Sunday, June 11, 2017

An STD I Just Can't Seem to Shake




[Complaints that this piece is too long will be taken down.  Read it or don’t.   – Plainsman.]

Since I’ve been away for awhile, and pathetically light on content when I do stick my head up, I thought I’d stage a comeback with a Scorching Ticket Disquisition.  This one’s going to get me in trouble with a certain cohort of Confessors, and probably a whole flock of JV, and who knows who else.   As an old girlfriend used to tell me, you can’t please everyone.

I had occasion to be out in the Conestoga in the early afternoon hours a couple of times a week or two back, and I thought I’d try to catch up on my woefully deficient BaD Radio listening.   Bob was absent and Jake Kemp was filling in with Dan McDowell.  I mean no slight to Bob, who is one of my favorites on the station, but I thought every segment I heard was top-notch.  We’ve remarked from time to time how sometimes a fill-in guy will elevate the normal host’s game, or, in the case of Corby Davidson, elevate Corby’s own when assigned non-Hardline duty.  Whatever it was, it was good BaD.

So that’s the first thing I want to say.  That is not the STD.

*     *     *

As I struggled to keep the Crosley tuned in as the team and I lurched across the metro, something suddenly struck me with great force:

Jake Kemp is a terrific broadcaster and should be an everyday host.

Every day when he’s got producer or related background duties is a day of talent in the pail. 

I do not mean to slight Sean Bass, Mike Sirois, Ty Walker, or Eli Jordan, who I view as the main guys who either have shows or are called to fill-in duty from time to time.  Nor is this a snub of any of the other voices who have a weekend gig or who are called upon to pop on from time to time.  Lot of talent there; each deserves his on-air hours and more.    

But to my ear Jake is in a class by himself.  He belongs by himself in Tier 2 in Craig “Junior” Miller’s original, unamended ranking which Craig had left vacant, separating the daylight hosts from the batch of senior JV.   I have no idea of Jake’s reputation at The Ticket, but on the evidence of his exposure across the broadcast week and over time, it sure sounds like he’s the king of the go-tos, the guy most clearly positioned to move up, the guy who gets the plums when there are plums to distribute.  I’ll get to the circumstance of having nowhere to move in a moment.

First, let me anger everyone further by heaping some additional praise on the man.

No, wait.  First, let me say that I do have some issues with the guy.   

I don’t like his social-issues talk, but that doesn’t distinguish him from every other host on The Ticket.   Subset:  He may think he’s progressive about sexual matters, and he may be, but his remarks about women sometimes skate towards Hammer-like misogyny. 

He can sometimes dominate co-hosts.  He has some Sturmian logorrhea issues. 

There was a time when he was sometimes dismissive of opposing viewpoints, and that came across as arrogant, but am I just imagining that he’s worked on that and that I’m hearing a whole lot less of it?    I find his back-and-forth with Sean and with whomever else he’s batting something around to be lively while still – mostly – respectful.

For a highly-educated man – is he the only Ticket regular with an advanced degree? – he sometimes seems almost gleefully unaware, and unappreciative, of matters taking place before, well, before he came into consciousness that important stuff happened before he was born.   But even there – hang on, I’ll come back to that. 

So yeah, I sometimes shake my head at the guy.  Probably some of the same reasons he takes it in the shorts from some Confessors.

Back to the praise:

If you tuned into those BaD broadcasts last week and had no prior knowledge of The Ticket, you would not have known you were listening to a seasoned and popular host and a very occasional weekday fill-in guy.  Jake ran the show, and that is no knock on Dan, whose role, after all, is to be a Sports Humorist and not a deep sportsy guy.  In fact, they sounded great together, Dan sharp and involved.

Jake is dazzlingly smooth, glib in a good way.  No dead air, and he’s got an interesting way of speaking that attracts the ear.  He has a great broadcast voice (with occasional forays into Dylan the Argumentative Teen territory, but fewer and fewer as time goes by).   Don’t underestimate the value of this, even on a station that has a lot of reg’lar-guy-sounding speakers and that is justly celebrated for it.  There’s a real distinct music to his sound that isn’t too obviously Radio Pipes Guy but also isn’t blue-collar Bro Guy – nice modulation, nice variation in pitch and velocity, nice timbre, nice grown-man sound but still gives off that youthfulness vibe that the Catman of the New World probably sits up nights wondering how to infuse into some of his creaky programming. 

