Harry Mayes is making the rounds.

The former 97.5 the Fanatic host spoke with Kyle and Russ on Crossing Broadcast two weeks ago, then linked up with Tony Bruno to do his podcast about 24 hours later.

This week he appeared with another former co-host, Rob Ellis, for “The Sitdown” podcast on Sports Radio 94 WIP’s “Go Birds” network.

It’s an excellent podcast. Truly. It’s Rob and Harry unfiltered, talking for 15 minutes about the current state of the radio business before shifting into Eagles/Sixers/Phillies/etc without bullshit disruptions from “Bob in South Philly” or other jabroni callers.

Regarding the radio stuff, one of most intriguing passages expounds on what Harry told Russ and Kyle about keeping the show on track and sticking to Eagles coverage without deviating or getting goofy.

Rob explains the interactions they had with 97.5 bosses on this topic:

Ellis: “You and I would fight this daily battle of, the fun police would try to stomp out our good times. We won’t name names, but this stuff would go on, and you and I always thought the best part of the show is when we would go off the rails. We would get lectures about going off the rails. We were like two kids coming into the principal’s office. We would walk in and be like, ‘oh God, here we go,’ right? We would sit down and (the boss would say) ‘um.. around 11:06, you guys went off the rails.’ Literally 11:06, he, this individual, there’s technology now where you can literally break down every second of a radio show. You and I would start talking about something pop culture, or whatever -”

Mayes: “Well in your defense, you would kind of like to bring it back on track, because you realized, you had the guy on your shoulder telling you to get it back on track, and I would take it further off the rails.”

Ellis: “I was trying to keep us on the rails, so to speak. But secretly I’m loving every second of it. So we would get yelled at… and you and I would sort of put up a fight and defend it, then we’d get beaten down to the point where we’d be like, ‘alright, I guess all we can do is sports for every second of every minute.’ And you and I would say to each other secretly, ‘some day we’re just going to do whatever the hell we want.'”

I’m sure that’s former program director Matt Nahigian they’re talking about. Sources tell me he was all about snuffing out the fun in order to rehash the same boring shit over and over again.

Another interesting passage speaks to me. It speaks volumes to me. It’s six inches in front of my face and screaming the words right at me.

It’s about listener phone calls and their role in sports radio:

Ellis: “You know what phone calls are to a boss? And I’m not talking about Spike Eskin, who is the boss around here. I’ve never had this conversation with him once, and that’s the truth. I’m talking about (program directors) we’ve had in the past, and we’ve had a bunch. It’s like a safety blanket to them. If they see it, if they’re in their office, a lot of program directors and bosses will have a call screener board. So they can see what’s going on in addition to listening to the show. It’s almost like the lines are a safety blanket. If (calls are) there, great, and they can sort of go about their business and keep doing what they’re doing… but if they see that there aren’t any phone calls, then they go into panic mode. Meantime, the truth of the matter is that when you’re working, when you’re solo, yes callers are great, and you appreciate that people are willing to take the time and give you their input, so this is not a knock on callers, but when you’re doing a show with someone you like or you have flow and chemistry with, you don’t need (calls) necessarily to have a very interesting show. The caller thing is very interesting, because I have a lot of people who listen to the show who will say, ‘man, I hate listening to the callers, I just want to hear from you guys.’ And then there will be other people who say, ‘that caller made an unbelievable point.'”

I hate listener phone calls about 98% of the time because generally they disrupt the flow of a show and offer nothing to the conversation. Sometimes you get the funny and/or unique guy who makes you laugh, like Jose from Norristown (what up), but “Tony from Mayfair” adds nothing to the show.

For whatever reason, I feel like the more interesting callers dial up the stations during the weekend. Glen Macnow and Ray Didinger seem to get more educated listeners. I think the people who call Devon Givens after a Sixers game make good points because those are reactionary calls from people who are more tuned in to what just happened on the court.

Otherwise, I could do without “Jimmy from Manayunk” or “Mikey from Marlton.” I’d prefer to listen to the hosts with more interviews with writers and analysts.

Anyway, this is really good stuff from Harry and Rob and I would recommend listening: