Am I Missing a Pun Here?

Gigantic headline on The Ticket's Super Bowl page:

Super Bowl XLV is in Our Town

and Our Guys are Hitten it  .  .  . 

Come on, guys.  I know it's a guy station and guys don't always spel gud, but really.

Cue the Masterpiece Theater music.

Is Dallas a Drag?

Ooo, I may get in trouble with the Nation for this one.

*     *     *

I was very struck by segments on three different showgrams -- The Musers, The Hardline, and The Orphanage -- that the nation is not going to have a positive reaction to the City of Dallas when it visits for the Super Bowl.

There were various reasons given.  One common theme was that downtown Dallas is nothing.  It was pointed out that pockets of enjoyable nightlife and retail are few and isolated.  In general, I got the impression from almost every host that they didn't think Dallas was much of a city, for all of its apparent belief that it's world class. 

I agree.

Even ESPN is making its home in Fort Worth.

I arrived in Dallas in 2004.  I moved here because I love Mrs. Plainsman and Mrs. Plainsman's family is here and it's a great family and it was inevitable.  So at an appropriate juncture, we found jobs in the area and made the move.  We were living in a certifiably great city at the time, but I wasn't feeling too bad to leave it.  I'd lived there a long time and had experienced what it had to offer and could always go back to visit.  I had a vision of Dallas as vibrant, young, on the move, putting its money -- it has lots of money, doesn't it?  I mean Dallas and oil and money, right? -- to good use with exciting urban projects.

When I got here, I was stunned.  Compared to the other American cities I'd lived in  (East Coast, West Coast, Midwest), Dallas wasn't even close to being in their league.  And yes, a lot of it had to do with the wretched downtown, the decaying West End and Deep Ellum, the stark southern border and western borders that fall off instantly into poverty and junk, the incomparably ugly public buildings.  As noted, more strip clubs per capita than most anyplace else.  The view along many of our expressways is simply appalling.  I came to understand that local government dominated by the city council was a joke --  no city so constituted ever gets much done, and it does, it's so corrupted and compromised that it's a disaster in the making.  Dallas was a poster child for weak-mayor civic government.

And you know, even in its best parts -- it is really not an extremely attractive city.

Now, if I were a single guy with tons of free time on my hands to zoom from one island of reasonably cool stuff to another, I might feel differently.  It's not that there isn't good stuff in Dallas, it's that its almost randomly scattered about the place.  A couple of good museums.    Dallas is a restaurant capital as well, among the most if not the most restaurants per capita of any city in the US.  (In my judgment, many of the finest by reputation are overrated.)  But what's good about the city is almost random -- you can find good museums, restaurants, night life, architecture anywhere you go, but Dallas doesn't convey an identifiable singular urban experience.  It's entirely generic.  What cities do convey that experience?  Well, Fort Worth; San Antonio; Austin; and, I would argue, even Houston has a better brand than Dallas.

The city has many, many good people, and some gorgeous women.

But, and you must trust me on this, absolutely no more than elsewhere, and, like everything else about the place, and despite the evidence of that photograph, they're so scattered that even the pulchritude in this city is seriously diluted.

Ah  .  .  .  but Dallas has The Ticket.  It is no surprise that in resident surveys on what is best about DFW, a little light-bulb of a guy-based radio station consistently ranks at or near the top of the charts.  This is testimony to The Ticket's greatness, but it must also be counted as a serious rebuke to the city, that so many of its residents can't think of ten things better than a sports-talk station.   I am not entirely sure what I would do without The Little One to elevate my Dallas experience.

In discussing Dallas with others, I am always fearful that I would come off like a snob, so I don't talk much about my disappointment with the joint.  Which is why I was so startled to hear so many Ticket hosts believing that visitors were going to come away with a bad impression.  Yeah, they will, but it amazed me that these long-time Dallas guys believed that.

What do you think, Confessors?  Does Dallas have an inferiority complex?  Does it deserve to be mentioned alongside the great cities of our country?  Tell me what I need to do -- other than listen to The Ticket even more than I do now -- to get into the good things that Dallas has to offer, to learn to appreciate the place. 

