The700Level.com - Philly Sports & Minutiae

Philadelphia Sports Radio Faceoff: Part 3—PM Drive Time

With the Philadelphia market having two full-time sports talk radio stations for some time now, we thought we'd take a poll to see what readers of The700Level.com are currently listening to on a regular basis. Rather than just put up one poll with 610 WIP and ESPN 950 as the options, we thought it would be best to break it down according to the three primary listening times—morning drive, mid-days, and afternoon drive times—and post one poll on each of the next three days. The hosts and formats change dramatically for each station, and so too might the voting. We will not editorialize or opine in any way, hoping to keep the voting purely an uninfluenced reflection of your regular listening patterns. 

In the comments of each day's poll, feel free to leave the reasons for your vote—why you like the shows you listen to, what you don't like about the other option, or the pros and cons of each. As shows, hosts, and formats have changed, how you have you changed your listening habits? If you listen to one choice more than say, 60% of the time, please select that as opposed to "No preference."

After the holiday weekend, we'll take a look at the results. Today's poll question:

Philadelphia Sports Radio Faceoff: Part 2—Middays

With the Philadelphia market having two full-time sports talk radio stations for some time now, we thought we'd take a poll to see what readers of The700Level.com are currently listening to on a regular basis. Rather than just put up one poll with 610 WIP and ESPN 950 as the options, we thought it would be best to break it down according to the three primary listening times—morning drive, mid-days, and afternoon drive times—and post one poll on each of the next three days. The hosts and formats change dramatically for each station, and so too might the voting. We will not editorialize or opine in any way, hoping to keep the voting purely an uninfluenced reflection of your regular listening patterns. 

In the comments of each day's poll, feel free to leave the reasons for your vote—why you like the shows you listen to, what you don't like about the other option, or the pros and cons of each. As shows, hosts, and formats have changed, how you have you changed your listening habits? If you listen to one choice more than say, 60% of the time, please select that as opposed to "No preference."

Today's poll question will be broken into two parts because 950 has two shows airing between 10 and 3. 

Philadelphia Sports Radio Faceoff: Part 1—The Morning Drive

With the Philadelphia market having two full-time sports talk radio stations for some time now, we thought we'd take a poll to see what readers of The700Level.com are currently listening to on a regular basis. Rather than just put up one poll with 610 WIP and ESPN 950 as the options, we thought it would be best to break it down according to the three primary listening times—morning drive, mid-days, and afternoon drive times—and post one poll on each of the next three days. The hosts and formats change dramatically for each station, and so too might the voting. We will not editorialize or opine in any way, hoping to keep the voting purely an uninfluenced reflection of your regular listening patterns. 

In the comments of each day's poll, feel free to leave the reasons for your vote—why you like the shows you listen to, what you don't like about the other option, or the pros and cons of each. As shows, hosts, and formats have changed, how you have you changed your listening habits? If you listen to one choice more than say, 60% of the time, please select that as opposed to "No preference."

Today's poll question:

Mike Missanelli Takes on Skip Bayless, Defends the Philly Rep, Likely Adds to It

I've never been a fan of the talking heads shows on ESPN and ESPN2. Fortunately, I'm at work when they're on, and I don't get home until well after the PTI/Around the Horn nonsense is over. Usually the shows strike me as a bunch of guys I don't know loudly disagreeing about the minor points of a minor story, making the discussion a little more about themselves with each parry.

Usually the combatants are current or former columnists at major papers around the country, so they often know their topics fairly well, but the format just brings out their dumbassedness (in my opinion—obviously somebody likes this stuff or they wouldn't keep rolling it out). The only context in which I know Skip Bayless is this argument-based sports coverage. So, I wasn't surprised to get in the car and hear Mike Missanelli of 950 ESPN radio fired up about something Bayless said yesterday, when in a discussion that had NOTHING to do with Philadelphia fans, teams, or anything at all related to this townl, he described an incidence of poor fan behavior as "Philly-style, rude, crude, dangerous behavior in the stands."

Bayless agreed to call into Missanelli's show yesterday, and it didn't take long to get ugly. Listen to the clip here. More after the jump.

A Fireside Chat with Charlie Manuel

The Christmas season is an awesome time of year. Sipping eggnog with family and friends while discussing Philly sports is a joy after the '08 season. There are maybe four guys we'd wish would attend our annual Christmas festivities: Clark W. Griswold, Cousin Eddie, Chase Effing Utley, and good old Charlie Manuel. In fact, there's no jollier guy I'd like to talk to meet than Uncle Cholly.

