Washington Commanders’ owner Josh Harris can’t see a hand without shaking it; ESPN’s Louis Riddick doesn’t appear to have the same problem.
Wednesday morning on ESPN First Take, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo called out Stephen A. Smith for steering him wrong on an over/under bet with the Washington Wizards last season. Russo then praised Riddick for advising him to take over receptions for JuJu Smith-Schuster, a bet that hit.
While praising Riddick’s betting advice, the often-overzealous Russo held his hand up in search of a high five but was hilariously left hanging. Realizing he wasn’t about to get any love from Riddick, Russo quickly tucked his hand away before attempting to shift the focus back to Smith.
Josh Harris is sprinting to Dog right now to give him a high five pic.twitter.com/s6P3hbkAWJ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 23, 2023
“Over/under, you got it right,” Russo said, pointing to Riddick. “And he got it wrong! Yes, sir!”
If Dog still feels the need for a high five, Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris is probably available. Earlier this week on Monday Night Football, Harris was in the booth and couldn’t help from shaking Joe Buck’s hand once it broke the imaginary plane of personal space. Buck clearly was not seeking a handshake, which made the encounter awkward, but hilarious. Riddick, however, had Mad Dog fishing for a high five and could easily ignore it.
It didn’t seem intentional; this shouldn’t signal any beef between Riddick and Russo or even Riddick and Harris. If anything, the blame has to be placed on Dog, who has long been known for his awkward high fives, handshakes, and gestures, a claim to fame that continued Wednesday morning on First Take.
The best part of the Winter Meetings has been the awkward high five/handshakes Chris Russo has given each of his guests on @MLBNetwork and its not even close. pic.twitter.com/r9oNQ0QPy3
— Anthony Riccobono (@Tony_Riccobono) December 13, 2018
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com