This Must Stop

That title almost contained a bad word.

I write tonight of a Ticket tendency that sent me temporarily into the arms of The Fan.  (Very temporarily.)

The Ticket guys like to talk about their favorite TV shows.  This is not only fine with me, it's got me on to some great shows I wouldn't otherwise have seen.  I 'ppreciate that.

But I can't always watch the shows in real time, and lots of times I start watching the series from the beginning while the real-time broadcasts are already in their second or third season.  I'll bet lots of you do the same thing.  DVDs, DVR, Netflix, On Demand -- you can watch the stuff in order, catch up.  Newfangled technology, amazing.  Me, I almost never watch the show when scheduled so Mrs. Plainsman, or your equivalent, gentle Confessor, can watch her network shows.

So when the shows tease that they're going to be talking about a show I'm watching, and that segment comes on, I switch away to avoid spoilers.  No problem at all.

A bit ago I was listening to a show and a host I like a lot (which describes all shows and all hosts, come to think of it), and I'll be damned if this guy didn't drop a gigantic spoiler in the tease for the segment.  I said another one of those bad words, loudly.  I let that go, switched away when the segment came on, switched back later.  And then, when the segment was long over and the showgram was wrapping up, the same host dropped another gigantic spoiler for the same show.

These were the absolute worst instances of this, but not the only ones.

Memo to hosts:  No goddam frackin' spoilers before you get to the segment, or after it's over. 

Your Plainsman, and the audience you influence to watch the shows you like, thanks your asses.

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

Bob and Dan Are Out

after many, many years, as The Dallas Hockey Stars' post-game show hosts.  Or is it just Bob?  Or just Bob and sometimes Dan?  I confess (of course) I do not hear much Stars pre- post- or during game on The Ticket so I'm not sure who is being replaced.

The Old Dumparoo

I happened to be tuned in at 2 PM yesterday when Bob disclosed the Stars announcement.  At the time it seemed like they were talking about both of them losing the gig, but the wording of the announcement gave me  the impression that only one person was being replaced.  So I dunno.   I thought sure someone would offer a comment on this to the last thread, as we have a number of hockey-loving Confessors, so if anyone can enlighten us I'd appreciate it.

I have a recollection that Bob and/or Dan had alluded to the possible end of their Stars-related broadcasting at the end of the season.

And indeed, Bob did not seemed stunned by this news.

However, I did think that both he and Dan, and Donovan, were a little surprised and maybe even a little hurt that the Stars did not make a single mention of the many years of service Bob/Dan have offered to the Stars and their fans.  And I gather it has been quite a long time -- did Bob say 13 years?  Again, I'd appreciate accurate info.  Whatever it was, I was very surprised to hear it.  I had no idea the Stars gig was so substantial and long-lived.

Makes me wonder if perhaps some friction had developed with the Stars.  I wouldn't think so -- Bob and Dan are the only show on The Ticket, and probably the only show in Cool Metro, that does some serious Stars-talk and who actually know something about hockey.  And nothing against Bruce or his new co-host, but Bob and Dan, or either one of them -- that's quality broadcasting. That's gold-plated DFW radio royalty, and I'm not being snotty.  

So one would think that the old heave-ho would have been accompanied by at least some expression of gratitude.

It is unlikely to make anyone feel better, but in any event, this fetching lass and My Ticket Confession thank Bob and Dan for their long-time yeoman service to the Stars, and to the cause of hockey in Cool Metro, for the past whoa, long time.

Note from a Remote

Dropped in on the remote in Frisco yesterday to check on The Hardline and chat up the cute bartenders at Tailgaters.  Nice, unpretentious sports bar.  

Show sounded good, very clear in the room, except that for some reason Danny's contributions were muffled and completely inaudible through the speakers. 

It's interesting -- people come to hang out and chat with their friends; only a few people trying to hear the show.  Although when they mentioned the Cowboys moving to Frisco, they got a fairly widespread reaction, so either people are halfway listening, or their ears pricked up when they heard the word "Frisco." 

Corby has a habit of fingering his head-mic during the broadcast.

Mike was quaffing much beer.  Corby remarked on it.

During a break a gorgeous, leggy Ticket Chick was showing Mike some photo on her iPhone that was causing some amusement.  Um, woot.

While I was there, only one guy came up to chat with them during a break, spoke very briefly to Mike, who was receptive. Corby went to the men's room at one point, no one took the opportunity to come up and say hi.

I still marvel at how these guys can broadcast so naturally, their voices blaring out into the room, with dozens and dozens of people making noise, sometimes hollering, all around them.  It probably has something to do with the insulating effect of the headset.

Corby's hair is back in full Ruth Buzzi mode.

Anyway, nice remote.

BREAKING: An Actual Major Station Announcement That Is More or Less Major

Or is it?

The "Ticket App" that apparently operates to allow easy listening to the stream, with the ability to pause, rewind, access Tickety humans via Twitter.  A score feature.  Rich reports that his beta use has been terrific.  If you get a call, it pauses the stream and it picks up where you stopped.

It's called "Sports Day Talk".   iTunes, Android.

Get it and report.

UPDATE:  Make "SportsDay" one word when you search.

Notes from Camp

Ladies and gentlemen, my apologies for being away for so long. My work and household duties have escalated recently and my posts are, unfortunately, going to be few and far between for a while.  The commitments cut into both listening and writing time. I do keep an eye on comments and have appreciated most everyone's observation of the site's unwritten rules.

I have made a few notes from the last couple of weeks, some ticket-related, some not. Nothing too profound here, but maybe this will get some the threads kick-started:

          1.     Junior Miller:  "There are too many idiots in the world, and half of them are commenting on websites."  (Referring to comments to news items in the DMN.)

          2.     Both the Hardline and Musers have remarked on the fact that there seem to be lots of people hanging around Southern California who "aren't doing so well."  No kidding.  I have a lot of good feelings for California, having lived there with great pleasure for five years in the '90's (hence my fondness for Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton), but it's a holy mess.  Decades of mismanagement (Democrat and Republican), have left the state broke.  Its legislature is a corrupt candy machine (Democrats are the problem here), devastating state taxes that are going higher, enormous public payroll, vast welfare benefits for illegal immigrants, it goes on and on.  The leading candidate for a catastrophic Detroit-style bankruptcy.  It's America's Greece.   Meanwhile, Texas still can't get free agents to come here.

          3.    Can we get a report on how Norm and BaD handled the camp?  I heard zero minutes of either show while they were in Oxnard.

           I actually like the travelogue aspects of The Ticket's travel to faraway places, yes, even Corby's stories.  I do wonder whether there is a whole lot of sportsy value to having all those shows out there, and at Super Bowls, and at playoffs.  Some take it more seriously than others.  I would think that Norm and BaD, broadcasting during daylight hours, would snag a relevant interview or two along the line. How was their time out there?

          4.     This site's deepest condolences to Mike Rhyner and his loved ones on his mother's passing.  She seemed like a sweet lady in her few interactions with the station, and Mike's voice took on a different tone when she came up.  One had the idea that one would mess with that woman at one's considerable personal peril.  RIP.

