Sounding off on Mike and The Mad Dog

For more than a decade Mike Francesa and Chris Russo have ruled the New York airwaves on all sports related matters. The duo better known as Mike and The Mad Dog have gained such prominence from their daily radio show on WFAN 660 that it is simultaneously broadcast on the YES network. Once a major source of my sports information, their close-minded opinions and extreme arrogance has become unbearable. While I continue to look for steady employment (if your reading Dad, it has been a tireless effort), I've had time to tune in to their show. My least favorite portion of the show has become when they take phone calls. Once an opportunity to give the common sports fan a voicebox, it has taken on new meaning with Mike and Chris. The segments of the show dedicated to calls have become little more than a chance for Mike and Chris to slap you over the head with their supposed knowledge and berate many people who might have a decent opinion if they were allowed to get out more than three words. If radio executives had shut them up as quickly as they tune out their callers, they'd be just another pair of the smug sports nuts they regularly hang up on. The regularity with which they shut up their listeners would leave you to believe they have the perfect opinion on every sports story, which in only five minutes of viewing today, I could completely disagree with.

For Mike and Chris, the producers of the show like their contrasting, combative personalities and their difference in loyalties. Mike is a noted Yankee fan, while the Mad Dog enjoys his reputation as a Yankee hater. That aside, their discussion of the Yankees never seems to be on point. Today's program featured some harsh words for Derek Jeter in light of the A-Rod scrutiny. Both men felt that Jeter could make Rodriguez' reception in the Bronx easier but allows an alleged rivalry between the two mask his responsibilities as captain. They have more insider information, so I will not comment on whatever feuding they refer to, but what in the world do they expect Jeter to do? Come out before the game and ask fans politely to stop booing. Is Joe Smith from New Jersey who paid 150 bucks to attend a game not going to voice his opinion because Derek Jeter asked him not to? I agree that Rodrriguez' recent treatment has been unnecessarily harsh and that expectations are too high, but to suggest that Jeter is not acting as a captain by "allowing" this to happen is absolutely ridiculous. As if that wasn't enough, Mad Dog confidently asserted that Yankee fans gave Giambi "the cheat" a free pass. He argued that it was inexplicable that the fans could allow a "cheater" to go through a far worse slump than A-Rod without any complaint. If this were true, he'd be absolutely correct. However, any Yankee fan can tell you that he was booed nearly as much as Rodriguez has been throughout his recent struggles and absolutely did not just receive a free pass.

My next point of contention is in a near-daily segment they run on picking apart Yankee radio announcer John Sterling. Now anyone who has been near me during a Yankee radio broadcast knows I'm never a huge fan of his work, but this portion of the show is not even remotely amusing. While Sterling certainly frustrates me, as well as many other viewers, with such gems as "it is high, it is far, it isss caught" in his trademark homerun call, I'd love to see Mike and Chris try and call a game. Although the mistakes are glaring on the radio, it can not be easy to spend three hours describing what you see. The biggest problem I have with this tag team is how arrogant they've become after controlling sports radio in New York. After reading an article in the New York Post suggesting the same, I know I'm not alone. The best solution I can think of: support Michael Kay's daily show on 1050 ESPN radio sharing the same time slot. Hopefully some stiff competition can humble this once entertaining duo.