Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Wishing All Confessors, Even the Snotty Ones, the Very Merriest of Christmases


And we should also remember this date for another reason:  On December 24, 1906, Reginald Aubrey Fessenden demonstrated his radical new alternator-based transmitter (as opposed to a spark transmitter) from a tower in Brant Rock, Massachusetts, by playing a recording of Handel, performing "O Holy Night" on his violin, singing a Gounod song, and reading from Luke.

It was the first-ever radio broadcast of entertainment material.

And here we are.

I believe that hardware was later reassembled and installed at Victory Park.

Best to you and your loved ones from My Ticket Confession.


57 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Was it deleted because I used the word "damn"? If so, I would gladly change it to "darn"

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  2. Eli Jordan is my new favorite Tickerman. He's a cross between Rich Phillips and Ed Carter, but without Ed's racism.

    Lighten up, Colorado P1. I miss the days when Dallas used to get amped up for division rival games. The parody songs, the 'scalp the skins' stuff, it's all in good fun. Places like Philly still do it.

    It'd be different is the team was named the Seminoles. Then if you said 'scalp the skins' I'd agree with you. But the team is called the Redskins. They are called the Skins by their own fans.

    The I'm Offended Crowd is what renders actual racial, etc., concerns less meaningful. It feels so good to be up in arms. 'Feels' is the key term.

    Merry Christmas, Pman and Confessors.

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  3. Merry Christmas to you too, Plainsman, and to all that frequent this joint.

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  4. I don't understand why my comment was removed, especially after it was already approved and posted. I respect Anon 2:19's opinion and think the discussion is healthy

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  5. Not a fan of everyone here; not a fan of the Plainsman sometimes.... but always a fan of my fellow P1s. Regonk to all, and to all a hearty regonk...

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  6. Merry Xmas all you dirty P1s.

    Listening to the final segment of the Big Bob Wilonsky musical extravaganza.

    Christmas in the Congo!
    Not sure what part of the gray matter held the file for Teddy and the Tall Tops, but somewhere it registered and a puff of dust appeared.

    Eggnog is pretty good stuff if you put enough bourbon or rum in it.

    And to all a good night.

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  7. Listening to poor TC trying to explain to Joe Leche that the Cowboys don't need to win to get the 2 seed provided both Az and Seattle lose was painful. Boy Joe couldn't understand a simple ooncept.

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  8. Colorado: Your post was removed in error. I try to do this from my phone sometimes and the "Publish" and "Delete" links are adjacent. I don't recall your comment but I'm sure I intended to publish. Resubmit, if you can remember it, and I'll blast 'er on through.

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  9. The Wilonsky Holiday Extravaganza is appointment radio for me, but I have to call him out on something: The other day during the birthdays segment, he identified Adrian Belew as the guitarist on "Stop Making Sense." That was Alex Weir; Big Bob was probably thinking of the tour supporting "Remain in Light." He was wrong, and should feel shame.

    By the way, I tried a 50/50 mix of peppermint schnapps and nog. Delicious. Christmas in cup.

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  10. Thank you Plainsman for the explanation, and Merry Christmas!

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  11. @Ragonk - agree with you, not a fan of the Plainsman either. Way too uptight and a ticket apologist.

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  12. Man lestche is back again today during normathon. Hey joe - and I really hope you read these comments - you should sit back and answer calls and do nothing else. Like definitely do not ever press the live mic button. It's embarrassing for me as a ticket fan to have my friend who works in radio in another large market laugh at the station I've told him is top notch and he's heard is so great. He heard joe and just began to laugh. Oh and it was certainly not because joe was being hilarious. Just sit back and answer phones man.

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  13. That's how I feel about Jake and TC. No reason for either of those clowns to ever be on the air.

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  14. This month's red head is quite the root. Looks like giml is back online and now grubesismyleader.org. Hopefully a lot of the trolls will go back to posting there.

    I'll have to keep my ears open for Eli Jordan.
    Loves me some Wilonsky
    Normathon is a power down

    Happy holidays, confessors

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  15. Your friend works in another large radio market and has never heard of one of the most successful sports stations of the past twenty years? And you decided to introduce him to the little one via normathon?

