Skeptical? The sports sitcom — Sports Night, Coach, My Boys, Cheers, Everybody Loves Raymond Who's The Boss? — is a good-in-theory/hard-in-execution genre of TV. Sports purists might turn their nose downfield on certain details (I don't follow the NFL closely, but even I wouldn't get trade-raped with Plaxico Buress while he rakes up points in some jail league), but believe me when I say The League is one of the best new comedies out there. Relying heavily on the improv skills of its cast of comics — Nick Kroll (above, naked, with the Chargers' Antonio Gates), Paul Scheer, Mark Duplass, the Tracy Morgan-Punking Stephen Rannazzisi — critics are generally positive and quick to note the Curb Your Enthusiasm influence. (Curb's executive producer/director Jeff Schaffer created the show with his wife, a revealing detail in the execution.)

The show is at its best when the insults fly fast and furious. Paul Scheer's wardrobe ("can I ask why you're dressed like a Russian house DJ?") gets good mileage.

Kroll, who is pretty damn funny in just about everything he does, plays Ruxin, the go-to neurotic Jew whose own sartorial choices borrow more from a Connecticut WASP and has a hot Latina wife. We shot him some questions; here are his uncut results.

Cultural stereotypes are fun so let's go with one. You grew up as a Jew in Westchester County, New York (if Wikipedia didn't fail me). Can you share your early sports experiences?
The height of my athletic achievement was in 8th grade when i was the point guard for my Jewish day school basketball team. We played in a public school league and, amazingly, went undefeated. I say "amazingly" because our power forward was 5"6. After a number of our games, our opponents threw quarters at us. We took the quarters and bought sodas. It was a win win.

Describe your level of sports interest before the show. You can be honest. You're in a safe space here.
I grew up a rabid Mets/Knicks/Rangers fan. When everyone else was listening to Nirvana and NWA, I was listening to WFAN 660. My Kurt Cobain was Chris "Mad Dog" Russo and Eazy-E was Steve "The Schmoozer" Somers. I had the rare privilege of going to some of the most memorable games of the era: Mets/Red Sox Game 6 (Buckner), Giants/Bills Super Bowl (Norwood wide right), Knicks/Pacers (Reggie Miller grabbing balls at Spike Lee). In recent years, I stopped following most teams as closely and just root for the best, closest games. Fantasy football has changed how I watch football because now every game is interesting start to finish. Even when its the Browns and Lions.

As many have noted, the show has less to do with a fantasy football league and is more about the fraternal bonds of a group of guys in their 30s straddling the bachelor lifestyle and early marriage/familyhood. What do you say to people who question the sports content?
I agree that the show is really about guys in their early 30s, traversing the joys and difficulties of being a husband, a father, a brother and a friend. But I think every episode has at least a few jokes for only the serious lovers of football. I don't think too many comedy fans understood why Steve's character was wondering who the hell Pierre Garcon was... but it's in there. That said, I don't think people tuned in to Cheers to hear Sam talk at length about the kind of beers he had on tap. I'm not comparing our show to Cheers but I do think that the reason I wanted to do the show was because fantasy sports — and the way they make us interact — was a perfect platform for a show about a bunch of dudes trying to question one another's masculinity.

To what extent is the show "semi-improvised" like Curb Your Enthusiasm? Is Paul Scheer dressing himself?
The show is set up very similarly to Curb. Jeff Schaffer (who created the show with his wife Jackie) has been one of the writers and directors of Curb for the last number of years so he knows exactly how to do it. The scenes are never written in script form, they're all outlines. Often, they have lines they want us to hit but they are always encouraging us to say things however we would say them. All of us come from a comedy/writing background so its a very collaborative environment. Paul's outfits bring me such joy every episode.

Now that you live in Los Angeles, did you know there hasn't been an NFL team there in 15 years? What do you make of THAT?
I think that USC is LA's pro football team. They don't seem to really want more than that.

Have any favorite funny athletes? How about athletic comedians?
I always remember how funny I thought Roger McDowell was. He was the reliever for the Mets in late '80s (winning pitcher in game 7!). He was famous for the 'hot foot' (lighting his teamates' cleats on fire with a bunch of matches) and wearing his uniform upside down. As far as athletic comedians, my buddy Jason Sudeikis on SNL is a real good basketball player. And the amazing Brody Stevens played college baseball. He'll tell you about it if you ask him.

Lastly, what does three-penis wine taste like anyway?
Do you remember Jolt? Well, three-penis wine tastes nothing like that. It takes like snake dick.

This is Krucoff, BTW.

It’s a bustling Thursday night in August and I’m with some friends at a sports bar in Murray Hill, enjoying this Phelps character in his bathing pants conquer the world. People are chanting “USA”, the bartenders are pouring free shots, and women are actually paying attention to us. It’s the perfect scene. New York City! America! Camaraderie! Possible three-minute sex—missionary style—on the horizon! Yeah!

But just as the night was picking up and the women’s gymnastics was starting, a text message came through that put a damper on the entire evening: “Chris Russo…done at WFAN…it’s official.”

Sure, I’d heard the rumors all summer. Hell, Neil Best at Newsday had been covering the story like he was Ed O’Neill in “Blue Chips”. But to see the news come through—as “official”—well, I wanted to request “Taps” on the jukebox and bow my head.

Yeah, it’s a bit dramatic. You should never care, be upset, or at all affected by the news that a 50 year-old-man was leaving one sports radio station to pursue other sports radio opportunities. Especially when a group of 6’s (and one borderline 7) are giving you and your friends the time of day. But Russo…Well, Russo’s a different case.

For those who did not grow up listening to “Gooooood Afternooon everybaaaady” and hour-long tales of his adult tennis camp experiences in San Antonio, it may be hard to understand. But Russo was something else. He was your goofy uncle that you gravitated towards, for better or worse. In a way no Mike Golic, Jim Rome, or Dan Patrick fan could ever grasp—Russo was more than a talking head futzing around and screaming about the latest sports news. He was your friend from 1-6 every weekday. He was the guy you and your friends would imitate. He was who you were thinking about—what he’d say the next day—while watching any big moment in any big game.

You loved when he mispronounced a simple last name like Leinart (“Lion Heart”) and never took the time to learn to say it right. You looked forward to his guess at the Nielsen Rating for a Braves-Astros NLDS game on a Sunday afternoon. Though you cringed, you appreciated the fact he’d awkwardly apologize on-air for not taking an athlete to task when he had the chance (as he did with Tomlinson—days after bashing him in the studio—at the Super Bowl this year). And you soaked up those stories of his like you were a kid at the campfire.

Ah, his stories. Russo will spend an entire two hours—as he did two weeks ago—going hole by hole, with the excitement of a nine-year old, detailing the afternoon he shot an 84 at Winged Foot. “On nine, took a rescue club, looked to my friend Dennis, said ‘here goes nothing’….Par!” And for some reason, you’ll hang on to every word, not wanting to leave the car until he’s bogey’d on eighteenth. He’ll go pitch-by-pitch, in agonizing fashion, explaining what he was doing, who he was dining with, where he was—while watching the Giants collapse to the Angels in Game 6 of the ’02 World Series. You shouldn’t give a shit. Really, aren’t there 1,000 more important things to be invested in? But you do.

Believe it or not, Russo was always at his best without Francesca. For two weeks every summer, “Mad Dog” would be in the studio going solo, while Mike hung in Saratoga Springs with Parcells and the horses. Russo had full control, and he’d go berserk. On the Giants (San Francisco, not New York), on Springsteen, on why he loved “Million Dollar Baby”. His legendary Pac Man Jones rant came on one of the days he was alone (albeit in February), and became a YouTube clip for the ages.

Russo’s books—written with the eloquence of a college freshman’s term paper on “Hamlet”—are some of the most enjoyable texts you’ll ever spend an hour reading on the can. Go check out his 5-page venomous rant on Michelle Kwan being one of the biggest chokers in the world in “The Greatest Sports Arguments of All-Time”. Bizarre. Absurd. Maniacal. Amazing.

Russo will be fine. He’ll sign a $3 million deal with Sirius and have his own show. He’ll dress up in the Marquis outfit around Super Bowl time, talk with Bruce from Bayside about Xavier Nady, and go gaga over Matt Cain’s fastball. He’ll make outlandish claims like Zelmo Beaty would be a top-3 center if he were in the league today and scream at New Jersey Nets directors of marketing for lying about attendance numbers.

But it’ll never be the same again.

It’s a shame Mad Dog never got a farewell show on WFAN. It would have been nice to see him exit with a proper hero’s departure. Maybe a Howard Stern-like parade in Astoria, Queens, sitting on top of a float with Jerry Recco and Jerome from Manhattan. Giggling that ridiculous giggle, dancing to Southside Johnny like a freak. I don’t know. Something like that.

But I guess things don’t always end perfectly. Sometimes, they just end.

The duo's contentious relationship wasn't the reason for the split, according to Russo. The New York Daily News suggests Mad Dog already had one foot out the door and was not willing to commit to a multi-year contract with WFAN. It's rumored that Russo will now take over as the marquee sports loudmouth on Sirius/XM radio. But, again, Russo wanted to emphasize that this split was more about "other opportunities" and not the fact that Mike Francesa grew tired of his noisy, annoying co-host. But he won't ever step foot in that building again:

That's it. No goodbye shows, no final shows, no nothing."

Well that seems like a completely healthy and amicable way to end a 20 year relationship with someone.

Chirs (Mad Dog) Russo Out At WFAN [NY Daily News]

The Big Lead digs for answers and comes up with a few possible scenarios. One of the most plausible ones, and one I've heard as well, points to an amicable divorce:

One popular theory is that WFAN would keep one host, should the pair decide the partnership is untenable. Sources feel this would be a disaster for the show, since the reason for the pair’s success is that the supremely arrogant Francesa brings a modicum of credibility to the airwaves (boasting about his cozy relationship with Bill Parcells, for instance), and plays well against Russo’s silly, fanboy, gibberish antics.

Would it be that much of a disaster? They're both capable of holding their own audience and whichever one is left behind will benefit from the coverage the split gets. Right now, Francesa is the guy who seems most non-committal and willing to part ways. Russo, on the other hand, isn't budging. And after all of this is over, will Tony Bruno still be unemployed?

Sports Talk Radio Chatter: Mike And The Mad Dog [The Big Lead]
Mad Dog Won't Address Break-Up Rumors [Bob Mantz Radio]