LOUD by Angelo Cataldi

 

A Raw, Real, and Hilarious Ride Through the Mind of Philly’s Loudest Sports Fan

If you’ve ever been bumper-to-bumper on the Schuylkill Expressway with a coffee in hand and your radio cranked to WIP, you probably spent many days with Angelo Cataldi yelling in your ear. For more than 30 years, Cataldi was the ringleader of Philadelphia sports radio a voice that stirred the pot, fired up the fans, and captured the chaos of this city’s obsession with its teams.

In his memoir LOUD, Cataldi pulls back the curtain on that wild ride. From growing up a “king nerd” in Providence, Rhode Island, to walking away from a newspaper career to dominate the Philly airwaves, his story is fast-paced, brutally honest, and—true to form and never quiet.

For me, LOUD is more than just a behind-the-scenes look at a Philly radio legend. It’s personal. I spent countless mornings listening to Angelo while stuck in traffic on the Schuylkill. But what made it even more special was hearing my mentor Mr. Bill William, aka Billy from South Philly would call in to debate him. Mr. Bill had deep Philly sports knowledge and was never afraid to go at it with Angelo live on-air. Their fiery back-and-forths weren’t just entertaining they were a masterclass in Philly sports discourse.

Cataldi captures that same spirit in this book: passionate, confrontational, but always rooted in love for the game and the city. He doesn’t shy away from controversy he owns it, reflects on it, and laughs about it. You’ll find plenty of stories about the infamous Wing Bowl, high-profile interviews gone sideways, and the callers who became part of the show’s lore.

                                            

One of the highlights for me personally was meeting Angelo at the American Library Association (ALA) Convention. He was incredibly down to earth nothing like the fired-up persona you'd hear on-air. We ended up chatting about Philly sports, and of course, the Eagles. The city was still riding high off last year’s Super Bowl run, and we both agreed: there’s nothing like Philly fans.

True to form, Angelo brought up his legendary love/hate relationship with the Birds and asked me for my prediction for the upcoming season. Without missing a beat, I said: “Eagles are going all the way.”

He didn’t argue.

He just gave me that classic Angelo Cataldi smirk—part approval, part skepticism, and 100% Philly.

— Mr. Philly Librarian