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Josh Innes Calls Jason Kelce a "House Negro" and Then Apologizes, Kelce Responds

Before Doug Pederson's introductory press conference today, WIP's Josh Innes inexplicably called Jason Kelce a "house negro" due to him appearing at the press conference. Apparently, Kelce is to much of a "Yes-Man" for Innes, and he made a horrible connection between that and slavery.

 

Innes would then apologize on-air, likely at the behest of people behind the scenes at WIP.

 

Kelce would respond.

Josh Innes and Mike Missannelli Came Face to Face Today at Eagles Practice

Today at Eagles practice, Josh Innes and Mike Missanelli confronted each other, or, better yet, had a nice friendly conversation with each other. The photo above, via Crossing Broad, is from a fan in attendance. Yup, they were pretty close to each other.

Jimmy Kempski then sent out this Tweet:

Josh Innes talking to Mike Missanelli here at Eagles camp. "Hey, how can we drum up some dumb bs feud?" pic.twitter.com/0pdSR5mWhE

— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) August 19, 2015

 

Then, word hit that Innes was escorted out of the stadium. Innes went on the Mike and Ike Show on 94WIP to divulge exactly what happened. Given Innes' history of being transparent on the radio [in speaking with multiple sources, Innes hasn't lied on air when talking about this radio wars thing, and that's coming from both sides.]

But, you can formulate your own opinion. Innes will likely address this more on his show today and Missanelli... might. Good stuff today.

 

The State of Mayne: Opinion on Tony Bruno Leaving the Innes and Bruno Show

Derek Mayne has been a BleedPhilly.com contributor before, and absolutely loves his Philly sports teams. Mayne was the one who got me to listen to Josh Innes on the 6pm time slot. Otherwise, I might not be invested much in the local radio wars, and war within the infantry. Below are Derek's words, lamenting on the rise and fall of the Innes and Bruno Show.


Let me state this as clearly as possible so anyone reading this does not misinterpret – “I am a Josh Innes fan, I have listened since day one, and I am a Tony Bruno fan.”

Now that’s out of the way, I am glad Tony Bruno and Josh Innes are no longer together.

I was a late-comer to Tony Bruno back when he was on 97.5 The Fanatic. I enjoyed his show. It had personality. It had a ‘feel good’ vibe about it. Most of all, it was entertaining. I never went to Tony Bruno for his sports opinions. I listened to be entertained while casually talking sports. I enjoy sports talk, but not the mundane repetitive topics of the Philly sports radio environment. You can only hear a host's opinion on the same topic a certain tolerable amount of times before it becomes completely annoying. Tony Bruno and his show had done well in keeping us entertained and also talking sports. Unfortunately, where it lacked was his commitment which seemed kind of obvious. It almost felt like Tony took as much time away from the show as he did host it. So when his show was cut from the rotation at 97.5, I was not surprised and I was not too disappointed.

When the news came that Tony Bruno would be joining forces with Josh Innes to take down the mighty Missanelli, I was excited. Innes is entertaining and Bruno is entertaining. Innes can talk sports from a national view, and Bruno can talk sports from a regional view. Bruno could maybe keep Innes on topic and prevent him from going off on some unnecessary tangent (even though most of the time they are entertaining, sometimes it is a bit too much) Also, maybe Bruno could help Innes’s image of being an out of towner. This partnership could really work!

I was wrong.

The problem with this show for me was two things. One, Bruno can not hold his own when it comes to sport talk. Two, Bruno thrives in a Bruno environment.

A sad realization I came to a month or two ago was that Tony Bruno offers practically nothing towards sports conversation. The so-called “Flyers expert” barely knew anything about the current situation of the orange and black.  He could barely keep up with callers.  I normally would not gripe about hosts not knowing much about the Flyers (since Macnow, Al Morganti, and possibly Rhea Hughes are probably the only ones who can hold a conversation about hockey), but when you boast of your knowledge about the Flyers and being a ‘Flyer guy’, you need to bring something to the table. It did not stop at hockey. When it came to other sports debates, he often held the stance of what your two or three game watching a year Uncle would have. He obviously was not as prepared and as knowledgeable as he use to be. It sometimes felt as though Innes would push him in a direction to help him keep up, or move on to avoid embarrassing him.

