Mike and Mike in the Morning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007) |
| Mike and Mike in the Morning | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Sports talk |
| Starring | Mike Greenberg Mike Golic |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 4 hours |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ESPN Radio (1998-present) ESPN2 (2006-present) ESPN2HD (2007-present) ESPNEWS (2004-2005) |
| Original run | October 12, 1998 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | ESPN Radio:Sportscenter AM (most markets) ESPN2: Various programming |
| Followed by | ESPN Radio:The Herd with Colin Cowherd (most markets) ESPN2: ESPN First Take |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Mike and Mike in the Morning is an American sports-talk radio show hosted by Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio and simulcast in television on ESPN2. On May 7, 2007, the show moved from its longtime radio booth home to the television studio used for Sunday NFL Countdown and Baseball Tonight, and began broadcasting in high-definition.
A daily "best-of" show airs daily on ESPN, and a weekly radio recap airs Saturday mornings from 6:00 to 7:00 AM ET.
Contents |
[edit] Design
The show centers on an Odd Couple relationship between its hosts, and how it relates to their views on sports. The show's motto for all commercials on radio and television is: "What makes them different makes them great."
Mike Greenberg is portrayed as a stereotypical nerd and metrosexual with a man-crush on New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington (any mention of Pennington's name is usually punctuated by the "And Iiii.." from the final chorus of Whitney Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You.") Recently, Golic forced Greeny to "break up" with Pennington due to his being replaced as starter by Kellen Clemens. Meanwhile, former Notre Dame and NFL lineman Mike Golic is set up in the role of the tough and boisterous "man's man," a former pro athlete who likes nothing more than to eat and "tell it like it is." Although similarly to Greenberg's man-crush on Chad Pennington, recently Golic is portrayed to have a similar affection for Cleveland Browns Quarterback Brady Quinn (formerly of Notre Dame). Any mention of Quinn on the show is usually followed by a small sampling from Enrique Iglesias's song "Hero."
Current regular guest hosts include Erik Kuselias and regular contributors Buster Olney, Mark Schlereth (aka "Stink", aka "Roc Hoover"), and Trey Wingo. Other regular contributors include Peter Gammons, Bill Curry, Tim Kurkjian, Dana Jacobson, Dick Vitale, Steve Phillips, Tim Legler, and Jeremy Schaap. The show's producers, Liam Chapman and Curt "Joaquin" Kaplan, often contribute musical parodies and host the Saturday morning "Best-of" show. The ESPN Radio SportsCenter update anchors for the show are Bob Picozzi and Christine Lisi. When the TV simulcast began broadcasting in HD, the radio SportsCenters were no longer aired on ESPN2, replaced by live SportsCenter updates from new anchor Sage Steele.
The team of Greeny and Golic has also worked in other ESPN ventures, including a game show (ESPN Bowling Night), and coverage of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. For 2007, they were the lead broadcast team for ESPN's coverage of the Arena Football League (they will not, however, be calling games in the 2008 season). It was announced in June 2007 that Greenberg and Golic would also call a National Football League game together for ESPN, broadcasting the second game of ESPN's Week 1 Monday Night Football doubleheader along with former NFL coach and player Mike Ditka. In June 2008, ESPN announced that the "Three Mikes" will return to broadcast the second game of the opening 2008 Monday Night Football doubleheader.
The duo was roasted on January 11, 2008, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the House of Blues, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit the V Foundation. Guests included Jeffrey Ross, Frank Caliendo (pre-recorded video only), Mike Ditka, Chad Johnson, Clinton Portis, Ed Reed, Charlie Weis, Eddie Griffin, Joe Klecko, Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth, Dana Jacobson, and Wink Martindale. Musical group Lifehouse performed live.
Prior to Greenberg's arrival, the show was co-hosted by Golic and Tony Bruno; this pairing (which broadcast from 1995 to 1998) was entitled the Bruno-Golic Morning Show.
The show primarily focuses on the day's biggest sports topics and the humorous banter between the Mikes.
[edit] TV Simulcasting
In 2004 the show began simulcasting its full four hours on ESPNEWS. Ratings for the duo were extraordinarily high for being on the "minor league" of the ESPN networks. So much so that the simulcast was moved to ESPN2 in 2006, pushing the morning show Cold Pizza back till 10am. HD broadcasting required the move to the ESPN digital center, the new location is a redress of the "B" set that houses Sunday NFL Countdown and ESPN First Take.
[edit] Segments
[edit] Daily
- Mike Golic's News of the Weird: A look at one of the more outrageous, strange or disturbing stories found in recent news, typically outside the sports world.
[edit] Weekly
- Just Shut Up: Tuesdays on the show have been deemed "Just Shut Up Tuesday," a reference to the McDonald's Just Shut Up Award, an honor bestowed on the sports-related figure of the past week voted by listeners as the person who most needs to just shut up. Past winners (and examples of the types of actions that could induce a nomination) include Bode Miller bragging about partying in Torino, Terrell Owens fighting with his teammates, and Latrell Sprewell turning down a multi-million-dollar contract extension and asking for more money, claiming "I've got a family to feed." This feature was discontinued in late 2007.
