It's a Muser Thursday

We haven't had a Muser column for a while, so here goes:

(1)   Craig believes that he could no-hit an average peewee league team of nine-year-olds. He has accepted a challenge to that effect, which he intends to perform as soon as he gets around to it sometime in the indefinite future. The notion is that he would be throwing adult-speed hardball pitches past, or at, these little intimidated weenie kids.

Maybe; maybe.  I happened to see a group of nine-year-olds playing league baseball a few weeks ago, and I could not believe how completely incompetent they were. I guarantee you, when I was nine years old, I could catch a hardball thrown to me.  We used to play something called "500" where one kid would throw the ball on the ground, on the line, or up in the air, and the one kid would either get or lose points for catching or muffing the ball. We would do this for hours, so we had some facility – not a lot, but some -- in fielding when we got to the diamond. These days, the only practice these kids get is in the leagues, and it's not enough.  They're terrible. It's not even cute, it's agonizing to watch.   

So the question I have for Junior is:   What happens in the case where a kid gets some wood on the ball, resulting in some kind of a fielding play?  Will incompetent fielding, even if it is not a booted ball, count as an error, keeping the no-hitter intact? This will happen most of the time, especially since a batted pitch thrown at high-speed will come off the bat faster than most peewee league hits.  It is entirely possible that a roller that a competent human would field will escape the infield completely innocent of any glove leather, which in the bigs would be a hit.

So I see two possible outcomes: either a sure loss for Junior in his challenge, or a run-hit-error line that looks something like 0-0-47.

Oh, by the way: make sure The Ticket's liability insurance is fully up to date in anticipation of the possibility that even from 40 feet away, Junior will plunk some kid in the melon.

(2)  I was very interested in George's discussion of how someone – in particular, a sports-talkshow host – can be a fan of a team, but still critical of certain aspects of it. He was responding to lamebrained correspondents who get all accusatory when they hear any negative talk about their favorite team.

Which, of course, made me think about My Ticket Confession. I have certainly done critical pieces in this space, and when I do I will frequently get exactly the same reaction: "You claim to be a big Ticket fan, but you seem to have a hard time with [whatever the topic happens to be]."  It's a dumb criticism for the same reason George points out. You can have a strong rooting interest in a team or radio show, but it's your very expertise on that subject that qualifies you to speak up when something isn't quite right to your way of thinking. As long as you have reasons and convey them in a civilized tone, you shouldn't have to defend yourself against charges of disloyalty.

This does sometimes affect what I publish. I am a big admirer of Gordon Keith, but I heard something of his back a few months ago that I really, really disliked, and I wrote an article about it.  Strongly negative.  But I never ran it because I felt that it would leave the impression that I had a big problem with Gordon generally, and that would have been a false impression.  I suppose the unsatisfactory solution is to load up a piece like that with disclaimers, but that looks insincere if the real purpose of your piece is to smack someone around.  So it's in the MTC boneyard.

(The fact that this site is anonymous also sometimes inhibits some of my more incendiary STDs.  Especially as this site has come more popular, I'm sensitive to the unfairness of taking potshots at Ticket guys from the bunker of anonymity.)

This is the actual photograph promoting a Musers appearance at
the Grenada.  But it actually works, because
when I think Musers, I think "comical breast enhancement."
http://granadatheater.com/category/americana/

(3)  CONFIDENTIAL TO GORDON KEITH [this is not the article I was talking about]:  Consider abandoning your irrational terror of creating drops. You select numerous sex-related news stories for your broadcast, but stop so frequently to shift into a disguised-and-sometimes-incomprehensible voice to say the naughty words that Muse in the News is starting to sound like one long hiccup. Even Craig had had enough this morning. You had paused over the story about the dispatcher who threw up some ill-considered phrases on her Facebook page to say "I'm not quite sure how to say this," and The Joonz snapped at you with what sounded like sincere impatience:  "You're a newsman – just read the story." 

Kind of have to agree with that.  Sorry!  Sorry!

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

More Quick Hits Because I Don't Have Time to Do a Longer Piece Right Now

Thanks to a poster from the last thread for calling the opening of Danny's place, The Twilite Lounge, to our attention:

http://centraltrack.com/Food/3835/Loungin/A-Look-At-The-JustOpened-Twilite-Lounge-in-Deep-Ellum

Looks like a very gemütlich space, nifty.  I think it's very cool that Danny hasn't flogged the joint on the channel, that I've heard or heard about.   Guessing that he's not necessarily looking for the P1 demo or curiosity-seekers.  Letting those who are so inclined discover it for themselves.  

And I guess we have our answer as to whether one can open a bar and run a PM drive showgram at the same time.

To date, the website is rather uninformative:  http://www.thetwilitelounge.com/

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Am I hearing Conrad say that we should "listen more longer"?

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Rich Phillips is doing an ad for an auto-parts store where he states that he seems like one's car runs better when the exterior is clean.  That is crazy, and absolutely correct.

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Am I hearing Conrad reading a Hardline promo that promises "The Pool Party"?  

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I thought I heard Mitchell Karasik toss in a substantive non-Ticker contribution to a weekend show.  Could be wrong -- I couldn't listen long enough to tell if he were doing Tickers, but it sounded like him.  It was a good contribution.  As I have reported in the past, Mitchell's background is not in reading copy.  When he talks rather than reads, he's kind of got a Tickety voice.  Hmm.  Wouldn't break my heart to hear more of him doing other things.

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Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Frozen Face Nipples

To pass a bit of your weekend time .  .  .  .