          5.     Several commenters have taken the opportunity of Mike's occasional absences to note how good Corby can be when he has responsibility for running a presentation. He's also on good behavior with other hosts.  This site has mentioned this on several occasions.   More than one person has observed that perhaps Corby's excesses are encouraged by the kind of chemistry he has with Mike. I got an e-mail from Confessor N:  

"Perhaps it's just me, but me and some of my real good P1 friends all find Corby with anyone other than Rhyner actually very good, crisp, funny and more likable.  It started last week with Corby manning the ship when Rhynes suddenly left Oxnard for his mom's illness.  I thought his chemistry with Craig, Gordon, Dan, Donny, the Commander et al was great.  Then Friday it clicked for me when Rhynes was out for the funeral  - I like Corby leading with Danny in the co-pilot seat and Jake as the on mic producer.  The chemistry is much more free-flowing.   I respect Rhynes but it is clear to me now that he gives this thing the 'cruise control'/'I don't give a damn' vibe."

I think that's right.  He knows he's untouchable, nearing the end of his reign, and feels little obligation to incentivize Corby or Danny.  Although I will say, once in a while the last few weeks, it has seemed to me that Mike, while clearly tired from his schedule and the emotional drain of his mother's passing, has generated some pretty strong segments.

          6.     Greg Williams's blog:  Seems like there's not much to it any more -- song lyrics, definitions, and recently a TMI post from Jenn on "what Greggo's really like" that didn't exactly flatter the guy.  Apparently they are moving, which, she reports, will make it hard to keep the blog up to date (although it seemed like they weren't actually moving, just planning for a move).

           7.     Gordon is 100% correct about the Geico Old MacDonald's spelling ad.  The joke about spelling "cow" is completely wrong and unfunny because it misses the real joke that the Geico ad writer apparently misremembered.  Bet I can find it  .  .  .  yup, took me about 12 seconds:

A Hoosier, a Kentuckian and a West Virginian were on a Hollywood TV quiz show. The host asked them to complete the sentence: "Old MacDonald had a ..." The Indianan said, "Old MacDonald had a carburetor." "Sorry," said the MC. "That's incorrect." "Old MacDonald had a flat tire," said the Kentuckian. "Wrong," said the host. "Old MacDonald had a farm," said the West Virginian. "That's correct!" shouted the MC. "Now for $200,000, spell farm." The West Virginian thought hard and then spelled carefully: "E-I-E-I-O."

The Geico ad should either have had Old MacDonald spell "farm," which he then spells "E-I-E-I-O," or spell "cow" and spell that the same way but not preceded by C-O-W.  Anyway, it's a bad ad.  In fact, all of the Geico ads that use the "well, did you know .  .  . " format are weak.

          8.     However, Gordon and George are entirely wrong on "The Girl from Ipanema," a wonderful bossa nova pop song.  The English lyrics were originally meant to be sung by a man, not a woman (Astrud Gilberto having made it famous), which accounts for the gigantic grammatical blunder "she looks straight ahead, not at he" when sung by a woman -- should be:  "she looks straight ahead, not at me," sung by a man.

          9.     Love George, we all love George, but he has apparently graduated to dropping 100% of his g's on present participles and gerunds (-ing words).  I swear, one morning a few days ago it sounded like he was deliberately workin' at droppin' all those g's.  I wish he wouldn't.  It makes him sound hickish, which he's not.  Maybe it's his increased C&W profile, he's got to use some kind of backcountry patois to keep it real.

          10.    Matt Garza has a tiny brain.

          11.     While we're on the subject of Ticket word usage:  Is The Ticket the last bastion of the overuse of the word "awesome"?  It was bad enough when this perfectly lovely, evocative word was devalued back in the Bill-and-Ted's-Excellent-Adventure days, but it seems to me that the language has finally moved on with the exception of George Dunham and BaD radio.  Sorry, man, every time I hear someone on the station use that word (and it's not just those guys), I think -- you know, this station really needs to get out more.

          12.     It has been pointed out that the signals (1310/104.1) have been sucking more than usual lately, probably because of the hot weather. That's not an excuse. The best station in the country shouldn't be hostage to North Texas summers.  Just more evidence of how really bad these signals are.

          13.     Johnny Manziel is a sociopath.

          14.    Caught a little bit of Ben and Skin one day, only about ten minutes.  This is not a general Ben and Skin opinion, only observation about the tiny slice that I heard.  I want to give those gents a fair shot, and that just can't be done by flipping over for the odd segment.   They had some Ranger talk about "overpaying" players (Elvis Andrus was on the griddle at that particular moment) that did not make any sense to me in the context of a free market for players and widespread information on their current skills.  (I think that was Skin but cannot be certain.)  

We are very fond of Kevin Turner around here, but during my short time of listening I caught a very unfortunate remote segment that only lasted about 35 seconds that ended with Kevin asking some group of people how many were ovulating.   Could not figure out what the bit was supposed to be about at the outset, and, whatever it was, it cratered almost instantaneously and B&S seemed somewhat startled to have the show tossed back to them.  Sorry, KT.  I promise I'll get around to giving B&S the benefit of a sustained listen one of these days.

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Hope to see you all soon.

LATER:   Just saw this post.  Blogger has once again defeated my efforts to make the thing look nice.  Sorry for all the inconsistent margins, fonts, spacing.  

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Wednesday, August 7, 2013 BONUS:  Today's Ticket Traffic Twist Julie Mac, who looks like she sounds:

Kidd Kraddick, RIP

I did not grow up around here and he wasn't syndicated in any place I've lived in my adult life, at least not while I lived there.  So he wasn't a part of my radio DNA over the years. 

But it's clear from the reaction of the Ticket guys, this morning's Shake Joint, and commenters that he meant a lot to a lot of Confessors. 

A thread for you.

Me, Myself, and Identifying

A couple of weeks back, a commenter asked the question:  With which Ticket personality do you identify?   At the time I asked whether this was a different question from "Which Ticket personality do you like the most?" which is also a worthy question, but not quite the same.

I've been thinking this over myself.

At first I thought -- no contest:  Craig Miller.

He takes a wry view of things, digs beneath the stats to try to discern the human element that is sometimes ignored, is fearless in his frequent predictions and, if he remembers them, is quick to note when they do not pan out.  He has an offbeat sense of humor.  As the Fred Astaire of The Ticket, he has a very elegant style of public discourse, although perhaps uses fewer words than Your Plainsman to get his point across.  He hasn't vomited in many years.  He is an avid cyclist.  He goes a long, long time between blog entries.  (http://juniormiller1310.blogspot.com)  And he is devastatingly attractive when he puts on the dog for a dressy function:

Then I thought:  no; no.  Gotta be Gordon Keith.

You may not find this particular site amusing, but I've done a fair amount of humorous writing and performing in my time.  I wrote and performed the songs for a parody band in Chicago called Lower Wacker Overdrive that got a lot of airplay on the Jonathan Brandmeier morning show on WLUP ("Got a Black Magic Johnson," about 20 others, including lead-ins to traffic and news; keyboards and vocals, a little guitar).  He's a voracious and omnivorous reader.  He is very keenly interested in the Kennedy assassination and perceives, correctly, that Oswald acted alone.  He has struggled with his weight from time to time.  And, of course, he frequently assumes a false identity:

But that still wasn't quite right.

