Wednesday, May 4, 2016

That Amazing Draft Coverage


I think I write a little something about this every year, but it's still true:  The Ticket's draft coverage is just terrific.

It's not so much that it goes wire-to-wire, which is pretty amazing in and of itself.  It's the quality and entertainment value of the commentary.

Norm, who remains very knowledgeable, has more or less settled into the role of an amiable master of ceremonies.  Oh, he offers substantive commentary and seems to know the draft class extremely well, but as the years have gone by, Bob Sturm, David Moore, and David Newbury have taken over more of the heavy lifting as to What It All Means.  At least that's the impression I have from the slices of the coverage I'm able to grab over the multi-day extravaganza. 

I really enjoy listening to Bob and it's great to see his profile in Cool Metro continuing to grow with his Dallas News writing and other coverage.  The best moment I heard from the weekend, though, was from The Boomtown. I think it was Saturday afternoon.  Norm had thrown the show to David & David, who were giving their thoughts on the state of the Cowboys' draft.  They spoke carefully and very persuasively without being bombastic.  I loved Newbury's point that all the best drafting teams "know who they are," and that the Cowboys don't seem to.

I swung by Ben & Skin's coverage and just had to shake my head.  There's an argument to be made that Ezekiel Elliot was the best pick, but B&S's over-the-top jubilation and insistence that it was the most amazing best-ever pick just sounded ridiculous after almost every Texas-based analyst was at best confused, and at worst appalled, by what the Cowboys had wrought.  (Although SI gave Dallas's draft an A-.)  Like their year-end Cowboys coverage last year consisting of how tremendously excited they were about 2016 after 4-12, the homerism seemed pretty apparent.  I don't like to ascribe motives to people I don't know, but man.

Having said that, I do ask myself this question and invite the Confessor to set me straight:  If Elliot really is a can't-miss offensive force that can replicate what DeMarco Murray accomplished a couple years back and more, is it possible to argue that in addition to more reliable scoring, his presence will extend drives both through his own skills and occupying defenders who would otherwise by smothering Dez, and in that way keep our shaky defense off the field?  And thus, with this single pick, the Cowboys have not only increased their offensive potency, they may have reduced the other team's offensive possessions, elevating (if only constructively) the entire Cowboys defense.  Whereas Jaylen Ramsey would only have improved one facet of the defense.

I think it's a dubious theory -- addition to the defense by subtracting defensive draft picks.  But thought I'd toss it out there in fairness to Ben & Skin.

In deference to Confessors who view this site at their workplaces and don't want to see babes pop up on their screen when the site flashes on, today's ginger will appear at the end of this deathless prose.

"Which tent is Mike's?"

I try to cover Campound coverage to the extent possible, but my listening has been spotty the last few weeks and that may continue for a bit.  Please weigh in frequently and in detail reporting on the best of our lads out in the forest primeval.

ThePlainsman1310@gmail
@Plainsman1310

27 comments:

  1. While I have been a Cowboy P-1 since 1960, nothing puts me in a trance faster than draft talk. Can't switch the station fast enough. But I appreciate the effort The Ticket puts into it - if you're going to do it, do it better than anybody else.

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  2. Anything that comes out of Ben or Skin's (more so Ben) mouth is almost always jock sniffing in nature or to appease someone. Kiss the athletes or organizations ass, pretend everyone is your best friend, rinse and repeat. Not much talent there.

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  3. Thanks for putting that pic at the tail end, Pman.

    I love the draft coverage. Though I still can't believe the flagship station of the Stars moved their call of the opening game to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to a sister station for day freakin' two of the draft. No idea about the power structure over there, but prima facie it seems that Norm has a lot of pull. Then again, you can fit in many more ads during draft coverage than you can a hockey game. So there's that side of it to consider. And after all, isn't makin' that dollah hollah what the radio game is all about nowadays?

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  4. Listened to part of Junes Overnight until the SO called from Atlanta. Want to listen to the final 40 minutes, hopefully the unticket has it. Listening to everyone jam right now. Radio Gold.

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  5. June's Coast2Coast is always greatness. I'm glad we didn't hear from Belzar again this year. I'm going to have to find planet Jason.

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  6. Dan forgot to disable the GPS on his phone before he started Periscoping from Loyd Park in Grand Prairie this morning. Oops. Not that it's a big shock, since that's where they've done it the past couple times, but still, it's pretty funny.

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  7. Dan McDowell revealed on his Periscope where the Camppound is

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  8. @ 8:58 and 9:02--As soon as the Campound promos started playing on the radio announcing that the City of Grand Prairie was a sponsor I knew that they were headed right back to Loyd Park Lodge for the campound. I wonder if they have accumulated any groupies yet.

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  9. Yeah, I hadn't picked up any hints, but when I heard that Mike had a commitment for one of his groups and would shortly be rejoining the Campound, you knew it wasn't too far from a thriving civilization, however primitive they tried to make it sound.

    Smile on my face listening to almost every segment. I was in the Conestoga this morning and heard Peener Talk. As juvenile as it was, and as I am, I had to laugh.

