A List, and Some Thoughts

I'm still thinking Corby and Danny stay where they are in the positions they now have.  I don't think Danny will be elevated, if he even wants that with his other outside interests.  He may not.


The thought I have is that the replacement must have sports knowledge.  Must.  This is where The FAN eats The Ticket's lunch.  It's where The Hardline has weakened over the years in a way that there simply was almost no serious sports talk on the show except maybe when Corby would talk tennis or college football, and even then  .  .  .  .

The second thought I have is that the replacement needs to have some weight, some heft, some adult credentials to rein in Corby/Danny's more juvenile tendencies.  Although, on further consideration, maybe The Ticket is looking to get younger at all positions, bring in some guys at the lower end of the demo that they seem to be losing.

So let's go through the list:

Of the current hosts, only Donovan strikes me as a potential Hardline replacement, and I don't see that working, much as I like Donovan.  Just not enough razzle-dazzle, and I think Corby and Danny would be tiptoeing around him to some degree.  While he and Corby do seem comfortable together and can put on a good show, that combo just doesn't spark for me.

Cat isn't going to break up BaD, and is not going to move BaD into The Hardline slot -- I don't think.  


That leaves, in no particular order:

Jake:  Leading coming out of the turn.  Sportsy, loquacious, smart, snotty.  At first I thought Jake with Corby would be too much snot for one show, but of the people at the station, he's probably tops.  There's no weightier Ticket guy available except Donovan, assuming neither Bob nor Dan graduates to The Hardline.  (And, if so, it would have to be Bob.  Dan -- Corby would say, "Are you kidding me?"  Besides, I think both Bob and Dan really like their time slot and massive intern support where they are now.)

Mike Sirois:  Love Mike Sirois.  Sportsy enough?  A little thin-skinned sometimes, makes for some interesting radio.  Cirque is frequently replaced, although he seems to be present for his producer duties with The Invasion.  He doesn't suffer fools gladly and he and Corby/Danny might be a tense fit.

Sean Bass:  Oddly, Sean seems to be a polarizing figure with the Confessor.  I like him.  Is he flavorful enough to boost The Hardline?  He's been moved into a semi-management role at The Ticket, so there's some weight there, and he is sportsy.  I don't recall a Sean/Corby pairing in the past but I'd like to hear it.

I don't see anyone more junior than Jake, Mike or Sean being serious candidates, as talented as some of them are.  Both Justin Montemayor and David Mino have turned into accomplished hosts on the Work in Progress Sunday show, they're both very good.  But with them there's the weight problem.

Ty Walker:  Like him on Country Force, and he can talk baseball.  He's gotten kicked in the cojones for so long by hosts -- all in fun, sure -- could he be elevated?

Dave Lane:  Again, a guy I like whenever I hear him.  I didn't think his +1 coat-and-tie "interview" appearance last week showcased him to good advantage.  His Mike tribute was great, but overall he didn't seem to be at his best.

I like Eli Jordan quite a lot, but I just don't see him leapfrogging more tenured in-house candidates.

One possibility is to do nothing.  No replacement.  Leave it as the Corby/Danny show.  Anyone else thinking that Corby sounds more responsible without Mike present?  Danny too?  Maybe I'm imagining things.  The Confessor seems to think that would not be a good idea, but I wouldn't mind it.

Let me throw out a couple of longshots:

David Moore.

Mike Doocy.

They're both sportsy; they're both adults.  I have no idea whether they are available or willing.  I do believe that Doocy, at least, could keep his current gig and still do the afternoon show.  David has to be present at Cowboy events and skulk around the locker room, so his availability is less certain.  However -- what is it that is making me think that David Moore is not a young man?  I went looking for his age and couldn't find it, but I think I heard somewhere that he's actually out of the demo.  (David, sorry if I've misheard that somewhere.)  He may be ready for a regular radio gig and broadcast paycheck.  Both are familiar to Ticket listeners.  Both have a sense of humor.  Doocy would need to tamp down his natural inclination to deference.  And again -- The Ticket may not want to replace Mike with an actual adult.  No idea whether either would blend with Corby/Danny.

And I think Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton is available.

I'm probably forgetting someone's favorite, and when you tell me who I've forgotten I'll smack my forehead and apologize.

So What's the Deal on Dave Lane?

I came to The Ticket after the main Davey Lane years, I think.  I started listening in late 2004 or thereabouts.  I never heard The Rant, but maybe I wasn't tuning in weekends at that time -- thought I was, but maybe not. 

