The Internets Are a Big Places

In checking my referrals this morning, I saw that I had a couple of people checking into the site coming from www.grubesismyleader.com.  When I followed the link back, I discovered an interesting discussion involving some of our fine regulars here.  I think this link will get you to the general vicinity, although I confess (of course) to some perplexity in navigating that site.  There are some quotes from past comments to these pages remarking on differences between this site and GIML.

Before I started this site I checked out GIML to see if it were a place I might like to park my STD's.  I concluded it wasn't, but not because the site wasn't a good site -- just wasn't my kinda spot, although it obviously was the kinda spot for a very large number of P1's who enjoyed the more rough-and-tumble aspects of Internet debating.  I'm glad GIML is around.  I'm surprised there aren't more Ticket-related sites, including more blogs like MTC.  It's like T4 said -- you go to the different sites for different purposes.  That's the kind of freedom the Internet has given all of us.

So today:  GrubesIsMyLeader, son of Friends of the BaD Radio Experience, I salute you.

Let's keep comments civil, folks.  My thanks.

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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:   @Plainsman1310

 Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Some Props for the CTO

This one's a little late, sorry.  I had it slated for a few weeks ago, but then Greggo erupted a couple of times and it slipped.

Confessors will recall a very interesting dialogue I stitched together out of some comments from Little Weak Jeremy and Anonymous.  They're about ten years apart in age, but come to The Little One looking for different things and, in general, find them.  Here are the links to the posts:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

I won't repeat their positions in detail; suffice it to stay that they each enjoy different things about The Ticket, don't enjoy some of the other things quite so much, but find enough of what they're looking for that they remain committed P1's. 

What struck me about this dialogue, and about running this site generally and reading all of the great comments that Confessors favor us with, is that the "demo" that we hear so much about with The Ticket is actually quite diverse.

And I thought:  It's remarkable that The Ticket has grabbed all of us for many years and is doing nothing but getting more popular.

I think the Cumulo-Ticket Overlords deserve some credit -- actually, quite a lot of credit -- for this success.

Several Confessors have used the phrase "lightning in a bottle" to describe the mix of talents we have heard every day for lo these many years.  I agree with this characterization for the most part.  Junior, George, Mike, the anchors of the Good Ship Ticket since the beginning. Greggo for many years.  Incredible talents and they're still there, save the Hammer.  But BaD was as acquisition; so was Norm.  Corby's gradual ascension through the ranks was not inevitable.  I happen to be a Rich Phillips fan, and he's a hire.  The constant augmentation and improvement of weekend and nighttime offerings are also management initiatives.  It may be "lightning in a bottle," but the voltage of that original inspired team has been considerably juiced as the years have passed.

Of course, the current CTO are not responsible for all of these decisions, but the current lineup has been more-or-less in place through the current administration.  They'll be dealing with Mike's and Corby's future shortly. 

I have no pipeline to the ruminations of the CTO.  But I would be quite surprised if our on-air heroes don't get some nudging with respect to the variety of material they offer.  There are the young listeners who are probably more interested in the entertainment stuff; there are old-timers who prefer the sportsy-talk; and those extremes are stitched together by the overall dosage of generalized guy-talk.  I don't think that's an accident of the unsupervised preferences of the hosts.  I think the CTO manage these egos with great skill to get a mix of broadcast content that appeals to guys in all their variety.  And to a large (and, I suspect, growing) audience of chicks as well.

The CTO are facing a real challenge over the next several years.  Am I correct in thinking that all of the weekday hosts/yuks are over 40?  Mike over 60.  Norm is 67.  (I haven't found any birth info on Donovan.)   So far that collection is doing an admirable job of grabbing and holding the younger listeners.  (See the Little Weak/Anon dialogue.)   I think a lot of this is a tribute to The Ticket's success in making listeners feel like they belong to a kind of exclusive club, the P1.  (I know, I've written that the plural of P1 is "P1's" under rules for making plurals out of words ending in numbers, but "the P1" is kind of a synecdoche, too.)   The remotes and special events have done a lot to foster this feeling among listeners, and that's a function of the integration of marketing, sales, and the Talent.  (The UnTicket has a role in this, as does grubesismyleader and, to a microscopic extent, MTC as well.  As I  have suggested, the UnTicket is probably allowed to repost proprietary content wholesale through the CTO's good graces.)