I can be educated.

This Was Not the Greggo Article I Intended to Write -- AN MTC STD*

The Greggo article I intended to write would have gone something like this (but, because I am Your Plainsman, much longer):

I don't remember why I switched over to The RaGE the other day, but I noticed something about Greggo.  Oh, he sounded fine.  Unimpaired.  He and Richie were talking about the recent Rangers trade.  Made sense.  In fact, Greg made the same point that Junior made the next morning – this means trouble for Michael Young.  Absolutely nothing unusual about the conversation.  Except for one thing.   While Greggo sounded like the old Greggo, something was amiss.  His voice was huskier than it used to be – hell, we're all a little older than we were in 2007 – but it also sounded like he had dentures that didn't fit.  Or he'd lost bone mass in his jaw.  Or his tongue was swollen.  His speech was really whistle-y and kind of wet, he had some trouble pronouncing some words (but again, not because of inorganic impairment).  It wasn't extremely obvious, it wasn't awful to listen to, but it was noticeable.  It was as though he'd grown very old all of a sudden. 

I don't know where I was going to go with that, just something that a Plainsman surveying the sports talk radio horizon should notice.  As I say, the segment was fine, Greggo just sounded like an elderly man.

Today, Mrs. Plainsman had sent me out to do some hunting and gathering and I had The Hardline on.   I was waiting for her call and I was dozing in a parking lot.  The Hardline was doing a segment on whether Corby was going to turn into The Snake by talking to some very young woman about anal bleaching.  Early-forties Corby talking to early-twenties woman about anal bleaching.  Now there's an image that sharpens the appetite.  At that point, Mrs. Plainsman called and instructed me as to her dinner preference and I escaped that segment without further injury.

When I came back and turned on The Ticket at 6:30, it was Ralph and Razor.  I like Ralph and Razor.  But it is fair to say that I have more interest in:

   --  the State of the Union Message,

   --  not only watching paint dry, which is a fairly dynamic process, but watching a sealed can of paint, or

   --  103.3,

than hockey on the radio.

So I switched over to The RaGE, still broadcasting at 6:30.

They were talking about the Texas Longhorn TV network deal.  And Greggo was on fire.  He knew his facts, and he not only had an HSO, he had an ultra-HSO that I thought he supported reasonably well:  That the deal might not only mark the beginning of the end of the Big 12, but the beginning of the end of the NCAA.   I don't recall all the details, but I recall that it made sense, and was actually somewhat visionary.   Now, you can agree with that or disagree, but it was real good radio, and Greggo sounded just fine.  It made me think about his hypothesis and other circumstances that pointed in the same direction.  And I care less about the NCAA than I do about Stars hockey on the radio.

Now I'm not going to start listening regularly to The RaGE.  I'm not advocating that anyone else do so.  But I gotta tell you:  When they went to break, I tried to remember the last time I heard a Hardline SPORTS segment that provocative.  Now, the Hardline guys are interesting, and they talk in an interesting way, and an amusing way, and I'm as addicted to the showgram as you are, and I think Greggo did them dirt.  But numerous Confessors have mentioned it:  Those gents do not do significant preparation for their show, not so's one could notice.  Oh, they mention show meetings.  What happens in them is not entirely clear.  They're talented enough broadcasters, every one of them, that they get away with it and it's great radio and I listen whenever I can for as long as I can.

And the fact is, Mike R's increased interest over the past few weeks has been noticeable,  leading to something of a renaissance for that showgram.  I had intended to call attention to it in an article, and probably will sometime.

But the point is – The RaGE isn't messing around.  There's some hard-core content there, content that someone has thought about for more than a quarter-minute before it is uttered on the air.   Several recent comments have noted Corby's apparent near-total unpreparedness for E-News and Community Q-Hits, and, defend Corby as I might, that perception is widely shared and difficult to shake.  P1's want to be entertained, and our lads do that quite well.  But if they think they're being shown disrespect, they may go shopping to that new mall up north on the dial.

