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Whither M&MD?

Frayed Knot Jun 22 2008 08:11 PM

Newsday's sports media reporter, Neil Best, reports that the 18+ year run of the Mike and the Mad Dog program [url=http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-spmike0622,0,842426.story]may soon be history[/url] Not many specifics are given beyond reports about "recent fraying of personal relationships", but he does cite "industry sources with knowledge of the situation" as saying that; 'barring a change of heart, the partnership between Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo is not expected to survive to see its 19th anniversary Sept. 5'

Fman99 Jun 22 2008 08:15 PM

These boobs are about as relevant as phrenology.

metsguyinmichigan Jun 23 2008 11:10 AM

"Mike and the Mad Dog," the most successful, influential show in sports talk radio history, could soon be history itself. --- Hold on, more influential than Jim Rome?

Benjamin Grimm Jun 23 2008 11:13 AM

If they are done, then all I can say is good riddance. Of course, there will never be a shortage of new loudmouths to replace the old, but it's time for Mike and Chris to get out of the spotlight.

AG/DC Jun 23 2008 11:19 AM

My concern is they could be double the nuisance if they split up, like Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

metirish Jun 23 2008 11:28 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 23 2008 11:29 AM

There is even a show on SNY called loudmouths. Russo could go to ESPN and do a show with Michael Kay.

seawolf17 Jun 23 2008 11:28 AM

You can't possibly deny their influence. Who did what they did before they did? Nobody. Rome may have taken it to another level, and could run logical circles around either of them, but M&MD will always be the originals. And haven't they hated each other for years? I don't think that's news.

G-Fafif Jun 23 2008 11:34 AM

Russo on right now. Gave a half-hearted denial to the story.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 23 2008 11:38 AM

I'm slightly curious: How badly did they "kill" the Mets over the Willie Randolph thing?

soupcan Jun 23 2008 11:44 AM

Francesa understood that Randolph was fired at 11:00pm not 3:00am. Russo not so much. Francesa has been absolutely murdering Bernazard though.

metirish Jun 23 2008 11:45 AM

I'm sure Russo will keep us up to date with a post or two.

Kong76 Jun 23 2008 12:38 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 23 2008 05:56 PM

I read somewhere that if you go to purgatory they pump in an endless loop of Mad Dog reading of weekend sporting events and Mike guessing the NY and National Nielsen ratings.

G-Fafif Jun 23 2008 12:49 PM

KC wrote: I read somewhere that if you go purgatory they pump in an endless loop of Mad Dog reading of weekend sporting events and Mike guessing the NY and National Nielsen ratings. Which itself would get a 1.4 in New York, 1.3 nationally.

metsguyinmichigan Jun 23 2008 12:59 PM

We lived in Connecticut between 1987 and 1990, and they had just started to take off. I remember the guy they replaced in the afternoon drive, I think his name was Pete, who sounded like an old sourpuss kind of guy. M & MD were kind of a refreshing alternative. I think his name was Pete Franklin, but I'm not sure. There used to be print ads with him and Imus.

metsguyinmichigan Jun 23 2008 12:59 PM

Per Wikipedia Pete Franklin (September 22, 1928 - November 23, 2004), nicknamed "The King", was an American sports talk radio host who worked in San Francisco, Cleveland and New York. Franklin stayed at WWWE until 1987, when he was hired by upstart all-sports station WFAN in New York to be their afternoon host. After much controversy, he was eventually fired in 1989, to be replaced by the Mike and the Mad Dog program. He later worked at KNBR in San Francisco, where he ended his career in 2000. He briefly worked again at WTAM in 1998, hosting Sportsline again, this time from a studio in his California home.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 23 2008 01:04 PM

I remember Pete Franklin. I didn't think he was so bad, but I was a callow youth when he was on. I doubt that I'd be able to listen to him today.

G-Fafif Jun 23 2008 01:08 PM

He liked to yell "SCUMBAG!" a lot and act very put upon. Not a great fit for New York. He was, indeed, the king of Cleveland. Made a cottage industry out of stoking hatred for the MFYs, which wasn't so hard out there. In NY, it all sounded very much like an act. But he wasn't nearly as insufferable as Mike Francesa.