(1)  Is anyone else astounded/delighted/shocked by the fact that Gordon Keith is facing Bob Sturm in the Dallas Morning News DFW Sportscasters Bracket contest?  (DMN Sportscasters Bracket) As of this writing, the results are Gordon 51.65, Bob 48.35.  And does anyone think we will ever hear the end of it if Gordon, the least sportsy of the entire bracket, wins?  Or even if he doesn't?

Gentle Confessors, this illustrates something I suggest from time to time, but it bears repeating:  The fine stable of readers who comment on this site is not necessarily -- perhaps I should leave off the "necessarily" -- reflective of the Ticket fan base.  Now Gordon is a DMN personality himself, and he shows up on the teevee from time to time, so we may be getting a number of voters here who like Gordon from his non-radio work.

But even so, that he's gotten this far, and may win, reminds us that there are many media consumers out there who don't think bullying is the signature feature of Gordon's work, in fact, who like him a lot.  (Maybe the voters are doing a mass bit, but I doubt it.)  He and Corby by far take the greatest gobkicking on MTC, and, while Corby didn't make it out of the first round, he's probably also a lot more popular than someone whose only source of information on the popularity of Ticket guys is this site would think.  (Whoo.  Bad sentence.)   I would point to, uh, the ratings as proof.  It's not just the shaky competition.

(2) Cat must have lectured the programs on "managing the back end."  I am guessing this has to do with bringing segments smoothly to a close so Cumulus can pay for them with on-time commercials.  But does anyone know for sure what this phrase, sneeringly referenced from time to time by hosts and producers, means?

(3) CONFIDENTIAL TO KEVIN TURNER:

KT, KT, KT.

I have no idea of all the indignities to which you were subjected at The Ticket.

No one has disclosed to me the various humiliations you suffered at the hands of BaD, Mike R, and Mitchell Karasik.

The soul-killing tasks you were ordered to perform remain hidden to me.

But I believe I can say with a fairish degree of certainty that The Ticket never, ever required you to eat the beard clippings of a Dallas Cowboys rookie out of his lap.

Mmm.

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Memorial Cirque Quick Hits -- AMENDED

Liking the sound of CDS this morning.  Nice paced conversation.  Funny, relaxed.  No forced radio wackiness or multitracked voicings.  Compare and contrast:  Ben + Skin.

Happy Birthday, Machine.

Laugh:  Mike (I think) discussing his early grilling attempts, and referring to the instrument used to pick up meat from the grill (in this case, trying to keep something from falling through the grate) as "tweezers."

Laugh:  A Sirois (again, I think Mike) referring to the Indy 500 trophy as "frozen face nipples."  (Could become as Ticket-legendary as "Green Tail Shiner.")

I may have missed this guy in the past, but where has John Fahey been?  Perfect Tickers.  Is he a Cumulus guy sitting in?  A long-time fill-in guy who has just escaped my notice?  Great cadence, and a Ticket-ready voice with a smile in it.

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LATER IN THE DAY:

Liking That Shake Joint Thang a lot.  I only got to hear maybe an hour of it off and on, but what I heard was strong on substance with a good balance of humor, quirks, and general personality.  Strong offering.

An early commenter below talks about David and David (Newbury and Moore) "failing," but I think The Boomtown is always a first-rate show.  Especially for those who gripe about the lack of actual sports on The Ticket.  (Not me, but you're out there).   I have no idea what the Confessor was talking about. 

So tell me, good Confessors:  Let's say The Ticket hosts all disappeared tomorrow and you had to hear today's lineup every day.  Would you listen to The Ticket or would you spend a whole lot more time with ESPN and The Fan?   For me, no question:  Today's shows were all better than anything I pretty much ever hear elsewhere.  Now having to do one show with time to prepare may not give us a good indicator of how these guys would all do on a day-to-day basis, but we've heard enough of all of them over the course of the last few years to know that they're very consistent performers. 

(Maybe the more exotic hypothetical would be:  What if a rival spirited away today's shows and lined them all up against Musers/Norm/BaD/Hardline?   Have you thought about it?)

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Guessing Ticket salaries is a fool's errand, so my qualifications are impeccable.  Re Danny:  Pretty sure his base dollars are pretty close to where he claims.  Low-mid five figures.  The only question I would have is whether he gets some small extra duty pay for The Orphanage.  Glad to see the chap getting some endorsement dollars, local merchants banking on his legendary sincerity. 

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Everyone:  Remember, remember.

Yu Yes, U No

Massive and repeated U2 talk on The Hardline lately.

I'd like less of it.

Much less.

Zero, actually.

Especially Corby's messianic browbeating.

Having said that, I'm with Mike R on U2.

Actually, I may go a little further than Mike R.

I recognize the tunefulness and unique sound, but it's a sound I tired of shortly after being introduced to it all those years ago. Production is too often bombastic, and so many of the songs sound labored, as though it's really, really hard for them to perform them. (I have the same issue with Springsteen's music and band.)

Exception: The Daniel-Lanois-produced-and-Brian-Eno-influenced "Achtung Baby," very striking, still sounds fresh two decades later.

So yes, I "like" U2, I "get" U2, but they're not even in my top 20 acts to put on the record player when I have some free music-listening time.

Having unburdened myself of this review, I am declaring a Hardline and Muser moratorium on U2 talk.

They breach it at their peril. 

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Email: ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Cheap Thread-Refreshing Tease

Is it possible to have a Scorching Ticket Disquisition (= STD, for newcomers) about Ben & Skin?

I'm developing one.  But it needs some seasoning.

After almost two weeks, what are you all thinking?   Those of you who are punching out on Corby or The Hardline generally (and anyone punching out on the last hour of BaD), how are things looking up the dial there?   Send us a dispatch.

NOTICE

This site is not accepting (i.e., will delete from any thread) any comments relating to Greg Williams's recent blog posting titled "A Boy's Life."