Then, I got it.

The Ticket personality I most identify with is Jeff "Cat" "Catman of the Americas" "The Pan-American Catman" Catlin.

Youthful.  Natty.  Only one image of him available on the Internet.  Favors Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep products (witness his inaugural endorsement of Pat Lobb Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Frisco).   Recipient of occasional praise and frequent, and angry, criticism, which he accepts with aplomb as going with the territory.  But his characteristic that puts him over the top is his task of wrangling a large number of talented and intelligent but strong-willed and sometimes naughty men who must sometimes be reined in and, on rare occasions, um, deleted.

Yours?

*     *     *

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

More Gordon Exegesis -- Wherein I Get to the Point I Started Out to Make, or Some of It

So let me get to the pronunciamiento that's I've been meaning to pronunce now for a couple of years, teasing the Confessor quite rudely in the meantime:

Gordon Keith is The Great Ticket Moderate.

See, unlike a lot of his critics who deride what they perceive to be his pseudointellectualism, I believe that Gordon is, in fact, an intellectual.

Before I get pounced on by the many, many Confessors who think Gordon is only a pretend sophisticate who just reads some popularization of the latest pop-psycho trend, let me tell you what I mean by "intellectual."

I've spent some time in the academy among people who most would regard as "real" intellectuals, and I have to tell you that if that's the case the state of our intellectuals is pretty, pretty sad.  The academy, much of it, is in the grip of ideology, of "theory," and I wouldn't give you a nickel for the opinions of the lot of them on The Way the World Really Works, or Should.

He may not have a lot of university book-larnin', but I will stack his analytical skills up against pretty much any of today's liberal arts faculty. He's a perfect spokesman for Half-Price Books. When I call him an "intellectual," I mean he has a thirst for learning, and when he acquires it, he digests it in a very non-ideological way. He sometimes plays the Muser Liberal, but I'm not buying it. If you really listen to his (admittedly rare) serious broadcasting on issues, I daresay you would have a difficult time pegging him as a liberal or as a conservative. Hell, he's even had some kind words for Rush Limbaugh, recognizes what is powerful and appealing about the man (and what is bombastic and offensive). He's skeptical of government, the control of the many by the few, but exhibits what I, at least, hear as sympathy for those whose unfortunate condition is out of their hands. Gordon is what I would call a "classical liberal" -- remember, the Enlightenment philosophers behind the American Revolution were "liberals" -- as opposed to today's "social liberal." I don't know who the guy voted for, but I sure don't hear much admiration for Obama, nor did I hear much contempt for Romney. I really do think that if you make a serious effort to discern what Gordon "really thinks," you're going to find a guy who listens to all sides and uses plain old common sense to make up his own mind.  Unlike many of today's "real" intellectuals, academics, pundits, those types, Gordon is not in the grip of ideology.

This, I think, is the foundation of his comedy.

I used the word in the previous post: Gordon Keith is observant. He is a watcher, a listener. He soaks it up and writes it down, without judgment. The whole world is fodder for his voice and pen. This may sound obvious and treacly -- all comics are observant -- but Gordon couldn't do what he does, certainly not in the volume he does it, if his mind only bent a certain way.

And now I'm going to go out on a limb (surprise).

I think Gordon's bottomless curiosity has a price.

I sense a deep but distinctive streak of melancholy in Gordon. It doesn't come out, often, in his comedy. As I write this, I realize I don't really have much in the way of evidence for it. But the observer who is also a reporter (I mean a reporter through comedy, not a Muse/News reporter) with Gordon's wide range of subjects can find it difficult to keep contacts with any of the many worlds he mines for material:  male/female, right/left, black/white/brown, young/old, rich/poor.  His humor, because it is so wide-ranging, so "moderate," if you will, isolates him.

I know nothing, absolutely not one thing, about his personal life.  But I would be surprised if he does a lot of palling around with palsy-walsies, belongs to organizations, has a whole bunch of close friends.  I don't mean he's a complete loner strange-o, yeah, he has friends, sure.  But I think his intellectual and comedic restlessness manifests itself in restlessness generally -- and what we know to be a certain lack of personal organization, an unwillingness to plan ahead.  And not exactly a fear of commitment, but a wariness of what commitment to anything or anyone means -- it means drawing a curtain across a window to observation, blocking off a comedic avenue, settling on something that needs continuing evaluation.

So I would invite the Confessor to give Gordon a break.  I thank those commenters who have observed that with Gordon the P1 has been given a very great gift.   We don't have to like everything he does, and I don't.  But what he does is hard work, he does it incredibly well most of the time (and again -- at an extraordinary pace) and, I am suggesting, he performs it at a considerable psychological cost.

I think Gordon Keith is a good guy.  I consider it a privilege to hear him every day and read him every week.

*     *     *

Do I have a second?  All in favor?  Hearing no objections, I declare Gordon Keith Week at a close.  

*     *     *

I will be away all week.  Take good care of the joint.  I'll be checking in probably once daily to chase away the babyarm people but other than that not back for a bit, maybe toss in a comment.  Anything dramatic happens on the air, please let us know. Be kind to one another.

And hey, you Gordon-dislikers.  Your opinion is respected here.  All I ask is that you keep things civil.

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ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

The Long-Promised Gordon Keith Article -- Part 1 of . . . Who Knows!!?? As Gordon Keith Week Continues to Mature



Everyone has a view of Gordon Keith.  A few days ago, I posted birdie's account of his evolving view of the man.  Very nice, balanced piece.  He has the advantage of me, as he's been listening for many years longer than I have.  You will see a lot in here that birdie's already reported; many of his views and mine are congruent.

Some Confessors just don't like the guy much at all, but with only few exceptions, they recognize his talent.  Those talents are considerable and, in my judgment, borderline amazing. 

First, there's just the comedy content, which, for many, focuses on his impressions.  They are indeed very good, and in some cases uncanny.  Are you aware that he has two Jerry Jones impersonations?  There's the comic foghorn Jerry that we're all familiar with.  And, every once in awhile, very rarely, he'll favor the P1 with his "real" impersonation where he backs off a little and that is absolutely dead on with the Jerry you hear -- well, you hear everywhere.

Garrett.  Hicks.  Norm.  Nolan.

And there are the characters which, when listed, current and retired, soar into the dozens upon dozens, very few of them sounding like another  .

And think about the sheer volume of material he has to come up with -- a lot of which he composes during the show.

I'm like most of you -- I hear some things from time to time that I'd have left on the shelf.  I mentioned a week or so back that I heard something awhile back that I did think went over the line.  I wrote a column on it, but shelved it myself.  It was the Doug Free character (no evidence I know of that it was an actual impersonation).  Since this column is basically a rave, I'll cut and paste it here:

Let me make one thing clear.