    I for one have always enjoyed little joe piping on every now and then.

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  16. Listening to Tony Dorsett on with norm right now. He's talking about his current illness and how it effects him, getting pretty emotional. I started to get choked up as well. Such a terrible condition to take on later in life. He's facing it with great bravery though. The man is a legend and will hopefully forever be remembered as one.

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  17. Still not understanding why Pman lets in the likes of Saul, Quinn, and Ragonk pollute this place. We all know it's the same sad, pathological individual making all these comments. But hey, it's his site.

    I for one dig Norm-a-thon. So far the interviews have been great. OK, the one with the artist wasn't too thrilling, but overall they've been enjoyable to compelling to (Tony D.) heartbreaking.

    It's a good think Norm does.

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  18. Ben just said Kevin Turner quit The Fan. Anyone else here this?

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  19. It sounds like dorsett is dealing with some pretty severe depression. I believe at one point he said "somedays I just can get so down on myself. It's very tough to deal with but I just have to keep going." He did mention he's not suicidal but to even have to preface that means he's dealing battling some lieupretty serious demons. Rooting for the guy.

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  20. I've been a long time anon poster here, but I'd be all for forced registration if only in hopes that it'll stop the claims that all anon posts are coming from the same person.

    Also, its a real bummer to want to have an actual discussion on something thats happening on the station right now and having to wait a few hours for the post to be approved.

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  21. 1012: Amen to your first paragraph. I may start deleting posts so accusing.

    1012: Are-you-kidding-me to your second paragraph. Hearken back to those days, oh, a couple of weeks ago when this site was inundated with dils and Confessors were howling for registration and moderation. I still let through some pretty sketchy stuff, but you should see the stuff that goes into the pail.

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  22. KT isn't gone from The FAN. In fact, just today he was doing the Switzerland "you guys have become shock jocks" drop...like you would if you were "doing drops" while chewing the fat with buddies. It was pretty lame. I think there's a reason why KT hasn't remained pals with his old fellow employees. He also poked fun at the Normathon via Twitter yesterday.

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  23. Whoa, who says i'm not friends with my former employees? I actually am friends with my former employees.

    No, I didn't quit, but I had the day off yesterday.

    The Ben-A-Thon bit is a running gag, not-exclusive to yesterday because Skin leaves the show early when the Mavs have home games, so he can make it to the TV broadcast.

    I don't know what the Switzerland "you guys have become shock jocks" thing is, so i'm not real sure what that's about.

    Anything else I need to clear up while i'm here? As always, great insight from someone titled "anonymous".

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  24. Listening to Jake on the pre-game this morning it finally dawned on me why he's such a beating to my ears. He's become a younger version of Norm. Instead of using Norm's gambler angle on sports Jake bores me to death with his constant droning using metrics as his crutch. I couldn't care less about Norm looking for tendencies to support his outlook on any game. He's a typical gambler who will go to ridiculous extremes in order to back up his claims. Jake does the same with his metrics. Either way, it's a beating of the highest order.

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  25. Happy generic holidays to all Confessors and our jolly old Plainsman. Here's hoping that all the trolls got coal and an extended Internet outage.

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  26. Plainsman, I felt my paragraphs went hand in hand.

    I'm sure you'd still have to delete some nonsense, but I would hope registering would weed some of that out. Are you not able to ban specific posters?

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  27. Bluntly, I haven't researched what you can and cannot do with registration on the Blogger platform, and how much fussing it would require on my end. Registration would not prevent people from dil-like posting, which means I'd have the same oversight responsibility that I have now with moderation, plus whatever extra registration requires.

    As much fun as I've had with the site and reading the work of many Confessors, I am already at the limit of the time I'm willing/able to put into it.

    I should probably educate myself and it's possible we'll go to registration, but really -- when you go to a site that has registration, doesn't it strongly discourage you from participating on the site? And is that really what we want?

    People were unhappy with no moderation/registration, then they're unhappy with moderation, and I guarantee you people would be even more unhappy with registration. I'm trying to strike a balance between efficient, free-flowing communication and dil suppression.

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  28. Fair enough. It wouldn't discourage me, but like I said I've been a long time anon poster, but I can see the flip side of the argument as well.

    In any event, thanks for the work you put into the site.

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  29. I for one wouldn't mind registration, Plainsman. If you do it right, I would imagine you only have to screen once, rather than moderate every comment. But I'm speaking from never having to register people for blog comments.

    To be honest, I don't even read the anonymous comments because the dil is too thick to sort through. It's hilarious one or more girls has a problem with a blog with how many hits per month?

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  30. I just noticed she has tats.

    I'm out.

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  31. Why do I see a New Year's Day post that says either "Goodbye to all that" or "Welcome to the all new and registered MTC" on the horizon?

    I cannot believe that basically one worm of a troll has single handedly brought this wonderful place and its proprietor to its/his knees. I really can't. Yet, when it comes down to it, this is exactly what's happened.

    My word, this sad yet effective clown is now begging for registration! Why? Because he knows it takes all but what? 5 minutes (if that) to come up with a fake address, domain, name, etc.

    What a shame.

    IMHO, all of this can be stopped with a few months more of moderation AND.....and I mean AND....the discipline of legit commenters/MTCers to flat out pay no attention to the Regonk/Ragonk/Quinn/Saul/Anonymous/Justin M. imposter/TC imposter/Jake and TC suck/you name it moron person who posts about 97% of all the b.s. Including his own positive and negative replies to his own comments. They are easy to spot. This person writes in a distinctive style---no matter how hard he tries to disguise it.

    I think what I prescribe is the only way past this, sans MTC becoming GIML or Pman shutting it down. And if it comes to that over one, single, solitary, jerk off...then what was MTC all for anyways (?).

    I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore! Or some such.

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  32. As the person who posted that they'd be ok with registration (which is QUITE different than begging) I'm just going to say you are crazy. I've never posted anything under anything but anonymous.

    I do feel that registration will cut down on 90% of the nonsense that goes on around here -- it may deter some people from ever posting, but I think in the long run it'll help this site.

    That said, I have nothing more to add to that conversation, so instead here is more of the redhead up above:

    https://twitter.com/vanessalake (NSFW!!)

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  33. Really, gents, it isn't all that bad. The site has hardly been brought to its knees -- hits are as strong as ever. Depending on how one measures, it looks like about 4,000-5,000 original hits a month (that's not the number of separate visitors), and half again as many page views.

    These numbers do not seem to have been affected by moderation.

    Dil infection has been greatly reduced by moderating.

    If I dump the site it will not be because I have to moderate to keep the dils at bay. It will be because I'm bored or no longer listening to The Ticket, neither of which is likely to happen anytime soon.

    But you never know.

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  34. Jeeze, 11:40, you are really going over the edge. You've latched on to this idea there's one person "trolling" here who is causing you unending consternation. But that's simply not true and it's been proven as such. What's bizarre is how upset you are over a hill of beans. Then after an epic meltdown you call for people to stop responding to trolls.

    There is a troll or two here, and it's handled fairly quickly and simply. There are also several posters here who have beefs - legitimate or not - with Tickety things. Which is kind of the point of this site. I don't understand why you can't accept that and discern between the two.

    There's nothing wrong with MTC.

    Also, hold on to your butt, because Jan. 1 is nigh (that's the traditional day for major changes in the broadcasting world).