All posts relating to this decision will also be deleted.

If you feel the need to comment, email me.

I will appreciate your cooperation on this.  Thanks in advance.

-- Plainsman

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Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

A Hardline Quick Hit Prompts a Larger Thinking

It was pointed out in a prior comment that Jake had a busy Friday, filling on-air roles for The Musers and The Hardline, and board-opping midday.  Don't have any thoughts on his board-opping, but his fill-ins went real well, I thought.  He wasn't intrusive, he was ready when his segs came up, and he held his own when everyone was talking.

One thing I did find interesting on The Hardline:  With the team dispersed and in different roles, there was a notable disruption in the rhythm from time to time.  People not quite sure when to talk, when to stop talking, when to cut off a line of humor that was too inside, when to stop and let the other guy talk.  Didn't screw up the show, just some passages of mild confusion.

Which brought to my recall that there's more to a successful show than strong, distinctive personalities who are enjoyable to listen to.  (Yes, I enjoy Corby, as I do Jake.)   There is that ineffable quality known variously as "comfort level," "familiarity," and "seamlessness," and probably some other words and phrases that aren't coming to mind.  One of the thing that makes all of the shows on The Ticket great (and, I'm sure some would say, sometimes makes them stale) is that their participants have been doing it with one another for a long time.

It's not just the yuks -- we're drawn in as well by the cadences and rhythms of guys talking who talk -- and listen -- to each other a lot.  The almost imperceptible undersignal to The Ticket's hilarity and chaos is on a frequency of old friends, and old friendships.

That's a gift, grown over years, and it renders counterprogramming almost futile.

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Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter: @Plainsman1310

Sincere (No, Really) Congratulations to Jeff Catlin

We give the CTO a hard time here from time to time, but we also note the fact that, uh, the CTO has more or less given us The Ticket in unbridled and unaltered form since Cumulus took over.  (It was unbridled and unaltered before that, but that was some other collection of Overlords.)   While there have been some missteps, I think most Confessors would have to concede that programming has been a bright spot, with new talent showcased, weekend programming enhanced, and successful teams left the hell alone.

So it's a pleasure to call to your attention (if you missed it in passing when announced on The Ticket) that Ticket Program Director Jeff Catlin was named by Radio Ink magazine one of the Top 20 Program Directors in the Top 10 Markets.

Here is the quote from the article:


Catlin says he loves being a PD because every day is different. “It’s fun!” he says. “It’s collaborative. It allows me to get my competitive juices flowing. I like seeing the success and growth of our staff. I enjoy seeing where the industry is headed in terms of digital, future content delivery, brand extension, etc., and trying to keep pace or ahead of that curve. One of my favorite things to do each week is lead our image production meeting and create the station brand and image of the Ticket through writing promos and liners in the station’s voice.  “It still comes down to delivering your message as a PD to the individuals in the studio who have to make it happen on air each day, based on a common goal and vision. You have to communicate your station’s brand to the audience and to clients, and you have to be able to outline a plan and strategy and goals to every other department in the building. A great PD also has to have a complete understanding of PPM and how it works.”

OK, I don't know what PPM is, and I'd give a fair amount of money to hear Jeff "delivering [his] message as a PD to [Mike Rhyner] in the studio who has to make it happen on air each day, based on a common goal and vision," but there's a little capsule of what the Pan-American Catman is about.

Ah, but did you also know that he is not only the Ticket's Program Director, he is also the Operations Manager for Cumulus Dallas, which means that he is the Overlord for the Program Directors for the other five DFW Cumlus properties?

So if you wonder what Jeff Catlin does all day to be the Program Director of a station that more or less seems to run itself successfully, programming-wise, year after year after year, now you know -- he has plenty to do riding herd on all those other people who you don't know what they do, either.

Seriously, the man seems to have a fairly stout fan base among The Ticket hosts, which, among a group not known for respectful treatment of authority, is saying something.  And, as noted, when there's programming to be done, the man keeps the P1 in mind.

And now, he's doing ads.

Congratulations to you, Jeff C, and may you have many more years of telling Corby to step up the E-News and Quick Hits prep.

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Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Ben, Skin, Brandon, KT, and My Post-Op Drug-Influenced Recovery and Review

OK, here's the deal.  I went under the knife this morning.  All well, not life-threatening.  Thanks in advance for your good wishes.  Mrs. Plainsman has ordered me not to email as I recuperate whilst drugged.  I don't think she cares if my blog work is narcotics-influenced.  But I've got nothing to do except to listen to Dallas-Fort Worth Sports Radio.  So you may be getting lots of little observations of varying coherence over the next few hours.

And right now, I'm listening to Ben and Skin's inaugural showgram.

I haven't heard Ben and Skin since their weekend Ticket show.  But it doesn't sound like the show I remember.

These guys are talking very fast, very animatedly.  I am recalling a much more relaxed presentation those several years ago.  Haven't yet heard any Ironic Observation on the Just Previous Ironic Observation.

I missed the Derek Holland interview (and a brief clip sounded interesting, where DH reports that he's still DH-like, even sang a little song),  Now they're talking to Dirk and it's a real nice conversation.  Greggo can sneer at their strategy of endearing themselves to athletes, but this is pretty good stuff.  I'm waiting for their actual sports talk -- looks like one more segment with Dirk.

They’re running CBS Sports Minutes reported  by Jim Rome.

Now they’re talking to some old-timey-sounding sports guy but I missed who it is.  [LATER:  Mike Fisher.]

And they’re rolling out DeMarcus Ware at 4:30.  [LATER:  Fun interview with him.]

