Chris Russo
Chris "Mad Dog" Russo | |
|---|---|
| Career | |
| Show | Mike and the Mad Dog |
| Station(s) | WFAN, New York City |
| Time slot | 1 - 6:30 p.m., Monday-Friday |
| Style | Sports radio |
| Country |  United States |
Christopher M. Russo (born October 18, 1959), known as the "Mad Dog," is an American sports radio personality. He is best known as the co-host of the widely popular Mike and the Mad Dog sports radio show with Mike Francesa, which is broadcast on WFAN in New York City and simulcast on the YES Network.
Background
Russo was born and raised in Syosset, New York.[1] He went to Darrow School in New Lebanon, New York, and Rollins College near Orlando, Florida with a degree in history.[2] He also spent one spring at the Cranleigh School south of London, England (Russo's mother is English) and one semester at Sydney University in Australia studying Australian history and literature.
Russo has wanted to be a broadcaster since he was a child. Prior to joining WFAN, Russo worked for WKIS in Orlando, Florida between 1984 and 1987 and WMCA in New York City between 1987 and 1988. During his career at WKIS, when it became clear that the people of central Florida were having trouble understanding his accent, the station sent him to see a speech therapist twice a week. He got the "Mad Dog" nickname from New York Daily News Sports TV and Radio critic Bob Raissman.[3]
Russo is known for his quick manner of speaking, the expressiveness of his voice, and his trademark greeting of "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAnnnnnnnnnnnd good afternoon everybody! How are you todaaaay?"[4] at the start of the Mike and the Mad Dog show. George Vecsey of The New York Times described his voice as "a bizarre mixture of Jerry Lewis, Archie Bunker and Daffy Duck."[5] Russo's voice is also described as "Donald Duck on steroids."[6]
Russo is an avid fan of the San Francisco Giants, tennis, and beach-going and has done his shows from the US Open and the Jersey Shore on many occasions. However, he has made no secret of his dislike for NASCAR, despite his previous on-air work in Orlando.
Russo also develops into his alter-ego, "The Marquis", during the two week period between the NFL Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. As "the Marquis", he takes pride and joy in shooting down the hopes of callers who look to answer 4 Super Bowl trivia questions in exchange for a trip and tickets to the Super Bowl. The Dog likes to bait listeners with easy questions at first, and then destroy them with question # 4. The # 4 questions are the obscurest of obscure, like name the commentator who did color commentary in Super Bowl II. This contest is a love-it-or-hate-it moment for Mike and Dog's listeners, as some find the Marquis very entertaining, while others could not care less about it.
Rise to Stardom
Russo's rise in popularity happened rapidly. Russo joined WFAN in December 1988 as an overnight, weekend and fill-in host.[7] He caught the attention of former WFAN Morning Show Host, Don Imus. Imus brought Russo on-board the Imus in the Morning show as the Sports Reporter. The attention Russo received on Imus was enormous. Imus also later helped promote Russo's nickname. By early 1989, his work on Imus led to Russo getting his own regular weekend show on Saturday Mornings. When Pete Franklin's drive time Show from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. was not renewed by WFAN station management, WFAN paired up Russo with Mike Francesa, who at the time was a co-host on the mid-morning show. The show was dubbed the Mike and the Mad Dog show and was launched on September 5, 1989 at 3 p.m.
The combination paired up Francesa's hard-hitting style with Russo's unorthodox and humorous style and proved to be a huge success. Francesa and Russo's show quickly became the signature show for WFAN, as well as among the most influential sports talk shows in the country.
Tirades
Chris Russo's rants often involve New York sports teams, most frequently the Yankees. The San Francisco Giants are the only team in which he has a rooting interest. Russo's pairing with Mike Francessa, a lifelong Yankee fan, adds enough friction to make their unexpected evenhandedness the template for success.
In 1989, when Sports Illustrated named Greg LeMond the Sportsman of the Year, Russo ripped the selection angering many Cycling fans in the New York area.
In 1989, he angered Yankee fans by saying Will Clark of the SF Giants was a better ballplayer than NY Yankee Don Mattingly claiming Clark was more feared by pitchers.
In 1992, he flew into a tirade about New York Rangers head coach Roger Neilson's laid-back coaching style. He shouted that Neilson should "kick over a garbage can."
In 2003, after his beloved San Francisco Giants lost to the eventual-World Series champion Florida Marlins in the NLDS 3 games to 1, Russo went on perhaps his most famous tirade where, among other things, he states that he would give up his 3 (at the time) children to see the Giants win a World Series.
In 2006, he flew into a tirade about Bryant Gumbel's Winter Olympic remarks.
On March 4, 2006, Russo criticized his parent company for hiring David Lee Roth. He ripped Roth for not being able to do a talk show. He was also critical of his parent company suing Howard Stern because it was keeping Stern's name in the newspapers.