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  35. money for nothing, chicks for freeDecember 30, 2014 at 1:21 PM

    @KT
    I'm not the anon who made the comment, but I have a feeling Switzerland was meant to be Switzer, as in Barry Switzer, as in the origin of The Ticket drop in question. I'll bet auto-correct turned it into Switzerland and the anon didn't catch it. I also think you knew that, but were playing coy. I'm a P1 who will hit ESPN and The FAN on the weekends when The Ticket goes to syndication/national feed. I caught what the anon heard as well. But, it wasn't you, KT, who ran through the whole shock jock bit/drop. It was the other two hosts. They were doing their best imitation of The Hardline imitating the Switzer drop (which was aimed at them by Switzer). Therefore you had zilch to do with it, and the anon wasn't listening very well. As far as the anon's other claim about you and your former colleagues goes, who the f knows, who the f cares, and it's no one's biz but yours. Plus there's no way this anon knows jack s about it, guarantee you. Keep on doin' whatcha do, KT.

    ATTN CAT: Please ask Rhadigan to stop yelling into the mic. He yells for 3 straight hours, blurting everything out in spastic bursts like a kid juiced up on a Adderall, Monster Energy, and caffeine water cocktail. Good grief, man! Aren't you a seasoned pro?

    Digging Doucy, mucho mucho. I would love to see him with a regular show some day. Yep, it ain't gonna happen, but still.

    Not looking forward to tonight's IG. Thought IG would make a great permanent addition. Well, I was wrong. They've run out of steam, it's boring, and frankly, I don't care what Big Bob has to say about sports or his childhood sports memories.

    TSJ is getting under my skin. It once was growing on me. If Jake would go full on Sturm, which I think he wants to, and stop with the rest, I think he'd kick major tail. Seabass is a beating of the highest order. Someone made the comment a few threads ago saying he's got an "I got this" problem. Dead on analysis, whoever said it. Sean's "got it," but the problem is, what he's "got" isn't what he thinks it is. No one likes a know it all, Sean. Clean up/get rid of that rather deeply ingrained aspect of your broadcast personal, and then you'll be on to something. Until then, nails on a chalkboard, brutha.

    MTC rules, all the rest drools. Pman rocks it, the haters can suck it.

    Happy New Years you Confessor mother scratchers.

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  36. @ money for nothing, chicks for free,

    I hate to admit it, but I agree with you on Seabass. I'm a Seabass P1 (or at least P2). I've been rooting for the guy. I dig him on Diamond Talk, and his additions when he's manning the ticker chair. But he really is trying too hard on TSJ. It's two know-it-alls with chips on their shoulder trying to impress their audience. It's not good listening, and they don't seem to be having fun. I just think the both of them could stand to "let the game come to them."

    I also unfortunately agree with you on Rhads. He's bringing that TV-style fake hype to a more intimate medium, and it really grates.

    As I've said many a time before, Drydock really reveals just how good the regular hosts are.

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  37. +1 money for nothing
    +1 12/30 1122am

    Actually, +10 1122am.

    If Plainsman decided to let the comment go through then it obviously has his OK. Good enough for him, it should be good enough for all of us. It's then up to us to ignore it if it's a fresh load of troll shit or engage if it's a solid confession. So it doesn't matter if it's the same person or 20 different people. End of story.

    +1Regonk Dykes
    No shit man, and well said, dry dock shows just how good the Varsity squad is. Know what? Even thought it's true as all get out, the JV are still better than anything The FAIL or 103.Pee has to offer. No offense and I pre mean pre no offense when I both say and pre say this, KT.

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  38. I used to like Sean but his constant interrupting of his cohost drives me nuts. It's like ADD overload, he can't finish a point.

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  39. I must not be the P1 that I used to be because when total dry dock comes around, I hardly listen at all. Especially right now, I'll try and catch Sirois but get sidetracked at work or with other audio measures and before you know it, it's what the previous commenters mentioned. Too much Rads or TSJ for my liking. If this would be what the future might hold, I'd have to let that ship sail. They just don't hold my attention.

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  40. I like this guy they have Jake paired with for the Mavs postgame show. He's obviously a Mavs insider, knows his stuff, is all business, and is in no way intimidated by Jake. Indeed, Jake seems to be on his best behavior with this guy. There's no hijacking, no I gotta be right-itis. They compliment each other well. Good job by Cat or whomever it was that put this guy on with Jake.

