Friday, January 9, 2015

Ménage a Troy

Frequently amused by The Ticket, but how often does one laugh out loud sitting and listening solo?

I did, yesterday, with the replay of the Fake Michael Irvin call to Fake Troy Aikman.  George was doing his usual masterful job with Michael, who was calling Troy to try to get him to make a "Finish the Fight" video in support of the Cowboys playoff run.

All Troy/Gordon wanted to do was to finish preparing his waffles.  The deadpan delivery, the pauses, the timing, the implied incomprehension -- man, I could just see Troy spooning the mix onto the griddle with head cocked to secure the smartphone to his ear, thoroughly annoyed.  Brilliantly underplayed by Gordon -- no punch lines, no inside references, no multiple entendres.  Just a hilarious contrast between George's Michael in a frenzied lather over the Cowboys, and Gordon's Troy just trying to get some flapjacks underway.

Laughing again just thinking about it.

50 comments:

  1. Meh. Give me Zulu Troy any day.

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  2. Just in case you missed it from earlier this season, the pancakes (waffles actually, I think) were a callback to an earlier "Gettin' Real with Troy" in which Troy discussed his penchant for pancake making.

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  3. - George is always brilliant with the impressions. I've always wondered if he and Gordon rehearse their bits or come up with the premise and then just wing it.
    - Sweet TC and Tere-misu. I agree he doesn't deserve a show, but his misspeaks are becoming legendary and that's always made the Ticket what it is. Tickers are perfect for him.
    - P- man, question for you. Have u ever done a thread where the Confessors tell what their first experience with the Ticket was? Like, I was scanning, hit 1310, heard Greggo, etc. Maybe do it during a Ticket anniversary. Or whenever. Bet there's some great stories out there.

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  4. Having heard school closings a bazillion times, I didn't realize how dead-on the Fake Michael Irvin was until I heard the audio from "Finish the Fight." When Michael got cranked up I was sure it was George doing a bit.

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  5. Shaggy: Yeah, I knew of the antecedent. Also funny when Gordon tries to get a a call-in notable to be a mensch.

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  6. So according to Barry Horn, the Ticket won M25-54 in the 6a-7p timeframe. ESPN was 2nd. Fan 3rd.

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  7. Whenever you get some one on here talking ratings, ask two things, demo and time period. Espn did well 6a-mid When MAVS were doing well and game nights spiked. The fan does well when you look at. 6a- mid mon-sun. But the vast, vast vast vast vast vast majority of advertisers in sports radio buy 6a-7p. It's what my wife does for a living, buy ad time, advertisers tell the station what times they'll buy , and the vast majority just buy 6am-7 p. so the fms had good Sundays , it doesn't help their bottom line as much as you might think

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  8. And because MTC has such an aware readership/cadre of commenters, people like the commenter from a few threads back peddling the misinformation about The FAN and Russ Martin are shot down and put back into their spider holes.

    Good work, Shaggy, et alia.

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  9. I'm looking forward to getting Troy's recipe for carrots

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  10. The Barry Horn thing is funny. Also funny is how the dude who keeps talking about The Ticket being beat never did post up the ratings or a link to them. Also also funny is how Sportspanties posts up a supposed photo of the ratings and when you go to the link, it shows nothing of the sort.

    So tired of the clowns and imposters.

    The Cowboys got jobbed today. The Lions got jobbed last week. I'm awaiting our president to weigh in on this call. Have a feeling I'll be waiting for eternity. Ya know, GOP Chris "Sweater Meat" Christie in the box with noted GOP supporter and Texan, Jerrah "Toupee + Fake Teeth + Oil Money = Bathroom Strippers" Jones. Yeah, don't see it happening.

    Go Colts!

    My Ticket Confession: I'm looking forward to Rangers talk on THL.

    My Ticket Confusion: Please see my confession.

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  11. Cowboy fans are so funny. Last week the Lions got screwed resulting in the Cowboys advancing. All you heard was "it all evens out" and "stop crying Lions fans". This week, the game starts with the Cowboys getting a phantom PI call when T Wills feet got tangled up with the defender resulting in a TD. Dez did not make the catch. The ball clearly hit the ground. Mike Perrera stated before the call was made that the play would be overturned and it was.

    How bout questioning the play call on 4th and 2? How bout questioning Tones Romes doing his "kill kill kill" out of a running play in to a pass play that didn't work. They don't convert, they miss a FG, no points.

    Cowboys got beat by a better team and a MUCH better QB. This was an average team that got lucky.

    Hope you fans enjoyed it. They won't be in the playoffs again for 4-5 years. Remember, Jerry is still running things.

    Go Pack Go!!

