Howard Eskin and Angelo Cataldi have not always been each other’s favorite people. That doesn’t mean there is a lack of respect between them.
Cataldi is set to call it a career on Friday. Before he leaves 94WIP and sports radio behind, he wants listeners to know what Howard Eskin means to everyone in Philadelphia that makes a living talking about sports.
“A lot of what I do, I attribute to listening to you,” Cataldi said on his Thursday show.
Eskin began his radio career in Philadelphia in 1972. He started as a disc jockey before switching to sports in 1986.
“I realized I could not do this without pointing out that you cleared the way for all of us,” Angelo Cataldi told Eskin, who was in studio Thursday morning. “You were a sports talk pioneer in this town and you, right from the beginning, set a template that when we were angry, we would tell people why we were angry and we would point fingers.”
Eskin said that his first boss at WIP really deserves credit for setting the tone. He is the one that told Howard Eskin he did not have to be nice to everyone. Eskin says it took him 3 months before he really took the advice to heart.
Now that the sun is setting on Angelo Cataldi’s career, he wondered how much longer Eskin expected to be on the air in Philadelphia. In addition to his work at WIP, Eskin is also the sideline reporter for the Philadelphia Eagles’ radio broadcast.
Eskin scoffed at the idea that he may retire saying “I can’t spell that word.”
“We’ve had our times, but I want to say this,” Angelo Cataldi said. “I want to thank you for clearing the way for the rest of us.”
