Cheap Friday Fill-In + an Alexis Retrospective

(1)  From the day The Ticket went live at Victory, this site has noted on several occasions that the station doesn't sound good.  Almost every host overdrives his mic with some regularity; there are stretches that are really unpleasant to listen to.  (One host whose mic almost never sounds bad except when he's yelling, which will overdrive any mic -- Corby.)

I have asked -- doesn't anyone at The Ticket actually listen to the station?  How can it continue to sound worse than the old facility well over a year after the switch?

Finally, someone has noticed.  Of course, it was Junior.  He said he was listening to Norm in the car yesterday, and it sounded like he was on a remote.  All the Muser mics, he said, were extra "hot," that overdriven-like sound that makes the voices sound like they'te sitting on a hissing griddle.

Right.  Now Junior needs to use his immense moral authority at Cumulus to get the station sounding better.

And, of course, the signals are still absolutely dreadful.  There was a time when we'd heard that Cumlus had applied for some kind of power increase or something.  Can someone please get into the FCC site and let us know if there's anything going on there?

(2)  Heard a Corby promo for the Chicago trip where he's saying something like:  "Cat thinks it's going to be just like this show, except in Chicago, and we're drunk!  Well, he can suck it!"  OWTTE.

That Pan-American Catman just might possibly have heard those Hardline broadcasts from New York during the playoffs. 

In any event, always a good career move to tell the boss to suck it.

(3)  By the way:  There are many Confessors who believe that any inter-show or intra-station tension is a bit.   Probably some instances are put-up jobs.  But I think a lot aren't.  And I think this Chicago thing is a genuine sore point.  Yeah, maybe it was The Lads' idea, but it was because the station had not bestirred itself to gift The Hardline with any field trips or fun stuff to take the place of the Campout.  Now they're making their on-air pouting into promos, which is a good idea, but does not persuade me that The Hardline doesn't really think that they're being treated like second-class citizens.

Which it really seems like they are. 

(4) Since I seem to get increases in readership only when a traffic chick  is in the news, I will sign off with a nice little Alexis gallery, and wish her the very best in Seattle.  It's just the same stuff you've all drooled over on the Internets, but I offer it all in one spot as a convenience to the Confessor.  I'm sure she herself is a major Confessor, and probably a serial Anonymous contributor, so I invite her to continue to check in to see what's up with her former drive-time colleagues. 

Hey, Alexis, let this site hear from you -- we're all big fans!  What better sign-off than to drive the Confessor absolutely crazy with some acknowledgment on this site of his miserable little blog-visitor existence!   Ah, come on!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

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 Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

MTC Wishes Alexis Smith All Success . . .

.  .  .  in her new role at KIRO Channel 7 (that's on the teevee) in Seattle.  Did not hear Dan read the memo on WTDS today, but got this from Alexis's recent tweets.  Hoping I have read them correctly.

1. Adam Bomb ‏@adambombshow4h
2. Congrats to my former morning show cohost @AlexisASmith grabbin a huge gig @ KIRO TV in Seattle! You'll rock it out there. Pack an umbrella
3.  

1. Alexis Smith‏@AlexisASmith
2. @adambombshow Thanks Bomber!!:) I might borrow a flannel or 2 from you before I go!

Best to you, Madam.   I will never forget your stunning promotional appearance at that grilling store in Frisco.

A Few Quick, and Pretty Weak, Hits

Owe the Confessors an apology -- the last few articles have been pretty lame.  Excuse:  Time, haven't got it for the more provocative and interesting pieces, but trying to get up some new content for the increasing number of MTC addicts.  (Whenever I'm off for a few days, they let me hear from them.)   Got some OK topics coming up, but for now, here's some fairly lightweight observations:

(1)  Latest punch-out:  Gingerbread man commercial.  I don't even know who it's for.

(2)  Hitched up the Conestoga around 1 pm Friday, fired up the Philco, and when the sports talk came on, after a few seconds I said to myself:  "What's Corby doing on the air middays?" 

Of course, it wasn't middays and, shockingly, it wasn't even The Ticket.  It was The Fan.  (I must have punched over during a gingerbread man commercial before exiting the wagon the last time.) 

And, of course, it wasn't Corby.  But it was a guy who sounded just like him.  He talked a little faster and he wasn't offering Corby's more reptilian content, but the timbre and even the little break in the voice was startlingly Corbylike.  It was him and another guy, neither of whom I recognized, and neither of whom was Mark Elfenbein.  I tried to hear them call one another a name, and the only thing I came up with is that the Corby-guy might possibly have been named Kevin. 

(3)  All right, this one's way, way out there. 

You know that ad for Bar & Book at Lone Star Park in the form of a news report where all of the anchors and the chick on the scene are astounded that wagering might be taking place there?  (The one where the chick says "Uh, I don't have the angle" and they end up calling the lawyer who says that betting at Bar & Book is AOK and probably fun, too.) 

