The Corby Question

In general, Corby does not suck. He has his broadcasting weaknesses. Too many things are the best or worst of whatever category is up for discussion. Too many "no way"s. Other things we can get into. But he's reliably listenable.

When Greg Williams left the Hardline, we all waited with bated breath to see if Michael and Corby could keep the high-wire act going. In a way, it seems almost impertinent to comment on it, because their amazing success has continued and, if anything, they're doing better than ever. So, you know, who needs any critique of the show? Even Corby's detractors really have to admit that his elevated profile has not wrecked the show for most of its audience. Personallly, I thought the decline of the show in general was becoming pretty apparent in the better part of a year before Hammer's bailout, and I'm one who was glad to see him go. Know that not everyone shares that opinion, but his misogyny, gratuitous vulgarity and obvious lack of show preparation was detracting from my enjoyment of the ride home. So the Corby & Michael show, for me, was an automatic improvement.

But this begs the question as to whether it could be better, and now, more than a year-and-a-half after Greggo's departure, I think the answer is yes. As I say, it's a confession -- I like the two Michaels and Corby and Danny a lot, but I gotta say: The show is overweighted to Corby and Danny, aided and abetted by Gruber. The post-Greggo makeup of the show entirely changed not only Mike's role, but his personality. Whereas he was the appealing Old Grey Wolf before, now he's on the defensive against the onslaught of the youngsters (who aren't all that young). For lack of a better word, he needs an ally to free him to reassert some adult control over the program and restore the appeal of his Greggo-era persona. He needs his own sidekick.

Preliminary Considerations

Like hundreds of thousands of other persons living in the DFW metro area, I spend a lot of time with The Ticket. Like most of them, I defend it vigorously against its detractors; and, like most of them, I suffer through those cringe-inducing moments and from time to time wish that they would make a policy change here or there.

Back when Greggo departed the station, I went in search of blogs where contributors and commenters stretch a bit -- perhaps think before they type, try to introduce some strong original thinking beyond the "CORBY SUXX!!!!" or "STAY HARD GREGO!!!" The contributors to Richie Whitt's blog were pretty solid, I thought, but Richie isn't writing about the Ticket every week, and after awhile it petered out and got stale. Thought I'd try to start a little something permanent along those lines.

As I say, there are those moments, those shows, and sometimes . . . sometimes, those hosts that drive you nuts and you want to reach out to management and say -- this could be better.  But the moment passes, pretty soon you're chuckling absent-mindedly about something someone says, and you realize that it's like a family.  More than that -- it is family.

And that -- the affection behind the agitation -- is My Ticket Confession.