Bruno does not do well when everything is not about Bruno. This is not bad. I am not saying this to demean him in any way. I like him as a host. I enjoyed when he played a good side-kick to Josh Innes. The problem is, he is not a good sidekick and that is the role in which he was stuck. Tony Bruno NEEDS the Tony Bruno Show. He needs to be able to drive the conversation to his strong points. He obviously has a lot going on outside of the sports world. He is like the liaison to the extremely casual sports fan. He will speak to you nicely, ‘drop some knowledge on you’, and move on. He cannot get into in depth conversations about sports or formulate opinions with strong arguments behind them. Maybe he once could, but he cannot anymore.

I hope this split does not hurt either of these hosts. I hope Innes continues to find success in Philadelphia and settles in with a new host who compliments him well.  I hope WIP Operations Manager Andy Bloom gives him someone who can go back and forth with him. Someone who can hold their own in a sports debate while also pulling Innes back when he goes a little too far. It will probably end up being Jody Mac, but I do not think Jody Mac can help keep that show at its level.  Jody and Innes are good together. But not great. Hopefully we get to hear some more Farzy and the Bear with Josh Innes and Mark Farzetta.

I hope Tony Bruno continues his success, which it is fair to say he will. Everyone knows Tony Bruno is a well-connected guy. We do not know if he really is out of radio for good. But we do know he will be back doing something in some fashion outside of his podcast. And he will probably be successful.


So we pour one out (one last time) for the Innes and Bruno show…

Is Mike Missanelli Feeling the Heat from the Ratings War Already?

Photo credit: Rob Tornoe/Philly.com

 

Short answer: Yes. But let's delve.

For the past week or so, 97.5 The Fanatic afternoon host, Mike Missanelli, had sort of let his inhibitions flow and decided to remarkably go after his competition, WIP's Josh Innes and Tony Bruno - something he'd consistently said in the past he would not ever do. Sure, maybe Innes and Bruno talk about Mikey Miss a little too much during their show, but right now, they have all the clout necessary to do so. They're winning the ratings war at this point, so I can't say I blame them. The gloating might strain on people, but I don't think I listen enough to allow that to get to me. I can't sit in front of a radio for five straight hours and listen to sports talk. I used to be able to because of the job I had, but I simply just cannot do that now. So I can pick and choose when I listen. And it doesn't matter what time of day it is or what day it is, Missanelli is sounding more and more like Howard Eskin each day. And that's something nobody in Philadelphia enjoyed.

This time, the audio brought to you by Crossing Broad. Transcription also available here.

 

 

So, Innes - who always said on air that one of his main goals was to beat Missanelli in the ratings, even when he was on the 6pm-10pm shift - has clearly already gotten into Mikey Miss's head. He threw the shot at Innes and Bruno being the "clown show" when WIP announced the new show during Wing Bowl 23 [which I conveniently covered that day and got my video on ESPN, no big deal], but that was clearly a retaliation to hearing all about the "Bitchanelli" stuff from Innes.

Fast forward to May and June, where the radio ratings have certainly balanced to one side of the scale, and that's in favor of WIP. Anthony Gargano, who undertook a huge challenge into going head-to-head with Angelo Cataldi, was apparently hailed as the savior for the station, especially with the way he left WIP. Kyle Scott reported Gargano was offered a lowball contract, refused to sign it and ultimately faded into obscurity for three months before popping up April 1st on 97.5.  

Gargano, while still with WIP, went to Innes one day after a show and confronted him - in what was much ado about nothing I've been told more than once - clearly told Missanelli what he wanted to hear, whether it was true or not. So Missanelli's running with his story, reporting it as fact that Innes "cowered in fear" when approached by Gargano, when he literally has no facts to back it up. I have no facts to back up that it didn't happen, except from what I've been told. The same goes for Mike Missanelli. So when he says he knows something as a fact, you absolutely, positively know he's bullshitting you 100%. He's probably telling you what he's been told. From one person. Who hates Josh Innes.

