Chris Russo has never been afraid to tell it like it is.
It doesn’t matter that he’s on a league-owned network; “Mad Dog” isn’t going to pull any punches. Sure, he might berate someone at the airline counter or share the passing of the wrong Billy Bean(e), but when it comes to taking people that he believes to be in over their heads to task, there’s no one better at it.
With the news coming Thursday that the Chicago White Sox fired manager Pedro Grifol after a dismal 29-89 start to the season, Russo went on MLB Network. The Mad Dog used his platform not to put pressure on Grifol or general manager Chris Getz, for that matter, but to tear into team owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
Let’s say that Russo has had enough.
“I’ve been on the radio for 43 years. You think I’ve won more than six rating books? Go look it up,” Russo said. Enough already. You’ve gotta do better than this! And remember, I know he won six championships with the Bulls; he can thank Rod Thorn for that because Thorn drafted (Michael) Jordan because Portland drafted Sam Bowie before that. And if it wasn’t for Thorn — before he owned the team — they never would’ve won anything. Because Jordan’s the reason they won the six, not because of Jerry Krause, but because of Jordan and Thorn — who drafted Jordan.
“It’s as simple as that. So, if you look at it from that standpoint, you can make the argument that the last 80 years, they’ve done nothing combined for Jerry. I don’t want to hear from Chris Getz at 12:30; I’m not interested. Because you’re the owner, you own the team; you have not had a lot of success. I understand you won a championship — hallelujah! I understand that.”
While Russo has often talked about staying in his own lane , we can’t help but point out the similarities to Nancy Pelosi’s recent feature in the New Yorker in which he made a similar quip about Joe Biden winning the presidency in 2020.
“They won the White House. Bravo.”
Back to Reinsdorf, Russo continued, “But 40-something years with six postseasons is not good enough. With no playoff series wins in any year except the year you won it. How about you stand up there today and say, ‘You know what? This is embarrassing. We can’t have a professional baseball team — that’s not an expansion team — in this market, win 28 games.’ That’s all there is to it.
Russo’s voice rose in volume as he continued to go in on Reinsdorf, with a 21-game losing streak on top of a 15-game losing streak before that this year. You’ve got to take responsibility. That’s what professional sports is about…”
Tell us how you really feel, Mad Dog.
In any event, Russo’s passionate plea for accountability from Reinsdorf echoes the sentiments of countless White Sox fans and commentators in the Chicago-area market. As the team looks to rebuild — again — it remains to be seen if the organization will heed the call for change and if Reinsdorf will take accountability for once.
[ Awful Announcing ]
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