Now, please excuse me while I Google "anal bleaching."
_______________________________

* Scorching Ticket Disquisition

TORN FROM TODAY'S TICKET HEADLINES!! Let the Guessing Begin

In the words of Screamin' Danny Bacon:   

Now, this is fun.

Today on What's on Mike's Mind, the lads were going through their annual recollection of the early days of The Ticket.  There is something distinctly thrilling to today's Ticket listener about hearing Skip Bayless's first words over a transmitter that sounded as though it were designed by Marconi himself. 

Then, as they also frequently do, they turned to the shortcomings of Mr. Bayless, although Mike does acknowledge that his presence was critical to getting the venture off the ground. 

In light of what came just after I wish I had listened to this discussion a little more closely.   I did catch that he was speaking negatively of his former colleague Bayless, and (please correct me here, I don't have time to go back and listen to it on The (Incomparable) UnTicket) I think his point generally was that Bayless had bigger fish to fry, held himself apart from the station as a whole, never really warmed up to the enterprise, may only have been in it for the money, such as it was. 

And then, Mike said – and, as usual, I don't have the exact words, and if anyone wants to donate them from checking out The UnTicket replay, I'd be delighted to correct this – "There's only one person like that around here now."

Well, well, well, well, well, now isn't this lovely?

Mike doesn't pull back the curtain very often, but that was certainly tantalizing, was it not?

Who do you think he was talking about?

This is important to the P1 Nation and its Confessor subset.  We don't get stuff like this from a host very often.  If we could figure out who it was, well, then we'd really have something.  Probably some things would fall into place for us, stuff that puzzles us would no longer.  And our forecast for The Ticket's future might sharpen up some.

I have a couple of possible candidates, but I want to know what you guys – almost all of whom get to listen to the station more than I do – think he was referring to.  I'm certain your guesses will be better than mine.

And if a consensus candidate emerges – even if we are wrong – the fact that we think this may be the candidate will tell us a lot about how the station is presenting itself to the P1 Nation.

Now to aid our considerations I consulted Full Disclosure to see if I could find exactly what the issue was with Bayless, and that would help us compare with the current Ticket lineup.  Fail.  The firing of Skip Bayless by the Laddy occupies exactly one line, and there's scarcely a discouraging word about the guy, at least not in the part I reread tonight.

So we are left with what little archaeology we have about Bayless, and we have to compare that with what little we know about the behind-the-scenes (and perhaps even the not-so-behind-the-scenes) behavior and attitude of the current Ticket team.   In your considerations, Confessors, bear in mind that Mike didn't limit his remark to hosts, or on-air guys.  Maybe he was referring to management.  Maybe to a yuk-monkey.  Or maybe to one of his on-air host colleagues.  Maybe he was referring to himself.  Riddle me that, if you will.

Voting for

Who at The Ticket does Mike Rhyner believe possesses the character, attitude, and relationship to his Ticket colleagues exhibited by inaugural Ticket host Skip Bayless?

is now  .  .  .  open.

Happy 17th Birthday to the Little One and the Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven, present at the creation, being:

Mike "The Founder" Rhyner

Craig "Junior" Miller

George "For Some Reason, Called 'the Commander'" Dunham

Gordon "Gordon" Keith

Mike "Fernando" Fernandez

Steve "Cactus" Pryor

     and

Rick "The Immortal" Arnett

Thanks for everything, gents.



Someone Needs to Tell Me What to Think

I was in my jalopy early today so I heard the beginning of Why Today.   I forget how Greggo came up -- it wasn't by name, maybe Grubes played a Greggo drop, maybe there was a casual mention of the competition, and Mike took a direct shot,  saying something very close to:  "I already checked it out and he wasn't loaded, so there's no reason to listen." 

I chuckled.

But I wondered whether it is prudent for That Certain Hardline to take these shots.  (Confessors have reported others, some veiled, some direct.)   When I heard Mike's jab, my first reaction was to switch over and listen.  (With that particular jab, he implied that sometimes Greggo is loaded during the RaGE, which also would tend to make one curious to listen.)