And here's another little nugget. Regarding Glen Macnow's disappearance from the afternoon show, do you really think it was just a coincidence he left the show but was kept on the WIP payroll? Certainly, he began working with KYW radio and started a podcast [Bar Talk with Joe Sixpack] because he had a little more time on his hands, but his weekend radio shows on WIP with Ray Didinger are probably the best overall show on the station. WIP would have been crazy to get rid of him at that point, so they kept him around. It was a smart move, all things considered.

Andy Bloom's mistake wasn't that he decided to replace Macnow on the afternoon show, it was who he picked to supplant him. Rob Ellis and Gargano were a terrible team together, and I really can't blame Ellis for that. His radio show from 6pm-10pm was really good and informative, and Ellis was engaging to his audience. He didn't talk down to them or have a condescending attitude towards them. Being put with Gargano almost ruined Ellis' radio career. And if he does join the 97.5 ship, I hope it's as a solo act. But I digress.

This all comes back to Missanelli and his insecurity with the ratings that have now been made public, courtesy of Josh Innes, Crossing Broad, and Bleed Philly. He's completely rattled and has taken to bringing up the "clown show" on his show without being prompted by Innes, Bruno or anybody else. He isn't able to throw his "Do you know who I am?" weight around anymore, and it's getting to him.

The war's just getting started.

So Here's How the Innes-Gargano Confrontation Went Down at the WIP Studios

 

Stemming from the radio ratings being made public yesterday morning, Josh Innes and Mike Missanelli decided to have a field day today hurling insults at one another today, culminating in a Missanelli charge that Innes "wet his pants" during a confrontation with Gargano in the WIP studios after one of Gargano and Ellis' afternoon shows. Missanelli teased telling the story of the confrontation on his radio show, in what appears to be the 5:00 hour, with some pot shots from his producer. Here's what Mikey Miss said:

 

A caller called into Innes and Bruno and gave cliff notes to Innes on what Missanelli said, and here was Innes' response:

 

So, to recap: Things happened. Stuff was said. No punches. Josh may or may not have wet underwear.

Josh Innes and Tony Bruno Beat Mike Missanelli in the Ratings... Again

Photo credit: CBS Philly

 

For months now, Philadelphia sports talk radio in the afternoon has been an all-out war between WIP's Innes and Bruno combination vs. The Fanatic's Mike Missanelli. Kyle Scott over at Crossing Broad has done a tremendous job in documenting all of the Philly sports talk radio wars as far back as December, which included providing ratings of 94WIP and 97.5 The Fanatic before and after Josh Innes and Tony Bruno took over the WIP afternoon slot vacated by Anthony Gargano and Rob Ellis. In a monumental turnaround, Gargano's exit from WIP and Innes' promotion to the afternoons proved instrumental in the station's ratings turnaround.

Late last night, I was given the ratings for the month of May. Already showing a huge turnaround in the ratings in previous months, WIP strengthened their listenership since Innes and Bruno have taken over the 1-6pm time slot. Measured by Arbitron's Portable People Meter, WIP is actually ranked first overall in the 25-54 male demo with a 10.0 [total % of radio listeners tuned into WIP in the Philly market], and although coming down from 10.3 in April, they're still in first by a wide margin. The next highest share is WMMR with an 8.0, with WPEN coming in 4th at 6.9.

With the Philly listening audience growing increasingly frustrated with the - for lack of a better phrase - same old shit, WIP decided to make a move for the future of their station. It's only been a few months, and the station has already shown it's made the right decision in pairing Innes and Bruno to take on Missanelli head-to-head. With Missanelli regularly killing Gargano in the ratings, the two are now on the same team - and both are getting hammered. Angelo Cataldi has built an empire in the morning on WIP, and not even Anthony Gargano can topple it. The only chance 97.5 has of even making a dent in that number in the morning is when Cataldi retires, and even when that happens - if WIP inserts Innes in that slot - they won't be losing any numbers at all.

So, one of the main reasons I think Innes and Bruno have dominated since taking over? Because they're different. People who listen to sports talk radio all day probably have the more mundane jobs in the world, and that's okay. I was in there before. Sometimes I would actually take Howard Eskin seriously. But with Innes comes controversy, and as we all know, controversy creates interest. Whether it's good or bad, controversy gets the numbers. It's a proven equation. 

