Mike Garafolo is an insider at the NFL Network, but did you know he’s also a local guy who went to La Salle and had a stint working at 610 WIP while in college?

He was a producer when the late Tom Bigby was running the station, and Bigby was known as a stickler, but someone who played a significant role in shaping sports talk radio as we know it.

Mike told a funny story about working for him:

 

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A longer transcript, if you prefer:

Garafolo: Bigby would call me if a caller went to 2:01 or 2:02 (because) two minutes was the time limit. “Cut this guy off!” And I’m like, (Howard Eskin) is talking to him. He makes a lot more money than me. What do you want me to say to him? It was the yin and the yang with Tom.

CB: I heard Bigby had the ability to cut off (callers) himself.

Garafolo: Yes.

CB: I always pictured him as the James Bond villain sitting at the fancy desk and he’s got a button under his desk that he can press.

Garafolo: Yup.

CB: So why would he call you if he had the power to do it?

Garafolo: Bust balls? I don’t know (laughs). He was a very interesting, complicated man. Working for him was equal parts informative, educational, interesting, and aggravating. One time a guy said ‘turd’ on the air, and I didn’t dump it. And (the hosts) were on remote, so (Bigby) calls me and says “that man just said turd!” And I was like.. yeah? He goes, “a turd is a piece of shit!” And I was like.. I know what a turd is, Tom. And then he goes, “well why didn’t you bleep it?” I said “because he didn’t say shit! He said turd!” He goes, “do you know the seven dirty words?” I rattled off the seven dirty words.

CB: This reminds me of the scene from Billy Madison where they put the flaming bag on the guy’s doorstep and then they say “he called the shit poop!”

Garafolo: It’s poop again! So I rattled off the seven dirty words and for the first time he was dead silent for a second… the memo we had that went out the week before, because they really were sticklers for this stuff, it didn’t say ‘the seven dirty words and any form of the seven dirty words.’ It said ‘the seven dirty words,’ and turd was not on the list.

The “seven dirty words” actually comes from a 1972 monologue by the late and great George Carlin, and they included the obvious, like the f word and c word, but “piss” was also on there with a couple of much more vulgar things.

Believe it or not, this went to the Supreme Court, in a case called Federal Communications Commission V. Pacifica Foundation. Pacifica owned a New York radio station that played Carlin’s monologue, and a guy driving with his kid in the car complained about the language. After a ruling and later appeal, ultimately the FCC was given the ability to penalize broadcasters who aired indecent, obscene, or profane language.

Obviously they still bleep things out today on public radio and television, but you’ll hear WIP hosts say things like “horse’s ass,” which passes. Same with “nitwit,” “moron,” and “dope.” You just won’t hear hard F bombs and related profanity.

It was a good conversation with Mike. We touched on everything, from modern media to Jason Kelce’s retirement, golf simulators, and concept of giving people their “moment” instead of reporting on it. Full show here: