1. I needed something light and fun today to send you guys off into the three-day weekend. Thanks to radio Hall of Famer Chris “Mad Dog” Russo I have the perfect pieces of content.

Normally, when I post Russo clips in Traina Thoughts, it’s either him screaming and yelling like a madman during his daily SiriusXM radio show, or it’s clips of him butchering names and words. Occasionally, I’ll post a clip from Russo ranting on First Take.

Today, though, we’re featuring Russo as a guest on someone else’s show. Mad Dog joined his son, Colin, on Colin’s daily ESPN West Palm Beach show on Thursday.

For anyone who thinks Russo would take it easy on his own flesh and blood, think again. Mad Dog berated his own son like he would berate any other guest.

For starters, poor Colin had to be subjected to his dad complaining about him not having a girlfriend, with Mad Dog asking in his signature tone, “How about having a date once in a while?!?!”

That wasn’t even the worst of it. For some reason, the Doggie took Colin to task for recently participating in a triathlon, which included him laughing about the possibility of getting a call that Colin had “perished” and saying that he’d come down to check the body after the Nuggets-Thunder game.

Imagine bashing your own son–on the radio–because he was participating in a physically challenging event and trying to accomplish something? This is why we love the Mad Dog. And this is why non-sports talk on a sport-talk radio show is always better than sports talk on a sports-talk radio show.

2. This week’s episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with ESPN’s Tony Reali.

Reali talks about the end of Around the Horn after hosting the show for 23 years, the vagueness from ESPN about the show’s cancellation despite strong ratings, his contract status with ESPN, whether he has had talks with ESPN about staying with the network and what his future looks like.

In addition, Reali reveals one regret he had while hosting the show, whether he thinks his reluctance to do interviews and social media hurt him, what he plans on doing during his time off, making a personal connection with fans of ATH and much more.

Following Reali, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss the Knicks-Pacers Eastern Conference finals, what NBA Finals matchup ESPN/ABC wants, the Juan Soto fallout from the Subway Series, Netflix’s new documentary on Brett Favre, George Wendt’s passing and a dilemma over free Knicks tickets.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

3. Game 1 of the Pacers-Knicks Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday drew 6.6 million viewers for TNT. It was the most-watched Game 1 of the ECF since 2018.

4. So much good content has come out of the Knicks’ historic choke against the Pacers on Wednesday.

5. Hey, FanDuel. How about upping Charles Barkley’s limit?

6. What a summary!

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: It was 21 years ago today that Silvio killed Adriana. The episode, “Long-Term Parking” was written by Terence Winter and this video about that scene is a must-watch for any Sopranos fan.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chris Russo Goes Full ‘Mad Dog’ on His Own Son During Interview.

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