As he stepped through the doors of 97.5 The Fanatic, something felt different and slightly unusual to Angelo Cataldi. A longtime employee for SportsRadio 94WIP, Cataldi was used to viewing the outlet as the competition. He made it a practice during his career to avoid listening to their programming, not wanting to be affected by what was on the air at the station. Instead, Cataldi stayed true to his unique combination of hard journalism reporting and levity, skills he had yearned to master on the air.
Sitting alongside 97.5 The Fanatic morning host and former WIP show contributor John Kincade, Cataldi explained why he chose to write his second book, LOUD: How a Shy Nerd Came to Philadelphia and Turned up the Volume in the Most Passionate Sports City in America. He reminisced about memories made during a 32-year on-air career and offered insights into his radio philosophies as Kincade listened closely. Before Cataldi arrived, he sought and received permission from his former colleagues at WIP, where he also appeared to discuss his book. This book tour, however, is the last time Cataldi intends to be behind a microphone, taking his “final bow” and entering a new era in his life.
When Cataldi retired following a disappointing Super Bowl loss by the Philadelphia Eagles to the Kansas City Chiefs, he transitioned away from a radio studio with ease. After all, he was keenly focused on writing his book and had seven weeks to do it, aiming to produce 80,000 words. Calculations determined that he would need to write approximately 2500 words per day with no days off to be on time, a mark he ended up exceeding by 12,500. By the time he was done writing it, the editing process began without his input in order to prepare the work for publishing. Times became tougher, leading Cataldi to hit a rough patch and consult a psychologist on how to cope with the fading shadow of the on-air light.
“[It has] really helped me to understand how to refocus what you’re doing with your life and what your next identity is going to be and [to] accept the fact that you’re going to go in another direction,” Cataldi said. “Now I feel much more comfortable than I did before, and I’m looking forward to seeing what life is like away from the microphone.”
Outside of appearing on a podcast about different television shows and other writing projects, Cataldi does not intend to pursue further opportunities. He believes his contentious and adversarial characteristics are firmly in the rear-view mirror of sports radio, underscored by a critical change that took place over a 24-year span.
Philadelphia city mayor and frequent caller Ed Rendell helped Cataldi and his program land 30 tickets to attend the NFL Draft in New York City to usher running back Ricky Williams to the Philadelphia Eagles with the second-overall pick. After taking a damaged bus to arrive to the event, the crowd eagerly awaited as the team’s draft selection was prepared to be announced. Upon finding out it was Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb, the section of Philadelphia sports fans directed their vitriol towards the stage in the form of vociferous boos, decrying what the organization had done. By the time McNabb retired from the league, he had made the Pro Bowl six times and was largely considered the best quarterback in franchise history.
Conversely, WIP producer Jack Fritz suggested over the summer that fans at Citizens Bank Park should give a standing ovation to Phillies infielder Trea Turner. The fans had high expectations for Turner after he inked an 11-year deal worth a reported $300 million with the team in free agency. In taking this congenial approach towards encouraging Turner for better performance, and he ended up hitting .344 over his final 47 regular-season games.
“If I had still been at WIP, I would have done everything in my power to sabotage the idea that you give a standing ovation to a guy who is failing, but it worked,” Cataldi said. “Turner became a much better player – he acknowledged that that moment helped him to turn things around and give him more confidence – and I looked in the mirror then and what I saw looking back at me was a dinosaur.”
Cataldi always sought to hold people accountable during his media career, a lesson he learned from his days attending graduate school at Columbia University. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Rhode Island in three years and worked for the Narragansett Times, eventually being promoted to an assistant editor. Norman Isaacs, an accomplished newspaper editor, served as his advisor and was incredulous when hearing Cataldi expound on how he wanted to work in sports. In that meeting, Isaacs told him that he needed to view sports as if he were covering The White House or City Hall, never shying away from asking the tough questions, nor making friends with the people involved. Moreover, he could not reveal to anyone at the university that he aspired to be a sports journalist, deflecting questions about his future by explaining that he simply was not sure where he should focus.
As a general assignment reporter at the Providence Journal-Bulletin, Cataldi utilized those principles and other lessons learned at Columbia to earn a spot in the sports department. Remembering to record his interviews helped him prove the legitimacy of a quote Boston Celtics star Larry Bird told him about wanting to retire from basketball in five years and teach dodgeball in a gymnasium class. By the time he was aware that he could potentially join The Philadelphia Inquirer, he was energized to explore the metropolis and demonstrate his style.
“I was always a contrarian; I worked off a negative perspective,” Cataldi said. “Philadelphia was ideally suited for that.”
Upon weighing his next career move six years later, Cataldi was weighing offers between The Los Angeles Times and WIP. Part of his rationale behind the decision was a disparity in remuneration, with the radio job paying him $20,000 more than remaining in newspapers. During his exit meeting with The Philadelphia Inquirer, he informed editor Jim Naughton that the only way he would stay on was to be given a job as a television critic. Naughton declined and wished him well, preceded by him elucidating to Cataldi how he did not attend Columbia just to be a “shock jock.” In response, Cataldi said he would never have that happen to him, instead explaining that he needed a break from newspapers.
Arriving at WIP, program director Tom Bigby and co-host Tom Brookshier taught him about the medium. On one of his first days on the job, Bigby explained how he needed to stop pontificating ad nauseam and effectively create entertainment. Late into his first year, Brookshier conveyed that he was sick of carrying the show, compelling Cataldi to double-down on his commitment to the craft. Shortly thereafter, Brookshier impetuously retired, handing Cataldi the keys to the morning show.
“I realized that it was a performance and who I was on the air was me amplified,” Cataldi said. “It was definitely in me; those opinions were my opinions. The way I presented them [was] more theatrically than I normally would otherwise because I was playing to an audience.”
