Gus Johnson was just too over the top for Chris “Mad Dog” Russo’s liking.
That was what the famed sports talk radio host told his audience Tuesday on his “Mad Dog Unleashed” SiriusXM program.
Russo apparently took issue with the fact that Johnson, the Fox Sports play-by-play man, had overhyped the rivalry matchup between Michigan and Ohio State in which the Wolverines topped the Buckeyes, 30-24, in a dramatic battle that came down to the wire.
“Gus Johnson — the hype machine that he is — please, when you broadcast a ballgame, I don’t need to hear about Maserati Marv, number one. And number two, that’s not the greatest rivalry in sports history,” Russo said. “Have you heard of the Yankees and the Red Sox? Giants and the Dodgers? How about Bears-Packers? Have you heard about that?
“For crying out loud, Michigan-Ohio State isn’t even better than North Carolina-Duke, who play twice a year. So let’s be careful with the hype machine. That bothered the hell out of me.”
At least one of Russo’s callers seemed to disagree with the hosts opinions of Saturday’s Big Ten showdown in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The caller, who had been on the line with Russo at the time of the comments, lambasted him for the odd take on one of college’s biggest matchups of the year.
“Chris, they’re playing once a year. Both undefeated with 100,000 people in the building,” the astonished caller rebutted.
But Russo stuck to his guns, denying that the rivalry matched the heights of the Yankees and Red Sox.
But the listener wasn’t having it.
“They play 1,000 times a year, you’ve said it yourself, enough already,” the caller fired back.
The Michigan-Ohio State instant classic was a ratings bonanza for Fox, with the game averaging 19.1 million viewers — peaking at 22.9 million — to become the most-watched college football game of the season, per Fox.
