Stephen A. Smith was 25 minutes late to First Take Tuesday morning. He continues to take his lumps for the infraction, but no one let him have it quite like Chris “Mad Dog” Russo did on Wednesday.
Smith allows Russo to have his weekly ‘What are you mad about!’ segment on First Take, an opportunity for Dog to riff and rant about various sports topic that irked him. And on Wednesday, Russo saved his most vehement rage for Smith after the First Take architect and host strolled into work late the morning prior, blaming traffic on the West Side Highway.
“I expect the leaders to set an example and be on time…this is a disgrace,” Russo said with a chuckle while watching an aerial view of Smith jogging down the boardwalk outside ESPN Southstreet Seaport Studios.
This is why Dog’s kids give him edibles for Christmas pic.twitter.com/NE5XomSlMX
— Brandon Contes (@BrandonContes) November 30, 2022
“And then he stops, what, did you get tired?” Russo asked, mocking Smith for leisurely entering the building despite being more than 20 minutes late to his own show. “I mean, jeez! RUN ALL THE WAY, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! LEAVE AT 7 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING! What are you doing? You’re our fearless leader!”
“THE WESTSIDE HIGHWAY’S ALWAYS A MESS! Leave at 7:30!” Russo continued to berate Smith. “That is a joke! You should be ashamed of yourself! I’m disappointed in you! You’re the leader of this brigade. You’re the captain! Captains don’t do that! DON’T EVER AGAIN! EVER!”
Credit Smith for being able to sit there and take that type of talking to on his own show. It’s one thing to poke fun at Smith for being late to his national TV show that starts at 10 a.m. every morning, but Russo morphed into a drill sergeant berating a plebe.
Poor Colin Russo and his siblings. Dog previously told Howard Stern he was gifted edibles by his children on Christmas. And now we know why.