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  12. Wow, Bart Reagor is on fire with his Keepin' it Real commercials this morning. I can't believe he blurted out his annual revenue estimate on one of them last week. He's well on his way to sharing why he cheated on his wife but now he's found religion.

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  13. Sometimes this site does indulge in some Cowboys talk but I'm hoping we don't have too much of it on this thread, and I'll be on the lookout for tone violations.

    I'm already tired of "catch" talk. Although I thought the Musers had some very perceptive thoughts on what the real issues were there.

    One story almost as critical as the future of Dez/Demarco that took me by surprise was that Rod Marinelli is pretty certain to go to Tampa Bay as defensive coordinator for Lovie Smith. Why is that happening?

    Don't answer that, I'm trying to discourage Cowboys talk.

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  14. Shaggy, you said "according to Barry Horn." Do you have a link?

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  15. "For the December ratings period, which covers Nov. 6 to Dec. 3, The Fan, the Cowboys’ flagship station, was No. 1 in the key sports talk demographic of men 25-54.

    The Fan scored a 3.0 share to eke out a win over The Ticket, the perennial No. 1, which earned a 2.9. KESN-FM (103.3) finished at 2.5."

    http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/2015/01/cowboys-lift-105-3-the-fan-to-the-top-of-the-radio-heap.html/

    I'm holding my butt so hard right now.

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  16. I was tired of Cowboy talk coming out of training camp.

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  17. Tuned in just now to hear the Norm/BaD Radio mix, and instead heard Norm go on another one of his childish rants. It was about the Dez catch/no catch. Does Norm really get this worked up about stuff, or is it a bit? It's so ridiculous!

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  18. I am not sure that having the "College Football Blowhard" on the air following tonight's championship game is a good idea since those in visitors in town will realize that he has no concept of the sport especially if neither TCU nor Oklahoma are playing.

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  19. http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/columnists/barryhorn/20150109-hot-air-ticket-s-sturm-a-packers-shareholder-working-for-dallas-radio-station-is-not-on-fence-...-he-bleeds-green-and-gold.ece

    "During weekday broadcasts from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., when the familiar high-priced local talent yak, the finish was Ticket (3.7), KESN (2.8) and Fan (2.7)."

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  20. For those perplexed by the dueling quotations above:

    They are from the same Barry Horn article. I urge you to paste in Shaggy's link and read the whole section on ratings before posting anything further on this.

    These results are beginning to attract my interest. Yes, carrying the Cowboys accounts for some of the Fan's surge at this time, but I dunno, man, there are some curious nuggets in there.

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  21. People don't want to tune in to The Ticket, especially those of us that have been listening since the beginning, to hear these guys cheerleading.

    I'd rather hear Muse in the News, Scattershooting, E-News, Community Quick Hits, Fun with Country music, etc. With the occasional sport segment.

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  22. I remember when the Ticket used to beat ESPN and The Fan combined.

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  23. Here's the pertinent part of the Born link:

    Radio Daze

    The Cowboys and NFL game programming continued to be very good to “The Fan” KRLD-FM (105.3) in the latest ratings book.

    For the December ratings period, which covers Nov. 6 to Dec. 3, The Fan, the Cowboys’ flagship station, was No. 1 in the key sports talk demographic of men 25-54.

    The Fan scored a 3.0 share to eke out a win over The Ticket, the perennial No. 1, which earned a 2.9. KESN-FM (103.3) finished at 2.5.

    The Fan and the Ticket tied last month at 3.9.

    During weekday broadcasts from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., when the familiar high-priced local talent yak, the finish was Ticket (3.7), KESN (2.8) and Fan (2.7).

    The highest-rated weekday hour at any of the three stations measuring men 25-54 was once again turned in by the Ticket’s Musers. They scored a 6.4 at 7 a.m. The No. 2 hour was the Musers at 8 a.m. (5.9).

    The highest rated hour on the Fan was Ben & Skin at 6 p.m. (3.7) followed by Shan & R.J. at 7 a.m. (3.6). Highest at KESN was Mike & Mike at 6 a.m. (3.5) followed by The Afternoon Show (3.4), which won the 4 p.m. hour.

    Significantly both hours of the Ticket’s Norm Hitzges, at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., finished second. Hitzges finished behind KESN’s Colin Cowherd in the first hour and the Fan’s G-Bag Nation in the second.

    MY COMMENT*******
    I wish Horn would have shown where B&S were compared to THL. The Norm ratings do not surprise me, at all. I'm surprised it's taken this long for it to come to this. I don't think this will have an impact on his short-term employment status at The Ticket. They can "weather" a 2 hour #2 show. I can, however, see where the CTOs might use these numbers (if they hold for a few more books) as an excuse to put a Norm replacement plan into play--i.e., buy out his remaining contract at the end of the year or whatnot. One thing to bear in mind: whether The FAN's overall ratings victory is mostly a Cowboy related phenomenon or not, it matters not (though we'll know soon enough); what matters--what only matters--are the prime listening hours and demo. The Ticket demolished The FAN and ESPN in that regard. Having said that, even that wide gap has significantly lessened over the past year.

