The 2026 FIFA World Cup has provided a massive boon to what are typically the dog days of summer for sports. However, the U.S.’s 4-1 crash-out at the hands of Belgium in the round of 16 has left a massive void for sports broadcasters.
That vacuum was strongly felt on Monday, when the lack of any World Cup matches, coupled with the start of MLB’s pause for All-Star festivities, created the perfect storm: no major sports until the Netflix broadcast of the 2026 Home Run Derby. Amid the day’s barrenness, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo took drastic measures on his SiriusXM afternoon radio show, Mad Dog Unleashed, by ranking U.S. Presidents.
“I don’t care what you say, you can put— we all know Washington and Lincoln and, you know, we can— Jefferson, you know, we know FDR. I mean, everybody can give you the first 7. Ulysses Grant. We all can give you the first 7 or 8. Eisenhower’s got to be on that list,” Russo said on Monday’s episode.
This is what happens when you have a day with no sports. pic.twitter.com/CoLrUsRNHB
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) July 13, 2026
“If anybody doesn’t put Eisenhower, who made every decision and had to deal with all that nonsense with both presidents, Roosevelt and Churchill, had to have British generals under him, American generals under him, and had to make the call when to go, when not. Then he’s the president for 8 years. I don’t care; you can put it out; he’s bigger than Reagan. I know Reagan ended the Cold War, and he won it… Bigger than Reagan.
“Eisenhower’s in your top 10. I was thinking about that a lot. There is — and I read the book — there is not a chance in the world. You cannot put the man who was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, who crashed Omaha and Utah Beach to turn the tide of the war, though the war had already turned, but who landed on the continent safely, lost a lot of men, but landed. And then 9 months later in Berlin.
“That’s another thing people gotta realize. June 4th, June 6th, 1944, the war is over the following April. It’s not 3 years later, it’s 8 months later. There is no way under an — and I am no historian — but there is no way under that scenario you cannot put Eisenhower in the top 10 in the history of America’s Americans.”
Did anyone ask for or need a throwaway Presidential ranking? No. Still, credit to a veteran of the industry understanding one of its key pillars: The show must go on.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.