They can probably keep it up for a long time, but not indefinitely.  Off-hours shows are tryouts for up-and-coming talent:  The Sirois brothers, Scot Harrison, Matt McClearin, Sean Bass, Ty Walker (another 40+, but a fresh voice as a host), and The Next Generation:  Jake Kemp, David Newberry, Mike Bacsik (RIP), Casey Millen, Michael Krenek, and, of course, human lightning rod T.C. Fleming.  Some encouraging talent there, if not all of them can currently be imagined as full-time weekday daylight hosts.  But  the CTO deserve some credit for giving these guys some time to stretch out and turn on the mic once in awhile.

And I'm guessing that Jeff Catlin and his colleagues are pretty clued in to broadcasters in other markets who might fit in here when the time comes.  Guys who can talk in normal tones, in measured cadences, about sports, pop culture, and babes.  (May be some babes on that list, too.)

Don't get me wrong -- The Ticket's gold is in the performance of its broadcast teams.  My point is that management has an unsung role in maintaining that level of performance and the stability of these teams, and we should sing about it a little.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, changes comes February with Mike's and Corby's contracts.  My guess is that the current lineup is going to be around for awhile.  My point is that the CTO aren't sitting around waiting for the next ratings book when it comes to Ticket programming.

Of course, we give the CTO grief in these pages.  Signal; promotion; syndication; hockey.  So I think fairness requires us to give some credit where it is due.

Can I get a witness?

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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Two Quick Hits on AP's Scrubs/Patch Comments -- Actually, Not All That Quick, as It Turned Out

If you haven't read them yet, go back to the just-prior post and scroll down to his comments (there are other good ones in there):   http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2011/08/scrubspatch-voyage-continues.html

Two things I want to comment on:

(1) Among the pearls in AP's essay is his reminder that these guys are not full-time broadcasters.  They have other jobs.  Some, not all, of the co-hosts do not have long-time relationships.  As a result, their shows sometimes sound like a couple of jamokes sitting around having a sports argument in a saloon somewhere.  And, as AP suggests, this might well be a virtue if it doesn't get out of control, and if it doesn't become physically difficult to listen to (as it might if, for example, the hosts end up talking over and interrupting each other).

 

(2) A note on my own experience with Ticket personnel: 

I was interested in AP's comment that his participation in online Ticket sites brings him into contact with Ticket personalities in ways that tends to give him a rooting interest in the guys he's in touch with. 

Y'all can see for yourselves how often Ticket guys identify themselves as commenters on this site.  Not very often.  Even more rare is a personal email from a Ticket guy who identifies himself.  (No TicketChicks have checked in to date.)  As the site has gotten more popular, however, it's clear that at least a handful of Ticket guys check it with some regularity.  Maybe more.

I also have strong reason to believe that several Cumulo-Ticket insiders comment anonymously, which is both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing, because they can pass along (what seems to me to be) credible inside information, sometimes technical, usually not competitively sensitive, that Ticket fans will find of interest and that can correct speculations that I throw out as well as my factual errors.  A curse because comments from anonymous insiders carry with them the possibility of manipulation -- not just manipulation of this site and Confessors' perception of the station, but manipulation of the anonymous poster's own position at The Ticket (if, indeed, responsible Cumulo-Ticket Overlords visit the site at all, for which I have almost no evidence).  Nothing I can do about it, nor would I even if I knew who the anonymous C-T insider posters might be.  Part of the intrigue of the online world we're all inhabiting these days.

But let's put the suspected C-T anonymous commenters to the side:  AP has identified an occupational hazard of a site like this, and this is as good a time as any to confess (of course) to it:    I'm a fan.  I like The Ticket guys, and it is an affection that, over the years, at least feels personal.  I want them to like me, too.  (Which, given my anonymity to date, I admit sounds fairly ridiculous.)    So the temptation is to be flattered when one of these more-or-less public figures takes the time to write, even if it's to disagree with something in the site, or to correct what they believe is a mistaken opinion I hold.  In addition to the hey-it's-cool-that-a-Ticket-guy-is-communicating-with-us factor, Ticket guys who make themselves known to this site are opening themselves up to adverse comment and further controversy -- including, I'm guessing, the occasional stern note from C-T management about confidentiality.  So they get some points for bravery, too.