I laughed at Gordon's Doug Free bit during Kowboy Komedy Theater (I know, I didn't tune in, but they replayed it the next day).  I laughed at it again during the 8:40 bit back a week or so ago.  I guess maybe that's two things to make clear.

I will also make clear that I am aware that Doug Free, after receiving yet another one of Jerry Jones's incomprehensibly gaudy contract extensions, may have devolved into the worst offensive lineman in the Niffle.  I don't recall having heard anything about him being injured or that there is any other explanation for his poor play other than just plain bad football playing.

So I cannot deny that, as a prominent local underperforming professional athlete,  he is fair game for Gordon.

But is anyone else out there uncomfortable with his (again, concededly, hilarious) portrayal of Doug Free as a drooling, brain-damaged maroon?   Most of Gordon's impersonations are pointed, but only rarely are they vicious.  

So, alls I'm saying is -- I'm uncomfortable with it in the same way I'm uncomfortable with teasing of any unsatisfactory person that crosses the line from wit to cruelty. 

True, I laughed out loud.

But I'm not happy about it.

I think this summarizes what a lot of us think about Gordon.  Our jaws drop at his output and talent, but once in awhile we're mortified at the juvenalia -- which, at their heart, I think pieces like the Doug Free segments boil down to.

Having said this, I want to defend Gordon against charges of on-air bullying.  Maybe I'm not thinking of the same instances that other listeners are, but I think those critics are referring to his selection of unsuspecting interview subjects during his wireless perambulations.  It's true:  Some of them are drunk old men; some of them are silly young girls; all of them can be made to look foolish and sad to the with-it masses tuned in to the program.   I will concede that those are not my favorite Gordon segments, either.  But I believe all of these subjects know they're either on the air or being recorded, and if they're uncomfortable with Gordon doing his insinuating thing , asking about their sex lives and whatnot (more juvenalia), they can turn away from the mic or beat feet.

I do sometimes hear some, uh, shall we say, pointed remarks to the behind-the-scenes guys.  There's the "wanna shut that mike off, buddy?" drop, and there are other occasions where he's plainly unhappy with something going on behind the scenes.  I sense he's not a JV favorite.  We like to think of The Ticket as a bunch of guys who all get along, but the inside baseball there would probably astound us.  I'm going to come back to this, but on this particular point I'll only say this:  When your entire on-air time partakes of performance, and not just conversation, then things like timing and freedom from interruption are important.  If the toys don't work, or a drop plops in at the wrong place, or a JV inserts some snark -- well, it can screw up the gag. 

But I think we would also have to concede that there is very little of this.  The great mass of his production is quality stuff and within the bounds of comedic taste.  Yeah, there's the occasional miss, but, like Alan Swann (the Errol Flynn-like character from "My Favorite Year" played by Peter O'Toole) said while in extremis:  "Dying is easy; comedy is hard."  (The original quote to this effect, not nearly so pithy, is attributed to deathbed statements of Edmund Kean and/or Edmund Gwenn, the latter seeming to have the better claim.)  Not every bit is going to kill, especially when the bitmeister is called upon to produce like Gordon is.

I'm also impressed by his writing.  His DMNews columns are funny, but they can also be quite touching, and frequently very observant.  (If all you had was the evidence of his column, you would call him a "humorist.")  I wish I could think of the one a few months back that really moved me.   I would think some clever person (Wilonsky?) would be making an effort to syndicate his column, although it might have to lose the occasional DFW flavoring.

I'm going to say one more nice thing about Gordon before I get to my Big Point:  Gordon is always adjusting his game.  I think he listens to the P1.  birdie got to this point very nicely when he talked about Gordon's, and his own, journey down through The Ticket years.  I'll only mention one example, and unfortunately it's going to sound self-aggrandizing but here it is anyway:  I really didn't care for the way he used to bait George by attributing to him anti-gay/black/Mexican/etc. sentiments that he did not hold.  I didn't mind the political teasing -- it's just that it would bring the show to a complete halt while we all waited for George to say "that's not my opinion," and there would be an awkward pause, and jeesh.  He used it a lot.  I wrote about it a couple times, here's one:  MEMORANDUM TO: That Certain Commander.  Well, there's still that political teasing, but you almost never hear the baiting anymore.  Gordon is always fixing, tinkering, ridding out.  He cares more about the laugh than the showing off.

And Gordon mentioned in the mini-interview in The Observer that he's thinking of heading in a new direction.  I believe it.  Of course, anything -- including pronouncements of new directions -- can be a bit with Gordon.

OK, I know, not much new here, long way to go for not much.  Welcome to My Ticket Confession!  Time for the Big Point.

But I, personally, am having such a good time here during Gordon Keith Week -- and I can really feel the warm feelings out there among the Confessors! -- that I'm going to keep GKW going for at least one more episode.

We Suffer Yet Another Unconscionable Interruption in Gordon Keith Week to Bring You a Spirited Defense of "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"

Corby has made something of a recent career out of sneering at Mike's taste in -- well, everything.  This may be frequently overlooked.  But when he pooh-poohed the incomparable "Dobie Gillis," based on stories by the very funny writer Max Shulman, I had to say something.  (Shulman's Barefoot Boy with Cheek was one of the comedy inspirations of my youth. Since it's about college life in the 1940's (no, I'm not that old), probably dated now.) 

The show featured the teenaged (at first) Dobie (Dwayne Hickman) longing after unattainable girls.  His pal was Maynard G. Krebs, played very memorably by Bob Denver.  The cast, in fact, was a showpiece of comic acting.  Dobie's dad was played by the perpetually cranky Frank Faylen and his mother by the protective Florida Friebus, who you will recall as one of Bob Newhart's addled "group" patients on "The Bob Newhart Show"

who may have been the only onscreen couple both of whom had alliterative "F" names.  You're familiar with the iconic images of Maynard, allergic to work (which word he would repeat, shrieking, whenever he heard it), a bongo-playing beatnik (here with Dwayne Hickman as Dobie).

In its first season, Dobie's romantic rival was one Milton Armitage, played by Warren Beatty (here in a scene with Mel Blanc):

(The next time you would have seen him back then is in Elia Kazan's "Splendor in the Grass" with Natalie Wood.)  But for me, the two most memorable characters are Zelda Gilroy, played by Sheila James.  She pined after Dobie, who resisted her advances.  After her acting career, she became a lesbian activist, and, as Shelia Kuehl, has held several elective offices in California.

  

As it turns out, her character (because of her brains and, uh, plainness) became something of an inspiration for ambitious young women of the time.  The other was Steve Franken, who played Warren Beatty's successor rich-kid rival as Chatsworth Osborne, Jr.  (He passed away last August.)

Directed by the legendary Rod Amateau.  Guest stars galore:  Barbara Bain, Michael J. Pollard, Ronnie Howard, Sally Kellerman, Rose Marie, Bill Bixby, Richard Deacon, Norman Fell, Jack Albertson, Michele Lee, Mel Blanc, Jo Anne Worley.

