Mike Francesa: ‘I miss Mike and the Mad Dog’

Nearly two decades since their break-up, Mike Francesa and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo get along better today than ever before.

On a recent episode of The Mike Francesa Podcast, the former WFAN host was asked about his relationship with Russo and whether he ever misses Mike and the Mad Dog. And just as their listeners still miss the best show in the history of sports radio, Francesa admits there are times when he misses it, too.

“Yeah, I miss Mike and the Mad Dog sometimes,” Francesa said. “It was fun. We had a lot of crazy days, we had our fights. We had a lot of good times together. Remember, we were together for 20 years. We weren’t together for a week, for two weeks. Some people do shows now for three or four years and talk about how they have a legacy. Hey, we were together for 20 years!”

As a sports fan growing up in New York in the ‘90s and early 2000s, Mike and the Mad Dog was a can’t-miss show after every big game. Whether it was the Knicks, Yankees, Mets, Jets, or Giants, if there was a notable game being played, anticipation would build the next day because fans were clamoring to hear Mike and Chris talk about it in the afternoon.

But those must listen to shows don’t exist today. By the time the next afternoon rolls around, whatever happened the night before is old news. Every take and opinion has already been given on TV, radio, podcasts, and social media. And while the oversaturation of sports shows, podcasts, and talkers creates more content, it makes it hard to create those must-listen-to shows like Mike and the Mad Dog was for New York sports fans decades ago.

“Dog and I do stay in touch. We try to get a golf game together now and again when we can. We stay in touch about life, stuff like the kids,” Francesa continued. “He might run something past me, I might run something past him. We might talk about something, a different thing. He might call about a certain thing. ‘I’m thinking of doing this. What do you think about this? What do you think about that?’ We talk. We get along very well, probably get along better now than we ever have.”

Obviously, we’ve seen them make appearances together in the years since their breakup. Francesa has been on Russo’s show, and the duo even appeared with Stephen A. Smith on First Take for a show in 2023. But as Francesa explains, their relationship goes beyond those appearances, which is an impressive rebound from where it was during their public divorce.

While Russo has maintained that leaving WFAN for SiriusXM was about the opportunity for a new challenge and not his relationship with Francesa, their relationship wasn’t great at the time of the breakup. Russo wanted to go to mornings on WFAN after Don Imus was fired, and Francesa wanted to stay in afternoons, which led to a tense final year together. And even throughout their incredible run on WFAN, there was an entire year in 2000 when they refused to speak off-air, stemming from Francesa walking away from a road trip with the show because his flight didn’t have a first-class seat. But nearly 20 years after their break-up, time seems to have healed all old wounds.