Ad Disclosure
Why Yes I’ve Got Some Thoughts on the Various Dramas Involving Devan Kaney, Mike Missanelli, and Dianna Russini
Published:
Alright I’m back from vacation. Thank you for patronizing CB in my absence. I’d like to shout out Luke, Nick, Sean, and the Cogster for doing a great job with the site.
Now to some of the ridiculous drama that took place while I was gone, because Philly sports can’t go 10 days without some nonsense:
Devan Kaney laid off
Honestly, one of my first thoughts was the Philly Mag article from September of 2024, titled “New Voices: How Philly Became a Great Place for Women in Sports Journalism.” It was great for about 18 months, because 50% of the women profiled no longer work in Philly sports. That includes Taryn Hatcher, was on the cover, and then you had a trio DK, Breland Moore, and Alex Coffey:
Hatcher is on to other things after the expiration of her NBC Sports Philadelphia contract and Kaney was let go last week. Moore is still anchoring sports at FOX and the Inquirer’s Coffey was moved off the Phillies beat to write features on all sports.
Regardless of things that happen behind the scenes, it always seemed to me like Kaney got a good push from 94 WIP. She was given ample mic time when anchoring weekends alongside Rob Ellis and then the morning show with Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie. She took over the Eagles sideline gig after Howard Eskin was canned and appeared at every gala and benefit and related function as a station representative. That seems to me like somebody you keep in house and coach and develop, especially considering the dearth of women at WIP and in Philadelphia sports in general. When the news hit last week, I saw a lot of people comment with something like, “there are X number of people I would lay off before Kaney,” and while it sounds shitty, I’m inclined to agree. You can pull any bozo off the street and have them blather Negadelphia into a microphone, but Kaney had a bit of a different skill set, and in truth think her future is more in sideline reporting and on-camera stuff vs. sitting there behind a microphone. That was Devan’s background anyway.
Mike Missanelli arrested
The Mike Miss news wasn’t really news, was it? It was the continuation of a pattern, as people immediately recalled his WIP firing, when he punched a producer, and the time when he topped 100 mph in chucking his headphones across the Comcast Business Studios at 97.5 the Fanatic headquarters.
Looking at this thing from a legal sense, Mike has a district court appearance on April 22nd. He’s been charged with simple assault, a second degree misdemeanor, and harassment, which is a summary offense. The maximum sentence for the former is two years in jail and a $5,000 fine and the latter is usually punishable with fines.
The police report included the following, summarized by Emily Rose Grassi at NBC 10:
Missanelli told police that his fiancé had hit him in the chest, officials said.
When speaking with Missanelli’s fiancé, she said the couple had been arguing about their engagement when he open hand slapped her on the left side of her face, the criminal complaint says.
The officer reported seeing what looked like fresh blood on her forehead as well as a laceration and her ear was swelling.
No matter what happens in court, the mugshot is out there, he’s been temporarily pulled from the OnPattison podcast with Anthony San Francisco, and he’s brought on more public embarrassment for himself. This is a guy who is 70 years old, has twice been let go by 97.5 the Fanatic since 2022, and is currently involved in a long and drawn out litigation with Joe Krause of JAKIB Media, seeking what he says is unpaid compensation. That case is supposed to be heading to trial this spring or summer. You can’t tell me that jurors aren’t going to be sitting there thinking, “isn’t this the guy who (allegedly) just hit his fiance?” And while it shouldn’t have any bearing on what happens in that case, jurors are only human and subject to the court of public opinion.
It’s always possible that this thing fizzles out in court, but it looks so bad. And Mike spent a lot of time on social media over the past 10 years lecturing other people on right and wrong, so all of that is rendered pointless when your mugshot pops up everywhere:
Dianna Russini, 94 WIP’s Insider of the Year
If you’re living under a rock, Dianna Russini of The Athletic was pictured in a Page Six story titled “New England Patriots’ Mike Vrabel and top NY Times NFL reporter Dianna Russini hold hands and hug at luxury hotel.“
The photos SURE DO LOOK suspicious, but in statements, Russini and Vrabel said there’s nothing going on:
The coach told Page Six Tuesday, “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable. This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
And Russini told us, “The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day. Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”
This thing has been memed to death and hilariously litigated over 48 hours, but let’s look at it from face value. Russini says that reporters “interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.” So… Mike Vrabel is a source? Certainly we can put 2 and 2 together, and the Russini/Vrabel connection has been a thing, but why come out and say this outright? It completely ruins any credibility in terms of A.J. Brown reporting, because, well, Vrabel just so happens to be the head coach of the team that Brown has been heavily linked to.
That’s not to say that Russini doesn’t also have Eagles sources, nor would we presume to trounce someone outright, considering how much shit Joe Santoliquito took on the Carson Wentz story before he was vindicated. But what it does in this particular case is make me, and presumably you, not give one flying fuck about any future Russini reports on A.J. Brown, not unless she breaks the trade itself. She’s too close, literally and figuratively, to A.J.’s former Tennessee coach, who just so happens to coach in New England now.
The thing about being an insider is that you’re not a journalist. It’s information brokerage, so there really isn’t some prewritten rule set. There’s no handbook on cultivating sources and breaking news. It stems more from the tree of relationship building and schmoozing. If you were to train college journalism students on how to develop sources and break stories, you wouldn’t send them out with a camera and microphone, you would send them to the local bar to talk to other people and get phone numbers. You need social skills more than journalism skills, and so of course if you’re an affable and attractive woman you are going to do well in this space. That’s not to say there’s anything inappropriate going on here, because only Russini and Vrabel would know that, but the pictures look stupid and you are taking an L in the optics department. People are going to cast judgment the way they see fit, whether it’s fair or unfair, which is why you have to be super-aware of public image and come out with better statements than “this doesn’t deserve any further response.”
More importantly, I think we can all agree that every individual at 94 WIP who had a hand in awarding Russini the “Insider of the Year” award (a stupid bit) should resign in disgrace.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com