Chris “Mad Dog” Russo was put through the wringer this week after the Diamondbacks won the NL pennant. Russo ahead of Game 6 in the series said he would retire if Arizona came back from down 3-2 to go to the World Series. 92.3 The Fan hosts Ken Carman and Anthony Lima went on the defensive of Russo, saying Gambo’s comments – even if said in a joking way – were out of line.
Arizona Sports host Jon Gambadoro was among those in sports media who felt like Mad Dog needed to follow through on what he said, which he later clarified he would retire from hosting on the SiriusXM channel that bears his name. The Burns & Gambo host joked that Russo was “past his prime.”
“There’s no hosts out there I dislike enough to start ripping publicly like that,” Carman said on Carman and Lima’s Emerging Podcast Scene on Thursday.
Ken Carman went on to say that any claims Mad Dog is in the twilight of his career is sorely mistaken. Gambadoro did say he and Russo are friends. But Carman said saying things like Mad Dog is past his prime or implying he’s over the hill is not only false, but it’s something you should probably keep private.
“I don’t know why you would take swings at a guy like that when obviously he still knows major people in the business,” he said.
“I just don’t know why I would put myself in the crosshairs when I’m trying to keep a career going, and I could learn from these people who still have careers going obviously,” Carman added. “That’s what I don’t understand.”
Lima felt like a lot of the whole thing has been blown out of proportion.
“I didn’t even think there was a lot of conviction behind it,” he said.