There's only so many minutes in a day to talk about the NFL and NBA drafts. The Phillies absolutely suck. The Flyers are... well, the Flyers. After listening to the sports talk radio hosts that have come and gone since the early 00s, I'll gladly listen to a show that bills itself as a variety show over a pure sports talk show. Not to mention it's fairly obvious that callers can disagree with those WIP hosts and still be given a platform to voice their opinion, whereas the guy who channels his inner Howard Eskin during 2-6pm on 97.5 doesn't want to hear your different opinion. The listening audience has caught up, and it's about time. 

The midday numbers weren't made available to me, so I can't speak on the 10am-2pm numbers for each station. But afternoon sports talk in Philly? WIP owns it. Morning sports talk? No contest.

To the numbers...

Your Weekend Rundown: Super Bowl and Wing Bowl Edition

Pete caroll texting the offensive coordinator pic.twitter.com/cc3rxRskXJ

— ADC (@adctennis) February 2, 2015

 

 

 

Pete Caroll trying to explain what the hell he was thinking.

"Really, what happened down there, We went to three receivers, they sent in their goal-line people. We had plenty of downs and timeouts. We really didn't want to run against their goal-line group right there. We would have subbed for third or fourth down. We would have used our timeout and would have taken those shots. That's it. We call the play.

"It's a miraculous play the kid made to get in front of the route. It's a play that really tries to keep him from making that play. I told those guys, that's my fault, totally. Why don't you just run it? That's a real good thought. But we had plenty of time to win the game. In our minds, we thought we would have on third or fourth down. That's how we were playing for third and fourth down, given the time left. But it didn't work out that way."

 

That Super Bowl had one of the greatest endings in history - from Jermaine Kearse's miraculous catch to Russell Wilson's boneheaded interception to the Seahawks starting a brawl because they can't lose with dignity - the end of that game was about as exciting as I've ever seen. The commercials probably brought down your mood, but they were all light and comical after the game was over. More on that later. I just know that if I'm Russell Wilson in that situation, knowing I am the quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks for the next ten years, and about to sign a new contract that's probably going to be the biggest in NFL history - I'm changing that play call at the goal line. A pass? With Marshawn Lynch behind you? There's nothing about that that makes sense, and I don't care what Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson, or Andy Reid says about it. Bad call. If you're going to be the franchise quarterback of your team, you need to become the leader. The leader that changes plays at the line of scrimmage. When you're that close to the end zone. With Marshawn Lynch behind you. I just don't get it. And it made this play all for naught.

 

Some other highlights from last night:

Katy Perry channeled her inner PSA.

 

She also channeled the late Bam Bam Bigelow.

 

this picture is fantastic pic.twitter.com/m3SFXrNXYt

— Eric Kay (@ekaycbs) February 2, 2015

 

Sherman, how much yall lose by? pic.twitter.com/aGuWbImjEH

— 6god dragon (@DinelAlic) February 2, 2015

Doug Baldwin pooped a football after he scored. NBC cut away from it.

Photo credit: Matt Slocum

 

Sherman's reaction after Wilson's interception.

 

Seahawks haven't learned how to lose with dignity.

Joel Embiid was rooting for the Packers.

 

GO PACKERS BRO pic.twitter.com/6CBYcb0lO9

— Joel-Hans Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) February 2, 2015

Check out some of our sponsors and help support Bleed Philly.

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-$4 tickets for the Sixers-Nuggets game at Wells Fargo Center tomorrow night.

 

-The Islanders come to town on Thursday, and the Flyers need a win to increase their chances to make the playoffs. The Islanders are probably the best story this season in the NHL. It promises to be a great divisional game. Get your tickets here.

 

-Wildfire Radio keeps growing, and this year figures to be their most profitable yet - in only their second year! Check out The Scoop Philly with Anthony SanFilippo and Rob Maaddi, The Magnificient Bastards with Brian Startare and Darren DeGaetano, and more! Check out more at WildfireRadio.com.

 

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Sale ends Wednesday.