In June 2006, Russo ranted about media coverage of 16-year-old Michelle Wie as she attempted to qualify for the US Open, which he felt was overblown since she had never won anything and was on the cover of the New York Times.
On July 31, 2006, Russo got into a heated argument with Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman on the respective merits of the players Cashman had recently acquired from the Phillies. Russo claimed that SP Cory Lidle was simply not a good pitcher and OF Bobby Abreu lacked the intangibles to lead a winning team. Cashman responded by saying that he was firmly behind his players and believed their individual performances would complement that of the entire 25-man roster.
Russo openly dislikes the Yankees' financial dominance and resulting success. However, his beloved Giants' high-priced acquisition of Pitcher, Barry Zito, in the 2006-07 off-season, exposed some admitted hypocrisy in his statements. Maddog had decried Zito's market value, until the Giants unexpectedly signed him to a contract. He defended the signing, when it was announced. Russo was later forced to admit his own irrational fandom.
On December 4, 2006, Russo blasted Sports Illustrated for naming Dwyane Wade their Sportsman of the Year. He claimed that Wade was given the award based solely on game performance and that there were better candidates such as Roger Federer, who won 12 tournaments in 2006, including 3 grand slams. Russo then continued his rant and said that the Heat wouldn't have even won the championship had referee Bennett Salvatore not made a very questionable call to put Wade on the free-throw line at the end of game 5. Russo continued the tirade the next day, explaining that they gave the "stupid" award to Wade rather than Federer because Federer couldn't care less and was vacationing in Dubai, where he trains. Francesa and Russo spent a segment of their show on December 5, 2006 making sarcastic comments towards SI and criticizing some of their previous award decisions.
On December 22, 2006, Russo, hosting the show by himself on a football Friday, spent nearly the entire 5 1/2 hour show slamming numerous movie critics for their unflattering reviews of the movie, We Are Marshall, the film about the Marshall University football team's tragic plane crash in 1970. Russo called the movie one of the better sports movies he's ever seen and was shocked to see that the movie was killed in the papers. Among the critics he said deserved to be "smacked around" were Stephen Holden of the New York Times, Jack Matthews (New York Daily News), Claudia Puig (USA Today), Jan Stuart (Newsday), and Kyle Smith (New York Post), who incorrectly described the plot of the story in his review. He continued to say that "half of these critics don't know their fannies from their elbows" and that "when they come knocking, (these critics) should hand in their playbooks."
On February 22, 2007, Russo, again hosting by himself, opened the show by blasting society in general for the crime activity in Las Vegas for the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, as well as the attention that the Anna Nicole Smith investigation and the Britney Spears saga are receiving. During his diatribe, Russo yelled, "I wouldn’t watch that if I was on a desert island, death upon me." He continued his rant the next day by saying, "If it was in my backyard, I’d draw the curtains," while discussing the media's fascination with Smith and Spears. “There must be enough dopey housewives out there who have some interest," Russo admitted.
The next day, Russo received a call from a relative of a victim of the Pacman Jones-related shooting in Las Vegas during the NBA’s All-Star Weekend. The victim was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in the spinal chord. During the next segment of the show, at 6:00, Russo blew a fuse, leading to perhaps his greatest tirade of all-time. He ripped Roger Goodell and the National Football League for not taking any action when their players are involved in off the field incidents. “Does the NFL care at all about its image?” Russo asked. He then started screaming, “ENOUGH’S ENOUGH! THIS IS A DISGRACE...THROW HIM OUT OF THE LEAGUE! THROW HIM THE HELL OUT! IT’S A DISGRACE! WHAT’S THE NFL DOING? THROW HIM OUT!!!”[8]
On April 12, 2007, at the start of their show, Russo and Francesa destroyed MSNBC for firing Don Imus less than 12 hours before WFAN was set to begin their 18th Annual Radiothon to benefit the Tomorrows Children's Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch. Russo ripped the network for "washing their hands" of the matter and pointing the blame at WFAN. Francesa called the decision, "one of the least gracious acts he has ever seen", as well as a "cowardly act." He also said that they now have "no loyalty and no guts" to suit their "no ratings." This was followed up the next day, when Russo and Francesca continued their criticism of the Imus firing by criticizing Imus' "friends" (such as Tim Russert) for not standing by him during this difficult period.
On April 19, 2007, Russo went ballistic over Alex Rodriguez hitting a game-winning walk-off come-from-behind home run off the Indians, screaming at Bob Heussler, "You're a phony! You're a phony! You're a phony! You're not a part of the Crack Committee! You're not even a Met fan!"[9]
Other Work
Russo's popularity on Mike and the Mad Dog soon led to his first television show - Mad Dog Live on SportsChannel America. Unfortunately, Russo's popularity did not help this show and it quickly disappeared from the air.
