Like Pat Benatar said, let’s get down to it.

Here are my 10 favorite WIP hosts. Repeat – MY favorites – not necessarily your favorites – nor anyone else’s favorites. MY favorites.

Rueben Frank – Ruben’s voice was one of the first I heard when I returned to the area. He sounded like he enjoyed what he was doing and I liked his style. One of the first times I heard him, Rueben was asking listeners to name the rock group they turned off as soon as they heard it. My answer came without thinking – Jim Morrison and the Doors. But I thought he’d ridicule my choice, so I didn’t call. Lo and behold, comes the end of the show and Roob said he always turned off the Doors.

Ding-ding-ding. Match made in heaven.

When it comes to Eagles and NFL info, Roob’s right up there with Ron Jaworski.

Roob favorites all of my complimentary tweets, but otherwise ignores me. Like last week, when he asked about brother combinations on the Eagles, I immediately tweeted Steve Van Buren and Ebert Van Buren – I had their football cards. But no response from Roob. Doesn’t matter, he’s my favorite.

Marc Farzetta – I first heard Marc on Sunday nights a couple years back and I liked his voice and commentaries.

Then two summers back, late one night, right around the All-Star Game, he was offering a prize for whoever came up with the best fantasy athletic competition between two celebrities. Most of the callers’ suggestions were lame. I knew I had the winner, so I decided to call – my first call in years.

Eva Mendez and Salma Hayek – in their prime – mud wrestling – nude.

No doubt about it, he declared me the winner on the spot. By the way – Farzie and Cindy Webster – I never got the prize, which was a pair of tickets to a Reading Phillies game. But it wasn’t a big deal. I was just looking for bragging rights anyway.

And speaking of bragging rights, Marc owes me $5 from a Phillies bet we made two years ago. Between you and me, I never wanted to collect. I wanted to hold it over Marc’s head the way he holds the bet he never collected from Bob Costas in a similar manner.

It’s good to see Marc making it with Sunday Night Football. But, Farzie, if you get the chance, pass the word along, tactfully of course, that Costas’ dye-job doesn’t translate “natural” on TV – just saw him with Conan O’Brien, I believe it was.

Rickie Ricardo – I found Rickie doing late nights, on the weekends, a couple years back and liked him. But I never communicated with him.

Then one night last football season, Rickie had Marcus Hayes on the phone – and I can’t stand Marcus Hayes. Like I said, I never contacted Rickie before, but I tweeted him that night – something to the extent that I was switching stations because I couldn’t take that pompous ass Marcus Hayes.

So I switched stations. A few minutes later, Rickie tweets me and says “Come on back.”

Rather than being alienated by a negative comment from a stranger, Rickie reached out in an attempt to woo me back. He made me feel wanted. So I switched back and I’ve been a big fan ever since – although I don’t always agree with him.

Then a couple weeks back, when Rickie mentioned that he got a bootleg tape of the new Foxcatcher movie, I made a video for him. I gave him some history and background on the du Pont family – which dates all the way back to Napoleonic France. I know because I was involved with the original project 20 years ago and was in court for every day of John du Pont’s murder trial.

Rickie appreciated my gesture and we continue to communicate.

Hollis Thomas comes next. I catch Hollis on weekends with Rob Charry. I remember back when Hollis was with the Eagles. During the post-game shows, I’d see Hollis skulking back and forth behind Derrick Gunn and mugging for the camera when Derrick was interviewing one of the Eagles.

I said to myself “That sonavabitch wants to join sports media after he retires” – and I was right.

I tweet Hollis a lot and he almost always replies. He’s not just a pretty face. He’s knowledgeable and down to earth. Somebody I could sit down and have a beer with.

Hollis, wish you were on more often when I’m listening.

Rob Charry – I’ve been listening to Rob for years and love him. We’ve been Facebook friends for a long time – but he’s never even once acknowledged my existence. Once, back in May of 2010, Rob was doing a Slingbox commercial. I’d heard the Cuz doing Slingbox commercials a few weeks earlier. It sounded like Slingbox would come in handy, so I bought one.