I don't mind the sniping from a Hardline-content point of view.   My only question is -- is it good for the Hardline?  Doesn't it tend to elevate RaGE by acknowledging it as something worth sniping at?  Doesn't it make the back-and-forth  a kind of game that would tend to lead to curiosity about what RaGE is slinging?

I really don't know.  I think there may be some danger in treating RaGE as something that The Hardline is even noticing.  Anyone have any thoughts?

(PS:  My RaGE listening is rare and usually brief.  Depending on what one thinks about the cause of Hammer's endless laryngitis -- I guess I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt on that one, although Ticket guys clearly do not, nor did Jagger -- I've never heard him incoherent or obviously affected by anything.  Anyone out there heard anything during the RaGE showgram suggesting drug/alcohol/nacho abuse affecting Greg's broadcasting these days?  Personally, I have not, but if any of you heard anything peculiar (I mean other than Greg's inherently peculiar ideas) issuing forth from Hammer, please let us hear from you.  Come to think of it, there was the unexplained disappearance in the middle of Cowboys post-game show, but this was during the claimed laryngitis battle.)

Letters, I Get Letters: A Guest Article on Josh Lewin

Posting this in the ayem because I heard The Musers are going to talk about the Josh Lewin departure later today.

A few days ago I got an email from Confessor DallasDon.  I thought he had an interesting observation and he kindly gave me permission to post it,  Here's DallasDon:

===========

I would really like to see a discussion about Josh Lewin, more specifically the chemistry between Josh and Tom, whether that led to Josh's departure.

I saw about 150 TR games last year, and really liked Josh. More than Tom.

Did you ever notice when they were on the road, and they would banter about what they did earlier in they day before game time?

It seems they were never together!

Tom would say "I had lunch at ..." and Josh would relate similar stories, but I never heard them say "we went to the ...".

Quite a contrast to the Ticket hosts on the road. 

Just a thought, might be interesting to see if others picked up on that.


==========


Confessors seem to have a lot of STDs on Josh Lewin, so please let us hear from you.  I haven't heard much of the Lewin-Elfenbein show, but reports on that would be welcome as well.

For the record, I liked Josh as a Rangers broadcaster.  I did think the Josh-Tom chemistry was unusual, but I really got used to it and grew to look forward to it.

Thanks to DallasDon for permission to publish.


[Don't ask me why Blogger is screwing up my fonts.  If Google can rule the world, you'd think it could make an online word processor/publisher that was worth a poopoo.]

Junior Wipes Out!!

[Formerly titled, "Junior Craps Out!!]

This one's a little stale, sorry.  Actually, more than a little.

Readers will know that Craig Miller is one of this site's fave raves.  I won't go over his many merits at this time.  Suffice it to say that Your Plainsman appreciates his analytical approach to SPORTS and his dry sense of humor.  I"ve been surprised in the last couple of months to have received some Junior blowback -- some find him sarcastic and thin-skinned and superior-seeming, and there's some truth to that, but those outbreaks are rare and don't sppreciably move the needle for me on the Junior baconometer.

But he said something a few weeks ago that has required that I conduct an agonizing reappraisal.

I don't recall how it came up, but the subject was -- toilet paper.

I was astounded to hear Craig say that he preferred the very softest of toilet papers.  I believe he may even have mentioned Charmin. 

Why would he say a thing like that?  Maybe it's all those rough bike rides on those skinny little seats  .  .  .  .

It was also rather disturbing that neither George nor Gordon upbraided him severely for this.

Men, Junior being one -- true men, real men, I mean -- do not use Charmin.  They use Scott or other more manly, less  .  .  .  girly, less  .  .  .  liquid toilet papers.  In fact, Scott is really the only TP choice for a man, at least since Sears quit publishing catalogues.

Mrs. Plainsman and I were dining once with another couple some years ago and this very subject came up.  Who knows how.  The other man and I were Scott men.  The ladies, Charmin.  We guys said almost the same thing, simultaneously -- when required to use Charmin under extreme duress, we felt unclean even after using the reams of Charmin required to accomplish the task.

