Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Nation Is Restless

Holy crud-o-mighty, 80 comments to the last thread.  Record hits.   Some great comments, and some fine newcomers.  Can't tell you how grateful I am for all of your comments, expertise, and thoughtfulness.

But some in the Confessor Nation are unhappy with me for not providing fresh MTC fodder. (At least one is unhappy with the whole concept of a Confessor Nation.) 

It's true.  I'm sorry about that.  I've been out of town, tied up with family stuff, working on work stuff, not feeling tippy-top.  Jeebus, I've had GOUT.  Guys in my demo and physical condition are not supposed to get gout.  Like something out of an old New Yorker cartoon.

When I hear something that I think might make an interesting article, I write it down on a list.  My list is now six typed pages long.

The problem is that there is usually something of current interest, or something that the Nation has gotten excited about.   Stuff of interest to write about.   Which means that all those interesting topics recede into the past and get stale.  I mean, who wants to read about T.C.'s big prank, asking hosts to provide bit topics for him in late night calls?  Matt McClearin's account of alien encounter is deep in the past.  Interested in my latest thoughts on Gum Out ads?    I didn't think so.  If you want me to dip into the stale topic archives, let me know.

Now, as it happens, some of the topics on my list would still work.  Not as exciting as the recent tech flameout, but they'd do.    And I've got a Hot Sports Opinion in the oven that, unfortunately for you, is actually about sports.  I'm going to try to get to TicketStock next week for an on-scene report.  But tonight -- none of it looks like much fun to me after the recent behind-the-scenes drama.



So I thought I'd take this opportunity to find out if you sometime get the same feeling that I do.

I've been unavoidably away from the channel, and I don't have a lot of time to go back and check out what The UnTicket has selected for us.

And, as has happened from time to time in the past, I found out that I didn't miss it all that much.  Sometimes I can't wait to get back to the Ticket-listening routine; sometimes, takes me a day or two to get back into the habit. 

It has nothing to do with The Ticket itself.  I listen to the showgrams, they're perfectly fine, no one boring me, no one making me angry, no one being a jerk.  The SweetJack commercials are even starting to recede into the overall commercial noise.  I just sort of  .  .  .  forget.  I got to work this morning, realized about a half-hour later that I'd forgotten to switch the Musers on.  3:30 rolls around, I can usually spin The Hardline and do so nearly every day possible -- again, just kind of passed me by.

So sometimes, for reasons having nothing to do with any deficiencies coming out of the speakers, I take a break from The Ticket.   Sometimes I check out the competition, see if there are any topics popping up there, but it's usually so unlistenable that I switch the Philco over to KNTU 88.1 or some Real Jazz or Little Steven's Underground Garage or Deep Tracks on Sirius XM.  But usually back to The Little One.

Oh, I'll be back with an HSO pretty soon, and, shortly thereafter, I hope, with an STD.

Ever take a break from The Ticket?  And if you do, how do you spend that listening time?

And if that doesn't interest you -- the topic list is always wide open at MTC.

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19 comments:

  1. I'll take a break from certain shows now and then, but I rarely turn away from the ticket entirely. I think there's always such a thing as too much of a good thing. Luckily, the shows are different enough for me that I don't get overloaded on all of them at once.

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  2. The only shows I ever take a break from are Norm and The Hardline. I especially take breaks from Norm during this time of the year-i.e., draft time. I know he's EXTREMELY passionate about it, but he goes over the freakin' top with the thing. At times it becomes insulting to the listener; he forsakes all else in service to it...and repeats himself over and again. If anyone heard him with the Goose today, you could tell that Goose didn't have the heart to flat out say: "Hey man, I really don't mind not doing the draft like I have for the last 20 years. There's other stuff out there in my field that I'd like to do. I'm ready to move on. And no, I don't want to take 6 weeks off like you suggested in order to continue to cover it (another example of Norm Fantasy Land Thinking)." As to my taking breaks from The Hardline goes, it mostly has to do with getting tired of hearing superlative, know-it-all Corby talk out of his backside about stuff he has absolutely no knowledge of other than what in his mind sounds right. That and when I grow tired of its Entertainment Tonight feel. However, I always come back when a big local sports story develops and/or a local team is really tanking. No one analyzes these situations better than Mike and in many regards, Danny. And if it's college football, Corby (and Junior).

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  3. I hear you on Norm and the draft, rockyroad. Now I do like hearing Norm cover the draft as its happening. But the weeks and days that lead up to it are too much for me to take. So, I have to turn him off and flip over to 88.5 FM for my super 70s hits. I usually tune out BaD when Bob's out of town. The time he was in Guatemala was torturous for me. I like BaD, but I did not like DaD. The Musers. Only when they start getting political. And only then do I switch the station for 10 minutes. Until I know it's safe to return. Which leaves me with The Hardline. Again, I have to side with rockyroad. I love me some Hardline, but I get very annoyed with Corby's lack of knowledge on certain topics that he'll go ahead and talk about them as if he were an expert. It sucks because no one from the show ever calls him on it. When he does get grief and is corrected by listeners, he's plays the part of the wiseacre. So, yeah, after a few Corby the aging fratboy know it all who likes all the "hot" athletes because he thinks he's in their "league of hotness"telling me about how the music business works for bands and whatnot, I punch out for the day. Sure I'll be back tomorrow. But I do fear that the day will come when I'll no longer return to that show. Can't ever see myself leaving the Musers. There's just too much substance, and chemistry going on in that show. They just "get it."

