Mike and the Mad Dog

Mike and the Mad Dog/Mike'd Up
Mike and the Mad Dog
Format	Sports radio
Starring	Mike Francesa Chris Russo
Country of origin	United States
Production
Running time	5 hours, 20 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	WFAN (Radio, 1989-2008) YES Network (Television, 2002-2008)
Picture format	NTSC (480i) 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	September 5, 1989 – August 15, 2008 (October 16, 2009 - Special 1 hour edition)
External links
Website

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.^[1]

History

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 Imus, 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.^[2][3]

Paired together

In August 1989, WFAN (which was owned at the time by Emmis Communications) 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.^[4] 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.^[2]

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."^[5] His voice has also been described as "Donald Duck on steroids."^[6]

Broadcast times

Originally it was broadcast weekdays from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Because of its popularity, WFAN extended its starting time twice, first to 2:00 p.m., and then to 1:00 p.m.^[7] 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.^[8][9][10] The morning portion of the show was nationally syndicated and news-oriented.^[11] While in the morning drive slot, they inherited some of the staff from Imus in the Morning, including news anchor Charles McCord, sports anchor Chris Carlin and engineer Lou Rufino.^[12] 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.^[13]

End of the run

On June 22, 2008, sports columnist Neil Best of Newsday reported that Francesa and Russo were considering ending their radio show.^[14] The reports stated that the relationship between the radio duo had soured during Spring 2008, and was the likely cause of the split.^[14] Although Russo's contract with WFAN ran until October 2009, Francesa's contract situation was unclear at that time.^[15] Newsday contacted Francesa on vacation, where he stated "no comment". On June 23, Russo, doing the show alone, denied the rumors.^[16] 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."^[16] Some fans have suggested that the rumors were created as a contract negotiation ploy or a publicity stunt.^[14] 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.^[17]

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.^[18] 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.^[19][20][21] 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."^[21] 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.^[22][23]

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.^[24] On August 19, 2008, Russo signed a five-year contract worth about $3 million per year^[25] 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.^[26][27] Russo said there was nothing WFAN could have done to keep him^[28] after Sirius XM provided him an opportunity to not only do a show, but have his own channel, which he could not pass up.^[29]

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.^[30]

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.^[31] 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 Stadium before the first game of the 2009 American League Championship Series, where both were broadcasting their separate shows in adjacent booths.^[32] Russo said that although he loved working at Sirius, he missed talking sports with Francesa.^[33]

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.^[34] According to New York magazine, Francesa made $1.4 million and Russo made $1.3 million in 2005.^[35]

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 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.^[36] In an interview with the New York Daily News, 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."^[37]

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.

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.^[4] 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.^[2]

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."^[38]

However, their relationship got strained again in March 2008.^[15] It was reported that Francesa and Russo were considering ending their radio show.^[39] 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.^[15] Francesa agreed that this was among the worst of their "four or five" fights over the years.^[17]

1991 NCAA Tournament

In 1991, while Francesa was still at CBS Sports hosting the 1991 NCAA Tournament—Russo was very critical of CBS's coverage.^[40] 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.

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 hockey, 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.^[41] 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.

"ONE TIME!!"

The Monday after Russo's favorite baseball team, the San Francisco Giants, were eliminated from the 2003 postseason by the Florida Marlins he went into his most famous tirade.^[42] which YES often replayed in promos.