 

-Check out WooderIce.com for the most up-to-date information about events and happenings in and around the city. You can also locate their ad banner on the right. Wooder Ice is your scoop to everything Philly.

 

Also, we'll be unveiling a new joint venture in the near future, and I think you'll be very interested in what we're going to offer. That's all I can say as of now.

Now, onto the rundown.

_ 

Wing Bowl 23 saw a new champion and a new record broken. Here's the comprehensive breakdown of what went down at Wing Bowl 23.

 

Mick Foley was disqualified from Wing Bowl for shoving wings into his fanny pack. ESPN used my video on Around the Horn and Olbermann, with permission. That was a pretty cool moment for me. It was also featured on The Big Lead and USA Today.

 

Covering Wing Bowl was quite the experience, but I enjoyed every moment of it. A lot of the negative attention it receives stems from individual experiences, so I can't fault people for that. But my experience was nothing short of fantastic, and I'm glad I was able to attend. Of course, it also gave us this gem of Chris Christie falling flat on his ass in the WIP studios back in the summer.

 

Video -

 

 

The Flyers have won four games in a row. The Phillies signed Chad Billingsley. Yawn.

 

Jeremy Maclin doesn't think there's a financial issue for the Eagles to keep both him and LeSean McCoy.

 

Speaking of Shady, ESPN surprised him with two fans of his live on the air during his SportsCenter segment on Friday afternoon.

 

Conan O'Brien and Marshawn Lynch happen to be the perfect match.

 

Suzy Kolber teared up talking about the late Stuart Scott on ESPN.

 

Darrelle Revis will probably re-sign with the Patriots, but two other AFC East teams are going to go hard after him. Maybe the Eagles will surprise us all and make a play for him.

 

The Falcons are being investigated for piping in crowd noise at the Georgia Dome.

 

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo destroyed a basketball.

 

Video here.

 

A college basketball game ended in an almost brawl. No, it was not in Philly.

 

Insult to injury.

 

Tony Bruno was on with Keith Olbermann on Friday. Here's this week's version of the Bruno Bash.

 

Speaking of Bruno, he and Josh Innes will be teaming up and taking over 94WIP's Afternoon show beginning this week.

 

The NFL's anti-domestic violence policy is still a joke.

 

Check out this weeks' Saturday Night Live cold open featuring Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, and Pete Carroll.

Nick Diaz didn't care much for Anderson Silva's much anticipated return to the octagon and UFC on Saturday night. Full fight highlights after the jump.

After One Year, Philly Still Doesn't Get Josh Innes

 

Last night was the first night in a long time I decided to listen to Josh Innes' night show from 6pm-10pm on SportsRadio 94WIP. You see, this was a big deal, because I kept the Flyers game on mute so I could listen to him. Innes entertains me. Most of the people who call into his show and get put on air seemingly don't get his schtick, despite Innes being on the air for over a year in this city. He still is looked at as an outsider and not a "Philly guy," which, for some reason, is held against him [I enjoy a perspective from someone not from here - it's refreshing]. People have called him a troll due to his failure to become a pro-Philly guy in the sports world. So much so that he's kind of taken the term "troll" to new heights. 

Innes incorporated a "trolling segment" into his show in which he lets his audience know in advance that the following segment will be the trolling segment. He's not exactly trolling you - he's telling you he's going to troll you because I'm guessing a lot of the population of Philadelphia doesn't understand what trolling is. Last night, his trolling included hating on Brian Dawkins and loving Donovan McNabb. It's pretty easy to do this on radio, because people can just tune in to the radio whenever they want, and if they miss the segment prior in which Josh Innes explains the next segment will be nothing but a troll segment, then they don't really know what's going on. And a confused listener makes for the best caller. At least in this case.

But, I know it's trolling, and I think it's hilarious. I'm sure the people over at WIP do, too. That's not to say I'll listen every single night, but entertaining radio is entertaining radio, and I'll listen to whatever entertains me. Some people won't listen to Innes, and that's their right. But I don't think he's leaving any time soon.

I think my favorite last night was the first caller, who ended his call with, "eat my balls!" It was off to a great start. Listen to the entire segment after the jump, or click here.