Anyone watch these guys they're great(1-6:30pm ET, YES Network). Definetly better than those tools on pardon the interruption.

I've watched or listened to them for years and think they have a good radio show. I don't think that they are better than PTI because that is like comparing apples and oranges (if for no other reason than one is essentially a radio show and the other is made for TV)

If you are intensely interested in New York sports, then there is no better source than Mike and Chris. But that is all they do. Even when they talk about other franchises or players it's only in the context of how it will affect New York. That's because their cable show is just a broadcast of a local radio show.

Another problem is that they take calls. Man, some of those people are clueless!!

M&MD look at a really small section of the sports world an do it very well, but nost people can only take so much of Vinnie from Queens speculating on who the next coach of St. John's will be.

One thing that is interesting is to compare PTI's and M&MD's perspective on NY sports rumors. The local insider's perspective on what is going on in New York is often far different from the national view.

Yep. That's why I never liked them. I understood it, but a west coast native can only take so much NYY/Mets/Giants/Jets/Knicks blather. And by god did I hate the callers. Whata buncha mos.

So it's safe to say I'll take PTI over M&MD any and everyday. (Except for after particularly crippling NYY/Giants playoff loses, on those days I sometimes tune in just to get a good hearty laugh.)

I wouldn't know about these guys (seeing as a) I live in Wisconsin so my local cable company has much reason to believe that a New York sports network wouldn't fly around here, and b) Yankees suck, and also c) I'm probably about to get shot dead by Sars for such blasphemy), but I do have their book on hand concerning those 100 classic sports arguments. From that alone, Mad Dog seems to be very knowledgeable, and in the book was willing to admit when he wouldn't be the guy to ask about something (usually stuff before he was born, but still).

That said, I'm not going to be the guy to ask myself about a show I've never even seen. But from what I've heard in these posts, I can tell you that the New York-centric talk is more or less a neccesary evil. I DO get WGN out of Chicago, and they're the same way. WTMJ in Milwaukee? Bucks, Brewers and Packers till the cows come home. It leads me to believe that radio sports talk, no matter where you go- New York, Denver, Chicago, Miami, Seattle, doesn't matter- is going to be local sports with little else to break it up (which would be major stories and nearby larger markets-- Milwaukee may talk Chicago, but not vice versa). Seeing as New York is the largest market in America, you will only hear New York and major stories, as there are no larger markets in the Western Hemisphere, much less nearby, to butt in.

Also, New York more than any other market is going to want to stick to within the city limits, if what I hear is correct. You have (according to ESPN.com's Ultimate Standings) 9 teams in the New York market in all 4 major sports (3 for hockey and 2 in all the others-- they counted the Nets and Devils), which is more than enough to keep busy. That accompanied with the apparent superiority complex that scads of New Yorkers have about their hometown is going to tend to keep Mike and Mad Dog from straying farther than East Rutherford most of the time.

Living in NYC and being a huge sports fan I listen to/watch these guys daily. I'm often amused by their holier-than-thou attitudes and I can't stand them. I suppose when you have to deal with idiots like the infamous Jerome from Manhattan, it's the only way to act. They do seem to be intimidated by anyone who shows an inkling of sports knowlege and are often dismissive of people with whom they don't agree with without giving them time to explain themselves.

Their being pompous and arrogant seems to be the general consensus amongst the educated sports fans that I've spoken to. I definitely think that they're very knowldegable when it comes to sports, especially Mike. The guy is a friggen encyclopedia. He knows what he's talking about (most of the time) when it has to deal with baseball, football, horse racing, and basketball. Mad Dog is knowledgable when it comes to baseball and tennis.

Hockey (and basketball to a much lesser degree) is usually on the backburner during their show. Baseball dominates over all other sports here in New York. Where else can you turn on the radio the day after the Super Bowl and hear Mets fans complaining about how they're in the process of signing Scott Erickson and Todd Zeile? And where else can you hear Yankee fans screaming about how the Yankees were going to trade Soriano to the Cardinals for Pujols?

