Since Chris Russo began appearing on ESPN’s First Take to yell back at Stephen A. Smith in late January, the reaction among fans and sports media observers on social media has been extremely positive.
People enjoyed Russo debating Stephen A. so much that ESPN listened to the people and added “Mad Dog” as a regular guest co-host every Wednesday. Those appearances have become must-see sports TV. This week’s may have been the best yet, with the two arguing over the MLB lockout and Steph Curry being an all-time top 10 NBA player.
Later in the day, XTRA’s The Darren Smith Show marveled at how good First Take is when Russo takes on Stephen A. As Darren Smith said, the show has finally found a worthy opponent, a match for First Take’s star personality.
“I think they’ve actually found an equal to Stephen A. Smith in terms of volume, in terms of cadence,” Smith said. “I think they’ve actually found somebody with the ability to engage brain to vocal cords almost every bit as well as Stephen A.”
Marty Caswell agreed, saying the argument about Steph Curry was “phenomenal.”
For those who may have missed it, here’s a clip of the MLB lockout discussion in which Russo blamed the players union for the labor dispute, while Stephen A. argued that the owners have never negotiated in good faith.
But as Caswell pointed out, the true highlight was when Russo went crazy over Stephen A. saying Steph Curry was a top 10 player in NBA history. And if there was any doubt as to whether or not Russo was a match for Stephen A., they were shattered by Russo shouting “I’ll do the asking!” in leading the discussion.
The even better Russo outburst may have been when Smith didn’t reply to the question of Curry or Larry Bird being a better player. Russo yelling “Don’t even go there!” at the possibility that Curry might be the answer sent Stephen A. into giggles (and Molly Qerim laughing with him).
When Stephen A. tried to counter that Curry was the greatest shooter in NBA history, Russo nearly jumped through the camera. “We’re not talking about shooting!” he screamed while clapping his hands furiously, then making a frenzied shooting motion.
Russo may have shouted his earpiece into malfunction when Stephen A. tried to argue for Curry over Bill Russell. Altogether, it was an electric three minutes of television, an exchange in which Smith actually backed down in the face of Russo’s fury.
Would that ever have happened against Max Kellerman? Would social media and sports media have been so riveted? We all know the answer.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
