Watchdog

Say it ain't so! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Please be wrong, Neil!!!

Please be RIGHT. He's the most annoying Yankee hater I've ever heard. Can't stand him!

This is terrible. I have been listening since I was 14 and am now 33. How could this be? Russo owes it to fan base to give statement. Neil, please provide more

Neil, you have been vindicated!

I'm hoping he's wrong. I heard Francesca today and I noticed how giddy he sounded. I actually noticed that. Yesterday too. He musta knew it was coming.

Great news Best ! My agent and accountant thank you.

Actually, this was excellent reporting Neil. You deserve major kudos.

They need each other to succeed.

Neither of them can go solo for long, they will wear out their charm quickly, especially when baseball season is over and topics are scarce.

And with the way Mike has been killing Hank these last 2 days, I'd imagine their time on YES is coming to a close as well.

He will be greatly missed.

Wowwwwwwwwwww.

Shocked.

Great work, Neil. You were on this story from the very beginning.

What Andrew said.

Congrats on great reporting Neil. Can you call or email over to Bernard Mcgirk to get some quotes from the Imus crew on this breakup as they are all very connected. Thanks.

God I hope he's gone and is on a plane to San Fran, cause nobody in New York give's a rat's ass about the Giants.

I second Jeff's request. who would have ever guessed 1 year ago, that there would be no Imus in the Morning or Mike and the Maddog on WFAN?

Great work Neil...glad you stuck with your sources and continued to push the story in the faces of all of those nay sayers I hope we get to hear something from Mad Dog publicly. Does anybody know if Mike is on the air tomorrow? When was the Bar A show supposed to happen?

Talk about an end of an era.

Neil, I think you win the comment contest.

An end to a era in sports talk radio. Mike and the Mad Dog are no more. Chris "Mad Dog" Russo has left WFAN and Mike Francesa will stay on as the only host with a new contract. Even thought he hates the Yankees, I like hearing Dog on the air. I will miss him. Were see how Francesa does now by himself.

How many Sirius radios are going to be sold so people can listen to Chris Russo? None in this household, for sure.

I really hope another reporter asks Mad Dog who he thought your source is. I know you cant give it up Neil. I think we all think it was Francesca. I know you have a lot of contacts, but that would be my guess.

Nice scoop, Neil. Way to nail it.

great,more saturday mornings with mrs.roberts little boy.

loud, dumb and talking out of your rear is now way to...

Great work Neil!

Mike is going to be more insufferable than ever before. I agree with an earlier poster, Mike's been ripping the Yankees hard lately. I'm thinking he's losing the YES slot.

Well it looks like I may have to get Sirius Satellite Radio now if Chris Russo ends up there. Listening to just Mike (Mr. No it all) is not going to be entertaining at all. The ratings will drop!

Neil, this was all your story. Congratulations on a tremendous scoop! Too bad for WFAN.

Neil, get us those quotes from the Imus show. hmm, could Russo be on there friday. Neil, you really did outstanding work here. Continue to make us proud

A fitting way to (temporarily, hopefully) end Watchdog. Congrats, Neil!

Right now I feel down right now. Mike and Chris breaking up is terrible for me. I'll miss Dog doing the opening of every show. As I said before, even thought he hates the Yankees, I like listening to Dog. I love it when Dog would go nuts about something in sports. One of my favorite rants was when in Feburary 2007 when Dog on by himself went nuts over Adam "Pacman" Jones. He abosutely rip Pacman for his involvement in a gun shooting at a strip club during NBA All-Star weekend. Dog makes me laugh when he does his rants, which I will miss. Neil, I'll give you credit for breaking this story.

Soon Fatcessa Will Be Finito!

Francesa will be dry on his own. Russo was annoying, but gave the show it's beat.

Can't see Russo succeeding beyond his first contract on Sirius, he's a New York character despite his rooting interests, and doubt he'll find much of a national audience.

