Philly Plain Dealer

Any Philadelphian knows the misery of starting your car only to be immediately assaulted by the radio: the cantankerous voice of a call-in sports talk listener screaming in a thick Delco accent about Nick Sirianni’s haircut, or something equally trivial. The radio show hosts, equally as crotchety and unreasonable, goad the callers into even deeper depths of negativity. A hallmark of Philadelphia Sports Radio is that the callers seemingly know nothing about the sports they call in about. Their blatant ignorance and negativity are usually accompanied by interjections about their blue-collar careers for some reason, as if these people cannot go through three sentences without telling the world how hard they worked. This, of course, adds nothing of value to their sports opinions. 

I can pinpoint the exact moment I completely lost hope in these people. In 2022, the Phillies were surging their way to the playoffs. Bryce Harper was on the Injury List with a broken thumb, and Darrick Hall, a career minor leaguer, was filling in for him. Hall did decent in this spot, slashing an .804 OPS and nine homers over 41 games. Again, decent but not great. However, this was enough for some Broomall fool to call into 94 WIP and ask if the Phillies should sit Bryce Harper, the reigning MVP, on his return for Darrick Hall. I could write an entire dissertation about why this is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard, but I’m not going to. Just know that Bryce Harper is still excellent, and Darrick Hall went on to post a .437 OPS (bad) in his next season and hasn’t seen MLB action since. This is not an isolated incident, mind you. 

It is a situation so puerile that it almost becomes entertaining until you realize that these voices live among us and have a platform. Case in point: the recent AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts friendship “controversy.” Fans are so loudly disgruntled that players and coaches are forced to address these idiots. Remember the half-hearted touchdown dance AJB and Hurts did to prove they don’t, in fact, hate each other? That’s not sports talk. It’s a male soap opera.

I’m not just talking about the callers, either. The hosts are the crux of the issue. How little they know about the sports they are paid to discuss is incredible. They regularly discard advanced metrics for intangible nonsense and tired cliches such as “They need to play with more heart!” or “Where’s this team’s passion?” During the aforementioned AJ Brown-Jalen Hurts non-story, you could tune into WIP and hear tenured media professionals suggesting that these two millionaire athletes should fist fight one another. Why is it like this? Where do they find these people?

This menagerie of buffoons is (or was) spearheaded by Howard Eskin, a repugnant clown who insists everyone call him “The King.” Eskin has made a career out of inflaming the worst aspects of the Philly fanbase. He has been involved in Philadelphia sports media since 1982 and is directly responsible for nurturing the culture of negativity and ignorance around Philadelphia sports. Eskin’s signature moves include calling players, coaches, and fans “dopes” and “frauds” and other various insults. He famously made beloved Phillies coach Charlie Manuel so angry that Charlie had to be restrained lest he struck “The King.” 

Listening to Eskin’s caller sections was especially painful, and he would blatantly disparage any fan who called in and said anything even remotely positive about Philadelphia sports. Why any reasonable person would call in is a complete mystery to me. One thing you may notice about the people who like Eskin or call into his show, is that they are very old. Indeed, it does seem like he has some sort of boomer hypnosis going on, where anything he says is immediately accepted, repeated, and defended by folks who may be a bit long in the tooth. I know this because I have old people in my family who still believe that Carson Wentz is better than Jalen Hurts, which was a hot-button topic on the radio four years ago. 

Eskin recently announced that he is departing from 94 WIP, the sports radio station he helped start in 1986. This comes a few months after Eskin was banned from Citizens Bank Park for making “unwanted advances” at a female Aramark employee, the stadium’s caterer. This is to absolutely no one’s surprise, of course. Unfortunately, Eskin’s exit doesn’t magically solve the underlying issues with Philly sports radio. Even without “The King” holding court, 94WIP remains a breeding ground for shallow analysis, interpersonal drama, and negativity. 

The reality is that Eskin did not operate in a vacuum. His style of arrogant dismissal and endless cynicism fits perfectly into today’s media ecosystem, which thrives on outrage and hot takes. Once Eskin’s microphone goes silent, it’s not as though the dial will be suddenly filled with nuanced, stat-driven discussions a la Moneyball. The culture he has cultivated is still there. His son, Brett “Spike” Eskin, equally reviled in in-the-know Philly sports circles, is set to inherit the throne of negativity. Undoubtedly, the discussions of whether the Phillies should trade Bryce Harper or if Joel Embiid should be publicly tar-and-feathered will persist. Meanwhile, more rational fans seeking legitimate insight and discussion are left in the dark, hoping to avoid the next viral rant about the relationship between a QB and a receiver. 

The Eagles press cycle is simple. Local radio hosts and writers broadcast their spin of the week on Monday, which is then regurgitated on Tuesday and Wednesday which legitimizes these narratives to the national media who run with the story on Thursday or Friday. That’s what happened with the AJ Brown-Jalen Hurts saga, but then it repeated just this week with the Nick Sirianni and Zach Ertz drama. 

After the Eagles loss to the Washington Commanders, Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni was seen having a heated exchange with former Eagle Zach Ertz. Who cares? Apparently everyone. Twitter users and radio hosts ran with the narrative that two people yelling after a football game is significant, then like clockwork on 12/27 the New York Post, FOX News, and the national press are breaking news on the spat.

On 12/26 ESPN reporter John Keim reported that Ertz said “Nick and I had a great relationship when I was there, and we still have a great relationship. It’s definitely been blown way out of proportion.” The people involved in the story say it’s no big deal, yet radio hosts have been stirring this pot for an entire work week.

Keep an eye out for the next manufactured outrage, the Eagles have a weird game against the Dallas Cowboys today. Watch as the narratives fly, regardless of what the reality on the field is.

Philadelphia’s relationship with sports has been unhealthy, to be honest. This is almost certainly due to the dumpster fire that is local sports radio. If you find this hot-take, personal drama-riddled diatribe exhausting, do yourself a favor and change the station. The rest of us fans will be here, shaking our heads, wondering when the people who call into these stations will finally wake up from their decades-long hate-filled fever dream.