It's hard to believe that this June will mark the one year anniversary of the biggest shift in sports talk radio, when it was announced that Mike Francesa and Chris Mad Dog Russo were splitting up their broadcasting partnership to take separate routes. So I thought, why not take this time to rank the top personalities in New York sports radio.

10) Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton: In a way you have to feel sorry that Esiason is stuck with the foul mouthed Carton. Carton's 95.5 PLJ like antics can be, at times, even more heinous then the man he replaced, Don Imus. Carton doesn't really know a lot about the sports industry, even though he tries, like claiming that his pep rally at New York Jets training camp last July was the main reason for the Jets bringing in Brett Favre. As for Esiason, he's a good sport, and puts up with it. Esiason's connections and experience brings some semblance to the zoo that is now the morning show.

9) Lori Rubinson: She is a very good host, who could use more time behind the mic to get her craft down. Rubinson started her work as a radio host at WFAN in late 2007, and is usually on Sunday nights when football season is over. She is solid and has strong opinions, but tends to go to the callers a bit too quickly before totally finishing her monologues. If she can get some more air time, Rubinson can become better.

8) Mark Malusis: Talk about a host who needs to be moved out of the overnight slot and into a prime role. Malusis is very good. The former producer of the "Mike and the Mad Dog" show took good notes from Francesa and Russo, because his ability to articulate his points and his knowledge of every sport should go a long way to making Malusis the next big hit for some station really soon.

7) Evan Roberts: Evan Roberts is lucky. He's 25-years-old and has his own day time radio gig. Pretty good job for a man who at one time was brought onto the Imus in the Morning Show with his father at age 9. Roberts paid his dues, skipping college and working at a radio station in Baltimore before coming back to New York. Smart man. 

Roberts is the more logical of the mid day show tandem of Joe Beningo and Evan Roberts. He doesn't go on prolonged rants about the Mets, and Jets; he's more patient, but when push comes to shove, Roberts will dig in when he has to. The one team that Roberts continually knocks is the New Jersey Nets, if for nothing else, for the fact that Roberts is a die hard Nets fan and is tired of seeing the fledgling franchise lose. Roberts can be well spoken, and after a slow start is starting to earn the respect of his older peers; i.e. he hosted "Mike'd Up" on NBC for one night, when Francesa was ill.

6) Richard Neer: If you are looking to break away from the conventional loud mouth, for someone more intelligent and well spoken, then Neer is your guy. Neer likes to look through sports philosophically using either political or literary references to support his points. For example, instead of opening a segment about how bad the Mets are and how everyone needs to be fired; Neer will talk about the political and social impact of ticket prices, or ethics behind steroids in baseball, and what might be the psychology of players like Alex Rodriguez, who continually finds a way to put himself in the news for all the wrong reasons. Neer is excellent, too bad he is only on sparingly on WFAN.

5) Chris Carlin and Adam Schein:When these two are together it is pure gold! Schein, who hosts various NFL programs on SIRUS Radio, and Carlin, who once produced the "Mike and the Mad Dog" show and are now hosting a one hour show at 5:00 A.M., are terrific when hosting "Loud Mouths" on SNY. The pair bounce points off of one another with such ease that they could have taught Mike and the Mad Dog a few things. Even though Carlin and Schein don't always agree with each other, their disagreements are respectful to one another and there seems to be a strong friendship between the two, which makes "Loud Mouths" work. If Francesa should decide to pack it in, WFAN MUST tap Carlin and Schein to replace him in that familiar 1-6 pm slot.

4) Joe Beningo:"Oh the pain!" that slogan is about as familiar to Beningo as "I'll be back" is to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Beningo is the classic sports fan; he lives and dies with his teams, specifically the Mets and Jets. Even though Beningo is a big Rangers and Knicks fan, he doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve as much for those two teams. His rants whenever the Jets or Mets screw up are a thing of beauty. For example, after the Jets five game collapse that cost Eric Mangini his job, Beningo professed a desire to have Bill Cowher become the next Jet head coach. Once it was learned that Cowher tried and failed to contact a Caribbean vacationing Woody Johnson about the job opening, Beningo went ballistic, blasting the Jets as the worst run franchise in sports. Classic rants, that sometimes really speak to the true feelings of the fans.

3) Chris "Mad Dog" Russo: Russo brought a lot of personality to the Mike and the Mad Dog show, a personality that is missed to this day. Russo's screaming rants were a delight to hear, especially after a huge lose for the Yankees or Mets. Russo hates the Mets and Yankees, and he rejoices in their misery. Whenever the Yankees were in trouble in the standings, Russo would go out and limb and state that the Yankees were "dead," even if it was June 15.

Even though he could get on people's nerves, Russo's conservative logic can sometimes be a breath of fresh air, whenever it concerned a sports topic with highly charged politically correct substance; i.e. the Olympics. Russo would, and probably still does, go on rants about how phony the Olympics have become because of the infusion of paid professional athletes and steroids. Russo was also first in line to slam Congress for wasting everyone's time with the steroid investigations in 2007 and 2008.

Russo's antics were a huge attraction during Super Bowl week every year. It was during this time that Mike and Chris would hand out tickets to the big game, via contest. Russo made the contest into a TV spectacle, when he came running back into the studio dressed like George Washington, or even Richard Nixon to ask questions and give away the tickets to fans. That aspect of the "Mike and the Mad Dog" show is dearly missed.

2) Mike Francesa: The man who knows all and sees all. Francesa was the more logical of the two on Mike and the Mad Dog, and now that he hosts the show by himself, is really only interesting for his monologues, since this is where he addresses the concerns in sports for the day, logically and concisely. Still, Francesa is number one in the ratings for a reason. He has always had great connections from Bill Parcells, to Joe Torre, and his vast knowledge of the sports industry blows aways all of his guests, who are either coaches or TV experts. If the Mets or Yankees are playing badly, Francesa will let you know about it, and will tell you why they are playing badly, making him more sophisticated than your average host. The one problem with Francesa is his boorish personality. He is rude to callers, and likes to take credit for an idea that he didn't originally think of.

1) Steve Somers: At the end of the day, if anyone is going to succeed in business or the media business, you need to have some charm and a sense humility. Steve Somers has all of that when he hosts his show. His monologues are laced with sarcasm and dry humor making it enjoyable for everyone who listens. He takes the biggest story of the day and plays upon it using humor.  For example, when allegations came forth that Alex Rodriguez was using steroids, Somers, with the help of his producers, would create a piece where Rodriguez is apologizing with the old song "I'm Sorry" playing in the background. Somers' respectful nature to callers has even earned a kind of professor-like mantra about him, as people seem to enjoy his company as much as he enjoys their's.