Vince Coleman Firecracker Jun 23 2008 01:36 PM

Russo, today: "Obar, you know, there's the second language thing, so there could be a communicative problem. You know, and it's a problem if he's repeating himself over and over and over again." Odds Mad Dog is outed as a Kaufman-esque performance artist: 5-1, at the most.

Frayed Knot Jun 23 2008 02:29 PM

Franklin was a Cleveland sport-talk legend prior to there being full-time sports talk radio. Screaming a no-nothing callers was a big part of his act - as it was for young John Sterling who did a nightly call-in show on WMCA in NYC. I'd hear Franklin every once in a while when conditions were right for long-distance AM radio signals. So when FAN first announced plans for a 24/7 sports station Franklin was the guy they turned to as their main afternoon drive time guy. It's worth remembering here that they first imagined the talk as being much more national in nature than the local slant it almost immediately became; Greg Gumbel and Jim Lampley were also early hires while station mgmt was telling local (but lesser known) job seekers like Francesa to take a hike. The Franklin plan got off to a rough start when he had a heart attack prior to launch date and couldn't take the air until a few months into its run. He later wound up in San Francisco.

TheOldMole Jun 23 2008 04:41 PM

How can you end your career in 2000 and work again in 1998?

TheOldMole Jun 23 2008 04:43 PM

My favorite Mad Dog moment was when a caller asked him how slugging percentage was calculated, and he had no idea. The caller asked if it maybe had something to do with total bases or extra base hits, and the Dog said No, he was sure that wasn't it.

AG/DC Jun 23 2008 04:44 PM

TheOldMole wrote: How can you end your career in 2000 and work again in 1998? On wikipedia, it's possible.

Nymr83 Jun 23 2008 05:15 PM

My favorite Russo moment was him not knowing that Delgado, and all other Puerto Ricans, are American citizens.

AG/DC Jun 23 2008 05:35 PM

Is there a top ten of M&M stupid moments?

SteveJRogers Jun 23 2008 05:49 PM

metsguyinmichigan wrote: "Mike and the Mad Dog," the most successful, influential show in sports talk radio history, could soon be history itself. --- Hold on, more influential than Jim Rome? Jim Rome is not a pimple on FranDog's FANNY!

SteveJRogers Jun 23 2008 05:53 PM

One of the funniest Stupid Russo moments is when he was told of DareDevil's origins in terms of being blinded by toxic waste and having his other senses greatly heightened. His response, "Is this a true story?"

Kong76 Jun 23 2008 05:55 PM

AG: >>>Is there a top ten of M&M stupid moments?<<< I'm surprised there isn't a web-site.

metsguyinmichigan Jun 23 2008 06:21 PM

SteveJRogers wrote: ="metsguyinmichigan"]"Mike and the Mad Dog," the most successful, influential show in sports talk radio history, could soon be history itself. --- Hold on, more influential than Jim Rome? Jim Rome is not a pimple on FranDog's FANNY! Is FranDog's fanny nationally syndicated?

AG/DC Jun 23 2008 06:24 PM

Here's some hot material. http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2007/11/oh_my_goodness_gracious_this.html

SteveJRogers Jun 23 2008 06:47 PM

metsguyinmichigan wrote: ="SteveJRogers"] metsguyinmichigan wrote: "Mike and the Mad Dog," the most successful, influential show in sports talk radio history, could soon be history itself. --- Hold on, more influential than Jim Rome? Jim Rome is not a pimple on FranDog's FANNY! Is FranDog's fanny nationally syndicated? Now I like Romie, but he has been in NYC for several years now and people aren't clamoring for 1050 to get his show a better timeslot, or more publicity. Rome has as much relevance right now as Rush Limbaugh. I'm sure all people know of him is just from the Everett thing, and don't even know he has a successful nationally syndicated show. And certainly not the fact that his own show spawned two talk shows hosted by former callers of his.

AG/DC Jun 23 2008 06:57 PM

Cory Lidle, that's top-ten material.

