October 30, 2012

1:10 pm (10-29-12):  Hey  .  .  .  did I miss something, or am I not listening enough?  I'm sitting here trying to avoid doing my job, and the only thought that pops into my head is:  I can't remember the last time I heard Casey Millen on the joint.  Is he still engaged in sportsy broadcasting on The Ticket?  Or, as Confessors never tire of reminding me, am I a bad P1 for (a) not listening enough, or (b) not knowing what news there is to know about Casey Millen?  Is he still up-and-coming?

5:45 am:   I don't care about seeing Obama's Columbia transcript.

I would, however, like to see Jason Garrett's Princeton transcript.

6:27 am:  I liked George's sports talk this morning about trading Romo.  Not because I think it's a good idea, but because it was at least creative and he had some sound reasoning behind it.  And it was not the same two or three points we've been hearing since the post-game show, and which we all knew in advance because we all saw the game and all the other games and we all think the same thing about this team.   I've got a Cowboys HSO that's been perking for awhile that is much less credible than George's.

And it was nice to hear George chip in with some independent sports thinking.

8:23 pm:  Got an odd question for you:  I was checking my referring sites, and one of them was a Yahoo search page where someone had searched for "Greg Williams absenteeism The Rage".  Has he been away lately?  I wasn't aware that there was any issue relating to his attendance in recent months, not since his battle with throat demons a year or so back.  Not that a Yahoo search is evidence of anything, but thought I'd ask.

Sunday Morning Quick HIts

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(1)  I was wrong in previous comment about freshman Tickerman Mitchell Kerasik (sp) no longer broadcasting.  He's doing Tickers this morning. 

 

(2)  I try always to listen to the Bob Sturm/Rich Phillips Cowboys pre-game.  Always strong, and I like the teaming of Bob and Rich.

 

This season they've been required to feature other Ticket hosts.  If anyone knows why the CTO believes this is necessary, please advise.  Are they concerned about Sturm monopolization of two hours of broadcasting?  Do they think there's not enough variety in the two-hour show?  They already have David Newbury, David Moore, Norm doing the numbers, and pre-recorded George doing some keys to the game (although I'm thinking that maybe they don't do that last one anymore; I may be thinking to past seasons). 

 

Why they make Mike R do stuff like this is a mystery.  He has almost nothing to say.  Junior had a good segment prepared.  But the best, so far, has been -- Dan McDowell, last week.  The best BaD broadcast I've heard in awhile, with some Dick Hicks spice in the bargain.

 

(3)  Those George/Gordon Raising Cain's ads are effective.  I've written in the past how utterly mediocre the Raising Cain's chicken product is, but the other day I was hungry and saw a Cain's up ahead so thought, hey, for George and Gordon, I'll give it a fifth try. 

 

As usual:  Friendly, fast, spotless, fresh/hot, and chicken utterly, 100% without flavor.  And, in this case, under-battered, although it scarcely matters.  What do they marinate it in for 24 hours?  Water?  And how they manage to develop a recipe for a batter that does not register on the tongue at all is a mystery of modern culinary science.  Tip:  salt.

 

(3)  I'm liking MaSS.   One way I judge showgrams is whether they get me interested in topics I know nothing about or otherwise have no interest in.  This morning, MaSS did just that with its "local beer" segment. 

 

We smack the CTO around a fair amount, but it must be said that it's made a good effort to come up with solid weekend programming.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I'd rather listen to MaSS than any other show on either of The Ticket's competitors, weekday, drive, or otherwise.   The Ticket conversational formula must be impossible to duplicate, since no one has been able to do it, yet the CTO seems to identify the right types to put on a show that fits in The Ticket sound and broadcast theory.  For that, they deserve some credit.

 

Those hits weren't as quick as I'd expected.

OPEN THREAD: Been to Bahston . . .

.  .  .  and not by the channel the last several days.  So consider this an open thread.  Music talk, Dan talk, kickass-lives-of-The-Hardline talk, you name it, it's yours.

I'll just mention one thing I heard a few days ago that I really enjoyed:  In the 5:30-6 am segment, Junior engaged in Writing Talk with George and Gordon.  About how hard writing is.  He talked about how he started off blogging with some frequency, and how it has now dwindled to about once a month or so.  (SEE:  www.tickettribute.com, last heard from July 23.) 

Like any art, writing is hard, if you do it right.  You try to write it carefully the first time, and then go back and edit, carve  it down, get rid of anything that gets in the way of your point.  (First rule -- have a point.)  My sometimes lengthy articles are not good examples of the writer's art, but then, it was easy to write them because I seldom did the things that one needs to do to produce a really sparkling slab of text.  I am a speedy typist, which tends to bypass the governor between thought and page.  And now I sometimes use the amazing Dragon speech-to-text software, which, if injudiciously employed, is also an enemy to reflection.

An offbeat topic for TWMSG, and a very fine way to start one's day.

Junior's blog:  http://juniormiller1310.blogspot.com/.   Check it out.

The comments are yours.

I'll Probably Regret This

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A couple of Confessors commenting in the last post remarked on a Corby reference -- possibly a stitched together drop, I did not hear it -- to "n-lover."  And of course we frequently hear Danny's "a pretty good n" drop (he's actually saying "a pretty good in," the original reference being to someone's good inside connection with something or other, but the drop is played as though he's saying "n"). 

 

From time to time commenters have suggested that The Hardline is racist.  I do not believe that any of the Hardline guys is racist in the slightest.  I myself do not find the racial banter or references offensive, but if you do I'm not going to try to talk you out of it or accuse you of oversensitivity.

 

So I'm OK with the occasional risky reference.