Next is a segment called “The Other Part of the Paper”—non-sports stories.   Apparently some guy – they later identified him as an intern -- named Brendan – they later identified him as Smith -- is going to report on these stories, and I can’t believe it but they managed to find yet a third guy that sounds just like the two of them, especially now that they’re talking faster.  They’re talking about a bobcat sighting.   Needs some fine-tuning.  I'm resisting the thought that this may be Community Quick Hits.

Unusual jazz piano trio background music, kind of nice.  In fact, all of the background music is quite unusual.   I was so  intrigued by it, I found myself listening to the music and not the talking.

I’ve been listening for an hour and I haven’t heard an actual Ben and Skin segment.  I’ll tell you, I’m very startled by the near-manic pace of the segments.   Trying hard to have a goodo time.  Opening-night jitters?  Or a deliberate move to a new style of broadcasting?  I would appreciate if one of you familiar with their more recent work would report on whether this is a different sound for them.

You know  .  .  .  the show sounds just like this.

 Oh oh.  Oh oh.  Someone  -- I have no idea who – said “My favorite segments are the one where all four  of us (B, S, KT, and Brendan Smith) are talking.”  Through my drug-induced haze, I can’t tell if he was kidding.   Confidential to Ben and Skin:  I hope so.

Hmm.  Looks like a fairish amount of rap flavoring.

OK, here we go.  Ranger talk.   One thing I can say about it is that it is definitely Ranger talk.  I’m getting a Yahoo Sports Radio vibe.

I want to get this posted and let you guys have your say.  Small sample size but  .  .  .  man, there is just not much distinctive about the sound of this show.  I’ll look forward to a future shows when they’re not leaning on the interviews – four so far -- wait, five, looks like they're going to wedge Jon Daniels in before 6 PM – and talking about putting the show together.  (Or maybe the show will rely heavily on interviews all the time.  That would be unfortunate.)  As I sign off, they’re playing the intros they’ve created for Emily Jones, Tim Cowlishaw, and others.

And – I swear – they all kinda sounded the same.

Hey, listen -- this show deserves a more thoughtful review than this.  Really.  I don't want to be down on these guys after one show, it's not fair and the opening show isn't going to be representative of the day-to-day performance.   So take this drug-addled rambling for what it's worth.   

WAIT:  They're giving KT a shot for the next segment, can't sign off just yet.  He teased news about Beyonce and Barbara Walters.  I'm resisting the thought that this might be E-News.

Time for more narcotics.

And to check in on The Hardline.

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Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

(1) This Time, a Real Congratulations and Best Wishes, and (2) Lest We Forget

First, Kevin, an honest-to-god and not-pretend congratulations and wishes for every success at The Fan.  Yesterday, of course, I was guessing, although when I thought back to that weekend Ticker vacancy I'd seen a few days ago, I had a pretty strong inkling.  Now we know, and now I offer a hearty digital handshake and old-man slap on the back.

Although this is a Tickety site, we do survey the sports-talk radio horizon, as it says next to my little picture, so who knows?  You know that Confessors, perhaps even I, will write about the new giant-slayers offered by The Fan.  I hope you earn a blog with commenters every bit as loquacious and well-behaved as those who are gathering here.

And now, Confessors, back to the business at hand.

Many of you -- not all, but many -- have yearned for the day when The Fan was going to get some pitching in there to give you an alternative to The Hardline with which you have become increasingly annoyed and punching-out-on.   The OverCorby, Checkout Mike, Uberkuhl Danny, endless commercial breaks, many things have excited your ire.  Will there be enough of you to make a dent in The Hardline's ratings with your migration to Band S?

Many Confessors are doubting that Ben and Skin are the answer.  I recall their Ticket show with residual fondness, something I'd keep on the radio when it came on during Saturday errands.  Yes, I did weary of the Ben and Skin and Moebius Endless Self-Referential Conversational Loop from time to time, but it could be fought through.  Same with Ben & Skin Disease (sounding too much alike).  I didn't heard one second of their show on ESPN so don't know if they got cured of either of those things -- from what I'm reading, guess not.

But some of you are looking forward to it and are going to give it a fair shot.  Good.  No doubt I will give it a listen as well.

But before we get too enthusiastic about the possibility of an improved Hardline or a meaningful ratings nudge to Mike, Corby, and Danny, let's think back:

Don't think about what RaGE actually turned out to be -- think about what it started out to be:  A very, very heavily promoted, slickly-produced, well-planned show with a legendary former member of That Very Hardline During the Legacy Greatness Years who still had lots and lots of fans, paired with  a very well-known DFW sports writer and maybe the only one who worked in extended form, a big signal, network support, huge, really huge anticipation.  Later, they even got TV exposure and a saloon. Forget about how disappointing the actual product turned out to be -- think about the excitement at the beginning.

And for all that excitement and planning and promotion:  RaGE never,  not ever, not even at the outset when people might have been expected to check it out for awhile, had the slightest impact on The Hardline.  We have radio guys checking in to this site who can give us the details, but I do not remember the slightest burp in THL's ratings dominance or the margin of that dominance.

Are Ben and Skin, who debut with much less Fan-fare (sorry) and boasting likely to do better even if they are better than the Ben and Skin we've been hearing for the last half-dozen years or so?

[Side note:  Some time ago, and I mean well before the current changes, I heard from a local radio talent that he hated their show.  (Liked them personally.)]

Like everyone else, I'd like to see a more dedicated, mature, focused Hardline.  But Our Lads didn't bestir themselves to make improvements when RaGE hit the air and turns out they were right not to expend the additional energy.  Mike R saw better than anyone what was coming, and he correctly discerned  it to be nothing.

