BREAKING BREAKING BREAKING: Um . . . No News on The Train Station Fitness Show PLUS Bonus Barb Smith Sighting!

In the last thread, a Confessor mentioned that Gordon had, perhaps inadvertently, dropped a hint that George DiGianni's venerable early-Saturday show might soon be ending.  Then, another Confessor (love those Confessors) mentioned that in his very next show, George mentioned that he has booked guests through May -- sounded odd.

Thus advised, I alerted my Ticket Questionable Information Network to BOLO for information on this sizzling Ticket topic.  I engaged a usually trustworthy operative to go undercover at The Ticket to see what s/he could discover about DiGianni's plans -- or  .  .  .  the Ticket's plans for him.

I can now confidently report that I have no additional information suggesting that TTSFS will be going off the air.

REALLY BREAKING:  Barb Smith, former Traffic Twist who put My Ticket Confession on the map, is in studio today (Tuesday, April 17).  She's not on the air, apparently only escorting a group of eighth graders there for a field trip in her position as a teacher of media journalism at Willow Springs Middle School.  Got that naughty librarian thing going on  .  .  .  .  Hey, Barb, great to hear your name on the air, and thanks again for the boost to this site when you showed up in the comments unexpectedly after your departure from the Ticket to let everyone know you were OK.

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.

All Right, I'll Bite, Volume II: Where -- Rather, Who -- is Jason Walker?

Your Plainsman noticed a spike in traffic to the site late last week, which usually means that some much more popular site has linked to this one. Sure enough, someone commenting on "Too Much Glare Friday" on Gordon's site was reporting on his search for infromation about former Ticket Traffic Twist Barb Smith, and found what we believe to be her "anonymous posts on this site.

He also linked to some messages from someone purporting to be “Jason Walker” at Radio-Info.com someone purporting to be "Jason Walker at Radio-Info.com.   This “Jason Walker” strongly implied that Ms. Smith was terminated for cause. When a poster asked whether she was fired or she quit, “Jason Walker” responded: “There again, I know the answer to that question, but it is not for me to say. However, it should be pretty obvious. In this day and age, no one quits an on-air gig, unless they win the lottery.”

I don’t know whether Barb Smith was terminated or resigned.*

And I don’t know if “Anonymous” who posted here is the real Barb Smith.

And I don’t know if “Jason Walker” who posted on Radio-Info.com is the real Jason Walker.

But I do know that if the posting “Jason Walker” is not the real Jason Walker, someone had better tell the real Jason Walker about that post so that he can get back on that message board (and pay a visit to his supervisor) and deny that he went public with the suggestion that Ms. Smith was terminated (whether she was or not, or whether he believes that she was or not). An employee who publicly proclaims that a co-worker was fired, presumably for cause, has committed a pretty serious breach of company confidentiality, not to mention collegiality. If you were an employer and one of your employees went public about the firing of a co-worker, what would you do with that employee? Me too.  And if you were a colleague of the blabbing employee, how would you regard said blabber?  Yup.
_______

* I have no idea, but I suspect a mutual and amicable parting of the ways after each side expressed some dissatisfaction with the other. And there may have been an agreement providing for some severance, releases – and confidentiality. It’s also possible that Barb/Jason/Doyle/Alexis are not employees of Cumulus or The Ticket. They may be employed by an independent traffic network, although I note that Doyle King’s Wikipedia article states that he is a “substitute traffic director” at The Ticket, suggesting that it may actually be a salaried/hourly W-2-type position. It’s possible that all of the traffic guys are independent contractors, which makes the issue of resignation v. termination of reduced legal interest.

Anonymous Barb! Come Back, A-Barb! You’re Good for, uh, Traffic!

Anonymous Barb Smith, if you’re out there, I must tell you that you must have either lots of fans or lots of people who are concerned about you. When your anonymous visit to Your Plainsman’s site became known to bloggers and their visitors, the traffic here shot way up.

(For those visitors who don’t know what I’m talking about, see here or here.)

