If you're the kind of miserable sports fan stuck in traffic who actually enjoys radio hosts sniping at each other, then the absence of Josh Innes from the Philadelphia airwaves has probably been a bit deflating for your afternoon drives. A more civil competition has since gradually settled in between SportsRadio 94 WIP and 97.5 The Fanatic.
This is still Philly, though. At some point, someone can always be counted on to get riled up.
RELATED ARTICLE: The Q & A ... with 97.5 The Fanatic host Mike Missanelli
John Gonzalez, former host of CSN's "The 700 Level" and longtime Inquirer columnist, left Philadelphia last summer to join his wife, NFL Network analyst Colleen Wolfe, in sunny California. The move did not take the Philly out of Gonzo ("bye" is never the same as "goodbye"). He still tweets often on Philly sports topics and in June brought us the great story of the electrician who scrawled Sam Hinkie messages all over the Sixers' new practice facility in Camden.
That's how we come to a recent exchange between 97.5 afternoon host Mike Missanelli and midday show producer Andrew Salciunas. The two were discussing Beth Mowins, who called the second game of ESPN's week one doubleheader on Monday night between the Broncos and Chargers. She was the first woman to do so since Gayle Sierens in 1987.
In a screen-grabbed transcription, tweeted by Gonzalez on Wednesday, Missanelli floats the argument that women shouldn't handle play-by-play duties because they never played football. He said he's fine with skilled NFL analysts like ESPN's Jessica Mendoza, but doesn't get the "need" to have a woman call an NFL game.
It's pretty obvious Missanelli knew what he was stepping in with this take. He called his own rationale "hinky" — and yet still pressed forward with the question.
It looks like Gonzo answered it for him.