Sunday, April 28, 2013

Early Newbury Thinkings

In the recent past and in the last thread, Confessors have sung the praises of David Newbury and wished for the day when we might hear him more permanently.

I join both sentiments.  He brings the kind of hard-core wonk sportsiness seen hitherto only in Bob, sometimes Norm.  Maybe another one or two over the years that aren't coming to mind.  

The following are not misgivings, just observations:

(1)  He's not a Tickety guy.  He plays nothing for yuks, which may be a breath of fresh air, but he conveys the feeling that he does not entirely approve of other participants doing so.   I'm unsure whether he would be an effective solo host, but I would think that any more Tickety co-host would have to be pretty strong and mature.  Recall that matters did not go smoothly with David and Matt McClearin.

I'm thinking David Moore, another guy I could stand to hear a lot more of. They could call the show "Welcome to the Boomtown," or, perhaps just "the Boomtown," to which they could "welcome" listeners at the outset.

Look it up.

(2) He's a Sturm-Sports-Bully starter kit -- again, quite possibly a good thing.  Sometimes falls into forest-for-the-trees syndrome, however.  Not keenly interested in alternative viewpoints.

Having said this, hoping The Ticket continues to find opportunities to showcase him.

 
Twitter:  @Plainsman1310
 


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Mainly Just Freshening Up the Thread

I got pretty much nothing today, but probably need to get a new thread started.  Man, 107 comments to the last one.  I need to step up my game here.  By the way, huge readership during RaGE's implosion, and it looks like quite a few are sticking around.  Thanks to all for shopping at My Ticket Confession.

Got a laugh out of George's and Gordon's live Raising Cain's commercial this morning, which was not only unscripted but completely unconceptualized.  It sputtered along for awhile until Jer or whoever was working the joint today mercifully started running another ad while George and Gordon were still speaking haltingly to one another, and finally stopped in mid-nothing.



How about some thanks to the CTO for a big investment in draft day?  Not everyone enjoys it, but for me it's kind of like Race Week.  I have no interest in NASCAR but I really enjoy Rich's broadcast.  I know zero about the draft or college players, but the enthusiasm Norm, Bob, David, and David (and George from Valley Ranch) manage to sustain for hours and days on end is pretty remarkable, and a fun listen.

That's it.  Thread is now  .  .  .  open.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Awright, I Guess I Need to Trot Out a New Theory of The Hardline


I don't get it, man.

First, I must say that I remain a big Hardline fan even when they're doing their typical show from Victory or Scruffy Duffies or Sol's Meat Shop in Wylie.

Second, I will further affirm that I have loved the Chicago visit and thought our lads have done a first-rate job, a success in every way.  Jeez, some guy was griping near the end of the last post about the account of the visit to the Old Town Ale House and Mike's encounter with Chicago legend, the profane, colorful leftist Bruce Elliott.  What exactly do you want them to do on the Chicago trip?  Would you think it was a good trip if they had gone to the Sears Tower (I know, it's not called that anymore)?  The Art Institute?  The Field Museum?   Hell, I expect and want The Hardline to go to local bars and find their own.  And Christ, they weren't only local-intensive, they were baseball-intensive.  Their accounts of the Wrigley Field tour, their elbow-rubbing with the honchi.  Mike changing his mind about Cubs fans and falling in love with a new city?  Come on -- this is nothing, nothing whatsoever like the New York trip.  Maybe they were stung by the yawns that greeted them on their return from New York, and maybe they're making an effort on that account, and some readers have complained about that

Something's going on here.  I have a thought to share on what it is.

Michael Having the Time of His Life at Wrigley Today,
Courtesy Alexi Ogando
Sure, I hear (and have issued) complaints about show prep, the OverCorby, Mike's variable interest levels.  I understand it.  And if someone says I just can't freakin' stand Corby and I'm out, I say:  OK.  Some people can grow to rub people the wrong way.  Gotta respect both the reaction and the  decision to bail.

But right now I'm thinking about the more run-of-the-mill complaints about the show.  The complaints about doing the same stuff over and over, the staleness, the show being so much worse than the old days.  I don't go back to the old, old days, but I heard the last three years of the Greggo regime, part of it before Greggo shrunk before our very ears, and my notion is that the show is a lot better now than it was at its best with Greggo, but I'll respect those who say that the real old days were better.  What else.  Lots of stuff, many complaints.

And I'll also concede that these complaints are all entirely sincere.  I believe every complaining commenter is being completely truthful about his or her feelings.

