Francesa backed by Boomer in WFAN beef

This week was supposed to feature a joyous celebration for local sports radio station WFAN, but with the egos of hosts Mike Francesa and Craig Carton in the spotlight, a little bit of inf ighting should hardly come as a surprise.

The station celebrated its 30th anniversary Thursday, and Francesa and Carton were right in the middle of the latest WFAN controversy.

Never shy in his criticism of Francesa, Carton referenced Francesa’s latest gaffe (his use of the term “Oriental”) in an interview with Newsday and offered up his thoughts on Francesa’s career, which is in its final months after 30 years at WFAN.

“I think whatever legacy fans of Mike think he has ... I think he’s done great damage to the legacy,” Carton told the paper. “I think there are aspects of what he does that have become kind of a caricature of himself. I don’t think that he is what he once was, 15, 20 years ago, as the foremost authority on a lot of sports.”

Francesa fired back later in the day.

“My legacy is great, and that’s why they’ve always been behind me in every possible part of this business, whether it’s awards, polls, people’s perceptions, they’ve always been behind me and they’ll always be behind me, and that’s their problem, not mine,” Francesa told Newsday. “My show is every bit as good as it’s ever been.”

In a surprising twist, however, Carton’s co-host, Boomer Esiason, joined Team Francesa in this latest round.

“I think his legacy is intact, man,” the former NFL quarterback told Carton during their show Friday morning. “I think it’s an unbelievable run that is unheard of in this business, that’s all.”

Esiason also called his partner’s comments “so small and so petty,” and continued to criticize Carton on air.

Esiason even hinted at his partner being jealous, which Carton has long scoffed at when Francesa would accuse him of it.