But at least he talked about other sports rather than football and baseball, while Francesa only seems to care about those sports (he hasn't mentioned the olympics exist, at least when I've caught the show recently). And Francesa's disdain for the NBA (in a typical rich, suburban middle aged way) is palpable and lessens the show, which ignored the league way too much (as does WFAN entirely, which seems disturbingly demographically driven).

And Francesa's biases overtake facts now, I see him dying a slow radio death (listeners will drop off slowly but surely).

Oh well, a bit of New York ambiance is gone.

And great journalism Neil Best, this blog is perfectly informed on its subject, unusual for the internet.

Way to go on your blog break with a bang, Neil. Glad to hear this nonsense about these bums is over.

Russo is nuts to think he can keep a career going without Mike. He is a buffoon without Mike there. And Francesca is such and insufferable smug jerk that he becomes just as unlistenable on his own.

There was chemistry between the two of them that made it work, like with Kay and Sterling years ago. Apart they both stink, but something worked with them together.

Good riddance to the two of them and their careers!

JBM, you hit the nail right on the head. My thoughts exactly.

One down, one to go, although maybe Mike will sound better if he's paired with someone that knows what something like OPS is. Mike can provide the sports history, and this hypothetical new guy can provide actual analysis.

Ah, who am I kidding, Mike will eventually be paired up with a clown like Craig Carton. I prefer to listen to 1050 anyway.

I have to agree, both are BORES on their own! Too bad. A good run is over. Sports Radio will not be the same. I certainly won't listen to either one by themselves. Career suicides. Both willbe looking for work by 2010, on other stations.

Keith and JBM: Mike just signed his last contract, worth millions, and Mad Dog is getting a huge multi-million dollar deal to have his own station on Sirius - not just show, station. The idea that either one of them will suffer as a result of this is laughable.

So one racist gone from the FAN!

Let's give Chernoff, Carton, Norm, and Screech their own channels, too

Don't get ur tail caught at the door doggy!

russo is a fool for leaving considering he criticizes athletes for taking the money and going to another team. i am sure he will have a big contract and the first words out of his mouth will be something like i needed a new challenge---as opposed to --- i took this job bc they gave me a boat load of life changing money.
i have not problem with that just be honest and say you left for the money. remember this is the same guy who rips atthletes for taking the money and then the athlete says i left for a new challenge as opposed to just admitting he took the money.
cash grabs are fine just own up to it. if he does then i will not say another word on the matter.
would i go to satellite bc of russo --- nooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!

Wow nice scoop Neil...I have to say I always watched more M and M dog on Yes then on the radio..If Mike is not on Tv anymore after yes I prob wont listen much..I am a big Sirius fan All I listen to is the Howard Sterns channels and NFL radio..I rarely listen 2 terrestrial radio..SO If Doggy signs on with sirius he will be great uncensored..It should be interesting..

Russo has just proved that he's as phoney as all the athletes that he has attacked in the past. He has always talked about how athletes should honor contracts and shouldn't talk about being released or traded for as bigger contract. Now Russo has done the same exact thing. How can he go after Favre when he has done the same thing?

Neil, as a member of the radio industry, I prayed that your "on the money" reporting would turn out to be false this time....even though my own contacts told me to get over it shortly after you first broke it. Hats off to you.....but lets face it, afternoon sports radio will never be the same. Mike's knowledge made the show...and he is the one with all the guests anyway.....but Dog's personality was the icing on the cake. I just hope Mike's show doesn't turn into a total clown show like Kay's on 1050. Any takers on Kay joining up with Mike on 660? That could be interesting....

Does YES's contact get terminated now that Dog is gone? Or are they forced to honor it regardless if the show changes? I don't see how YES could drop it as it basically makes up their afternoon programing. Hopefully MSG or SNY could pick it up.

Count me in for being locked into the fall book for the new ratings at the end of the year.

Like DJS06 I wonder about the current YES Network situation. I believe it's their last year anyway, correct? SNY picking Francesa up believe me would not be welcomed my most Mets fans even if it meant eliminating Loudmouths/The Wheelhouse. MSG I could see picking it up because that MSG Vault is starting to look barren.