But here's what I've been puzzling over, what makes me think something more fundamental is at work.  It prompts my New Hardline Theory.

In what respect is The Hardline stale that any of the others shows is not?  What show doesn't experience the bored host?  (God, I've been resisting writing about this forever, and I may never mention it again, but there was a period not so long ago, and not a short period, when George seemed to me to have lost interest, noticeably checked out.)  Okay, maybe not Norm.  Why does The Hardline get smacked for plowing old ground when the others shows do exactly the same thing?  Why does Corby get absolutely scorched, when other abrasive hosts don't get nearly that obloquy heaped on them?  Are the weaknesses of The Hardline so much deeper than that of any other show that it explains the fury we sometimes see among our fine Confessors?

Maybe.  Maybe.

Maybe something else.  Something I've tossed out a half dozen times over the last few years but haven't really pursued.

I have thought that things like the poor show prep, but more than that, the pride they seem to take in it; the endless and not very interesting Stones segments that they frankly acknowledged on-air were excessive and dull; Mike's sometimes irascible references to listeners; Corby's occasionally tone-deaf accounts of his kickass life.  I've said in passing ya know, this kind of attitude might be interpreted as a lack of respect to the listener.

Now let me hasten to add that I don't personally feel that way.  I look at these things as bits -- but I can see how others might take this apparent attitude more personally.  Maybe those folks are right and I'm wrong, maybe THL has overplayed the bit, and maybe it's not a bit.   Plainsman error has been known to happen on this site.

So my theory is that The Hardline doesn't get a pass because quite aside from the commission of the sins people list, our lads have sometimes behaved in a way that can be interpreted as disrespecting the P1Other shows, whatever weaknesses they may exhibit, do not convey that impression.  Hence, with The Hardline seeming sometimes to thumb its nose at criticism, displeasure morphs into fury.

Another possible theory is that I'm a sucker.

In the meantime, I think The Hardline deserves praise for a real effort, a successful effort, to infuse the show with the good feelings they felt during their trip and providing the P1 with as much of a Chicago baseball experience as you can do outside of WGN.  (I guarantee you some decades-long WGN viewers don't know some of the stuff our guys learned and told us about.)  I enjoyed every minute of it and I'm hoping maybe it will prove to have been an epiphanal voyage for our guys; I'm looking forward to a new attitude toward their hometown surroundings, including their fans.

Monday, April 15, 2013

BREAKING: THE END OF RaGE? or THE END OF RaGE!


Confessors, I'm in the middle of my work day and can't write much.  Two comments to prior post have advised that (1) Greggo tweeted that he has been terminated, and (2) Richie/Sybil have been removed from The Fan website.

I have NOT confirmed these items.

Tell us what you know, and your very politely expressed reaction.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Cheap Friday Fill-In + an Alexis Retrospective


(1)  From the day The Ticket went live at Victory, this site has noted on several occasions that the station doesn't sound good.  Almost every host overdrives his mic with some regularity; there are stretches that are really unpleasant to listen to.  (One host whose mic almost never sounds bad except when he's yelling, which will overdrive any mic -- Corby.)

I have asked -- doesn't anyone at The Ticket actually listen to the station?  How can it continue to sound worse than the old facility well over a year after the switch?

Finally, someone has noticed.  Of course, it was Junior.  He said he was listening to Norm in the car yesterday, and it sounded like he was on a remote.  All the Muser mics, he said, were extra "hot," that overdriven-like sound that makes the voices sound like they'te sitting on a hissing griddle.

Right.  Now Junior needs to use his immense moral authority at Cumulus to get the station sounding better.

And, of course, the signals are still absolutely dreadful.  There was a time when we'd heard that Cumlus had applied for some kind of power increase or something.  Can someone please get into the FCC site and let us know if there's anything going on there?

(2)  Heard a Corby promo for the Chicago trip where he's saying something like:  "Cat thinks it's going to be just like this show, except in Chicago, and we're drunk!  Well, he can suck it!"  OWTTE.

That Pan-American Catman just might possibly have heard those Hardline broadcasts from New York during the playoffs. 

In any event, always a good career move to tell the boss to suck it.

(3)  By the way:  There are many Confessors who believe that any inter-show or intra-station tension is a bit.   Probably some instances are put-up jobs.  But I think a lot aren't.  And I think this Chicago thing is a genuine sore point.  Yeah, maybe it was The Lads' idea, but it was because the station had not bestirred itself to gift The Hardline with any field trips or fun stuff to take the place of the Campout.  Now they're making their on-air pouting into promos, which is a good idea, but does not persuade me that The Hardline doesn't really think that they're being treated like second-class citizens.