So while I will be investigating the new competition somewhere along the line, and wishing a good career move for our friend KT, and some meaningful shoving of The Hard Ones, based on past history I'm skeptical that we will see a ratings book that looks much different than the last several dozen.

You?

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Twitter:   @Plainsman1310

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

It's Kevin Turner

Think about it, Confessors.

The online scuttlebutt is that Ben & Skin are poaching some Ticket talent for their Fan show.  A Confessor to the last thread said that it was a young woman named Tara Artho who appears to have some Cumulus production duties.  Ms. Artho may indeed be moving, but I'm getting a rumble from the radio underground that it's a more familiar name.

Let's consider the Ticket JV:

Jake Kemp
T.C. Fleming
Ty Walker
Sean Bass
Mike Sirois
Mike Fernandez
Kevin Turner
Jeremy Moran
Killer Kellison
The Davids don't count
Danny Balis doesn't count
Tom Gribble

Maybe a couple I'm leaving out. Mitchell Karasik.

Every single one of these guys is very, very good at what he does, so don't any of y'all take any of this wrong.

Of that list, who has:

First, some producing/board/on-air chops, and

Second, the most to gain and the least to lose by departing The Ticket.

Jake's up-and-coming on the Station; Ty, Sean, Mike S, Mike F, Jeremy, Killer, Tom are all very established or already have shows, and a couple don't give off a producer vibe.

That leaves T.C. and KT.

T.C. has a lot of exposure already and, I think justifiably, believes that his day may yet come on The Ticket.

Leaving Kevin Turner.  Hardline whipping boy, all-'round scamp, and an insidious charm.  Lowest on the totem pole, least likely to find a slot for greater exposure.  Not to mention the fact that as I mentioned in a post a day or so ago, The Ticket is looking for a weekend Ticker guy.

Kevin, best of luck to you.  Hope you will drop by from time to time.

And if I'm wrong (imagine!) -- well, then, welcome back, KT!

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Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Email: ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

The Presentation -- Is Change in the Air?

This article is not about Mike's kidney stone, other than incidentally.

And, as I am inclined to do sometimes, I am going to jump to a conclusion based on extremely, extremely skimpy evidence.  Maybe not a "conclusion" -- maybe more of a  .  .  .  musing.

I got to hear a fair amount of The Hardline on Monday.  I was in my car and I quite literally sat up straighter in my seat as the Presentation progressed.

I heard two excellent, hard-core sports conversations between Mike and Corby, one right after the other.  One was about the NBA playoffs.  I think the other was Ranger-based, but my recollection is dimmer on that one.  The conversation was continuous, no dead spots where Danny had to jump in, interesting to listen to, and hard. 

I thought:  All right.  I haven't heard sports talk like this on The 'Line in months if not years.  Not jokey, apparently knowledgeable, straightforward.  As you know, I don't know a lot about sports, but it sounded genuine to me.  Could Corby and Mike have learned all the names and prospects and playoff permutations earlier in the day?  Could they have been reading off of a sportsy website?  I suppose.  It didn't have that feel to me, and I wouldn't have cared if it were.  

The one thing I noticed was that while Mike sounded "good" with respect to his cadence and content, his voice had that whispery, older-gentleman timbre that ausgang (I believe it was) and I began to notice popping up several months ago.  Must have had a rehearsal the night before, I thought.

I thought the entire show, all that I heard, was sharp and focused.  I thought to myself this is what Confessors have been asking for.  I did ask myself if I was just hearing what I wanted to hear, or sensationalizing what I perceived to be a better-planned show just so I'd have something to write about.  

It's possible -- but I don't think so.  I think there was a real effort there to beef up the content and dial back the chaos.  

Then, at the end of the show, we learn about Mike's battle with the dread kidney stone.  The guy must have been miserable.

Nevertheless, I thought Tuesday's show (of which I heard much less) was equally on track.

Do I think this means that The Hardline is moving back to a more thoughtful, targeted, prepped presentation?  Man, I have no idea.  I'm just saying I noticed it -- or thought I did -- on Monday and Tuesday.

While we're at it, let's keep a collective excellent thought for the Founder of the Feast, Mike Rhyner.  Hope he is back soon and energized for the tilt with Ben & Skin.

Which brings us to today's show with Corby, Danny, and Jake.  I thought it was excellent.  I have bored you all with my repeated insistence that when Corby is called upon to helm a show or take an active role on a different show, he really shines, shows that he's capable of leadership, planning, and a much more mature form of entertainment.

Unlike a commenter to the last thread, I thought Danny was equally good.  I confess (of course) to being a strong Danny partisan, including The Orphanage (which, ironically, begins with an image of a trainwreck).  He's one of the smartest guys on the channel, and I thought he was sharp and funny as usual today.  Several laugh out loud moments from them both.  

Jake had a gawdawful EQ going on his voice -- I understand he was broadcasting from the producer's perch, perhaps he left Danny's levels intact -- but his contributions were also appropriate and entertaining.  So I had zero problem with today's show and while I hope Mike gets back soon and broadcasts for another twenty, I will repeat what I've said in the past when we were puzzling over whether Mike was going to re-up last time around.  Assuming Danny wants to hang around and assuming they pay him what he's worth, Mike's departure would not require gigantic adjustments to PM drive.

But let me get back to my main point:  I do wonder if the prospect of new competition, other changes in the local industry, or the sense in the room  that The Hardline has kinda been loafing through its months of drivetime domination, has suggested to our Hard heroes a new seriousness of purpose.

Yah -- that's quite a thing to wonder based on two partial hearings of The Hardline.  You have plenary dispensation to say that I'm hearing things, those shows were just more of the same.  But yes, I did think I heard something, a little something between the lines, on Monday and Tuesday, and I liked it.

