On
The Air
by Laura Nachman
Bucks
County Courier Times
March
23, 2007
It’s
1993 All Over Again
Former
Phillies pitcher Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams is joining the WIP morning
show as a regular contributor. He
will make appearances once a week (maybe that’s how Jim Fregosi should’ve
utilized him).
Though
it hasn’t been officially announced, sports industry insiders say that
Williams will also provide analysis for “Phillies Post Game Live” on
Comcast SportsNet this season. He’ll
relieve John Marzano, who is going to mlb.com and will do only 30-games this
year instead of the one-hundred games he was initially supposed to work.
This
Sounds Crazy, But It’s True
Lenny
“The Dude” Dykstra is dolling out financial advice these days as a
columnist for www.thestreet.com
and a guest commentator on Fox News Channel.
What’s next? Kim Batiste giving cooking tips on the Food Network?
Also,
it doesn’t look like John Kruk’s Saturday afternoon show will return to
WPEN 950-AM this year. According to program director Gregg Henson, Kruk will
probably continue to call in to various shows.
Kruk has another “little” job as a baseball analyst on ESPN.
Local
Man Fills Washington Posting
Pennsbury
High’s Andy Siegel will be calling shots as the producer of the new show
“Washington Post Live” on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic in Washington,
D.C.
The
live daily show, which has the same format as Philadelphia’s “Daily News
Live” on Comcast SportsNet, will feature “Washington Post” sports
reporters Tom Boswell, Mike Wise, and others.
Of course, “Post” reporters Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon have
other obligations on ESPN.
Siegel,
a producer for Comcast SportsNet for five years, spent the last two years as a
sports reporter and anchor for the CBS affiliate in Altoona, PA, but is
happier behind the scenes.
“I
love making television programs. We’ll be able to dip into the world of
politics and sports here,” the University of Maryland graduate said.
The
show airs weekdays from 5 – 6:30 p.m. and can be viewed online at www.washingtonpost.com.
WIP
and Phillies Strike Out?
Sports
industry observers are wondering why sports station WIP 610-AM did not
broadcast shows from the Phillies’ spring training headquarters in
Clearwater, Florida this season.
Though
some believe that the Phillies did not invite WIP to spring training because
of the station’s criticism of the team, both the Phillies and WIP denied
that theory.
Phillies
public relations director Larry Shenk wrote, “WIP was invited to spring
training. And, we have had guests
on the station during spring training: David Montgomery, Tom Gordon, Adam
Eaton, Chris Coste, Shane Victorino and Matt Smith.
WIP
program director Tom Lee also confirmed in an email that it was WIP’s
decision not to go to spring training this year, though he did not elaborate
on the reason.
Meanwhile,
several other radio outfits including WYSP, WPEN, “The Tony Bruno
Show,” XM Radio, WMMR, WXTU, KYW, WPHT and WDEL, made the trip (that
explains the preponderance of poorly dressed, overweight, balding men in
Clearwater.)
New Voices
There
are a couple of new voices on WIP. Behind-the-scenes person Jason Myrtetus
gets some on-air time Saturday night at midnight. And Philadelphia native
Sandy Penner is getting some air-shifts on the weekend.
Penner, a graduate of Syracuse most recently worked at a sports radio
station in Charlotte, North Carolina, before getting fired in October.
Saturday’s
snowstorm in Philadelphia forced a few reporters including Fox29’s Bill
Vargus and CBS3’s Steve Bucci to stay in Chicago an extra day after the
Villanova loss to Kentucky in the NCAA’s.
There’s
No “Vain” without “Vai”
NBC10
sports director Vai Sikahema, 44, has dropped 25-pounds since the beginning of
December.
In email he wrote, “I’ve done it the only way I know how - old-school style. I jog five miles everyday but Sunday. I lift weights every other day and do crunches/abs on days I don’t lift. I carry bags of my favorite fruits like mango for snacking. I feel better, I think I look better, and I sleep better. (Watch out Vai, with Amy Freeze out of the picture, Channel 10 will probably want to use you for a sweeps story in May).
No
CN-11