I did hear The Orphanage for many years.  Loved it.  Miss it.

Whenever I hear him on the air, I think:  This is good.  This sounds like a Ticket guy.  Sounds, in fact, like a Ticket host.  Has, in fact, that Craig "Junior" Miller crazy/cool vibe. 

Would most of us consider his appearances with Corby and Danny this week to be a success?  I would.  (And it reminds us, as we have been reminded many times, that Corby can be really good when he's away from The Hardline setting.)

So I ask, why not more Dave Lane?

And why did he leave The Ticket to begin with?

I ask it reluctantly, because I fear it may provoke answers having something to do with some unfortunate employment situation, or internal Ticket problem, or domestic issues, that are really none of this site's business.  Well, maybe internal Ticket problems are.

I can see why a guy might leave a station voluntarily.  If, for example, he wanted to make an actual living instead of waiting on a Ticket host to die.

But, if LinkedIn is to be believed, the man is somewhat at loose ends right now, and has been for awhile. 

But, alas, there is no room for him at The Ticket most of the time.  With full-time JVs scrabbling for airtime and fill-in host duties, there just aren't a lot of slots for cameos by Historical Ticket Figures.

I'm rambling.  I don't have a point.  I just like listening to Dave Lane, I wish he were on more often, I'm sorry he's not a full-time Ticket star, and MTC wishes him well.

Back . . .

.  .  .  and enjoying the heck out of The Shake Joint with Sean and Folly this morning.

Mrs. P and I were in Maine last week.  We were dining at a restaurant one night when I glanced at the front door, and who should come (quite literally) rolling in, but President Bush and Barbara -- he in wheelchair and neckbrace, she with a walker and trademark pearls.  They passed by our table and sat about 20 feet from us, and the Secret Service guys were all sitting at the next table.  They dined with another couple and seemed to have a fine time. 

I did overhear the President say that he'd like to hear more Dave Lane now that the Orphanage is hors de combat, but in general he thought the Ticket weekend changes were working pretty well.

Cue Vivaldi.

Thanks to the Confessor for some solid offerings this past week.

The Return of Becca and the Revenge of Mike

Unrelated quick hits:

(1) I have nothing against Christina (sp?) Ray (sp?), but my heart belongs to Becca.  I mean no sarcasm when I say that I don't feel fully awake each day until I hear her first phelgm-piercing utterances on traffic conditions, those delightfully nasal head-tones absolutely searing the latest Tollway transgressions into the living tissue.

Yesterday on the Davey-Rhads-Danny show, they made reference to Becca's deep loathing for Davey.  I wasn't aware of any previous run-ins between them.  Then Davey did a reading of Ariana Grande's "apology" for her donut-shop utterances expressing her loathing for these United States in that semi-Valley-Girl slack-jawed gum-chewing teenage-girl voice.  Funny.  When he was done, the lads once again shook their heads over the awkwardness of Becca and Davey having to be in the same studio.  Sounded like maybe a bit, but maybe not.

Then, at the end of her next scorching traffic report, Becca assumed that same accent -- imitating Davey imitating -- her?   That's what they said on the show, but again, I wasn't aware of any Davey-Becca antecedent bit.  She was funny -- I would love to have heard the entire report done with that accent.

If you know where this Davey-Becca thing came from, let us know.  And if it's real or a bit.  If real, that would make me sad.

Welcome back, Becca.

Not Becca

And by the way -- Davey is going down really well with me on PM Drive.  Not sure that Rhads is the ideal sidekick, but I even kind of like his cornball thing.  Without Corby there, even Danny seems to have elevated his attitude some.

 (2)  Among Mike's frequent HSOs is that the biggest name free-agents will never, ever come to the Mavericks.  When DeAndre Jordan was announced as coming, he resignedly said that yes, he's coming.

And then  .  .  .  .

(3) How about let's focus on some positive, or at least constructive, comments for awhile?  I let through lots of negative stuff that doesn't violate the Rules of the Confessional, but really, men and women, some of it is getting pretty tedious.  Let's strive for some originality here, and, jeez, how about stepping back and considering why you do listen to the thing?

(4) BREAKING:  Correspondent Lindsay passes along this photo of the Real Becca pre-enceinte:

I was a little reluctant to publish this since it appears to be a personal snapshot, but since it's so nice and flattering I'm hoping Becca won't mind.  Becca, should you wander this way and you would prefer that this image not appear here, just drop me a line or leave a comment and I will take it down.   And you may want to have a word with Lindsay.