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Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

It's a T.C. Monday

T.C. has undergone an interesting transformation at The Ticket.

I'm not able to hear BaD as often as I'd like so my T.C. awareness was delayed.  Confessors have advised that he was a superstar intern for Bob and Dan, possibly because he would do personal stuff for them like operate their households, but also just because he was a great intern for a couple of guys who still resent the Thirteenth Amendment.   I heard a couple of references on other shows to a "T.C.," and the tone seemed to be one of bemused irritation.  I remember one reference in particular from Craig, who expressed unusual annoyance at T.C.'s behavior/attitude at Ticketstock one year.

That was a long time ago.

Then we would start to hear him on the air once in awhile.  I didn't get it, but I figured this guy was popular around the station, so OK, he must have something.  It wasn't so much T.C. that was the issue -- it was the way the hosts treated him, like some kid who'd won a contest to be Ticket Employee for a Day.  Patronizing.  I couldn't tell if the hosts liked him or didn't.  50-50.   But maybe their irritation was a bit, hard to say.   In those days T.C. was very, very passive on the air, leading to the T.C. imitations that we now hear from hosts, a timid, high-pitched voice that we don't hear anymore but lives on in the teasing of hosts.

But T.C. kept at it, dammit.  He got more aggressive about participating when he was board-opping or had some other behind-the-scenes role.  A lot of readers here did not like this, but I didn't mind it so much, I didn't think he was overly intrusive.  And often his remarks were on the button, or he had a good question, or he jumped in with an answer to a sports question.  He and Jake got a following for It's Just Banter (where, I understand, he expressed a strong dislike for this site).

Then, after Jake moved on from The Top Ten after Grubes's departure, T.C. got that chair.

And I think he's done a real, real good job with it.  He's developed a lively delivery, his intros are pithy and sometimes funny.

Today he's sitting in for Gordon on the Muser show, and I think he's done a fine job.  When I first heard he was going to be on, I thought we might hear more T.C. than we might have been ready for, but not so.  He's chosen his spots to jump in, and they've hit the right pitch.   I liked his zombie movie/TV theory -- it was quite literary -- and I really enjoyed his skyscraper/sky deck talk.

So, good job.

It's not entirely clear to me that he's got the right timbre for a full-time host job, but it's been a pleasure to see his hard work and improved delivery pay off in increased exposure.

*     *     *

In the last set of comments someone took a shot at my "overdriven mic" talk.  Well, too bad, because here's some more.   

I figure when you've got a new guy at a mic that was too hot to begin with it's hard to get it to sound good, but T.C.'s projection really is more than his mic can take.  He's coming out very fuzzy and loud.  This is not T.C.'s responsibility, and, at this point, I think we can rule out the sainted Jer or any other board op.  The equipment has just never worked right, it still doesn't, and twistin' and tweakin' isn't able to help.  Overall The Ticket sounds noticeably worse than it did before the Victory move, all shows.   Everyone's voice (except, oddly, Corby's and sometimes George) has a sizzle to it that is unpleasant to hear.   Today/Suck, where everyone's hollering, sounds like a Hendrix/Beck fuzztone feedback playoff.

I Was On Jerry's Season Ticketholder Conference Call So You Didn't Have to Be

Jerry speaks.  Photo either taken by an extremely tiny human
or the angle was calculated to make Jerry appear magisterial, Olympian,
competent.

This morning Junior discussed the Jerry/Season Ticketholder call and hoped that someone who heard it would report in.  There's this article's hook to The Ticket.

Actually .  .  .  I'm not a Cowboys season ticketholder, but I was in office of a rather prominent Cowboys fan trying  to sell him some sodbusting services and he invited me to hang around and listen to the call.  This guy is a huge fan – he owns a fair amount of the old Cowboys Stadium – and is very sophisticated about matters football.  He's owned season tickets for decades. 

He's furious at Jerry Jones.

After the call, he's still furious.

Entirely understandable.  The call was a put-up job.

When my host wasn't speaking to me, he was talking back to the speakerphone.  "Listen to that," he said, incredulous.  "It's coach-talk.  He hangs out with coaches and thinks he understands football, but he doesn't."  Indeed, what I heard of the call – about a half-hour of it – was jargon-filled and sounded ludicrous coming from the mouth of someone who is supposed to be a general manager.   The voice betrayed the type we've all encountered, the guy who knows a little but not quite enough to realize how ignorant he is. 

Oh, but the best was yet to come.  The "call-in questions."

My companion had put himself in the cue to ask a question, and was advised that there were callers ahead of him in the low four figures.   At one point during the call, however, a voice broke in and asked my host what his question was.   The voice was very polite and respectful, friendly.  My host asked his question – a solid, knowledgeable respectful question about the offensive line – and the guy said wow, what a great question, I hope they get to you, and that was the end of that.

Then there were the calls.

Confessors, if all you knew about the Cowboys fan was based on the couple handfuls of questions they got to yesterday, you would swear that Jerry is universally beloved, highly respected by fans.   A majority of the calls I heard were taken were from out-of-town fans.  What they were doing with their season tickets was unclear.  One I heard was from a woman who giggled and flirted and couldn't believe she was speaking to The Great Man.   All of the questions, without exception, were beach balls to be batted back into the mesosphere  on the wings of Jerry's garbled rhetorical flights.  Nothing even remotely challenging.

It couldn't have been more clear – either Jerry had instructed the screeners not to let through any of the countless angry fans, or the screeners know where their butts are breaded and ensured that no typical season ticketholders got through.  

Proof:  I swear on my sainted Mother's Beasley Reece jersey -- one of the first callers thanked him for the three Super Bowl rings and the new stadium. 

