Mike without the Mad Dog

So the news has come down that Chris "Mad Dog" Russo has been released from his contract with WFAN.  No more "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand, good afternoon, everybody!"  No more rants that have you glued to the television, almost positive that you're about to witness a man drop dead from a heart attack right before your very eyes.

From now on, it's just an arrogant fat guy berating callers and boring us to death with his lack of vigor on Mike Francesa's brand new solo show, "Francesa on the FAN."

Perhaps in their day, each could have held a radio show by himself.  But in the year 2008, when each have decades of experience under their belts, when you get the impression that each--especially the big guy--has one foot out the door, when their hearts just don't seem to be in it, neither can.

Russo probably has the best chance to make it on his own.  Regardless of how he might be on a day-to-day basis, you can tune in hoping to catch a wildly insane opinion or a hysterical rant, which are becoming fewer and farther between but still happen enough to satisfy the casual listener.  Basically, Russo is a raving lunatic, and they can be fun for a laugh every now and again.

Besides, it's Russo who has the better chance of adding an interesting sidekick to try to recreate the chemistry he had with Francesca.  Dog always seemed to be kind of like Mike's little brother, always on the short end of any argument.  So if he gets someone to play the straight man to his insanity, someone with a little less arogance than Francesa, someone that Dog can be the big brother to, it has a shot to work.

On the other hand, Francesa, the one the station decided to keep, will find it harder to bring in a new partner.  The last thing he needs is someone as monotone and boring as he is, and if he brings in someone with a little flavor, it will look like a blatant attempt to find another Mad Dog.

Let's face it, while Mike may be the better overall host and the more knowledgable sports fan, it was Dog that brought the excitement to the show, and it was that polar opposite with their ability to somehow get along in spit of those differences that set the show apart from all the others over the last twenty years or so.  The bottom line is that neither will be able to recreate what they had together.  United, they stood for nearly two decades.  Divided, they will fall quickly.

Besides, Mad Dog has the advantage of going to a new format with a fresh start, and he can choose a suitable time slot for the show.  Mike, still with WFAN where the show ran every weekday from 1 to around 6:20pm, will find it very difficult to fill those nearly five-and-a-half hours all by himself.  If there's anything worse than listening to a boring man talk, it's listening to a boring man talk for too long.

With the breakup of Mike and the Mad Dog, WFAN falls far behind ESPN 1050 in terms of quality of programming.  In the mornings, from 6-10, WFAN's Boomer and Cartin are even with Mike and Mike on ESPN.  But from there, it's edge ESPN, as Max Kellarman and Brian Kenney embarass Evan Roberts and Joe Beningo in the 10am-1pm slot.

That's where Mike and the Mad Dog used to own the afternoon.  Mike solo might still be better than Terico and Van Pelt from 1-3, but then Michael Kay, as annoying as he is, is the better listen from 3-7.

From there, weekday night baseball usually starts, and so we'll call it a wash until 10pm.  At that point, two old women talking about their aches and their medications are better than Steve Somers.  And Tony Paige is okay, but I'd rather listen to Jim Rome reruns.

Without Mike and the Mad Dog, WFAN and each host is in for a long stretch of trouble and a huge dip in the ratings.  Mike Francesa and Chris Russo were a great team, and they had a great show for nearly two decades.

And now that era is over.