- Monday Morning Quarterback: Every Monday morning during the NFL season, Greenberg and Golic discuss all of the games of the day before.
- Stone Cold Lead Pipe Locks: On Fridays during the NFL season, Mike and Mike each pick 3 NFL game-winners (two of their own and then one head-to-head) based on point spreads. These picks have comical undertones with soundbites (sport stars, celebrities, TV/Movie quotes often from the TV series Family Guy) in between analysis of the matchups.
- Man Up Question of the Day: A question asked of Golic (and sometimes the listeners) meant to inform male listeners (and Greenberg) of how to be more manly. The segment often is an off shoot of something either Mike has done during the week.
[edit] Yearly
- ESPY V Foundation: Every year Mike and Mike go to the ESPY Awards and then conduct an auction to raise money for the Jimmy V foundation. They take the whole show to auction off items, such as a day with Mike and Mike, meeting them and having breakfast after the show. Every year, they replay the Jim Valvano speech made at the ESPY Awards on March 4, 1993.
[edit] Irregular
- Grill Golic: Listeners call in to ask questions directed at Mike Golic. The questions usually revolve around football. This is the only time (generally) that listeners' calls are heard on the air.
[edit] Off Mikes
In 2005, ESPN and Animax Entertainment began producing two to three minute cartoons of Greeny and Golic, called Off Mikes. The cartoons are built around conversations and arguments of the two from the show. Off Mikes can be found on ESPN.com. The cartoons have won an Emmy award.
[edit] Sheet of Integrity
"Sheet of Integrity" is a phrase coined by Mike Greenberg[1] describing a single bracket entry created for wagering on the NCAA basketball tournament. Greenberg holds the belief that if a person wishes to enter multiple pools, they should do so using the same picks for each entry. Golic has no problem with choosing different winners for each entry he submits, because, as he says, "I want to win the pool and win the caaash!" The two have good-naturedly debated this difference of opinion each year since 2000. In 2007, Lowe's sponsored the Brackets of Integrity Sweepstakes, an online tournament pool which allowed listeners of Mike and Mike in the Morning to play against Greenberg and Golic using bracket sheets of their own. Amusingly, the rules allowed each participant to create up to five different "Sheets of Integrity." The hosts' differences were summed up in 2005 in two separate parodies of Billy Joel's song "Honesty" (renamed "Integrity"), as sung by each host in support of their wagering philosophies.
[edit] Bracket Wager
During the week prior to the 2004 tournament, the two decided to take their differences one step further, which resulted in a one-on-one office pool referred to as the Sheet of Integrity Challenge. Mike Greenberg ultimately won that first wager, which concluded with Mike Golic getting his eyebrows waxed on-air.
Mike Golic turned the tables in 2005, for which Mike Greenberg had to dress up as a leprechaun (the mascot of Mike Golic's alma mater, the University of Notre Dame) for the entirety of the show.
Golic won again in 2006, for which Mike Greenberg once again had to dress in the leprechaun outfit, but this time at a remote held near campus of Notre Dame.[2]
The 2007 bracket wager originally had Mike Golic getting TASERed if he lost and Mike Greenberg having to milk a cow if he lost.[3] Prior to the semi-finals, however, "the Suits" at ESPN (meaning upper management) determined that the tasering could not occur. (Apparently there was more risk of injury than ESPN was willing to take.) As it turned out, Golic's half of the wager was never fully determined: in the end, he won the bet anyway (thanks to Ohio State beating Georgetown in the Final Four semifinal)[4], and Greenberg not only milked a cow in-studio on the June 21 broadcast, but also wore a "bedazzled" Mike Vrabel jersey for the entire September 3 broadcast, which is being auctioned off in support of Vrabel's charity, The Second and Seven Foundation" (secondandseven.com).
The 2008 wager was that if Greenberg lost, he would have to dye his hair a different color for a week. If Golic lost, he would challenge professional eaters in a live eating contest on the air. With Memphis's victory over Texas in the Elite Eight, Greenberg clinched the 2008 title. A promotional voice-over (all voice-over promotions on the show are created by producers Joaquin and Liam) nicknamed the May 1, 2008 event the "Feast on the First" in the tradition of the "Thrilla in Manila". Golic finished in fourth after consuming 15 boneless wings in 3 minutes, finishing behind the three professional eaters: Eater X (31 wings), Crazy Legs (23 wings), and Pretty Boy (22 wings).
[edit] References
- ^ Terpstra's Two Cents, Ottumwa Courier
- ^ Insert Offensive Lineman Here. Mike Greenberg's Official Website (2006-10-06). Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
- ^ Bracket Wager for the ‘07 Sheets of Integrity. Mike Greenberg's Official Website (2007-03-15). Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
- ^ Bracket Wager: Moooooooooooo!. Mike Greenberg's Official Website (2007-04-02). Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
[edit] External links
- ESPN Show page
- ESPN Radio
- Emmy winning Off-Mikes Cartoon Show
- Mike Greenberg's Official Fan Page
- Mike Golic's Unofficial Fan Page