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And Just As I Had Made Up My Mind to Adopt Them Both

The Orphanage closed its doors today.

Danny.

I didn't get to hear much of the Orphanage or any of the handoffs today, just a few minutes'-worth, unfortunately.  A very few quick hits:

(1) Danny said in a kind of roundabout way at the beginning of the show that at this stage of his life he wants his Saturdays back, and that if they were going to have been fired it would have been done a long time ago.  I see no reason not to believe that the departure of The Orphanage was entirely voluntary, claimed overheard bar talk to the contrary notwithstanding.

(2) Jeff Catlin (stay tuned for more Jeff) has let it be known at The Ticket that he's will entertain proposals from younger Ticket guys to fill the 10-noon Saturday slot.

(3) Mike Sirois said that Cirque was offered that time slot and turned it down.  He said he had no idea what would replace the Orphanage.

(4) He also said that awhile back Cirque had been offered Sunday mornings, now occupied by The Shake Joint.  Cat, he recalled, had tried to sell it as the most desirable of the weekend slots.

(5) He called the Sunday morning show "the little analytics guys" and did not mention the show or its hosts by name.

(6) He also suggested that the ability to attract remotes was important to the profitability of the weekend shows.

*     *     *

I understand why some people didn't care for the Orphanage, but I really liked it.  Are Danny and Davey sort of clinging to an adolescent-to-mid-twenties lifestyle that sometimes fit oddly on men approaching the half-century mark?  Sure -- but geez, I'd like to go back to those times and live like that again myself if I could.  I don't begrudge either of them the time or lifestyle choices to allow them to keep up with current music, hit the clubs, play in bands, open bars (and close them), thumb their noses at critics, and make jokes on the radio. 

And they handled it with enough self-deprecation to suggest that they knew they were in on the joke, in fact, kind of were the joke, and were OK with it.

Davey.

So I found those two very agreeable company on Saturday mornings.  They're guys I'd hang out with if I were cool enough or famous enough and I'm neither, so what?  I want to be entertained while I'm doing my Saturday errands or working out in the field, and they never failed to do that. 

So I very much regret that when the announcement came, I was not holding my butt.  Orphanage, RIP.

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Whither the Orphanage?

The demise of The Orphanage is regularly predicted by Confessors. I was never sure why, except that the show seemed to get under the skin of some listeners who show up here. It's been away the last two weeks. If there has been an explanation for its absence, I haven't heard it.

I only heard a bit of its replacement on Saturday. I believe it was Bruce LeVine and maybe Josh Bogorad? I didn't hear a name, but Bruce made reference to his partner, so I'm surmising. Nothing wrong with the show. Nothing distinctive, but an OK listen.

But it wasn't the Orphanage.

Some have tired of what they believe to be Danny's "act," the aging hipster music snob. Some feel that the ages have passed Dave Lane by. Some don't like the attitude, the nose-thumbing at show prep, the sometimes hung-over flavor to the whole thing.

I like all of these things, and I like The Orphanage. I would not like to see it leave the air.

But to everything there is a season, no? I am doubtful that either D or D is handsomely compensated for spending his Saturday morning on the air. Danny has gone into business which must require some of his professional attention, has musical irons in the fire, and he's still full-time on The Hardline (with, it seems, more absences than in the past).

No one has dropped me a line with any inside dope on the disposition of The Orphanage. Perhaps someone will. If it is the case that we have seen the last of it -- and, as Norm might say, with the greatest respect to Bruce LeVine and the other guy -- I hope the CTO will continue their policy of looking for some fresh voices among the JV. I'm not sure who it would be. For my money The Ticket has hit a home run with Cirque and The Shake Joint, and I also very much like any combination of Ty Walker, David Newbury, David Moore, Stewart Cedar, guys like that.

In the meantime, I'll remain hopeful that the Teebox will continue to hand off to Davey and Danny.

And the Winner, Based on a Small Sample Size and Highly Subjective Taste, Is . . .

+     +     +

This site has remarked a couple of times on the frenetic George/Gordon Raising Cain's ads.  I think I heard them say that their promotional visit to the opening of the latest Raising Cain's resulted in the biggest one-day sales at an RC store, something like that.

In the comments to my post on Raising Cain's and chicken generally, Confessors weighed in on their local favorites.  My dark-horse favorite was regional chain Golden Chick.

