In nailing down the particulars for the Josh Innes show, the station not only added Hollis Thomas and Spike Eskin to the afternoon drive-time mix, it tinkered a tad with the scheduling and brought Thomas’ former Eagles teammate Jon Runyan on board as a buffer/booster to possibly any number of shows. Right out the chute the big fella will join Angelo Cataldi’s morning team because, gee, there never can be enough former Philly pro athletes gracing Ang’s stage.
For me, WIP went 1-for-3 on these moves … with the first one mentioned above being a potential self-inflicted killing of too much geekiness, too much mumbling and too much forced laughter. Indeed, there may be no survivors once the final guffaw is uttered between Innes, Eskin and Thomas.
Runyan? I dunno, to me he’s one of those classic examples of others incessantly clamoring on and on about how cool a person is, how that person has such a great personality and is just so alive, and then you meet that person … and he/she is a complete dud. But, never forget, since the station won’t let you anyway, he, like Thomas, has that Eagles’ attachment. Oh, boy, so exciting.
Zzzzzz …
No, the one thing that did pan out with this semi-shakeup is that the midday show of Mike & Ike will expand an hour, making it a 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. block of insight and entertainment with two very likable characters (Michael Barkann and Ike Reese, a former Eagle – no, really? That’s shocking) … and the Innes show will shrink an hour, now starting at 2 instead of 1, and going as it previously had until 6.
Hey, if Thomas-Eskin pairing with Innes is going to bomb, as I feel it will, the best thing the station can do is slow the process of annoyance an hour a day.
NEWS FLASH: Quarterback Sam Bradford’s recovery is going so well that Eagles coach Chip Kelly doesn’t want to waste a snap with him behind center in this Sunday’s preseason opener. Or maybe his hydration levels are projected to be off that afternoon.
FISH STORY: Mike Trout, to me, isn’t really “Philly,” but since everyone angling for the local connection claims him to be, we’ll roll with this. Bleacher Report came out with a story today that opined about the reigning AL MVP’s continued greatness and incomparable skills, defiantly stating that no one can challenge him for his league’s top individual honor in 2015.
Ummm, really? For starters, hate him or not, Washington’s Bryce Harper has caught Trout in the overall picture of “best player in the game” and, frankly, Trout isn’t the AL MVP up to this point. Toronto’s Josh Donaldson is, trumping Trout where it matters most: production. He’s responsible for 138 Blue Jays runs up to this point, compared to Trout’s 116 Angels runs, and has spearheaded Toronto’s unlikely surge to the AL East penthouse.
FYI … runs responsible for equals RBIs + runs scored – home runs (not subtracting them would be counting a run twice). RRF is THE stat for grasping a player’s actual production.
NEWS FLASH 2: The San Francisco Giants made an offer to the Phillies for Chase Utley Thursday night, provoking serious butt-cheek clenching by the hero-worshipping masses in town.
- Jack Kerwin | [email protected]