So I would implore Junior to reconsider his preference in this regard. 

At a minimum, arrange a consult on the topic with George DeJohn, who knows a thing or two about cleansing.

Ah, Growing Pains

"A home for those who love almost everything about The Ticket (1310 AM, 104.1 FM, Dallas-Fort Worth), and who would like to discuss -- respectfully and fondly -- their thoughts on how (and whether) to eliminate the 'almost.'"

Those are the words at the top of this site.

When I started this little venture, I was mostly talking to myself.   Maybe I'd get a couple of people hitting the site per day.   The very first comment I ever got was from That Nice Young Michael Gruber, to a post I had done about "The Internal Clock of the P1" remarking on how if the dedicated P1 punches out on ads, he has a feeling as to when he needs to punch back in to catch the last few syllables of the Ticker and then back to fun.  Michael provided information on how long those breaks typically last.

The site first came to more general attention when Barb Smith departed.  Someone called my articles to her attention and she was kind enough to comment to let us know what was up with her.  Some of you put out the word on other sites, and a lot of folks discovered us.  (I still get traffic to those posts -- and, of course, people looking for information on Alexis Smith.)

Since then, the hits have gradually increased.  I don't know what happened, but sometime several months ago I must have hit some critical mass of daily hits, because the site really took off.  I'm sure I don't get a tenth the hits of The (Incomparable) UnTicket, but an increasingly respectable number.

But the best part, for me, is not the traffic -- it's the terrific group of readers who have taken the time to leave thoughtful, funny, informative, observant -- and, frequently, critical -- comments.  Christie, P1 Steven, Doug, cancer monkey, Anonymous B, James, T4, shaggy, and many more, including a number of readers who prefer not to give themselves a name and post simply as "Anonymous." 

But it's not just the number of commenters.  It's that almost without exception, they've gotten into the spirit of the site, keeping things light, respectful, and literate.  It's made this site a fun place to come and stretch out a little.  It's fun for me and it brings people back to the site.  And, as we have seen, at least some Ticket personnel drop by for a look now and then.  I wonder if they would do so if this were just another Corby-sux flame chamber.  I really do try to make sure that the site is fair to The Ticket, acknowledging what is superior as well as stuff that irritates.  I sense that commenters have internalized that gestalt and the comments exhibit both praise and criticism.   I can't tell you how much I appreciate the tone that almost all commenters have taken.

Almost.  Lately we've had an exception or two.  Name-calling, mostly. 

I let it go for awhile, hoping it would subside.  There seems to one Anon in particular -- and I could be wrong as to there being only one -- who is not playing well with others.  A shame, too, because he portrays himself as a semi-insider and frequently favors us with what appears to be fairly sound information.  But he seems unable to correspond without some kind of rancorous epithet.

Won't have it. 

So, much as I dislike doing it, I'm going to have to start policing this kind of stuff.  I've deleted a few Anon comments from the past few posts and will be doing more bud-nipping in the future.  I'm not going to make any rules.  Just read the site and jump in with -- as the heading says -- your fond, respectful impressions.  And, as always, feel free to veer off onto your own tangent -- off-topic comments are not off limits here.  If you feel strongly about something, it's OK to sound off with some heat.  Just stifle the ad hominem stuff, please. 

So when you sit down to unburden yourself of your latest cogitations on The Ticket we all mostly love (but you don't have to love it to visit, or to comment), just pretend that while you're composing, that "Masterpiece Theater" theme is playing in the background.

Again, my heartfelt thanks to everyone who visits the joint, and especially to those who take the time to share their thoughts.

[I'll leave comments open for a short time on this post if anyone has any reactions, but I'd prefer to move ahead with the bidness of this site, so I'll have a new blast up soon.]

Why Can't Jake Dislike the Rolling Stones?

The Hardline ganged up on Jake Kemp yesterday for not liking the Rolling Stones.

When it was all over, my feeling was that The Hardline may have lost that argument.

It wasn't that Jake seemed too young and callow; it was that The Hardline seemed too old and out of touch.  (On this single topic, that is.  The C-Nation is aware that Your Plainsman strongly favors The Hard Ones in general.)  Oddly enough, the oldest soul present seemed to be Corby.

