WFAN Part 2: Who we don't like

This will be our last time going to the vault for a while, and starting Thursday, we'll discuss the dudes on 1050.

Mike & The Mad Dog

Devo: You could make an argument that these guys are cultural icons. They’re the most popular hosts on the most popular sports talk radio network in the country. If these guys had never been around, would sports radio be the behemoth that it is today? Probably, but possibly not. With all that said, I’m not a fan. Mike is knowledgeable but an asshole who hates his callers. Mad Dog is by all accounts a real nice guy, but also a complete idiot. Even his book (which I stole from White Boy) has grammar errors. They are the most well known guys in the area, but all the locals know that there are better places to find good NY Sports Talk. Bonus points for apparently hating each other from years 7 thru 12 of their 20 year existence and still working through their intense hatred.

White Boy: It was a mid summer’s morning at my old apt. and Mahatma and Devo were crashing after a night of drinking. I was fast asleep but the shrill of terror coming from the radio woke me up. It was Chris Russo doing his “GOOOD MORNING EVERYBODY HOW ARE YOU TODAY!!!” Devo and Mahatma laughed their asses off after I gave them a death stare. Mike and the Mad-dog are exactly like Howard Stern. As they said about Howard Stern in Private Parts: the average fan listens to the show for 1 hour and 20 minutes, but get this, the average hater listens 2 ½ hours. This principle has guided the career paths of these two instigators. Russo is an extremely limited individual; as bad at pronouncing simple names like Gagne as he is good at angering callers, mainly Yankee fans. I hate him but I give him credit: for a dumb guy who can’t speak well or read, he has done very well for himself. Mike is a smart sports fan but his arrogance is all encompassing and his ego could fill Yankee Stadium. To quote Wes Mantooth in Anchorman, “I hate you Mike and the Mad Dog, but goddamn it I respect you.” That still pains me to say though.

Boomer & Carton

(The intro to The Boomer Esiason Show is nothing if not classy.)

Point: So you’re the WFAN program director. You have an entire summer to fill Imus’ morning slot. You use about 7 or 8 different groups of people to host for one week at a time. All of them except for Mad Dog are very good. (Especially Francessa and Carlin.) So you pick any of the 6 or 7 hosts that did well right?

Nope. You go out and get a hack of an NFL analyst along with some guy who calls himself the Jersey Guy. Mike & Mike owe these guys a thank you note for helping improve their ratings.

Counterpoint: Carton is just awful. He is only like Imus in that he tries to be controversial. Difference is, Imus is good at it and funny at times where as Carton is not. He is boring, annoying and adds nothing to WFAN. Though on the plus side, he let me explore the rest of the morning show world. As for Boomer, I know Devo and many others aren’t a fan but I like the guy. He knows football as well as anyone and is able to keep Carton on task for the most part. However it should be noted that since I’m never up before 10 am except on Thursdays and some Wednesdays, I don’t really listen to them much.