But the biggest Ticket-fried-chicken-related shot was the multi-segment celebration by Danny and Dave on the Orphanage last Saturday on the greatness of regional chain Chicken Express.  I wasn't the only one who wondered whether this was going to cause a problem with the Raising Cain's folks, who must have poured a fortune into the George/Gordon spots and promotional appearances.  Danny acknowledged he'd received cautionary communications from P1's but brushed them off, advising that RC was a "Muser" sponsor.

I have now recently visited both a Golden Chick and a Chicken Express in the Cool Metro.

Chicken Express wins on:

     --  Overall store appearance, inside and out.
     --  Menu variety and layout.
     --  Cleanliness.
     --  Staff friendliness and efficiency.
     --  Store accessibility (more and better DFW-area locations)

Golden Chick wins on:

     --  Chicken.

Sorry, Danny and Dave.  The Chicken Express chicken was good, but the chicken pieces were not of the best quality (size and tenderness).  That would have been okay if the coating had distinguished itself, but it was thin and somewhat limp.  It tasted all right, but it did not have the heartiness and crispiness of Golden Chick, and the thighs (my preferred cut) were on the undernourished side. 

(I acknowledge that crispiness is not the be-all/end-all of great fried chicken.  KFC Original Recipe yields a positively soggy coating but its deliciousness makes up for it.)

I have learned that CE is opening a store on a thoroughfare I get to with some regularity, so I'm sure I'll be visiting again.  If the foregoing is unfair (again, no respectable critic would base a comparo on a single visit), I'll check back.

All topics open, as usual.

*     *     *

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Email Your Plainsman:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Is This a Permanent Change? If So, Great

Delighted to hear that The Orphanage is going to 1 PM today.  Another positive development for original Ticket weekend programming, which has made great strides the last year.  Hope this is a permanent change. 

If so, Ticket/Cumulus management deserves thanks.

If not, then thanks for today.

MARCHING ORDERS (2): Tune in to The Orphanage (Danny Balis and Dave Lane) Saturday at 10 AM on SportsRadio 1310 AM, 104.1 FM, The Ticket

I can assure all Confessors that I receive no promotional consideration for plugging The Orphanage and The Teebox.  I do not know and  have never met Rick, Craig, Danny, or Dave, any Ticket technical staff or management, or any members of their immediate families, respectively. 

I just enjoy the showgrams and wanted to spread the word, nothing more devious than that.

Confessor Nation: I Respectfully Request That You Tune in to "The Orphanage" on The Ticket, 10 AM to Noon, Saturdays

I know I don't have an Oprah-like influence on your life, but I do recommend that you tune in to the Danny Balis/Dave Lane Saturday morning show.   All orphans deserve our support -- well, they're not really orphans, they were just given up for adoption and have since tracked down their very-much-living mothers -- and lately the boys have taken to discussing the lack of promotional support for their showgram and their correspondingly dismal ratings.

So I thought I'd chip in for The Orphanage.  Thanks to P1 Steven, I've had a couple of spikes in readership here (he linked to Part 1 of my massive BaD Radio Trilogy from a couple of weeks back durng the live online chat with Dan McDowell a couple of days ago -- I'm sure Dan appreciated the broader dissemination of Your Plainsman's uncertainty over Dan's broadcast value).  So as long as I have a few more of you clicking over, I thought I'd exercise my vast invluence to engage in some special pleading for one of this site's favorites.

Yes, the show is suffused with a certain degree of cynicism and übercoolness as would any showgram anchored by Danny.  But it's a lot of fun, very smart, and when they do talk sports, it's about as astute as what you hear on The Hardline and most of The Musers (except when Craig is delivering himself of one of his close readings of the record, which is just about the smartest sports talk I've ever heard).  Also some of the best listener calls you will hear on The Ticket.

So give it a spin:

WHAT:  The Orphanage
WHERE:  1310 AM or 104.1 FM, and I guess some HD channel I don't remember
WHEN:   Saturdays, 10 AM to Noon
WHAT ELSE:   Become a fan on their Facebook page
ANYTHING ELSE:  Become a fan of Dave's new Facebook page (OldWaver) and check out his music blog (http://www.oldwaver.com/)

Thanks.

Danny Draws Back the Curtain

A post or two ago I tossed a bouquet to Jeff Catlin , Program Director at The Little One (he may have a different Cumulus title, not sure).  He drops a line now and then, always polite, usually pointing out areas of disagreement, but always in pretty neutral tones.  I appreciate his communications and said so in the post.

An "Anonymous" poster, however, observed:  "Cat is a douche and doesn't respect all of his employees and most of the P1's."