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  4. Off topic: Got a kick out of the 6:40 repeat of the Val Day card reading when the WBAP traffic manager came on, and they teased her about having two signals (AM and FM) that covered the whole metro.

    I know we have some knowledgeable Confessors who offer reasons for not giving The Ticket WBAP's FM signal, but I've never found them at all persuasive. Keeping The Ticket's coverage perpetually undernourished is so short-sighted.

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  5. Pretty much agree with all of the above. If I am working on a project I find sometimes I can't concentrate and listen at the same time. For times like these my "white noise" of choice is:

    www.liveatc.net

    I hardly ever listen BaD and when I get past signal coverage down I-30 it is usually 103.3, 105.3 or 90.1.

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  6. I am a big podcast listener and I will switch to those when I get backed up a couple dozen podcasts. This is the perfect time of year to lay off TheTicket 'cause we're pre-NCAA Tourney (Bracket Dan) and Masters. May is the prime season for BBall Playoff and Rangers HSOs. There's usually a lull in mid-july before Training Camp to lay-off as well.

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  7. Off topic...

    I thought it was fun to listen to Mike and Danny kick Corby in the nads on Monday about the Foo Fighters. One of Corby's favorite bands and both Mike and Danny were "meh". I wonder how he felt while getting a taste of his own medicine?

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  8. Living out of town in Tennessee now for the past four years, the only time I don't tune in is when cell phone coverage sucks and I can't stream it. We ain't allowed to stream at work do I survive with the phone. I also record all day on my laptop at home so I can go back and listen to stuff and skip portions if I'm not interested. But by and large I just listen all day long everyday. Being on east coast time I miss a lot of the hard line and I just use norm as white noise unless he gets to baseball or an interview that interests me.

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  9. plainsman, acknowledge me. -the head.

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  10. DRW1961: It was nice to hear Corby get his nuts kicked a bit. Mike and Danny nailed it when they said that the Foo Fighters are OK. That there are a lot of bands out there that are just as good or better doing the same thing. Bands right here in Dallas. If it weren't for Dave Grohl being in Nirvana, no one would've ever heard of them. But Corby, like he does on so many topics, can't see the forest for the trees. Oh well. It was fun to listen to!

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  11. Someone here mentioned listening to podcast and I've got a question that hopefully someone can answer. Back in the I'm pretty sure we could get the Top 10 on podcast, but I can't find those to save my life. I can't find anything very easily on The Ticket's website, so maybe it's on there and I just can't find it, or is it gone altogether? I have found WTDS podcasts in web form, which leads me to my second question. I'm an Android user and I have an app called MyPOD that plays podcast. Is there a better podcast player for the Android smartphone, and if so, what's the name of it? I would love to listen to the WTDS and Ticket Top 10, but am not able to at the moment. Any leads are appreciated.

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  12. Double Fake Natalie MainesFebruary 15, 2012 at 5:51 PM

    @T4 - Try searching for it in iTunes? That's where I've found some podcasts, not sure if it has Top 10 though. JUST SO YA KNOW.... LOVE YOU!

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  13. @T4 - I use BeyondPod. You should be able to search "1310 The Ticket" and find the feed. There is also one for The UnTicket listed under "The Unofficial Ticket Blog". I think with the move they haven't been getting as many up on the Ticket feed, but if something good happens it is usually also on the UnTicket.

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  14. Now that I live in MI, I listen on my Android withTineIn. Mostly BAD radio.

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  15. Thanks anonymous, I'll check that one out. And P3 in MI, you mean Tunein, right? I use that one too when I have Wifi. Good app, but buffers alot though.

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  16. I only take a break when the hosts are on vacation. Can't handle Rads or the Sunday sprares (No offense Sunday spares and Rads) I've too noticed when I'm out of town I really don't miss it for a day or two, but damn I'm happy when I get off the plane and into the truck and turn on the littlest of Tickets.

    Me and the wifey are heading to Ticketstock Friday..I'll have my hat on, come up and say howdy. She's been hyped up for the last month...it's cray in the affordable side of the metroplex.

    Don't understand folks bagging on Cobra, he's the annoying friend/coworker of yours..everyone has one..Hell, I'm probably (most assuredly) "that guy" in my circle o friendos.

    Bought time you put something up Confessor, appreciate ya pal!

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  17. Does the Guardian Exteriors Roofing guy have a stroke while going through his script? It almost sounds like a continuous version of the heroin hitting the arm traffic chick drop Corby likes. Lol.

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  18. T4 - yes, TuneIn. Sorry, still can't type well on this Kindle Fire.

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