 All right.  Those names may not mean much to you now.  And you may not think they're funny.  But at the time, the show was a hit.  It aired almost as many episodes as "The Dick Van Dyke Show," its approximate contemporary.  Are you gonna bust a gut watching "Dobie Gillis"?  No, not now.  But you have to watch the thing through the lens of the late fifties and early sixties.  I don't know if it was revolutionary, but it was the only show I can think of from that era about teenagers (Hickman was in his 20's when it was filmed).  Mike R is right:  Bob Denver is funnier in this show than he ever was in "Gilligan."  It's a gentle humor, not a place to turn for dick jokes.

I caught up with some clips and episodes on You Tube as I was writing this.  Still gave me a smile.

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

WE INTERRUPT GORDON KEITH WEEK TO BRING YOU THE NEWS THAT CUMULUS IS SHEDDING 104.1

Thanks to Confessor BBQ for this news:

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/119986/cumulus-spins-off-dallas-area-fm

Here is a comment from radioInsight  (http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/84092/cumulus-sells-dfw-rimshot/):

"The station currently rebroadcasts Sports '1310 The Ticket' KTCK to the northern suburbs of the Dallas/Fort Worth market.

The sale price will come in two parts. At closing of this sale, Cumulus will receive $100. Whitley will then turn around and resell the station at which point Cumulus will receive all proceeds from that sale minus all expenses incurred in the operation of the station and from marketing and reselling the station.

William Whitley, the owner of Whitley Media, is a broker with Media Services Group. KTDK is a Class C3 operating with 6.2kW at 192 meters.

INSTANT INSIGHT: With Cumulus being at the ownership limit in Dallas and the way this sale is being structured it makes us wonder if they needed to quickly divest their worst signal in the market in order to make room for the acquisition of another."

This is either real bad news (incredibly scruddy Ticket aggregate signal gets even scruddier, unless there's some arrangement to keep broadcasting on 104.1 -- at this writing Ticket still on 104.1) or real good news (Cumulus gloms some other, better, signal and puts The Ticket on it).

Your Plainsman spends a fair amount of time on 104.1 so this is of extreme interest to this site.  Even though radioInsight calls the station a "rimshot."  It's MY rimshot.

Yes, if our radio guru DA has any poop on this, we respectfully request that he dump it here forthwith.

Thanks, and stand by.

PS:  After you have digested this news, flip back to the just-prior article and read birdie's Gordon Keith observations and Confessor commentary if you haven't already.  Thanks.

It's Gordon Keith Week on MTC -- the Fun Continues!!

I don't know about you, but I have hardly been able to contain my delight at the festivities surrounding Gordon Keith Week on My Ticket Confession.  I'm working on a piece that will wrap things up in a few days, but in the meantime, I'm cutting and pasting a comment from Confessor birdie from about a month ago.  I thought it was really perceptive and, in fact, pieces of it mirror my own current feelings about Gordon.  It is also very well-written.  I reproduce it here because of its excellence and also because I'm not ready with any new material.  My thanks to birdie for his or her (I know, I know, 98% chance of birdie being a "his") anticipated approval:

As someone who was in his early twenties when The Ticket went on the air, I'd like to think that I grew up--in many senses of the term--with one Todd Gordon Keith.

My "relationship" with Gordo has been rocky. During the first handful of years of The Ticket, Gordon was my hero. To me he was the smartest and funniest guy in the room, hands down. Anyone who thought otherwise was either a fool or jealous of the man, or both. And I was certain that SNL or some other big time gig was just around the corner.

I used to record both The Musers and THL on cassettes each day. Almost solely for the sake of Gordon. (Back then he did a lot of bits for THL, some exclusively, like Microphone Johnson.) I see my early admiration for Gordo in many of the (mostly) younger commenters here at MTC who extol the greatness of Jake and a few others. Even though I might not always agree with those opinions, trust me, I get them. However, once I hit my early 30s things began to change.

Whether it was a case of getting older, a bit wiser, or due to the fact that I had returned to college seeking a graduate degree that required several intensive seminars in philosophy/logic and psychology, I don't know. But I do know that it was at this time I began to see some serious chinks in what heretofore I had thought to be golden armor. I started to notice how a lot of his humor was predicated on the tearing down, and at times the emotional destruction, of others. A tearing down that involved finding the weakest spot on the weakest individual who happens to be around. I also began to find his knowledge of certain topics lacking and his way of argumentation uncharitable, unfair, and at times fallacious.

In short: much of what made Gordo my hero I now saw in a negative light. I now saw more of a bully and pseudo-intellectual, and less a brilliant comedic mind who also has a more serious, intellectual side. Sure, I still loved the characters; I still laughed out loud at a lot of what Gordo would say; but now with reservation. When he would start to talk philosophy, psychology, and especially politics, I would get angry and/or turn the dial until the segment was over. It was barstool buzz talk trying to pass itself off as meaningful conversation.

Now entering into my early 40s, I have found a middle ground. But part of my finding a middle ground is due to Gordon himself appearing to have discovered some of his own inconsistencies and his inclination to treat others as a means to his comedic/egotistical ends. Gordo seems to have grown up over the last two years. I've no idea as to why. Natural maturation? Epiphany? Personal matters that opened his eyes? Who knows. The only times he bullies these days is when he's in an all-skate situation--e.g., a GNO or a Ticketstock roundtable or when he joins in on The Orphanage at the Greenville Ave St. Patty's Day Parade remote. Even then he is openly and immediately remorseful when he does pounce on some unwitting person, some innocent bystander.

We now get a Gordo who is, at least in my opinion, open and honest in relating his insecurities and regrets. In these admissions, he has touched on his tendency to attack the weak, the passive; he has also (and more often) spoke of his regrets; and there has been an owning up or two of seeing things through a rather narrow lens, while erroneously believing the lens to be wide. I've come to realize that for all of his faults, all of his contradictions, his life being off limits but others decidedly not, and all the rest, Gordo is a special talent; he is an honest seeker of what makes humans tick; he is a gifted mimic (no easy feat); he does have a wicked and quick wit; and while a bit too unbridled for its own good, a sound thinker.

In short, he is the guy I first "met" in 1994, only grown/growing up. While I don't have his skill set or gifts, when I reflect back, I too have grown up with him. Once I began to look at it in this way, I realized it was time to revisit my thoughts on the man and put them aright.

 

*     *     *

 

Very very nice, birdie, just the kind of attitude I'm hoping to spread with this site.  And some really sound insights on Gordon.  My thanks for the time you took to contribute your thoughts to the site.

 

*     *     *

 

ThePlainsman1310@gmail

@Plainsman1310







It's Gordon Keith Week on MTC!

Well, I was going to put this off for awhile, but I see that I cannot.  The Observer is forcing my hand.

We'll kick off the celebration with a link to The Observer's piece on him in their "People" issue, together with its rather  .  .  .  intimidating image.  Gordon has to be one of the the somberest-photographed funnymen I can recall.  Think Mark Twain's stern portraits.

The Secret Sage

There will be at least two more pieces on Gordon to follow this one, so you may want to hold your Gordon STDs for a bit.

But if I know you, you won't.

In the meantime, I found the Observer's short piece to be quite, well -- observant.

We know of Gordon's LHO obsession -- but I'm moved to wonder if the foundational link isn't driving through Dallas in convertibles.

BREAKING: Unless Gordon Has Made Off with Bob's Laptop . . .

BaD radio is staying with The Ticket, per Bob's tweet.

Why Cumulus Needs to Damn Sign Up Bob and Dan Within the Next Few Hours

(Will Norm get credit in tomorrow's grammar books for being the first public figure to use "damn" to modify verbs?)

 

*     *     *

 

The prairie is ablaze, and Your Plainsman's on fire.

 

 

*     *     *

 

Dear Lew,

 

May I call you Lew?  No?

 

So Lew, I know you need to save money, but, based on no evidence, I'm going to assume for purposes of this open letter that you do care about The Ticket and you want to see it thrive for as long as possible.  I know that you know it is a jewel in a very tarnished crown and that you are very fortunate to have acquired it in the Susquehanna deal.  It not only dominates DFW radio in the prize demo, it is one of the most famous radio stations in the United States.  In fact, based on podcast downloads and online listening, it is it one of the most famous and popular radio stations in the world.  You've done your best to starve it of resources -- those allowing it to be heard in its home city, for example -- but it continues to thrash all comers.

 

I'm not going to beat you down about the short run, except to say:

 

(1)   They are amazing talents -- yes, both of them -- and you should keep them in your stable.  An obvious point, but perhaps lost in the money talk.

 

(2)   Bob and Dan's departure would have effects at the station well beyond having to fill in the noon-to-three slot.  Letting Bob and Dan go would expose the essential fragility of The Ticket's success.  Bob and Dan going says -- hey, if they can go, anyone can go.  I'm not talking about the other hosts, who are very unlikely to go anywhere, I'm talking about the long-suffering group that we here at My Ticket Confession call the Junior Varsity.  The JV contains quite a number of extremely talented people who are frequently discussed in these pages as Ticket-worthy successors to the current hosts.   Dime a dozen?  Not the good ones, and the Ticket's are not only good, they are a critical element of the success of the shows bearing the names of others.  The good ones are there because it is The Ticket and that's where the good talent wants to be around here.  If they perceive that The Ticket has been dealt a blow, and that they can make even a little more money elsewhere -- why not CBS? -- because to them, a little more money is probably a large percentage of what you're paying them -- they'll start to trickle out, too, and while you can replace them, you'll replace them only to lose the next batch as The Ticket declines (see below).   Whoever would have thought Kevin Turner would blaze that trail?

 

(3)   Morale will suffer among on-air talent.  Hosts will not feel the same about The Ticket.  They will say that they do, but they will not.  You think the CTO -- that's "Cumulo-Ticket Overlords" in these parts -- are disrespected on the air now?  I can see Mike Rhyner starting to call the place "The Littler Ticket."   The Ticket against the World?  Don't look now, but the World just turned a quarter of your army against you.  Failure to make a creative deal with Bob and Dan will say to them, "Cumulus just put Brett Blankenship in charge of corporate strategic planning."  They will understand what until recently has only been guessed at, which is that nothing will ever get better at The Ticket -- things will only get worse because Cumulus will not do what it must do on any front to keep the thing solid and growing.

 

So, as I say, I assume you can see all the obvious things about the short run.

 

No, I'm going to beat you down about the medium run. 

 

Lew, you look like a pretty smart guy to me.

 

 

 

Don't think about two years from now.

 

Think about four, five years from now.

 

(1) Musers:  According to this site's readers, based on some fairly well-sourced information, Junior Miller is already loose in the socket.  I don't know how long you have him tied up, but surely not much past 2017-18.   (I'll call you Shirley if I want; it's my blog.)   He's gone, and George will have no one to Muse with, assuming he even wants to.  (That's George Dunham, another of your most valuable employees.)   That show is mortally wounded even if George and Gordon -- yes, Gordon Keith, the one who got into it with Nasty Nestor, but that's not important now -- would presume to carry on without the Fred Astaire of Dallas radio.   Fred Ast -- never mind.

 

(2) Norm:  Surely not past five years.

 

(3) The Hardline:  Nope, Mike will almost certainly be done by age 67 and maybe sooner, maybe by New Years 2015.  He'll have created and given public face to The Ticket and done The Hardline for over two decades, with plenty of dough, side projects, and the thanks of a grateful DFW, or that portion of it reached by the incredibly crappy signal you've continued to stick them with.  (That's another open letter.)

 

If you make a deal today, you'll still have Bob and Dan, perhaps already killing it in PM drive, you'll have indicated possession of the foresight that will encourage talent to stay or to come to The Ticket as the legacy shows serially reach the end of their runs, and with BaD Radio as the foundation to sustain the miracle that is The Ticket.

 

Lew, I know you can do this.  I've read the CBA (local inside joke; ask Bob) and you do not have to let this talent nip off to the Goliath rival who, so far, has spent its days picking your rocks out of its forehead.  Creative business leaders would find a way to make this happen.  You not  only need to give Bob and Dan a deal, you need to give them a real, real long deal.  Seven years, at least.   

 

Cumulus didn't get where it is by divesting stuff.

 

So, in the medium run:

 

 

If you don't make a deal with Bob and Dan in the next few hours, you won't have dick.

 

You'll only have Dickey.

 

Yr mst hmb'l & ob't sv't,

 

The Plainsman

 

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ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

So, What's Going On?

You're asking ME?

We've had some fun the past couple of days.  The whole thing is wearing Your Plainsman out.

But I'm always ready to speculate.

Those of you who have followed this site for awhile have surmised that in my job I encounter internal business decisional processes.  I've never encountered one quite like the one facing Cumulus right now, but it seems to me that if Richie Whitt's suggestions are accurate, we might have some notion of what is happening this weekend.

First, we may surmise that what is going on is governed in large degree by their current contracts.  I don't recall seeing anywhere that their contracts are in fact expiring, and what's happening now does not necessarily suggest that they are.  It is not impossible that their current agreements allow them to receive offers from other stations during the term of that agreement which Cumulus would have the opportunity to match, although that would be unusual.  More than likely, Cumulus has that right if Bob and Dan wish to go elsewhere at the end of the contract term.

[PS:  I have a specific reason for wondering about whether Bob and Dan's contracts are at an end, and that is the six-month noncompete we're hearing about.  It is not impossible that there is a noncompete that would take effect at the end of a mere contract expiration/nonrenwal, but those are of questionable validity unless very carefully drafted and supported by specific types of consideration -- Texas law is notoriously unclear on this subject.   A noncompete would have more teeth in the event Bob and Dan quit in the middle of a contract term.  And frankly, since parties frequently don't like to think real hard about the end of a relationship when a contract is being negotiated, a lot of times separation provisions tend to be somewhat general and vague.]

What does this mean?  What's happening?

Well, first thing is, Bob and Dan must take some kind of written offer back to Cumulus so they will know what they need to match.  Which means that CBS has to have made them a written offer.

So they take it back to Cumulus and say, here ya go.

What are Cumulus's rights at this point?

