Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo recently shared his opinions on a novel subject when he appeared on ‘WFAN’s Evan and Tiki’. Things took an interesting turn during the interview when Evan Roberts asked Russo about his retirement proclamation involving the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Russo had earlier shared that if the Diamondbacks defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS, he would retire. The Diamondbacks defeated the Phillies but Russo fell back on his word about retiring and did not retire.
As per Awful Announcing, Russo expressed, “The fact that the Diamondbacks beat the Phillies, and then they were screaming ‘Mad Dog’ in the clubhouse after the game is odd. But here’s what I did do. I flew out to Phoenix, I did the three shows, TV and radio, and I sat out in the centerfield bleachers doing the radio program. I was amazed. 85% of fans were good. 15% were nasty. That was a throwaway line that got me in a lot of trouble.”
Tiki Barber then brought up the observation that forecasts and analysis from radio and television have reached locker rooms. Barber then shared, “People get offended by these things. It feels like every week, Aaron Rodgers is aggrieved by something someone says. Was it always that way?”
To which Russo voiced, “Never. The animosity between media and athlete is terrible, compared to what it was 30 or 40 years ago.”
Further sharing his opinions regarding the league of current athletes, he pointed out, “t’s a new breed of athlete; they don’t want criticism. It’s athletes talking to athletes; they all have podcasts. They don’t come on radio or television, so you don’t have a chance to build any camaraderie with them, so it becomes a very difficult medium.”
The dynamic of the media entity and athletes has changed and is steadily undergoing an evolution in its own way as well. The novel advancement will be seen as the industry moves above and beyond.