Over the course of his sports radio career, Cataldi went up against Mike Missanelli with contributors Bob Cooney and Anthony Gargano. Combined with Glen Macnow, Howard Eskin and countless others, he was surrounded by an excessive amount of talent within a maelstrom of sports fandom. While he learned from them, the proficient on-air rosters also drove him to be his best and provided inspiration for parts of his program as well. At the same time, he knew that simply presenting and discussing information would draw a lower audience share than humor and going beyond traditional sports talk.
“It was [initially] hard to delineate between when we were giving information and when we were making fun of them,” Cataldi said. “It became clear as we went further on that we kind of needed to delineate a little better. Oftentimes people would accuse us then that we were having these big debates and acting spontaneously idiotic by design. No, we did not do that by design. We did that organically.”
Working alongside Tony Bruno and Al Morganti during the early days of the show, Cataldi started many shows indignant and apoplectic. Specifically, after an Eagles loss, he would address listeners with palpable emotion, which would oftentimes be superseded by over-the-top callers. There was a direct relationship between the Eagles’ on-field success and audience size, and it is something Cataldi quickly realized and looked to capitalize on. Although part of the medium was performative, the callers were hardly hyperbolic and indicative of the demeanor and vernacular Cataldi sought to match.
“It was done because I was hearing it from the audience and I was delivering it back to them,” Cataldi said. “It’s weird – I would go two hours and then throw a tantrum at 8:15, and I would say to myself when I went to break, ‘Why didn’t I do that at the first segment?’ I wasn’t ready to do it. I needed to feel it the way the fans felt it before I could really channel that emotion as much as I needed to.”
Cataldi trifurcates his program into three different stages each lasting a decade long, through which he evolved and adapted with changing listener habits. In the first era, the program sought to gain attention at all costs. From frequently traveling to Buffalo to cover the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he ate chicken wings at the world-famous Anchor Bar and suggested a wing-eating contest. As “Wing Bowl” grew in popularity and prevalence, the station needed to find bigger venues for the festivities. Eventually, The Spectrum housed the event that took place on the Friday before the Super Bowl and became more unwieldy over the years as safety concerns and commercialization grew in scope.
“It was as big as any annual radio promotion in the history of the medium. Not sports, anything,” Cataldi said. “There is simply no radio promotion that annually got 20,000 people at 6 in the morning, no less to see something as ridiculous as a chicken wing eating contest. No, I would argue that there was never an annual event that rivaled it in the history of the medium.”
Cataldi became enamored by sports fans and listeners throughout the city while agitating team personnel because of his disregard towards their recalcitrance. Even though WIP was a rightsholder for the Eagles throughout his tenure at the station, he never acquiesced to the team and openly detested the organization with aplomb when he felt it to be necessary.
“They hated us so much until the next negotiation for the rights and then whoever bid the most money they’d talk to,” Cataldi said. “They weren’t going to lose a dime because I was saying something negative about their team.”
As long as the content resonated with the audience, Cataldi felt he was doing his job. If someone disagreed with him on an opinion, they were welcome to go on the air and deliver a counterargument. The show gained more prestige and credibility in its second decade when it included former athletes such as Keith Jones, John Marzano and Hollis Thomas. What Cataldi understood more than anyone else was that he would outlast everyone associated with the teams and that what other people thought about him was irrelevant.
“Don’t kiss the ass of the teams you’re talking about,” Cataldi said. “…Hold them accountable; that’s the way the media works. You are not on the team. If you would like to ingratiate yourself to a coach, owner or player, let me be the first to assure you you’re not going to Sunday dinner next week. They’re only using you.”
Cataldi acknowledges that he was not the easiest person to work with. He wielded his power when possible and came off as a headstrong perfectionist. He was fixated on attaining success no matter the cost, and seldom pulled any punches. Despite receiving an education in radio from Bigby, he nearly quit WIP because of him. It took his agent negotiating a unique clause into his contract, prohibiting Bigby from criticizing or sanctioning him, which he eventually invoked in the second year of his deal. By the end of his WIP tenure, Rod Lakin was the program director, someone who Cataldi wishes had been there two decades earlier to oversee operations and assist the show.
“Rod told you when you were doing something that’s bad for the station, but he told you in a way that was acceptable,” Cataldi said. “He was the most diplomatic guy that I dealt with.”
Lakin helped select the new morning show featuring Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie. The former midday team took over following Cataldi’s retirement after the Super Bowl. Since Cataldi’s departure, WIP has remained a force in the ratings although the station this week received news that Jon Marks was abruptly leaving afternoon drive. The station has become younger, and Cataldi is glad to see newer voices getting an opportunity to prove themselves.
“I’m appreciative that I was in the era that I was in where we were the biggest show in sports in Philadelphia for most of our run,” Cataldi shared. “I’m happy to not be in there anymore and have to fight not just the other shows now, but the podcasts and the audiobooks and all the other things that are infringing on that, so I don’t know exactly where it’s going, but I’m glad I won’t be a part of it.”
When people think back on his time in sports media, Cataldi wants them to realize that he genuinely cared about the listeners, going so far as to dedicate his book to them. His morning show on WIP catered to the audience, something Cataldi says was an unmistakable part of his approach. The Philadelphia sports radio icon hopes that people are cognizant that he spoke their language and channeled what made Philly so special. It is why for the final decade of his show – and most conspicuously in the final years – he dedicated the program to them and utilized more callers than ever before.
“That wasn’t part of any master plan,” Cataldi said. “God knows I didn’t think I was going to be in the job for 32 years. It was listening to what was happening and evolving, and that’s why the show that we finished with was so completely different.”
