Sports-Talk Radio Pioneers Split

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ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

After nearly 20 years on WFAN Radio in New York, the program "Mike and the Mad Dog" is no more. Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo has decamped to Sirius Satellite Radio, breaking up a team that was the biggest hit on the station that pioneered the all-sports format.

NPR's Mike Pesca has our story.

MIKE PESCA: The great duo seemed to have certain traits in common, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, R2-D2 and C3-PO. One is the straight man and one is the funny guy. One is the cut-up, the other one stays in possession of his senses, and yes, one tends to be round, the other slim.

Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo were a radio team, so the visuals didn't matter. But they put those qualities on display for five and a half hours each weekday, whether ganging up on an embattled coach or disagreeing over whether the Yankees need a new stadium.

(Soundbite of radio program, "Mike and Mad Dog")

Mr. MIKE FRANCESA (Radio Host): You can't go to the bathroom, Dog, during the game. It takes five innings.

Mr. CHRISTOPHER RUSSO (Radio Host): You have to figure out - I understand that.

Mr. FRANCESA: Well, that's not the case at Fenway Park. It just takes two minutes to go to the bathroom.

Mr. RUSSO: But it doesn't take you five…

Mr. FRANCESA: Yes, it does.

Mr. RUSSO: At Yankee Stadium?

Mr. FRANCESA: No, at Fenway Park, it takes two hours.

Mr. RUSSO: Well, Mike, we're talking about Yankee Stadium here.

Mr. FRANCESA: It can take a while to go…

Mr. RUSSO: Oh, cut it off.

Mr. FRANCESA: Oh, yes, you can?

Mr. RUSSO: Mike, are you nuts?

PESCA: On today's program, Mike Francesa said the decision to create "Mike and the Mad Dog" almost 20 years ago was seen as fairly nuts.

Mr. FRANCESA: We did not get along very well in the beginning. The show was considered to be a colossal misjudgment the first couple of weeks. Within nine months, it was the toast of the town.

PESCA: Today, sports talk radio ranks right after political talk as the most popular format on talk radio. WFAN is the richest station in radio's richest market, making "Mike and the Mad Dog" kind of the Uncle Miltie of the genre.

At times, they were infuriating - Francesa's extreme confidence, Russo's knee-jerk antics. The Mad Dog didn't chastise or criticize - he killed coaches. Once, on a slow sports day, Russo declared that every critic who gave the movie "We Are Marshall" a lousy review didn't understand football and should be fired. The bit ate up about two hours.

But when their blend of intellect and outrage worked, there was nothing like it. Earlier this year, they channeled baseball fans' frustration right after Roger Clemens testified before Congress.

(Soundbite of radio program, "Mike and the Mad Dog")

Mr. FRANCESA: I tell you, it was not a good day for the Republican Party.

Mr. RUSSO: One more time, I'm embarrassed and I'm a registered Republican right now. I'm embarrassed.

Mr. FRANCESA: That was a disgrace.

Mr. RUSSO: They did a…

Mr. FRANCESA: That was a…

Mr. RUSSO: …terrible job.

Mr. FRANCESA: …disgraceful display by the Republicans.

Mr. RUSSO: You can't do a worse job. And at that…

Mr. FRANCESA: I mean, I don't mind - okay, you listen. You know, you want to carry somebody's water a little bit, but that was just terrible.

Mr. RUSSO: Carry (unintelligible) - carried his buckets.

Mr. FRANCESA: Oh, my God.

Mr. RUSSO: Oh, my God.

PESCA: Neil Best, a reporter for NewsDay, broke the story of Russo leaving WFAN for satellite radio.

Mr. NEIL BEST (Reporter, NewsDay): There's something about the two of them together that's very hard to define but that somehow works. Because when you separate them it's much less entertaining, and of course that's going to be the great challenge for Mike Francesa now is to somehow find a new formula to have it be not him sitting in a room alone for five and a half hours.

PESCA: On today's program, Francesa lamented the passing of the "Mike and the Mad Dog" program, saying the show was his heart for 19 years. He then took calls. First up was Russo, who began to cry.

Mike, fearful that he would become emotional too, quickly threw out some red meat to the dog. Hey, how about those Yanks?

(Soundbite of radio program, "Mike and the Mad Dog")

Mr. FRANCESA: They're six out, they're losing games left and right and I can't enjoy it for goodness' sakes. The Yankees stink.

PESCA: Thanks for the call, Chris from Connecticut.

Mike Pesca, NPR News, New York.

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