Too bad Carlin has too many jobs. I could definitely see him as Francesa's co-host since Continent was practically his apprentice. I guess Sal Licota and/or Recco will get their shots or at least should get their shots. Something tells me Cherny will pick up anything racist scrap like Mike North to bring over to WFAN. Oh yeah, I do not expect the Mets

this is news? this is important? why?

Great scoop by a great guy. Congrats, Neil ... hopefully that trip to CVC HQ will now get you a little bonus bucks from Guitar Jimmy.
Russo has been pushing his sights nationally for the past few years [the books, the webcasts, the Letterman appearances] and his agent Montag is getting some serious Sirius bucks for the Angry Puppy. Francesa's star has been dimming as of late, with the pompous attitude and the unwatchable Sunday TV monologue.
Hey, for Russo it also makes for great marketing - Sirius, after all, is the Dog Star!

Neil great work

some in the blogosphere owe you an apology

this is bad for wfan....whatever you think about russo...he was an entertaining radio voice for almost 20 years..i live in seattle and grew up in CT and have been listening to them for almost 15+ years. They were must listen radio....you don't know what you got until it's gone. Good luck Chris.

I can't wait for the day when Mad Dog goes on the greatest radio show ever and kisses the King of All Media's butt.

I think WFAN made a BIG mistake.

Go Rolly Colly!

I didnt have a problem with Russo per se, but my issue is more with his Anti-NY Stance on everything.. he is a radio DJ in NEW YORK.. yet he consistantly bashes all our teams (not totallly without warrant)...

In a time when the Yankee fan is at a low, he would kick us and enjoy it..

Is that what the morale of this city needs?

mike knew about it and as usual couldn't tell 'us' about it. how many times do you think mike has said that over the years? seriously, these two windbags know less about sports then any two average fans. when was the last time they got anything right? who is mike going to guess the t.v.ratings of last weekends sports events with now? my advice to anyone being considered to take russo's place is stay away from francesca, he has bad karma.

Wow! The same guy that thought the nba was a disgrace for leaving nbc for a cable company is now joining sirius xm. What a phoney!! I hope Russo is proud that he now wants people to spend money to hear him, when they used to get it for free. This is disapointing. Russo is a sellout, a phoney, and a liar. Mayybe the maddog character can now root against the giants

yawn

Good work, Neil. You owned this story!

I have been a loyal MMD listener for the entire run, and I will miss that show. Even if Mike is successful solo, it will never be the same. By the way, why no final show?

MMD had more impact on the local sports scene than any media personalities over the last 20 years, and their SHOW has been extremely popular, but can anyone think of any other longtime media/celebrities who are as disliked personally as these two?

In all the reaction I have read, there has been an absence of personal warmth for either one expressed by fans.

That may be the best testament to their ability to do a successful show.

Nice work on SNY this A.M. Neil. Though the video of you wasn't very lifelike.

Bob Mantz
BobsBlitz.com

On the short term, how does Mike think he can do a normal show today and not take 5 1/2 hrs of calls about this? Seems strange to not announce this without both of them on vacation. Long term, I think both guys now just become another sports radio guy, simply mixed in with everybody else. Together, they were above it all simply for their entertainment value. Good luck to both; as a listener since 1992, they sure helped me get through the day.

And good work Best, especially on SNY. Great reception in the basement!

Russo made a career out of

1. A lack of knowledge about sports

2. An inability to interview other people.

How he lasted 19 years doing this show is totally incomprehensible.

And so 99% of us will not be able to listen to his rants, to his stupidity, to the San Francisco Giants while doing a New York sports show.

Good riddance dog, we're glad to see you go.

I can't feel too sorry for Russo. I mean he looks like he will make 3 million a year with no objective sports knowledge. However of the 2, one senses he was the nicer guy Francesa is a totally pompous individaual who forgot he was simply a handicapper for a football weekly who caught lighteniing in a bottle. He is totally disrespectful to callers. Why call the station WFAN--it will be WFRANCESA

You were right all along, Neil.

I will miss the duo. They were sorta the ones you loved to hate for me. I guess Mike got some of Dog's salary too, more donuts for him.