The Stones are in my wheelhouse, and they're far from my favorite group.  Some wonderful songwriting, but to young ears the recordings are a cliche.  White guy trying to sound black and look andro.  Druggy, gutbucket guitar.  Music has indeed moved on, for better or worse.  I like the Stones just fine, but it actually surprises me how popular some of the Sixties/Seventies acts remain to the current music-buying generation.  That attests to the strength of the music, but it's unsurprising that a guy in his twenties finds it entirely passe. 

Consider:  When was the last time the generation raised on the Beatles, Zep, and Stones put on a Little Richard or Chuck Berry record?  Those records sound tinny, the instrumentation is thin and undistinguished.  It's great, historical, spectacular music, but it's now been done to death and not much fun to listen to other than as a curiosity.

So by all means, try to educate Jake on the greatness of the Stones (and I acknowledge their greatness).  But if he's not convinced, it's not his problem.

My Ticket Confession Congratulates Rabid P1 James Hairston

On yesterday's Hardline, our boys congratulated and spoke with longtime ardent P1 James Hairston. from Jesuit  Unfortunately I missed the middle part of the segment, so I'm not sure if he committed, got a scholarship, or what good thing has happened to him, but the upshot appears to be that he will be attending LSU and stands a good shot at the kicker position there.  If anyone can sharpen up that description, please do comment and set me straight.

The Hardline described James's longtime devotion to The Ticket, hsi frequent zany appearances at Ticket events and live shots.  In the phone interview, he stated that when faced with a critical kick -- and what kick isn't? -- his invariable mantra is:  The anus is on me.  Excellent.

James, if you're a Confessor, check in and let us know what's up.  In the meantime, accept Your Plainsman's congratulations and best wishes, in which I am certain I am joined by the Confessor Nation.



Quick Sunday AM Question

I only caught a few minutes of the Sunday AM show today.  It sounded like Cirque.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I thought that Jean-Jacques Taylor was taking a shot at that slot. 

Anybody know what's up with the Sunday AM showgram? 

I'm thinking perhaps JJ was at one of the playoff games and not available to host this morning, which I could probably confirm for myself if I just picked up a Dallas Morning News.  Or visited http://www.dallasnews.com/.

But it's easier and more fun to ask you guys.  Besides, its slick out there.  Cold, too.

=======

Speaking of the Sunday morning show, I was able to listen to a little of Elfenbein/Lewin this past week.  Didn't make a strong impression either way.  They seem to have solved some of the technical problems with the show, but Elf still sounds really dry and denatured for some reason.  Content was OK, didn't grab me but didn't repel me, either.  Anyone have any reactions to that show?

Josh Lewin (2d from left) in

full semiformal regalia

My Ticket Confession

Your Plainsman tries to be fair.  Sometimes this consists of taking shots at some of the showgrams and some of the hosts.  As ardent listeners, the stuff that stands out for us is the stuff that irritates, even though most of it is great.

I don't know what happened today.  I've been a little logy lately, under the weather, and kind of had that la-de-da sensibility that comes from mainlining DayQuil.  Maybe it was because I'd had a good meeting with one of my numerous bosses.  Maybe it was because I'd knocked off work early for no good reason.  Maybe it was because a checkout lady at the supermarket insisted -- even after I denied it -- that I was a well-known national television figure.  Swear to Jah.

Whatever it was, I have this to say:

I thought The Hardline was incredibly good today.

I smiled, I laughed, I cackled, I chortled.  The highlight was when they announced some giveaway of tickets to a cowboys-of-color rodeo.   Almost drove off the road during that exchange.   All of the hosts were on their game, all were funny, the coarseness was kept to a minimum.  The "Tom Sawyer" E-News segment also stopped me down.  The Joel Jenista reminiscence was perfect.