    Have to agree with T4. If TSJ or CdS is the future of The Little One, when that time comes, I too will have to find another radio home. Yes 4:41 is right in saying that The Ticket JV is better than either ESPN or The FAN's Varsity, but is that really saying much? I think not. Now if you got rid of TSJ and paired up Jake with someone like his Mavs cohost, someone who is not going to let Jake steamroll over himself and others, then a Jake cohosted show could possibly work. I know there's a lot of CdS love on MTC. Sorry, but I don't share it. I don't hate the show, just don't think it's something I'd listen to daily. It's way too scattered and harum scarum to deal with 5X per week. I think of CdS as Ben and Skin sans the local jock connections.

    Ditto ditto ditto on the Rhads complaints. The yelling, the talking over, the hyperactivity, the namedropping, the everything. I like the guy, honestly. He belongs on TV, not radio. Regonk Dykes is correct in saying radio is an intimate medium. You can't be a bull in a china shop on a station like The Ticket. Yes that sounds weird, because it's the we don't give a rip Ticket, home of Corby and Gordon. But it's the way it is. Rhads would be at home on an FM morning circus show, other than that that's about it on the radio side of things. Man I don't like being so negative about him. Like I said, I like the guy - on TV.

    Norm and Doocy are OK. I enjoy Doocy on The Musers. Norm doesn't need a cohost and I can't imagine he truly wants one. Why he has one, I haven't a clue. He used to do a 4 hr morning show, solo, for decades.

    If TC or Machine ever get a show, I'll know the station is on its last legs.

    Eli Jordan's Tickers utterly kick ass. I did crack up when Sirois asked him the other day if that was his real voice.



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  41. Money for nothing goes hard. Good job.


    Pretty cool KT showed up again.
    4000 original hits? well that is kick ass. carry on.

    Don't give a shit about trolls. This is the internet my fellow travelers. People say all manner of obnoxious and inflammatory things. Cost of doing bidness. If the Pman has chosen moderation and he is cool with doing the house cleaning, all good. If he gets bored and shuts this thing down next week I will miss it.


    Count me a Rhaids P1. I don't know why I like the loudmouthed Michigan refugee but I do. I don't know why I like the burn from jalapenos either. I am kinda missing Dick Hicks about now, but I bet a dollar he does not miss working during the holidays.

    TSJ? It's ear fodder. I don't hate it. I don't look forward to it either. I kinda do on the weekends, but every day it is sorta meh.

    The only reason I find my ears listening to the other stations is because they are carrying THE GAME whatever game that might be. No offense intended, but y'all are not giving me a reason to change stations. If I need something else for my ears to listen to it is probably gonna be musical.

    I suppose MTC could go full on ShaggyBevo and get ads and what not, but that might get cumbersome for a one man band. As it is, this is fine for me. As long as the Pman sees fit to keep the doors open I figure I will keep turning up. Bad penny and all that.

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  42. Vanessa Lake: She has a nice body, but the tats are an ender.

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  43. I respect the views of those who don't care for The Shake Joint or Cirque du Sirois.

    I was listening to TSJ yesterday in the car and thinking -- if The Hardline vanished tomorrow, would I listen to The Shake Joint every day?

    Answer: Yes.

    Bearing in mind that I do find myself attracted to Cowlishaw & Mosley over on 103.3 when The Hardline strays.

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  44. Dry dock shows once again that once the Ticket principals (Musers, Bob & Dan, The Old Grey Wolf) retire, this thing is DUNZO. These fill-in shows are pretty much unlistenable. Norm is already unlistenable. And I left Corby out of that list on purpose.

    What this shows is that the "formula" is not what makes The Little Ticket special. You can't just throw some spares on there to talk about the same stuff as the big boys do and get gold. Ben and Skin have been proving this for years. What has made The Little Ticket into what it is is the unique personalities possessed by the main hosts, and the way those personalities blend with each other. It's sad because it means this thing will end someday, but it's the way of all things I guess.