He is well-informed about sports, able to talk dweeb-wonk stats and empirical observation with equal authority (maybe I should say “apparent authority,” since I don’t know much about either).    Maybe he doesn’t have Bob’s large Talosian-throbbing sports brain, 





but Jake always, always holds his own.  In fact, in terms of overall sophistication of his sports analysis, I would say he is second only to Bob on The Ticket.  Now maybe at The Ticket that is not his reputation – I have no idea how his sports talk is regarded.  But remember, we’re talking about what is coming through the earbuds.  Is Jake a con artist?  If so, he’s a real, real good one and his sports talk is entertaining and thought-provoking. 

He can be funny.

He rid us of Mike from Palookaville.

He seems to be very decent to the P1.  His occasional cups of coffee here on MTC have always been gracious even when he’s been slagged about something by some of our more dyspeptic observers.  I’ve heard that he’s responsive to P1 outreach.  His instinct seems to be to defuse anger with reason and, dare I say, niceness.   The digisphere needs more of that strategy.

"I like a man who's never heard of stuff and who disdains the super gay."
 And I do not mean by saying what I’m about to say next to elevate him over one other soul on The Ticket.   I’m having trouble finding the right words for this, so I’ll just plunge ahead:  When I listen to Jake broadcast, I feel like he absolutely believes every word he is saying and does not care one bit if you like it or not.  What is that?  Honesty?  Sincerity?  Everyone on The Ticket is honest and sincere.  I think that what I hear in Jake is a thinker who tries hard to be free of preconceptions and fads – I think he shares that independence of thought with Gordon – and doesn’t take a position in order to be deliberately provocative or get a reaction.   This independence leads him into creative analyses and unexpected opinions, and he doesn’t filter them – he lays them out there.  In this respect, perhaps he’s a little like Dan himself; there’s that fearlessness that keeps you listening, love his opinions or not.

Even that “gleefully unaware” crack I made above I said I’d come back to:  God, what was it the other day?  Some musician, huge, famous musician, maybe even artistically important, but perhaps before Jake’s time.  Can’t remember why he or she or the group was in the news.  Anyway, Jake said he couldn’t name a single song by that artist.  I shook my head, but what struck me was he clearly did not care if you thought he was unexpectedly ignorant.  He wasn’t grandstanding – he may even have been just the tiniest bit chagrined.  But his blithe cruising through opinions or gaps in his education without constantly qualifying his point of view – which a couple of hosts do to utter distraction – is why he can be counted on to tell us exactly what’s on his mind.  Which is what we want from our hosts.

Hosts, hosts  .  .  .  oh, yeah, I was saying that I thought Jake should be a host, have his own show, every day.

But there’s no room for another everyday host on The Ticket.  With every show leading its time slot among listeners who matter, there’s not going to be a vacancy unless someone decides not to re-up.

No room -- on The Ticket.

But there are two other stations in town with some pretty damned lame programming, one of which is programmed by our very own Cumulo-Ticket Overlords.  Is it beyond imagining that Jake might be invited to helm a showgram on one of those joints?  How would you feel about that?  I wouldn’t forsake the sainted Musers, but I’d give a Jake-based show a real spin.

And what about TV?  Jake’s a nice-looking chap, and my Jah, he’d come across as positively incandescent next to some of the jamokes they’ve got doing sportsy commentary in this great land of ours.



And, of course  .  .  .  sometimes Ticket talent gets offers from elsewhere.

(No, my road-to-Damascus insight, if insight it is, that Jake needs to move up and/or on is not a secret strategy to get him off The Ticket.)

As I said, there are several JV at The Ticket who could hold down an everyday host job.  There are those of you out there right now who would like to see some of those JV take the place of one or more of the less-favorite current hosts.  Cirque du Sirois is big fun, and for my money Country Force should have a permanent weekend or even an evening slot (would cause problems for the award-winning Diamond Talk, though, wouldn’t it?  By the way, what award did Diamond Talk win?).  But for sustained interest to the listener, for sophisticated conversation, for brainy (or brainy-seeming) analysis, for overall broadcasting polish, it’s Jake – yes, it’s Jake.