The good folks over at 950 ESPN got the chance to chat with the Phils skipper this afternoon. Jody Mac and Harry Mayes cover the typical glorious Phillies World Series topics as well as the moves to let Burrell go in favor of Raul Ibanez.

But the question you're all dying to know, what does Charlie Manuel want for Christmas?

Jody Mac to Undergo Heart Surgery

Just a quick note to send our support to great guy and outstanding sports talk radio host Jody McDonald, who will undergo heart surgery on Monday. Michael Klein reports that Jody Mac had some discomfort, but no further information on the type of procedure he's undergoing was yet available. Jody's one of the best in the business, and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Shawn Andrews on Missanelli's Show This Afternoon

The Shawn Andrews situation is clearly a situation of significant interest to most Eagles fans, both for how it affects the team, and the personal toll it's taking on the man off of the field. We just received word that Andrews will be on Mike Missanelli's show on 950 ESPN radio very shortly (I'm posting this at 3:45). If you can't listen now, we'll link to the podcast once we receive it.

Update: Here's the podcast.

Cole Hamels Talks About Phils Struggles

Cole Hamels -- who doesn't sleep, he waits -- was a guest on ESPN 950 last night with Harry Mayes. It's your typical radio interview that touches on the Phils recent struggles, the Sox and Angels, Cole's dominance, and the need for the entire team to step up.

One quote of interest, however, is Cole's response when Harry asks, "If they [Phils] were to come to you and approach you [with a long term deal] would you be interested in sitting down with them at this point in time or are you willing to just sort of wait it out?"

Lito as a Receiver? Eagles May Try It

950 ESPN's Brian Seltzer reported on Mike Missanelli's show this afternoon that the Eagles are considering using odd man out CB Lito Sheppard on offense as a receiver in certain packages.

Seltzer commented that in the past, Lito had floated the possibility of lining up at receiver to Andy Reid, but the Eagles never went for it. Now, with his starting job in the secondary taken by free agent Asante Samuel, the Eagles might be willing to grant the request to keep Lito happy in the event he can't be traded for what the front office considers his value to be. The whole idea is pretty odd (and oddly entertaining), especially considering that Lito is all of 5'10", and they've got enough undersized receivers to field an arena league team. Should be interesting to see how this one plays out...

Take a listen to a podcast of the report here.

Macnow on Blogs, 950, & Reggae

You may remember a few weeks back when we were a guest on Dan Levy's podcast. We've become rather chummy with the guys that run the show and yesterday they had on one of Philly's best sports radio personalities, Glen Macnow. You can listen to the entire interview here.

Topics range from Glen's feelings on blogs -- he likes some, doesn't like others -- to his feelings about that other radio station in Philly. The gloves come off and Glen really gives it to 950 a bit.

If you'd like a shorter clip where Glen talks about blogs and mentions us, try this one.

Buzz Bissinger Calms Down a Bit, But Sticks to His Guns

Buzz Bissinger, the brilliant and talented writer who appeared on Costas Now earlier this week, where he took the opportunity to attack Deadspin's Will Leitch (and essentially every blog of any kind), was a guest of Philadelphia 950 ESPN's Mike Missanelli Friday afternoon. Missanelli and Bissinger have both worked in the Philadelphia print media biz, but have moved on to other genres since that time.

In the interview, which can be found after the jump, Bissinger begins by expressing regret at the way he behaved toward Leitch. This was probably a wise (and somewhat respectable) choice considering the absurdity of all the accusations he had made toward Leitch and literally all blogs, which he called "profane," while cursing like a sailor on national television (this is not to say all sailors curse; I wouldn't want to paint with too wide a brush). However, he did not regret the message of his invective, which he elaborated on in the interview.

Our Interview With Mike Missanelli

Last month, both of the sports talk radio stations in Philly announced some major changes to their daily lineups. One of the biggest moves was the return of Mike Missanelli, formerly of 610 WIP, to Philadelphia, only he'd be heard a few clicks down the dial at 950 WPEN, which became an ESPN station. As most sports talk fans in Philly know, Missanelli's tenure at WIP didn't end very amicably, but he says the past is the past and he's moved on. However, Missanelli's show took over the afternoon drive time, opposite Howard Eskin, and so far, neither man has been shy about stoking the flames of competition in the time slot (thankfully). Being regular sports talk radio listeners, we thought we'd ask Mike if he'd be interested in answering a few questions about his time in New York, his on-air style, his dismissal at WIP, Stephen A. Smith, and more. 

