All hail Angelo Cataldi, king of that "vocal minority."


Angelo Cataldi is an idiot. A jackass, if you will. In a media market filled largely with writers who think "Concrete Charlie" is the guy who did their driveways last Summer, Cataldi continuously finds ways to stand out as the worst in the bunch.

The man knows nothing -- absolutely nothing -- about sports and, more specifically, the Philadelphia Eagles and the other three major sports teams in the city. But unfortunately he remains one of the idiotic voices that reaches the "sheeple" section of the Philadelphia fanbase and pollutes their vacant heads with misguided opinions driven by an undeserved ego.

Cataldi, if you recall, is the clown who organized what is now called the "Dirty 30." This group of high-class individuals were the people booing Donovan McNabb on draft day because he was not named Ricky Williams.

And now, with McNabb making his return to Philly as a member of the Washington Redskins, Cataldi has rounded up the same group of morons for a reunion tour and will, once again, boo McNabb.

"I don't like Donovan McNabb, because I always felt he was a phony," Cataldi told Joseph Santoliquito of CBSPhilly.com. "He's always been passive-aggressive, which doesn't resonate well with the fans of this city. That's my problem with him. He never connected to the fans in this town.

They only wanted one thing from McNabb, a championship. Look at those great Flyers teams of the 1970s. They won championships and never had to buy another dinner in this town again. With all that talent, McNabb never delivered."

Now I'm not exactly sure if Cataldi was referring to McNabb's talent when he says "all that talent," or if he meant the talent around him, but either way the conclusion remains the same.

Cataldi is an idiot.

McNabb clearly had (and has) a lot of talent, but a quarterback can't do it alone. He had no talent around him for at least seven years of his career sans one season with Terrell Owens and the couple of years Brian Westbrook looked like an All-Pro.

Anyone who thinks that's enough to put the failures of the Eagles on McNabb's shoulders is in the same league as Cataldi.

And phony? What exactly could McNabb have ever done to make Cataldi feel like McNabb was ever phony or passive-aggressive? The problem is that McNabb did not buy into the media's nonsense and get wrapped up in their little game. He took the high road each time, gave them nothing, and it irks the rats in the media like Cataldi.

If it was me in McNabb's shoes, I would have pounded Cataldi and the like into the ground years ago, but he's a much classier person than I am, I suppose.

The man doesn't even have the testicular fortitude to just stand up and say he was absolutely wrong about his love of Williams. Sure, he's said he was wrong, but it's always sandwiched with some sort of attack on McNabb in an effort to legitimize his moronic maneuver.

At least former Philly mayor and current lame-duck governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell had the gall to say what Cataldi wouldn't:

"I did want Ricky Williams, I saw him with the potential of a Gale Sayers or a Bo Jackson,” Rendell said. “Williams never reached his potential and we were wrong. I urged people not to boo, to show some real class.

Donovan turned the Eagles into perennial contenders. He did everything we asked him to do. Donovan deserves our loud, thunderous ovation on Sunday. Let’s get out there and show our appreciation for him. I was wrong, and so were the Eagles fans who booed him that day and through the years."

I'm not a fan of Rendell as an analyst or as a governor, but give credit where it's due. Sure, it doesn't take a genius to realize there's not even an argument to the contrary anymore, but it's better than doing what Cataldi is doing and trying to excuse himself for one of the most half-assed moves in Philadelphia sports history.

And let's forget for a second that Cataldi was clearly wrong in his assessment (which, by the way, comes as an enormous shock) and look at what he did on that day in 1999. He sent a bunch of drunken morons to boo a kid who had absolutely nothing to do with where he got drafted.

McNabb, at the time, was 22 years old and just a kid from Syracuse excited about getting his football career underway. And what is waiting for him? Thirty of the biggest ignorant jackasses to ever roam the planet.

But what does he do? He flashes that trademark smile and doesn't put it away for 11 years.

Maybe there's a reason Cataldi and some others don't feel like McNabb ever truly accepted Philadelphia and its fans -- what in the hell does he expect to happen when that's the first experience the kid has with his new town?

Cataldi needs to take his know-nothing opinions and his band of mindless zombie followers back to Rhode Island where he came from and quit trying to be the voice of a fanbase that truly is, for the most part, a knowledgeable group of people.

Angelo Cataldi, if I may speak to you directly for a second, you are a disgrace to Philadelphia.

You're an idiot, an imbecile, and don't deserve to have an outlet for your moronic rants. If the people at 610 WIP are smart, they will fire you immediately and try to show the country that people like Cataldi do not speak for this fanbase.

But since that doesn't seem likely, I'm hoping the fans of Philadelphia will at the very least stand up and let the country know you don't speak for us by doing something crazy and hilarious like throwing batteries at you and your pack of half-witted apostles.

(They'll be marching their way down Pattison avenue and will convene at the Spectrum around 2:30PM on Sunday before the game. Just in case anyone is interested in umm... attending.)