At the end of the call, auditors were invited to record their question after the beep.  Now those would have been worth hearing.

If the call was intended to placate angry Cowboys fans, it was not only a failure, it was the next-in-line of the hundreds of exhibits to the indictment of the clownish administration of this once-respected franchise.

Why is this man smiling?

*     *     *

I've got a theory of why the Cowboys' business continues to thrive in the face of this incompetence.  I can summarize it in one sentence.  The theory is wrong, quite wrong, I'm certain, but I like it so remind me in a week or so to write about it.

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Early Newbury Thinkings

In the recent past and in the last thread, Confessors have sung the praises of David Newbury and wished for the day when we might hear him more permanently.

I join both sentiments.  He brings the kind of hard-core wonk sportsiness seen hitherto only in Bob, sometimes Norm.  Maybe another one or two over the years that aren't coming to mind.  

The following are not misgivings, just observations:

(1)  He's not a Tickety guy.  He plays nothing for yuks, which may be a breath of fresh air, but he conveys the feeling that he does not entirely approve of other participants doing so.   I'm unsure whether he would be an effective solo host, but I would think that any more Tickety co-host would have to be pretty strong and mature.  Recall that matters did not go smoothly with David and Matt McClearin.

I'm thinking David Moore, another guy I could stand to hear a lot more of. They could call the show "Welcome to the Boomtown," or, perhaps just "the Boomtown," to which they could "welcome" listeners at the outset.

Look it up.

(2) He's a Sturm-Sports-Bully starter kit -- again, quite possibly a good thing.  Sometimes falls into forest-for-the-trees syndrome, however.  Not keenly interested in alternative viewpoints.

Having said this, hoping The Ticket continues to find opportunities to showcase him.

 

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

 

Mainly Just Freshening Up the Thread

I got pretty much nothing today, but probably need to get a new thread started.  Man, 107 comments to the last one.  I need to step up my game here.  By the way, huge readership during RaGE's implosion, and it looks like quite a few are sticking around.  Thanks to all for shopping at My Ticket Confession.

Got a laugh out of George's and Gordon's live Raising Cain's commercial this morning, which was not only unscripted but completely unconceptualized.  It sputtered along for awhile until Jer or whoever was working the joint today mercifully started running another ad while George and Gordon were still speaking haltingly to one another, and finally stopped in mid-nothing.

How about some thanks to the CTO for a big investment in draft day?  Not everyone enjoys it, but for me it's kind of like Race Week.  I have no interest in NASCAR but I really enjoy Rich's broadcast.  I know zero about the draft or college players, but the enthusiasm Norm, Bob, David, and David (and George from Valley Ranch) manage to sustain for hours and days on end is pretty remarkable, and a fun listen.

That's it.  Thread is now  .  .  .  open.

Awright, I Guess I Need to Trot Out a New Theory of The Hardline

I don't get it, man.

First, I must say that I remain a big Hardline fan even when they're doing their typical show from Victory or Scruffy Duffies or Sol's Meat Shop in Wylie.

Second, I will further affirm that I have loved the Chicago visit and thought our lads have done a first-rate job, a success in every way.  Jeez, some guy was griping near the end of the last post about the account of the visit to the Old Town Ale House and Mike's encounter with Chicago legend, the profane, colorful leftist Bruce Elliott.  What exactly do you want them to do on the Chicago trip?  Would you think it was a good trip if they had gone to the Sears Tower (I know, it's not called that anymore)?  The Art Institute?  The Field Museum?   Hell, I expect and want The Hardline to go to local bars and find their own.  And Christ, they weren't only local-intensive, they were baseball-intensive.  Their accounts of the Wrigley Field tour, their elbow-rubbing with the honchi.  Mike changing his mind about Cubs fans and falling in love with a new city?  Come on -- this is nothing, nothing whatsoever like the New York trip.  Maybe they were stung by the yawns that greeted them on their return from New York, and maybe they're making an effort on that account, and some readers have complained about that. 

Something's going on here.  I have a thought to share on what it is.


Michael Having the Time of His Life at Wrigley Today,
Courtesy Alexi Ogando

Sure, I hear (and have issued) complaints about show prep, the OverCorby, Mike's variable interest levels.  I understand it.  And if someone says I just can't freakin' stand Corby and I'm out, I say:  OK.  Some people can grow to rub people the wrong way.  Gotta respect both the reaction and the  decision to bail.

But right now I'm thinking about the more run-of-the-mill complaints about the show.  The complaints about doing the same stuff over and over, the staleness, the show being so much worse than the old days.  I don't go back to the old, old days, but I heard the last three years of the Greggo regime, part of it before Greggo shrunk before our very ears, and my notion is that the show is a lot better now than it was at its best with Greggo, but I'll respect those who say that the real old days were better.  What else.  Lots of stuff, many complaints.

And I'll also concede that these complaints are all entirely sincere.  I believe every complaining commenter is being completely truthful about his or her feelings.

But here's what I've been puzzling over, what makes me think something more fundamental is at work.  It prompts my New Hardline Theory.

In what respect is The Hardline stale that any of the others shows is not?  What show doesn't experience the bored host?  (God, I've been resisting writing about this forever, and I may never mention it again, but there was a period not so long ago, and not a short period, when George seemed to me to have lost interest, noticeably checked out.)  Okay, maybe not Norm.  Why does The Hardline get smacked for plowing old ground when the others shows do exactly the same thing?  Why does Corby get absolutely scorched, when other abrasive hosts don't get nearly that obloquy heaped on them?  Are the weaknesses of The Hardline so much deeper than that of any other show that it explains the fury we sometimes see among our fine Confessors?

Maybe.  Maybe.