And indeed, when one hears the other side of the story, there is an inevitable softening of one's view about whatever the controversy happens to be at the time.

This is a particular hazard for this site.  At the risk of betraying excessive self-regard, I think one of the reasons the site has attracted more followers as time has gone by is that I make an effort to offer praise and support where The Ticket succeeds (and let's face it -- it succeeds way more often than it stumbles), along with the critiques and suggestions.  And, irrespective of my own views, to present the other side of the story through the encouragement -- and, more recently, highlighting -- of the more thoughtful commentary from Confessors.  It may not always be as fun to read as the flame wars, but I'm looking for readers who care about the station and think creatively about it. 

I'm guessing that the Cumulo-Ticket Overlords and their on-air thralls are interested in those citizens as well, the P1's who listen carefully and opine thoughtfully about this large part of their lives.  If the CTO think this site has an ax to grind on behalf of some particular host or other guy, they'll write MTC off as just a (much, much) wordier version of some of the other more rambunctious sites for Ticket venting.

So while I love hearing from Ticket personnel, and while I cannot claim complete immunity from some uptick in sympathy and support for those who take the time to communicate, I do try to maintain some distance.  I've still never met a Ticket guy at any level, although there are several whose hand I'd like to shake sometime, just to say hello and thanks.  I've never called the station or a showgram.  I've never emailed any C-T management (other than in the very early days of this site when I would occasionally send them a link to a post, trying to scare up some interest).   I've probably spent a total of a half hour at remotes in the last seven years.  I don't personally know any of the commenters on this site, including AP.

So, as I think AP's comments suggest, there's a tension between the interest of guys like him and me in getting closer to The Ticket insider community, and wanting to keep faith with readers.  Just know that I have it in mind and hope to keep the latter under control and the former uppermost in mind.  If I weaken, I'm sure you'll let me know.

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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Branding Speculation

When I heard Maury Buford's ads for his roofing company -- former Chicago Bear from the Super Bowl team who kicked the ball -- he says that "I'm a big P1 fan of the Ticket."  First time I heard it, I smiled, thinking well, he probably listens to The Ticket, but a true P1 would never say "P1 fan of The Ticket," because it's redundant. 

But then, this morning, I heard Corby doing a Baker Bros. Plumbing ad, and he also used the phrase "P1 fan of The Ticket." 

Two possibilities:  (1) He was making fun of Buford's locution, or (2) he was told to say it.  It was in the copy.

I'm thinking it may be (2).

Interestingly, "The Ticket" as a name for a radio station is not trademarked.   Whoever got the station going all those years ago probably didn't have an attorney who cared much about intellectual property issues -- either that, or they were too worried about surviving to worry about whether their station's name would ever have any value.   Turned out that it does, and now there are lots of "Tickets" all over the country.  And there's nothing that The one-and-only-genuwine Ticket can do about it.

Typical P1's Being Interviewed at Recent Remote

Maybe they're trying to change that.

"P1" -- it's been around too long, other people now use it, it can't be trademarked.  (Or copyrighted, I don't know which is which, zackly.)   But a distinctive phrase using "P1" could be.   And in order to trademark something, I think the rule is that you have to show that you're using it.  Wild speculation -- Cumulus is trying to wring some trademark value out of one of their (formerly) unique verbal inventions.

I've got a buddy who's an IP lawyer.   I'll check to see if Cumulus has any pending intellectual property applications out there. 

In the meantime, listen and let me know if you hear "P1 fan of The Ticket" in any other contexts.

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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Living La Vida Ticket -- PART 1

I’ve been kicking this one around for awhile.  It’s still not well formed so  it will meander somewhat more than is my custom, and that's some meandering.     I’ll leave you with a question which I hope will provoke some comments, and I’ll bounce off those comments for Part 2.

