Mike and the Mad Dog
Encyclopedia
Mike and the Mad Dog was an afternoon drive sports radio
program based out of WFAN
in New York City
that featured Mike Francesa
and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo
talking sports and taking phone calls from listeners. From 2002 onwards the show was simulcasted on the YES Network
. On the radio, the show was simulcasted beginning 2007 on WQYK
in Tampa, Florida
and from 2004 until 2007 on WROW
in Albany, New York
. The show was the first nationally known team in the history of sports talk radio.
, who was impressed with his vibrant personality and brought Russo onto the Imus in the Morning
show as its sports reporter.
Meanwhile, Francesa was a midday and weekend host at WFAN, and was known to be knowledgeable but somewhat dry on-air. Like Russo, Francesa got the attention of Imus when he made an on-the-air bet with Francesa that Seton Hall University
's basketball team would not make the Final Four in the NCAA tournament
. Imus promised Francesa a new Porsche
if Seton Hall made the Final Four, which they did. Though Imus found a way around the bet, the dialogue between the two is considered to be among the classic moments in the history of Imus in the Morning.
) was looking for hosts to replace the controversial Pete Franklin
in the afternoon drive time
period. Mark Mason, then the program director, floated the idea of teaming Francesa with Russo. At first, the station management thought the idea was crazy because they were no-names at that time. However, because of Francesa and Russo's popularity on the weekends and on Imus in the Morning individually, the station management decided to pair the two together.
While Francesa's brand of sports commentating was considered hard-hitting and serious, Russo's was considered lighter, unconventional, and more entertaining. The show was dubbed Mike and the Mad Dog and debuted on September 5, 1989. The show quickly gained popularity and became a staple of the New York sports scene.
George Vecsey
of The New York Times
once described Russo's voice as "a bizarre mixture of Jerry Lewis
, Archie Bunker
and Daffy Duck
." His voice has also been described as "Donald Duck
on steroids."
. Because of its popularity, WFAN extended its starting time twice, first to 2:00 p.m., and then to 1:00 p.m. At the end of its run, the program aired from 1:00 to 6:30 p.m. on WFAN, WQYK in Florida, and the YES Network.
, sports anchor Chris Carlin
and engineer Lou Rufino. The syndicated broadcast was available to the handful of former Imus in the Morning affiliates who had not had a chance to pick a new morning show. Francesa and Russo hosted the morning drive program several more times, either together or taking turns solo, until Boomer Esiason
and Craig Carton
took over the timeslot with their show
on September 4, 2007.
reported that Francesa and Russo were considering ending their radio show. The reports stated that the relationship between the radio duo had soured during Spring 2008, and was the likely cause of the split. Although Russo's contract with WFAN ran until October 2009, Francesa's contract situation was unclear at that time. Newsday contacted Francesa on vacation, where he stated "no comment". On June 23, Russo, doing the show alone, denied the rumors. He said that he and Francesa had been "fighting like cats and dogs" until early May, but that their relationship had since improved. "Nineteen, 20 years, you're going to have your issues occasionally," he said. "You gotta get through those issues." Some fans have suggested that the rumors were created as a contract negotiation ploy or a publicity stunt. On June 27, 2008, Francesa acknowledged the show was at a "crossroad", and could not guarantee the show would last through the summer. Francesa also stated he and Russo had not spoken since reports of their possible breakup came out.
On July 11, 2008, Francesa and Russo reunited for their first show together since news of their possible breakup came out. They did their show from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
for the DHL All-Star Fan Fest. They would do three more shows together around All-Star weekend. Both Francesa and Russo were coy about their future beyond the summer. On August 5, 2008, they would do their final show together at the New York Giants' training facility in Albany, New York
.
On August 14, 2008, Russo reached a mutual agreement with WFAN to let him out of the remainder of his contract. Russo insisted it was solely a personal decision and said, "This has nothing to do with Mike and I hating each other... This is about doing something different. I'm 48 years old and there are not going to be too many more opportunities to break away. It's time to try something else, but it was a tough decision to make." On August 15, 2008, Russo phoned Francesa on the show to say goodbye. A highly emotional Russo began to break down on air as he talked about his partnership with Francesa.
Francesa said, "In retrospect, I think it set us off on a bad path that last year. I don't mean that caused Dog to leave. He left because he had an opportunity ... But we had a very rocky last year. I think what might have caused some of that was his feeling, stronger than I knew at the time, that he wanted to go to mornings more than I did."
In reflection, Francesa said, "We had 20 years of something that was great. We're linked forever. That's just life. So the idea that people want to paint Mike vs. Mad Dog, who's the good guy, who's the bad guy? You know what? There is no bad guy."
before the first game of the 2009 American League Championship Series
, where both were broadcasting their separate shows in adjacent booths. Russo said that although he loved working at Sirius, he missed talking sports with Francesa.
, Francesa made $1.4 million and Russo made $1.3 million in 2005.
The show involved Francesa and Russo talking and arguing with each other or with callers about sports, and occasionally, about non-sports. They were also known for their hard-hitting questions in interviews with their guests. Francesa is the more cerebral of the pair and Russo will defer to him in most arguments. Russo is known to make bold statements when hosting the show solo but will back down when Francesa is cohosting. Nevertheless, Russo also exhibits a vast knowledge of sports. One of the show's marketing pitches states: "Some shows report sports scores. We settle them."
The pair sometimes left their Astoria, Queens
studios to do remote broadcasts from the Super Bowl
, pre-season football camps, U.S. Open Tennis Championship
(typically Russo hosts this show solo because Francesa is not a tennis fan), the Yankees and Mets' spring training sites, and playoff games for various New York teams.
The Mike and the Mad Dog show primarily concentrated on baseball
and football
. In an interview with the New York Daily News
, Francesa said:
Basketball
and golf
to a much lesser extent did receive mention, usually because the show had a strong relationship with Jim Nantz
, an acclaimed golf and college basketball broadcaster, plus a few noted college coaches and NBA
coaches, reporters, and broadcasters. It is well noted that Russo is a big fan of tennis; and tennis does get some play on their show (much to Francesa's chagrin) generally leading into and then during the four majors. Francesa is an admirer of horse racing
, and the program devotes time to racing talk during the Triple Crown
season, the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course
in upstate New York, and the Breeders' Cup
.
International classics such as the Tour de France
got little mention except when there was a scheduled interview or major story. Boxing
was not talked about much, as both hosts consider the sport not to be what it once was; both used to purchase certain pay-per-view
fights. However, ESPN
analyst Teddy Atlas
was interviewed by Russo in 2006, while Atlas was promoting a book. Although Freddy Adu
and a few other soccer
celebrities have done interviews on the show, the FIFA World Cup
receives little attention except following USA
games. Russo said in his first book that he played as a teenager, but was not a big fan of the game.
Regarding the relationship between Francesa and Russo, Francesa said, "It was an arranged marriage and almost a quickie divorce." Russo admitted that such a proposition of breaking up between the two would have been celebrated in 1992. However, Russo said in an interview, "I think that, in the long term, the station sees us as a tandem and would not want to break the brand up... And to tell you the truth, after almost 20 years together, Mike and I are like a married couple: It would be too hard to leave him. I never thought I would hear myself say this, but it would feel very strange to be on the air without him."
However, their relationship got strained again in March 2008. It was reported that Francesa and Russo were considering ending their radio show. Russo admitted that from the end of March through the beginning of May, "Mike and I were .having a lot of issues. If you're a listener, I don't have to tell you . . . We were fighting like cats and dogs. The tolerance level of each other, Mike to me, me to Mike, was low." But Russo insisted their relationship since improved. Francesa agreed that this was among the worst of their "four or five" fights over the years.
—Russo was very critical of CBS
's coverage. The discussion began to gain momentum and soon snowballed over a number of days. CBS was unhappy that Francesa's show was being used as a platform for criticisms of their television coverage, prompting a call from Francesa asking Russo to not discuss the topic. Russo refused and an on-the-air argument followed. Francesa would eventually leave CBS Sports and concentrate on his radio career full-time.