Which it really seems like they are. 

(4) Since I seem to get increases in readership only when a traffic chick  is in the news, I will sign off with a nice little Alexis gallery, and wish her the very best in Seattle.  It's just the same stuff you've all drooled over on the Internets, but I offer it all in one spot as a convenience to the Confessor.  I'm sure she herself is a major Confessor, and probably a serial Anonymous contributor, so I invite her to continue to check in to see what's up with her former drive-time colleagues. 

Hey, Alexis, let this site hear from you -- we're all big fans!  What better sign-off than to drive the Confessor absolutely crazy with some acknowledgment on this site of his miserable little blog-visitor existence!   Ah, come on!










Have a great weekend, everyone.

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Twitter:  @Plainsman1310





Wednesday, April 10, 2013

It Seems a Little Strange to Me


The Hardline is making fun of the lack of promotion for its trip to Chicago.

But really -- there's something very odd about this.  I can't put my finger on it, but I kind of get the feeling that this Chicago trip is the CTO tossing The Hardline a bone.  The Musers go on this cool and imaginative Texas bus tour, which is being promoted with a production-value ad.  The Hardline, the show claiming to be The Ticket baseball show of record, featuring a baseball deity no less, doesn't go to spring training.

The Hardline's Chicago trip is almost invisible.  I've heard one promo, and it's a zero-production-value rant by The Hard Ones -- just heard it again as I'm writing this -- about the lack of promotion.  Not only lack of promotion, but lack of logistical support for the trip itself.

Maybe it's a bit.  But it doesn't have that feel to it.

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Men and women, I'm completely booked, sorry for the lack of coverage lately.  Thanks to all for providing content via comments, especially information about the Morning News sports-broadcasting bracket.

I'll try to get back with something better soon.




Friday, April 5, 2013

East Texas P1 Holds Forth on Host Preparedness

This site has had occasion to note that sometimes the shows -- most notoriously, The Hardline -- is, shall we say, not meticulous about show prep.  I've come to accept it.  It's almost a Hardline bit, it doesn't detract that much from my enjoyment of the show.  They kind of revel in it.  At one time I thought was sort of disrespectful to the P1, but it was clear that is the way they're going to continue to rock, so I rolled with it.  But it's still a topic that comes up frequently in the comments, and I thought East Texas P1 gave it a good shot in a comment to the last thread.  Stern, but not angry, with evidence.   He only mentions Corby and Greggo as examples -- I'm not sure there are many from the other shows, but maybe you feel differently.

We'll let Eest Tex get us started:

*     *     *

Okay, here is a rant and a question.

My first rant is why hosts aren't prepared. I have heard several things over the last few weeks that make me wonder how some hosts come up with topics (not related to sports). Do they see a quick headline and a quick overview and then try to pedal his opinion on the air?

[Before I continue with the rant I need to ask a question. Is it possible that hosts like Corby fake having adequate knowledge of a subject in order to "move a story along". If he/they are faking not knowing the whole story (i.e. they know the facts but act like they don't) then my rant is invalid and the method is part of putting on a radio show.]

Okay, rant again. I think I resemble the basic demographic of this site. Middle age, white, office job, lots of outside interests to keep me busy, etc. That said, I keep up with news. Try to buy a DMN on Sundays and read it through the week. Yahoo and MSN in the mornings. I keep up with the basic news of the day.

Why does Corby not know the back story on Robbie Parker. Today was too much of "I am not sure how he got noticed....", "How did he get in touch with the Rangers...", "When did he live in Arlington...".

Is this total BS or has Corby not read the DMN and not know the total picture of how Robbie Parker got noticed by the Rangers? All the information has been out there for weeks! Part of me wants to believe this is just a part of radio but I really believe that he, Corby, just doesn't do the most basic of research on his subjects.

The same hold true with Greggo. Heard him hold forth on a subject about search dogs not being able to sniff on the front door of a house. Greggo then expounded on car searches being impermissable. Had he done the littlest of research he would know the two are not the same.

Okay, rant over. But I think I may start a new thread on this site of subjects not fully researched by the host.

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My thanks to ETP1.  Hope this will serve as the new thread you were planning.
 
And each of you has my permission to wish Your Plainsman a happy birthday.  They somehow missed it on WTDSuck.  Your great comments, which sometimes ease my task in feeding the content glutton that is any serious blog, are always a great gift.. Thanks again to ETP1 and you all.
 
 
Twitter:  @Plansman1310