Of course, I don't know what their contract provides, but I think it is unlikely that even if Cumulus matches, Bob and Dan would be required to stay at The Ticket.   No employer wants high-profile employees to stay if they're itching to go, even on the identical terms offered by the competitor.  The employees have indicated their desire to go, and the employer feels held up.  Bad scene.   Personal services are not like other types of contract, where requiring a party to continue with a contract if terms were matched would not create the same kind of internal discomfort (renewing an exclusive product supply contract, for example.)   So if they're gonna stay, it's gonna have to be on terms where they're real damned happy and The Ticket is achieving some other strategic objective -- smiles all around.

The flip side of this is that Bob and Dan are not required to take the CBS offer, even if Cumulus does not mirror the terms of the CBS offer.  The CBS "offer" is only that -- an offer.  CBS cannot unilaterally create a contract (unless Bob and Dan have independently promised to go to CBS if Cumulus doesn't mirror the offer, which would not be prudent for reasons I'll get to in a minute.)   My suspicion is that rather than an "option" to get Bob and Dan to say by matching, this is more like what parties sometimes call a "right of negotiation," an opportunity to get a gander at a competing offer and then the ability to negotiate terms that would persuade Bob and Dan to stay voluntarily.

Another reason for thinking that this is not a lock-step procedure is that personal services agreements are frequently not just dollars and cents.  There may be incentives and promises that the current employer couldn't possibly meet because it doesn't have the same setup as the competitor.  So I'm thinking this is more like "if you've got an offer to go somewhere else, you've got to bring to us and give  us a chance to persuade you to stay with a new deal you'd like."  This is not an unfavorable thing for Bob and Dan, because it means that the competitor is going to have to come up with one helluvan offer to discourage the employer from trying to keep the employees.

If I'm right that it's not a strict "option" type of renewal clause, it is a good thing for people wanting Bob and Dan to stay (including me), because it gives Cumulus the flexibility to put together a package for Bob and Dan that include incentives other than, or in addition to, the ones offered by CBS.  Maybe even less money, but other goodies that Bob and Dan would find attractive.  This is why Bob and Dan should not have made any side deal with CBS to accept the offer if Cumulus doesn't mirror.

So that's what's happening this weekend, if Cumulus hasn't already punted.  Lots and lots of lawyers, plus agents for Bob and Dan.  There might even be a bidding war going on.

What might an appealing BaD package include?

Confessors have speculated that Bob and Dan might be promised PM drive, which would almost require some kind of promise that Mike would be retiring at the end of his current term (late 2014 -- speculation) -- or perhaps well before; after the 20th anniversary?  (Did someone say they heard Danny or someone say "RIP Corby" or the like?)   This would be possible in the scenario I suggest.  It also would require Mike's participation in this whole scene.  And his willingness to consider something like this may have been the inspiration for Dan's sudden sentimentality in addressing his "leader," the not-all-that-Old Grey Wolf.

So:  I'm thinking this is not strictly a "Cumulus has the opportunity to match" scenario.  It's probably more like "Cumulus has the right to see CBS's written offer and try to make a deal."

But  .  .  .  incredible as it may seem, I could be wrong.  But unless Cumulus has already said adios, this is probably one sizzling weekend in the inner sanctum of the CTO and various lawyers, agents, HR types, and, of course, the very talented gentlemen under discussion.

I'm not seeing anything online suggesting that this game is over.  So at present, I'm not getting too excited about wondering who will do middays.

Let's hope the CTO deal CBS yet another disappointment.

*     *     *

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

Let's All Take a Deep Breath

So, is something afoot involving The Ticket, or isn't there?

Well, nothing happened yesterday, to my knowledge.

I would be tempted to say "sorry, irresponsible blogmeister reliance on anonymous sources here, my bad," and move on.

Except that Richie Whitt also thinks something big involving The Ticket is in the works, something he thinks he can keep the lid on until after the weekend.  Something that will "change the landscape" of DFW radio as we've  known it for "three decades."  Yeah, yeah, I know, it's Richie, but Richie is dialed in.  I don't think he'd stick his neck out unless he had something, or thought he did.

And except that yesterday's Summa Bash was really, really weird.  Odd hostly behaviors, unexplained references, awkward silences, Dan sentimentality, all wrapped around a catastrophic Scott Ferrall monopolization of at least two segments. 

And a peculiar reaction to a Jer drop -- I heard the Musers beating feet away from the drop, but didn't hear the drop.  I gather it was Mike R-flavored.

So we continue to speculate.  To sum up, not in order of likelihood:

(1)  Signal change, or signal swap.

(2)  CBS/Cumulus merger or acquisition.

(3)  Mark Cuban involvement somehow, perhaps a purchase of Cumulus.  (Lack of movement of Cumulus share price yesterday suggests no rumblings in the financial community that would indicate either (2) or (3), so they're kinda off the list.)

(4)  Retirement of Mike Rhyner or Norm Hitzges.

(5)  (4), accompanied by BaD taking over PM drive.  (No PM commuters reported to have jumped off the High 5, so it's kinda off the list.  [Just kidding, BaD.])

(6)  BaD's demise resulting from Bob's going off to do something else or Dan leaving, or something. 

(7)  The return of The Hammer, or reconciliation with Mike.  

(8)  Richie Whitt's affiliation with The Ticket.

(9)  Syndication of some of all of The Ticket.

(10)  The whole damned station is gay.  OK, I made that one up.

(11)  60% of the station is gay.

 

In evaluating these possibilities, I tend to throw out (2) and (3) for the reasons stated, and (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), and (11) as not sufficiently seismic.  Mike's retirement (or departure) would certainly be a landmark of DFW radio, whether or not accompanied by BaD's ascension to drive, as would moving The Ticket to a legacy signal (displacing its no-doubt longtime occupant).  Mikeish news would also tend to explain the cockeyed vibe surrounding Summa Bash.

 



 

But I keep coming back to Gypo Nolan's advice to "face Morton's Fork" and trying to puzzle out what it means.  (Confessors have started to turn on the estimable Gypo for his failure to be more forthcoming and for his obscurantism in this case.   I'm still intrigued, although I'm not sure what is says about me that I'm willing to give a guy named "Gypo" the benefit of the doubt.)   Earlier on, Gypo advised that something was either going to happen yesterday, or not happen at all, which, of course, is tautological -- he can't be wrong.  But maybe what he meant by "facing Morton's Fork" was to hark back to that tautology -- something big was going to happen yesterday, but the fact that it didn't means that it isn't -- at least not in the form or at the time Gypo expected it to. 

 

In which case, we've all had a real good time, and this site has gained some new readers on a pretty flimsy pretext.

 

The least I can do for my readers is to provide an image of
former Ticket Traffic Twist Alexis Smith -- HEY, MAYBE
SHE'S COMING BACK!  Now that would change a
landscape or two around here.

The speculation may continue, and if anything comes my way that I'm able to share, I'll let you know.

 

Y'all do the same.

 

*     *     *

 

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310



The Ticket. Mark Cuban. Big Deal. No, I Really Mean, Big Deal.

Mark Cuban buying Cumulus is not such an odd idea.  It might be a bargain for him.