, claiming that American support for the Jewish nation was why the 9-11 attacks occurred. They went on to say that all Jewish Americans should take an "oath of loyalty" to the United States.
, though Russo later claimed in his first book that he has watched some regular-season NHL
games that many hockey writers would be hard-pressed to. Also, long-time NHL television analysts John Davidson
and Pierre McGuire
have both been semi-regular guests on the show, and Ed Olczyk
has made several appearances since joining NBC. In May 1992, Russo went to a New York Rangers
game against the Pittsburgh Penguins
. When Russo arrived at the game, Rangers fans chided him and he eventually left the game. The next day, Francesa went on the air and blasted the Rangers fans for their behavior. They also allegedly had an on-air spat with long-time hockey writer and broadcaster Stan Fischler
, who has since never done an interview on their show. In 2006, Jaromir Jagr
jokingly made fun of their hockey knowledge, to which the duo said that he had sold them on watching more.
, were eliminated from the 2003 postseason
by the Florida Marlins
he went into his most famous tirade. which YES often replayed in promos.
Russo got progressively more and more worked up as his rant continued, to the point where his voice was straining and cracking at the end. His wish eventually came to be; the Giants won the 2010 World Series
.
. Francesa has never criticized Parcels on air, either for his coaching or for his controversies leaving the New England Patriots
and New York Jets
before his contract was done. This came to a head in 2000 when Parcells left the head coaching job of the Jets. His partner, Russo, and callers were very critical of the coach's actions. Francesa became very defensive and appeared to take the comments personally. Francesa has even gone to extent where he never "picks" against a team coached by Bill Parcells on their Friday 'NFL picks' segment during the NFL season. If a Parcells's team is not that good, he avoids making a pick on that game. Francesa and Parcells hosted a Around the NFL on the MSG Network
and have also owned race horses together.
had his controversial departure from the New England Patriots
in 1996 Mike Francesa took the side of his good friend and has been critical of the Patriots' owner, Robert Kraft
. Francesa has been overtly critical of Kraft as a person and as an owner. In 1999, when Bill Parcells stepped down as the head coach of the New York Jets
, Bill Belichick
was to take over as head coach. However, Belichick made a surprise announcement that he would not be the coach and then accepted the position with the Patriots. Francesa saw this as disgraceful to his long time friend, Bill Parcells and has also attacked Belichick on air as one of the worst people he had ever known. His personal resentment of Belichick and his success with the Patriots has been made well known on the air.
, Russo jokingly started the show by saying, "Welcome to....and the Mad Dog," leaving silence where the "Mike" should have been. Francesa was furious, calling several station bigwigs and demanding an apology. On another occasion, Francesa returned from a vacation a day early, hoping to rejoin Russo on the air; Russo, savoring the solo airtime, accused Francesa of trying to horn in on his time. There was a great deal of shouting, and during a closed-door cool-down meeting with WFAN executives they nearly started throwing punches.
closer
Mariano Rivera
enters the game, his entrance song is "Enter Sandman
" by Metallica
. Billy Wagner
, Rivera's New York Mets
counterpart at the time, also used "Enter Sandman" as his entrance music. When Wagner entered his first game as a Met against the Washington Nationals
at Shea Stadium
on April 3, 2006 using "Enter Sandman" as his entrance music, Francesa, an avid Yankees fan, expressed his anger and discontent, and strongly suggested that Wagner change the song. His argument was that the song belonged to Rivera and Yankee Stadium, and that Wagner was "stealing" the song and should be forbidden from using it and needed to get some originality. However, Rivera was not bothered by it.
After seeing plenty of backlash, Francesa and Russo would try to downplay it as a "tongue in cheek" thing which was never serious. However, Phil Mushnick
of the New York Post
blasted the two for "making complete fools of themselves" and for trying to "rewrite unforgettable history to have their audience think that they were just kidding around."
, Francesa and Russo took many grievances with so called Yankee dissenters, feeling most strongly about alleged comments made by Yankee starter Cory Lidle
. Lidle was lambasted on air about comments that were seemingly directed towards Yankees manager Joe Torre
. Lidle called into the station, and a 13-minute heated discussion ensued where Francesa and Russo challenged Lidle's credibility over these unofficial statements made to the media.
On October 11, 2006, Lidle and his flight instructor crashed a small plane into a 50-story condominium tower on Manhattan
's Upper East Side
. Francesa and Russo quickly went on the defensive, as they were emotionally disturbed and upset by the death of Lidle, whom they had scolded on air two days prior. They also refused to take any phone calls for the first couple of days after the crash, which led many to speculate that they were afraid of what their callers would say. In fact, many of the other hosts during their shows received quite a number of phone calls lambasting Francesa and Russo.
After the crash, Francesa said,
Here is another quote from Francesa:
Russo said to New York Daily News
media columnist Bob Raissman,
women's basketball team. The program began with an airing of statements delivered by team coach C. Vivian Stringer
and team captain Essence Carson at a news conference held two hours prior. Mike followed with a monologue, in which he flatly denied rumors of a gag order in effect at WFAN, and confirmed that the decision to air portions of the Rutgers news conference at the top of the show had been made in consultation with program director Mark Chernoff. Francesa went on to clarify that while he had spoken with Imus a few days after the incident in question, his discussions with Imus had no bearing on how he reported the matter on Mike and the Mad Dog.
Picking up from Francesa's opening monologue, Russo criticized Imus for failing to submit a public apology within forty-eight hours of making the offending comments, and found fault with his strategy on both Al Sharpton
's radio show and The Today Show of citing his personal accomplishments in raising money for charitable causes like sickle-cell anemia, children's cancer and the plight of wounded veterans of the Iraq War. In Russo's estimation, this stance was "defensive." Russo suggested that Imus should have focused on atoning for his comments, rather than on burnishing his record of charitable activism.
Both Francesa and Russo were in agreement that Imus, in Francesa's words, "went too far" in his characterization of the Rutgers women's basketball team. They also agreed with a caller that the statements made by Imus were both "racist and sexist." In their opening comments, they pointed out that Imus had made countless remarks during his nearly thirty-five years on the radio that could be perceived as offensive; Russo cited the specific example of Bernard McGuirk
's running parody of then-New York Catholic Archbishop Cardinal Edward Egan (and prior to this, Egan's predecessor Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor), speculating that many Catholic listeners may have found this gag offensive.
Despite these criticisms, however, both Francesa and Russo balked at the idea that Imus should be fired as host of his nationally syndicated radio program Imus in the Morning. They disagreed, too, that the then proposed two-week suspension was merely, as one journalist had characterized it, "a slap on the wrist."
On April 12, 2007, Francesa announced in the afternoon that Don Imus had been dismissed by CBS Radio
, the parent company of WFAN. This dismissal came on the heels of the permanent cancellation of Imus's telecast on MSNBC
the previous day.
Both Francesa and Russo criticized both MSNBC and CBS Radio for dismissing Imus in the middle of the annual WFAN radiothon, which supports three prominent children's charities (the Tomorrows Children's Fund, the CJ Foundation for S.I.D.S. and the Imus Ranch). Since Imus was scheduled to host the radiothon the following morning, the immediate dismissal created a serious scheduling complication. Initially, Francesa reported that both he and Russo would host the radiothon in lieu of Imus; however, this plan was soon amended to allow Imus' wife Deidre Imus, and Charles McCord to host instead. For the next two weeks, Francesa and Russo filled in the morning slot.
When the morning portion of Mike and the Mad Dog debuted on April 16, Francesa opened the show by saying, "We would hope someone would come to their senses and Don would come back in a couple of weeks...We're not saying that's going to happen. We would hope something like that would happen." Later on both Francesa and Russo blasted Tim Russert
(No. 1 on the list anointed by Russo), Mike Wallace
, Christopher Dodd
("The biggest phony" by Russo), Keith Olbermann
, Harold Ford, Jr.
, etc. for not supporting Imus.