“

Think about this for a second, if you’re a Giant fan. Just put yourself in my shoes. The Florida Marlins have been in existence for ten years. They have done nothing. They had one great year in ’97, and now, they’re having this magical run again, and both times at the expense of the Giants. Think about that for a second. I have been around for 50 years, not a thing. Twice, this team, out of nowhere, has knocked us off. I’ll give you one other stat: You know, the Giants have played four postseason games in Joe Robbie Stadium in the last six years, and they’ve lost every game in the last at-bat. Every freakin’ game, in that stupid ballpark, they’ve lost in the last at...I’ve got Ernie Kashonas callin’ me up and going crazy, Marlin this, Marlin that, Marlin fans are nowhere to be found, and now I can’t win a game in that park in front of 65,000 people. I tell you, Saturday, I was so upset. And I thought I was beyond it. I thought it wouldn’t bother me. Saturday, I was mad at Rodriguez, I was mad at J.T. Sn(ow)...Well, I wasn’t mad at J.T., but I was mad at Rodriguez...(Giants pitcher) Jerome Williams, I was mad at everybody. I cannot believe...and then I got the Yankees, walkin' through the park in Minnesota, pounding the Twinks, Mariano pitching great, Clemens and Wells, who I hate, going out there and being great, now I gotta deal with the Yankees winning another World Championship, probably, beating the Red Sox and Cubs along the way, and I’m out in the first round. I mean, why waste my TIME?!? Every single freaking year, I get myself juiced up for this stupid team, and at 43 years of age with three kids, enough already! Let them go hurt somebody else. I mean, when am I ever going to have a chance to win a lousy freaking championship? ONE TIME! NOT TWENTY! ONE LOUSY GODDAMN TIME! Gee whiz! Every single...beep that "GD"...Every single time. Ah, come on, will ya please? Can you beat the Florida Marlins one time? Four straight losses in that ballpark. Not to mention Busch Stadium in '87. Not to mention '93, 12-1 (a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on the final day of the season, allowing the Braves to finish one game ahead). Last year, they spit it up! Every single time. The game in Wrigley Field. Nobody beats the Cubs; we can't beat them in '98. Nobody beats 'em, we stink. The Mets! The lousy Mets did it to us! Gosh, every time! I never win. Every year, I'm sitting there--and I'll be there on October 26—-and they'll beat Dusty to annoy me—-I'll be there October 26 and the Yankees will be parading down the Canyon of Heroes with their 27th championship, and I'm out again. I mean, I don't care how many books I write, how many kids I have, how many Marconis. I don't care! Mike can put me on that show forever—-I DON'T CARE! WIN ONE! I'll give it all back! I'll leave now! One, that's all I want is one-—UNO! I'll leave, I swear I'll leave! I'll quit! (New York Post writer Phil) Mushnick can be happy. I'll leave one time! Once! I'll get out of here forever, you'll never see me again. Let me win once. ONCE! I'm getting at 43 years of age. I'm not getting any younger. I'm not as old as Mike, but I'm not getting any younger!

”

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.

Bill Parcells

Mike Francesa has been heavily criticized over the years for his relationship with former NFL head coach, Bill Parcells^{[citation needed]}. 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.

Robert Kraft & Bill Belichick

When Bill Parcells 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.

Doggie going solo: ____ and the Mad Dog

In the summer of 1992, while Francesa was on vacation at the Breakers, in Palm Beach, Florida, 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.^[6] 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.^[4]

"Enter Sandman"

When New York Yankees 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."^[43]

Cory Lidle

See also: October 11, 2006 New York City plane crash

On October 9, 2006, after the sudden exit of the Yankees from the divisional series, 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.^[44]

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,

"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."^[44]

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."^[45]

Russo said to New York Daily News 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."^[46]

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 University 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).^[47] 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."^[48] Later on both Francesa and Russo blasted Tim Russert (No. 1 on the list anointed by Russo),^[48] Mike Wallace, Christopher Dodd ("The biggest phony" by Russo), Keith Olbermann, Harold Ford, Jr., etc.^[49] 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. 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.

Notable moments

Marconi Award

Francesa and Russo won the 2000 Marconi Award for Major Market Personality of the Year.^[50] The announcement was made on September 23 at the 2000 National Association of Broadcasters 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 Bowl, 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.

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.^[51]

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.^[52][53] It started after the completion of the New York Mets 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.

