The end of ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike is coming at some point before the end of 2017 as the longtime co-hosts of ESPN’s morning radio show will split into two different projects at the start of 2018. Mike Greenberg is taking over his own morning TV show on ESPN, while Mike Golic will remain on radio with new co-hosts Trey Wingo and his son, Mike Golic Jr.
The split of the 18-year long partnership has been less than amicable as there are clearly some tensions between the two sides. That was evident in their official announcement when Golic seemed less than enthused and said the reason for the end of the show was “someone else’s story to tell.” However, according to a report from Sports Illustrated‘s Richard Deitsch, the rift between the co-hosts was far worse than many would imagine watching them interact on air.
Deitsch cited multiple anonymous sources at ESPN that said the two would “barely make eye contact” off air and that their personal relationship was nearly non-existent at this point. However, Mike Golic disputes the severity to which his relationship with Greenberg has deteriorated, telling Eric Hansen of the South Bend Tribune that he and Greenberg are fine with each other and have talked about the situation.
“Greeny and I have talked. Greeny and I are fine,” he said. “In all honesty, I had more of a problem and was a little disappointed that people that work on my show would anonymously throw stuff out there. I’m not a big fan of the anonymous thing.
“If you can’t put your name to it, I don’t know why you’d say it. But Greeny and I are fine. We absolutely are.”
Golic isn’t claiming there hasn’t been some strain put on their relationship and there may still be some tension between the two, but insists the two are still speaking to each other and are doing fine. Deitsch’s report noted that Golic was hurt by Greenberg seeking out his own show without really discussing it with Golic. Instead, the news surprised Golic and his displeasure with the whole situation was noticeable in the short announcement the two made on their show about the eventual split.
Golic also addressed why the two haven’t done much more in the way of discussing the show’s end, noting that they still don’t know how much longer they have and it doesn’t make sense to reminisce if there’s still months of the show left to go.
“The reason why it’s tough to talk about the end of the show on air is because we don’t know when the end of the show’s going to be,” Golic said. “So why get nostalgic in May when we may be doing the show another six months?
“There’ll be time, once they tell us, ‘This is the plan for the end of the show,’ and then we can start planning some of those things to end the show. We’ll probably do more giveaways for fans, because if we didn’t have the listeners and viewers, there’s no way this show goes 18 years.”
It’s an understandable position for both Golic and Greenberg to take in order to avoid it being too long and drawn out and keeping them from putting on their normal show on a daily basis. Eventually, that day will come later this fall or into the winter when they will have to fact the end of the show.
Golic said he wants the changeover to happen before football season, but knows that the entire decision will come down to how far out they have ad sales sold involving the two co-hosts.