Francesa also reflected on his relationship with Russert, which he noted became "strained" after the Imus-Rutgers incident, despite his respect for Russert's work on Meet the Press
. Francesa also confessed that Russert had reached out to him on several occasions since the incident, seeking reconciliation, but that he had not responded to these overtures.
Marconi Radio Awards Dinner and Show in San Francisco, CA. They were the first sports-talk hosts ever to win the award.
, the show held a trivia contest called Mike and the Marquis. The guest host of the contest was Russo's alter-ego, "The Marquis", a send up of the late-18th Century French Aristocrat, the Marquis de Sade
, who made a yearly visit to deliver five trips to the Super Bowl. Players answered four very difficult questions correctly from several different categories (all picked by the Marquis). Roughly half of the questions were standard trivia; the other half were sound clips by former players and coaches whom the listener was required to correctly identify. The trivia contest was sponsored by a number of local and national businesses every year.
"The Marquis" was so called such because Russo believed that only a true sadist (hence the selection of the Marquis de Sade character) could come up with the difficult questions through the years. Before the Marquis' first appearance of the year in 2008, Mike Francesa claimed that "the Marquis" went to the same university as 20/20 Sports announcer John Minko--"during the 1600s."
For the first several years the character had only existed in the mind of Russo, but with the advent of YES television cameras in the studio since 2002, Russo performed the contest segments in full 18th century French Aristocrat costume, including a wig that may have been used in Amadeus
, which Russo considers a favorite movie.
In 2007 Russo added a new character, former United States President Richard M. Nixon. For the bit, Russo donned a rubber Nixon mask.
On January 21, 2008, in response to criticisms of his attire from the previous year, Russo debuted a new costume: a gold mask, petticoat, scarf, and white shirt with an ornate lapel. Feigning ignorance of recent developments in the sport, as he does every year, "the Marquis" asked Mike who the two Super Bowl XLII teams were, and if George Young was still the current general manager of the New York Giants. After being briefed on the results of the AFC and NFC Championship games, "the Marquis" began the trivia contest—but not before being informed by Mike of a costume blunder. For nearly fifteen minutes, "the Marquis" had been wearing his mask upside-down, with the fluted nose piece positioned in the middle his forehead and the crown of gold leaves inexplicably covering his mouth.
In 2009, after Russo's departure, Francesa announced that the contest would continue, with a new Marquis to replace Russo.
game (approximately 5 p.m.) and continued through the next day at 6:30 p.m. The show was broadcast from the Summer Garden at Rockefeller Center
in New York City
. Notable guests included Tiki Barber
and Mark Messier
. Through WFAN's one or two radiothons per year, they have also helped raise money for World Hunger Year
and the CJ Foundation For SIDS, among other charities.
game at Shea Stadium
between the Philadelphia Phillies
and the New York Mets on radio for local charities. Russo did the play-by-play and Francesa did the color analysis except that they reversed the roles during the third and seventh innings. WFAN and the Mets claimed to raise over $40,000 from the event. During the game, when the two were shown on the scoreboard, they were loudly booed by the audience in Shea Stadium
, primarily because neither of the two were actually Mets fans.
Before Russo and Francesa entered the booth to be broadcasters for the day, Russo mentioned that he was unsure how to correctly score a swinging strike three or a pitch taken called strike three. Russo and Francesa aired on the radio waves, whereas Gary Cohen
and Keith Hernandez
were the television play-by-play broadcasters.
Prior to this event, Francesa and Russo had broadcast several college basketball games for charities.
began simulcasting the show. Their program opened with a sports report from Chris Shearn, who also served as producer for the simulcast, and usually played music to block the advertising that is sold on WFAN (YES often returned from commercial before WFAN does). When Francesa and Russo were out of the studio, these outside shows are also recorded live by YES. Beginning in 2007, some of the outside shows have aired in high definition
as YES launched a full-time HD channel.
During WFAN's 20/20 Sports Flash reports, a selection of sports news was on the screen. Notably, the lead story on-screen (but not always in the actual report), is usually the Yankees or Nets game that will be airing on YES or WWOR-TV
later that evening. YES then broadcast the traffic report during rush-hour, but did not have a graphic to illustrate the report.
Since the broadcast on YES is a simulcast, there have been times when the show was delayed or pre-empted on WFAN, usually due to New York Mets baseball. Francesa and Russo never did a show specifically for YES, so the network usually showed reruns of its original programming like Yankees Classics
, Yankeeography
or CenterStage in its place.
When both Francesa and Russo had the day off, YES does not broadcast the show, although other WFAN hosts, usually led by Joe Benigno
, replace Francesa and Russo as the hosts of the Mike and the Mad Dog show, complete with theme music. This was apparently because Francesa and Russo were paid additional salary by YES for the show, while other WFAN hosts are not. YES did simulcast with the substitute hosts in its first couple of years.
In 2006, the contract with YES was renewed despite the Cory Lidle controversy and some negative things that Russo said about the Yankee organization in the summer of 2006 (including a heated on-air discussion with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman
). Francesa and Russo maintained that YES did not censor them on-air. Both they and YES officials have commented that the simulcast likely would have been canceled quickly if YES forced them to not criticize Yankees or Nets management. MSG Network
also expressed interest in moving the show from YES.
in Tampa, Florida
began carrying Mike and the Mad Dog, and broadcast the show from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.. WQYK also broadcasts select New York Yankees games which do not conflict with home Tampa Bay Rays
games. Tampa was the permanent residence of George Steinbrenner, and is the spring training home of the Yankees, and the location of the Class-A Tampa Yankees
of the Florida State League
. WQYK, like WFAN, is owned by CBS Radio.
Between 2004 and 2007, WROW
in Albany, New York
simulcasted the show. WROW aired the show from 2:00 until 6:00 p.m. Whenever it was either delayed or pre-empted, the station aired a montage of interviews, known as The Best of Mike and the Mad Dog, or alternate news-talk programming such as Dennis Prager
. In November 2007, WROW stopped broadcasting the program and replaced the show with Mark Williams
.
. The jingle package has been used for nearly the entire run of the show (originally, the theme from the Blues Brothers was used) and it is the only WFAN show not to use the station's standard jingle package. Lyrics below:
Mike and the Mad Dog...Sports Radio 66, W-F-A-N
They're talkin' sports, goin' at it as hard as they can,
It's Mike and the Mad Dog on the FAN
Nothing can get by 'em, turn it on and try 'em, Mike and the Mad Dog, W-F-A-N
There was an awkward moment when Jon Bon Jovi
was being interviewed for an unrelated topic. At the end of the interview Jon Bon Jovi half-jokingly remarked that they needed a new theme song and that he would write and record them a new one.
Sports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
program based out of WFAN
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
that featured Mike Francesa
Mike Francesa
Michael Patrick "Mike" Francesa, Jr. is an American radio talk show host and television commentator. He is primarily known in his former role co-hosting the popular Mike and the Mad Dog show on WFAN in New York City...
and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo
Chris Russo
Christopher Michael Russo , known as the "Mad Dog," is an American sports radio personality who is best known as the former co-host of the widely popular Mike and the Mad Dog sports radio show with Mike Francesa, which was broadcast on WFAN in New York City and simulcast on the YES Network...
talking sports and taking phone calls from listeners. From 2002 onwards the show was simulcasted on the YES Network
YES Network
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
. On the radio, the show was simulcasted beginning 2007 on WQYK
WQYK (AM)
WQYK " is a radio station in the Tampa, Florida area, owned by CBS Radio. The station broadcasts at 50,000 watts during the day and 5,000 watts at night, directional towards the east and west to protect Jacksonville's WJXL by day, and New York City's WINS, Toronto's CFRB, and Calgary, Alberta's CBR...
in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
and from 2004 until 2007 on WROW
WROW
WROW is a radio station broadcasting to Albany, New York, with its towers in Glenmont, New York. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and runs a Adult Standards/Oldies format under the branding Magic 590...
in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. The show was the first nationally known team in the history of sports talk radio.
