How Did Mike and Mike Land That Bo Ryan Interview? "Dogged Leg Work"

Remember when Mike and Mike landed that interview with Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan? That's right, it happened this morning, but ESPN's Front Row wants to take a second and reflect: How'd we do it?

ESPN's Front Row blog reports that ESPN Audio "prodcucer Mike Urrunaga" was able to book Ryan with some "dogged leg work." This is exciting. Nothing better than a behind-the-scenes tick-tock of how a story came together! How did Urrunaga do it? How did a national radio program on the country's biggest sports network convince a head coach (in a sport the network exhaustively televises) to appear?

"I texted the Wisconsin Sports Information Director, and asked if Coach Ryan would like to respond to what was being said," Urrunaga said. "He called me back and put me in contact with Coach Ryan. I said, ‘Are you okay going on-air to respond to what we're talking about?' and he said, ‘Sure.'"

ESPN's Front Row also lays out evidence to prove that the interview was "THE hot button issue of the day."

What followed was a back-and-forth which has seen Ryan described as "defensive," "contentious," and "testy" by interested observers, Tweeters, bloggers and writers.

Take notes, aspiring producers and journalists: If you want the interview of the day that's THE hot button topic on Twitter, call the PR person, get a phone number, and make the call you've arranged. (Also: work for ESPN.)

How the Bo Ryan interview on Thursday's Mike & Mike came to be [ESPN]