On May 29 of that year, I took my new Slingbox on a shakedown cruise – and guess what?

I was driving around while Roy Halladay was pitching a perfect game – while at the same time the Flyers were pulling of a miracle comeback in the Playoffs against the Bruins. I was flipping back and forth in between those two games, watching them while I was driving – unbelievable technology.

I made a video for Rob extolling the virtues of Slingbox and posted it on his Facebook page – but he never even thanked me.

That’s all right, Rob, I still love you and listen to you a lot.

Brian Haddad is a new favorite. I was still making up my mind about whether or not I liked him and then I disagreed with something he said. So I sent him a negative tweet. He responded immediately but not with a “screw-you.” He discussed the issue objectively. Soon thereafter, the same thing happened again – and again he responded with polite discourse rather than a “screw-you.”

We trade tweets all the time now. We don’t always agree, but we communicate. I continue to listen to him and hope he doesn’t pull a hammy on Monday night during halftime of the Sixers game.

Joe Giglio climbs in the same boat with Brian Haddad. He’s new to me and he’s not on that often. I disagree with him all the time – especially in our opinions about Nick Foles. I think Nickie Football is the real deal, but Joe doesn’t.

Joe doesn’t get bent out of shape. He debates the issue with me. I know I’m never going to change his mind, and he knows he’s never going to change my mind. Only Nick Foles performance will settle the issue.

But I enjoy listening to Joe.

Jody McDonald – I started listening to Jody way back in the early ‘90s right after I returned to the States. He was teaming up with Glen Macnow.

And then along came the O. J. Simpson murder investigation and trial. I was a true-crime writer back then, specializing in high-profile murder cases. I was well-versed in investigational procedure and courtroom protocol. I would call to try to translate the technical jargon into layman’s terms.

Now Jody’s been back on WIP for a while at night and I’m usually listening to him whenever he’s on the air. Thanks to his father, Jody has baseball insights that few others can.

I also remember catching Jody at the Turf Club in Upper Darby many years back. He was conducting a handicapping seminar and he was touting a Philly Park shipper that was running at either Belmont or Aqueduct that day. I’d already made my pick and didn’t like his horse. Too bad for me, his horse came in and mine didn’t.

Jon Johnson – Some people might question how Jon could possibly make my list – since he’s not on that often. But he also does production work and I believe Sixers work. He gets mentions and even says a few words every once in a while when he’s not on.

One day early last summer, I tweeted about a big score I hit at Philly Park. Now, Jon didn’t know me and I didn’t know him. Don’t know how or why he found my tweet that day, but he did. He favorited my tweet and I’ve been paying attention to him ever since.

Whenever I tweet Jon, he replies. We don’t get into long discussions. Just a word or two or three.

But when I hear that he’s going to be on, I’m usually listening. I like his style and approach. Nothing fake about him.

Ray Didinger is my exception to the rule. Ray’s not on the air very often when I’m listening, but he will always be a favorite. Even though I’ve never met him, he’s a peer. We’re around the same age, both come from Delco, both followed the same teams and same players all our lives. We have so much in common sports-wise, it’s impossible for me to exclude him from my list.

If I ever get the chance, Ray, I’ve got a story about the day I challenged Vince Papale to a head-to-head competition. In my mind, there was no way that a scrawny track guy from St. Joe’s could be a better receiver than me. That was way back in the late ‘60s and the showdown took place at Interboro’s field.

I don’t call very often because fifteen or twenty minutes sitting on hold is counterproductive. But, like Frasier Crane, I’m listening. And since I’m finally developing a knack for Twitter, I pass along my two cents every chance I get.

Well, there you have them – my 10 favorite WIP hosts.

Thanks to all you guys for enriching my life almost every day for one helluva long time now.

Barry Bowe is the author of Born to Be Wild and 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant.