It’s hard to believe but after a 19 year run on WFAN, the Mike and the Mad Dog show is no more.
If you are from Long Island and of a certain age (*cough*), you spent your morning in traffic listening to Stern and your afternoon sitting on the Northern State listening to Mike and the Mad Dog. Chris Russo’s nasaly whine spoke for every Long Island guy and Mike was the voice of reason. Together, despite their frequent public feuds, they were the voice of the New York sports fan.
Their bailiwick extended far beyond the world of sports - movies, culture, politics - nothing was safe from the duo. My own personal favorite moment came only a few years ago - Mike was discussing “The Passion of the Christ” and Chris Russo interrupted him with a completely un-ironic “don’t give away the ending Mikey.”
I hardly listen to terrestrial radio anymore. There’s nothing even remotely resembling a local voice in any radio station anymore. Air America was interesting for about a year but quickly divested itself of anything remotely resembling an interesting original voice. NPR is like white bread.
I still listen to shortwave and work the 2 meter ham bands, but otherwise I’m perfectly happy to have my XM radio.
More commentary from Tom Watson and the Mike and the Mad Dog Blog.
I’m a Boston guy, but frequent road trips that took me through the NYC area in the 1990s meant plenty of QT with Mike and the Mad Dog. I really loved that show– better than anything WEEI in Boston has ever conjured up. Sorry to see it go.