Chris “Mad Dog” Russo got a little carried away Wednesday on First Take. I know, that is his job on the show. The guy invented sports-talk radio volume. His takes are somehow louder than his voice. In small social media clips I find Mad Dog entertaining. I even find some of his perspectives on life interesting. While I get a kick out of him sometimes, he is best taken in small doses. Too much Mad Dog and you’ll hear something stupefying like when he said on Wednesday that Shaquille O’Neal is the fifth-best center of all time.
Mad Dog has been yelling whatever is on the top of his mind into microphones for decades. I am sure he is accustomed to athletes, or ex-athletes, being upset with him. However, even amongst the greatest athletes in the world, O’Neal exists on his own level. He is one of the few people that makes other large human beings say, “damn, he’s big.”
O’Neal also takes his “G-14 classification” as an all-time great big man seriously. Nothing gets under his skin more on the TNT set than when Charles Barkely makes wisecracks about his game. At least Barkely is intentionally trying to bother him. O’Neal might have thrown one of his turntables when he heard what Mad Dog said on First Take.
I’ve met Shaq a couple of times. For those who haven’t, you cannot possibly imagine the size of that man. He’s like a building that can walk. Had he not been a professional basketball player, he could have had a career in the WWE as the Undertaker’s other long-lost brother. I don’t want him mad at me, so consider me as flabbergasted as Stephen A. Smith and Jay Williams were.
How dare this radio gasbag besmirch the name of one of the greatest players in NBA history. Fifth-best center? Poppycock! Mad Dog can talk all he wants about the NBA back when players traveled by steam engine and played in Chuck Taylors. I might pair the Orlando Magic version of Shaq with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to make the best frontcourt of all time.
The Super Bowl is in Las Vegas this year. O’Neal has a restaurant out there and hosts an annual Super Bowl party. First Take will be on site, and Mad Dog Radio will probably have a booth on radio row. He had better buy out Big Chicken for a night to get back on O’Neal’s good side.
I don’t know Mad Dog, but I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself in the same city as a person if I angered a person whose short version of his name became a synonym for huge.
Original source here
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