Chillin' Wit' ... SportsRadio WIP host Josh Innes
Hes lived most of his life in the South, but in the last year he's taken on Philly.
ON AIR, OFF AIR, Josh Innes loves to talk. About his love of radio. Life in Philly. And the '80s sitcom "Coach," which he owns on DVD.
Either way, it's the same guy.
"Me on the radio is me here right now, and that's what I take pride in," Innes, 28, said yesterday afternoon, sitting at a bar table at Kildare's Irish Pub in Manayunk.
"Obviously, when you're on the radio, you kind of ham it up a little bit. I have to say it in a way to get people responding, but every opinion I have on the radio is an opinion of mine," he said.
With him at Kildare's were his live-in girlfriend, Jilly Osterman, and buddy Jim "Taz" Tasman, who also works at WIP.
Missing because of the freezing temps was his and Osterman's terrier mix, Luther Van Dam - named after Jerry Van Dyke's character in "Coach."
"I love Philadelphia. . . . There's a passion in this city that's unmatched, unrivaled by any other market," he said. "You want to go to a city where the passions [are] there."
Innes and Osterman have been together four years. They moved to Philly a year ago, when he took over the station's 6 p.m.-to-1 a.m. weeknight shift. Earlier this month, Innes moved to afternoons, 1 to 6 p.m., now paired with longtime Philly sports personality Tony Bruno.
He pretty much always wanted a career in radio, and having a father who's a radio disc jockey certainly exposed him to the craft.
Born in Poplar Bluff, Mo., Innes had lived in several places by the time he turned 10. That year, his parents, Scott Innes and Tammy Strickland, got divorced, and he eventually went to live with his father in Baton Rouge, La. While in high school, he worked as a radio announcer for a minor league hockey team, the Baton Rouge Kingfish.
His career path took him to Houston for a few years and eventually to Philadelphia.
He's had to get used to a few things. Like snow and trains.
"Riding a train is weird to me," Innes said.
- Regina Medina