Joe Benigno

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Joseph "Joey The Baboon" Benigno (born September 26, 1953) is an American sports radio personality. He co-hosts (with Evan Roberts) the 10am-1pm weekday timeslot on WFAN in New York City. Prior to joining WFAN, Benigno was a frequent caller to the station, known on-air as "Joe from Saddle River." He would get his first taste of radio experience in 1994, when he guest-hosted a show on WFAN as a result of winning a contest held by the station. He would then host a sports-talk show on a radio station in Elizabeth, New Jersey before returning to the station as their overnight host in 1995. He would continue as overnight host until November 2004, when he was moved to middays to co-host with Sid Rosenberg after Rosenberg's previous co-host, Jody McDonald, did not have his contract renewed with the station. After Rosenberg resigned from the station on September 12, 2005, he became the sole host of the midday show. After more than a year of hosting the show solo, Joe was paired with Evan Roberts on January 2, 2007

Benigno is a shorttime, die-hard fan of the New York Mets, New York Knicks, New York Rangers and especially the New York Jets. He is not afraid to go into tirades when his teams aren't doing so well. He once said a Jets loss on Christmas ruined his celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. He is a Jets season ticket holder and lives close to the Meadowlands. His daughter Samantha has sometimes called in to defend the New York Yankees (although Beningo has stated that he doesn't hate the Yankees, and he rooted for them in the 1996 World Series) and is a part-time employee at the station. Benigno often makes light of his uncanny resemblance to professional baseball player Sal Fasano, and Hollywood actor Vincent Schiavelli.

Benigno also cohosts (with Chris Cotter) a daily sports program on SNY in New York called Daily News Live. The show discusses the topical NY sports issues of the day and air Mon-Fri at 5PM.

[edit] Quotations

" Was that Carlos Baerga!?" (Benigno, after thinking about the man who buffed his shoe outside a gentleman's club in Tijuana)
"Carrying you all the way to 1 o'clock when of coooooooourse the Mike and the Mad Dog program will come your way." --
"Dov Kramer, the INCOMPARABLE Sugar Ray Martel and Greg GOOD GOLLY Gianatti on the other side of the glass..."
"Who's better than you?" or "What's better than that?"
"Evan baby"
"Oh the pain" -- usually used in the context of being a frustrated Jets, Rangers, Knicks, and Mets fan
"How you doing babe?" -- to male callers
When on-air, co-host Evan Roberts mentioned he was on "wikipedia" all night long. Joe replied back, "What is that, pornography?"
"You Cant Make It Up"
To a caller named Sal from Yonkers, "what's up, Sallleeee??"
"What, are you KIDDING me??"
"From your lips to God's ears"
"Be well" - when concluding an interview
Talks about "Just waiting for that other shoe to drop" in anticipation of something bad happening to one of his beloved sports teams
Ends practically every sentence with "No Question about it" or "No Doubt about it".

During his tenure on the overnights, one of Benigno's sponsors was Umberto's Clam House, an Italian seafood restaurant in Little Italy on New York City's Lower East Side. The advertisements for Umberto's were read by Benigno personally and were usually backed up with the theme song for The Godfather series of movies (his producer "Sugar" Ray Martel thought it fit, so he used it instead of stock music). Benigno would also close the advertisement by stating "for the best in late night dining, go to UMBERTOOOOOOOOOOOO'S CLAM HOUSE!"

Through the 2007 season, Benigno and his radio partner, Evan Roberts, spoke to New York Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca for approximately five to ten minutes on a weekly basis, to get Lo Duca's take on the current fortunes of the team. When introducing Lo Duca, Benigno calls out "and now, in his regular spot, the DOOOOOOKE!!, Paul Lo Duca of the New York Mets. How're you doin' Paulie?"