Following the Diamondbacks' stunning Game 7 victory over the Phillies in the NLCS, a nation of sports talk radio and TV fans waited to see if Chris "Mad Dog" Russo would follow through on his pledge to retire if Arizona won the series.
On Wednesday morning, Russo appeared on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show to answer for his bold proclamation and to renegotiate the terms of his wager.
Initially, Stern had a far more crude proposal for Russo in place of retiring. But in the interests of public decency, the longtime shock jock came up with a showy gesture that would humiliate Russo and satisfy the audience.
"How about this? You come on my show–I'll come into Manhattan for this–we put you in a bikini, all right?" Stern said. "And you walk down the street with a sign that says 'I'm a douche.' If you do that, people will say, 'OK, it's all right–Mad Dog is suffering."
Here is the audio of Chris “Mad Dog” Russo negotiating with @sternshow for a punishment instead of retirement. The Mike and the Mad Dog fans won’t want to miss the beginning. pic.twitter.com/uSu4APMxRx
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) October 25, 2023
Not surprisingly, considering the alternatives Russo was presented with, he agreed to Stern's terms.
"That's a little more reasonable," Russo responded. "That is a little fair. That one–I can live with that. That's not the worst idea."
Stern pointed out that Russo was never really going to retire, so this solution would appease fans and get sports media observers to forget about the radio personality's daring announcement.
Ultimately, Russo further negotiated to have the sign say "liar and dope," which is less vulgar than "douche." But the payout won't all be about humiliation. Russo said he would also make a contribution to the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation to show he's a truly good chap.