Live play-by-play

On May 25, 2006, Francesa and Russo broadcast a Major League Baseball game at Shea Stadium between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets on radio for local charities.^[54] 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. ^[55]

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.

YES simulcast

Mike and the Mad Dog
Format	Sports
Starring	Mike Francesa Chris Russo Chris Shearn
Country of origin	USA
Production
Running time	5 hours 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	YES Network
Original airing	March 19, 2002-August 15, 2008
Chronology
Preceded by	various programming
Followed by	various programming
External links
Website

In 2002, the YES Network 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).^[56] 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.

Radio affiliates outside of New York City

On July 16, 2007, WQYK 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.^[57]

Theme song

Each program began with a theme song jingle produced by JAM Creative Productions. 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:^[58]

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.

Nicknames of Francesa and Russo

• Fatso and Fruit Loops by nationally syndicated morning talk show host Don Imus.^[4]
• Mike and the Angry Puppy by fellow WFAN host Steve Somers.
• FranDog by Daily News sports media columnist Bob Raissman.^[4]
• Know It All and the Village Idiot by New York Post sports media columnist Phil Mushnick.^[59]

See also

• Mike'd Up: Francesa on the FAN
• Mad Dog Radio

References and notes

1. ^ Mushnick, Phil (2008-08-14). "Good or bad, Mike & Dog Make History". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/08142008/sports/good_or_bad__mike__dog_made_history_124474.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-24. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Jim Reed (1999), Everything Imus: all you ever wanted to know about Don Imus, Birch Lane Press, pp. 65-66, (ISBN 1-55972-504-4).
3. ^ Jack Craig (1990-03-30), CBS' Francesa is plainly a success basketball, football expert defies network standards for appearance, accent, The Boston Globe.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Nick Paumgarten (2004-08-30). "The boys: what Mike and the Mad Dog talk about when they talk about sports". The New Yorker. http://www.mikefrancesa.com/wordpress/?p=73. 
5. ^ George Vecsey (1991-02-17). "Mad Dog is a preppie!". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5D6153EF934A25751C0A967958260. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Jeff Pearlman (2004-02-24). "Mike and the Mad Dog make nice". Newsday. http://cache.zoominfo.com/cachedpage/?archive_id=0&page_id=613328834&page_url=%2f%2fwww.newsday.com%2fentertainment%2ftv%2fny-p2two3682479feb24%2c0%2c7322840.story%3fcoll%3dny-entertainment-headlines&page_last_updated=2%2f24%2f2004+12%3a03%3a57+AM. 
7. ^ Richard Sandomir (1997-07-02). "It's rants, raves and ratings". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E5DE1430F931A35754C0A961958260. 
8. ^ Richard Sandomir (2007-04-14). "Post-Imus, WFAN opts for more sports, for now". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/14/arts/television/14mike.html. 
9. ^ Matthew Futterman (2007-04-15). "Succeeding an icon". The Newark Star-Ledger. http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1176611958205101.xml&coll=1. 
10. ^ Neil Best (2007-04-20). "WFAN fix, if only temporary". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/ny-spmedia205179134apr20,0,7980591.column?coll=ny-sports-columnists. 
11. ^ Nick Paumgarten (2007-04-30). "On the air: pinch-hitters". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2007/04/30/070430ta_talk_paumgarten. 
12. ^ Jacques Steinberg (2007-04-17). "Imus’s longtime sidekick joins other pinch-hitters". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/arts/television/17mcco.html?ref=arts. 
13. ^ Press release (2007-08-14). "Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton to host morning drive on WFAN-AM in New York". WFAN. http://www.wfan.com/pages/807255.php. 
