Ray Didinger is feeling a lot of love from his WIP colleagues after announcing his retirement on Sunday. He will still be on the station through the end of the month, but on Monday, nearly the entire full-time air staff of the radio station was paying tribute to him.

Jon Marks and Ike Reese took time out of their afternoon drive show on Monday to replay Didinger’s announcement. Marks said that it was “as thoughtful as everything that he does.” He doesn’t doubt that Didinger is at peace with the decision.

Reese joked that it was good to hear PD Rod Lakin was not responsible for this. He also said that he was happy to hear that this was not a health-related retirement. According to the former Eagles linebacker though, that means it would be really easy for Didinger to want to abandon his plans if given the chance.

“We obviously know how much Ray Didinger means to us. And this WIP family, just like the Comcast Sports family I’m sure, is important to him,” Ike Reese said. “I’d imagine he would have a tough time saying no. That is why you leave it up to us to don’t bother him. Don’t put him in that position. Let him enjoy retirement.”

He knows that it will be hard for Didinger to not stay ready for a media appearance diuring the football season.

“I would imagine he’ll still watch a game still jotting down notes. There’s no way he’s gonna watch a game without doing his Ray Diddy thing.”

Both Marks and Reese said they hope that they would not hear from Didinger until at least the 2023 Eagles season and that Ray and his wife use that time to fully enjoy their new freedom.

Jon Marks reminded everyone that Ray Didinger is still an author with products to sell. If they really miss him, they can always go to a book signing.

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has won the NBA MVP award for the second consecutive season. Jokic secured the award ahead of Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid.

ESPN NBA analysts Brian Windhorst and Tim Legler got the attention of Mat Smith and Nate Jackson on 104.3 The Fan in Denver Monday. Both Legler and Windhorst felt like Embiid was the MVP and sounded downright offended that he was not named the winner.

Legler said Embiid carried the Sixers and had a firm grip on the award from early February through the end of the regular season.

But Smith, who was filling in for Chad Brown on Monday, argued that the same things could be said for Jokic, adding that Jokic did more with less star power on the Nuggets roster. He didn’t understand how Embiid was Legler’s clear choice over Jokic.

“There’s so many different reasons why that specifically is garbage from Legler,” Smith said.

Jackson said Jokic is the Rodney Dangerfield of NBA players and made the point that it’s a continuation of a trend. For what ever reason, the national media overlooks the 27-year-old Serbian superstar.

“They don’t pay attention to it, they’re quick to write off this guy because they don’t appreciate his style of play,” he said. “He’s not as sexy as these other guys. But he does deserve the MVP, and shame on these guys to make it about them and their choices and their votes.”

Windhorst explained he went with Embiid based on what advanced statistics were saying. Smith said Windhorst basically laid out why Jokic was most deserving of MVP.

“He just gave every reason why Jokic should win and said, ‘Well I voted for Embiid, and I’m not taking it back,'” Smith said. He added that it was puzzling why so many voters were against Jokic. “These guys don’t like Joker. He’s not likable nationally, and why that is I’m not sure.”

Things have not been so great to start the 2022 season for Boston Red Sox infielder Trevor Story.

The former Colorado Rockies slugger was booed by fans at Fenway Park last week after striking out four times in a shutout loss to the L.A. Angels. He’s currently batting .194, has not hit a home run yet and has only driven in 10 runs.

Story did not take questions from the media following the game and instead opted to put in some work in the batting cage. Some covering the team felt like the team’s recent big free agent signing was ducking interviews.

Over on WEEI, Lou Merloni said he felt like there’s been a huge rush to judgement over Story given such a small sample size. Story needs more time to really figure out if he’s a good fit.

“We did not judge Carl Crawford. That first month wasn’t pretty at all, but I would say it took a while before we said that this kid can’t play here,” Merloni said. “I think if you sit back and watch (Story), you’re gonna be just fine because the kid can play some defense and he will swing it eventually.”

Co-host Christian Fauria felt like Story wasn’t ducking anyone. He asked a source who covered Story extensively while in Colorado and was told that typically Trevor will start off slow as he begins to get acclimated to the new situation. His source also stated that Story never had an issue with media in the past and always did interviews.

Fauria explained Story hasn’t been given a fair shake with the season still really only starting. Plus, it’s not like he’s the only guy in the locker room not carrying their weight at the moment.

“The fact that he’s struggling while everybody else is struggling is kind of making him the focal point of the problem,” Fauria said. “So it’s an easy mark-up when I think about it. It’s like, whoa, whoa let’s talk about some of the other guys first.”

Co-host Meghan Ottolini chimed in on the side of Story trying to avoid media questions. But Merloni said if that’s the case, someone with the team’s PR staff will get it sorted. He called it a learning experience for Story.

“I think he just learned a lesson yesterday. Not here,” he said. “And I think someone will talk to him. We’ll see if he keeps doing it, which I doubt.”