Transcript
“Mike and the Mad Dog theme song plays…”

Chris Russo: “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, Good Afternoon everybody. How are you today? The Mike and the Mad Dog Radio Program.”

Mike Francesa: “And for 19 years - a week short of 19 years - that is how we welcomed New York to this program. Every day or most days. Some time not in summer; sometimes a rare day here or there. But that was the sound that beckoned everybody of the Mike and the Mad Dog program. As you know last night you heard the Mike and the Mad Dog show will be no more as Dog has decided to move on and the response has been to me, overwhelming. We started this program on September 5th 1989. It was a shotgun wedding as everyone may remember if you’re old enough. It was almost a quickie divorce as we did not get along very well in the beginning. The show was considered to be a colossal misjudgement the first couple of weeks. Within nine months it was the toast of the town and fortunately for dog and myself it has remained that for these many years. It has remained a show that has been at the top of the ratings thankfully for all those years. Thanks to you. And I know for many of you, and for me and Dog, this a very sad occasion. What makes radio so special is that it allows you into peoples’ lives in a very personal way. They feel your anger. They get angry with you. They feel your pain when something goes wrong in your life. They’re jubilant when good things happen. Over 19 years, we’ve experienced a lot here – not only our fights that were very public. And that is the part that seems to get accentuated, but remember: five or six nasty squabbles in 19 years is not that many. We’ve gone through marriages; we’ve gone through the birth of seven children; we’ve gone through the passing of loved ones; we’ve gone through some memorable days and with you with us all the while.

And thankfully we were able to be here all those years and to become very much the fabric, a part of the fabric, of this great city and really part of the foundation. As someone who called me last night said: “you and Dog became the sports soundtrack of everybody’s lives in New York over the last 20 years. That Mike and the Mad Dog became a must listen is something that was always appreciated – I don’t think ever taken for granted – and something that I think will remain a big part of our lives for as long as we live. I know anything else I do from here – I’m 54 years old, I’ve just agreed to stay here for five more years, and I’m going to after a quick vacation put together a new program that will have some new elements. I said I’d never have another partner and I won’t; that’s not the idea. The idea is for me to have some folks along who can offer some opinions, have some fun, offer some different perspectives and some personalities. And I’m looking forward to it. We have not picked anybody, we have not even remotely begun that process. We have not even talked to anybody and might not for another week or two. We’re in no rush; we’re in no rush. We’ll put together a name, we’ll put together some jingles, and we’ll put together some people to join us on the program as we go along.

But first I wanted to tell you that I know what you’re feeling because I feel it to. This show has been a major part of my life. It’s been my heart for 19 years. Not every day is wonderful but not every day in life is wonderful but so many of them have been so special. Don’t think or a second that I or Dog did not understand how fortunate we have been to have hit everything just right in New York where we were able to create this and for it to have the lasting power that it had remarkably over 19 years.

I mean we were number one within nine months of when we came on the air and we were number one this winter and this spring, 19 years later. And that is quite an achievement. But the most important part is when you have someone tell you “I grew up with your show”, “I learned about sports listening to your show”, “you’ve been a part of my day every day for 20 years”, “I was home sick from a job for a couple of months – things weren’t going well – and you guys were there with me every day and made me laugh and got me through it”, and I guy who said “I lost my job and didn’t feel real good about myself but at least I had you guys to be there for me every day and be something I could look forward to”. And frankly, that’s what this show has given me for two decades: something very much to look forward to. Because it has been a pleasure doing it, an honor doing it and I hope we’ve never taken it for granted. I’m sure some people probably feel at times we have. I’m sure sometimes we’ve acted that way and we shouldn’t of. But don’t think for a second that we haven’t understood and respected and loved the relationship that we have had here with the audience. The idea that this city would allow us to have a show that has been able to last this long. I’m mean everyone talks about “hey, 19 years” and 19 years is a long time. It’s a long time to be part of a team. It’s not always easy being a part of a team; it isn’t. Maybe it should be and frankly there were times I was not a good partner, many times. Now I’m sure there were probably times Dog felt the same way. But don’t think for a second we haven’t loved every minute of this. Like I said: I understand today when I got up and heard the folks talking about us not being together anymore and how much it impacted them. And I know people say “ah, it’s a silly show” but I do understand that it has become part of people’s lives. And that is the greatest testament to it that anyone could ever give us: that we have become part of the soundtrack of this city. Or something that became must-listening on a daily basis.

Why did it happen? Our relationship may be part of the reason; opportunities may be part of the reason; our contracts were coming to an end; this station has gone through a lot of upheaval in the last year as everyone knows a lot of changes. And a lot of opportunities present themselves – I’ve had a lot of opportunities presented to me; I know Dog’s had a lot of opportunities presented to him. I really wanted to stay and really wanted to finish my career here; it was important to me. I wanted to hopefully begin and end my career at this one station; it was very important to me. Dog decided to take a different avenue. Nothing wrong with that. The idea that we couldn’t work together – hey we’ve had our ups and downs and we haven’t had a good last six months but we’ve always been able to work together. And this afternoon I’m going to open up the phone lines and answer any question you have. You can call and talk about the program, ask anything you want to ask. I will answer it as honestly as I can. I’ve always tried to be honest with the audience. When I came on after I went to Yankee Stadium that day, I said the show was at a crossroads. I thought it was – I did not know what was going to happen. When Dog addressed the audience after the first stories were written, he did not know what was going to happen. Decisions had not yet been made; everything came to a head at the same time.

Stations deal on lead time; they have to know what the future is going to hold. Not three months from now. They need to know what’s going to happen six and nine (months) and sometimes a year out. They need answers sometimes that maybe you think you should let everyone wait three months or six months but they don’t feel they can. They want to know what the future may hold.
The way I look at it is this: I could not be prouder of anything than I’ve been of the work that we’ve put forth here over the last 19 years. Mike and the Mad Dog probably happens to you once in a lifetime and it happens to very few people once in a lifetime. It is a very special gift and it has been a very special gift. I’m going to move forward from here, work next week – we have a bunch of remotes – take the time off until after Labor Day, come back and put together a new show. Now I know that I’ve been left with the best piece of sports real estate in this town. Drive time on WFAN is the best piece of real estate in this city. Dog made it that way; I made it that way. If I had left today with Dog, whoever would have taken over today would have walked into a situation and would have received that same piece of real estate. With it comes opportunity and with it comes some pressures to try to live up to what we’ve created with Mike and the Mad Dog. It won’t be an easy task. I will try to do it. Dog is going to go on; I’m sure very soon he will make some announcements about his future. Heck, he’s not retiring folks; he’s 48. He’s got some kids to put through school, they’re still little. He’s got a lot of Country Clubs to join, a lot of tennis balls to hit. Soon he’ll make some announcements about what his future holds and I’m sure you’ll get a chance down the road to ask him why he made the decision that he made.