14. ^ ^{a b c} Best, Neil (2008-06-22). "What could be next for "Mike and Mad Dog"". NewsDay. Archived from the original on July 2, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080702142049/http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-spbest0623,0,1366723.column. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 
15. ^ ^{a b c} Neil Best (2008-06-24). "Russo dismisses possible Mike & the Mad Dog split". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-sprusso0624,0,3737608.story. 
16. ^ ^{a b} "Chris Russo denies reports of radio split". 2008-06-23. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/23/sports/Mike-and-Mad-Dog.php. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
17. ^ ^{a b} Neil Best (2008-06-28). "Francesa: Radio show may not last beyond summer". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spmike285744866jun28,0,1846580.story. 
18. ^ Reunited and it Needed an Enema - Mike and the Mad Dog Return
19. ^ Neil Best (2008-08-14). "After 19 years, Russo leaves 'Mike and Mad Dog'". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-sprusso0815,0,4065290.story. 
20. ^ Richard Sandomir (2008-08-14). "Radio Alert: It’s Now Mike Minus Mad Dog". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/sports/15wfan.html. 
21. ^ ^{a b} Dave Ruden (2008-08-15). "Mad Dog: 'Today is a tough day'". The Stamford Advocate. http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_10215144. 
22. ^ "Mike & the Mad Dog say goodbye". New York Post. 2008-08-15. http://www.nypost.com/seven/08152008/sports/mike__the_mad_dog_say_goodbye_124618.htm. 
23. ^ Mike Francesa and Chris Russo (2008-08-15). "Mike & the Mad Dog farewell". WFAN.com. http://podcast.wfan.com/wfan/1269912.mp3. 
24. ^ Neil Best (2008-08-16). "Russo, late of WFAN's Mike and the Mad Dog, calls in". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/saturday/news/ny-spbest165803061aug16,0,5196711.story. 
25. ^ Bob Raissman (2008-08-20). "Sirius XM's 'Mad Dog Radio' signals huge payday for Chris Russo". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2008/08/19/2008-08-19_sirius_xms_mad_dog_radio_signals_huge_pa.html. 
26. ^ "Sirius XM hires Russo for new sports talk channel". The Associated Press. 2008-08-19. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/a9dadaaa17f5ef7a39c7349317874558.htm. ^{[dead link]}
27. ^ Press release (2008-08-19). "Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo Joins SIRIUS XM Radio". Sirius XM Radio. http://investor.sirius.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=328592&cat=&newsroom=. 
28. ^ Justin Terranova (2008-08-19). "Chris Russo Joins Sirius XM, will debut September 15". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/08192008/sports/mad_dog_returns_sept__15_125152.htm. 
29. ^ Bob Raissman (2008-08-19). "Sirius XM to launch Chris Russo channel, 'Mad Dog Radio'". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/2008/08/19/2008-08-19_sirius_xm_to_launch_chris_russo_channel_.html. 
30. ^ Neil Best (2008-11-23). "Francesa: Mostly fond memories of time with Dog". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sports/ny-spbest235939014nov23,0,3089471.column. 
31. ^ Neil Best (2009-10-15). "For one day, Mike & Mad Dog reunite". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/sports/for-one-day-mike-mad-dog-reunite-1.1526606. 
32. ^ Neil Best (2009-10-16). "Mike and the Mad Dog pick up where they left off". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/sports/mike-and-the-mad-dog-pick-up-where-they-left-off-1.1528589. 
33. ^ Bernie Augustine (2009-10-16). "Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo back on WFAN, hints at reunion with Mike Francesa". SILive.com. http://www.silive.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/10/chris_russo_back_on_wfan_hints.html. 
34. ^ Bob Raissman (2007-10-21). "Will Yank brass use network to grill new skipper? YES". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2007/10/21/2007-10-21_will_yank_brass_use_network_to_grill_new.html. 
35. ^ "Who makes how much — New York's salary guide 2005". New York Magazine. 2005-09-26. http://newyorkmetro.com/guides/salary/14497/index4.html. 
