Anyone Else Tired Of 610 WIP?

I might be in the minority here, but I've become totally tired of 610 WIP. Don't get me wrong, I still listen to sports talk radio, but I can't listen to 610 nearly as much as I had previously. Due to my unhappiness with their program format, I had to make a switch. I'm now a happy listener of ESPN Radio, which I listen to all day long on my XM Radio. I have not been disappointed and don't miss 610 all that much at all.

While many of 610's hosts can be annoying, they are not responsible for driving me away. (I actually like Morganti and Hugh Douglas in the morning, The Cuz in the afternoon, Eskin's not so bad, and I really like MacNow, especially when he's hosting the Saturday show with Ray Didinger.) It's the endless string of inane calls from the likes of Joe from Fishtown, Tyrone from West Oak Lane, and Bobby from the Great Northeast that finally forced me to seek another option.

Here's a brief example of the ridiculous, time wasting phone calls...A half hour before the Saints game, some idiot calls up and expresses his opinion about how the only option for an Eagles' victory would be for the Birds to change their offense to exclusively use a two back running set similar to those used by the Csonka-Kiick-Mercury Morris Dolphins' teams of the 70's. Yes, this moron actually wanted the Birds to use an offense last seen in the NFL 30 years ago and turn Buckhalter into a ball carrying fullback (ala Larry Csonka). I wish I could say this type of call is an anomaly, but it is usually the norm as the idiots have taken over the station.

I really could care less for their opinions and questions that don't vary a whole lot from caller to caller if you listen for more than 20 minutes. Right now, every single call either defends Donovan in this whole Mark Eckel mess, wonders if Garcia and/or Stallworth will be re-signed, or inquires into whether Andy will run the ball more with a healthy D Mac. I don't know about you guys, but would it kill 610 to have a guest on every now and again who actually brings some factual information to the table? Seriously, is this too much to ask?

When I was going to Rutgers in the early to mid 90's, I started to listen to Mike & Mad Dog show on the WFAN 660 AM in New York. Their outstanding show opened my eyes to how horrid 610 can be. I realized that it is kind of informative to hear an opinion from people that have actually played, coached or covered the sport. Call me crazy, but this seems more interesting to me than Vinny from Washington Township's theory as to how the Birds can improve their defense next year.

I once had the opportunity to hang out with Jody Mac about 9 years ago at a Monday Night Football event at Kaminski's in Cherry Hill. I asked him about 610's policy on having guests and my preference for that format. Jody told me that was his preference as well, but Bigby and the rest of management preferred to focus on the Joe's From Fishtown of the world. Lucky us.

Now that Jody is back in Philly on 950 AM, he has used the "guest interview" approach. I was able to hear Tom Heckert on the other night and his interview was more informative than anything you'll ever hear on 610, save that one time every other year that Andy Reid calls in. Unfortunately, I'm not in the car long enough to enjoy listening to Jody more regularly. However, I have realized that the rest of the hosts on 950 are flat out brutal.

In any event, I'm quite happy with ESPN Radio on XM. Of course it focuses on national sports issues, but that's fine with me. Their morning show with Mike & Mike is a bit hokey, but The Herd with Colin Cowherd and the Dan Patrick afternoon segment are outstanding radio shows which include a virtual cornucopia of interviews with players, coaches and media types. To balance things out, ESPN Radio even includes a call or two every hour or so. Thankfully, Joe From Fishtown doesn't have the number to ESPN Radio yet.

If you feel different, I'd love to hear why you prefer to hear the idiotic, repetitive phone calls. I'm all ears.