Since 1998, sports fans have listened to Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic bicker with each other every morning. Their Odd Couple shtick--the former is a neurotic, enthusiastic sports nerd, while the latter is a hard-nosed, straight-shooting ex-NFL lineman--is as much an A.M. staple as a cup of coffee and a congested commute. You know what you're getting each time you tune in to the pair's wildly popular ESPN2 talk show, Mike & Mike in the Morning: The two sportscasters will tackle the day's most pressing topics, all while tackling each other with non-stop verbal blows.
Guys relate to Greeny and Golic because they talk sports and talk smack like the rest of us. They just happen to be your famous friends who argue with the world watching, while your debates with your buddies tend to take place in bars and basements. So on the eve of Super Bowl XLVIII, at the 50-Yard Lounge in New York City, I couldn't imagine anyone I'd rather fight about football with. (That's us in the photo above. I like to think I held my own.) Here are the Mikes' thoughts on . . .
Peyton Manning getting a face full of Seahawks on Sunday:
Mike Golic: I think Seattle's defense is better suited to slow down a Peyton Manning offense, with big defensive backs that can re-route the receivers. And if they do that, they have time to get a pass rush on Peyton--and we've seen this year that Peyton struggles when DBs get up in his face. They're going to be very aggressive in this game, and I think the refs are going to let them play. So: advantage Seattle.
Mike Greenberg: And the Seahawks are the worst possible matchup for Peyton Manning. Because what he lives on doing is figuring out what you're doing, finding a weakness, and forcing you into a bad matchup. I don't think the Seahawks have any intention of trying to disguise anything. All that "Omaha" stuff that Peyton does isn't going to make any difference in this game.
The surprising players who might decide the game:
Golic and Greenberg: [Together] Pot Roast!
Golic: That's the nickname for Terrance Knighton, a defensive tackle for Denver and maybe the most important player in the game. Marshawn Lynch and that Seattle offense love to run in between the tackles, and their guards and center are going to be key in trying to block Knighton, who's been very good this year. He doesn't play a sexy position, but if he can make Marshawn Lynch bounce east and west instead of running up the middle, that's going to be a big advantage for Denver.
Greenberg: I'll give you another one. When people talk about Seattle's defensive backfield, they talk about Richard Sherman. But I'm not so sure Earl Thomas isn't the best player on that defense, and America will learn about him in a big way. He's your classic combination of your old-school safety who will knock your block off when the moment arises, and your Ed Reed-type safety who plays like a center fielder looking for a pick. So if they do get Peyton a little bit off his rhythm, I think we might see Thomas with one or two really big plays in that secondary. He's a guy to keep your eye on.
The best and worst halftime shows in Super Bowl history:
Golic: Honestly, I think the halftime shows have not been very good lately. They sometimes pick entertainers who have been past their prime for decades. I don't think the NFL has gone for necessarily the hottest artist out there--they've just gone for the safest, since the whole Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson thing happened. It's been 10 years! They need to let it go already!
Greenberg: The best halftime show I ever saw was in 1993, when Michael Jackson played at the Rose Bowl. He appeared all over the field. It was one of the best things I ever saw. That was also my first Super Bowl I ever covered, so there was something really special about it. When you're a kid and you want to write about sports for a living, covering the Super Bowl is the pinnacle. So that individual moment is my favorite memory.
Golic: This year is Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but ... eh. I enjoy their music, but they don't wow me. I'll probably take a break during halftime.
Greenberg: Not me. I love Bruno Mars. I think he's going to put on a really good show. The first time I heard that song "Locked out of Heaven," I thought it was The Police, and they were my favorite band as a kid. To play at halftime, you've gotta have enough good songs to put together a really good medley, and Bruno has just enough to put together a good one.
Golic: Well, I am impressed with the way he moves.
Greenberg: I'd like to see a Jay-Z halftime show with Beyonce. Or maybe Pitbull. I'm a big Pitbull fan.
Golic: Oh, stop it.
