Get Your Ears Ready. Stephen A. Smith vs. Chris “Mad Dog” Russo Will Now Be a Thing: TRAINA THOUGHTS

Twitter reacts to news that Chris Russo will debate Stephen A. Smith weekly

1. Wednesday morning, ESPN sent out a press release announcing that SiriusXM radio host and New York legend Chris “Mad Dog” Russo will join Stephen A. Smith on First Take every Wednesday. The duo will have its first debate on next Wednesday’s show. Russo’s permanent Wednesday appearances will begin March 1.

“Usually at 62 years of age, they are throwing you out of this business,” Russo told me. “I’m thrilled to be getting new opportunities. SiriusXM, MLB Network and now ESPN, I’m having a lot of fun.” Russo also told me he will still be doing his daily High Heat show on MLB Network in addition to the First Take gig.

If you read Traina Thoughts and follow me on Twitter, you know I’m a huge Russo fan. He’s been on the SI Media Podcast a few times and I regularly tweet funny clips from his show.

BREAKING: @MadDogUnleashed is very unhappy that Leonard DiCapriao was at the Niners-Rams game. #LeonardDiCaprio pic.twitter.com/SHgV3ApYAt

— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) January 31, 2022

So because I’m a big fan, I tweeted the news to my followers and was completely blown away by the reaction.

ESPN just announced that Chris "Mad Dog" Russo will now appear on "First Take" every Wednesday to debate Stephen A. Smith starting on Feb. 16.

— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) February 9, 2022

I have a decent number of Russo fans who follow me, but I was not expecting to get bombarded with replies to the tweet.

So I’d like to address some of the tweets that I got.

Before I do that, let’s be clear about one thing when it comes to both Russo and Stephen A.: Either you get them or you don’t. Either you sit back and enjoy the performance or you get worked up because they shout. Either you enjoy the art of the debate or you get angry because they got a stat wrong.

Because of this, the initial reaction to the news was a combination of excitement, shock and we need to protect our ears at all costs.

You’ll need an entire bottle of Advil after listening to that.

— Mark Miller (@TheRealMills16) February 9, 2022

Oh my God, this sounds like pure, undistilled chaos in the making https://t.co/kVJdpslnEs pic.twitter.com/JHlJLnV9B9

— Dave: a verbose charlatan (@daveusesthis) February 9, 2022

Wow this may actually force me to watch First Take https://t.co/JpoD5iYKog

— Matt Holt (@mattholt33) February 9, 2022

Oh my god https://t.co/hd3tf1RYLe

— R33D (@iReedifer) February 9, 2022

This will be the best thing on television https://t.co/SCQIdtyi9E

— Ben Kessler (@bmk95) February 9, 2022

We are not worthy https://t.co/SaRtO59Czc

— Redacted (@serial_flasher) February 9, 2022

This might be bigger than Ali v Frazier https://t.co/QDRW2OsRpM

— Maxwell Shaw (@maxwellshaw) February 9, 2022

Now I’d like to address some specific tweets.

Just listening to Russo mispronounce words is always worth the price of admission..

— ron bauer (@five2many1) February 9, 2022

• This is what I’m most looking forward to. Dog pretty much mispronounces every athlete’s name and about 50% of words in the English language incorrectly. How will Stephen A. react? Will this throw off Stephen A. during a heated debate?

pic.twitter.com/hFKMoTMa66

— Nick X (@__NickX) February 9, 2022

• This is a 100% accurate representation of what will happen on the show.

Dog to Stephen A your thoughts on the 37 Yankees

— Bobby (@BEdwards570) February 9, 2022

“Stephen A wouldnt know who Joe Medwick was if he fell on him”

“Can Stephen A tell you about the 1946 St Louis Cawdinals? He cannot. He cannot”

— Wolf “The Dentist” Stansson (@mcs0408) February 9, 2022

• Dog is obsessed with Major League Baseball pre-1960 so these things will definitely happen.

• Imagine thinking a sports hot take show is supposed to be journalism.

Thanks for the reminder to never watch! I wanna see highlights, hear scores and analysis. I do not want to watch grown men argue about sports lol https://t.co/rnfekoCCDd

— Steven Douglas (@wxdude22) February 9, 2022

• I don’t want to watch grown men argue about sports, either. But I do want to watch two incredible performance artists work together.

This is so awesome because there’s going to be a whole new generation of people who either fall in love or hate Doggie REAL quick. He’s got 3 X the sports memory and energy that Stephen A. brings. https://t.co/kS7PDZablY

— Elite TweetCenter (@zedlaV559) February 9, 2022

• There isn’t anybody in sports who has a memory like Dog’s. And this is why the name mispronunciations are hilarious. He knows what Ty Cobb batted in 1927, but struggles with basic names.

I can’t wait for the hilarious clips to flood my TL https://t.co/kmD3bbkQFU

— Tracy McGravy (@SajibGreenEllis) February 9, 2022

• This person gets it. At the end of the day, this is what it’s all about for ESPN.

2. This two-minute clip from Pardon My Take of Chris Berman explaining the origin of his famous WHOOP sound effect while calling NFL highlights is so good.

When Boom dropped the little whoops for Barry Sanders change of directions >>> pic.twitter.com/QIubKJT8KK

— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) February 7, 2022

3. The Kentucky Wildcats last night were –11 or –10.5 against South Carolina, depending on where you bet the game. This was how the game ended. If you're a degenerate gambler, this clip is NSFW.

Kentucky -10.5: Possibly the most painful college hoops bad beat I've ever seen. 😲

CC: @StanfordSteve82 @notthefakeSVP pic.twitter.com/DmiD31b8pM

— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) February 9, 2022

4. Really nice story here about a 12-year-old Bengals fan getting surprised at school with Super Bowl tickets.

5. Good read here for my fellow New Yorkers who participate in legalized sports betting.

When betting came to New York, props options were noticeably light. We looked into why https://t.co/ncMAJQvTiu

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 9, 2022

6. The latest SI Media Podcast features a conversation with Bryan Curtis of The Ringer.

We covered all the latest sports media news including the entire saga of Tom Brady's retirement announcement and news break, Tony Romo's rough day in the booth for the AFC title game between the Bengals and Chiefs, why Troy Aikman has become the best NFL analyst on television, Al Michaels’s future, the ridiculousness of Radio Row and much more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: These were the first two videos I saw when I logged onto TikTok this morning. If you're a coffee drinker, you will relate to both.

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 Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.