I was listening to Alexis doing a traffic report and I was startled at some vowel-consonant combination of one kind or another and I thought -- where have I heard that funky sound before?  And I realized it was the Lone Star Park reporter chick.  Now I know, I know that Alexis's traffic reports don't sound like the reporter chick, but if Alexis hammed it up for a voiceover, maybe? 

And anyway, it gives me an excuse to run a picutre of Alexis, which is always good for some Google image-search hits.

Hope to have something better for you soon.  Not better than Alexis, just better MTC content.

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Anyone Know . . .

.  .  .  why traffic to this site more than quadrupled (over average) today (Thursday)? 

Something up with Traffic Twist Alexis Smith?  Looks like most visitors are looking for her, and over 2/3 of my hits are first-timers today (inaugural Confessors usually represent only 50% or less), which tells me that something went on at the station and P1s were Googling the fetching Ms. Smith. 

All are welcome.  I am sorry that Alexis news and images are limited (and the images are poor).  Maybe I should just start making up some stuff.

Not everyone is looking for Alexis, and if anyone knows why Your Plainsman is unusually popular today, I'd be grateful for the advice.

As Long as We Have to Have Fight Night . . .

.  .  .  I have a few suggestions.  Yes, it's true I don't like Fight Night, but I had these gags kicking around, so thought I'd dig them out of the scrap heap. 

     --   Dr. William Boothe v. Dr. Gary Tylock

     --   The CEO of D and M Leasing v. the CEO of AutoFlex Leasing

     --   The battle of the Smiths -- Barb v. Alexis

     --   George DeJohn v. the KFC Double-Down Sammich

     --   Fake Jerry v. Real Jerry

Seriously -- Why Can't We Have Doyle King for Traffic Every Day? And I'm Putting Barb Smith and Alexis Smith in This Title So Google Searchers Will Find This Site, Even if They're Only Looking for Photos

Alexis Smith, Dallas Radio Traffic Twist, is a beautiful young woman.  And I like beautiful women of all ages.  In fact, a significant portion of traffic to this website consists of people looking for information on the Smiths, Alexis and Barb.  It only hurts my feelings a little bit.

And Barb is also a beautiful woman, in my judgment.  And she was very sweet to check in with My Ticket Confession following her departure from KTCK and let us know she was doing OK.  She is most welcome any time.  (Barb, how the blazes are you?  I'm here to tell you there are many listeners eager for news of you, so let the Confessor Nation hear from you.)

Actually, I think the Tickheads and Confessors who are seeking Barb Smith and Alexis Smith information  are actually looking for pictures.

And I like to drive traffic to this site, so I'm going to copy some pictures here, although I only know of one recent unadulterated picture of Barb, that is:

There are a couple of more purporting to be Alexis, whose image is apparently also a favored destination of Dallas radio aficionados, so they can enjoy this one:

Alexis does an admirable job delivering the mostly-irrelevant traffic.  In fact, she does such a good job that one tends not to pay the slightest attention to her, just as one does with most traffic reports.  Whenever I hear Alexis's voice, I turn my head toward it and see -- my radio.  Which looks nothing like her.  (Alexis, Confessors await your instructions, which I would be pleased to convey via the Comments section.)

But I come today in praise of Doyle King.  A Confessor must confess that, to the mainstream Tickhead, he is not as cute as Barb or Alexis:

But even when all he is doing is delivering the traffic -- no schtick, no call-outs for a Dallas sports team, no telling stories about his wild past -- he is still very entertaining to listen to.  There's just something about the music of that voice, slick and radio-polished though it may be.

So my question is:  Why can't we have Doyle every single day?  What does he do when he's not filling in?  Wikipedia reports:  "He currently serves as a traffic producer for Traffic.com, a Navteq company, and substitute traffic director at SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket as well as an occasional 'Plus One' show host on days when more prominent guests are not in studio."   I've never heard him as a Plus-One, although he may have done that in the past that I've missed.  And it is inconceivable to me that a "traffic producer" does anything whatsoever except wait to be called to fill in at The Ticket.

So, as lovely as the Smiths are, why can't we have Doyle King every single day?  He might be the only guy in Dallas who could make traffic an actual draw for the showgrams.

But he probably won't drive much traffic to My Ticket Confession.

We Welcome New Traffic Chick Alexis Smith, and Note Her Namesake’s Appearances with Your Plainsman

My Ticket Confession welcomes new Ticket Traffic Twist Alexis Smith.

She goes by “Alexis,” which is kul, but regrettably it avoids reminding us of her namesake, the gorgeous film and stage actress Alexis Smith, who appeared in many movies and won a Best Actress Tony for Sondheim’s “Follies.”

Your Plainsman must abandon his customary modesty to note that he spent considerable time with the original Alexis Smith on the silver screen in several Warner Brothers films, e.g., San Antonio (1945):