We need more sports TV like this.
I don’t tend to enjoy watching First Take, but if I’m promised more moments like Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo talking about his plans to get high and bet $10,000 on Colorado while Marcus Spears looks on awe-struck, well, I might need to start tuning in.
Something possessed Mad Dog to share his Saturday plans with all of America, and went into a lot more detail than “having some chips, dip, and a few beers.”
“I’ll get a run in. I’ll take the two dogs, Bo and Riley for a walk. At about 12 o’clock I’ll sit down, I’ll make an early cocktail, cut a gummy in half. We got Florida State-Clemson. I like the Florida State quarterback. There’s something there. At about 3:25, when I’m sauced … I’m not driving, I’m in the house, to verify — I’ll put in a call. […] You know what? What the hell … I can’t root for Oregon. You know what? Put 10 dimes on Colorado to win the game. So by about 3:25 I’ll be sitting down with my shorts, and a t-shirt, cocktail — the other half a gummy.”
Keep in mind that this moment all came off a simple question “Can Colorado pull off the upset?” That was enough to send Mad Dog on a Grandpa Simpson-esque rant about having an onion on his belt.
The best part was seeing the set slowly devolve into madness. Marcus Spears was absolutely losing it, looking around the studio to make sure everyone else was hearing this and questioning whether they needed to cut away.
This is what we need more of on TV. We don’t need these contrived sports arguments over hot takes. We need more 63-year-old men telling us their booze and drug plans in extreme detail to the point where it makes everyone feel awkward.
Perfect television.