Most of the people who visit this site like The Ticket.   There is the occasional naysayer with a grudge of one kind or another, either against this site or a Ticket personality, or, on occasion, with The Little One itself.   Once in awhile, a commenter will take me or the Confessor Nation to task for taking it all too seriously, for, in effect, caring too much about what is, after all, just a sports/guy-talk radio station.

I blather on a lot about fairness in these articles, so let’s be fair to these critics:  Are they right?  What does it mean to be a P1?  Does it materially affect our lives?  Would we really miss it if it disappeared tomorrow?   Certainly the station encourages its listeners to listen every moment of every day.  Mike daily requires listeners to mill about the premises making sure that every radio is turned to The Ticket.

So I invite you to join me in an informal exploration of the impact of The Ticket on our daily lives; whether it is a positive or negative influence; and if your relationship with the station has changed over the years.

I believe that almost without exception – and perhaps without any exception – Ticket personalities deeply and sincerely appreciate the loyalty and enthusiasm of the P1.  They express it on the air.  Most pay some attention to email and Twitter exchanges.   The station spends an enormous amount of energy and cash staging free events that the P1 enjoys.  This site occasionally hears from station personnel, and on very rare occasions I’ll get a private email of comment, correction, or appreciation.

And yet, do you sometimes get the feeling that even they are overwhelmed with the obsession that some listeners exhibit?  Don’t you sometimes hear jeez, give it a rest in their voices?  I’m going to explore the relationship between the P1 and the hosts as human beings in an upcoming post, but the point I want to make here is that it’s not just grumpy commenters that exhibit occasional impatience with the intensity of some listeners’ enthusiasm for 1310 AM/104.1 FM.

The Ticket does play a big role in my life, and I would have said that even if I’ve never started this site.   It is the case that keeping this this site going has changed that role.   My need to come up with topics of interest to The Nation means I listen with greater care, scribble down things that strike me, and get by the channel during times when in my pre-MTC life I might have been spending my time in that most idyllic of states -- quiet burger reflection.

But for guys like me and AP and maybe a couple of others we hear from, following The Ticket has turned into a fairly time-consuming hobby.  This site started in 2009, and after a slow start where I was talking mainly to myself, I’ve averaged around 15-20 posts a month.   (I’ll never forget the Confessor who, after I’d been blog-silent for awhile and maybe would get a handful of hits a day, wrote to say how much he liked the site and how I should write more.  Got me going.)  I keep a list of potential topics.  Looked at it the other day.   Got about forty items on it right now.  A lot of them are stale; others look less interesting to me now than they did when I wrote them down.  Others are gigantic topics that would take me chunks of time I haven’t had the last few months.  (By the way – I do a general-interest blog that I neglect and that I have more than once thought of emphasizing at the expense of this one – to date, it’s decidedly the other way around.)    Others I realize I’ve done already.  For example, among my recent favorite moments on The Hardline are the Mike/Corby live spots for GumOut – but I did a piece on that last July [LINK]..     (But wait!   I just noticed something interesting in rereading that article.  Ooo, I’m going to save this one.  The only thing I can promise is that it will be another one of my Listening Too Hard entries.)  

A typical gathering of P1's

But let’s put aside my extra Ticket obligations, since they are atypical.  Here’s the extent of my devotion to The Ticket:   I begin listening right around 5:30 am, as Rich is finishing up his pre-Musers Ticker.  Mrs. Plainsman indulges my listening while we share the bathroom, as long as I turn on cable news before I leave.  I have a fairly long commute, and I get to my workplace almost two hours before the place starts hopping.   So I listen to The Musers from the beginning of the show until the 8:40 bit, which I’m going to hear the next morning anyway.  I’ll miss the last hour and change.   If I’m on the road during the day I listen to Norm and BaD, but unfortunately those opportunities are limited.  If I’m paying attention to the clock, I’ll flip on The Hardline sometime between 3:30 and 4, and listen as much as I can for the balance of the work day, on the drive home, and at home until I hear Mrs. Plainsman putting the oxen back in the shed.  I am fortunate to have an employer who lets me have a radio on in my work area. 

