Chris Russo goes full Mad Dog over Dave Pasch’s travel schedule

Chris Russo doesn’t always bite the hand that feeds him, but Dave Pasch’s travel schedule was apparently too much for the Mad Dog to ignore.

Pasch had to call Missouri-South Carolina on Saturday night in Columbia, then somehow make it to Santa Clara for the Cardinals’ Sunday radio broadcast. When Russo caught wind of the logistics, he decided his weekly First Take appearance was the perfect venue to torch ESPN’s scheduling department.

“He was in Columbia, Missouri, on Saturday night at 7 o’clock, South Carolina,” Russo explained. “Now, he has to go — the Cardinals, he does the games on the radio. The Cardinals, on Sunday, played in Santa Clara, California. How the hell are you going to make poor Pasch go from Columbia to Santa [Clara]? There’s no non-stops unless (Stephen A. Smith) is going to give him his private jet. Steve’s never heard of Dave Pasch. You can’t, you can’t get there.”

Chris Russo is really mad about @DavePasch‘s travel schedule.pic.twitter.com/npBNkWIKhB

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 24, 2025

Clearly, Russo had spent the better part of his morning researching Pasch’s actual travel route, and the details only made it worse. The game ended around 11 p.m., and Pasch had to drive 126 miles to the nearest airport, which was in Kansas City, to catch a 6 a.m. flight.

From there, Pasch’s journey turned into a connect-the-dots exercise across the country. He flew from Kansas City to Denver, with an hour and 23-minute layover that Russo deemed barely sufficient for the largest airport in the country. Then, Denver to San Jose (not even San Francisco), before driving to the stadium for the Cardinals’ 1 p.m. kickoff.

After all that travel, Russo was upset with the fact that Pasch was forced to crisscross the country for a college football game that wasn’t “exactly freaking Chiefs-Eagles,” followed by an NFL game that “stinks.”

“These airlines stink. If there’s a delay, if there’s anything going on, he misses his game. All because they gave him Missouri and South Carolina on Saturday night,” Russo added.

It’s not often that you hear ESPN talent criticizing ESPN’s scheduling decisions on ESPN airwaves, but this is also someone who had police called on him at Heathrow Airport and berated airline passengers about first-class etiquette.

Pasch’s NFL game this week is on Thursday, which, according to Russo, doesn’t count for these purposes. But the Mad Dog’s point was that the Worldwide Leader needs to consider basic geography and flight schedules before sending announcers on impossible journeys between games.