Before Mike and the Mad Dog
Before Francesa and Russo were paired, Russo was an overnight/weekend and fill-in host. He caught the attention of Don ImusDon Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
, who was impressed with his vibrant personality and brought Russo onto the Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning is an American radio show hosted by Don Imus on Cumulus Media Networks , and simulcast for television on Fox Business Network....
show as its sports reporter.
Meanwhile, Francesa was a midday and weekend host at WFAN, and was known to be knowledgeable but somewhat dry on-air. Like Russo, Francesa got the attention of Imus when he made an on-the-air bet with Francesa that Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University is a private Roman Catholic university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan university in the United States. Seton Hall is also the oldest and largest Catholic university in the...
's basketball team would not make the Final Four in the NCAA tournament
1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1989, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Seattle, Washington...
. Imus promised Francesa a new Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
if Seton Hall made the Final Four, which they did. Though Imus found a way around the bet, the dialogue between the two is considered to be among the classic moments in the history of Imus in the Morning.
Paired together
In August 1989, WFAN (which was owned at the time by Emmis CommunicationsEmmis Communications
Emmis Communications is a media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company owns radio stations and magazines in the United States, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.-History:...
) was looking for hosts to replace the controversial Pete Franklin
Pete Franklin
Pete Franklin , nicknamed "The King" and "Pigskin Pete", was an American sports talk radio host who worked in Cleveland, New York and San Francisco...
in the afternoon drive time
Drive time
Drive time is the daypart analog to prime time for radio broadcasting. It consists of the morning hours when listeners wake up, get ready, and/or head to work or school, and the afternoon hours when they are heading home and before their evening meal. These are the periods where the number of...
period. Mark Mason, then the program director, floated the idea of teaming Francesa with Russo. At first, the station management thought the idea was crazy because they were no-names at that time. However, because of Francesa and Russo's popularity on the weekends and on Imus in the Morning individually, the station management decided to pair the two together.
While Francesa's brand of sports commentating was considered hard-hitting and serious, Russo's was considered lighter, unconventional, and more entertaining. The show was dubbed Mike and the Mad Dog and debuted on September 5, 1989. The show quickly gained popularity and became a staple of the New York sports scene.
George Vecsey
George Vecsey
George Vecsey is an American non-fiction author and sports columnist for The New York Times. Vecsey is best known for his work in sports, but has co-written several autobiographies with non-sports figures.-Career:...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
once described Russo's voice as "a bizarre mixture of Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
, Archie Bunker
Archie Bunker
Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional New Yorker in the 1970s top-rated American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place, played to acclaim by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker is a veteran of World War II, reactionary, bigoted, conservative, blue-collar worker, and...
and Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
." His voice has also been described as "Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
on steroids."
Broadcast times
Originally it was broadcast weekdays from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern TimeNorth American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
. Because of its popularity, WFAN extended its starting time twice, first to 2:00 p.m., and then to 1:00 p.m. At the end of its run, the program aired from 1:00 to 6:30 p.m. on WFAN, WQYK in Florida, and the YES Network.
Mike and the Mad Dog in the morning
In the wake of Imus' firing in April 2007, Mike and the Mad Dog was also broadcast in the mornings from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. for two weeks between April 16 and April 27, and again on May 21 and May 22, 2007. The afternoon portion of the show ran from 2:00 through 6:30 p.m. The morning portion of the show was nationally syndicated and news-oriented. While in the morning drive slot, they inherited some of the staff from Imus in the Morning, including news anchor Charles McCordCharles McCord
Charles McCord was a news anchor and on-air radio personality in the New York metropolitan area. He was most notable for being the right-hand man of Don Imus during the long run of Imus in the Morning for over three decades.McCord began his radio career at KICK in Springfield, Missouri in 1963...
, sports anchor Chris Carlin
Chris Carlin
Chris Carlin is an American television and radio personality. Along with on-air partner Bob Ojeda, co-hosts pre- and post-game telecasts for New York Mets games on local New York television station SNY...
and engineer Lou Rufino. The syndicated broadcast was available to the handful of former Imus in the Morning affiliates who had not had a chance to pick a new morning show. Francesa and Russo hosted the morning drive program several more times, either together or taking turns solo, until Boomer Esiason
Boomer Esiason
Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason is a former American football quarterback and current network color commentator. He played for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals before working as an analyst for ABC and HBO...
and Craig Carton
Craig Carton
Craig Harris Carton is an American radio personality who currently co-hosts the Boomer and Carton in the Morning radio program.-Biography:...
took over the timeslot with their show
Boomer and Carton in the Morning
Boomer and Carton in the Morning is a morning drive sports radio program on WFAN in New York City. The hosts of the radio program are former NFL quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals, Boomer Esiason and former Jersey Guy Craig Carton.The show debuted on...
on September 4, 2007.
End of the run
On June 22, 2008, sports columnist Neil Best of NewsdayNewsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
reported that Francesa and Russo were considering ending their radio show. The reports stated that the relationship between the radio duo had soured during Spring 2008, and was the likely cause of the split. Although Russo's contract with WFAN ran until October 2009, Francesa's contract situation was unclear at that time. Newsday contacted Francesa on vacation, where he stated "no comment". On June 23, Russo, doing the show alone, denied the rumors. He said that he and Francesa had been "fighting like cats and dogs" until early May, but that their relationship had since improved. "Nineteen, 20 years, you're going to have your issues occasionally," he said. "You gotta get through those issues." Some fans have suggested that the rumors were created as a contract negotiation ploy or a publicity stunt. On June 27, 2008, Francesa acknowledged the show was at a "crossroad", and could not guarantee the show would last through the summer. Francesa also stated he and Russo had not spoken since reports of their possible breakup came out.
On July 11, 2008, Francesa and Russo reunited for their first show together since news of their possible breakup came out. They did their show from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is a large convention center located on Eleventh Avenue, between 34th and 38th streets, on the West side of Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by architects I. M. Pei and partners. The revolutionary space frame structure was undertaken in 1979 and...
for the DHL All-Star Fan Fest. They would do three more shows together around All-Star weekend. Both Francesa and Russo were coy about their future beyond the summer. On August 5, 2008, they would do their final show together at the New York Giants' training facility in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
.
On August 14, 2008, Russo reached a mutual agreement with WFAN to let him out of the remainder of his contract. Russo insisted it was solely a personal decision and said, "This has nothing to do with Mike and I hating each other... This is about doing something different. I'm 48 years old and there are not going to be too many more opportunities to break away. It's time to try something else, but it was a tough decision to make." On August 15, 2008, Russo phoned Francesa on the show to say goodbye. A highly emotional Russo began to break down on air as he talked about his partnership with Francesa.
Separate ways
At the same time, while Russo left WFAN, Francesa signed a five-year deal to stay at WFAN and continue to host the afternoon drive-time show called Mike'd Up: Francesa on the FAN. On August 19, 2008, Russo signed a five-year contract worth about $3 million per year with Sirius XM to host an afternoon show called Mad Dog Unleashed and headline a new sports talk channel called Mad Dog Radio on both Sirius and XM satellite radio. Russo said there was nothing WFAN could have done to keep him after Sirius XM provided him an opportunity to not only do a show, but have his own channel, which he could not pass up.Reflections
In an interview with Best on November 19, 2008, Francesa insisted that there was no smoking gun, no juicy, untold key regarding the breakup with Russo. However, Francesa believed a contributing factor was a fallout from Imus' firing in April 2007 because Russo wanted to pursue the morning slot alone, but the WFAN management was hesitant to break up the pairing. Francesa sensed that Russo was disappointed.Francesa said, "In retrospect, I think it set us off on a bad path that last year. I don't mean that caused Dog to leave. He left because he had an opportunity ... But we had a very rocky last year. I think what might have caused some of that was his feeling, stronger than I knew at the time, that he wanted to go to mornings more than I did."
