Ex-colleague airs scathing takedown of disgraced sports talk-radio host

Howard Eskin launched the first sports-talk show on Philadelphia radio station WIP (610-AM) in 1986. Over the next 38 years, Eskin became a fixture in the local media. Just last year, he received an honorary doctorate from a local college, which noted Eskin "has broadcast nearly 8,000 shows on WIP, more than any other sports talker in the country."

Eskin authored his own demise in December, when the Philadelphia Inquirer reported he forcibly grabbed a woman employed by Audacy, WIP's parent company, during a public argument. Eleven days later, he announced he was "moving on" from WIP in a post to his Twitter/X account.

After 38 years I am moving on from Sportsradio WIP where I launched the station’s sports talk franchise in 1986. I leave the station with great affection for the listeners who have made the work I do so fulfilling during my time there. I’m looking forward to what comes next… pic.twitter.com/ZF6Wl9gO8P
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) December 20, 2024

Although he never addressed his role in the public argument that turned physical, he had previously acknowledged and apologized for kissing a woman, an Aramark employee, against her will at Citizens Bank Park in May 2024. The Philadelphia Phillies banned him for that act; the Philadelphia 76ers followed suit. After a brief suspension, Eskin returned to WIP.

Now that Eskin has formally left the station, the truth can be told. And boy, is it being told.

Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski laid bare his feelings toward Eskin in a no-holds-barred takedown Friday. The column — headlined "Howard Eskin is gone. Good." — is worth a read in full. The most scathing paragraph, though, is this one:

"His schtick was the precursor to the empty, attention-seeking economy that sprouted up in the age of social media: grandstanding displays at press conferences, questions intended not to gain insight but to generate extreme reactions and succulent sound bites, insults and false narratives and unethical, inappropriate conduct all tolerated in the name of being relevant and moving the needle."
- Mike Sielski, Philadelphia Inquirer

This isn't just a local sports columnist taking down a local sports-talk radio personality. As Sielski explains, he's the cohost of a weekend show at WIP who let a higher-up at the station know this column was coming. That higher-up, Sielski writes, "didn’t object to my writing this piece."

Takedowns that scathing are rare. They're also hard to stand by unless they're true.