How Mike Greenberg Spends His Sundays
On most days, Mike Greenberg loves a good argument. He hosts “Get Up” on ESPN and “Greeny” on ESPN Radio and says his on-air and off-air personalities are not very different.
“I talk loud, fast and I get very excited about things most people don’t,” he said.
On Sundays, he tries to temper all the sports talk for the first half of the day, but admits it’s nearly impossible. Friends and strangers alike come up to him to ask for his opinions, usually about his beloved but beleaguered New York Jets.
Earlier this year, Mr. Greenberg, 56, tempted readers to expostulate about athletes, their accomplishments and their ranking in sports history through his book, “Got Your Number: The Greatest Sports Legends and the Numbers They Own,” co-written with Paul Hembekides.
He lives in the NoMad section of Manhattan, with his wife, Stacy Greenberg, 58, and their dog, Phoebe, an Australian Labradoodle.
EXTRA HOUR Since I’m up at 5 a.m. during the week, I let myself sleep until 6 or 6:30 a.m. on Sunday. I can’t let myself sleep more than that because you don’t want to let your circadian rhythm be thrown off. Any more hours in bed, I feel like I’m on London jet lag time and that’s no good.
GOOD GIRL I take our dog, Phoebe, out to pee before anything else. This process is literally 30 seconds. We go out the side door of my building. She pees. I say, “Good girl,” and slip her bribe — some oyster crackers — to her.
COFFEE AND THE PAPER I order coffee for myself and my doorman from the Starbucks across the street. Then I read the print edition of the weekend New York Times cover to cover. I find immense pleasure in a cup of coffee and a newspaper. My schedule for the past 20 years is that I get up very early and move at the speed of light. So this is my rare moment where I’m alone and quiet.
NO SHOP TALK When the weather is nice, you can also find me on the golf course on many Sunday mornings. As the golf course is my sanctuary, I have one rule everyone must follow: We cannot talk about work under any circumstance. In my case, that’s sports. I like playing golf with people who like talking about the game of golf. I am an obsessed golfer, and my friends and I talk about golf at a much too serious level as compared to the actual level of play.
MADISON WALK Once Stacy is up, we take a walk around Madison Square Park. This place is a jewel, and it’s a privilege to live right across the street. It’s the best people-watching opportunity and there’s always something going on, like children’s singalongs, art installations, you name it. Phoebe is 13 now and she’s too old for the dog park, so we walk around the park for about 20 minutes until one of us gets tired.
TINY CLUB During our walk, we usually talk about the kids or all the things I want to do after reading the paper. Or we talk about the book we’re reading, as Stacy and I are in a two-person book club. She has a more discerning taste, while I’ll go see and read anything, so I’m usually trying to convince her which play or novel to read next.
SPIN CYCLE Once in a while, my daughter, Nikki, who lives four blocks away, will invite me to join her at SoulCycle. As any parent knows, when a child asks you to do something, you jump. So I have often found myself spinning in a Taylor Swift ride, and it’s a blast.
BAGEL BRUNCH We love having brunch at Mark’s Off Madison, a neighborhood go-to. I love the bagel brunch. Sometimes my daughter and her friends join us, and often my nephew Eric. Everyone else there seems to be having a boozy brunch, but I cannot do that. You might as well kiss me goodbye if I have any alcohol during the day.
HOURS AND HUNDREDS On a nice day, we’ll walk down to the drugstore C.O. Bigelow. It was my parents’ pharmacy when they moved to the Village in 1960 and it’s nice that now it’s ours. Stacy calls it “hours and hundreds,” as you can be there for hours and spend hundreds of dollars there.
BOOK LIST I absolutely love bookstores, as I grew up in my parents’ shop, the Complete Traveller Antiquarian Bookstore. We often go to Three Lives & Company, a bookstore on West 10th Street, to buy a few titles. Nikki set a goal of reading 52 books this year, but I settled for 26 and I won’t quite make it. I’m at 19, but in my defense, there were some long books on my list.
WORK SHIFT I can honestly say I am working once the football games begin. I have a notepad and a No. 2 pencil to jot, and erase, notes about what I want to highlight on the shows. I also have two separate group chats going: one with the producers and hosts of the TV show and another with the radio show. Usually there’s about a hundred texts as we decide what to talk about.
OVERSEAS LAG My son, Stephen, shares my tragic obsession with the Jets. He’s studying abroad for college right now and we’ll watch the game together, except he’s on a 20-second lag as he watches online. Now I know not to text him about a play or a touchdown first, as I’ve ruined some exciting moments for him by not waiting.
WORDS IN BED Once the games are done, I put away all of my electronic devices and unplug from the sports conversation. I take a hot shower and read in bed. Sometimes I can read for 45 minutes; other times it’s two pages. I like falling asleep thinking about the passages I’ve just read.
Sunday Routine readers can follow Mike Greenberg on X and Instagram at @espngreeny.
