Saturday, October 1, 2011

Weekends are Tough for The Hammer

An Anonymous Confessor passes along some Greg Williams tweets and offers a comment with some plausible speculation:

TCUWhiteTrash GREGGO
@tweetgrubes ...I can't believe you won't answer...it's Greggo...
23 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply


TCUWhiteTrash GREGGO
@CMCrume...they may think I'm the enemy..but I'm not...No ill will against any of those guys...I did great work there..and I love those guys


TCUWhiteTrash GREGGO
@Thehermesmeyers I do have a life...but in my recovery...I want to make things right with those guys..we went thru a lot.and had great times

After doing a little Tweeter dumpster diving (there's too much to post up here), it looks like Greggo has been reaching out to every Ticket host. On many occasions. It also looks like he might be having a conversation with Rhyner. If that's so, then, as far as I can tell, Rhyner is tweeting privately to Greggo, while Greggo seems to be tweeting publicly with Rhyner. This does seem to be the case. Unless Greggo is so out of it that he's tweeting as if Rhyner is answering his questions. I find that hard to believe. Don't know what the deal is, but I think somethings afoot, in the workings, or at the very least maybe a reconciliation of sorts is happening.

[Anonymous then clarifies that he believes that the "reconciliation" that is taking place is the "reconciliation" that is called for in the 12-step AA-tyhpe programs -- not a reassembling of The Hardline prior to Greggo's departure, which he acknowledges is almost certainly not going to happen.]

============

I don't know what the evidence is for behind-the-scenes Rhyner communications with Greg.  Whether or not this is true, these Tweets are still fascinating.  They cannot be welcomed by Greggo's Fan colleagues or supervisors.  This cannot be a bit to gin up interest in RaGE.   While it may be a part of Greg's rehab -- and if so, we can only hope it's working -- it looks desperate, it looks like he's unhappy with his current surroundings and wishing that he could turn back the clock.  It's pleading; it's sad.  He might scoff at that, but that is the impression he's giving.  The fact that he's making these communications public, when every Ticket guy's email is on The Ticket's website, suggests that he wants listeners, not just his former colleagues, to know what's going on.  As I suspect he has done in the past, he seems to be hoping that his public will demand some kind of rapprochment with his old Ticket buddies of some kind.

More speculation, of course.  However, I would suggest that these Tweets are even more interesting when one considers:

(1) Mike Bacsik has popped up on The Fan.

(2) Mike's and Corby's contracts are up in February, I'm pretty sure.

(3) Richie Whitt is let go at The Observer for reasons remaining unclear.

(4) Don't laugh -- BaD Radio is humming along sans Bob -- at least, that's my impression -- and it is not beyond imagining that when he returns he might want to make some other changes in his life. 

(5) Cumulus has bought Citadel and has access to much better signals that are currently being seriously underused.

I agree with Anonymous, as he wrote in the comments to the last article, that the chances of a Hardline reunion are extremely remote.  At least on The Ticket. 

But I don't think it's going to far to say that matters are somewhat fluid at The Fan, and we're approaching decision time for a number of individuals at The Ticket as well.

And we'll be mulling these things over in greater detail in future postings.  In the meantime, as Harry Caray used to say, lemme hear ya.

18 comments:

  1. Is BaD Radio humming along without Bob? I can't really get jazzed to hear John Rhadigan hold forth, and while Mark Followill's life-play-by-play was a great bit, I'd much rather have the whole family together. BaD Radio is a tune-out for me right now except for Homer Call.

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  2. Little Weak, welcome back! I wondered what had become of you.

    Good question -- I was under the impression that the show was listenable in Bob's absence, but as I say, I don't hear it too often. When I have, I still thought it was OK. My next piece was going to be an open thread on Bob-less BaD, so I'm hoping people will hold off on that topic for just a bit.

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  3. Greggo has been tweeeting these guys for months. This is nothing new. I would highly doubt Mike is tweeting him at all. I've seen tweets from way back of Greggo asking Mike to call him because he had a baseball question. I seriously doubt Mike is tweeting him privately.

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  4. Didn't Bob say on Friday that he'd be back next week?

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  5. If you have the time (or wont or have no life like me!) to plow through several hundred of the most recent twits on Greggo's account like I did this afternoon...you'll soon find that, like I said earlier, either Greggo and Rhynes are indeed in communication (but the Ryhnes' end is on the private mode) or Greggo is absolutely out of his mind and is answering responses to his own questions that he's posed to Rhyner. If you have the time, go check it out and you'll know what I'm saying has to be (either way) the case.

    So yes, I think everyone here knows that Greggo's been reaching out via Twitter to his old cohorts for quite sometime now. But it seems to be getting either weirder and/or more effective these last few days.

    As far as BAD goes: I cannot wait for Bob to return. Bob IS BAD Radio. Dan is a great #2 guy, no doubt. Donny is living the dream. And he knows it. He could be gone tomorrow and within two weeks we'd never know he was ever a part of the show. Bob is the real thing.

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  6. Soooooo, two weekends in a row the Hambonita raises the roof with his tweets. Pattern? Methinks so. Bad moon on the rising? Methinks so. Bad moon for the Ticket boys? Methinks not. Bad moon for Richie Whitt and FAN and RaGE and company? Methinks so.
    Greggo's looking for, whatever it passes for, setting things right in his mind with respect to the past. I get the feeling that his attempts to set things aright past-wise aren't going to fit in nicely with the present. If you get what I mean and I think you all do.