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  45. Would you mind expanding on your TSJ view, Plainsman? If you don't mind the suggestion, that would make for a terrific kick off the new year article/topic. We've now had a healthy sample size of TSJ, both on Sundays and for multiple, extended fill-in runs. I think it's time to for an unflinching yet fair analysis of TSJ. After all, I think it's safe to assume that if there is a show in line to replace a show in case X retires/X does something heinous and is forced out/X dies/etc., it is TSJ.

    Just a thought.

    Happy New Year MTC! And please, remember to responsibly watch your vuhideeeoh.

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  46. 1029 - Last I checked (I don't listen to it often), Jake's Mavs postgame partner is Mark Followill (I assume you know who that is, which makes it kinda surprising that you don't know him by his voice alone).

    Anyways, Happy New Year to all.

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  47. deezy:

    Not Followill. There's a new, permanent cohost. As far as I know he's no prior affiliation with The Ticket. Followill is still a part of the show, but he's more of a call in, 3rd man in the booth thing. This new guy is a pretty new addition.

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  48. Ah. I stand corrected, and if he and Jake are so good together on postgame then I'll have to check it out very soon. Thanks!

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  49. No Gordo on the Big D NYE?

    Should I hold onto my butt?

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  50. I think Jake's new postgame cohost is Brian Dameris, former Mavs Director of Business Development

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  51. Question: how often is Rotten Radio updated, and is it primarily focused on Muser bits?

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  52. re: today's Rotten Radio

    I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Quivering Norm at the time. The bit lasted for about a week IIRC, and you never knew when he was going to pop up.

    I'm SO glad that didn't get lost in the Victory Park move. No funeral.

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  53. IF Jake or TC is involved then it sucks. No need to listen.

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  54. @Brad,

    I don't know how often Rotten Radio is updated, but I am rather well acquainted with it, and I heard some new stuff in there yesterday.

    And yes, it's very Muser-centric, which bothers me. I'm not sure why it is. Possibly they do more bits. Possibly because it's the "flagship" show. Possibly because that's just the material that was archived. Possibly because whoever puts it together has a Muser bias. But it's a damnded shame there's so little Bob & Dan in it.

    Also, to those saying the JV will never live up to the current hosts, remember that these things - a chemistry - takes a while to develop. The Musers as we know them now developed over a long time. Same with The Hardline. Recall that BaD Radio was pretty awkward in the beginning (and it's no, IMO, the strongest show on the station).

    There is no doubt in my mind Mike Sirois could someday equal the current Varsity hosts if he were given the right partner and some time. Jake, maybe, but he's got to develop some more "likeability," for lack of a better word.

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  55. Actually, The Musers and THL were basically must-listen-to-radio from day one. They all knew each other and had been around each other for many years before The Ticket came to be. It's why Rhyner selected them. Rhyner, Greggo, and Junes used to hold court in the Rangers press box. They were the cool kids back then, if you can believe it.

    I think it's like Rhyner said: once this thing is gone (as in the Musketeers), there will never ever be anything like it again.

    The man is right.

    Look, I like Sirois. But I think you're vastly underestimating the Varsity hosts and overrating the JV. What The Ticket has, has been tried and is still being tried in almost every market. They all have their Sirois's and Jake's and Newbury's. Some are better at it than others. I mean for Pete's sake, Scot and Matt (MaSS), in less than a year and a half, have become local celebrities in Birmingham. They had a solid Sunday morning show at The Ticket and were transferred or poached by another Cumulus station. But it wasn't must-listen-to-radio. Yet they are considered as such in Birmingham. They're not any better than they were when here. In fact, they rip off The Ticket shamelessly. Scot totally imitates Rhyner. Vocabulary, demeanor, and all the rest. It's downright weird. They steal segment ideas. But again, they're just OK, solid enough to get by.

    Point is? Once this thing is gone, you will not believe how quickly you'll realize just how mediocre to OK to solid enough to get by the likes of Sirois and co. really are. You will see how much they feed off and take from the Varsity. Moreover, you will see how even BaD, which will be the best show, is not as great as you thought it was (assuming you did in the first place).

    BaD and the JVs' way to success, and the P1s key to enjoyment is through The Musers and THL.

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