Maybe something else.  Something I've tossed out a half dozen times over the last few years but haven't really pursued.

I have thought that things like the poor show prep, but more than that, the pride they seem to take in it; the endless and not very interesting Stones segments that they frankly acknowledged on-air were excessive and dull; Mike's sometimes irascible references to listeners; Corby's occasionally tone-deaf accounts of his kickass life.  I've said in passing ya know, this kind of attitude might be interpreted as a lack of respect to the listener.

Now let me hasten to add that I don't personally feel that way.  I look at these things as bits -- but I can see how others might take this apparent attitude more personally.  Maybe those folks are right and I'm wrong, maybe THL has overplayed the bit, and maybe it's not a bit.   Plainsman error has been known to happen on this site.

So my theory is that The Hardline doesn't get a pass because quite aside from the commission of the sins people list, our lads have sometimes behaved in a way that can be interpreted as disrespecting the P1.  Other shows, whatever weaknesses they may exhibit, do not convey that impression.  Hence, with The Hardline seeming sometimes to thumb its nose at criticism, displeasure morphs into fury.

Another possible theory is that I'm a sucker.

In the meantime, I think The Hardline deserves praise for a real effort, a successful effort, to infuse the show with the good feelings they felt during their trip and providing the P1 with as much of a Chicago baseball experience as you can do outside of WGN.  (I guarantee you some decades-long WGN viewers don't know some of the stuff our guys learned and told us about.)  I enjoyed every minute of it and I'm hoping maybe it will prove to have been an epiphanal voyage for our guys; I'm looking forward to a new attitude toward their hometown surroundings, including their fans.

BREAKING: THE END OF RaGE? or THE END OF RaGE!

Confessors, I'm in the middle of my work day and can't write much.  Two comments to prior post have advised that (1) Greggo tweeted that he has been terminated, and (2) Richie/Sybil have been removed from The Fan website.

I have NOT confirmed these items.

Tell us what you know, and your very politely expressed reaction.

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.

*     *     *

 Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

It Seems a Little Strange to Me

The Hardline is making fun of the lack of promotion for its trip to Chicago.

But really -- there's something very odd about this.  I can't put my finger on it, but I kind of get the feeling that this Chicago trip is the CTO tossing The Hardline a bone.  The Musers go on this cool and imaginative Texas bus tour, which is being promoted with a production-value ad.  The Hardline, the show claiming to be The Ticket baseball show of record, featuring a baseball deity no less, doesn't go to spring training.

The Hardline's Chicago trip is almost invisible.  I've heard one promo, and it's a zero-production-value rant by The Hard Ones -- just heard it again as I'm writing this -- about the lack of promotion.  Not only lack of promotion, but lack of logistical support for the trip itself.

Maybe it's a bit.  But it doesn't have that feel to it.

*     *     *

Men and women, I'm completely booked, sorry for the lack of coverage lately.  Thanks to all for providing content via comments, especially information about the Morning News sports-broadcasting bracket.

I'll try to get back with something better soon.

East Texas P1 Holds Forth on Host Preparedness

This site has had occasion to note that sometimes the shows -- most notoriously, The Hardline -- is, shall we say, not meticulous about show prep.  I've come to accept it.  It's almost a Hardline bit, it doesn't detract that much from my enjoyment of the show.  They kind of revel in it.  At one time I thought was sort of disrespectful to the P1, but it was clear that is the way they're going to continue to rock, so I rolled with it.  But it's still a topic that comes up frequently in the comments, and I thought East Texas P1 gave it a good shot in a comment to the last thread.  Stern, but not angry, with evidence.   He only mentions Corby and Greggo as examples -- I'm not sure there are many from the other shows, but maybe you feel differently.

We'll let Eest Tex get us started:

*     *     *

Okay, here is a rant and a question.

My first rant is why hosts aren't prepared. I have heard several things over the last few weeks that make me wonder how some hosts come up with topics (not related to sports). Do they see a quick headline and a quick overview and then try to pedal his opinion on the air?

[Before I continue with the rant I need to ask a question. Is it possible that hosts like Corby fake having adequate knowledge of a subject in order to "move a story along". If he/they are faking not knowing the whole story (i.e. they know the facts but act like they don't) then my rant is invalid and the method is part of putting on a radio show.]

Okay, rant again. I think I resemble the basic demographic of this site. Middle age, white, office job, lots of outside interests to keep me busy, etc. That said, I keep up with news. Try to buy a DMN on Sundays and read it through the week. Yahoo and MSN in the mornings. I keep up with the basic news of the day.

Why does Corby not know the back story on Robbie Parker. Today was too much of "I am not sure how he got noticed....", "How did he get in touch with the Rangers...", "When did he live in Arlington...".

Is this total BS or has Corby not read the DMN and not know the total picture of how Robbie Parker got noticed by the Rangers? All the information has been out there for weeks! Part of me wants to believe this is just a part of radio but I really believe that he, Corby, just doesn't do the most basic of research on his subjects.

The same hold true with Greggo. Heard him hold forth on a subject about search dogs not being able to sniff on the front door of a house. Greggo then expounded on car searches being impermissable. Had he done the littlest of research he would know the two are not the same.

Okay, rant over. But I think I may start a new thread on this site of subjects not fully researched by the host.

*     *     *

 

My thanks to ETP1.  Hope this will serve as the new thread you were planning.

 

And each of you has my permission to wish Your Plainsman a happy birthday.  They somehow missed it on WTDSuck.  Your great comments, which sometimes ease my task in feeding the content glutton that is any serious blog, are always a great gift.. Thanks again to ETP1 and you all.

 

 

Twitter:  @Plansman1310

Email: ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com