Frayed Knot Jun 23 2008 07:11 PM

="KC"]AG: >>>Is there a top ten of M&M stupid moments?<<< I'm surprised there isn't a web-site. Oh there are. I've never checked them out but there are definitely chat rooms devoted to the show.

SteveJRogers Jun 23 2008 07:33 PM

[url=http://www.mikefrancesa.com/forums]Easily the Mecca of all Mike & The Mad Dog message boards*[/url] *Little inside Internet NYC Radio Community joke there. The webmaster of musicradio77.com and their board's moderator calls his place the Mecca of all Internet Radio Message Boards. I HAD to work the joke in there.

TheOldMole Jun 23 2008 11:12 PM

On Edgy's link, and Russo saying those things don't happen to hockey players...doesn't he remember Terry Sawchuck?

TheOldMole Jun 23 2008 11:14 PM

Mike: I can't eat four-legged animals. Russo: Can you give me an example? Mike: COWS!! Russo: What about hamburgers? Mike: I can't eat bread. Russo: Can you eat bagels? Mike: No, that's bread. Russo: French Toast? Mike: That's made from bread. Russo: Pancakes?

Vince Coleman Firecracker Jun 24 2008 06:00 AM

Has anyone created the Mike & the Mad Dog drinking game yet? My initial idea is to drink every time Russo admits, on the air, that he does no prep work whatsoever. For example, if they have an author on and Doggie says something like, "Now, I haven't read the book." Or when they're talking about an important sporting event and he says, "Well, I didn't see the game."

metirish Jun 24 2008 07:08 AM

Some of my favorite M&MD stuff was when they used to have NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on , neither of them sounded like they knew much about the NHL yet they would tell Bettman how to make it better. Other faves would include M&MD as movie critics , or spending the show talking about The Sopranos.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 24 2008 07:17 AM

Meanwhile, Imus is in hot water again, for saying, "There you go." Something about a black athlete who's in some kind of trouble. The details are already making my eyes glaze over.

MFS62 Jun 24 2008 07:42 AM

Nymr83 wrote: My favorite Russo moment was him not knowing that Delgado, and all other Puerto Ricans, are American citizens. Yes, they've had a problem with nationality over the years. Later

soupcan Jun 24 2008 07:49 AM

My favorite Russo-ism was years ago and pretty innocuous when compared to all the others. He was talking about some team, somewhere doing something stupid and instead of screaming 'It's a travesty!' like he always does, he screamed 'It's a TAPESTRY!' Years later I still laugh about it and repeat it whenever a situation calls for it.

Kong76 Jun 24 2008 07:54 AM

I don't think the Imus thing will warrant a thread, but I chuckled this morning when Warner was reporting that Big Brown had shoe problems in the first 1/8 mile at Belmont and it was caught by a free-lance photographer. One of the side-kick brothers on the show says, "what color was he?" and when he was told brown he quips, "there you go." No really, it was funny. Never mind.

AG/DC Jun 24 2008 08:04 AM

Funny thing is that Stern (when we listened at work back in the nineties) did that shit every day. Robin Quivers: Authorities are saying two men are critically wounded after an argument erupted into a gunfight at a family picnic this weekend in Queens. Howard Stern: Oh Jesus. Idiots. Quivers: Police are reporting that Youssef Mouhamed and Ahmed Sal... Stern: GUILTY!! Quivers: Howard, those are the names of the victims. Stern: Oh, well, then, continue.

soupcan Jun 24 2008 08:12 AM

I think the difference is that Stern was obviously doing it for comedic effect and Imus was being serious.

AG/DC Jun 24 2008 08:18 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 24 2008 08:22 AM

Well, I never found Imus funny at all, but I guess that's not a line he's even allowed to toe any more. I mean, I guess he was trying to be funny when he made the "hos" crack.

