Adios

• Mad Dog's daily open to the show has been well-documented, but nothing ever topped the genuine excitement that accompanied the "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!!! ... GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYBODY!!! HOW ARE YOU TODAY!!!" the day after the Red Sox knocked off the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.
• Before he became insufferable and the act wore thin, John Sterling's home run calls were actually quite entertaining. And during the late 90's, Mike & The Dog would play the most over-the-top Sterling calls possible - sometimes mixed in with old Yankees calls from the Mantle days - and then crack up for about 5 minutes afterwards.
• The Super Bowl Trivia was truly can't-miss radio, particularly when a caller would get cocky after a couple of correct answers and the music would start ... and Mad Dog would respond with something absurd like "Who called the coin flip in Super Bowl XI? And if you're a Raiders fan like you say you are, that is NOT that tough of a question. That fair Mike?"
• In 2000, the SF Giants were in town for a weekend series with the Mets, and Mad Dog had spent all day Friday ranting about how the big bad G-Men would knock the Mets around. After the Mets won three straight, the producers opened the Monday show with a montage of Mad Dog rants about Giant greatness mixed with Mets highlights.
• Speaking of the Giants, Mad Dog's rant on his favorite team is legendary. Enjoy.
• Mad Dog: "Pipe down, willyaplease!"
• Mike, going to break: "We're back."
• Mad Dog, during an interview: "Give me your thoughts on that."
• Mad Dog: "Show some GUTS!!!"
• Mike: "Time for the 20/20...heeeeere's the Mink Man."
• Mad Dog, while cracking up: "Say something funny Mike!"
• Mad Dog, complimenting someone: "So good job by him."
• Back in 2000, they gave away Springsteen tickets to the callers who sang a Bruce song the best. I tried very hard to get on that day.
• A called once suggested that Bill Daughtry was the worst local announcer, Mad Dog said that wasn't true. When asked for his opinion, Mad Dog waited a beat, before saying, "Fran Healy. Frannie, I love ya. But you stink."
• When that rat Curt Schilling came out criticizing players for using steroids, Mad Dog hammered him as a hypocrite. To paraphrase, somewhat: "When you were dancing on the field drinking champagne celebrating a World Series in 2001 and your teammate had 65 homers and 140 RBIs...that's not Luis Gonzalez!! That's Hank Greenberg!! Where were you then Curt!?!"
• All you Mets fans? You can thank them for Mike Piazza coming to town. After the Mets initially said they had no interest in trading for the catcher in 1998, the pair got on Mets ownership and management and more or less pressured them into making the trade that altered the course of the franchise. Easily the best thing they've ever done.
• Finally, a personal note. The Sunday night before the Super Bowl this year, Mike was scheduled to do his Mike'd Up show from his Arizona hotel, and I was out there helping out with the show with the producers still stationed in New York. 30 minutes before he's supposed to go on the air, the generator in the satellite truck blows. So Mike and I hop in a car, and Mike tells the driver to get us to the football stadium in 30 minutes. Keep in mind it's pouring outside and the stadium is a good 40 minutes away. But skidding and hydroplaning be damned, the driver got us there just in time. Bruce Beck, who was finishing up his sports report for the 11:00 news, bought us a couple minutes by throwing it to a couple soundbites so Mike could get miked up (good job by Beck). So Mike did the half hour show underneath a 10x10 foot tent in the pouring rain, standing in a puddle of water next to about 30 different wires with no teleprompter or anything. Good job by Mike. The next day at Radio Row, we finished up shooting the Mad Dog Minute with Chris, and were packing up when Mike & The Mad Dog went on the air to kick off Super Bowl week. Little did I know, Mike started off the show talking about the previous night's escapades (plus, he gave a shoutout to Williams baseball, which had to have been the first time in the history of American radio that Williams College baseball was mentioned over the airwaves). And as I was walking out, he spotted me, and called me over and gave me a headset - all while they were still on the air. So I got to be their first guest in Arizona, mainly talking about the car ride to the stadium, but also managing to bust Chris' chops about tennis and a false baseball rumor (even gave him a "bad job"). It was a ton of fun and something I definitely won't forget. Here were two guys who had become the voice of New York sports, guys I'd listened to for years and imitated with my friends, and I luckily stumbled into 5 minutes of on-air chatter with them. So thanks for that, guys.

Have any favorite moments or quotes? Post in the comments below...