Back Story
Back over the Fourth of July weekend, the programming on The Fanatic was so bad that I questioned it. Serial rehashing of ESPN feeds that had absolutely no relevance to the Philly market.
On the fourth, I tweeted to AKA Philip Allen – probably better known to Philly sports fans as Mt. Airy Phil.
I admire Phil. Listened to him as a caller for years before he became a host. He often complimented my columns at BlameMyFather.com and would favorite and/or retweet to his followers.
He even invited me to be a guest on his show.
Phil and I then traded tweets for two days.
So I tried to contact management at The Fanatic but initially got no response. So I wrote “Screw Our Listeners” on July 7th – which resulted in both an email and a phone call from The Fanatic’s big honcho Matt Nahigian. And Matt pretty much sang the same tune as Phil – he was giving his over-worked and valued employees some well-deserved time off over the holiday.
Missing In Action
But in the case of Mt. Airy Phil, his weekend off turned into a protracted vacation. I’ve yet to hear him back on the air since. I’ve periodically checked his Twitter feed, but there’s nothing since Sean Brace posted a message back on July 9.
That’s going on two months with no communications forthcoming from a guy who tweeted 11.4K times prior to July 9.
- Tweeted Phil but got no reply.
- Tweeted a couple on-air hosts at The Fanatic, but they added nothing.
I don’t know if Phil quit, got fired – or worse.
Guess I’ll email Matt Nahigian.
For once, I’m going to allow comments. So if anyone knows what happened to Mt. Airy Phil, please fill me in.
Barry Bowe is America’s Best Crime Writer and the author of Born to Be Wild and Eagles QBs A to Z.
Was Phil the guy that impersonated Wheels?
Nah – he was just a Philly sports fan who was a caller for years – & then got a job at the station. He was pretty much down to earth & honest – very little pretense.
Any word on Phil?? I’ve been looking for him also defiantly miss his input on philly sports.
I have been through the same, thinking his vacation was a bit too long. Phil once signed off earlier in the year like it was his last ever, but then was on the next week. I’m guessing station went in another direction and he just hasn’t updated twitter. weekends are not the same…
Please update if you hear anything as this is the only place I’ve seen with relevant news in months. update on your site. sorry, my emails a dud.
Phil has suddenly reappeared & is communicating on Twitter.
Woww, thank you very much
I’m from Mississippi & a die hard Eagles & 76ers fan! I loved listening to Phil Allen! Any news on if he is at another station? They should’ve kept him on! He is missed!
Just saw this today. Plenty of irony here. Last 4th of July – that’s 2015 – I wrote a negative article about the boss at The Fanatic & the crappy programming over the holiday weekend. Phil was on vacation over that weekend. I contacted him. Phil defended his boss, saying he was just trying to give his over-worked on-air staff some time off.
Phil even sent me a picture of himself on the beach at the Jersey shore.
Phil never worked another shift on the station. He sorta disappeared for a long time. But he’s once again very active on Twitter. I’m not sure what he’s doing. Here’s his Twitter link – https://twitter.com/MtAiryPhil
I liked Phil. Listened to him a lot. He invited me to be guest on his show.
Phil from Mount Airy was a big-time Eagles fan just sat and thought about Philadelphia success story and wondered what happened to him