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March 26, 2006
Pouring Some Out For Mike Missanelli
WIP Puts My Favorite Host On Waivers
I will admit to being genuinely bummed out by last week's news that Philly sports-talk-radio station 610 WIP fired mid-day co-host Mike Missanelli. And not just because Missanelli has long since been my favorite WIP personality -- though that's a big part of it. I'm actually more pissed off because Missanelli's firing directly impacts my everyday quality of life out here in C@L.
I've been a loyal WIP listener for longer than I should probably admit. As in, since the seventh grade, when I would tune into Rob Charry's post-game show after Sixers games. I listened all through high school, quite possibly the Golden Years of WIP: before Cataldi got too big, and while Original Enemy Norman Braman still owned the Birds. Back then, they didn't have an overnight show, so we got syndicated national shows (would you believe I was an overnight Larry King listener?) from midnight until the morning show kicked in. There was also room for novelty shows back then -- Sonny Hill, Russell Peltz, and even the gambling show I that I didn't completely get at the time. I can absolutely blame my longtime habit of falling asleep to noise on those nights listening to WIP.
I was actually pretty shocked to discover that I couldn't get reception from my freshman year dormroom in New Jersey. I earned a brief respite sophomore year, when, if I positioned my radio just right on the window ledge facing the U-Store parking lot, I could get faint WIP reception. It was far and away my favorite part of 106 Blair Hall. Junior and senior years were barren for WIP reception; sigh. And then I left the area entirely. Sure, I would try to substitute other stations (most notably the FAN in New York, KJR out here in C@L, and ESPN Radio), but it wasn't really the same. Those other stations actually did a pretty job of talking about sports, but that wasn't exactly the appeal of WIP. WIP was more about Philly and about the particular invented sports dramas that only rarely surfaced in the national press but which everyone in Philly was well-versed. And, it turns out, I actually enjoyed the bluster and demagoguery of WIP more than the more serious sports-talk alternatives. Go figure.
As a result, any time I was back in Philly I would jones for WIP (especially during Eagles talk season, which roughly runs from Febraury to January each year). I also spent a lot of energy complaining about the lack of a 610 WIP internet stream. I just couldn't understand why WIP would spend the extra couple bucks (which had to be completely marginal, since they were owned by Infinity Broadcasting) to get the station broadcast worldwide over the web? There had to be tens of thousands of transplants (like me) who wanted to tune into a little bit of home.
You can imagine my joy last summer when WIP finally got the station on the Internet. That this coincided with my move across the country as well as the best Philly sports story in years made it all the sweeter. Sure, I was moving to C@L, but I would still be able to follow the Birds (and have some help settling into my new home) with my internet stream of WIP.
Maybe the best part of listening to WIP on the left coast was that everything was shifted ahead three hours. Meaning that the morning show (even I can't deal with Angelo and the morning show) was over before I woke up, and that my day could start each morning with the mid-day show: Mike Missanelli and Anthony Gargano.
As noted above, Missanelli has long been my favorite host on WIP. Sure, he was capable of the same sort of name-calling, rumor-mongering, and demagoguery as any of the other WIP blathermonkeys, but his schtick was usually at least about 18 percent more clever than the station average (the whole "S&M in the afternoon" thing was, in fact, actually too clever for my young brain to understand). In addition to the sports talk, Missanelli was pretty good about the movie and TV references (typically movies and TV shows that I also liked; mostly this meant mafia movies). And I thought his little ongoing gimmicks were pretty amusing; of particular note was the long-running "Who's Stealing Money in the NBA" gambit.
When I discovered that I could start each morning this fall with the Anthony and Mike show, I was pretty psyched. I'd perch my computer on the shelf in the bathroom and listen while I shaved. If my officemate wasn't around, I'd even treat myself to some time in the office as well. I got to follow the entire TO thing through the Anthony and Mike show. It was lovely.
Thus was last week's news particularly disappointing. Not only would there be no more Mike Missanelli on WIP, but my mornings officially got 43 percent less pleasant. I mean, Anthony and to-be-named-full-time-replacement are fine, but...well...it's not so much the same. Not even close. The rumor appears to be that Missanelli slugged a WIP producer during the St. Patrick's day show; something about Missanelli being pissed about some technical difficulties. This was apparently the second time Missanelli had thrown hands with a co-worker; rumor has it he shoved Angelo Cataldi in the studio last fall (for which we can hardly blame him). I mean, I guess I'd get fired too if I started punching my coworkers.
That this is the second time that he and WIP have parted ways probably means there will be no third. Sigh. I did some homework and it sounds like Missanelli isn't the happiest dude in the world. That's a bummer. I can't imagine this latest incident will do wonders for his confidence. But I hope he picks himself up and finds another job -- preferably something with a live online stream, or at least an RSS feed. Until then, we'll pour some out for you in C@L, and might even rent The Pope Of Greenwich Village (which I never actually liked all that much) in your honor.
Posted by thatkid at March 26, 2006 5:18 PM under
Philly
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Comments
Little known fact: Mike Missanelli was a primary source (w/r/t the Philadelphia fans' treatment of Randall Cunningham) in my seminal AAS 322 term paper - "The Black Quarterback Stereotype."
My other brush with WIP "greatness" was when a mink-coat clad Howard Eskin ("the King of Bling") was being driven around the Linc parking lot in a limo before an Eagles - Packers playoff game. Eskin was standing up in the limo, head sticking out of the sunroof, throwing memorabilia to a couple of lucky fans. I was one of the chosen, and caught a black dew rag, entitled "First Down Freddie" in honor of WR Freddie Mitchell. I wore the dew rag, and Freddie caught one ball that day - the 4th and 26 pass from McNabb that saved the Eagles' season. True story.
Posted by: Brad Glory at March 28, 2006 10:44 AM
I just hope that loyal readers are noting the second reference to said seminal AAS 322 paper in as many months:
http://www.thatkidinthecorner.com/mt/thatkid/archives/2006/02/does_5_get_a_pa.html
Brad, please tell me (a) you still have a copy of said paper and (b) you'd allow me to post it.
Posted by: thatkid at March 28, 2006 11:20 AM
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