I do think that both of them are biased against the Mets (with Mike being a fanatical Yankees fan and Mad Dog being an obsessive Giants fan). Francessa is also biased against the Jets (but only recently, when his best friend Parcells ran the team, he loved them), and is a huge Giants fan. Even so, there's no doubt that the man knows his football. I just think both of them need an attitude adjustment.

I do enjoy other personalities on WFAN. Joe Benningo on the overnights is absolutely fantastic, and Steve Sommers brings something very different to the table. I enjoy both of their shows. Being a female sports fan, I am a bit disappointed that there aren't any female personalities on The Fan. There used to be quite a few; in fact, I can remember when The Fan had THREE regular female personalities. Now, there are none.

I hate Chris Russo's voice. The New York accent-lisp thing just grates.

I find Russo and Francesa to be an interesting study. These are two talk show hosts who show an obvious distain for their listeners and callers. They take any opportunity they can to let the listeners know how better off than you they are, how smarter they are, how more connected they are, etc. As the previous writer Vindication stated, they do get intimidated when a caller is on the air who demonstrates any knowledge on the topic of the day. I have listened to them for several years, usually in small doses since I can't take 6 hours of who the backup catcher for the Yankees is going to be. I get a laugh at how seriously they take themselves. On one or two occasions, I have heard a crank caller get through the screener and they get pissed off beyong recognition. I am surprised they even still take calls, except to put down the occasional "Let's trade Charlie Ward for Shaq" call.

I do not feel that their show translates well to television in that part of their M.O. is that they will disconnect a caller then act as if they are still on the line. On TV they often get busted at this (Mushnick in the NY Post has called them on this, particularly Russo).

It is these kind of arrogant individuals who I secretly hope get involved in somke kind of scandal and get brought down to earth...

No more Ann Liguori?


Can I just say how much I hate this man? I don't listen to the FAN much ever since I halved my commute, but damn he keeps popping up everywhere. He is NEVER satisfied. The Yankees could sweep the World Seires and he'd piss and moan that they gave up a double in the third game. The man needs a large blunt object to the head.

I just think it's funny how much these guys hate each other. They've been together for over a dozen years and every once in a while one of them will just go off. I guess the huge gobs of cash keep them together.

Actually muchsarcasm, to my surprise, she was back on Sunday night! Her show was on hiatus during the football season (since WFAN airs Sunday Night Football). I did not realize this and thought that she was gone for good. I was delighted to hear her again, she brings such a different perspective and flavor to The Fan.



Absolutely, it's funny because when you watch the show on the YES network, you can actually see them giving eachother dirty looks. Priceless!!

They weren't always as disdainful as they are today. When Russo got started, one of his competitive advantages was that he encouraged callers and was rarely obnoxious to them. He was like a normal sports guy who made it to radio, more or less. As for Francesa, he was considered an expert in college football or basketball early on, and he had access to alot of local sports personalities. Though he was not as reliant on radio as Russo and obviously impressed with his own knowledge, he too tended to respect callers in the beginning, and he certainly had much more patience with them. Then they each became significant personalities themselves, eventually getting paired, and so it went.

Predictably, once they got to be big names, they clearly enjoyed the status bump, and they've become progressively distanced from "Vinnie from Queens". They're probably as popular as ever, but my guess is that many people wouldn't miss them as much if they suddenly disappeared as they would have, say, 10 years ago.

So basically Joe Beningo now is the equivalent of Francesa 10 years ago?

For those who don't know Joe, he's the overnight guy on WFAN. Very enjoyable to listen to if youre a Met, Jet, Knick, or Ranger fan. He speaks the truth and lets his callers talk, unlike Mike and the Maddog where you can get as much as 30 seconds to make your point.

I read an acticle in new york newsday last week(sorry don't have the link)that Mike made 1mil a year while mad dog only made 700k. wonder how mad dog's ego feels about that.

