those lines, based on his years of numbers, strategy and overall knowledge of the market. This week, he’ll offer up some of his best bets to correspond with The Bridge Fade of the Week, where listeners are urged to completely go in the opposite direction of the show. You can find Donnie at DonnieRightSide.com and SportsBookReview.com and follow him on Twitter @RightSideVP. And remember, this segment is for entertainment purposes only (47:05).
  • “Five Minutes in the Film Room” with Joe Baress, former star of the prestigious John and Joe Sports Show, gives out awards for the booms and busts in the movies for the 11 months of 2017 in a special end of year installment. And don’t worry, Joe will assuredly have reviews of some possible Academy Award winners and a preview of the Oscars come 2018 (53:44). You can follow Joe on Twitter @dukemich and read his movie reviews, previews and ratings at cupof-joe.com.

Call in or text the show 24/7 at 929-BRIDGE7, that’s (929) 274-3437. Contact the show with your questions, comments, stories or hot takes and you might be featured in the next installment of The Bridge.

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You can listen to the show live on Wednesday nights at 7 ET via Sports Radio America or the TuneIn app.

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Show music: ‘Actionable’ and ‘Epic,’ courtesy of www.bensound.com.

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