In addition to the Mike and the Mad Dog show, Russo also hosted the syndicated radio show In the Huddle with Boomer Esiason, which was cancelled as of September 2005. He was also a co-host of a locally produced football pregame show called "Sports Wrap" on WCBS-TV with John Riggins in 1998.
He also co-authored the book The Mad Dog 100 : The Greatest Sports Arguments of All Time with Allen St. John, which was released on May 13, 2003 (ISBN 0-385-50898-0). His second book The Mad Dog Hall of Fame: The Ultimate Top-Ten Rankings of the Best in Sports, also co-authored with St. John, was released on May 2, 2006 (ISBN 0-385-51746-7).
Russo has been a frequent guest on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Russo-isms or Doggie-isms
Russo is also known for his often humorous mispronunciation of names and words. He also makes a habit of butchering well-known phrases. Here are some examples:
Says I know him like a book
- The correct saying is I read him like a book
Says They were as dead as a pancake
- The correct saying could be either dead as a doornail or flat as a pancake
Misuses the word bamboozle (which he mistakenly pronounces "bomboozle")
- The word means to deceive or dupe but Russo uses it to mean to blow out or rout
Says A tall road ahead
- The correct saying could be either a tall order and a long road ahead
Says Blasted out of the tub
- The correct saying is blasted out of the water
Says mess up the apple cart
- The correct phrase is upset the apple cart
Says A cup of coffee and I'm raring to fly
- The correct phrase is Raring to go
Says Sticks in you like a sore thumb
- The correct phrase is Sticks out like a sore thumb
On Barry Bonds: On Bonds bad attitude towards teammates, He's burning his own britches
- The correct phrase is, He's burning his own bridges
On Barry Bonds: He's as healthy as a rock (March 24, 2006)
- The correct phrase could be steady like a rock or he's as healthy as a horse
On the issue of replacing New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui after his injury, Russo said incredulously, The Yankees are gonna pull 15 million out of the kittle? (May 12, 2006)
- The correct ending to the phrase is kitty. (He may have confused the phrase with former baseball player Ron Kittle.)
On Carolina Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette and his possible re-hiring by the New York Islanders: The Islanders are going to offer him the whole hook, line and kaboodle (June 6, 2006)
- The correct phrase would be either hook, line and sinker or whole kit and kaboodle
On Albert Pujols: He's the hands on favorite to win the MVP this year."
- The correct phrases are odds on and hands down
On Randy Johnson: He's a rough cookie
- The correct phrase is He's a tough cookie
On New York Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez He beats to his own tune
- The correct saying is marches to his own beat' or beats his own drum.
When discussing New York Yankees' Joe Torre's possible firing: They're leaving him sitting on a string
- The correct saying would be either hanging by a string or sitting on the fence
On WFAN producer Eddie Scozzare: He runs the shots
- The correct saying would be either runs the show or calls the shots
On the New York Jets: I don't trust them to my bone (December 1, 2006)
- Apparently an expression of deep distrust. A possible more common phrase would I wouldn't trust them with my life.
On the subject of LSU men's basketball coach John Brady's treatment of Pete Maravich's son Josh, Brady never gave him the light of day
- The correct phrase would be either never saw the light of day or never gave him the time of day
On the relationship between Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez ...there's gonna be a little ruffles torn with A-Rod and Jeter (March 2, 2007)
- The correct saying is feathers ruffled
Referring to a bright young woman who appeared on his show, remarks that she has a good brain on her shoulders (April 13, 2007)
- The correct phrase is a good head on his/her shoulders
On the Los Angeles Dodgers Interleague play schedule They got the raw end of the stick
- The correct saying could be either the short end of the stick or the raw end of the deal (June 18, 2007)
Constantly mispronounces remember as renember
Constantly mispronounces tennis player Rafael Nadal's last name pronounced (nuh-DAL) as Nad-le
Constantly mispronounces White Sox player Scott Podsednik's (pronounced Pod-sed-nik) last name as Po-dez-nick.
Constantly mispronounces NFL player Michael Strahan's (pronounced STRAY-han) last name as Stra-HAN.
Constantly mispronounces Buffalo Bills quarterback J.P. Losman's last name as "Lonesome."
Constantly mispronounces Florida Marlins RP Armando Benitez's first name as "Ar-man-do."
During the 2006 Winter Olympics, he routinely referred to skiier Bode Miller as Bondy Miller.
Persistently pronounces Texas Rangers French-Canadian pitcher Éric Gagné's last name GAG-nay, instead of GAHN-yay.
Often pronounces New York Mets relief pitcher Aaron Heilman's last name as HAR-men, instead of HILE-men.
