I heard this morning that Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, of the Mike and the Mad Dog radio show in New York quit the show last night. He and his partner Mike Francesa had been doing the afternoon drive time radio show together since 1989. I hate change generally, but this is one of those things that stings a little bit more. The end of an era ...As an exiled New Yorker, there are certain things that make me feel at home. Listening to the mindless banter between Francesa and Russo was one of the things that I miss about New York. They were the afternoon background noise in delis and taxicabs and all over. Occasionally, I would even listen to them online down here in Atlanta if a big story hit. I remember last fall when they were covering the Joe Torre New York Yankees saga. Up until minutes before Torre turned down the offer, Russo was blasting him for taking an offer that was clearly insulting. Then they had to quickly shift gears when it was announced that he was not coming back and was not, in fact, accepting any insulting offer.
What was truly remarkable about these two was that they were completely mismatched. The self-important Francesa had this throaty, kind of unctuous way of speaking, like he was the Godfather of sportstalk and had all the inside knowledge. Russo, by contrast, had a terrible voice for radio -- high-pitched and lispey. His rants were hilarious, if non-sensical -- the hysterical little brother who got excited when you least expected it. They were really the kings of sports radio in New York; their show was even nationally broadcast by the Yes Network on Direct TV. It sounds like Francesa will stay on WFAN and Russo will move onto Sirius satellite radio or elsewhere. It will be strange not hearing them together on the radio together anymore, but heck -- even Lucy and Ricky got divorced.
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