Good! Now hire someone that actually knows something about hockey!!!!!

Nice job, Neil. You had the pulse all along.

Chris, you hit the nail on the head. What other city has a sports talk show host who hates EVERY local team?

As you got to listen to Chris, you realized he is passionate about 3 things: the baseball Giants, tennis, and anything that gives him an excuse to be away from his wife and kids. Good riddance.

Shocking. Sadness. Mouth dropping.Tears falling. I am in deep shock! I saw the "crawl" on CBS' morning show, and thought I misread i.t I can't beleive it. Chris and FAN, you couldn't WAIT 2 more weeks and complete your 20th anniversary show? The timing is suspicious, and seeing WFAN say they wanted to end it immediately, and not provide CHRIS with his final show, let alone the 20th year. Why couldn't you say, Ok Chris, we kow you want out, but how about you finish the next 2 weeks and we'll announce it then. Or when the baseball season ends.. I'm sad.. I'm angry.. I don;t understand... No more Doggie.. No more Mike and Marquie, Tears, and I can only imagine him signing off like this......
....Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Good bye everybodyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy see you around some day.......

It’s hard to believe that Mike and Dog will no longer be going at it as hard as they can.

sounds like he is pulling a Kathy Lee.. thinking he is bigger than the team.. and we all know what Kathy lee gifford is doing now.. Right??? hmm.. exactly what is she doing now....

Neil - Congratulatons - you hung in there and were proved correct.
As I wrote you before, Mike Francesa is not the same man who teamed with Chris all those years ago. He has lost his brother, his Mother and was divorced. Fortunately he has remarried to a woman who has really made a change in his life and given him three lovely children, who are now the center of Mike's world. He is mature enough to sit back in his comfortable position at WFAN and be himself. I wish him well and will continue to listen/watch.

Chris Russo is still a kid - even though he has four children, he seems to live like a bachelor it's HIS GOLF GAME, HIS TENNIS GAME, etc. No wonder he is leaving a successful, secure postition for the promise of more money. We'll see how it works out.

Again Neil, nice work
Annie

Gotta say Francesa is the ultimate douche bag here and I'm totally sympathetic to Dog. The former always come across like he was too good to be paired with Chris and he finally pushed him out. Francesa didn't even have the decency to allow Dog to have a last broadcast ("You only get a goodbye show when you retire. No company gives you a goodbye show unless you're no longer going to be a competitor. And we all know that Dog will work again."). What a complete and utter tool. Dog made Francesa worth listening to. Without Chris, Mike just becomes another pompous ass on the radio. Well done, after all the years of laughing at Sterling, he's become exactly like him.

Yeah, I'm fired up - egos getting in the way of a truly great product.

"Chernoff said he did not know where Russo was headed, but he is expected to land at Sirius Satellite Radio."

Jeez, Neil. For all your complaining about having to do a blog and write an occasional column for the paper, you'd think you'd be able to string a sentence together.

You know, tense and sense. Did they teach you that at Cornell?

"Chernoff said he did not know where Russo was headed, but he is expected to land at Sirius Satellite Radio."

Jeez, Neil. For all your complaining about having to do a blog and write an occasional column for the paper, you'd think you'd be able to string a sentence together.

You know, tense and sense. Did they teach you that at Cornell?

When you leave on good terms you usually get a farewell show, like this guy on Q-104 Bob Buchmann got from his station on Tuesday. So you can only imagine what must have happened in the abrupt "resignation" or whatever of Christopher Russo.
Annie, Francesa has never changed. He was fired from CBS-TV because he was too good to be a sideline reporter. He never wanted a co-host and he has always been full of hot air. If anything, all those setbacks he has had in life should have made him a bit more humble and respectful, instead he is an egomaniacal blowhard. He will flop on his own because he can't carry a show by himself for 5 1/2 hours a day 5 days a week.

Jeez, Ramon, you've stumped this college dropout: please explain the tense and sense theory so I can learn what's wrong with "Chernoff said he did not know where Russo was headed, but he is expected to land at Sirius Satellite Radio."

