Kudos to Mike and Mike in the Morning

While traveling to Florida on a business trip, I listened to a recent podcast of Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio. One of the features focused on Mike Golic, Jr.'s signing his letter of intent to attend Notre Dame on a football scholarship.

Now, normally I don't like it when the media makes itself the story, and I have found fault with ESPN the TV Station for doing just that. But this was different, to me it was special, and it was just great sports radio.

Here's why:

Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg have been together on the air for eight and a half years, and, in that time, they have built a considerable national following and are great companions for morning drives to work (unless, of course, if you live in the Philadelphia area, where somehow ESPN can't find a station or is too wimpy to compete with Angelo Cataldi on WIP). For years we've heard anecdotes about the families of both men, and we've listened to their children grow up to a degree. We've heard Mike Golic tell about running football plays in his back yard and having one of his kids (either Mike Jr. or now-eleventh grader Jake) knock over (and perhaps out) their mother, Chris, and we've heard Mike Greenberg be pretty funny about the cost of a nanny and the difference between a nanny and an au pair. In addition, we remember the days when Mike Jr. was Mikey.

In any event, ESPN had Mike Jr. on the air to announce what was no surprise and hadn't been a surprise for a year, namely that he was going to attend Notre Dame. ESPN the Insider has him rated as the fourth best prospect at center in the country (he's up to 270, which still seems a tad light), and he played his HS ball near Hartford, CT. Still, there was something about the rite of passage that was compelling, the humility of both father and son and the warmth of Mike Greenberg, and it was a nice morning. Mike Jr. struck me as a very poised, focused and mature young man, and Notre Dame is lucky to get him. He seemed like a great kid. And, of course, his father, Mike Sr., is giddy about not having to pay tuition (memo to Mike Jr.: ask for a reasonable set of wheels from mom and dad as a quid pro quo).

Thanks, ESPN Radio, for sharing that moment with us. It was terrific radio.