36. ^ Michael Patrick Nelson (2004-12-09). "Nothing's shocking". The Long Island Press. http://www.longislandpress.com/?cp=155&show=article&a_id=318. 
37. ^ Michael O'Keeffe (2004-11-14), Mike and the Mad Dog still rapping after all these years, New York Daily News.
38. ^ Robin Finn (2007-04-20). "Chaotic duo indignantly fills post-Imus void". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/nyregion/20lives.html. 
39. ^ Neil Best (2008-06-21). "'Mike and the Mad Dog' radio show could be history". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-spmike0622,0,842426.story. 
40. ^ Bryan Curtis (2008-08-23). "Talking sports the way men really talk sports". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/weekinreview/24curtis.html?em. 
41. ^ Bruce Weber (1992-06-07). "A loud, angry world on the dial". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7DD1F3BF934A35755C0A964958260. 
42. ^ Mad Dog's tirade on SF Giants playoff elimination in 2003 (click link for audio).
43. ^ Phil Mushnick (2006-07-02). "Mike and Dog's joke was on you...if you bought their 'Sandman' rant". New York Post. http://www.mikefrancesa.com/gb2/index.php?m=200607. 
44. ^ ^{a b} Neil Best (2006-10-12). "Francesa feels haunted by Lidle interview". Newsday. http://www.mikefrancesa.com/gb2/index.php?m=200610. 
45. ^ John Howell (2006-10-13). "Lidle's death puts focus on Mike and Mad Dog interview". Hartford Courant. http://www.mikefrancesa.com/gb2/index.php?m=200610. 
46. ^ Bob Raissman (2006-10-12). "Guilt & regret, but Dog barks on". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/2006/10/12/2006-10-12_guilt___regret__but_dog_bark.html. 
47. ^ Neil Best (2007-04-13). "Mike & Mad Dog defend Imus, blast MSNBC". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-spfrandog0413,0,7257074.story?coll=ny-nynews-print. 
48. ^ ^{a b} Bob Raissman (2007-04-17). "After Imus, the Dog days". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/2007/04/17/2007-04-17_after_imus_the_dog_days-1.html. 
49. ^ Jim Baumbach (2007-04-16). "Waking up to Mike and the Mad Dog". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-spjim0416,0,1406900.column?coll=ny-news-columnists. 
50. ^ "2000 Marconi Radio Award Winners". National Association of Broadcasters. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928021519/http://www.nab.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Awards&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=3750. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
51. ^ Raymond A. Edel (2004-12-10), Dolenz brings a Monkee to WCBS, The Bergen Record.
52. ^ Press release (2005-06-24). "WFAN's Mike and the Mad Dog to broadcast for 24 consecutive hours". Radio Ink. http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntry.asp?hid=129352&pt=archive. 
53. ^ Press release (2005-06-30). "Ruland to appear on WFAN's Mike and the Mad Dog show tomorrow morning". Iona College Athletics. http://www.iona.edu/gaels/story.cfm?id=2063. 
54. ^ Press release (2006-05-17). "Mike and the Mad Dog to call Mets play by play on Thursday, May 25th live on WFAN". New York Mets. http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060517&content_id=1457947&vkey=pr_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym. 
55. ^ Neil Best (2006-05-26), Mikey and Mad Dog, that wasn't a bad job, Newsday
56. ^ Bob Raissman (2006-12-10). "Yanks, CBS close to deal". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/12-10-2006/sports/football/giants/story/478688p-402741c.html. 
57. ^ Chris Churchill (2007-11-26). "Mike and the Mad Dog lose WROR spot". timesunion.com. http://blogs.timesunion.com/business/?p=2499. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
58. ^ Recording of theme song
59. ^ Dovie Quint (2005-12-19). "An idiot and a know-it-all worth listening to". The Yeshiva College Commentator. http://www.yucommentator.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=2748fca7-db61-450b-8a34-51bc73431a4a. 

External links

• Mike Francesa and Chris Russo bios on WFAN
• Mike and the Mad Dog interview audios
• Long Island History: Mike Francesa and Chris Russo