    Bottom line: These next few months are going to be very telling. There will be no Cowboys, the Rangers (now on The FAN) will not yet be a factor (and they may never be), and the Mavs have never provided a ratings bump for ESPN--even during their championship run. By the end of March, we ought to have a better lay of the land. Interesting times. If I were The Ticket, I'd be concerned. And you know what? They are. Those "We were here first" ads are, frankly, rather sad.

    Kids, watch your vuhideo responsibly.

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  24. @11:51
    Not spouting misinformation...The Fan did beat the Ticket full week M25-54. And Russ Martin continues to beat the Hardline! You have no word but mine to take, fair enough, but it's not like anyone is discrediting it. I am obligated not to post the information in a public forum, it's a crappy side effect of being a Nielsen subscriber, but if you called them and asked...or for god's sake PAID FOR A SUBSCRIPTION FOR JUST ONE MONTH...you would get the same info. Please god just go look at the website and realize there is no way for us to even share a link with you, it sucks that's the case, but it is what it is. The only reason Barry has the info is b/c the sports stations send him the numbers themselves. No one's proving me right b/c Barry doesn't care about Russ, even though he's a competitor, and crushing them. Bark away.

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  25. The Cowboy season is over. The FAN can now return to borrowing bits from The Ticket.

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  26. So according to Corby, because Dez is so good and he makes plays like that so easily, the refs should have just assumed he caught the ball.

    I mean I've heard some homer BS from Corby before, but this really takes it.

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  27. So I'm to believe the Fan won the ratings month on Sundays alone? Sounds like they were beaten soundly M-F 6a-7p.

    Also the radio discussion website is back up and running and the monthly ratings are always posted up there, although I do believe it's just the overall numbers. I haven't dug around enough to see if anyone posts time slots.

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  28. Are you really surprised that Corby would use that type of argument about the incomplete pass. He has no credibility when he's discussing the cowboys. He's Romo's new little buddy. Think he wants to be Dez little buddy also. Didn't listen to a second of the hardline today because I didn't want to hear a moment of their crying & excuse making. These are the same guys that were telling lions fans to stop whining.....That it all evens out well guess what it evened out & the better team & QB won.

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  29. I wouldn't call myself a TC fan, but I do think he was wrongly, and unprofessionally branded (Old Lesbian, etc.) before he left for Pensacola. Since he's been back, I've noticed a level of indignant defensiveness but it hasn't bothered me as much as some other listeners. But when he reads the copy for Bet the House BBQ, he actually, phonetically reads the letters and it irritates the holy heII out of me. When Ty Walker reads it, he actually says the word "Bar-be-Cue." This has led me to conclude the new TC is worse than the old (lesbian) TC.

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  30. @452
    If you subscribe to Nielsen, then you obviously know how to read the ratings, what they mean, and moreover what they mean to a certain market. Why else would you subscribe if you didn't(?).

    Therefore, when you make big bold claims about The FAN (who cares about Russ Martin) beating The Ticket, you also know that those particular numbers are of ZERO interest and thus have ZERO meaning to management and/or ownership. All of which means that you purposely try to mislead others when you make said big bold comments. To add insult to injury, you make claims about Barry Horn being "afraid" to report this non-news out of fealty to Belo. Lo and behold, that too turned out to be false information.

    So forgive us if we think you're full of it. If you merely stated that the overall ratings placed The FAN in first, but the key demo/broadcast airtime showed The Ticket first....and gave the numbers (which, since you subscribe you could easily provide but have yet to do so)....then we'd say "OK, interesting to a point, something to keep our eye on, and thanks for the the info, pal.' But no. You don't. Which is why, in truth, it's more likely that you work for either Russ or The FAN in some capacity and were privy to generic, raw, ratings results given to, oh I don't know, SALES, in order to use as a selling point to potential clients. Does that sound about right?

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  31. TC, the wet ravioli, always made me laugh.

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  32. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, THE FLO COMMERCIALS HAVE RETURNED

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  33. As of tomorrow, Babe Laufenberg is out at 11. Contract dispute.

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  34. Would the Ticket kick the tires on Babe Laufenberg?

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  35. Look, I get that flubs happen to everyone. But how in the hell does a major market station give someone who can't speak an on air role?

