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Yesterday, WFAN announced Chris Russo will leave their radio 
station, thus ending the Mike and the Maddog radio program, which revolutionized sports talk-radio when it started in 1989.
In it’s place, the show’s co-host, Mike Francesa, will broadcast solo in the same timeslot under the name Francesa on the Fan.
Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this.
On one hand, their program was a show I loved to hate, or hated to love – I’m not actually sure which.
They made me angry and rarely informed me, yet, like an addict, I always listened.
Their impact on sports talk-radio, for better or worse, cannot be argued. Like them or not, they are legends in their field and, in the end, deserve high-praise for taking sports debate to a larger, more passionate, more constant level, which lots and lots of people have mimicked and capitalized on, including blogs, which, in my opinion, have always been more like talk-radio than like newspapers.
On the other hand, their show’s lack of a Mets voice always bothered me. Their popularity and influence ended up spreading false and frustrating talking points around New York City that made my life, as a Mets fan, very difficult when having to encounter the expanding line of arrogant Yankees fans.
So, having Mike and the Maddog break up could be a good thing for Mets fans – since they seemingly took pride in driving us crazy.
The idea of Francesa going solo is interesting. If his all-knowing style is paired up with a lot of guests, reporters, athletes, etc., all who can provide a bit of news and facts to the discussion, it may prove to be a great program.
If, however, Francesa is allowed to talk for four hours on his own, only taking calls from listeners, it could turn in to Rush Limbaugh for Sports, which would be good for nobody.
Either way, I wish Russo and Francesa the best of luck as they begin a new era, not just for them, but for us.
Oh, and Chris, give Shawn Victorini and Brandon Looper my best – and while we’re talking about Francesa, it’s hard to not mention this, which never gets old.
I always wondered if there was a little animosity between the two, and it seems like there was more than I thought from what I’ve heard and read. Either way, I feel like Matt does, they used to really hate on the Mets. But overall, Francessa is a know it all who never admits he’s wrong, so I’m indifferent towards this development.
http://WWW.HEILMANSUCKS.COM
Met fans get on board to get this guy outta here!!!!!
If I were you, I would have waited for the next Heilman blown save to post this.
Just saying.
Someone should send that website to Jimmy Rollins if he thinks Phillies fans don’t support their players…
this is terrible……bottom line is the guy puts on a mets uniform and even though he is struggling has been historically good for the team and done whatever has been asked of him. he’s on the mets, and im a fan of the mets, and i will cheer him and hope he turns it around.
i usually dont go off on rants like this but this really irked me…
Dont drink the kool-aid, its ok to stand up and say Heilman suxs without having your loyalty to this team questioned.
i kno its perfectly fine to have an opinion, but to sell stuff of that nature through metsblog? meh, maybe im just tired and ready to get down the shore for the wknd.
You’re a disgrace.
I can’t believe someone would actually spend, not only time, but also money doing something like this.
In other words, get a life.
I hope Heilman pitches awesome the next month and a half.
Dude, find something better to do with your time than an Aaron Heilman hate site…..i’m not a huge fan of his, but at the same time….get a life and give the guy a break!
Maybe with this and the Mets leaving next… it can go back to being WNBC. That station was better anyhow :)
don’t you mean weeeeeennnnnnnnnbc?
Chris can also give his regards to former Islander great Kenny Johnson.
honestly…
i cant understand how anyone listens to that stuff.
never lasted more the 10 min on that show.
file this one under: who cares
i like mike. hated chris. thank god he’s gone. it’s no big deal listening to mike solo as he does it all the time during the football season. it’ll be interesting to see who his guests are that he brings on.
Mike and the Mad Dog were okay when it comes to sports radio… i mean they were no Boomer and Carton… but they were okay.
Great clip. God, this show is awful.
As someone who works in media, I really think crediting these two buffoons for an entire media form is disingenuous. Sports radio would have exploded with or without these two…it’s a matter of the evolution of our culture, the need for constant information, the increased obsession of sports fans with constant updates…these are social trends that led to the explosion of sports radio in the late 80s.
Credit them for being among the first, and for tailoring a widely copied format…but sports talk radio would have happened with or without them.
Art Russ, Jr….Period.
oops…Art Rust Jr….still…Period
Who does Mike like? I didn’t quite catch it.
I think he said something like ‘hinge’..
The only thing that upsets me about this is that this may signal the beginning of the end for WFAN. With that horrible but popular show gone, and possibly the mets leaving after this season, WFAN may come close to extinction in the coming years, and that saddens the hell outta me.
Where are the mets going?
There were reports on this site earlier in the year that the mets are in the final year of their contract with WFAN and that their asking price for the rights for next year is extremely high and possibly a figure that WFAN can’t afford to match.
WFAN if they drop the Mets will most likely take over Yankee broadcasts…
Have listened to them since I was a kid. Always part of sports radio history, but as Aflac says, I see ESPN Radio becoming the new leader after the FAN started it all. Good luck Dog.
Ha..ESPN radio is a joke.
it really is a joke, I live 35 miles outside of NYC and I cant always get them, sometimes its static, but I have gotten WFAN down in South Carolina on vacation before
agreed. there is something that espn cannot just do for ny listeners. wfan is a community institution.
when is this going into effect?
Today, Mike was solo…I caught some of it o Yes, and Mike looked really depressed. During the open of the show, Mad Dog called in, and it was very emotional, with Russo clearly crying…
Though I found the two to be ignorant toward the Mets, they had a fantastic show. Listen to them talk about sports other than baseball and you’ll see.
Ahhhh, it’s like removing a goiter from the neck of New York Sports Radio. Well, half a goiter, at least.