Greenberg: Maybe Pitbull with Jennifer Lopez. That would be a great show.
Golic: I'd like to see a collaboration between Gordon Lightfoot and James Taylor.
Greenberg: Well, they are playing the 1971 halftime show.
Picking the ultimate Super Bowl snacks:
Greenberg: For guys like Golic who overindulge, here's what you want to do before you start eating and serving your decadent Super Bowl food: You want to fill up a little bit on some healthier things, like California Almonds. Or some fruit. Eat that first, then you can gorge yourself on pizza and wings.
Golic: Oh yeah, I'm still going to eat my pizza and wings. They're not good for you, but I learned after I stopped playing football and ballooned in weight that I had to snack healthier. Whether it's fruits or almonds or something, I would eat them in the morning and for snacks. I'd fill up on that stuff, then I'd still indulge in the bad food--but not as much.
Greenberg: As far as the traditional Super Bowl fare, I'm a sucker for good wings. But the problem is, there's a difference between wings and pizza: Bad pizza is still okay, but bad wings suck. I don't make mine or anything. I've never cooked anything in my life.
Golic: He called me when the pilot light went out in his oven.
Greenberg: Yeah, we always order them. And you know what? There's only one kind, too. I don't know where we went wrong in this country that they started doing other things with wings. Sweet and sour? NO. A wing is only meant to be prepared one way: buffalo-style. That's the only wing I'm interested in. Give me the ranch dressing, the celery stalks, and now I'm a happy man.
Talking trash like Richard Sherman:
Greenberg: I don't engage in trash talk. In order to trash-talk unto others, you must be prepared to have others trash-talk unto you. I fold like a deck of cards. I don't play golf with Golic anymore, because Golic's the kind of guy who can be 75 yards from the green, and as I'm getting ready to hit my shot, Golic will yell out, "50 BUCKS YOU PUT IT IN THE WATER!"
Golic: Hey, if he has any confidence in his shot, he'll take the bet and put it on the green.
Greenberg: I hate you so much.
Golic: And what happened when I yelled?
Greenberg: I put it in the water.
Golic: I'm not a trash-talker myself. If anybody trash-talked me, I'd want to think of something clever, but I usually hit ‘em with two words. You know I can't say them. But they're very simple and effective words.
Greenberg: The second one is "you."
The Super Bowl topic they can't wait to stop talking about:
Golic: The one thing everyone asks the Super Bowl winner after they win is "Can you repeat?" Every. Year. I'd like to move past that.
Greenberg: In my opinion, it's the officiating. Unfortunately in pro football, officiating has become too big of a story. It's justifiable. Bill Parcells said it perfectly on our show: "Minimize the variables, maximize the performance." And what they've done with the officiating is they've maximized the variables and as a consequence, the performance of the officials has suffered greatly. The officiating in the NFL stinks. It's a real problem. Talking about officiating is not fun, but it's something we have to do because it's genuinely a story. I look forward to not having to talk about, "Well, did he hit him in the shoulder or the head? Was it the head, or was it the neck?"
Golic: And along those lines, I don't want to talk about fines anymore. I think they set a record in fines this year. It was ridiculous. When a defensive back makes a good play in the secondary, the first thing he does instead of high-fiving his teammates is look around for the flag, because he knows the refs are going to throw it. And then he knows he's going to get fined for it. And I can't stand it.
Greeny's biggest Super Bowl grievance:
Greenberg: The Tuesday after the Super Bowl is my day to complain about how small the audience size was. They'll say they got 115 million viewers to watch the game. There's 300 million people in this country. You're telling me more than half the country doesn't watch the Super Bowl?
Golic: He refuses to believe there are some people who don't watch football.
Greenberg: My grandma who lived to be 96, who came to this country from Poland and spoke Yiddish as a first language, watched the Super Bowl, okay? If she's watching the Super Bowl instead of, I don't know, The View on DVR, then everyone on the planet is watching the Super Bowl. Everybody's watching it. I don't even know why they even have things on other channels.
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