    TC just said Nowitzki "shirts" instead of shoots. Which on its own, isn't that big of a deal. The problem is that this happens on EVERY SINGLE TICKER. If it's not a misspeak, it's him mumbling his way through the it. Surely I can't be the only one to notice this?

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  36. Also those Flo commercials are the biggest nut kick ever.

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  37. "Would the Ticket kick the tires on Babe Laufenberg?"

    For the love of all that is holy andf Ticket-y, I hope to God not. I can't stand the douche, and he's far too self-important for The Ticket. I liked that he was on CBS11, where I never saw him. Channel 11 is the squarest, old-man local broadcast in DFW.

    I hope, as Broaddus hinted, some national broadcaster will pick him up. Seems a great fit for ESPN. He'll be with his people.

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  38. Two good things came from this Cowboys loss.
    -Hopefully a break from "wall-to-wall Cowboys coverage" so that I can again tune into the little Ticket.

    - The vision I had of Corby on Sunday night having to be rocked to sleep by Julie with his Cowboys blanky over his lap, his paci about to fall off his quivering lip and the remnants of the Romo poster on the floor that once prouding hung over their bed that he tore down in a tantrum after the game.

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  39. @2:12 - brilliant

    So Jake thinks the Ohio St QB will enter the draft after starting 3 games. Another example of why I can't take him seriously. Just tries to throw things out to see if they stick.

    It's so wonderful hearing college football talk. I've actually tuned in more today than I have all football season.

    Scattershooting while wondering who would perform a better ticket ticker....Mushmouth or TC....

    "I drove bus."

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  40. Wow. Angry Sturm at 3:07 today. Never heard him like that.

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  41. @2:12 - I'm sure he'll be comforted by his affluent lifestyle, his wife's enormous up-tops, and his professional sports buddies (such as Romo himself).

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  42. @9:00a

    nope, not familiar, not in sales, and get much deeper material than they do...your crazy if you don't think Mon-Sun M25-54 doesn't matter to advertisers...go read a public report on market station revenues, you'll see bumps. Barry's loyalty isn't to Belo, it's Belo's loyalty to the Ticket, since they have a very public trade partnership with each other.

    But ya know what, you win, I bow out. I've come here for too long trying to win a losing battle. The sad thing is that this is the only forum for people to talk about ANY radio stations, it should be a wider net of topics so that you don't get crucified for bringing facts to the table, regardless of which station it pertains to. Thanks a lot, Obama.

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  43. Keep TC - the hosts probably like him just because of the misspeaks.

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  44. @3:33
    Get your ass hung up on now, you idiot!

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  45. @333
    You mean you won't come around and post up your interpretation of info that you refuse to lend any support to via links, screenshots, or the likes? Data that we get about 2 days later, but with actual numbers and breakdown (by means of a source who you claim "it's funny how they won't say anything about it"? Oh. Well. Rats. I guess we'll suffer along, somehow.

    Actually, it's not the only forum. I suggest you try this one:

    http://www.radiodiscussions.com/forumdisplay.php?679-Dallas-Fort-Worth

    However, you will have to register to post anything up. And the participants are mainly those in the industry--including DJs and hosts who use their real names. But being in the know such as you are, you're probably on intimate terms with them all.

    Of course all of this means you probably won't have any fun peddling your rotten fruit/playing with your food like you do here at MTC. Hell, they even have a policy about spreading false rumors, data, etc. They boot such people out.

    Have at it, and have fun, Mr. or Ms. Big Time Deep Info Insider.

    Again, we'll some how, some way, try to manage without you. And we'll be holding onto our butts AND lighting a candle for you too boot.

    Stay hard.

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  46. Anonymous 3:08
    what was he angry about. Missed WTDS today.

    Have any of the local celebrities gotten mad about the station doing the voice impressions?

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  47. The Ticket hasn't had a drop machine since the departure of Greggo. A station that thrives on nut-kicking considers T.C. a gift.

    He's going to have to leave on his own (again) or get into cocaine before he's gone.

    IMO.

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  48. Babe could fill the void left by TV Tim.

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  49. @330
    I had an account for a few years at radio discussions, it became a ghost town. And you must have missed the part where I explained why I cant use screenshots or links...it's an agreement you make with Nielsen when u subscribe to the service. SMH hate bro. I have worked really hard for my career in the industry and it seems like you would really like to see what ots actually like on the inside. But yes, its stupid for me to post here and I will try not to anymore, I just cant help myself sometimes and want to clarify things. But there's really no point to that bc even if I used my name I wouldnt get the benefit of the doubt. Im the "Not" guy btw.

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  50. @1000

    You keep promising to never return, only to keep returning.

    You also have a penchant for changing your tone and tune and "narrative" when called to the carpet in order to--at least in your mind--"win."

    Just stop it.

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