Hello all; I’m back from vacation. Bob did a fantastic job running the site over the last six days, so let’s give him a roaring round of applause. A lot of great Phillies stuff from “Big Bet Bob.”

It’s time to get it back to the Eagles, but before we do, let’s talk about this list of WIP Morning Show callers. It’s their “Sweet 16” –

I don’t wanna go Negadelphia right off the bat here, but unfortunately most of these callers are automatic channel changers. When you hear their name you frantically palm the dashboard, just trying to get another station on. Maybe you land on John Kincade, or Rich Zeoli, or Preston and Steve, but it doesn’t matter; you’re just trying to escape.

You may be familiar with many of these individuals because of past appearances Crossing Broad. Butch from Manayunk got an entire column dedicated to him, titled “Opinion: It’s Time to Ban “Butch from Manayunk” From All Eagles-Related Events.”

I wrote the following back then, after he “serenaded” Greg Ward and Vinny Curry with a terrible song at a live event:

Butch from Manayunk needs to be banned from all Eagles-related activities and events, for life! (Adam Silver voice).  His phone number needs to be blocked on the WIP computers and anybody who is caught putting him on the air receives a two-week suspension without pay. 

…

Furthermore, if Butch shows up to another WIP event, he must be denied entry at the door. And if he tries to sing another song, about any of the teams, he will be immediately and forcefully removed from the premises.

This all extends to Eagles Shirley as well. Shirley Dash seems like a wonderful woman, and I enjoyed her story in the Maybe Next Year documentary, which gave us more depth and insight into her life. Her phone calls, however, are borderline inaudible because she’s overly-excited about the Eagles and it turns into some sort of pseudo-shrieking.

As for the other callers on this list, anybody from The Dirty 30 is a joke and deserves a lifetime of shame for their participation in the Donovan McNabb disgrace. Big Rube is cool though, because he makes that chicken and comes across as a chill guy. He doesn’t seem like a moron, nitwit, or dope, like these other callers. Levi passed a few years ago (RIP) and I’m not sure some of these people are currently active. I can’t remember the last time some of them called in.

A few years ago we did a Pulitzer-winning column titled “Ranking the Ten Best and Ten Worst Sports Radio Callers in Philadelphia.” Big Rube came in 10th on the “best” list, and the worst list ended up like this:

  1. Jim from Havertown
  2. Dave from Center City
  3. Eagles Shirley
  4. Butch from Manayunk
  5. Ingy
  6. Mike from KOP/Mad Mike
  7. Kenny from the Dirty 30
  8. Arthur
  9. Angry Al
  10. Brother Scott from Barrington

Our list took people who were currently active, although at the time we couldn’t remember if Arthur was still in the slammer. He could have been “out on bail, fresh out of jail, California dreamin’,” as Tupc Shakur once said.

But you tell me – good list? Bad list? Don’t give half a shit?