Please, Robert

I really like Robert Wilonsky.  Not everyone on this site does; some think he fudges some accounts of his past.  I have no way of knowing and it doesn't make a lot of difference to my enjoyment of his broadcasting and his journalism.   I really like David Moore, too, and that means I doubly like Intentional Grounding.

I wish were on for two hours every Wednesday.

I wish it were on every week throughout the year.

But I heard something near the close of the show tonight that made me a little sad.

Robert was interrogating David Moore on the Alex Smith-from-KC-to-Washington deal.

In the course of doing so, he was deliberately avoiding using the phrase "Washington Redskins," calling it either the "Washington Football Club," or the "Washington Football Team," maybe both, I forget which.  (I don't believe David ever found reason to use the team name but I may have missed it.)

And he kind of paused before he said it each time.  Thinking about it.  Not sure.  Not signalling, just not sure.

I was disappointed in that locutional strategy.  I don't like to think of my favorites giving in to political correctness.  Snyder isn't going to change the name.  Goodell isn't going to make him do it.  Native Americans are not clamoring for it.   (Differing, in this important respect, from other names for other ethnic groups, which names are widely reviled.  Washington Post poll from mid-2016 reports 9 of 10 Indians not offended by the name.)  No one is going to think Robert is a racist if he calls them the Washington Redskins, yet he felt he just couldn't bring himself to say it, and it was obvious that it was not an inadvertent word choice.

Ah well, we live in different times now.  Crappier times, but different.

Wahoo, Big Bob.

A Happy Interim Birthday to The Little One

Let the Pre-Quarter Century Ticket Anniversary celebrations begin!

There was a moment on The Musers this morning that reminded me of why I listen.  They were talking about Football Jerry and his interview at the Senior Bowl. 

In discussing the future of Dez Bryant, the following line was uttered by Craig "Junior" Miller, the Fred Astaire of The Ticket:

"Jerry will keep Dez Bryant because Jerry has heard of Dez Bryant."

All of the problems with the Cowboys summed up in one brilliant and absolutely true sentence.

Thank you, Ticket, and Happy Birthday.

Some things just get better with age, right Mike?

I Assume There's a Reason

Why does The Ticket hardly ever take live calls anymore?  (As opposed to the voicemail compendium BaD does, the name of which escapes me.)

Not counting voting on E-Brake or Cowboys post-game.

We have been reminded recently of Paul the Damned Viking, and commenters to the last thread listed many other notable identifiable callers from The Ticket's past.   Names unfamiliar to me, and I've been listening for over ten years:  Greek Man, Rogers in Hammerstein, Dr. Matt, Side Show Bob, JD, Hippie in Euless, Blue in the Grove, Glenda (RIP), Sterling.  Hong Kong Paul (more of a remote fixture, with at least one notable call-in).

Confessors seem to remember these names with fondness.  I wonder if there's a touch of nostalgia here.  I had my fill of Mike from Duncanville on the post-game, and I wonder if maybe Cat, or the hosts, were wary of listeners with a lot of time on their hands hanging on hold, trying to become Ticket fixtures with canned material.

Sure -- lots of callers are terrible and obviously unbright.  But some are good -- Hakeem in Frisco is always a reasonable voice after Cowboys games.  And lousy or dumb callers can be fodder for colorful host responses, including but not limited to Norm meltdowns, Mike dismissals,  Gordon sarcasm, Dan destruction.  It's not like all of these shows have a backlog of topics to get to, or careful show prep to exhibit -- I'd rather hear unpredictable calls than Corby stumbling through an article he just found during the previous break (although I have to admit, it's kind of entertaining when he does).

And although I assume producers have a lot to do, couldn't they screen calls for a segment or two to ensure droolers don't get through, and let through people who seem to have a clue?  And there's a delay for the bombers and trolls.

I'll bet there's an answer to this question, and probably a good one.  They haven't done it for years, and some of the hosts clearly disdain it.  I just don't know why.  I think it would be interesting to schedule a call-in segment, give it a name, and have it sponsored.  I wonder if MTC could afford a spot.

"Hello, Mike?  Thank you for taking my call.   I met you once after a Petty Theft show and you guys were great, so cool to meet you!  I wanted to ask a question about why the Cowboys hardly ever use the counter trey, but first I wanted to tell you that the test came back  .  .  .  ."

Kelly McClure -- a Lexicon

For those of you who would like to get more enjoyment out of Kelly "I'm the Only Entity that Refers to Me as  .  .  .  the Bulldog" McClure commercials, I offer the following guide to some of her more puzzling pronunciations.  You know who I'm talking about, the Chief Executive Officer of the McClure Law Group (which group has seven lawyers of which to be Chief Executive Officer listed on her website, although there are nine in the group photo):

I think I can guess at least one of the departees -- the blonde in the right flank who had the audacity to do a left-foot-forward-hand-on-hip pose and showed some chest flesh, although in her defense she was wearing non-McClure black.   (The photo is clearly assembled from individual portraits; Ms. McClure's reproduction has taken some calories off her nose, which is a pity, as I find her real-life honker rather alluring in her publicity snaps.  And she seems also to have lost some weight in her cheekish area at the artist's hand.)

Anyway, if you are having trouble following her ads, here are some clarifications which may help:

"whey"               when he
"looza"               loses a
"probby"            probably
"custy"               custody
"a unhappy"       an unhappy
"a honest"          an honest
"harng"              hiring
"prordy"            priority
"merches"          marriages
"fahlng"             following
"falngs"              filings
"ordy"                already

Look, I'm sure she and Mr. Epstein and their shifting cast are all excellent lawyers.  Her success can't have come solely from self-promotion and impressive structural elements.  Heck, if I were a high-net-worth man with marital, pre-marital, or post-marital woes, I'd nip by for a consult.

But her ads have been cracking me up since they started running on The Ticket some time back.  I know some of you don't like MTC advertising talk, but it's here to stay -- they're a big part of The Ticket day (not to mention its revenue).   The Ticket cast may stay the same -- not much new material there -- but one can always count on a fresh batch of ads to thrash the bejeebers out of all of us.

Previous observations on Ms. McClure's ads may be found in the archives:

http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2015/10/investigative-report-kelly-mcclure.html

http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2016/01/investigative-report-follow-up-bulldog.html

Hoping you're not one of those unfortunates who cause falngs to go up after the New Year.  As Ms. McClure persuasively urges, "Oh, the holidays!"

"Is that the final decree in your pocket, Sugar, or are you just happy to see me?"

ALERT: Placeholder Redhead

Apologies, Confessors.  Slammed out on the plains 24/7.  Hoping to keep this joint going in 2018 and will do my best to grab some time for some actual content.

Thought about doing a drydock lookback, but my listening was pretty spotty.  Maybe you guys can fill in with some reviews below.

In the meantime, I thought we'd go demure-and-fetching for our first ginger of 2018.

Thanks for your patience, and drop a line.  After almost nine years, I'll appreciate any ideas for some topics I haven't already done to death.  Or drop me an essay and if it's good I'll run it as a feature.

I may be demure and fetching, but I'm getting pretty sick of clicking on MTC and finding a whole lot of nothing new.  Guess I'll switch on The Hardline.

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310