And that’s where I come out.  Jake always gives me what I tune in The Ticket to hear:   Entertainment with intelligence and integrity, whether I agree with him or not.   I’d like to hear more of him.  

"I'm before your time so you've never heard of me, Mr. Jake Kemp, but let's just say I like thin men."






48 comments:

  1. If Jake were to get a show on ESPN during evening drive, I would be out on THL in a New York minute. I would miss TOGW and would probably tune in every now and then, but yeah, if Jake had his own thing, I'm there. I'd even listen if he had the overcondescending and smug TC as a co-host. It would probably take a while to get a new show to jell, but I'd wait it out. It took forever for me to get on board with BAD, but I think that show has hit it's stride. It would be interesting to see how that dynamic would change if Jake left. There's no doubt that he has carte blanche to pop in whenever and to me when he does, it's seamless.

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  2. I generally agree with your assessment of Jake, but have two issues with him. Whether those issues would or should keep him from being a Tier 1 host is a question worth asking.

    1. His voice. It isn't distinctive.It's very generic. Part of the reason I could get into the Ticket back when I first tuned is is because it didn't take long for me to associate a particular voice (Greg, Corby, Gordon, whoever) with the personality I knew each one to have. When I heard Greg's voice, I instantly knew it was the cornball baseball fanatic from a small town. I had instant expectations that came when I heard his voice vs when I heard Rhyner's voice or George's.
    Jake's voice, on the other hand, is indistinguishable, and therefore it seems to me he doesn't have much of a personality. I know that's wrong; he does have things about his personality which are distinctive. But my ears don't tell me who is he when he's talking, so I don't make that connection. Therefore, I cannot connect with him the way I do with the others.

    2. He rubs me the wrong way with his social liberalism. As does Corby and Danny. No reason to elaborate there. But it does keep me from wanting to hear him have his own show.

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  3. Jake, Mino, and TC are the voice of the millennial P1

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  4. Agreed Plainsman, I may be biased being around the same age a Jake, but the dude has chops, can go in depth on sports, be the yuck monkey when Gordo is out, and generally just seems like a good dude.

    But his flippin' space opinions drive me up a wall, and I can't tell if he's playing radio or if he genuinely believes it. But still love the dude regardless

    I also love Jake and Donovan's sample platter show. Good times all around.

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  5. Boo!, I don't think that's bias. You're the kind of listener Jeff Catlin is aiming at when he offers up guys like Jake and some of the other JV.

    "Space" is a good example of what I'm talking about. I'm a big space guy, very interested in manned and unmanned space travel -- in the millenia to come, we'll be out there despite the lack of habitable worlds within single-generation traveling distance. Maybe underwater, too. If Jake thinks space exploration is worthless, then I'll be disagreeing with him very heartily. (Big room for disagreement on how it should be done.) But what I like is that he doesn't try to disguise his lack of interest in the subject, and, equally important, he doesn't personally insult those who disagree with him. He's just out there with his viewpoint, frequently with a solid evidentiary or observational foundation, sometimes not (can anyone remember why he thinks space is super gay?). And he's not out to pick a fight, he's just . . . out there, and there ya go.

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  6. Hmmm, where to begin?

    I agree with many of your points, both pro and con Jake Z. I wish you would've listened to/analyzed Jake and Bob's work sans Dan a few days later. Personally, I thought it was several levels better than his pairing with solo Dan (which, like you, I found to be very good). While I do agree Jake is ready for prime time, I also have to say that it depends on the situation. I believe you are a fan of TSJ, yes? Well, I'm not. I'm also not a fan, at all, of IJB. Both shows feature Jake without borders. The former is delimited by the FCC and the CTO; the latter, is pure and unadulterated Jake qua Jake. Whereas TSJ is somewhat cliquish, often derisive of socio-political views that are less than "woke," and at times puts on full display Jake's unfortunate propensity to Dylan-ish behavior (though, you're right in saying that the phenomenon doesn't rear its head as frequently as before, thankfully), it's nowhere near the more times than not embarrassment that is IJB. Neither Jake nor TC can speak in complete sentences; they sound like middle-schoolers whose first-middle-and surnames are Dylan; in short, it's unlistenable--unless you are of that mindset/age group. Sadly too is that Jake also exhibits his tendency to bully his partner in both shows. Not the case when he's paired with someone who's either above him on the food chain and/or he respects as a mentor. Such is the case with the Varsity. When put in those situations, Jake shines in every way you describe. I'm telling you, I could listen to the Jake and Bob Show 5 hours per day, 5 days per week, year after year. But when left to his own devices, when he holds the fasces, his undisciplined side emerges and he becomes prone to devolving into a smart (and smart assed) college freshman home for his first Christmas break, "enlightening" the family with his superior views. My only other point of contention is Jake's (and this goes for Sean, TC, Machine, and a few others) tendency toward data-speak when plain English would much better express the proposition.

    But, yes, Jake Z is definitely a top notch talent who should have a bright future in sports media. And I too wonder how much longer he'll be at The Ticket if not given a Varsity host position (official 3rd host of BaD?). But as I said, I think the situation, at least at this juncture, needs to be right. One day, I've no doubt that he'll be mentor, the example par excellence. One day, not today.

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  7. If Jake is ready for Prime Time I wonder if Cat has thought of running the Hardline form 3-6 then going live and local from 6-9 with a Jake driven program and the Top 10 from 9-10? Are they contractually obligated to carrying Scott Ferrall? If there are other players on the field looking at Jake they have an option.

    My personal opinion on Jake will not be popular with many here but I look at him like I do Gordon and to some extent Corby. I respect his ability and presentation, it's just not something I'm a fan of. If Jake is destined to greatness, will they make the same mistake with him they did with Curt Menefee?

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  8. Some well-considered views here, filling in some of my own Jake-blanks. I don't believe I've ever listened to IJB, maybe once a long time ago. Yes, I understand IJB can get pretty fratty-and-below. But like the vulgar tweets we got for too long from Ticket guys, podcasts are a different medium and our heroes are not always seen to be unfailingly appealing guys with the governors removed. While podcasts and tweets may reveal an unappealing side of someone we would like to admire, I'm going strictly on what I hear on 1310 AM, 96-seven FM, The Ticket.

    403 reminds me of something I did want to say, which is that Jake does need a strong co-host. Agree entirely with 403 on that one. While I think Jake's bullying (an overused word but appropriate here) has decreased with time, he does tend to take over somewhat unless there's a strong voice and intellect on the other mic. As 403 also said, the Jake + Bob pairing was also impressive.

    And yes, on the whole I do like Shake Joint. I think Sean gets up on his hind legs more than he used to, and Dismissive Jake has been mostly retired. I could do without all the social commentary on all of the shows -- not a particular criticism of Jake or TSJ.

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  9. So, is the liking of thin men a reference to Nick Charles? And therefore is the babe the one and only Myrna "Nora" Loy?

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  10. I agree with a lot of your Jake analysis. The socio/political position of ALL hosts causes me to change the channel and its happened a lot in the last few years. BTW, I started listening in 2000 and I can't remember that being an issue at all in those days. I also believe it was a better presentation in those pre-Bird Dogs and Petty Theft days.

    I think it's important who Jake is paired with. I feel he is head and shoulders above Sean and TC and they do hinder his advancement. You said yourself how he shines when paired with Bob and/or Dan. Jake is the only reason I listen to TSJ and frankly don't find Sean very likable. Same with TC who still can't nail a single Ticker without stumbling.

    Jake and the Sirois twins are, in my opinion definitely in tier 2. I really enjoy NAP and feel they are rapidly moving up as they gain experience. Justin and Machine have great chemistry. They make me laugh and the way they crack on each other as they sound like a couple of guys hanging out. Again when Machine doesn't get all political on your azz. It's tune in Saturday programming for me.

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  11. On another note, former Norm producer, Ticket fast tracker, Spurs\Hispanio hate Tweeter, current Ranger pre and post FOX host, and FAN "Varsity" guy, Mike Bacsik seems to have once again let his temper get the best of him. The cost this time????

    https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2017/06/12/ex-rangers-pitcher-radio-host-mike-bacsik-tried-hit-coach-kids-baseball-game-police-say

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  12. I always find the intolerance of any non-conservative leanings to be amusing. All else being equal in terms of talent if Jake were right leaning do we think we would see the usual bevy of "I don't care for his socially conservative leanings"? I think not but to the larger point - Jake IMO is destined for greatness:
    - has analytical skills set and thought process similar to Bob
    - has a self deprecating sensibility that plays well - he doesn't think of himself as talented as he actually is
    - No better human at the Ticket as far as P1 interactions. I have had numerous email exchanges and met him in person at an event. Great dude, always cordial and thought provoking in email exchanges
    - I think he would team very well with Donny when Norm retires or steps away.