In reflection, Francesa said, "We had 20 years of something that was great. We're linked forever. That's just life. So the idea that people want to paint Mike vs. Mad Dog, who's the good guy, who's the bad guy? You know what? There is no bad guy."
Reunion on air
On the eve of Russo's 50th birthday, Francesa made a surprising appearance on Mad Dog Unleashed on October 15, 2009. On October 16, 2009, Francesa and Russo teamed up for a half-hour reunion show on Mad Dog Unleashed at 6:30 P.M. at Yankee StadiumYankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
before the first game of the 2009 American League Championship Series
2009 American League Championship Series
The American League Championship Series , the second round of the 2009 American League playoffs, was a best-of-seven game series matching the two winners of the 2009 American League Division Series...
, where both were broadcasting their separate shows in adjacent booths. Russo said that although he loved working at Sirius, he missed talking sports with Francesa.
Ratings and salaries
Mike and the Mad Dog was No. 1 in the market among men between 25 and 54, which notched a 6.9 share in 2007, up from a 6.2 in 2006. According to New York magazineNew York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
, Francesa made $1.4 million and Russo made $1.3 million in 2005.
Show format and discussions
The show started with its theme song and then with Russo's intro.The show involved Francesa and Russo talking and arguing with each other or with callers about sports, and occasionally, about non-sports. They were also known for their hard-hitting questions in interviews with their guests. Francesa is the more cerebral of the pair and Russo will defer to him in most arguments. Russo is known to make bold statements when hosting the show solo but will back down when Francesa is cohosting. Nevertheless, Russo also exhibits a vast knowledge of sports. One of the show's marketing pitches states: "Some shows report sports scores. We settle them."
The pair sometimes left their Astoria, Queens
Astoria, Queens
Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside , and Woodside...
studios to do remote broadcasts from the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
, pre-season football camps, U.S. Open Tennis Championship
U.S. Open (tennis)
The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
(typically Russo hosts this show solo because Francesa is not a tennis fan), the Yankees and Mets' spring training sites, and playoff games for various New York teams.
The Mike and the Mad Dog show primarily concentrated on baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
. In an interview with the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, Francesa said:
- "As far as changes in the city, baseball has now become year-round. We cover baseball every single day of the year...just look at the back pages in November, December, they have screaming baseball headlines. Baseball has become so dominant in what we do."
Basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
to a much lesser extent did receive mention, usually because the show had a strong relationship with Jim Nantz
Jim Nantz
James William Nantz, III is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his work with CBS Sports television.-Early life:...
, an acclaimed golf and college basketball broadcaster, plus a few noted college coaches and NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
coaches, reporters, and broadcasters. It is well noted that Russo is a big fan of tennis; and tennis does get some play on their show (much to Francesa's chagrin) generally leading into and then during the four majors. Francesa is an admirer of horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
, and the program devotes time to racing talk during the Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
season, the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It opened on August 3, 1863, and is the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the United States. It is typically open for racing from late July through early September.-History:John...
in upstate New York, and the Breeders' Cup
Breeders' Cup
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Thoroughbred horse races, most but not all Grade I, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. The location...
.
International classics such as the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
got little mention except when there was a scheduled interview or major story. Boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
was not talked about much, as both hosts consider the sport not to be what it once was; both used to purchase certain pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
fights. However, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
analyst Teddy Atlas
Teddy Atlas
Theodore A. "Teddy" Atlas, Jr. is a well-known boxing trainer and fight commentator.-Personal life:...
was interviewed by Russo in 2006, while Atlas was promoting a book. Although Freddy Adu
Freddy Adu
Fredua Koranteng "Freddy" Adu is a Ghanaian-born American soccer player who currently plays for Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer. He plays primarily as an attacking midfielder, but he is also used as a winger or forward....
and a few other soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
celebrities have done interviews on the show, the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
receives little attention except following USA
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...
games. Russo said in his first book that he played as a teenager, but was not a big fan of the game.
Incidents and controversies
While the Mike and the Mad Dog program has been a success, the duo has had their share of problems. Things did not go well at first. Neither of them was happy about the arrangement, and each felt that he deserved his own show. Arguments between the two have spilled onto the air and there were backstage debates about such matters as whose name would come first and which of them would get the power seat - the one facing the control room. Each had an entourage of advisers and friends who pushed him to ask for more. Sometimes Don Imus needled them on his program or walked by them in the hall and said, "You are so much better than [the other guy]." However, Imus did play peacemaker during several of the more public fights.Regarding the relationship between Francesa and Russo, Francesa said, "It was an arranged marriage and almost a quickie divorce." Russo admitted that such a proposition of breaking up between the two would have been celebrated in 1992. However, Russo said in an interview, "I think that, in the long term, the station sees us as a tandem and would not want to break the brand up... And to tell you the truth, after almost 20 years together, Mike and I are like a married couple: It would be too hard to leave him. I never thought I would hear myself say this, but it would feel very strange to be on the air without him."
However, their relationship got strained again in March 2008. It was reported that Francesa and Russo were considering ending their radio show. Russo admitted that from the end of March through the beginning of May, "Mike and I were .having a lot of issues. If you're a listener, I don't have to tell you . . . We were fighting like cats and dogs. The tolerance level of each other, Mike to me, me to Mike, was low." But Russo insisted their relationship since improved. Francesa agreed that this was among the worst of their "four or five" fights over the years.
1991 NCAA Tournament
In 1991, while Francesa was still at CBS Sports hosting the 1991 NCAA Tournament1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1991, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana...
—Russo was very critical of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's coverage. The discussion began to gain momentum and soon snowballed over a number of days. CBS was unhappy that Francesa's show was being used as a platform for criticisms of their television coverage, prompting a call from Francesa asking Russo to not discuss the topic. Russo refused and an on-the-air argument followed. Francesa would eventually leave CBS Sports and concentrate on his radio career full-time.
Comments on US support for Israel and 9-11
The duo made some political criticism of the United States relation to IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, claiming that American support for the Jewish nation was why the 9-11 attacks occurred. They went on to say that all Jewish Americans should take an "oath of loyalty" to the United States.
Hockey
On the flip side, the duo have always defended each other in the face of adversity. Francesa and Russo have garnered a reputation for being ignorant and not knowledgeable when it comes to hockeyIce hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, though Russo later claimed in his first book that he has watched some regular-season NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
games that many hockey writers would be hard-pressed to. Also, long-time NHL television analysts John Davidson
John Davidson (hockey player)
John Davidson , is the president of hockey operations of the St. Louis Blues and a former goaltender for the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. He is also well-known as a long-time hockey broadcaster...
and Pierre McGuire
Pierre McGuire
Pierre McGuire , is an ice hockey analyst for National Hockey League broadcasts on NBC and Versus in the United States. Until 2011, he was a prominent hockey analyst on The Sports Network in Canada. Previously, he was a player, coach, and scout.-Hockey career:McGuire won two Stanley Cups as a scout...
have both been semi-regular guests on the show, and Ed Olczyk
Ed Olczyk
Edward Walter "Eddie" Olczyk is an American former head coach for the National Hockey League Pittsburgh Penguins and former center for Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins...
has made several appearances since joining NBC. In May 1992, Russo went to a New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
game against the Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
. When Russo arrived at the game, Rangers fans chided him and he eventually left the game. The next day, Francesa went on the air and blasted the Rangers fans for their behavior. They also allegedly had an on-air spat with long-time hockey writer and broadcaster Stan Fischler
Stan Fischler
Stan Fischler is a hockey and New York City Subway historian, broadcaster, author and professor.For his hockey knowledge, Fischler promotes himself as “The Hockey Maven” in both local and national circles...
, who has since never done an interview on their show. In 2006, Jaromir Jagr
Jaromir Jagr
Jaromír Jágr is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League . Jágr formerly played with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and New York Rangers, serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers...
jokingly made fun of their hockey knowledge, to which the duo said that he had sold them on watching more.
"ONE TIME!!"
