December 3, 1997
Suppose it is any run-of-the-mill early afternoon in New York City and an average sports fanatic has chosen to tune in to radio’s 660 AM frequency. Chances are that they will encounter the following: “Aaaaaaand, good afternnoon, everybody, how are you today? ‘Mike and the Mad Dog’ on the FAN on Monday, November 10, 1997...” This is what fills the airwaves roughly around 1:05 p.m., weekdays, via Sportsradio 66-WFAN, as the hugely popular and successful "Mike and the Mad Dog" program begins its broadcasting day. The man behind the microphone blaring these words to open up the show is none other than Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo, one half of the aforementioned sports talk tandem.
Chris Russo has co-hosted "Mike and the Mad Dog" with Mike Francesa for eight years and by doing so has undoubtedly pioneered the sports talk radio genre. This is a radio format which prior to WFAN’s birth on July 1, 1987 was nonexistent. Even then, though, it struggled mightily, getting off to a bad start ratings-wise. Things improved dramatically when non-sports "shock-jock," Don Imus was added to the roster in the morning, but there was still a sports star missing.
Russo, along with Francesa, combined to form this star. Russo’s relatively high-pitched voice and rapid-fire delivery helped make him an instant star and was one reason why the show catapulted into the hearts of thousands of New York sports followers.
However, it wasn’t just his voice that attracted listeners and certified Russo as refreshingly unique. It was and still is his obvious passion and love for sports which always registers a hit with the very critical fans. "I think what people like about me is that I’m real. They get what they see. I am who I am...a pain in the ass!" he says boldly, yet jokingly.
If the New York Knicks play badly in an important game or a horrendous trade occurs in Major League Baseball, Russo is sure to rant and rave about it. He doesn’t let anyone get away with anything and he makes sure he takes any and all to task, if so needed. Hard and fast critique of today’s sports world is his forte, and it is this outspokeness which has aided him in and consequently his show and sports talk radio in general.
Chris Russo was born in 1959 in Long Island, New York where he grew up being a big Marv Albert and John Sterling fan. He then attended Darrow, a boarding school in Lebanon, New York. When he graduated from there in 1978 he became a student at Florida’s Rollins College where he majored in communications and history. History was just a requirement. Communications was his true interest.
It was at Rollins where he officially became what is known as a "radio guy." He was an avid participant in his college radio station where he says he learned the basics of the trade. In one instance he had to do it the very hard way: "I once had to host a talk show all by myself. The station was all alone, no one around, and hardly anyone listening. I sat down, took the microphone, and began talking. Within an hour I was able to get four phone calls. That was not easy radio!" Signs of his talent were emerging. He went through these types of scenarios numerous times, and grew as a broadcaster because of it. In addition, he says he "learned about the different aspects of radio such as sales and promotion." He also learned how to carry a show all by himself and mastered the art of providing both interesting and entertaining material to the listening public.
When the Rollins stint came to an end in 1982, his first job out of college was at WEXI 1200 AM. Soon, he was fired from there and so it was on to WOKV in Jacksonville, Florida where he lasted from February 1983 until March 1984 before being fired yet again.
Orlando, Florida’s WKIS was next and it offered him what every young broadcaster covets. "My first big break came when I went from WOKV to WKIS. WKIS was a big time station and the more professional of the two. Also, it was the first time I was getting paid only to talk sports. At WOKV, I had been paid for doing both sales and sports talk," he recalls.
Another firing occurred, again due mostly to his outspokenness which did not fall into good favor with management, and then WMCA 570 AM hired him to do a sports talk show. It was here that he was first introduced to the New York market and earned the nickname "Mad Dog." "[Bob] Raissman of the [New York] Daily News gave me that name in 1987 while I was working at ol’ MCA," Russo says. "When I began doing sports updates on Imus [In the Morning] in the summer of 1987, Imus played it [the name] up a lot, and it just seemed to catch on."
No doubt Raissman was cynically referring to Russo’s feisty on-air approach. This New York mentality which he possesses and uses to his advantage while answering phone calls from fans and conducting interviews with some of sport’s biggest stars, is one which then-WFAN program director Mark Mason, in 1989, chose to pair up with the encyclopedic and equally New Yorkish attitude of Mike Francesa’s (who co-hosted a show with fellow WFAN personality Ed Coleman). Now, "Mike and the Mad Dog" is the New York market’s top-rated program among male listeners 25 to 54 during its time period.
Like all sportscasters, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo prepares for his five-hour talk show by watching sports match-ups beforehand, on television or in person, and by reading local newspapers. He then competently analyzes what has happened off the top of his head. Do not be fooled though. It takes much more than reading in order to get ready, according to Russo. "This isn’t something that you can just prepare for by opening up a book and reading something. It’s a knack. Either you can [do it], or you can’t. It comes naturally. You have to know about sports, have a good voice, have a New Yorker’s mentality, be enthusiastic and make sure people enjoy you."
When co-hosting the show, he is the one at the helm as far as taking phone calls. He always seems to have the last word during a phone call, also. "This may be unfair, but my job is to keep things moving. The reason that I cut people off so abruptly at times is for the sake of the show--to maintain a fast pace."
Chris Russo is a sports fan in every sense. He is a huge San Francisco Giants fan and has been ever since the time when he met most of the 1968 Giants ball club that year at a Marriott hotel and received each one of their autographs. If he could do a sports talk show during any era it would have to be in the fifties because of the Giants' success during that decade and the existence of his hallowed Ebbets Field, the Giants former home.
Does his Giants fandom, which he freely expresses on the air, help or hinder the New York-oriented "Mike and the Mad Dog" program? "I think that some people are annoyed by it but the true sports fan likes it. He can appreciate the passion that I show for my favorite team." Something else people seem to be annoyed by is the Mad Dog’s seemingly anti-Knicks and Yankees persona. It seems as if he hardly ever comments positively on these two. "Yeah, I think that there’s a little bit of that going on with me [the anti-Knicks and Yankees labels placed on him by listeners]."
Sports talk radio is a genre which has grown, due in large part to "Mike and the Mad Dog" and WFAN, although Russo refuses to admit how important the show has been and still is, only saying that he and Mike play "a small role" in New York sports. He feels that sports talk radio's popularity will not be on the upswing for much longer, though. "I think that five to ten years from now, sports radio will have run its course. Everything has already been tried and done," he says.
Ten to twenty years from now "Mad Dog" still sees himself hosting afternoon-drive with Mike Francesa. At this point, Russo is satisfied with his career from a professional standpoint but does have some regrets. "I regret a lot of what I’ve said, but nothing in particular." He realizes that sometimes during a broadcast, stupid things tend to be said which are not meant.
Chris "Mad Dog" Russo is apparently in a great state of being. He co-hosts a successful sports talk radio show, earns an immense amount of money, is well-liked and respected by New York sports fans and is happily married. He certainly has reached the peak of his career.