I can't speak to Mr. Catlin's attitude towards his employees.  Although one does get the impression of a certain uneasy distance between JC and his charges, especially when he's referenced by Mike R on The Hardline.   As to the P1's, Your Plainsman mostly hears good things about his responsiveness, although I recall one commenter who didn't get a response to an email.  I imagine Mr. Catlin gets hundreds a day and probably doesn't (can't) respond to all of the genius suggestions he receives from The P1 Nation.  But perhaps Anonymous has information I lack.

Which is why I found this morning's Orphanage of interest.  (I'd been able to catch a fair amount of Cirque du Sirois (damned clever name) substituting for the Teebox.  Based on early returns, CdS is a pretty good show that suffers only from the Ben-and-Skin disease of the hosts sounding too much alike -- in this case for pretty good DNA-based reasons.  I'll have more to say about it in the future.)

Anyway, a caller on the "Ask the Orphanage" segment asked why The Ticket didn't run The Orphanage as a substitute programming for the regular weekday shows when those hosts were on vacation, since (in that caller's and his pals' opinion) the Orphanage was the best show on The Ticket.

Danny's initial response was "Because Cat hates us."  Upon brief reconsideration, he said that there were two reasons. 

First -- if I understood him correctly -- Danny explained that The Orphanage, as a successor to The Rant, got "grandfathered in" as a show that was not required to conform strictly to the X-percentage-of-sports-talk format.  Other shows, he said -- and I tend to credit this account -- are constantly importuned to maintain a substantial amount of actual sports talk.  The number Danny threw out was 60%, but I'm not sure if that was intended to be an accurate report or just an illustration of Cat's instruction to emphasize sports talk.  But The Orphanage is apparently exempt from that requirement, and Danny thought that Cat would not "trust" them to do a conventional sports-talk showgram substituting for a regular weekday show.  (Ironically, today's show was heavily sports-oriented, and probably had the most intensive World Cup coverage I've heard to date on The Ticket -- and since I usually tune such talk completely out, it was a tribute to the show that I didn't.)  

Second, he said, "Cat hates us."

I can understand why Mr. Catlin might have a problem with Mr. Balis.  I don't have a firm grip on Dave Lane's persona -- I gather he may have had a more prominent role on The Ticket in the past, perhaps before I got to Dallas in the mid-Oughts.  (I could never figure out who "Gen-X Davey" was.)   And I assume Dave has an actual paying job elsewhere.  Danny, however, gives every indication of being an actual honest-to-Jah free spirit who enjoys his freedom more than his radio gig and probably would not be the favorite of any supervisor who wanted employees to, you know, comply with his employer's instructions and policies, as employees are universally required to do.   

Cat's problem (if Danny's suggestion that there is a problem is to be credited), of course, is that -- putting aside attitude for the time being -- Danny is a truly gifted human.  Let's see:  He's a composer; producer; musical performer; witty; funny (not the same thing); a talented broadcaster as a secondary sidekick; a talented broadcaster as a show host; and a notable content provider ("What's On Mike's Mind" intros and other similar contributions).  Also a man-about-Dallas through his performing and his friendships with the Wilonskyesque Observer-orbit hipster element.  And a thoughtful mentor to that nice young Michael Gruber.     

And, I suspect, a Galaxy-Class pain in the ass to the KTCK/Cumulus overlords.

And it's true that the Dark Cloud emerges from time to time to annoy the hoi polloi P1 Nation with his overcool musical tastes and his cynicism about matters that may call for it in the abstract (for example, most of pop culture), but which he tends to oversmack on The Hardline.  But man, if he weren't there M-F 3:30-7, you'd miss him terribly. 

 (By the way -- does anyone know why George refers to him as "Big Dumb Danny"?  When I hear that [although I haven't heard him say it in awhile], I get this image of George walking around in a big glass house, with me standing outside with a chunk of feldspar -- or perhaps gneiss -- in my hand, ready to chuck.)

But returning to the original point -- doesn't it say something positive about Mr. Catlin that despite what he may see as unacceptable disrespect for Cumulus programming goals by the obstreperous Danny B, he recognizes what he's got and not only declines to terminate the the SOB, but actually gives him his own showgram?   

Before I sign off:    Will one of my faithful Confessors please remind me to post sometime on the extremely intriguing Danny B/Gordon K dynamic? 

Ah, dammit.  It's Great to Listen to The Ticket. Hurrah for the freakin' Fourth of July, everyone.