Mike and the Mad Dog – The greatest sports talk radio ever

If you live in the New York tri-state area and you're a sports fan, you probably know who Mike and the Mad Dog are. If you don't live here, you probably think I'm crazy (after all, what the hell is a Mad Dog?) Introducing, the greatest sports talk duo in the history of sports talk duos…Mike Francesca and Chris Russo.

Bill Simmons recently wrote an article on the two greatest sports radio hosts in the country and a quick read shows that he proudly agrees with me. But then again, just think about it. Mike and Chris host their daily show from 1:00pm to 6:00pm, devoting a whole five hours to nothing but yesterday's sports. And while this is quite a feat in itself, what's even more amazing is that show is actually interesting the whole time. Yeah, I thought it was crazy at first too, but the more I listen to the show the more I understand how this is truly possible.

So how do Mike and Chris achieve the practically impossible? Well, in a number of ways:

First, both Mike and Chris refuse to take crap from anyone. They stick by their guns and refuse to be easily persuaded. Each and every day, listeners call in with questions and comments about the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, and other regional sports teams and if either host doesn't agree with the comment, they do not hesitate to shut it down. It seems that nearly everyday, Mike and Chris both lose their tempers with callers and literally yell in order to put down an absurd comment. If someone called in to ask if the Yankees should sign Sammy Sosa for 5 years (which, for those of you who don't know, is a horrible idea), Mike and/or Chris would respond with something like, "ARE YOU CRAZY?! YOU ARE STUPID!" And more often than not, they're right. The genius behind the anger is that they respond in the exact same way most listeners would respond, and it really makes me smile when one of the hosts shuts down a really dumb comment. What's even more remarkable, however, is that even after a particularly lengthy rant (I've heard Mike go off on the Yankees for nearly 10-15 minutes straight), either host can return to the show and continue as usual.

Second, Mike and Chris are sports geniuses. I can't emphasize this enough. They can list stats from seemingly random years at the drop of a hat. And their stats are usually right. If they happen to be wrong, it's not a big deal. Both hosts are incredible humble and don't mind being proven wrong.

Third, Mike and Chris are gentlemen. Both are happily married and both are very proud of their wives. This may seem like a dumb thing to mention, but it really makes a difference. Consider Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN. The show is in the process of conducting Mike & Mike's Marriage Madness, where the hosts organize the "ultimate sports wedding." Trust me, you'd never see something like this on Mike and the Mad Dog. Just today, Chris Russo was telling Mike about his great Mother's Day idea – hiring a chef to cook for his wife on Sunday morning. If that's not cool, I don't know what is.

Fourth, Mike and Chris run their show as if they were just having conversation. Maybe it's better said by Simmons in his article – "…You feel like you're listening to two guys arguing at a sports bar." A lot of sports radio hosts (again mentioning the hosts from Mike and Mike in the Morning, as well as other WFAN shows) run their shows like they're running a sports talk show, which seems like it would make sense. However, Mike and Chris run their show like they're just talking with one another, and when you really listen for a long period of time, you start to realize that this sounds so much more natural than ESPN's show. Neither host is trying to impress anyone. They just like talking about sports, and they've realized that a sports talk show should be just that – just talking about sports. This is probably the hardest characteristic of the show to describe, but you'll see what I'm talking about if you listen to Mike and the Mad Dog for a while and then compare the show to other sports talk shows you've heard in the past. It's just different.

I encourage you all to read Bill Simmons' article, where he goes in depth into one of Mike and Chris' shows. You'll really get a feel of why the duo is so great. And then, once you've really grown a need to listen to the show, visit WFAN's website, where you can listen to a live stream of AM 660. Remember, Mike and Chris are on from 1:00pm to 6:00pm every weekday, so make sure you're tuned in then. I (almost) guarantee that you'll instantly fall in love with the show and will find yourself listening everyday.

Now if only they had a podcast…