Nearly a decade after leaving WFAN, Chris Russo is still finding excuses to tangle with the station’s personalities.
On Tuesday, Russo used his SiriusXM radio show to fire back at WFAN’s Boomer Esiason after Esiason took exception to comments Russo and former partner Mike Francesa made on MLB Network last week.
Mike and the Mad Dog made a joke about WFAN. Boomer Esiason then ripped M&MD. Today, Chris Russo fires back & rips Boomer. pic.twitter.com/NXf6W2ie8G
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) April 3, 2018
Here’s what Russo had to say Tuesday, per Newsday:
“You know how many times those guys killed me when I left to go to Sirius? ‘Witness protection program, nobody listens to you, what a stupid decision, off you go, you’re irrelevant, nobody cares.’ On and on and on and on for basically 10 years. And I put up with it, I went on their shows. They said it constantly. I kept my mouth shut. Hey, you know what, what the hell if they want to think that way, I know it’s not the case but if they want to think that way. Sirius hated it, they couldn’t stand it, makes them look bad. Sirius’ upper [management] couldn’t stand it. But then when we get on them a little bit and we pick on Boomer, all of a sudden now he’s bent out of shape. Hold on now — one thing leads to another, you kill me for all these years about going to ‘Nowheresville’ when I left FAN to come to Sirius, then when I pick on you about the ratings, who’s listening. Take it like a man, Boom, take it like a man. Jeez, take it like a man.”
[…]
“If you don’t like what we say or what anybody says or you don’t like the criticism, here’s what I would suggest, and this is as fact — get a rating. How ‘’bout getting a rating. Then if you get a rating, you get last laugh on me. I can’t say anything. You can kill me on . . . then you really can say I went to ‘Nowheresville.’ Get a rating, get ratings. You’ve got a huge platform on a 50,000-watt station that covers Yankee baseball, not to mention Giant football. That station’s been around for now 30 years, 31 years. Get a rating.”
Let’s back up to the beginning. Esiason has always had an icy relationship with Russo and especially Francesa, whom he has feuded on numerous occasions over the years. Last week, Francesa joined Russo on MLB Network’s High Heat and took some fairly gratuitous shots at the WFAN lineup, wondering who would leave the station next.
Esiason and morning-show co-host Gregg Giannotti were not terribly pleased with the banter, and they went off on Francesa and Russo on their show Monday, calling them names, joking that SiriusXM was the “witness protection program,” and alleging that, “the only time those idiots make news is when they talk about what’s happening here.”
https://twitter.com/BackAftaThis/status/980884519174725633
Given that Francesa does not currently have a platform from which to punch back against Esiason, that task fell to Russo. Thus, the above rant about Boomer being a bad sport and drawing poor ratings.
In the end, these guys will never pass up a chance for a feud. Beef gains them listeners, keeps their names in the headlines, and gives them something to talk about besides actual sports. With Russo having spoken his mind Tuesday, it’s now Esiason’s turn to respond, and you can be damn sure that he’ll do so on Wednesday morning.
[Newsday]
