End of an Era

            The most successful sports talk radio show has come to an end.  Mike and the Mad Dog are officially over after months of rumors.  The show ended two weeks before their 19^th anniversary.  Anyone who is in sports radio should give thanks to the two that turned it into big business.  They proved that money could be made with a five and a half hour sports talk show.

            Mike Francesa and Chris Russo were the reason that I got into this business.  I grew up listening to them and had the honor of working at WFAN for a summer.  Sports radio in New York is a different animal and these two knew how to handle the beast better than anyone else.  They complimented each other perfectly.  Mad Dog, the crazy screamer and Francesa the voice of reason.  The thing that people don’t understand is how knowledgeable the two are.  Russo can talk about regular season games that happened ten years ago off the top of his head.  Francesa, who does come off as pompous, understood the game of baseball like a coach.

            Listening to the show today it seemed like they left on good terms.  Russo wanted to move on with his life and Francesa chose to finish his career with WFAN.  Mad Dog broke down on the radio when he called in.  Chris’ dad Tony called into Francesa. Mike, who rarely shows any emotion almost, cried on the air.  Mike and the Mad Dog have fought publicly through the years, on and off the air and it was good to see that they didn’t split with knives at each others throats.

written by Matt