Vince Coleman Firecracker Jun 24 2008 08:18 AM

Yeah, when I heard the quote, I immediately thought of Stern. The difference between the two, I guess, is that Stern is funny and Imus makes me want to drink Drano.

metirish Jun 24 2008 08:22 AM

Predictably this " story" is all over the internet.

metsguyinmichigan Jun 24 2008 08:41 AM

Steve opined... "Now I like Romie, but he has been in NYC for several years now and people aren't clamoring for 1050 to get his show a better timeslot, or more publicity. Rome has as much relevance right now as Rush Limbaugh. I'm sure all people know of him is just from the Everett thing, and don't even know he has a successful nationally syndicated show. And certainly not the fact that his own show spawned two talk shows hosted by former callers of his." Now Steve, you have your New York blinders on here. Not that I'm a fan, and he might not get much run in ultra blue state New York, but Limbaugh is huge, probably the No. 1 syndicated talk show in the country. I do like Rome, and he might not be big in New York, but he might be the top-rated sports talk show in the country. I used to like listening to Imus during the morning drive back when I worked on the other side of the state because he'd have a decent mix of sports and politics. Sports talk radio in Detroit is...awful. My side of the state is usually syndicated stuff.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 24 2008 08:45 AM

Imus is better when he's not trying to be funny. The scripted bits on his show are just awful. (Richard Nixon, Jack Nicholson, Bill Clinton, Walter Cronkite, etc.) The interviews could be very interesting though, especially when he gets politicians to let their hair down a little bit. And when I listened to his show (I haven't in years) I did learn about some interesting books that I might not otherwise have read.

AG/DC Jun 24 2008 09:00 AM

There are plenty of places (radio, television, print, online etc.) to learn about good books. Imus is just a high-profile outlet, not a particularly reliable one. Imus didn't get into the book business until some strange thing in the late nineties where his wife fell in love with I Was Amelia Earhart, turned him on to it, and he started plugging it like it was the first book he ever read. In fact, it's little more than a historical bodice-ripper, but the sales shot through the roof, publishers started sending him more than he could possilby read, and he had a huge new niche.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 24 2008 09:03 AM

AG/DC wrote: There are plenty of places (radio, television, print, online etc.) to learn about good books. Oh, of course. I've discovered far more books from those other places than I did from Imus. (I'm still reading more than three years after ditching WFAN and Imus.) I'm just saying that that's the portion of his show that can be interesting, as opposed to the infantile jocularity. (Which isn't.)

metsguyinmichigan Jun 24 2008 09:21 AM

AG/DC wrote: There are plenty of places (radio, television, print, online etc.) to learn about good books. Like this forum! I found out about a really cool book about uniform numbers..... :)

Frayed Knot Jun 24 2008 11:02 AM

="soupcan"]I think the difference is that Stern was obviously doing it for comedic effect and Imus was being serious. Without getting into a whole inane Imus-v-Stern debate, of course Imus was also attempting comedy. The reason the last incident stirred up a shit-storm is that the ones he picked on: a) did nothing to deserve it and b) were a group the media found easy to get behind, seeing as they were: female, minorities (mostly), students, and not only members of a winning local sports team but an amateur one to boot (at least to the extent that any college hoops team is amatuer) Comedic barbs are treated very differently depending on whether or not the public/media views the target(s) as sympathetic.

soupcan Jun 24 2008 12:25 PM

="Frayed Knot"]Without getting into a whole inane Imus-v-Stern debate, of course Imus was also attempting comedy If we're talking about the Pacman Jones comment - no, he wasn't trying to be funny, he was serious when he said it. It was a matter-of-fact statement made during the news. The following day after the media shitstorm he explained that what he meant was 'Of course he's black, that's why the police are picking on him.' As if to say he sympathizes with the plight of the black man in this country.

Frayed Knot Jun 24 2008 02:15 PM

]If we're talking about the Pacman Jones comment - no, he wasn't trying to be funny, he was serious when he said it. It was a matter-of-fact statement made during the news. Yeah he was. It started with Warner Wolf referencing Pacman's history in nightclubs which led to an Imus (sarcastic) reply along the lines of; hell it's a nightclub, there are guns and women and drinks all over the place, let's cut this guy (Pacman) some slack WW: "Yeah but he's been arrested 7 times since [whenever]" Imus: "Well, what color is he?" -- implying that the arrests were because he's black WW: "He's African-American" Imus: "Well there you go"

G-Fafif Jun 24 2008 02:21 PM

metsguyinmichigan wrote: he might not get much run in ultra blue state New York I prefer to think of us as ultra blue and orange.