Whatever happened to Eli from Westchester? He was always good for stirring up a racial tempest. I love the way MadXog says terrible, "terh-bull".

It's amazing that they have been together almost 15 years. They may be local, local, local, but they do a good job. I didn't appreciate them until I moved out of the area, and have to listen to the idiots down in Charlotte. Now they are TERH-BULL.

God, the man can't pronounce anything. Braden becomes "Brendon", "DiPietro" becomes "DiPrieto", etc. I can understand having a hard time saying Maufata'Mafala(or spelling for that matter), but Braden? God.

I can tolerate these two but in moderation. Especially Mike. His smugness knows no bounds. I much prefer "Mac and Sid" on The FAN from 10-1. They're essentially "Mike and the Mad Dog" but they're not as smug and actually talk about hockey.

Russo got bumped from Letterman for the second time. Why is it that I find it hilarious? Maybe the vision of him giving Letterman's assistant the "Do you know who I am" routine...

I liked their radio show, but I do not watch the show on YES. (I'm a Yankee hater!!!) BTW, Does anybody wish that Sid Rosenberg would just get himself an anueryism in the brain?! What an asshole!!!

Not any more. Beningo was recently "promoted" to the 10AM-1PM spot, joining Sid Rosenberg (who's awful - I'm with you on that, Tiramisu). Which sucks, since I loved Joe on the overnight show. Now it's Rosenberg shouting him down all the time and he doesn't carry quite the same impact - a shame, really.

I used to watch them when I was a student up in the Southern Tier. What I found particularly hilarious is when Doggy called up his parents, and they'd speak with these proper British accents, and Doggy continued to bungle English pronunciation.

the fresh maker, which school? I'm currently a grad student at Binghamton.

The one thing that bugs me the most about the show is how Dog always has to tell people that has interviewed "good job" at the end of the interview. If he we interviewing a 10 year old kid, such a comment may be appropriate, but for most of these guys, being interviewed is part of the job description. It winds up being very condescending.

Favorite parts, when Mike reads one of Steinbrenner's "missives" with the theme music from the movie Patton in the background. For some reason that never fails to crack my shit up.

Dog's a moron, but he's smart enough to be entertaining about it. He knows that if he just keeps repeating one of his assinine opinions, the phone lines will be filled with 16-24 year-olds trying to "reason" with him.

This is the worst time of the year for this show. They are much more entertaining during baseball and football seasons, so they start talking about random controversial topics to pass the time until late March.

There are so many callers giving "expert" analysis on the steroids issue. Yeesh.

Heh. I was a grad student at Binghamton too. Graduated in 2003.

I actually miss Jerome's asinine calls--to any of the sports shows. It's always interesting to see how the different radio personalities treat him. I've heard him a couple of times on F*X radio, and the host actually let him talk and didn't interrupt. (Jerome was surprisingly sedate!) You'd think Mike and Doggy would know better, but it was always hilarious when the screaming matches started.

Sid is rumored to be in rehab. But, yeah, he pretty much sucks regardless.

Topic? I enjoy M&MD and call in from time to time.

Sid Rosenburg is in rehab?! Can't say that I'm surprised about that. Hopefully, he will NOT come back on WFAN, ever. What an F---in loser.
I'm a Yankee-hater & I like it when Chris "Mad Dog" Russo always talks about how much he hates the Yankees.

Does anyone know why Mike and Chris are not on YES this week? Sadly for me, I miss them.

They're both on vacation - they probably won't be back together until September.

Turn out the lights, the party is over.

From Neil Best of Newsday



No word on how this affects the YES simulcast, but that contract is coming up soon as well.

The happiest person right now has to be Michael Kay. I'd wager good money he's angling for his radio show to be simulcast on YES instead of Mike's.

the fresh maker I don't know what role the first two factors played, but at different points in the last couple of months both of them admitted that they pretty much couldn't stand the other. With the exception of a trip to the Giant's camp, I don't think the two have been together in the studio at all this summer. They kept referring to their partner being on "vacation", but it was pretty clear that they just didn't want to work together anymore.

