This morning (Nov. 17) ESPN morning sports talk show Mike & Mike ended its run after nearly 18 years on the air. The weekday morning show hosted by Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic debuted on ESPN Radio in 2000 and has been simulcasted on ESPN2 since 2006.
Both Greenberg and Golic will remain at ESPN; Golic will team with sports personality Trey Wingo on a new ESPN Radio morning sports talk show, Golic and Wingo, debuting Nov. 27, while Greenberg will launch a new monring sports talk series beginning April 3 with co-hosts Michelle Beadle and Jalen Rose.
In the months leading up to the show's finale, I had a chance to speak to Mike Greenberg (pictured left) about Mike & Mike’s long run and how the sports talk genre has evolved since the series first debuted.
TU: Is the end of Mike & Mike bittersweet for you?
Mike Greenberg: Absolutely, my relationship and partnership with Mike Golic was the best thing that ever happened to me in my professional life by far. At the same time I’m excited about new opportunities. [ESPN] came to me and said we have a vision for something new we want to do in the morning, and the more I listened to it the more I thought that it sounded like something that could be spectacular.
One final sign-off. pic.twitter.com/Y6p0RTmZWR
— ESPN (@espn) November 17, 2017
TU: How has the sports talk genre evolved over the years since Mike & Mike launched?
MG: What has happened is the Greek chorus that is our conversation has become very engrained into the process. Certainly since we started at Mike & Mike I’ve seen that grow and become more cemented. I think [sports talk] is part of the big sports picture, but clearly at that heart of it all are the games and the athletes. Our job is just to try and be the most interesting decoration around them that we can.
TU: What is your most memorable moment on Mike & Mike?
MG: It’s so hard to say. If I had to pick one its when I danced with Anna Trebunskaya from Dancing With the Stars coming off a wager, because that was really nerve-racking. I thought it turned out well … I’m not a dancer by any means, but I thought that I had acquitted myself well. There are really too many [moments] to count, but that’s one that jumps to mind.
TU: What will viewers expect to see from your new show?
MG: We’re still in the process of putting that together, but the key word is that it has to be flexible, so on days where there are big stories, we have to cover the news the way SportsCenter always has. At all times we have to bring the analysis, insight, debate and hopefully the humor that we have had on Mike & Mike and some of the studio shows at ESPN for years.