You're back in Philly after a few years in the Big Apple. What major differences have you noticed in your years of fielding calls from the fan bases in these two cities?

The New York audience is much more subdued in their analysis and commentary of their sports. That's probably because their attention is so much more diluted by the presence of so many more teams and activities there, or it could be because we just naturally live sports so much more on a daily basis. Sports is much more an escape for us here in Philly.

How would you describe your co-host during your time in New York, one Mr. Stephen A. Smith?

I enjoyed it immensely. Steve is a really a good guy and we had a good bob and weave to the issues. Obviously, he is a major black media voice. One of the things I always admired about Stephen A, even when he was just a columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer, is that he wasn't afraid to say something that was on his mind, without regard to how people would react. That's the way I've always tried to conduct my sports talk radio life. Even though I didn't agree with everything Steve had to say, I admired that he would say it. And the fact that I disagreed with him on issues made for a better radio show. Now, I will also say that Steve is a very verbose guy, and I had to make sure that the 20 words I got in each day counted.

Henson on 950 Shakeup: I Sooo Called This and Deserve All the Credit

News of the lineup and schedule changes at 950 WPEN/ESPN have been met with mixed reviews so far, which is about as good as anyone can hope for when it comes to the sports talk radio business. One person who's never shy about voicing his opinion is Gregg Henson, 950's former former morning show host and PD. In a recent blog post, Henson states that he'd suggested these changes when he was with the station, and that they may even be why he was canned. (Having only experienced Triple-G on the airwaves, we have a different opinion, but that's neither here nor there.)

This week WPEN picked up ESPN, moved Jody MacDonald to Midday and hired a Philly sports talk veteran, Mike Missnelli to host afternoon drive. Odd, these were exactly the changes I outlined and fought for while I was the PD and in the end it cost me my job.  When I went to my bosses with this exact plan, I was seen as a malcontent who wasn't willing to work with the staff I had inherited.  I was told to shut up and give the current station a "positive spin."

After the jump, Henson takes aim at his former bosses, throwing gasoline and lit cigs all over any bridge that might have been in place.

Jay Wright: College Basketball Is a Religion in Philly

With Villanova headed to the Sweet 16 and Temple and St. Joe's looking toward next year, the local spotlight is squarely on Jay Wright and the Wildcats. And what better regional and national representative for a program is there than Wright? He says all the um... correct things, he coaches with intensity, and his team has won at least two games in the NCAA tournament three times in his seven seasons as Nova's head coach.

Rooting for another Big 5 team can be tricky business for the countless alums of Philly schools living in the area. Some treat it as a never-ending war and refuse to support anyone but their alma mater. Others drop the face paint once their team is out and support the guys left standing because they're Philly sports fans no matter what. However, although Villanova and St. Joe's have passionate fanbases, but they also seem to draw the ire of opposing teams' supporters more than the other local programs. There are a few reasons for this, but for Villanova, the most significant may that under the previous regime, they backed out of Big 5 play for a while in the hopes of avoiding the inevitable loss or two that comes along with intense rivalries. As kids, many of us became 'Nova fans when they stunned the nation in 1985, but some of that support gradually diminished when Steve Lappas was in town.

Wright brought a lot of local fans back into 'Nova Nation when he rekindled the local series and in a short time took the program back to national prominence. He showed loyalty to the program and the city when he turned down offers offers for more "prominent" coaching jobs, like Kentucky, to stay in Philly. After the jump, there's some great audio of Wright on yesterday's 950 morning show talking about the Big 5 and the passion this city has for basketball.

It's Official: Mike Missanelli Returning to Philly

We'd been speculating it might happen, but we've gotten word that it's official: Mike Missanelli is returning to the airwaves in Philly. As part of the big shake-up at 950 WPEN, Mike Missanelli will be taking over the afternoon drive time slot, with Jody MacDonald moving to 9am to 1pm and Mike Tirico's show on from 1pm to 3pm. We're big Jody Mac fans during the drive home, so Mike Miss has some considerable shoes to fill, but from what we know of him, that's the role he likes to be in. Missanelli will love being opposite Howard Eskin, and Jody Mac should bring some respectability to 950's mid-day programming, to say the least.