How Mike Greenberg spends his Sundays
On most days, Mike Greenberg enjoys a good discussion. He hosts “Get Up” on ESPN and “Greeny” on ESPN Radio and says his on-air and off-air personalities aren’t much different.
“I talk loud, fast and I get very excited about things that most people don’t,” he said.
On Sunday he tries to tone down all sports talk for the first half of the day, but admits that is almost impossible. Friends and strangers alike come up to him to ask his opinion, usually about his beloved but beleaguered New York Jets.
Earlier this year, Mr. Greenberg, 56, enticed readers to talk about athletes, their achievements and their place in sports history through his article. book“Got Your Number: Sports’ Greatest 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 get up at 5 a.m. during the week, I let myself sleep until 6 or 6:30 a.m. on Sundays. I can’t let myself sleep anymore because you don’t want to disrupt your circadian rhythm. If I stay in bed for hours, I feel like I have jet lag in London and there’s no point.
GOOD GIRL I take our dog, Phoebe, to pee first. This process literally takes 30 seconds. We leave through the side door of my building. She pees. I say, “Good girl,” and pass her bribe – a few 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 edition of the New York Times, cover to cover. I really enjoy a cup of coffee and a newspaper. My schedule for the past 20 years has been to get up very early and move at the speed of light. So this is my rare moment where I am alone and quiet.
NO SHOP TALK When the weather is nice, I can also be found on the golf course many Sunday mornings. Since the golf course is my sanctuary, I have one rule for everyone to follow: we are not allowed to talk about work under any circumstances. In my case that is sports. I like to play golf with people who like to talk about the game of golf. I’m an obsessed golfer, and my friends and I talk about golf at far too serious a level compared to the actual level of play.
MADISON CORRIDOR Once Stacy is upstairs, we take a walk through Madison Square Park. This place is a gem and it is a privilege to live across the street. It’s the best people watching opportunity and there’s always something to do, like kids sing-alongs, art installations, you name it. Phoebe is now 13 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.
SMALL CLUB During our walk we usually talk about the kids or all the things I want to do after reading the newspaper. Or we talk about the book we’re reading while Stacy and I are in a two-person book club. She has more discerning tastes, while I go to see and read everything, so I usually try to convince her which play or novel she should read next.
SPIN CYCLE Every now and then my daughter Nikki, who lives four blocks away, invites me to go to SoulCycle with her. As every parent knows, when a child asks you something, you jump. So I’ve often found myself spinning around on a Taylor Swift ride, and it’s amazing.
BAGEL BRUNCH We love to have brunch Mark is away from Madison, a neighborhood visit. I like the bagel brunch. Sometimes my daughter and her friends come along, and often my cousin Eric too. Everyone there seems to be having a boozy brunch, but I can’t do that. You might as well kiss me goodbye if I’m drinking alcohol during the day.
HOURS AND HUNDREDS On a nice day we walk to the drugstore CO Bigelow. It was my parents’ pharmacy when they moved to the village in 1960 and it’s nice that it is now ours. Stacy calls it “hours and hundreds” because you can be there for hours and spend hundreds of dollars there.
BOOKLIST I love bookstores, as I grew up in my parents’ store, the Complete Traveler Antiquarian Bookstore. We often go to Three lives and company, a bookstore on West 10th Street, to purchase a few titles. Nikki set a goal of reading 52 books this year, but I settled for 26 books and I won’t quite reach that goal. I’m 19, but in my defense, there were some long books on my list.
WORK TIME I can honestly say that I’m working as soon as the football games start. I have a notepad and a No. 2 pencil to write and erase notes on what I want to emphasize during the shows. I also have two separate group chats: one with the producers and hosts of the TV show and another with the radio show. Usually there are about a hundred texts while we decide what we want to talk about.
OVERSEAS LAY My son, Stephen, shares my tragic obsession with the Jets. He is currently abroad studying and we are watching the match together, except he has a 20 second delay when he watches online. Now I know not to text him first about a play or a touchdown because I ruined some exciting moments for him by not waiting.
WORDS IN BED Once the games are done, I put away all my electronic devices and disconnect from the sports call. I take a hot shower and read in bed. Sometimes I can read for 45 minutes; other times it’s two pages. I like to fall asleep and think about the passages I just read.
Sunday Routine readers can follow Mike Greenberg on X And Instagram at @espngreeny.