I should listen to the Top Ten to get some notion of what Norm and BaD are up to, but family duties, the other blog, and even writing these pieces invariably intrude.   I’ll strap on a radio and headset if I’m off for a jog or bike ride (although in general, I think it’s dangerous to listen to the radio whilst biking and I’ve pretty much quit that).   I listen as much as I can on weekends.  I don’t listen to podcasts; alas, I rarely even listen to clips on The (Incomparable) UnTicket unless it’s a big deal that a site like this should know about or something that AP has commended.  I don’t follow anyone on Twitter.   I only very rarely ever stream the station if I’m not in range of the sputtering terrestrial signal.

I’ve only been to a couple of remotes, and then only briefly to check in.  (Remotes are on my article-to-do list.)  Never been to a Ticket event.  Never called a show.  Never spoken to a Ticket employee other than once at a remote just to say a brief “thanks” before I left, which the host politely acknowledged.  Wait, I think I asked a Ticket Chick for a T-shirt once.  Don’t have any buddies or relatives who listen much at all. 

So there you have the extent of my average-guy devotion to The Ticket.  Four to six hours a day during the week, and probably two to four hours over the entire weekend.

That doesn’t strike me as a crazy Ticket-listening schedule.  I listen when I can and when the time is otherwise unchallenged by much of any other activity.    I’d like to know how you guys (and Jonaessa, and Christie, and all distaff Confessors) listen to The Ticket.  I’d also be interested in your thoughts not on The Ticket’s content, but on how you feel about the time you spend with it. 

I’ll conclude next time with some thoughts on how the P1 relates to The Ticket, and whether the Ticket-geek accusation has some truth to it.

I'd Like to Acknowledge a Special Confessor

Is it possible to get too much Mike?  I don't know, but if it is, we probably accomplished it with the last couple of articles.  I'm going to take a break to say hello to an unknown Confessor who has intrigued me for quite awhile.

I subscribe to a service that gives me information about the traffic to this site.  Among its features is a world map that shows the geographical origin of the last 100 hits.  Awhile ago, I noticed a lonely dot way up north in Canada.  No other hit from anywhere near it.  My service didn't know the name of the location, but it gave me the latitude and longitude of that dot, and putting that together with increasing the size of the map, the hit appears to come from somewhere in the rough country north of Churchill, Manitoba, near the shores of Hudson Bay -- perhaps Churchill itself, since the coordinates are probably approximations.

"The Polar Bear Capital of the World," indeed.  If you Google "Churchill Manitoba" and go to Images, you get a page full of polar bears.   Here's a trio that wandered into town:

It's rough country, by Google Earth appearances.  One website reports that you cannot drive to Churchill.   I picture an intrepid Confessor -- and P1 -- streaming The Ticket and checking out the Confessor Nation's latest reaction to what's happening on the Ticket.   Maybe in one of these Churchill residences.

It has its corresponding beauty, as well:



For all I know, this reader -- I guess I'll call him or her Winston -- is one of our commenters.

In any event, I'd like to say hello to this loyal Confessor, and invite the Nation to give a shout as well.

Thanks for shopping at My Ticket Confession, Winston.  Let us hear from you.

I Don't Know Whether to be Amused, or Terrified, or Thrilled

Theater of the Mind. 

Suspend disbelief for a few minutes, Confessors.

===========

It's three, probably more like four years into the future.

The United States -- indeed, the world -- is in grave danger.

The US is beset by enemies on all sides.  Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia have fallen to radical Islamists.  They are on the verge of declaring war against Israel, which would trigger the Israeli-US joint defense pact and draw us into a new world war.

al-Qaeda has enormous influence on the most radical elements in the Islamist governments in the Persian Gulf.  It has reached the point where Osama bin Laden has assumed operatinoal control of the overall conduct of anti-Western political operations.  The decision for war, or no war, is in his hands.