Did Dog leave because they didn't want to renew his contract, or did he want to try greener pastures after 18 years? Or was there something going on with him and Francesa?

According to some quotes in today’s Daily News, Russo claims the FAN knew he was “lukewarm” about renewing his contract and it went from there. The article also questions the wisdom of letting Russo out of his contract. Also, one of the stipulations is he can’t go to ESPN.

Really? Would it be an issue that Kay does a lot of remote broadcasts because of the Yankees’ schedule?

Interesting that they couldn't stand each other. Sometimes while I listened to them, I couldn't tell if they were having good-natured arguments among buddies, or if they really would have ripped each other's heads off if they didn't work together. They sniped at each other as much as they did at callers.

They've got to find somebody to rip on the Yankees.

I couldn't imagine Russo on ESPN Radio. He's very different than their national personalities.

Francesa solo is a nightmare. He needs someone sharp to cut into his massive blob of an ego. Russo is an aptly nicknamed little yipper, but for some reason I liked the way these guys would balance each other. When Francesa's alone, he tends to preside, pontificate and monologue about stuff that has nothing to do with sports. He considers himself an authority on everything, and I find it impossible to take. I hate when he gives movie reviews! It's so obnoxious!

I listened a bit yesterday. It sounded like Russo was calling in to the show, and he was very emotional. He actually did break down in tears at one point, talking about how he would miss it. They talked about their many ups and downs but that they were like family. In fact, I remember in particular when Francesa's mother died, I had gotten the impression that despite their on-air squabbles, they developed a brotherly closeness. Like the best of friends and the best of rivals. I don't think you could do nearly 20 years of a partnership without developing that closeness.

Anyway, I'd find it very difficult to listen to Francesa on his own.

You're right, it might not be possible. I hadn't actually thought about the logistics or contractual obligations. I just know that a couple of times Mike talked about Kay being jealous that YES was carrying WFAN content instead of his radio show so I assumed given a chance Kay would make a play for the simulcast.



This is so true. They've got a huge job ahead if they want to make this show watchable/listenable and I think Mike knows that. The two of them had once in a lifetime collaboration and making a second act is going to be incredibly hard.

Heh. That reminds me--what did they think of The Sopranos series finale? They used to go on and on about the newest episode, and then they'd get bent out of shape when callers wondered why the heck they were talking about a TV show.

I have to give Francesa this: When the Baseball Players Union was threatening to strike again, he gave one of the best monologues on the fans' perspective, especially for ones who are shut in, and baseball is one of the few ways they can find any release.

I wonder if anyone told Dog that he has to learn NASCAR if he wants a national show.

I thought about it too, but apparently YES and ESPN don't have the greatest relationship at least on the broadcast level, so I don't know if it'll happen -- but I'd bet Kay wants it. I'd personally be all for it because as awful as a PBP guy as Kay is, his radio show is actually pretty good.

I used to watch/listen, but it got pretty awful the past few months; though they really did some of the better interviews out there for radio. Also, I really really really dislike Russo, so I want to see him fall on his face nationally (even if Mike is completely awful solo).

Mike cracked me up yesterday. His whole little aside about how Obama would impact sports was funny. If I remember correctly, the train of thought went:
- Higher tax rates for the richest Americans will seriously impact atheletes making $10 or $20 million per year.
- But, that will just mean that the agents will cry poor to the teams, telling them that their guys are getting killed with taxes, so they're going to need another ten percent.
- [yadda-yadda-yadda] "Agents Against Obama!"

Hee! I have no idea why I thought that was funny, but I really did. Probably because the first two things are exactly what is going to happen. It's not like those guys are just going to give up that extra money willingly. Heh. Bastards. I'm sure it won't be long until the ticket prices go up to compensate.