    Bottom line: I think Junior and Jake will be on the same Tier within a few years

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  13. I agree with everyone's sentiments for the most part. Jake is good, id teamed with someone strong. And I agree, if he were on against THL, with the right person, I would punch out to listen. I am at a point where I will take The Great One over THL.

    912, best comment there, that Myrna Loy was something in the day. My folks watched those old Thin Man movies, I am going to have to binge watch this weekend, assuming I can find them. good memories

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  14. Wow, the news story about Bacsik stated he was fired from The Ticket for tweeting racially insensitive remarks after a Spurs-Mavericks game. I hate the way the story portrays that, because at the time Bacsik was making a reference to a Ticket drop stemming from the Mexican soccer team when Georgio said "he heard the Mexicans were kind of dirty". Meaning PLAYING dirty. Totally misconstrued; I felt bad for the guy at the time and this makes me feel bad for him again. Poor judgement? Yes. Racially insensitive. No way.

    I don't know about the hitting the other coach part of the story; I'm only talking about the reference to why he was fired from The Ticket.

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  15. 912, I was hoping someone was paying attention. Yes, that is indeed the great Myrna Loy, "Nora Charles," from "The Thin Man" series with the also-great William Powell,one of the more adorable film stars of the 30's and 40's, and one of its better actresses for both drama and comedy. More or less discovered by Rudolph Valentino. She starred with Clark Gable and Powell in "Manhattan Melodrama," the last movie John Dillinger ever saw, as he was gunned down by g-men as he departed the Biograph Theater, still standing on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.

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  16. 701: Points very well taken, but I must say I don't like George's (and even sometime Gordon's) conservative stuff any more than any of the others' left-of-center stuff. They're just not good at it.

    I really thought the Confessor was going to unload on me about this article. Guess I'm more in the Jake mainstream than I imagined. Everyone seems to have about the same misgivings but also the same gold stars for Jake's performance.

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  17. @Plainsman re Jake and space

    It definitely came from an IJB podcast where good times were being had, and Jake made a bombastic proclamation about space. Which no big deal.

    Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Jake's main issue with space is that we've spent tons of money on it and all we have to show is space rocks, duct tape, and a study on gecko space sex. Meanwhile, kids go hungry etc.

    I think it's a fair enough argument, but I think he's downplaying the benefits of space exploration.

    Still love Jake, he may be my ticket leader.

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  18. Anon 701: I think you ought to look up what the term "intolerance" actually connotes. The gist of what I read on this site is that most would prefer for the hosts to either leave the socio-political stuff alone (like, as it's been pointed out, the hosts did for the first 15+ years of the station's existence) or at least to have a decent grasp on the subject matter under discussion. Personally, I fall into the latter category; though I'd prefer such talk to be somewhat balanced. Gordon and Junes do a fairly good job on that particular. By the way, Gordon did admit last month that his views are center-left. What I find amusing are the decidedly intolerant, rigid Tweets and on-air opinions of a few of the JV squad and from time to time, Danny and Corby that are unrepentant in their divisive and alienating tone--i.e., there is no room for dissenting opinon. Moreover, I'm not a fan of the MTC commenter (on either side of the socio-poltical spectrum-this isn't a direct shot at you, 701) ever accusing those who do not abide by their psychological tendencies to be ___fill in the perjorative descriptor. And again, this can be said of both right and left confessing Confessors. It's poor form and rather hypocritical (pot, meet kettle).

    Man oh man, Myrna Loy. Fantastic actress, beautiful, smart, genuinely good person, and was so outspoken against Hitler and the Nazi regime, Hitler placed her on his blacklist.

    Boo!: You got the space story right. And what a silly, specious argument it is. There are so many problems with such a stance, there's not enough time in the day to even begin to address it. Actually, it's so silly of an argument, and the counters to it are so obvious, it'd be insulting to Pman and all Confessors to engage it.

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  19. According to the latest station announcement Friday morning we are supposed to "hold on to our butts" for the latest station event.

