Saw this on Twitter for the first time today. There’s a GoFundMe page set up for Big Daddy Graham if you’d like to help out with his rehab and recovery.
The 94 WIP overnight host went in for emergency care back in July as the result of a spinal bleed. Now he’s paralyzed from the waist down and currently getting around in a wheelchair.
Former Eagle Hollis Thomas was not on Sports Radio 94 WIP this past weekend. He’s been co-hosting Saturdays and Sundays alongside Rob Charry for some time now, a shift he held years ago before briefly moving to PM drive during the final days of the Andy Bloom era.
A source earlier told me about a “conflict of interest” involving Thomas and WIP, and then voila, he appeared on the Josh Innes podcast this afternoon to explain what happened:
If you follow Josh Innes on social media, you know the former 94 WIP host has been kicking around the idea of launching a topically Philadelphia podcast.
Josh was canned here about three years ago, went back to Houston, and then left in March when he says his show was axed for “budget reasons.” There was some drama along like the way, like that time he got into a shouting match with another guy at the Super Bowl, and the suspension that resulted in another host at his station getting fired. The Texans also temporarily pulled his credential in 2017.
Innes has been doing his own podcast in the meantime, which I haven’t been paying a ton of attention to, but there is one episode that is literally just 40 minutes of his Anthony Gargano impersonator re-creating an entire WIP broadcast. And today Josh released a Philly-centric episode with his girlfriend Jill, aptly titled “Philly Show.”
The show notes read as such:
“The Birds lost last night and the Phillies are dead. It’s good to be back.”
Josh says he’s going to be doing a Philly show for 45 minutes to an hour, then an intermission, and then a Houston show lasting 45 minutes to an hour, so if you’re one of those folks who misses Josh on Philly airwaves, here you go:
Former 94 WIP afternoon host Chris Carlin is no longer with WFAN in New York.
Carlin, who did the 2-6 shift here in Philadelphia alongside Ike Reese, left WIP in November of 2017 to replace the retiring Mike Francesa. Four months later, Francesa un-retired, bumping Carlin, Bart Scott, and Maggie Gray out of the afternoon drive slot.
Last night Carlin confirmed his departure on Twitter:
Where do you go for the hottest sports takes? Twitter? Crossing Broad? Sports talk radio?
Maybe you listen to the not-entirely-serious Art of the Take podcast, which was started last September by 94 WIP program director Spike Eskin, evening host Joe Giglio, and producer Jack Fritz. The logo features a guy in a suit with a fire emoji on top of his head, which seems like apt artwork for a tongue-in-cheek program.
The “take” itself is not necessarily proprietary, since everybody does takes these days, but when The Ringer introduced a new podcast this week titled “The Hottest Take,” we officially entered stepping-on-toes and perhaps blatant ripoff territory:
Podcast description:
Big Daddy Graham remains at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, where he’s working to get back to normal after suffering a spinal bleeding issue that paralyzed him from the waist down.
The 94 WIP overnight host has been out of commission since late July, but offered an update this week with a timeline for when he might be able to go home:
My last tweet seems to have caused some confusion. By out in a wheelchair in 3 weeks, I mean out of Magee. I will be in a wheel chair for some time and rehabbing from home. My hopes are to back on the air not long after that. Thanks!
— Big Daddy Graham (@BigDaddyGraham) August 28, 2019
Seems like Ed has been in good spirits for the past month, or at least tried to stay positive as much as possible. He made a bowel joke in July and has since tweeted about Frosted Flakes, the late Peter Fonda, and a Liberty Mutual Insurance commercial, which I’ve shared after the jump:
Big Daddy Graham is out of Jefferson Hospital and now at Magee Rehab, where he’s working to regain movement of his lower body after a spinal issue left him partially paralyzed.
The 94 WIP host has seemingly been in good spirits, sharing a bowel joke on Twitter and making other quips from bed. This morning he got on the phone with the Angelo Cataldi and cracked an Al Morganti joke before calling his situation “the worst ever” –
I mean, I’m paralyzed. This is day 15 and there’s no improvement whatsoever. I can’t move even like a millimeter of an inch. It’s been just horrible.
Big Daddy, real name Ed, says he’s been receiving great care at Jefferson and explained that all of the support messages he’s been receiving have been a big help to him.
He also offered this bit of perspective, after the jump:
Update on Big Daddy Graham, from Big Daddy Graham:
Bye to Jefferson (who were so nice) and on to Magee Rehab
— Big Daddy Graham (@BigDaddyGraham) August 2, 2019
The WIP overnight host and stand up comic/quizzo host/entertainer extraordinaire was in the hospital, paralyzed from the waist down due to spinal trauma he suffered as a result of a bleeding problem.
He texted Rob Tornoe over at Inquirer.com with this update earlier in the week:
“Trust me, this is the first text that I’ve ever sent out to a writer where I am not plugging a show,”
“To quote Arnold Schwarzenegger, ‘I’ll be back,’
Good to see he’s doing better/feeling better.
21+ Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler
Crossing Broad is owned and operated by CB Sports LLC
