“There’s a sucker born every minute, and they’ll all call my radio show if I say something controversial about Carson Wentz and the Eagles.”

I know, I know. I’ve seen Angelo Cataldi’s tweet about Carson Wentz and Nick Foles this morning too. It’s crazy right? Doesn’t it make you furious that someone could be trumpeting this OUTRAGEOUS line of thinking just a mere month after the Eagles finally won a Super Bowl?! It’s infuriating, and I bet you can’t WAIT to give him a piece of your mind.

But, before you fire up the twitter accounts and lob some well-deserved insults Cataldi’s way, I’d like you to first take a  breath, step away from your keyboard, and give this question some deep, deep thought.

Do you really think he believes this nonsense?

Of course he doesn’t.

Angelo Cataldi is the jowly, tepid Philadelphia sports talk radio version of P.T. Barnum, and he knows how to play this city and its fans like a fiddle to line his own coffers.

Nobody who watches as much football as Cataldi does would actually be advocating for a quarterback controversy between a 29-year-old Nick Foles who had two excellent games in the playoffs and the future of the Eagles franchise in Carson Wentz.

You keep Foles, of course, if Wentz isn’t ready to start the year, but do you really bench a much younger, more athletic quarterback who was on his way to an MVP award this past season before getting hurt?

You don’t, and Cataldi knows this. BUT, he knows nobody particularly cares about this upcoming Phillies season as well, so what better way to drum up some controversy than going against the grain and advocating Foles be given a shot to take the job away from Wentz?

This tweet from @JesusZoidberg frames Cataldi’s show prep perfectly:

It’s the perfect formula to drum up controversy and Cataldi (and other radio hacks in this city) have been doing it for decades.

Do you want to be as successful of a radio personality as Cataldi? Well here’s the formula you can use to shoot to the top of the books in Philadelphia.

Offering up an opinion you don’t really believe that goes against common sense and public opinion + Gullible Philadelphia fans = Philadelphia sports talk ratings GOLD.

It’s been Cataldi’s formula for success since the early 90s, so why should he change now? We fall for it every fucking time. As of 9:36 a.m. his tweet has garnered close to 250 responses on Twitter, so yeah, I’d say it’s working. Boy, do you think he’ll bring it up on tomorrow’s show?! I can’t wait to call in and give Cataldi a piece of my mind, he has no idea what’s coming! (except of course he does)

Just look at all those headlines of his Philly Voice columns. Everyone hates what Mike Lombardi had to say about Doug Pederson? Hey, maybe he’s right?! Philadelphia is excited about Ben Simmons? Nope, sorry, he’s got bust written all over him!

Cataldi is smart. He’s a showman, and I do respect him. Believe it or not, despite his obvious shtick and his hacky way of drumming up controversy, he still is a great interviewer and a good writer when he wants to be. He’s been top of the heap in Philadelphia for so long you can’t do anything but begrudgingly respect him for his work and his ability to stay relevant to his audience.

But maybe, just maybe, we could all decide just this once to not fall for his obvious trap. Maybe if we ignore his obvious attempt to create a show topic during a dull period he’ll be forced to do something original, something out of his ordinary rut, something to get the city TALKING again?

Or maybe tomorrow Philly Voice will publish his latest column:

Jokin’ Joel Embiid is a bad role model for the city and the children who watch him

Holy shit, I can’t wait to read that and give Cataldi a piece of my mind on Thursdays show!