Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti’s callers always deliver.
Peter in Maple Shade got us through a slow summer week by regaling us with the tale of his tennis court brouhaha with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. And now Joey in Massapequa dialed into WFAN’s morning show on Thursday morning to reminisce about the time he says he pulled over Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo for speeding — and the Dog tried to pull the celebrity card on him. And invoke Mike Francesa’s name for good measure.
“I’m a highway patrol officer in Queens. I don’t know, it has to be over 10 years ago. I’m having my coffee and I just finished, I’m on the cross island and I pull over my first speeder for the day. And it’s Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo,” the caller said.
“He hands me his license and goes, ‘Yes, officer, I’m Chris Russo.’ And I knew who it was, but I said to him, ‘Yeah, and I’m officer Bonomo, sir. You’re speeding.’ And he goes, ‘I work with Mike Francesa on the radio.’ And I go, ‘yeah, I’m not a big fan of you guys.’
“So anyway, to make a long story short, we talked for a couple of minutes. I let him go. He was going up to Hofstra to do a radio show with Mike. I get back in my car and the best part of the story is I still had his license in my pocket. So I called the radio station, he panicked because he didn’t have his license and we took a ride out there. Him and Mike took pictures with us, it was a great day.”
The story checks out. A quick search indicates officer Joe Bonomo indeed worked and works highway patrol for the NYPD in the Queens area. He’s a bit off on his timeframe, as Francesa and Russo broke up 14 years ago (and who knows the last time they were at Hofstra together). But that’s the only flaw in this highly entertaining story. Maybe Russo can explain himself whenever he makes an appearance on the big guy’s podcast.
More on ESNY:
• Aaron Judge’s ‘realm of reality’ may be rude awakening for Randy Levine, Yankees
• A good sign for Mike Francesa’s new podcast venture
• Giants’ Darius Slayton takes salary cut to stay. Will it pay off?
• NY sports reporter reported dead (and eulogized during Yankees game) is still alive
• Craig Carton’s FS1 show has debuted. Some quick thoughts
• 5 big New York sports talk storylines as fall battle begins
• Nets’ best-case scenario: From nightmare to championship dream
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch.
