You probably would not guess that Ray Didinger and I share a very important bond.
No, it's not our football expertise.
Ray is widely acknowledged as one of the region's bona fide authorities on the NFL and the Eagles.
Me? I'm just a frustrated sports writer at heart. I usually manage to include my sports rants in my blog, The Heron's Nest, including my Saturday prediction for the Birds, which I have coined "The Dreaded Saturday Eagles Pick."
None of that is what links Ray and I.
What you may not know is that Didinger, the guy you tune to on Comcast as soon as the Eagles game is over for his analysis on "Post-Game Live," has Delco in his blood.
He's a St. James grad who went on to write for the Evening Bulletin and the Daily News.
But Ray started his career at the Daily Times, covering high school football.
He's been named Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year five times by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. In 1995, he won the Dick McCann Award for long and distinguished coverage of pro football, and his name was added to the writers' honor roll in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Didinger won six Emmy Awards as a producer and writer with NFL Films. He is the author of ten books on sports, including his three most recent bestsellers: "The New Eagles Encyclopedia," "One Last Read," and "The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies."
These days you can hear his analysis on on SportsRadio 94-WIP sports, KYW news radio, and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, where he is a regular panelist on the television shows Eagles Post-Game Live, Eagles Extra, and Philly Sports Talk.
Today Ray will be the guest speaker at the monthly luncheon of the Delaware County Press Club.
I will be sharing the dais with him. They invited me to talk about the recent redesign of the newspaper. Gee, and I thought they wanted me to explain what the hell happened to the Eagles in Green Bay.
I guess that is best left to Ray.
If you want stop by, feel free. It's at noon at the Towne House in Media.
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