    I even liked Bob and George tahking hahky.

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  10. I want to give ol' CrayTrey props for his work on the deep night ticket...Playing drops, answering phones, and getting the names slightly wrong was funny too.

    CrayTrey with good subtle humor.

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  11. I hope they do the all-nighter thing, so I have something to listen to east of the "Mississip" when I wake up in the morning.

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  12. They'll be on after Stars post game. Mike R has to do a power half hour for leaving.

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  13. So far the Campound has been the tits. Sugar t's, at that.

    Joonz is my leader. His contributions have been nothing less than spectacular.

    They've all been great.

    I will say that the compound is better. Only because the situation is more conducive to extensive bits and jamming and whatnot. Gordo is more engaged inside than he is outdoors, and the same goes with Norm.

    Found it interesting last night when a noticeably buzzed Donnie barked at Mike and kept at it instead of apologizing.

    George's G-Spot Sex Show Featuring Mike "Me So Hawny" Rhyner had me in tears!

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  14. Deep Night was rolling until Donnie grabbed the wheel. Horrific

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  15. Junior's girlie scream wins the E-Brake and enters the pantheon of campout lore.

    I used to think George was the driving force behind the show and Junior was just along for the ride. But I have come to appreciate Junior's contribution to broadcasting excellence.

    It would be interesting to go back and listen to some of the early shows to compare Junior's presence then to his presence today.

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  16. The e-brake this week was totally lame. Junior's was definitely the best of the 3, but they were all pretty lame. I don't even understand why what Killer said was an e-brake. If anything, the laughs derailed the show and not what Killer said.

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  17. Drunk Donnie quickly becomes Dominating Donnie, who in short order becomes Segment Killer Donnie.

    He's greatness, but to a point.

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  18. I fought through Stars postgame for Campound deep night.

    There were some great moments, but between the callers and the cacophony of too many hosts talking at the same time made it ponderous.

    This morning's segment with Mike/Norm/Donnie made me feel not only old, but a bit sullen*.

    I felt especially bad because on Thursday, Cumulus had their conference call regarding Q1 earnings. As you can assume, it's not good as revenue was down...AGAIN.

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/3972165-cumulus-media-cmls-mary-g-berner-q1-2016-results-earnings-call-transcript


    *-I have told you all for years that they have been taking pay cuts and Norm mentioned his, so the mid to high six figure salaries some of you all still think they command has been over.

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  19. yet CMLS is up 17% as we speak

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  20. Your naïve DA if you think just because Cumulus earnings suck that the executives and their top talent don't rake it in including your Musers and Hardline. Earnings are misleading as companies can structure themselves in such a way that is simply a money printing press for executives and talent via cash, bonus and options. Typically debt and equity holders will hold the bag in the long run but not before lots of people make lots of money whether on air talent or executives and board members. That is how corporate America works.

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  21. All, I repeat all of the women who call in are a beating of the highest order. There has never been a hot P1 female in the history of ever.

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  22. Part 1 is true. Part 2 is false.

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  23. Prove it. Listening once while their BF or husband drives them around doesn't count.

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  24. Anon 4:33 -

    Not sure what you classify as a P1, are you excluding Ticket Chicks and Traffic Girls? I have seen several women at remotes that don't seem to be associated with any particular guy who are attractive / hot.

    I have never been to fight night so can't comment on that. Don't know if you consider female fighters P1's because I don't know how many were asked to fight by BF's or others without knowing about the station.

    Kristiana, of fight night and of the great laugh, was definitely hot and was a P1.

    Summer Bash is also full of hot chicks and I don't think all of them were drug out there by BF's. Finally, there were attractive / hot girls (maybe not a lot, but some) at Ticket Stock who were clearly P1's.

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  25. Speaking of the draft and the campound, both encapsulate why I love the ticket. I flip stations from time to time and I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say the Fan did a better overall job on the lead up to the draft. Jeff and KT did a great job. The problem was the draft night coverage was ok. Can't compete with Norm and company.

    The campound was great because of the segments throughout the days. Mike with Norm and Donnie, Musers with BaD, the great basketball segment with Junes on BaD, and Corby with Norm and Donnie. I agree with the guys that said dominate Donnie is a beating. Hated it on BaD and hated it last night.

    I think the other stations ate as good as the ticket sports wise (I think the Fan never recovered from their shilling for the Hardy signing), they have news before the ticket at times as well, but they can't do what the ticket does. They rarely make you laugh, their life talk is boring and they have no personality. I can listen to the Musers talk about vacuums, the tales of coach McDowell, or Mike's concert reviews. I wouldn't do that with any other station.

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  26. I am in agreeance with just about everyone here. Campound is true greatness and Junes late night is the best. I'm a fan of Donnie, but he was a bit too much. Sorry to disagree with the comment that there is never a good lady P1 caller. The girl who called in to Junes' show about the ghost in the bathroom while she pooped was really funny. I blew Yoo Hoo threw my nose when she said "the dead have no right to criticize our defecation." Or something like that, I don't have rewind and I was laughing too hard. He awarded her Woodford Reserve for the call - maybe.

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