Constantly referred to then New York Mets relief pitcher Braden Looper as "Brandon Looper." On June 27, 2007, he referred to him as "Brendan Looper."
Constantly mispronounces Islander goaltender Rick DiPietro's name as "Di Prieto".
Referred to New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist as "Henrik Lundmark".
Constantly mispronounces Arizona Cardinals QB Matt Leinart as Matt Lionhart.
Mispronounced legendary actor Burgess Meredith's name as "Berg-us Meredith." (June 6, 2006)
Refers to New York Yankees infielder Robinson Cano (pronounced "Cuh-NOE") as "Canoe". He even called him at one point Robertson Canoe.
Often confuses Freddy Sanchez of the Pittsburgh Pirates with Freddy Garcia of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Refers to New York Mets relief pitcher Ambiorix Burgos as "Burgess."
Refers to New York Yankees Senior Vice President Steven Swindal as "Swindell," possibly confusing him with former Cleveland Indians pitcher Greg Swindell.
During a November 2006 broadcast, he repeatedly referred to rapper Jay-Z as "Jay C."
Referred to rapper/gangsta Snoop Dogg as "Snoopy Dog" (April 13, 2007)
Referred to Deirdre Imus, the wife of radio personality Don Imus, as "Deedree" (April 13, 2007)
Once while Mike was talking about the blind super-hero movie, Daredevil, Russo asked, "Now, is that based on a true story, Mike?"
Once a caller called in to talk about Bobby Thomsons famous home run off of Ralph Branca and said that he (the caller) was in his car on the way to the hospital to see his brother when the home run was hit. Russo then said, "Come on! How come you couldn't be near a TV?" (The home run was hit in 1951, when most homes did not have a television.)
Pronounces Wily Mo Penas name like his first name is Willy and his last name is Mo Pena. In truth his first name is Wily Mo and his last name is Pena.
Pronounces Cla Meredith of the San Diego Padres as Clah Merideth. It is pronounced Clay Meredith.
For several days, including after the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight, he referred to Mayweather as Merryweather.
Once referred to Florida Marlins's shortstop Hanley Ramirez as Hensley Ramirez.
Referred to the Milwaukee Brewers Second Baseman Rickie Weeks as Richie Weeks.
Described the Mohegan tribe of Native Americans who live in Connecticut as being "indignious" to the area. It is pronounced "indegenous."
Pronounces Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao's last name as "Vuh-RYE-ho". It is pronounced "vaar-ra-ZJOW". Cavs teammate Sasha Pavlovic was pronounced as "Palovic".
Repeatedly refers to Mike D'Antoni, the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, as Mike D'Antonio.
Pronounces Chicago Cubs OF Felix Pie's last name as "PEE". It is actually pronounced "PEE-ay".
Once referred to hip hop impresario Suge Knight as "Sooj Knight."
Trivia
- Russo is a big fan of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Southside Johnny.
- Russo often picks up grinders from Gates restaurant in New Canaan
- Russo also has a New Canaan Estate and Mike Francesa beckons Dog to build a wing in his house for Tony his father.
- Russo's name may have been inspiration for the fictional Sports-Talk host "Jerry Musso" on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.
- Russo was a big fan of the TV show LA Law and would often dedicate a few minutes every Friday recaping the episode shown the night before.
- His voice/radio persona was used in the movie, Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel.
Personal
Russo is the only child of Tony and Vera Russo, from Flushing, Queens and England, respectively. Russo is currently married to Jeanne and they have four children. He resides in New Canaan, Connecticut.
Books
- Christopher Russo and Allen St. John, The Mad Dog 100 : The Greatest Sports Arguments of All Time. Doubleday, 2003. (ISBN 0-385-50898-0).
- Christopher Russo and Allen St. John, The Mad Dog Hall of Fame: The Ultimate Top-Ten Rankings of the Best in Sports. Doubleday, 2006. (ISBN 0-385-51746-7).
References and notes
- ^ Steve Zipay. "Long Island history: Mike Francesa and Chris Russo". Newsday. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Dave Darling (2007-06-29). "'Mad Dog' a fan who has the gift of gab". Orlando Sentinel.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Nick Paumgarten (2004-08-30). "The boys: what Mike and the Mad Dog talk about when they talk about sports". The New Yorker.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ ademakid212. "Chris' famous intro to the Mike and the Mad Dog show". youtube.com. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ George Vecsey (1991-02-17), Mad Dog is a preppie!, The New York Times.
- ^ Jeff Pearlman (2004-02-24). "Mike and the Mad Dog make nice". Newsday.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Sports radio 66AM WFAN marks 20th anniversary". CBS Sportsline.com. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ http://youtube.com/watch?v=Zy6ShZYlj68
- ^ http://podcast.wfan.com/wfan/412133.mp3