    Date and location for Fight Night or something equally as underwhelming?

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  20. It's about Fight Night contestant gathering time. Seems like that must be what it's about. Don't see how they're going to top MiD v Jake, but we'll see.

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  21. I can't take one more minute of all of the Warriors love from Corby. Thank god the finals are over! Its ridiculous how much he likes them.

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  22. Did anyone just hear Dan give out some of the numbers for May?
    The NFL draft coverage drew a 20.0
    The Camppound drew a 14.0
    Deep Night Ticket (12M-3am) drew a 25.0
    The best the Musers have done is somewhere around 11.0

    Those are amazing numbers for any station let alone a sports station.

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  23. Those numbers are incredible. Also, here are the individual show ratings for May:

    Musers 12.4
    Hardline 11.9
    BAD 10.7
    N&D 10.6

    For an all-sports station to have every show in double digits is not a small thing.

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  24. Anon 128, do you happen to have the competitors' head to head numbers? If so, would you mind kindly posting them, please?

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  25. A quick google search pulled this up.

    http://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb024

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  26. Jake and Donnie spinning tunes right now.

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  27. You gotta be kidding me! As bad as The Hardline sucks?!

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  28. Anon 1:07 am
    You gotta be kidding me! I cant believe you were able to post a comment as bad as you suck?!

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  29. There is not much to be said about Jake that hasn’t been said and reinforced at this point. The guy is good and has definitely put himself markedly above everyone not in Tier One. Radio is a tough industry…for the most part a meritocracy. If you can throw heat, you’re going to get a shot. You’re always going to have the “right place at the right time” opportunities but I think the Cat Man of the Ages is pulling the correct strings with advancement.

    I wanted to throw out a couple of comments on the latest Tier One addition, Donnie Doo Doo. When it comes to the recognition of talent, hard work, hitting the groove, ability to meld into almost any situation, this guy is a stud. I was not living here during the time and likely would’ve never found my dial landing on The Bone so I can’t comment on any of his work leading up to the Little One.

    Listening to bits and pieces of N&D yesterday and finding myself doing a little baby proofing last night during the Sample Platter really highlighted Donnie’s range. I remember thinking the same thing about his Cowboys post game, his stellar TicketStock covers, or filling in for “Host X” when he was pulling 12-14 hour days. With all this talk of Jake (and some of the other Tier Four guys) needing the right situation to shine, Donnie is the ultimate utility player.

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  30. Ellislives: very well said. Donnie took a while to grow on me, but I now realize he's all that you say he is.

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  31. No, he's correct. THL is a horrible show, simply horrible. Nothing short of total ear anthrax!

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  32. 1202 and 107,

    Change the dial.

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  33. It's one commenter leaving atta boys for himself. Weird phenomenon, true, but trolls gonna troll.

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  34. More numbers.

    https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/other-sports/moresports/2017/06/16/ticket-doubles-combined-ratings-fan-espn-dallas-may

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  35. Even as a person who doesn't care for the Hardline I think this site is sometime's an echo chamber. It is a very small community of people who dislike certain host or shows. The vast majority of Ticket people probably never visit or have much interest in learning about Radio/The Ticket outside what they hear on the station. To over exaggerate I think any show on the Ticket could play static for four hours and majority would think it was a bit. Going to twitter to join in the fun or just hang on to see when they came back. Ratings would still soar past any local radio stations. As much as the station wears people out there is not that much good local sports talk. I turn to podcast to get a new flavor or another music radio station. We have to enjoy this thing while it last, because when it is gone we will be here writing how we miss the days of.....

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  36. Then why are you reading this blog and its comments, 852? Oh how the enlightened love to prescribe...

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  37. I'd follow Jake over to ESPN if went there. I listen to IJB every week and try to catch as much of BaD radio as I can. He's a great mix of sports nerd and entertainer if you ask me. I really think they've got to find a way to push Norm out to pasture. Maybe give him a couple weekly segments on various shows but he's the one show I simply won't listen to.

    Also a question to all of you who listen to the beginning days of the Ticket (I've only been around since 2006 or so), why doesn't the Ticket just use the JV to fill the evening programming like the Fan does? Did they do that back in the day? Anytime I'm out and about in the evenings I never even check the Ticket cause I don't care about SB Nation radio or Ferrell on the Bench. The Fan always has local guys in the evenings and even if I don't love their stuff, it's still a voice I know.

