Watchdog

It's only Tuesday and already I'm tired of Plaxico Burress talk on New York radio.

So for a change of pace I checked in on Chris Russo on Sirius XM. I even thought about listening to all five hours and live blogging it. Then I came to my senses.

If the boss wants to pay me double-time-and-a-half, I'll go back to it.

Right now Chris is ripping Cornell, Antonio Pierce ("an idiot"), the NYPD, the Latin Quarter Club, the NFL and, oh, heck, I lost track.

Now he is on a classic Mad Dog rant about John Mara and his "hundreds" of nieces and nephews "running around Westchester County" and how if Mara had heard one of them was in a bar in the city with a guy with a loaded gun he would have "gotten out of bed in his pajamas, hopped in his SUV with his coffee" and . . . I just couldn't keep up. I'm sorry. I should have taped this.

Later he came back to Mara, saying, he "would not allow any of his nieces, nephews, boys, girls - he's got plenty of kids . . . John Mara would have taken the metro train down . . . or driven and said, 'Come with me.' I guarantee it."

Somewhere in there he mentioned Kate Mara as well as John's poodles. Maybe Russo was mixed up. I'm the one with poodles. I hope John has a more manly breed than that. Gee whiz, the guy is an NFL owner and the son of Wellington.

I can't guarantee the quotes above are 100 percent accurate. I was typing as fast as I can, and I know from Patty Parker, who does the closed caption typing for YES, that Russo is extremely difficult to keep pace with, even for a pro with a steno machine.

I'll live blog Chris' show one day just for fun after this Plaxico thing blows over. Oy.

(Russo's first caller now is accusing him of hating every New York team and attempting to tear down the Giants organization because he is worried they will repeat as Super Bowl champs. "Take your little pompoms out of it and evaluate it properly, like an adult!" Chris yelled. Help! I'm having "Mike and the Mad Dog" flashbacks.)

WFAN plans to leave its tattered basement digs in Astoria for a shiny new studio in lower Manhattan sometime in 2009.

In the meantime, there isn't much decorating going on, which is obvious from a visit to Mike Francesa's office, which was occupied by Don Imus until Francesa and Russo moved in a few months after Imus was fired in the spring of 2007.

The wooden shelves have huge gouges taken out of them, the carpet is worn away in spots and the Southwestern-themed furniture is tattered.

Click below for Francesa's thoughts on taking over Imus' old office and his recollection of daily chats with the deposed morning host.

Continue reading "Mike Francesa, Don Imus used to chat daily at WFAN" »

Late in my conversation with Mike Francesa in his WFAN office last week, operations manager Mark Chernoff joined us and added his insights into some of what we had been discussing, and added an anecdote about the worst Francesa vs. Russo war he ever witnessed, back in 2000.

Chernoff thought the show was finished then, which is why he thought if it survived that, it would survive anything.

Click below for a transcript of a back-and-forth between Francesa and Chernoff.

Continue reading "Mark Chernoff never thought WFAN team would split" »

It is a challenge for many middle-aged people in sports media - myself included - to sustain the same level of enthusiasm and interest in day-to-day debates and developments as they did earlier in life.

Mike Francesa and Chris Russo have been accused of falling into that trap by some critics, but Francesa insisted his level of passion for games people play has not waned.

Click below for his take on that, including an anecdote about his wife, Roe, marveling (to put it kindly) over his interest in last week's Monday nighter between Buffalo and Cleveland.

Continue reading "Mike Francesa says he still has passion for the job" »

Mike Francesa is under contract with WFAN through 2013, which also is when the simulcast renewal with YES expires.

Will Francesa continue after that, or hang 'em up?

Click below for his thoughts on that, as well as his admission that he and Russo did a poor job of keeping up with new media technology, and why he wants to add a younger sensibility to the show moving forward.

Continue reading "Mike Francesa, Chris Russo late to new media game" »

Mike Francesa and Chris Russo consistently have taken the high road in public comments about one another since their breakup in August.

Both also seem happier and more relaxed on the air since the split, and Francesa in particular seems to be acting (gasp!) nicer to callers.

Click below for the big guy's thoughts on these matters.

Continue reading "Mike Francesa says he 'can be a pain in the neck'" »

Click below for another installment of my conversation with Mike Francesa last week, in which he discusses his involvement (or lack thereof) in the breakup with Chris Russo, their fight last winter over the trade of Shaq from Miami to Phoenix and other matters.

Continue reading "Shaq trade led to two-month Francesa-Russo fight" »

Among the many theories posed in the spring and summer about the tension between Mike Francesa and Chris Russo was that Francesa was mad at Russo for not coming to his defense during Russo's visits to David Letterman's late-night TV show.

Francesa flatly denied that in my Sunday newspaper column, and at greater length below, saying he "never took any umbrage" about the Letterman shtick.

Continue reading "Mike Francesa didn't hold Letterman against Russo" »

One of the biggest sources of tension between Mike Francesa and Chris Russo was "remote" broadcasts, with Russo favoring them much more often than Francesa.

Francesa admitted in my Sunday newspaper column that he often was in the wrong in turning down Russo's attempts to take the show on the road . . . including to Devils games.

Click below for an expanded version of Francesa's take, and why he often resisted out-of-town remotes.

Continue reading "Chris Russo liked Devils games more than Francesa" »

One ill-fated crack by Don Imus in April of 2007 about "nappy-headed hos" brought down WFAN's long-time morning show.

Did it also contribute to the breakup of WFAN long-time afternoon show?

Mike Francesa said in my Sunday newspaper column that it might have, because his former partner Chris Russo had an interest in switching to mornings and Francesa did not.

Click below for much more on that topic, including Francesa's reasons for being reluctant to move to mornings.

Francesa on several occasions admitted not being sure what Russo was thinking and suggested asking him to clarify. Alas, Russo declined to speak to me through