(1) My schedule has changed so I'm sometimes not in the car as much during drive, so my Hardline listening has diminished a bit. When I tuned in this past week, I have to say, I enjoyed the show. I thought the Danny rat story was overrated, but they did some car talk that got me laughing, and it seemed to me that I heard More Mike than I'd heard in recent months, which always makes for a better show.
(2) I sometimes punch over to ESPN, and heard something that I really liked on Monday afternoon: a couple of hours of "Football Firing Line," which I guess has been going on for awhile. It was Tim Cowlishaw and Matt Mosley, the usual Afternoon Show hosts, with Steve Dennis, Nate Newton, and another guy whose name I wrote down and now I can't find the slip. The Internets say Ed Werder is on the panel, but it wasn't him, it was an AA with a four-letter first name, a middle initial, and a last name. One of you guys can tell me who it was. [UPDATE 2: The other guy had a four letter last name: Clarence E. Hill, Jr., of the Star-Telegram.] Anyway, I thought it was a lot of fun with some trenchant Cowboys analysis thrown in for good measure.
What's the story on Steve Dennis, anyway? He seems pretty spicy and zero-BS but it seems all he does is fill in around the Dallas sports media scene from time to time. Would he make a good full-time host somewheres?
(3) Danny has a great radio voice, but in recent months it's gotten rough and a little breathy and sometimes cracks, as though perhaps he smokes and perhaps smokes a lot. (I don't know if he smokes.) Maybe he's been performing a lot. (You can tell when Mike's not far past a Petty Theft performance -- his voice gets noticeably tired.) Maybe he has to yell a lot at the Twilite Lounge. Maybe he's using a different mic or he's getting EQ'd so the treble is turnt up. His habits are none of MTC's business; I'm just saying his on-air sound has frayed some.
(4) UPDATE: Hey, how long has Matt McClearin been hosting the Cowboys post-game on ESPN? (Since there's only been one other game, I would think that's probably the answer.) Maybe the better question is, how long has Matt McClearin been working at KESN? I punch over from Norm and Donovan once in awhile just to see what's airing on ESPN or The Fan, and he was running the show (it sounded like) with Steve Dennis and Tim McMahon, if I caught it correctly. I thought it was pretty good.
I knew that he and Scot Harrison had lost their WJOX Birmingham show back in July but hadn't heard anything further. Since Cumulus is operating KESN, maybe Jeff C welcomed him back. (Scot's LinkedIn page says that he's "Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Taco Mama." Matt's says that he's "Account Executive at New Home Guide," which sounds like something you do until Cat can find a spot for you.)
