Mike Greenberg’s Rules

Each morning, Mike Greenberg entertains more than 3 million people.

They tune in to ESPN Radio to hear him and another Mike — Golic — riff on and rip into topics, ranging from why baseball managers should dress like real people, to people who claim they go to Hooters just for the wings.

Tomorrow (July 7), Greenberg faces a much smaller — but far more imposing — audience:  his fellow Westporters.

At 7 p.m. the Westport Library hosts Greenberg for a discussion of his new book:  Mike and Mike’s Rules for Sports and Life.

At least, Greenberg is supposed to plug his latest work.

Really, he says, “we’ll talk about whatever people want.  I hope young people come.  If they’re interested in a career in sports or broadcasting, I’m happy to answer their questions.  Or whatever they want.”

Clearly, Greenberg can go with the flow.

Just as clearly, he enjoys his life — both at work and in Westport.

“I could live anywhere,” he says.  “But Westport is an idyllic combination of ease and opportunity.  We’re in the country, but we’ve got the sophistication of the proximity to New York.  And there are so many cultural opportunities both here and there.”

Greenberg does not work in New York.  ESPN’s studios are near Hartford.  Okay, as even the most casual sports fan knows:  Bristol.  It’s the butt of a thousand ESPN jokes.

“The shlep is worth it,” Greenberg says.

He’s home in time to coach his 2 kids’ Little League baseball and softball teams.  But — just as Greenberg’s radio show roams far beyond sports — they’re not only jocks.

“They grew up in that library,” he says.  “My daughter took her 1st steps there.  They did the Itty Bittys program.  They love the place.”

Greenberg does too.  He wrote his 1st book — Why My Wife Thinks I’m an Idiot — there.  (Obviously, she didn’t want him working at home.)

“I’d get food from Chef’s Table, sit down at a table in a nook overlooking the river, take out my laptop and write for 2 or 3 hours,” he recalls.  “It was perfect.”

On Wednesday, Greenberg returns to the library.  He’ll give a book talk lead a discussion with friends, his friends’ kids, and his kids’ parents.

They’re his neighbors.  Unlike his wife, they won’t think he’s an idiot.