The Monday after Russo's favorite baseball team, the San Francisco GiantsSan Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
, were eliminated from the 2003 postseason
2003 National League Division Series
-San Francisco Giants vs. Florida Marlins:-Game 1, September 30:Turner Field in Atlanta, GeorgiaIn Game 1, Kerry Wood faced Russ Ortiz. Both pitchers were on their game and in the bottom of the third the Braves struck first when Marcus Giles homered to make it 1–0 Braves. The score remained 1–0...
by the Florida Marlins
Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1993 as an expansion franchise called the Florida Marlins, the Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Marlins played their home games at...
he went into his most famous tirade. which YES often replayed in promos.
Russo got progressively more and more worked up as his rant continued, to the point where his voice was straining and cracking at the end. His wish eventually came to be; the Giants won the 2010 World Series
2010 World Series
The 2010 World Series was the 106th occurrence of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff, played between the American League champion Texas Rangers and the National League champion San Francisco Giants, began on Wednesday, , and ended on Monday, , with the Giants...
.
Bill Parcells
Mike Francesa has been heavily criticized over the years for his relationship with former NFL head coach, Bill ParcellsBill Parcells
Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells is a former American football head coach, most recently with the Dallas Cowboys from 2003 to 2006...
. Francesa has never criticized Parcels on air, either for his coaching or for his controversies leaving the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
and New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
before his contract was done. This came to a head in 2000 when Parcells left the head coaching job of the Jets. His partner, Russo, and callers were very critical of the coach's actions. Francesa became very defensive and appeared to take the comments personally. Francesa has even gone to extent where he never "picks" against a team coached by Bill Parcells on their Friday 'NFL picks' segment during the NFL season. If a Parcells's team is not that good, he avoids making a pick on that game. Francesa and Parcells hosted a Around the NFL on the MSG Network
MSG Network
The MSG Network, now shortened to simply MSG, is a regional cable television and radio network serving the Mid-Atlantic United States. It is focused on New York City sports teams...
and have also owned race horses together.
Robert Kraft & Bill Belichick
When Bill ParcellsBill Parcells
Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells is a former American football head coach, most recently with the Dallas Cowboys from 2003 to 2006...
had his controversial departure from the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
in 1996 Mike Francesa took the side of his good friend and has been critical of the Patriots' owner, Robert Kraft
Robert Kraft
Robert K. Kraft is an American business magnate. He is the Chairman and was the Chief Executive Officer of The Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development and a private equity portfolio...
. Francesa has been overtly critical of Kraft as a person and as an owner. In 1999, when Bill Parcells stepped down as the head coach of the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick
William Stephen "Bill" Belichick is an American football head coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. After spending his first 15 seasons in the league as an assistant coach, Belichick got his first head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns in 1991...
was to take over as head coach. However, Belichick made a surprise announcement that he would not be the coach and then accepted the position with the Patriots. Francesa saw this as disgraceful to his long time friend, Bill Parcells and has also attacked Belichick on air as one of the worst people he had ever known. His personal resentment of Belichick and his success with the Patriots has been made well known on the air.
Doggie going solo: ____ and the Mad Dog
In the summer of 1992, while Francesa was on vacation at the Breakers, in Palm Beach, FloridaPalm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
, Russo jokingly started the show by saying, "Welcome to....and the Mad Dog," leaving silence where the "Mike" should have been. Francesa was furious, calling several station bigwigs and demanding an apology. On another occasion, Francesa returned from a vacation a day early, hoping to rejoin Russo on the air; Russo, savoring the solo airtime, accused Francesa of trying to horn in on his time. There was a great deal of shouting, and during a closed-door cool-down meeting with WFAN executives they nearly started throwing punches.
"Enter Sandman"
When New York YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
closer
Closer (baseball)
In baseball, a closing pitcher, more frequently referred to as a closer , is a relief pitcher who specializes in closing out games, i.e., getting the final outs in a close game. Closers often appear when the score is close, and the role is often assigned to a team's best reliever. A small number of...
Mariano Rivera
Mariano Rivera
Mariano Rivera is a Panamanian right-handed baseball pitcher who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. Nicknamed "Mo", Rivera has served as a relief pitcher for most of his career, and since 1997, he has been the Yankees' closer...
enters the game, his entrance song is "Enter Sandman
Enter Sandman
"Enter Sandman" is a 1991 song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the first single from their eponymous fifth album, Metallica. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich...
" by Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
. Billy Wagner
Billy Wagner
William Edward Wagner , nicknamed "Billy the Kid", is a retired Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He pitched for the Houston Astros , the Philadelphia Phillies , the New York Mets , the Boston Red Sox , and the Atlanta Braves...
, Rivera's New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
counterpart at the time, also used "Enter Sandman" as his entrance music. When Wagner entered his first game as a Met against the Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
at Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
on April 3, 2006 using "Enter Sandman" as his entrance music, Francesa, an avid Yankees fan, expressed his anger and discontent, and strongly suggested that Wagner change the song. His argument was that the song belonged to Rivera and Yankee Stadium, and that Wagner was "stealing" the song and should be forbidden from using it and needed to get some originality. However, Rivera was not bothered by it.
After seeing plenty of backlash, Francesa and Russo would try to downplay it as a "tongue in cheek" thing which was never serious. However, Phil Mushnick
Phil Mushnick
Phil Mushnick is a sports writer who works for the New York Post. His column "Equal Time" concentrates on the sports media and appears three times a week on Sundays, Mondays and Fridays. He also provides a weekly column on the media in general on Sundays for the entertainment section of the paper...
of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
blasted the two for "making complete fools of themselves" and for trying to "rewrite unforgettable history to have their audience think that they were just kidding around."
Cory Lidle
On October 9, 2006, after the sudden exit of the Yankees from the divisional series2006 American League Division Series
-Game 1, October 3:Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkA five-run third inning by the Yankees put the game out of reach for the Tigers. Bobby Abreu doubled to score Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter . Gary Sheffield then singled in Abreu, and Jason Giambi launched a two-run home run for a commanding 5–0...
, Francesa and Russo took many grievances with so called Yankee dissenters, feeling most strongly about alleged comments made by Yankee starter Cory Lidle
Cory Lidle
Cory Fulton Lidle was an Americanright-handed baseball pitcher who spent nine seasons in the major leagues with seven different teams. His twin brother Kevin Lidle also played baseball, as a catcher for several minor league teams...
. Lidle was lambasted on air about comments that were seemingly directed towards Yankees manager Joe Torre
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre is a former American professional baseball player and manager who currently serves as Major League Baseball’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. A nine-time All-Star, he played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, first baseman and a third baseman for the...
. Lidle called into the station, and a 13-minute heated discussion ensued where Francesa and Russo challenged Lidle's credibility over these unofficial statements made to the media.
On October 11, 2006, Lidle and his flight instructor crashed a small plane into a 50-story condominium tower on Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
. Francesa and Russo quickly went on the defensive, as they were emotionally disturbed and upset by the death of Lidle, whom they had scolded on air two days prior. They also refused to take any phone calls for the first couple of days after the crash, which led many to speculate that they were afraid of what their callers would say. In fact, many of the other hosts during their shows received quite a number of phone calls lambasting Francesa and Russo.
After the crash, Francesa said,
- "If I knew he had two days to live, I would've told him to enjoy himself...But you can't do interviews that way. No one in the world thinks that way...And then to think my last words to him were that I don't think about him very much. You just weigh it very differently now."
Here is another quote from Francesa:
- "You're not going to make me feel guilty. There have been times when we've been rude, I'd be crazy not to admit that. ... But this was an interview we never thought twice about."
Russo said to New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
media columnist Bob Raissman,
- "Do I wish right this second I had a better relationship with Cory Lidle? Yeah, I absolutely do, (but) you got to do what you got to do. I don't know what to tell you. You can make the argument that I look like a heel....I've been ripping him for five or six months. Does that make me a bad guy? I'll let others evaluate that."
