On This Date in Sports August 15, 2008
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
After nearly 20 years working together, the radio team of Mike Francesca and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo split up, as Russo departs WFAN in New York to start his own satellite channel. The two were first teamed up in 1989 and had at time acrimonious relationship on the air. However, the two became the voice of sports radio in New York and the template for all future sports radio shows.
Mike Francesca was born on March 20, 1954, on Long Island and lived there his entire life. Raised by a single mother, Francesca went to St. John’s in New York, and got his first major broadcast job at CBS as a researcher for college sports. He would eventually get his chance to be an on-air personality doing, pre and post-game shows. When WFAN the first 24-hour sports radio station launched in 1987, Mike Francesca was hired to do weekend shows for college football. Eventually, he would be teamed with Ed Coleman for a late morning show, that led to him occasionally doing a sports record for Imus in the Morning, when WFAN moved from 1050AM to 660AM in October of 1988.
Christopher Russo nicknamed the Mad Dog was born October 18, 1959, in Syosset, New York. Though both from Long Island, Russo was from a wealthy family and was reared in Private Schools, even studying abroad. After graduating at Rollins College in Orlando, Chris Russo began his radio in Florida and eventually moved to New York at WMCA in 1987. A year later he got a chance at WFAN, working as a weekend host. From there he did updates for Imus in the Morning, as he quickly became one of the stations most popular voices.
In the summer of 1989, WFAN decided to fire Pete Franklin, who had worked the afternoon drive slot since the station launched. However, the host from Cleveland failed to connect with the New York audience, leading the station’s management to look for a show with more local flare. This led to the partnership of Mike and the Mad Dog, as both had unmistakable New York accents. At first, the two hated working together, as both wanted to be the lead talker, as they often stepped on each other when doing the show.
Francesca and Russo eventually began to find their groove, leading the show to become one of the most popular radio shows in the biggest market in the country. Over the next two decades, Mike and the Mad Dog became the go-to place to hear analysis and previews of the biggest sporting events. It was where New York fans tuned in to celebrating victories, like the 1996 New York Yankees winning the World Series, or lament heartbreak like the New York Giants loss in Super Bowl XXXV. While the show was popular, the relationship was often stormy, as Mike Francesca’s friendship with Bill Parcells created friction when he left the New England Patriots to coach the New York Jets. However, their take no prisoners approach especially during interviews with players, coaches and executives made them can’t miss radio.
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The show would eventually get a television simulcast on the YES Network, helping to lift the show to even greater heights. However, as the summer of 2008 arrived, the relationship reached a breaking point. Both had the end of their contracts approaching, and Chris Russo wanted to move on. Mike Francesca and Chris Russo often staggered their vacations during the summer, making their shows together an often-rare occurrence. In June a report surfaced that the pair had reached a breaking point, something Russo denied, but Francesca acknowledged on the air, stating that they were at a cross-road. The two worked together during MLB All-Star Weekend, appearing together at Fan Fest as the mid-summer classic was at Yankee Stadium. Over the next month, they rarely worked together, with the final pairing coming on August 5th at Giants training camp. On August 14th, Chris Russo announced he would leave WFAN after reaching a settlement with the station. A day later, the Mad Dog called into Mike Francesca and said goodbye to the audience, officially ending 19 years on the air together.
Chris Russo would announce a week later, that he reached an agreement with Sirius XM to start his own channel on the satellite radio service. Mike Francesca meanwhile got his own show at WFAN, keeping the same timeslot. The two would work together occasionally over the next decade, but never again recreated the partnership. Francesca who had a farewell tour in 2017, returned to WFAN just four months later, as he looks to begin a new era with the Mike’s On App launching at the end of August.