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  38. It's cheaper to play the national feed than last for talent. CBS has infinitely deep pockets, Cumulus does not.

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  39. Bob and Jake good again today on BaD with Dan gone.

    Too much Machine.

    Did I mention too much Machine?

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  40. I agree with Charles. I don't listen to Hardline, but catch myself bouncing back and forth from B&S to DaC. But Dennis can be almost as big of a beating as Corby...almost! I like [and listen to]all the JV shows. If ESPN grabbed one of them for their drive time, I would certainly be in. I enjoyed Tony "the Thrill" Hill on B&S today.

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  41. Pigskin Poet circe 2001June 19, 2017 at 9:25 PM

    Only listened to K-Ticket for about 5 minutes during 1:30 news. It sounded like Bob was fighting for air-time on his own show amongst the other 3 voices, which for Bob is hard to do! No choice but to dump out... The other 3 voices sounded like they were trying to impress each other with their witty quips.

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  42. I was out yesterday and could listen to some of BaD. Finally caught Jake and Bob. Jake with Bob somewhat more subdued than Jake with Dan, for obvious reasons, but it was still really good.

    But I have to agree with Pigskin: WAY too much popping-on on that show, too many people doing it, and it goes on at too-great length and adds too little value. It's just not necessary and it bogs down the presentation with too many voices.

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  43. Gordon just rendered the best show coming to town segment unlistenable. I like the guy and his voices, but sometimes he can run a bit into the ground.

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  44. Jake is top hand of the JV. He and Bob are solid together. TC and Machine need be nowhere near a midday show in a major market... and they certainly don't need to be on one together. If Machine is going to fill-in produce, he needs to keep the chime-ins to a minimum, and TC should have his mic in the "off" position. Forever.

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  45. @nonononever

    Agreed. Liked the bit for about 3 seconds. I thought it was appropriate with Dooce being loose this week and his propensity to break out in song. You could tell that JubTown was getting a little thin on patience too. Unfortunately I feel like even if George (which I am sure has the authority) had called for radio silence, that would’ve encouraged Gordy to push it up yet another notch.

    I like the talk about the next step for El Pequeno Billete. I concede that I don’t listen to any other business here in the Metroplex but I am a Day ~1,000 P1. I am always surprised when the radio rankings come out that KTCK is able to sweep each time slot from 05:30 to 19:00. Is that just sports stations? Everything I can Google has them out of the Top 5 RE: market share. Regardless of what you think about the ebb and flow of the on air talent, that’s something to win morning and evening drive in a Top 5 market regardless of format.

    I think the contract situation is pretty stable here post the BaD drama and upcoming Norm renewal question. I suspect that there’s not a combo (either existing or imagined made up of existing hosts) that could come close to dethroning the Musers. Head to head, who do you think would fare better, BaD or THL?

    P.S. Corby…no one cares about Pearl Jam.

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  46. p.s. Corby...or anything else you talk about...

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  47. Jake is terrible. You've always propped him and TC up. They have nothing. Jake is arrogant and does nothing but quote articles and stats.

    He misses on everything. Remember this is the guy that wanted to get rid of Tyson Chandler. Wanted Chandler Parsons as a max player.

    Horrible post.

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  48. 1126: Horrible comment.

    I assume you're the same guy who has been trolling Jake and TC here for a long time. To me, it feels like jealousy.

    It's OK not to like Jake or TC (or my posts), but your unhelpful remarks are . . . kinda dumb. I almost never get after a Confessor, but I've had about enough of you.

    Of course no one gets everything right when predicting sports. (I heard Bob say that he didn't see anyone doing better than the Rangers in their division this year.) But I do remember that Jake was the only one who predicted the Cowboys' excellent 2014 season when everyone else was predicting catastrophe. You're wrong, and demonstrably, obviously wrong. He doesn't miss on everything, and if there's one thing he does NOT do, it's rely on "articles." He plainly thinks independently about the local teams and everything else. I don't always agree with him, either, but dismissal of him shows that you're just not paying attention.

    I don't know why you listen to him when he's on, or visit this site. Frankly, I suspect you don't listen, which is why your remarks are so easily ignored.

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