However, a secret US "black operations" unit within the CIA has penetrated one of the Bedouin tribes close to the al-Qaeda leadership.   The undercover operatives know bin Laden's location.  They have operational control of a Navy SEAL team that is prepared to breach al-Qaeda headquarters, at which time the black ops team will follow them in to provide critical armed tactical support.  Their aim:  to extract bin Laden to a secure Allied location.   At a crucial moment, the US team will call in air support and surgical naval bombardment.  If the operation is successful, it will achieve something no US unit has been able to accomplish since September 11, 2001, and, more important, end the threat of imminent war.

The security of the free world depends on the success of the US black ops penetration and extraction.

The black ops team is ready to pull the trigger.  They've been preparing this for months. 

It's T minus 30 seconds.

The tension is a physical thing, you can feel it on your skin.

So why do I not know whether to be amused, or terrified, or thriilled?

Because the US black ops team is made up entirely of formerly unemployed P1's who have answered those CIA ads now running on The Ticket.

===========================

OK, I've had my fun. 

Here's what I really think:

P1's, I can think of nothing more terrific than answering those ads and entering into the service -- probably pretty dangerous service -- to the United States of America.  Matters not whether you are currently between opportunities or already have a job.  I have to admit -- those ads sound pretty cool.  I have never served my country (so far) and it's one of the chief regrets of my life to date.  I hope some of you hear something in those ads that strikes a spark and that you check it out.  Let us know how it works out -- only if it's not classified, of course.  And be careful; after all, my little story aside, the world is a dangerous place.

Another Perspicacious Commenter

I'll say this for Dan McDowell:  He has extremely thoughtful and articulate defenders.

Doug Sutherland has posted a lengthy essay in support of Dan in the comments to this post.  I commend it to you:

http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2010/09/geez-this-is-not-going-well.html

Scroll down -- it is in two parts.  I posted them under The Plainsman name.  They are the 10th and 12th comment.  I think you'll enjoy it.

Thanks to Doug and all Confessors who have weighed in on The BaD Radio Trilogy.

Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye Pierce, Not Doug Sutherland as Confessor

Check Out An Interesting Comment from Scott

One Scott has left an excellent comment about how he listens to The Ticket at the end of the comments to Part 3 of the BaD Radio Trilogy.

http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2010/08/general-unified-theory-of-bad-radio_09.html#comments

Click and scroll down to the end.   Very thoughtful perspective from a long-time P1.

Actor Randolph Scott, not Confessor Scott

Did The Ticket Have to Be AWOL on the Night of the Viking Game?

So here we have the biggest Cowboy game in years.

And over here we have the most popular and famous sports radio station in DFW that prides itself on providing local programming, as opposed to competitors who offer a lot of network or syndicated nonlocal programming.

So why, after Norm and Donovan's two-hour post-game show (which is outstanding), does The Ticket shut down Cowboy coverage and go to a broadcast of a college basketball game – Wake Forest v. Duke, a game of no local interest?

There's a contract in this somewhere, some legal reason The Ticket had to broadcast that game. The advertising already sold, some kind of syndication deal to fill in content. But even though The Ticket might not have had foreknowledge that the Cowboys would be playing today – although the possibility could not have been all that remote – it was a certainty that the weekend would have featured the four playoff games, which would have been of considerable interest to the The Ticket demo.

So the Cowboy game might have taken Ticket programmers by surprise. But what would it have taken to pre-empt that worthless game for the sake of serving the faithful P1's who, I suspect, tuned in to The Ticket's two local competitors' football talk show in droves (like I did)?  Local stations pre-empt network programming all the time for matters of intense local interest.  There is unquestionably a financial hit in doing so, but that begs the question of where management's/ownership's priorities lie.  Maybe it would have been economically irrational to absorb the financial penalty from pre-empting that who-cares basketball game, but to the almighty demo, the effect was unmistakable:    In the P1 Nation's hour of need, The Ticket was, in effect, off the air.

On Sunday, The Ticket didn't seem like the premier sports-talk station in Dallas.

The Plural of P1

No one cares about this except me. I think. That's OK.

The plural of "P1" is "P1's"; it is NOT "P1s."

Plurals of words ending in numbers are formed by adding 's.

Now -- what is the plural possessive of "P1"?

If one wanted to write about the passion of more than one P1, I would think it would go:
"the P1's' passion."

But I dunno.