 

"A truckful of Mexicans" -- Mike Rhyner
(courtesy http://reinforcingstereotypes.tumblr.com/, used without
permission; site dedicated to collecting photos that reinforce stereotypes of all
races, without discrimination)

 

Here's my concern:

 

There have been times when I've wondered whether a motivated interest group could create gigantic headaches for the CTO and The Hard Ones by doing to them what was done to Mike Bacsik.  The kindling is there.  I truly do not think The Hardline is racist, but the edge-skirting stuff, when you add it up, could be fodder for some "community organizer" to make a name for himself calling for a Ticket advertiser boycott.  Those drops would be assembled and played by the local news channels.  And possibly by The Ticket's competitors.

 

And that would be trouble for our lads that they couldn't laugh their way out of, no matter how unreasonable or crazy the accusations.

 

I'm not suggesting The Hardline should change a thing because I personally don't find these references blameworthy.  But we live in fractious times, and there are those out there who would love to see The Ticket brought low.

 

Please keep comments respectful and moderate in tone.  Thanks in advance.

 

 

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

I Was Feeling a Little Scruffy . . .

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.  .  .  and my workday had taken me northish, so I decided that I had given my employer enough of my remaining time on this earth for the day, so I stopped in and checked out the Hardline remote.  I found a spot where I could observe the room, and I just hung out for a while and purchased some cocktails from a young woman who appeared to be an experienced service technician.

A few unremarkable observations.

The name of the place is "Scruffy Duffies."  Not a possessive, but a plural.  Not Scruffy Duffy's; not a place that belongs to Mr. or Ms. Duffy; rather, a place that is of, or resembles, or contains, more than one Scruffy Duffy.   If they think they are avoiding trademark issues with Scruffy Duffy's saloons in NYC and elsewhere, they are in error.

Not a big crowd, at least up to close to 6:30 or so.  There was one guy sitting directly in front of the Hardline setup who was listening to the show, and I noticed one other table of guys who seem to be paying attention. There was a guy reading a tablet and writing in a notebook.  I haven't been to a lot of remotes, but the ones I have dropped in on were a noisier than this one. The good news is that I could hear the show.

Nobody approached them during the couple hours that I was there. They probably prefer it that way, as some remote visitors seem unable to discern when our lads are on the air. Corby appeared to be working away on his Mac during breaks, probably doing some in-show show prep, but while Corby made his magic Mike stood quietly and swayed a little.

They were broadcasting almost in the dark. The bar is dark to begin with, but they were away from the windows and the "stage" was deep in the shadows.

I am always reminded that it must be quite a talent to be able to hold a conversation in front of a bunch of strangers and in the middle of a bunch of noise. As I said, yesterday's remote was not overcrowded, but they are just as smooth when the place is roaring.

Corby looks at Mike most of the time when he's talking. Mike rarely looks at Corby unless he is particularly exercised, when he will turn to him and gesture. Most of the time, when Mike is holding forth, he just kind of stares into the middle distance even when he and Corby are conducting a lively conversation. It's odd to watch Corby speaking very earnestly  and directly to Mike and looking at him, while Mike is more or less gazing at some indeterminate point among the patrons.

I didn't see any Ticket Chicks or promo guys.

I didn't know who the engineer was.

Mike and Corby interact very little during breaks. As I say, it was dark, so perhaps they were mumbling to one another or to Danny through the headsets.  It's a little trippy to hear the disembodied voice of Danny come drifting through the speakers when he jumps in.

I had heard one or another sports pundit or play-by-play guy make many of the same points that Corby and Mike were making about the sole topic, the Cowboy game -- all of the same points, in fact.  And yet, I was not bored listening to them and I was struck again by the fact that Ticket hosts distinguish themselves in being able to make these repeated points listenable and even entertaining.

As I said, no great insights here, but a nice way to unwind, look at chicks, drink, and reflect on how it's Great to Listen to The Ticket.

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

I Would Like to Congratulate Myself on My 500th Post

Thanks to all Confessors for making this site Your Source for Responsible Ticket Journalism.

Putting a few topics on the table today:

(1)  I was delighted to hear Michael Gruber interviewed on (I think it was) Cirque this weekend.  He was on a football junket to Pittsburgh with Norm and, I believe, Grubes père.  He said that leaving The Ticket was the worst mistake he ever made, and while he was kidding, he was only about 82% kidding, I thought.  The best news was that he's quit drinking and has been sober for the past couple of months.  Keep it up, Michael, and continued academic success.

(2)  Junior as a chick:  Admit it guys, we've all done worse.  All I could think of esd that I wished I had a lump of sugar for him.   If Sarah Jessica Parker can be a chick, so can Junior.

(3)  Was there any announcement of why Jake Z was not twiddlin'/tweakin' on The Hardline yesterday?

(4)  I thought surely someone would have taken new Saturday AM Tickerman Mitchell Kerasik (phonetic) gently aside and assisted him with correcting some of the more dramatic errors from his debut.  Apparently not.  I don't like criticizing new guys, trying to make their way in a tough business, but  .  .  .  shouldn't someone at least advise him that what he is doing is a Ticker and not a Ticket?   Truly hoping Mitchell shakes off his Ball-State start,  MTC is always in there rooting for the JV.

(5)  I didn't hear the whole thing, but I think George DiGianni was commenting on his recent bugouts on his mix with The TeeBox last Saturday.  I didn't hear the whole thing, but I think his point was that people can't tell the difference between his joking and his not-joking, so he was just going to cut the handoff short.  May have that wrong, but he was commenting on some of the recent attention he has received. 

And again, to each of you, except the more tiresome of the mope trolls, Thank You for Shopping at My Ticket Confession.

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com