Stance on the Imus-Rutgers controversy
Francesa and Russo opened their show on April 10, 2007, by weighing in on the controversy involving Don Imus and the disparaging comments he made the previous Wednesday about the Rutgers UniversityRutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
women's basketball team. The program began with an airing of statements delivered by team coach C. Vivian Stringer
C. Vivian Stringer
Charlaine Vivian Stringer is a prominent African American basketball coach, with one of the best records in the history of women's basketball...
and team captain Essence Carson at a news conference held two hours prior. Mike followed with a monologue, in which he flatly denied rumors of a gag order in effect at WFAN, and confirmed that the decision to air portions of the Rutgers news conference at the top of the show had been made in consultation with program director Mark Chernoff. Francesa went on to clarify that while he had spoken with Imus a few days after the incident in question, his discussions with Imus had no bearing on how he reported the matter on Mike and the Mad Dog.
Picking up from Francesa's opening monologue, Russo criticized Imus for failing to submit a public apology within forty-eight hours of making the offending comments, and found fault with his strategy on both Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
's radio show and The Today Show of citing his personal accomplishments in raising money for charitable causes like sickle-cell anemia, children's cancer and the plight of wounded veterans of the Iraq War. In Russo's estimation, this stance was "defensive." Russo suggested that Imus should have focused on atoning for his comments, rather than on burnishing his record of charitable activism.
Both Francesa and Russo were in agreement that Imus, in Francesa's words, "went too far" in his characterization of the Rutgers women's basketball team. They also agreed with a caller that the statements made by Imus were both "racist and sexist." In their opening comments, they pointed out that Imus had made countless remarks during his nearly thirty-five years on the radio that could be perceived as offensive; Russo cited the specific example of Bernard McGuirk
Bernard McGuirk
* Bulleted list itemBernard J. McGuirk is the executive producer of the Imus in the Morning radio program. He was born and raised in the South Bronx, New York, where he also worked in his younger years as a taxicab driver...
's running parody of then-New York Catholic Archbishop Cardinal Edward Egan (and prior to this, Egan's predecessor Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor), speculating that many Catholic listeners may have found this gag offensive.
Despite these criticisms, however, both Francesa and Russo balked at the idea that Imus should be fired as host of his nationally syndicated radio program Imus in the Morning. They disagreed, too, that the then proposed two-week suspension was merely, as one journalist had characterized it, "a slap on the wrist."
On April 12, 2007, Francesa announced in the afternoon that Don Imus had been dismissed by CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
, the parent company of WFAN. This dismissal came on the heels of the permanent cancellation of Imus's telecast on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
the previous day.
Both Francesa and Russo criticized both MSNBC and CBS Radio for dismissing Imus in the middle of the annual WFAN radiothon, which supports three prominent children's charities (the Tomorrows Children's Fund, the CJ Foundation for S.I.D.S. and the Imus Ranch). Since Imus was scheduled to host the radiothon the following morning, the immediate dismissal created a serious scheduling complication. Initially, Francesa reported that both he and Russo would host the radiothon in lieu of Imus; however, this plan was soon amended to allow Imus' wife Deidre Imus, and Charles McCord to host instead. For the next two weeks, Francesa and Russo filled in the morning slot.
When the morning portion of Mike and the Mad Dog debuted on April 16, Francesa opened the show by saying, "We would hope someone would come to their senses and Don would come back in a couple of weeks...We're not saying that's going to happen. We would hope something like that would happen." Later on both Francesa and Russo blasted Tim Russert
Tim Russert
Timothy John "Tim" Russert was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Washington bureau chief and also hosted the eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview...
(No. 1 on the list anointed by Russo), Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace (journalist)
Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
, Christopher Dodd
Christopher Dodd
Christopher John "Chris" Dodd is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States Senator from Connecticut for a thirty-year period ending with the 111th United States Congress....
("The biggest phony" by Russo), Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011...
, Harold Ford, Jr.
Harold Ford, Jr.
Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. is an American politician and was the last chairman of the now-defunct Democratic Leadership Council . He was a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives from , centered in Memphis, from 1997 to 2007...
, etc. for not supporting Imus.
Tim Russert
Mike Francesa announced Tim Russert's death telling his audience that Russert had "dropped dead" on June 13, 2008.Francesa also reflected on his relationship with Russert, which he noted became "strained" after the Imus-Rutgers incident, despite his respect for Russert's work on Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
. Francesa also confessed that Russert had reached out to him on several occasions since the incident, seeking reconciliation, but that he had not responded to these overtures.
Marconi Award
Francesa and Russo won the 2000 Marconi Award for Major Market Personality of the Year. The announcement was made on September 23 at the 2000 National Association of BroadcastersNational Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...
Marconi Radio Awards Dinner and Show in San Francisco, CA. They were the first sports-talk hosts ever to win the award.
"Mike and the Marquis"
During the two weeks prior to the Super BowlSuper Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
, the show held a trivia contest called Mike and the Marquis. The guest host of the contest was Russo's alter-ego, "The Marquis", a send up of the late-18th Century French Aristocrat, the Marquis de Sade
Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
, who made a yearly visit to deliver five trips to the Super Bowl. Players answered four very difficult questions correctly from several different categories (all picked by the Marquis). Roughly half of the questions were standard trivia; the other half were sound clips by former players and coaches whom the listener was required to correctly identify. The trivia contest was sponsored by a number of local and national businesses every year.
"The Marquis" was so called such because Russo believed that only a true sadist (hence the selection of the Marquis de Sade character) could come up with the difficult questions through the years. Before the Marquis' first appearance of the year in 2008, Mike Francesa claimed that "the Marquis" went to the same university as 20/20 Sports announcer John Minko--"during the 1600s."
For the first several years the character had only existed in the mind of Russo, but with the advent of YES television cameras in the studio since 2002, Russo performed the contest segments in full 18th century French Aristocrat costume, including a wig that may have been used in Amadeus
Amadeus (film)
Amadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...
, which Russo considers a favorite movie.
In 2007 Russo added a new character, former United States President Richard M. Nixon. For the bit, Russo donned a rubber Nixon mask.
On January 21, 2008, in response to criticisms of his attire from the previous year, Russo debuted a new costume: a gold mask, petticoat, scarf, and white shirt with an ornate lapel. Feigning ignorance of recent developments in the sport, as he does every year, "the Marquis" asked Mike who the two Super Bowl XLII teams were, and if George Young was still the current general manager of the New York Giants. After being briefed on the results of the AFC and NFC Championship games, "the Marquis" began the trivia contest—but not before being informed by Mike of a costume blunder. For nearly fifteen minutes, "the Marquis" had been wearing his mask upside-down, with the fluted nose piece positioned in the middle his forehead and the crown of gold leaves inexplicably covering his mouth.
In 2009, after Russo's departure, Francesa announced that the contest would continue, with a new Marquis to replace Russo.
Fifteenth anniversary
On December 15, 2004, Francesa and Russo celebrated their fifteenth anniversary on the air from 2 to 7 p.m. This anniversary special was preceded by a special preshow from 1 to 2 p.m. featuring highlights of the past 15 years of Mike and the Mad Dog.Twenty-five hour broadcast
Between June 30, 2005 and July 1, 2005, Francesa and Russo broadcast live for 25 straight hours for the first time ever to raise money for various charities. It started after the completion of the New York MetsNew York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
game (approximately 5 p.m.) and continued through the next day at 6:30 p.m. The show was broadcast from the Summer Garden at Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Notable guests included Tiki Barber
Tiki Barber
Atiim Kiambu Hakeem-Ah "Tiki" Barber is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia....
and Mark Messier
Mark Messier
Mark Douglas Messier is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre of the National Hockey League and current special assistant to the president and general manager of the New York Rangers. He spent a quarter of a century in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver...
. Through WFAN's one or two radiothons per year, they have also helped raise money for World Hunger Year
World Hunger Year
WhyHunger is an organization that seeks to address the root causes of hunger and poverty. WhyHunger was founded in 1975 by folk singer Harry Chapin, a social activist who was as well known for his humanitarian efforts as for his guitar ballads, and 95.5 WPLJ New York, legendary radio D.J. Bill...
and the CJ Foundation For SIDS, among other charities.
