On The Air
by Laura Nachman
Bucks County Courier Times
August 17, 2007

Andrews Still Gets a Big Kick Out of Soccer

Comcast SportsNet's Phil Andrews, a lifelong soccer player and coach, is hoping that soccer sensation David Beckham will pump life into the sport in the United States.

“Beckham is not just a pretty boy,” Andrews said. “When healthy, he is the best player in the world. An extra 20,000 people attended the [L.A. Galaxy] game the other night to watch him play.”

Andrews just completed his first season as general manager of the Philadelphia Liberty (www.philadelphialiberty.com) women's soccer team of the Women's Professional Soccer League. Before that, he was the goalkeeper coach for the team.

“Being the general manager gave me a greater appreciation for what the GMs in town go through,” said Andrews, who even helped design the team logo.

Andrews, who was born on the Island of Cyprus, grew up playing soccer in England, Germany and Italy.

While at the University of New Hampshire, he switched to American football, but continued to play in semi-pro soccer leagues in the summer.

Besides his duties for the Liberty, he also trains players through his program, www.goalstopper.com.

No comparison

The Eagles' first preseason game against the Ravens last Monday night earned a 16 rating/27 share.

That's almost double the 9.8 rating for the Phillies-Braves game last Sunday night, which was the highest-rated televised game for the Phillies in more than 10 years. Each rating point is equivalent to about 29,000 households.

Once again, Gus Johnson, Ike Reese and Dave Spadaro will handle the announcing duties for tonight's home game against the Carolina Panthers. During the regular season, Johnson is a football announcer for CBS.

Reese was a little jittery in his debut and fell into the trap of saying “we” and “our” when talking about his former team, but for the most part was fine.

While a player, Reese was always accessible to the media, which helped him get this position. Current Eagles most likely to enter broadcasting when they retire are Jon Runyan and Jeremiah Trotter.

Carton joins WFAN

Former WIP 610-AM host Craig Carton will join Boomer Esiason on the WFAN 660-AM morning show beginning Sept. 4.

Carton, a 1991 graduate of Syracuse, worked for WIP from 1993-97 and for the last five years was one of the “Jersey Guys” on NJ 101.5-FM. Boomer and Carton will be replacing Don Imus.

Esiason will continue his announcing duties on “The NFL Today” on CBS, “Inside the NFL” on HBO, and “Monday Night Football” on Westwood One radio network.

Voicing a concern

Word is that WPEN 950-AM is keeping Glenn Foley, whose contract is set to expire this month. Foley is fine as an announcer except for one minor flaw: He can't speak.

E-MAIL: lauranachman@verizon.net