Your Plainsman (among others) gripes about Hardline show nonprep, vulgarity, over-Corby, Mike R's early retirement -- but jeez, these guys (and Danny "Wool Hat" Bacon and that Nice Young Michael Gruber) are pretty incredible broadcasters.  I thought about that scene in "The Fugitive" where Harrison Ford is keeping just a few scrabbling steps ahead of the train wreck that's advancing on him -- that's The Hardline at its best, and it was at its best today.

Despite the fact that all of us (cowardly, anonymous) media experts have a list of stuff we'd like to fix, The Hardline is an astounding radio showgram. 

That, among other admissions I sprinkle in here from time to time, is My Ticket Confession.

I’m Not Sure I Want an Answer to This Question

What does “Bloody pants means I love you” mean?

It’s the tag line to the ad for the Stars-sponsored blood drive and an appearance by BaD Radio to promote it.

First of all, am I hearing it correctly?  (I’ve only heard it in my car at low volume, so it is not beyond imagining that I’ve got it wrong.)

I thought it must be a pop culture reference I was missing, a movie line or something, but nothing comes up via Google.  Then I thought maybe it was a Ticket inside thing with which I was unfamiliar, but I haven’t seen or heard any other reference to the phrase.

I am hopeful that someone can convince me that this is a whole lot less vulgar than it sounds, and that it bears some reasonable relationship to convincing people to engage in the altruistic act of giving blood.

Otherwise, it’s close to a recent low for The Ticket.   I hope I’m wrong and that someone will take me severely to task for misinterpreting this.  I hate to write negative things about The Little One, I really do.  So Confessors, have at me.

Got a Question; Actually, a Question and Then a Little PS Question

OK, Cowboy season over.

At the beginning of this season, the national consensus was that the Cowboys had top talent, some depth, and were favored to make a strong run to a championship of one sort or another.  Although blown out in their final game in last season's playoffs, they finished strong during the regular season (especially the defense) and won a playoff game, yay.

Turns out, they sucked.

They sucked for a variety of reasons.  Phillips sucked.  Players with strong 2009s sucked in 2010.  There was a dinstinctive lack of on- and off-field nonsucking leadership among the elite players.  Coaches, oh yeah, they sucked too. 

Now that the whole season has sucked, however, I'm hearing things like "the talent was overrated" and "we've got to draft at [name any one of a half-dozen positions] because we have no depth and our starters suck."

In other words, the pre-season expert conseusus has completely turned around, and those same experts (and Cowboy fans who agreed with them) are now saying exactly the opposite.   Now mark:    They're not saying that the players just sucked in the course of playing their 2010 games -- they're saying that the talent level sucked from the outset.  

I don't propose to argue this one way or the other.  Here's my Tickety question:  Did anyone at The Ticket predict anything like this?

This is a sincere question, and not one intended to be critical.  There's no reason for the Ticket experts to have had any insights that the national experts didn't have.  I'm only curious as to whether anyone at The Ticket -- anyone, hosts, producers, weekend guys, Alexis, board ops, the Ticket Mouse -- saw this coming.  I'm not sure whether to count guys like Mike R who seem simply to dislike the Cowboys.  (Or am I wrong about that?  I may be.)  Yeah, I think we can count Mike R -- what was his pre-season outlook?  Was there a discouraging word from anyone up or down the broadcast day?

I don't get to hear Norm or BaD very often, so don't know their pre-season views on the Cowboys.  I have a dim memory that maybe Dan McDowell was skeptical. 

I recall an interview with a pre-season analyst who puts out a detailed mathematical analysis of the teams in some kind of a magazine or yearbook or something.  I think the interview was on BaD Radio.  The analyst thought that the Cowboys would be last in the division.  (I recall that among the reasons he gave was the age of the offensive line.)  I don't recall BaD's reaction.

As I say -- I'm not saying that the Ticket guys are bad analysts -- I'm just wondering if someone at the station deserves a pat on the back as having seen things more clearly than the rest of us way back when.  Maybe the Sports Humorist?

==========

PS:  Isn't Greg Williams usually on the Cowboys post-game show?  He doesn't seem to be on this evening.  Anyone know if he's on vacation for the holidays?  Has he been on RaGE?

Have a fine 2011, all.