Live play-by-play
On May 25, 2006, Francesa and Russo broadcast a Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
game at Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
between the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
and the New York Mets on radio for local charities. Russo did the play-by-play and Francesa did the color analysis except that they reversed the roles during the third and seventh innings. WFAN and the Mets claimed to raise over $40,000 from the event. During the game, when the two were shown on the scoreboard, they were loudly booed by the audience in Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
, primarily because neither of the two were actually Mets fans.
Before Russo and Francesa entered the booth to be broadcasters for the day, Russo mentioned that he was unsure how to correctly score a swinging strike three or a pitch taken called strike three. Russo and Francesa aired on the radio waves, whereas Gary Cohen
Gary Cohen
Gary Cohen is an American sportscaster, best known as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball....
and Keith Hernandez
Keith Hernandez
Keith Barlow Hernandez is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He is currently a baseball analyst working for the New York Mets, for whom he played from –, on SportsNet New York and WPIX television broadcasts...
were the television play-by-play broadcasters.
Prior to this event, Francesa and Russo had broadcast several college basketball games for charities.
YES simulcast
In 2002, the YES NetworkYES Network
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
began simulcasting the show. Their program opened with a sports report from Chris Shearn, who also served as producer for the simulcast, and usually played music to block the advertising that is sold on WFAN (YES often returned from commercial before WFAN does). When Francesa and Russo were out of the studio, these outside shows are also recorded live by YES. Beginning in 2007, some of the outside shows have aired in high definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
as YES launched a full-time HD channel.
During WFAN's 20/20 Sports Flash reports, a selection of sports news was on the screen. Notably, the lead story on-screen (but not always in the actual report), is usually the Yankees or Nets game that will be airing on YES or WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service, licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship...
later that evening. YES then broadcast the traffic report during rush-hour, but did not have a graphic to illustrate the report.
Since the broadcast on YES is a simulcast, there have been times when the show was delayed or pre-empted on WFAN, usually due to New York Mets baseball. Francesa and Russo never did a show specifically for YES, so the network usually showed reruns of its original programming like Yankees Classics
Yankees Classics
Yankees Classics is a program on the YES Network which features classic New York Yankees games.Each Yankees Classics episode is hosted by Yankees radio announcer John Sterling, who discusses the game's impact on Yankee history at the beginning and end of the telecast.-Network broadcast library:When...
, Yankeeography
Yankeeography
Yankeeography is a biography-style television program that chronicles the lives and careers of the players, coaches, and other notable personnel associated with the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team. The series is aired on the YES Network and is produced by MLB Productions . The series is...
or CenterStage in its place.
When both Francesa and Russo had the day off, YES does not broadcast the show, although other WFAN hosts, usually led by Joe Benigno
Joe Benigno
Joseph S. Benigno is an American sports radio personality. He co-hosts the 10am-1pm weekday show on WFAN in New York City.-Early Years:...
, replace Francesa and Russo as the hosts of the Mike and the Mad Dog show, complete with theme music. This was apparently because Francesa and Russo were paid additional salary by YES for the show, while other WFAN hosts are not. YES did simulcast with the substitute hosts in its first couple of years.
In 2006, the contract with YES was renewed despite the Cory Lidle controversy and some negative things that Russo said about the Yankee organization in the summer of 2006 (including a heated on-air discussion with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman
Brian Cashman
Brian McGuire Cashman is an American Major League Baseball executive for the New York Yankees.-Early life:Cashman was born in Rockville Centre, New York and raised in Washingtonville, New York. He was raised in an Irish Catholic family. He moved with his family to Lexington, Kentucky, where his...
). Francesa and Russo maintained that YES did not censor them on-air. Both they and YES officials have commented that the simulcast likely would have been canceled quickly if YES forced them to not criticize Yankees or Nets management. MSG Network
MSG Network
The MSG Network, now shortened to simply MSG, is a regional cable television and radio network serving the Mid-Atlantic United States. It is focused on New York City sports teams...
also expressed interest in moving the show from YES.
Radio affiliates outside of New York City
On July 16, 2007, WQYKWQYK (AM)
WQYK " is a radio station in the Tampa, Florida area, owned by CBS Radio. The station broadcasts at 50,000 watts during the day and 5,000 watts at night, directional towards the east and west to protect Jacksonville's WJXL by day, and New York City's WINS, Toronto's CFRB, and Calgary, Alberta's CBR...
in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
began carrying Mike and the Mad Dog, and broadcast the show from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.. WQYK also broadcasts select New York Yankees games which do not conflict with home Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in , the club has played at Tropicana Field...
games. Tampa was the permanent residence of George Steinbrenner, and is the spring training home of the Yankees, and the location of the Class-A Tampa Yankees
Tampa Yankees
The Tampa Yankees are a minor league baseball team based in Tampa, Florida. They are currently members of the Florida State League and are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team. Home games are played at George M. Steinbrenner Field, a miniature replica of...
of the Florida State League
Florida State League
The Florida State League is a Class A-Advanced minor league baseball league operating in the state of Florida. They are one of three leagues currently operating in Class A-Advanced, the third highest of six classifications of minor leagues...
. WQYK, like WFAN, is owned by CBS Radio.
Between 2004 and 2007, WROW
WROW
WROW is a radio station broadcasting to Albany, New York, with its towers in Glenmont, New York. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and runs a Adult Standards/Oldies format under the branding Magic 590...
in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
simulcasted the show. WROW aired the show from 2:00 until 6:00 p.m. Whenever it was either delayed or pre-empted, the station aired a montage of interviews, known as The Best of Mike and the Mad Dog, or alternate news-talk programming such as Dennis Prager
Dennis Prager
Dennis Prager is an American syndicated radio talk show host, syndicated columnist, author, and public speaker. He is noted for his conservative political and social views emanating from conservative Judeo-Christian values. He holds that there is an "American Trinity" of essential principles,...
. In November 2007, WROW stopped broadcasting the program and replaced the show with Mark Williams
Mark Williams (radio host)
Mark Williams is an American conservative activist and author based in Sacramento, California. He is the author of It's Not Right Versus Left, It's Right Versus Wrong; Exposing the Socialist Agenda and Taking Back America One Tea Party at a Time....
.
Theme song
Each program began with a theme song jingle produced by JAM Creative ProductionsJAM Creative Productions
JAM Creative Productions, Inc., is an American company that produces radio jingles, promo music for television, and commercial jingles for advertisers. It has made more radio jingles than any other jingle company and has become part of American pop culture....
. The jingle package has been used for nearly the entire run of the show (originally, the theme from the Blues Brothers was used) and it is the only WFAN show not to use the station's standard jingle package. Lyrics below:
Mike and the Mad Dog...Sports Radio 66, W-F-A-N
They're talkin' sports, goin' at it as hard as they can,
It's Mike and the Mad Dog on the FAN
Nothing can get by 'em, turn it on and try 'em, Mike and the Mad Dog, W-F-A-N
There was an awkward moment when Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
was being interviewed for an unrelated topic. At the end of the interview Jon Bon Jovi half-jokingly remarked that they needed a new theme song and that he would write and record them a new one.
Nicknames of Francesa and Russo
- Fatso and Fruit Loops by nationally syndicated morning talk show host Don ImusDon ImusJohn Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
. - Mike and the Angry Puppy by fellow WFAN host Steve SomersSteve SomersSteve Somers is an American talk radio host best known for his work on the New York City sports radio station WFAN . He has been with the station since its inception in 1987.-Personal life:...
. - FranDog by Daily News sports media columnist Bob Raissman.
- Know It All and the Village Idiot by New York Post sports media columnist Phil MushnickPhil MushnickPhil Mushnick is a sports writer who works for the New York Post. His column "Equal Time" concentrates on the sports media and appears three times a week on Sundays, Mondays and Fridays. He also provides a weekly column on the media in general on Sundays for the entertainment section of the paper...
.