Who says you can’t go home again? In the case of former Eagles defensive lineman Hugh Douglas, he’s heading home to Philadelphia to be a part of the new 94WIP lineup that will go into effect the week after the Eagles season ends. Douglas will team up with Joe Giglio to host the new midday show from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and he is pumped up to be back where it all began for him in radio.
“It’s exciting,” said Douglas, who returns to Philadelphia after a stint hosting the morning show on 92.9 The Game in Atlanta.
“I cut my teeth in Philadelphia radio working with Angelo Cataldi and Howard Eskin. Howard was the guy who actually made the phone call and told me if I wanted to do radio then I would have a job working at WIP. Working with two radio greats and being taught by two radio greats and then being able to go back to the station where I actually started working in the city that I love…very exciting.”
Douglas joins a revamped lineup at WIP in which there will be a former Eagle hosting shows for 12 straight hours from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. A first-round pick of the New York Jets in 1995, Douglas was traded to the Eagles where he blossomed into a Pro Bowl player. With the Eagles, Douglas was a three-time Pro Bowler from 2000 to 2002 and was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2000.
A member of the Eagles’ Hall of Fame, Douglas is looking forward to being part of the station’s new look and sound following the retirement of the legendary Angelo Cataldi.
“It’s exciting because it’s going to be different,” said Douglas. “But I think some of the things that Angelo did was one of the reasons why he lasted as long as he did in the business and why he is as loved or hated, whichever way you look at it, he always had something to say and he said it in a way where it was humorous and people remembered him for the things that he did.”
Douglas learned a lot about the business from Cataldi. It was during his first tour of duty at WIP where he was taught by the Philadelphia radio legend not to take himself too seriously and that relying on talking solely about sports would be “boring”.
He learned that the key to being a good sports talk show host is being able to relate to the listeners.
“The one thing that I do remember that he taught me was people want to feel like they know you and people want to feel like they connect to you and that’s one thing that I think that I bring to the table,” said Douglas.
“Nobody likes somebody who knows it all. They like somebody that you feel like you could cozy up to at a bar and have a conversation about sports and that’s kind of the way that I view it. I think people warm up to you when they feel like they can connect with you and that they can come up to you and speak to you.”
Like a sponge, Douglas soaked up everything that Cataldi taught him and also has absorbed everything that he learned from Howard Eskin.
Those lessons included giving your take on a sports topic and sticking to it.
“You have to have an opinion and whether it’s right or wrong, it’s yours,” said Douglas. “You gotta have thick skin in this business because everybody is not going to like you but I guarantee that the people who don’t like you are the ones that are probably listening to you the most.”
And there’s no question that in a sports-crazed town like Philadelphia, there are going to be people that tune in to hear Douglas because they love him and there will be those that will still tune in to hear what he has to say even if they are not so fond of him.
That’s what hosting a sports talk show in Philadelphia is all about… engaging with the passionate fan bases of all of the pro teams. And that’s a big reason why Douglas is happy to be back.
“You walk around the city and you see Phillies t-shirts, you see Sixers t-shirts…I mean this is a four for four town man,” said Douglas. “This town loves sports. They love talking sports. They love their Eagles. It’s going to be exciting to actually be in a city where everybody is passionate about their sports.”
Now that comment could be construed as a knock against Atlanta, the city where Douglas has been working. But it’s not.
“Not saying they aren’t passionate in Atlanta…let me be clear… they’re very passionate in Atlanta,” said Douglas. “But in Philadelphia, it’s just different man. We don’t really talk that much college football. Down in Atlanta, it’s a big college football town. Up here, it’s all about the professional sports and all about the players.”
The exact start date of the new midday show is still to be determined and it will depend on how far of a run the Eagles make in the playoffs. Douglas and Giglio could be on the week after a wild-card of divisional round loss or they could be on the week after the Super Bowl and maybe even a championship parade.
Douglas doesn’t mind waiting, especially if it means that the Eagles would be hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“If I don’t start working until the middle of February or late February, I’m okay with that,” said Douglas. “I will hang out here in Philadelphia, I’ll get me a couple of cheesesteaks, I will run around the city and ingratiate myself to the fans, catch some Sixers games, catch some Flyers games and just hang out until then. I am not that pressed to start a show especially if it doesn’t turn out the way we want to turn out.”
However it turns out, Hugh Douglas is proof that you can go home again…home to Philadelphia, the city that he loves and home to WIP where his broadcasting career began.
Peter Schwartz writes weekly sports radio features for Barrett Media. He has been involved in New York sports media for over three decades, and has worked for notable brands such as WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WCBS 880, ESPN New York, and FOX News Radio. Peter has also served as play by play announcer for the New Yok Riptide, New York Dragons, New York Hitmen, Varsity Media and the Long Island Sports Network. You can find him on Twitter @SchwartzSports or email him at DragonsRadio@aol.com.