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  7. Perhaps a name change is in order. Maybe My Greggo Speculation?

    To quote Rosengarden "I think you're wrong"

    1. Greggo's tweets are only a problem if someone complains and frankly, I don't think anyone cares enough to do that.

    2. Radio is not like your job. To a certain extent, the inmates run the asylum. So while Fan management might wince at some of Greggo's tweets, they aren't going to do anything about it.

    3. I think both hosts signed a new contract within the past year. They are trying to develop stability. (although Arnie will be out once his contract expires)

    4. Free Pub. You've been generating buzz from it for a couple weeks now. It's highly probable that Greggo's antics with ticket people has prompted a few p1's to switch bands and see how lucid the Hammer is. How's that a bad thing for a station trying to develop an audience? They'll gladly be car wreck radio if it means people are going to tune in to hear the carnage. They can't do it forever but it can help spike some numbers short term.

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  8. Good solid comment.

    I think you're wrong.

    Radio is like a job. Rather, radio broadcasting is like a job, because radio is like a business. In fact, it is actually a business. How much is it like a business? How little do inmates actually run the asylum? Take a look at the turnover in on-air talent in the industry. The inmates run nothing in any station where they aren't generating monster ratings, and sometimes where they are. Station management will not hesitate to let a star go when he makes an intolerable nuisance of himself.

    Contract within the past year means zero. (By the way -- can you refer me to a link that reports on this? I can't find anything about a new contract for Richie/Greggo. I don't deny it but I don't recall it, and I would be very interested in seeing any account of any new deal for these guys.) Serious Greggo eruptions are recent, unless you count his vocal problems. Coaches get extensions and are out the next season. Suits will eat a contract in a heartbeat. Greggo had a contract when The Ticket bade him farewell.

    Publicity: I am gratified that I have more than a dozen readers, but I don't have so many more than a dozen that anything appears here would account for more than .00001 of a ratings point. This is not an influential blog, more's the pity.

    And the interest generated by an impending trainwreck can only be sustained for so long.

    I have to agree with those Confessors who say that the next six months are going to be extrmely interesting.

    As to the name change: Yeah, I get ragged on for commenting on Greggo and RaGE, but there are those out there who still have considerable residual affection for The Hammer and recall his Ticket years with fondness. I'm one of them.

    Besides, as you can also see from the page, The Plainsman is "scanning the sports radio horizon." Sometimes, rarely, The Fan actually appears there.

    Thanks for a solid shot.

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  9. Final note on name change suggestion: Greggo's reaching out to numerous Ticket guys would seem to bring his activities back into the purview of Responsible Ticket Journalism.

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  10. I respectfully disagree about BaD humming along. It's been the weakest past few weeks during that time slot in as long as I can remember. Followeezy is good, but there's not good chemistry in the show. Rhads is okay, but not for weeks at a time. I love Dan to death, but he needs a certain type of foil, and Followill and Rhads don't fit that bill. The show's not terrible, but it is clearly missing its lynchpin.

    Bob keeps saying that he's just a few days away from getting back, but they're having a hell of a time getting their visas in order for the new member of the family. This is not at all an uncommon situation, unfortunately.

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  11. I don't understand why this will be an interesting next 6 months. I've read that a lot on this blog. What's so interesting? The Ticket will still be #1 by a long shot, and the fan will probably change their lineup like they do every 6 months. Just seems like people are digging for stuff.

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  12. I don't understand why this will be an interesting next 6 months. I've read that a lot on this blog. What's so interesting? The Ticket will still be #1 by a long shot, and the fan will probably change their lineup like they do every 6 months. Just seems like people are digging for stuff.

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  13. Maybe. Maybe.

    Although RaGe has been at it for awhile and absolutely swears that it isn't going anywhere.

    And considering what a ratings monster The Ticket is, I think that the (what we are, confessedly, speculating to be) upcoming Mike R/Corby D contract negotiation will add a frisson of extra spice to the DFW sports radio scene.

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  14. I also think that the battle for midday ratings is going to become hotly contested. Word on the Dallas Radio Board is that Russ Martin is being given a few months to show he can reclaim what he once had in afternoon drive time; and if he can't, he's being shown the door.

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  15. do you have a link or any evidence on the Corby/Mike contract status?

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  16. Anonymous,

    Not directly. My surmise that Mike's contract is up in February has two sources.

    First, during the guys' alcohol-fueled session at the last campout, Mike made a rather startling reference to leaving the station next February -- I forget the exact words he used. He recanted a day or so later, but that got me looking at what might be significant about February 2012.

    Second, I found that his last contract deal was eone in February 2009. Lots of news on the Internets about that, links easy to find. Here's one, reported by no less a personage than Richie Whitt:
    http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/sportatorium/2009/02/breaking_un-news_mike_rhyner_a.php

    This suggests that he signed a three-year contract that is up in February 2012, or at least one that he could walk away from at that time.

    Other than that, I haven't seen anything online about Mike's contract.

    Just more speculation, of course, but it hangs together.

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  17. When it looks like Greggo is responding to Mike, it's because he is--Mike is posting general observations directed at nobody, and Greggo is responding back to Mike about what he tweeted.

    There's a 0% chance that Mike and Greggo are having any any actual interaction whatsoever.

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  18. Then that makes Greggo's responses even that much more odd. And in some ways an bit sad, I hate to say.

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