So, A-Barb, I invite you to return to My Ticket Confession. Of course, I would prefer that you made yourself known in some way other than as “Anonymous,” but I guess anyone could pretend to be you even if posting under the name “Barb Smith.” So if you (or someone claiming to be you) does reappear, we will just have to go by “look and feel” like we did the first time to figure out if it is really you or some imposter.

I don’t much care what you write – your public seems anxious to read anything you might have to say. If you do show up, perhaps I’ll toss a question or two your way, and you can respond if you feel like it. Within reason, I will moderate the comments from visitors to ensure you are treated with the proper respect.

Whether or not you favor us with some new dispatches, I’m sure I join my fellow Confessors in wishing you the best.

Where is Barb Smith? She May Be Right Here

If you have come to this site for the first time looking for Barb Smith news, it is possible that Your Plainsman has some for you -- although I cannot be entirely sure.

Welcome.

Scroll down or review the archives for the entry for January 28, 2010, titled:  "Prediction:  Jason Walker  .  .  ." and read the comments.  You will see a series of communications from "Anonymous" that purport to be from the very same Barb Smith.  I suppose Anonymous could be having us on, but to me the posts have the ring of truth.  I believe it is indeed the departed Barb Smith, as does frequent visitor JS.  If you don't have time to check it out, I can report that she says she departed The Ticket on amicable terms, is still friendly with the lads, and that her departure had something to do with the difficulty of a spread-out schedule, a long commute, and the demands of motherhood. 

I thought her (?) communications were quite sweet and thoughtful.  In fact, I now regret having used the word "incoherent" to describe some of her traffic reporting.  (Truth is, I haven't paid any attention to traffic reports to actually plan a commute in any metro area I've ever lived in.)  She really was a part of the Ticket ether, and the fact that we're all curious about what happened to her is some indication of the fondness the P1 Nation feels for her. 

Anyway, check it out and decide for yourself if Ms. Smith has indeed checked in. 

Thank you for shopping at My Ticket Confession.  Hope you will take a moment to look around, and stop back again soon.

Prediction: Jason Walker . . .

.  .  .  will never win an E-Brake of the Week.

I think we should all email the Hardline and demand that they interview Jason Walker to get his story, just like they did with Doyle King.

But I do wonder what happened to Ms. Smith.  Someone out there knows, someone who reads this blog.  Some anonymous source.  I fear it isn't a happy parting, which would be too bad.  She was good for a laugh now and then, if not for a coherent account of trouble on our roadways.  And she was a pretty good sport about the pranks. 

Perhaps she has joined the Obama administration.

All Right, I'll Bite -- Where Is Barb Smith?

Not that I miss her largely incoherent traffic reports, but I thought I would see something on the Internets about her absence or outright departure.  Nope. 

Anyone out there have a notion of what's happened to her?

If Ms. Smith is out, I see no reason that we should have to listen to anyone other than Doyle King.  This Jason guy whose last name I used to be able to remember is OK, if you're interested in traffic, but Doyle elevates useless traffic reporting to an art form, where one actually listens to the thing even though aware that it's probably a good hour-and-a-half behind the actual events on the roadway.  So if we have to have the advertising segments extended by useless traffic fibs, we ought at least to be able to enjoy being fibbed to by the magnificent Doyle.

What? He Needs a Holiday?

I've said it before , I'll say it again, and I"ll probably say it in the future:

When incumbent Barb Smtih is unavailable, there is no reason whatsoever that we should have to listen to anyone other than Doyle King doing the traffic.  I'm sure Jason Walker, or whoever it was this morning, is a decent chap, but if you want credible traffic it has got to be Doyle.

I mean, it's not like the guy needs a vacation.

Frankly, her e-brake value aside, I'm not sure there's a lot of reason for him not to do it when she is available.  I was driving towards a traffic situation she was attempting to describe one morning, and it was so garbled and unpunctuated I couldn't tell if the Tollway was open or closed.  I listened for the next traffic report and she hadn't improved.

Where's Doyle?

Why should we ever have to listen to anyone but Doyle King when Barb Smith is absent (as she ever more frequently is)?