{"id":9,"date":"2011-05-12T13:21:23","date_gmt":"2011-05-12T17:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/changingchannels\/?p=9"},"modified":"2011-05-12T13:31:20","modified_gmt":"2011-05-12T17:31:20","slug":"yes-francesas-interviews-can-be-fan-tastic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/changingchannels\/2011\/05\/yes-francesas-interviews-can-be-fan-tastic.html","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;YES, Francesa&#8217;s Interviews Can Be FAN-tastic&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Chris Herren on Durfee hoops\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4_QBDMiAkqM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>Mike Francesa may not be the most jocular guy around, but credit the man for being a strong interviewer.<\/p>\n<p>Listening to the long-time sports talk show host, heard on WFAN and simulcast on television&#8217;s YES Network, the other day I was reminded of why he has been so successful for two decades.<\/p>\n<p>Francesa interviewed former NBA player Chris Herren Tuesday and it was a terrific spot on a person who let a drug addiction ruin a potentially great playing career.<\/p>\n<p>Herren, now in his mid-30&#8217;s and far removed from his playing days at  Fresno State under the controversial Jerry Tarkanian, appeared on the show to promote his book <em>Basketball Junkie<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>While Herren ruined opportunities to become a basketball star with his hometown Celtics, then later overseas, due to a heroin addiction, the larger picture Francesa allowed to emerge is the standout person Herren has become.<\/p>\n<p>Herren now mentors kids on and off the basketball court through a company he created in 2009 and appears to be a great husband and father, as well.\u00a0 He also enjoys watching his high school alma mater, Durfee High, play. (see above video clip)<\/p>\n<p>Now that&#8217;s success &#8230; and credit Francesa for giving Herren the opportunity to tell his tale without being judgmental or heavy-handed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mike Francesa may not be the most jocular guy around, but credit the man for being a strong interviewer. Listening to the long-time sports talk show host, heard on WFAN and simulcast on television&#8217;s YES Network, the other day I was reminded of why he has been so successful for two decades. Francesa interviewed former&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":407,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7,11,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","category-sports","category-talk","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&quot;YES, Francesa&#039;s Interviews Can Be FAN-tastic&quot; - Changing Channels<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/changingchannels\/2011\/05\/yes-francesas-interviews-can-be-fan-tastic.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;YES, Francesa&#039;s Interviews Can Be FAN-tastic&quot; - Changing Channels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mike Francesa may not be the most jocular guy around, but credit the man for being a strong interviewer. 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Francesa interviewed former&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/changingchannels\/2011\/05\/yes-francesas-interviews-can-be-fan-tastic.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Changing Channels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-12T17:21:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-05-12T17:31:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mattaug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"YES, Francesa's Interviews Can Be FAN-tastic\" - Changing Channels","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/changingchannels\/2011\/05\/yes-francesas-interviews-can-be-fan-tastic.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"YES, Francesa's Interviews Can Be FAN-tastic\" - Changing Channels","og_description":"Mike Francesa may not be the most jocular guy around, but credit the man for being a strong interviewer. 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