Thursday was NFL schedule release day, a celebratory occasion for football fans and an opportunity for sports radio hosts everywhere to mail it in with a “win/loss” segment.
No sport lends itself better to going down a team’s schedule, picking which contests will be wins and which will be losses than the NFL and its 17-game regular season. And no sports radio hosts capitalized on that better than Mike Francesa and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo.
When Mike and the Mad Dog were WFAN stalwarts dominating the afternoon radio airwaves in New York, the duo would predict the New York Jets’ and Giants’ schedules with a confidence so unwavering it made listeners wonder why the teams should even bother playing their games.
But Francesa and Russo are nearly 14 years removed from being a dynamic radio duo, forcing listeners to reminisce about their win/loss segment that once was. To celebrate the NFL’s schedule release, New York Mets play-by-play voice Gary Cohen mimicked Mike and the Mad Dog’s win/loss segment, leaving SNY analyst Keith Hernandez seemingly dumbfounded by the bit.
Keith Hernandez was absolutely lost during Gary Cohen's Mike and the Mad Dog impression pic.twitter.com/lbCg08qb6v
— Brandon Contes (@BrandonContes) May 13, 2022
“That used to be like the highlight of the football offseason, right? Mike and Chris going down the football schedule,” Cohen said.
As Cohen imitated Francesa’s “that’s a win, that’s a loss,” it was clear Hernandez never heard the famous Mike and the Mad Dog segment. Instead of playing along, the Mets Hall-of-Famer mocked the Jets shortcomings.
Hernandez was a frequent guest with Mike and Chris, but he didn’t appear to be a frequent listener. To be fair, WFAN doesn’t reach Hernandez’s east end of Long Island home, and Mike and the Mad Dog preceded radio’s streaming boom. But poor Gary, getting hung out to dry by Hernandez while trying to entertain the audience with a bit.
[SNY]
