If anyone caught the last few minutes of Mike Francesa's telecast from Yankee Stadium this afternoon before the split double header, his rotundness himself addressed the current rumors that the popular Mike and the Mad Dog show is heading the way of the dodo very soon.
In case you have missed it, Newsday writer Neil Best this week wrote an article basically saying that the wildly popular show will be a goner at the end of the summer. The reason? Evidently the always unusual, often times strained relationship between Francesa and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo has evidently come to a head and Francesa, especially, is seemingly sick and tired of dealing with fruit loops any longer.
On Tuesday, Russo, who is now in full summer trade off mode with Francesa, where they both seem to take two weeks off, then have two weeks on separately, addressed the issue and, while he seemed to deny that the end of the show was imminent, he certainly didn't deny that there was no truth to the rumors out there. His 10 minute opening dialogue seemed to be more of a sad attempt to throw cold water on a true issue and get himsefl as far away from the mess as possible, while also seemingly going out of his way to remind people that he is the one currently under contract with WFAN for multiple years (Francesa is negotiating a new contract at the moment it would seem).
Anyway, on Friday, Russo handed over the reigns to Francesa. I don't have a link to what he said, but here is the jist of it:
*While Russo made it sound like the two had patched up some bad blood between them that started in March and ran through all of May, Francesa addressed the relationship and said "Has the relationship been patched up off the air? Not really. For instance, we haven't talked all this week, not once, even with everything that has been going on." That would seem to suggest that whatever on and off air fights the two were dealing with, the scars have certainly not mended.
*Francesa gave Russo credit for handling his Tuesday show well, and even suggested that the controversy was "thrown into his lap", seemingly expressing some genuine sympathy for the guy having to deal with the question on air alone, he also seemed to take a swipe at The Dog when he suggested that he has never, nor would he ever, discuss his contract with WFAN publicly. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but Russo did say a few times that he is under contract until 2010 and that he had no plans of going anywhere. HE brought up HIS contract and it seems that Francesa was drawing a dividing line between the two, suggesting that he would never bring up his contract, even in passing.
*There was a lot of what I like to call "nostalgia" talk from Francesa. Let's put it this way, had Francesa been a major league manager, and someone had asked him if he were leaving his current team to take a job with another team, and he spoke like that, Mad Dog and Mike would be on the air the next day saying that, by what he was saying, you could tell he was gone. Francesa spoke alot about how the two had created something "special" and how even their biggest detractor would have to admit that. He spoke about the fact that he loved WFAN and hadn't had a "bad day" with them, in terms of management, in 20 years. He also spoke about what a "long time" the two had been doing the show together and how 19 years was a long stretch to be doing this anywhere. He made mention of the fact that EVERYTHING ends. It sure sounded like a guy that was beginning the process of saying goodbye.
*Mike mentioned that he didn't believe his relationship with Russo would ever be the ONLY factor in the show ending. Basically, if you listened to Francesa, what he was saying was essentially that, even though the two might hate eachother at this point, he believes he is professional enough to where the two could work together. He said he "believed" Russo felt the same way. To me, that sounds like a guy that is leaving cause he hates the other guy, but doesn't want it to seem it is simply about clashing personalities. Maybe there is a lucrative contract out there for Francesa on television or on another station. Maybe ESPN got wind of the problems and is enticing Francesa with a prime spot and a boat load of cash. Maybe the new Sirius/XM satellite giant is gonna try and fit him in somewhere as a sports personality. Who knows, but one would have assume that there are other options presenting themselves to Mike at this point and, since his is the contract that is up, and since it doesn't seem he is trying to force Russo out, it would appear that maybe there is something on the horizon for Francesa.
*At the end of the show, Francesa said something curious and I couldn't quite make out what he meant. When talking about the show, he said basically that nothing was set in stone as of yet. Then he either said "if something doesn't change, then it was a great run, something very special and if something does change then we'll come back and be doing Mike and the Mad Dog for you for another 19 or 20 years" or he reversed the "does" and "doesn't". I am not sure, but that is VERY important because, if I heard him correctly, it would seem that something would HAVE to change in order to keep the show going. Obviously, if you reverse the words, it means the opposite. I didn't quite hear it well enough to know for sure, but from the tenor of what Mike was saying, I would guess he meant that something WOULD have to change in order for the show to continue.
Look, who knows what is really going on here. In the grand scheme of things this really doesn't matter at all. Radio is radio. If these two left, someone else, either at WFAN or on another station, would pick up the slack and become the "must listen to" show for the next several years. That's the way it works.
But the two have been around for a very long time, and they have been the most entertaining duo in sports radio by far. Is it time for them to go? You know what, it might be. A listen to the show over the last several years indicates that the quality is getting watered down. The two don't seem to do all that much homework anymore, especially for the smaller sports like college basketball and football, where their ignorance is astounding at times. Even with baseball, they seem to be a step or two behind most issues (I talked about how they both didn't know the Yanks plan for Joba Chamberlain, even after it had been reported for all of spring training, until half way through April).
Also, their obvious wealth and stature, I believe, prevents them from really connecting with fans about issues they LOVE to talk about (ticket prices, license rights, parking, etc....). When you hear two guys talking about people "hiring a car" for the night to go to the game, you know they are out of touch, even when they preface it by saying "not everyone can do that." NO ONE CAN DO THAT unless they are a millionaire. Ever sit in ANY seat besides the ones right behind home and the dugouts at Yankees Stadium. Ever meet a millionaire in those seats?
But the truth is, this might simply be a negotiating ploy by Francesa. Maybe he wants more freedom to explore other opportunities. Maybe he wants more money, more vacation time, a sound[proofbox set up between he and Russo. Who knows, but when it comes to contracts, you can't put anything by people.
Also, it might simply be ruffled feathers that need some time to settle. Every one of us have friends we have known for years. We get annoyed, even angry with them, and sometimes we don't talk for a month. But then we realize why we liked them so much in the first place and we get over whatever problems we might have had and move on. That might be what happens here. Perhaps Francesa, right now, feels like there is no repairing the relationship. But maybe after basically two plus months of not seeing Russo, he will have a change of heart and come back to the show. Maybe time needs to heal wounds. Who knows.
What makes this interesting is a.) what happens if they do break up? Who goes where? Who stays are WFAN? (I would assume Russo) What happens to the other guy, where does he end up landing? b.) does Russo and/or Francesa bring in a new co-host? Would their respective channels (WFAN, any new landing spot) demand it? What would that be like? c.) what if both leave WFAN, who ends up taking their spot? It doesn't seem as if there is any talent that could pick up the slack.
There is a part of me that hopes the two stay together. Talk radio is virtually unlistenable most of the time, and these two mostly put together good shows. However, in all honesty, it might be time for both of them to move on. A younger perspective, closer to the "real fan" might be what is needed at this point. Someone who doesn't spend 12 hours on whether Joba Chamberlain should pump his fist or another 13 hours on whether Erol Flynn was the best action star of the 1930s.
As FRancesa was wrapping up, he did say one very interesting thing. He did say "It is going to be an interesting summer."
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