Chris Russell on March Madness flu outbreak: ‘Absolute disgrace’

college basketball

go through Ryan Glaspiegel

Chris Russo has long been a crusader against sporting events that start late at night.

After all, in the intro to his SiriusXM radio show, he can be heard growling, “Give us a chance to watch the damn thing, okay?”

With that as context, he was inevitably told the start time for March Madness in the Sweet 16, which will begin Thursday and Friday nights after 10 p.m. ET.

During his weekly “Why Are You Angry?” show on ESPN’s “First Take,” Mad Dog makes it past tip time.

“College basketball isn’t big enough to go 12 hours straight and have two-and-a-half-hour games because they’re going to be watching flagrant fouls in replays or the ball being slapped out of bounds by somebody,” he argued.

He then bemoaned the “holy” Easter week between Illinois and Louisiana.Iowa State and Creighton vs. Tennessee will be called at 10:09 p.m.

“Another half hour!” he yelled because he believed the game wouldn’t actually start on time.

“Friday is Good Friday! Thursday is Holy Thursday! And I have to stay up until 1:45 in the morning to watch a two-hour and 45-minute game?” he asked, his voice rising.

“This is an absolute disgrace!”

Russo is certainly not wrong here, and it’s curious why the NCAA Tournament doesn’t spread these Sweet 16 games throughout the week instead of taking place late at night.

One would imagine they would draw a larger audience in prime time on Tuesday and Wednesday than they would on Thursday and Friday nights when most of the country is asleep.