WFAN's Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo barks up Yale's tree

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Sports talk radio host Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo expounded on the nature of sports at a Branford Master's Tea this week.

On Wed., Nov. 4, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, co-host of the wildly successful "Mike and the Mad Dog" radio program, a sports talk show broadcast on WFAN-AM 660 in New York City, visited Yale as a special guest of Branford College. Russo, or "Dog," as his fans know him, spoke about "Sports Today," and detailed his career as a broadcaster. The Yale Herald was able to corral the Dog for an exclusive interview to find out his thoughts on some of the hottest topics in sports.

Yale Herald: With all the changes in rankings over the past few weeks, what are your thoughts on the new Bowl championship Series in college football?

Chris "Mad Dog" Russo: I hate the Bowl Championship Series. They have to get a playoff system in college football. I'm rooting for all four undefeated teams to not lose so there will be an outcry so fierce that they have to do something down the road, and because if you have a Bowl Championship Series and those four teams go undefeated, and they pick Ohio State and Tennessee in the Championship game, what's a UCLA or a Kansas State fan to do? I've got a big problem with it. Play a playoff system in college football.

YH: Do you think there will there be an NBA season this year?

CR: There will be a season, definitely. I think they will play by Christmas, maybe Jan. 1. I don't think they will play before that though. I think they will play about 55 games; I don't think you are going to see an All-Star game. I think they'll play games during the All-Star break. I definitely think the fans will come back, and by May you'll forget about the lockout. Don't forget, you had the hockey lockout in 1995-- the Devils only played 48 games and won the Stanley Cup, and no one remembers the fact that it was only a 48-game season.

YH: That said, will Michael Jordan return to the Bulls?

CR: I think he will play. I think the entire Bulls team will come back intact.

YH: Scottie Pippen also?

CR: Yeah, because it's only three months, and I think Pippen will say to himself, "Why leave? I'll lose three months of my career; why go out and be a Phoenix Sun in January when I can just be one in June?" So, for three months, he'll put up with it and play back with Jordan again.

YH: After the record $91 million Mike Piazza contract with the Mets, is anyone getting more money on the free-agent market in Major League Baseball? Bernie Williams, perhaps?

CR: I hope not. Albert Belle won't. Pitchers won't because teams won't give them as many years. Bernie has a chance to make more, but I don't think he will--I think he'll make a little less. I think at Piazza's $91 million it will stop. I think Bernie will make about $75 to 80 million. It doesn't sound like Colorado wants him, sounds like the Dodgers are trying to get Jim Edmonds from the Angels for Eric Karros and Ismael Valdès, and if that happens, Bernie can't go to L.A. There's only a couple teams bidding for him, and the Yankees aren't going to bid for him. Again, I don't think he'll get as much money as Piazza. He shouldn't make Piazza money, that's for sure. He's good, but he's just not that great. I mean, he's not Ken Griffey. But that's my opinion, and a lot of people think I'm crazy.

YH: We're now at the midseason point of the NFL, and it seems as if older quarterbacks--Doug Flutie, Steve Young, Vinny Testeverde, John Elway, Randall Cunningham--are dominating the league. Why is that?

CR: For a lot of reasons--they're savvy, they've been around, and they can't be confused. The old quarterback is not going to be intimidated, and the old quarterback is not going to be surprised by anything you throw at him. The new guys, they're going to a bad team--[Ryan] Leaf on San Diego, [Peyton] Manning on the Colts--so from that standpoint, no matter how well they play, they are going to be a little shaky. Even Brett Favre on Indianapolis isn't going to win more than eight games. So I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the older QBs are on some of the better teams. But the bigger reason is that you can't surprise them. They've seen everything a defense can throw at them over the past 10 or 12 years, and their reaction time is good. The whole idea about being a quarterback is that you recognize things quick enough to make the play.

YH: What are your Super Bowl picks?

CR: I like Denver and Green Bay. I think Denver is going to have home field, so they will be tough to catch. And I think Green Bay is better than Minnesota. I think there's only three teams in the NFC that can make it to the Super Bowl--Minnesota, Green Bay, and San Francisco. I think that Green Bay will get there, because I like Favre over Brad Johnson or Cunningham, and the Niners just can't beat the Packers. In the AFC, I like Denver; they're on such a roll, and again that home field will be tough to deal with.

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