In his time covering local sports, South West Philadelphia native writer-newscaster-analyst-color man Ray Didinger has covered the waterfront. Though most recently for 94WIP Sports Radio and acting as a football analyst for NBC Sports Philadelphia, for five decades plus, he has given his all to everyone.
From Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, from Julius Erving to Allen Iverson, the Broad Street Bullying Flyers, and of course, the Philadelphia Eagles. The latter so much so, that Didinger changed his job title to dramatist/playwright when he penned his autobiographical “Tommy and Me” play about his youthful relationship with Philly Eagles legend Tommy MacDonald. Didinger also famously covered all things NFL for the Philadelphia Bulletin and The Philadelphia Daily News for over 25 years. And in 1995, he became a member of the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.
So dedicated to the art of personalized sports writing is Ray Didinger that he published a memoir last autumn, “Finished Business: My Fifty Years of Headlines, Heroes, and Heartache” through Temple University Press.
“The one thing I wanted to do when writing ‘Finished Business’, the greatest challenge, was not writing about myself, but rather the game and my experiences,” Didinger told me back in October. “I didn’t want to write about me. I wanted to be a tour guide, walking the reader through the last 50 years of Philly sports.”
Well, who knew what he was thinking at that time, but, on Mothers’ Day Sunday, Ray Didinger announced his retirement, that after covering the Eagles for 53 years, as a pre and post-game analyst, he was hanging up his microphone and headphones.
On the Sunday morning SportsRadio94WIP edition of host Glen Macnow’s show, Didinger sounded all broken up when he announced his retirement with “I just want all of you to know how much I appreciate your friendship and support. It means more to mean than words can ever express… Sunday, May 29th will be my final show. I am ready to transition from Ray Didi to grandpop.”
Maybe Ray Didinger is ready to become grandpop. Who knows if we’re ready to become just children without his voice?
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