A good friend of mine says the rift between them started with the infamous stadium bathroom "discussion." Is that true?

Koots
Whaddya hear from Brush about the Seawolves chances to make the NCAA this year?

;)

(Nice job on the Mad Dog story Neil).

I was always content knowing that the most pretentious radio personalities were on ONE station at the SAME time. Now the duo is split up and the arrogance will run rampant on two stations... Bummer

great scoop neil the show worked because of 2 differing viewpoints
kay's does not work because legreca does not challenge any of his.

Surprise!! Dog gets to say goodbye after all.

Lard Butt shanked Rabid Mutt to get all the money at the FAN.

Good riddance to Rabid Mutt.

Now, let's get rid of Lard Butt, too.

Baumbach,

Read your column (sic) about Lard Butt shanking Rabit Mutt.

So touching (sic).

I felt a lump in my throat (sic).

A tear came to my eye (sic).

Don't forget the canolis.

Neil- Did you catch where Dog said "Mike, I'm glad you stayed at the Fan"?
If this was all about Dog leaving for new challenges- Mike would have no part in it. It seems more of a break up to me.

Let's keep it real folks- The last caller who spoke about the show's effect on Literature?

What else did they do- bring World Peace?

Let it be shown that Francesa signed his new deal while Dog was on vacation. That meant after 19 years:

a) Dog got a call *on vacation* telling him he was out of a job
b) Francesa made it happen so there would be no farewell show

And I'm a diehard Yankee fan - 20 hours for '96 Series tickets. Francesa is a complete and utter POS. Dude deserves the boring show he's about to get.

Tell Andy Levenberg that Dog signs on the show "Good AFTERNOON Everybody" not good morning as it appeared in his column today. How can someone get that wrong? Awful

Neil, Well Mike is reading your blog again.

THIS is the way he should be every day. Instead of the handwaves and yelling. This is the side that a side kick needs to bring out of him.

And I want to mention that he made a nice donation At a fund-raiser last week, to help offset cuts to the Wantagh, L.I., school district's athletic budget. It is up #1 on my site, www.bobsblitz.com - even after the split story.

Bob

All I can say is thank god that fountain of misinformation is off the air. And you have to hear Francesa on the FAN. He said the reason he is sometimes disrespectful to callers is because they are not the same as the audience. Once they call in, they are part of the show. Hello, earth to Mike, they are part of the audience.

Neil, I've got Mike's short list for the new show - so feel free to use it.

It's going to be Mike, Me, Sid Rosenberg and Imus. We're going to call it SMIB in the morning (yes, we're taking over the morning spot.)

We needed to go to a 4 person set because Imus and I don't know enough about sports but we can pi$$ people off.

And feel free to spread that around; that's solid information.

Bob's Blitz

Francesa finally got what he has always wanted, Russo gone.

I for one will follow Chris Russo and watch the pompus Francesa go down with the ship.

Francesa: ( Agree with me or I'll hang up on you! )

Francesa: I have spoken!

Francesa: You know nothing! I know all.

Francesa: If you don't like my rules then go to another station......

Listener: Ok I will then. Bye!

I PUT UP WITH Chris Russo for all these years, hoping he'd go away to leave Mike run the works.Now it's come true. I mean Chris was an absolute clown whose combo of a speech impediment, rotten pronounciation and lack of sports intelligence put the damper of everything. On the other hand, Mike, although pompous, always knew what he was talking about. Good bye Chris--have a nice life on SiriusXM and up with WFAN.

i cant count the times i used to turn off the tv[YES] or the radio {wfan] when the maddog???? made me sick!
let this bum stay on anywhere but where the majority of people can see or hear him.
i have watched mike on his own and he is doing a GREAT job .
so good bye mad dog-dog crap yankee hater -GOOD BYE
and YOU GO MIKE YOU ARE DOING GREAT WITHOUT THIS BUM AND YOUR NEW LOOK IS GREAT TOO!!!!
best of luck and best of health to mike the KING OF NY SPORTS TALK