Richie Whitt is teasing a scoop for next week stating that something's in the work that will re-shape the radio landscape we've known for three decades.

My only clue the Cuban is involved comes from the mysterious Confessor known as Gypo Nolan, who made reference to October 28, 1962 -- the day the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved.

I have no other scoops or clues and certainly no inside information.

But think about this for a minute:

As of today, the market capitalization of Cumulus is $585 million.  (That's the value of all its stock at the current market price.) 

It is nowhere near beyond imagining that Cuban could put an investor group together to purchase (or tender for) those shares, albeit at some premium to that price.  Or maybe just the Dickeys' shares.

Yeah, that's a lot of money. 

But folks, that is approximately how much Nolan/Greenburg paid for the Rangers ($385M cash plus assumed debt of $205M = $590M), outbidding a group of which Mark Cuban became a significant part.  There's a lot of money sloshing around among Cuban and his friends, money that could be put to work rehabilitating a mismanaged property bought on the cheap.

Although Cumulus stock is down slightly today, suggesting no rumblings of a buyout amongst those in the know.

I will point out to you, however, that Cumulus has been shedding talent like crazy around the country, and the general feeling is that the Dickeys overpaid for Citadel and other acquisitions and are now in some distress.

So it's not crazy to speculate that Mark Cuban may purchase Cumulus.

Wrong, maybe, in keeping with this site's track record, but not crazy.

 

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Email:  ThePlainsman@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Is Mark Cuban Doing Something Amazing with The Ticket Today?

Our mysterious insider Gypo Nolan has made an oblique reference to something akin -- or of equal significance -- to the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis occurring today.

At first I focused on "crisis."  But perhaps it's "Cuban."

That's all I know.

But I like to get out front on stuff, even if I'm wrong.

An Anonymous Perspective on the Greggo, Richie And Sybil Smackdown (GRASS)

This is too good not to highlight for Confessors.  From an Anonymous commenter to the last post, I offer the following.  Yes, it could be made up, I could be a sap.  But it's not sensationalistic, it has the ring of truth.  Best, it gives us a very helpful framework for considering both Greg's and Richie's account.  Bosses change, and what was OK one day might not be OK the next.

Accounting for everyone's claimed shock at their sacking.

It basically tells a story of the inmates running the asylum, sponsors stopping by for a look-see, but those who stick around sometimes thinking they're more inside than they really are.  Result:  breakdown of professionalism and discipline.  Sometimes no choice but to get out the brooms, which CBS eventually determined to do.

Here's the comment from Anonymous, who has my thanks:

Talked to a buddy of mine today who is in the industry. No he doesn't work for any of the sports stations. Nor does he work for Cumulus or CBS. But the insight and bits of scuttlebutt he gave me were interesting so I thought I'd pass them along.

Ratings and RaGE. Whitt has always maintained that it's advertising dollars that matter, not ratings. Well ratings don't matter as much as we think and so they're not the end all be all measure of success. Buddy says that's partly true but it's a bit misleading. The 2 go hand in hand. Without ratings sponsors will eventually look elsewhere. CBS is big enough to keep finding clients willing to give them a shot, but the bigger clients usually leave as soon as their contract is up. Most of RaGE's sponsors were on the nickel and dime plan and the few that remained for a long period of time ended up being friends of the show, which can and from what buddy says in a few cases did become problematic. Wanting special favors, access, deals, and stuff like that. 

Also told that from what he's heard for months now, way before the firing went down, that this move had been in the works for a long time. Long before Whitt's Nov. 15th Greggo Armageddon that he writes about. Kinda like the ads, RaGE and the management before Spittle and the receptionists and everyone else had all gotten way too close. It was an unprofessional and unproductive work environment. Everyone was having way too good of a time, but in their own ways. Everything was OK'd and permitted by the 2 regimes prior to Spittle. The proverbial other way was looked on just about everything for every member involved. So when Whitt says his relationship and all the rest was approved by management he speaks the truth. But that was the problem. You can't have such a permissive work place and still think it's going to end well. When you have people like Williams and Whitt, guys who will take advantage of a situation, though one obviously in a much different and disturbing way than the other, and such an anything goes work environment the outcome won't be good and it wasn't. After re reading Whitt's last two blog posts and looking at the Twitter material it's very obvious that my buddy while maybe not in the direct know, does know enough to have the gist of the heart of the matter. Some of that Twitter material and some of the things said are the sorts of things that any properly or sanely run work place steers well clear of. Unless you want HR involved in a nanosecond.

Basically Spittle was brought in to clean up and clean house. That meant RaGE. Buddy says he's heard that there will be more changes but nothing mind blowing like The Ticket and The FAN merging or the whole thing going national. Spittle is most likely watching each show closely until around mid July and at that time see who if anyone needs to be replaced by new talent.

Thanks again, Anonymous.  Although you neglected to pass along what your pal said about this site's and its readers' immense influence on the DFW sports/guy radio scene.

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CONFIDENTIAL TO RICHIE WHITT:  Richie, I'm sure you're too busy to visit some of your favorite websites, but in case you swing by here:  You have got, got, got to get rid of the charcoal background to your comment section with its black typeface.  Or get rid of the black typeface and go to white.   Why make your readers any more sour towards you than some of them, at least, are already inclined to be?

Let me know if you need a consult on cultivating a highbrow online community of readers.  

Two Pretty Quick Hits [CORRECTED]

I've heard like close to zero Ticket over the past week.  Family and work obligations, and that may linger for a bit.  Here are a couple of quick ones to fluff up the string a bit.  You can tell it's lame, because the second one is sportsy, always dangerous.

(1) One of the few segments I did hear was The Shake Joint's interview of CNN's Ed Lavandera on Sunday.  Wow.  I did not hear the beginning so I wasn't sure about how this interview came about, but it was outstanding.  Very interesting, and very professional.  I only heard Jake doing the interviewing, so I'm not sure if Sean was a part of this segment.  I especially liked the line of questioning about the moral dilemma of whether a newsman should participate in an event when there is a human need.

I asked myself -- what other show would, or could, do this?   I wouldn't mind hearing more off-sports interviews on The Ticket, but who the heck is going to do them?  Assuming they played it straight (an always shaky assumption), I can imagine two other guys being able to pull this off as well -- Gordon and Dan.   (Why Dan?  I don't know -- he's got a very penetrating intelligence and could be counted on to get to the the nub of the gist, without regard to his current-events knowledge.)  

But someone, presumably Jake, reached out to this guy or CNN, and landed it with great distinction.  What does this tell us?  Continue to keep an eye on Mr. Kemp. 

Nice work. 

[CORRECTION:  I have been reliably informed that the interview was conducted by both Jake and Sean, and booked by Sean.  In my defense, the only part I heard at proper volume and without interruption was the part I mentioned, and only heard the balance with the radio turned down and Mrs. Plainsman and a smallish child simultaneously giving me instructions as I tried to keep the Conestoga in the ruts.  Thanks to my reliable informant for the better information and apologies to Sean for failing to note his contribution.  Better keep an eye on him as well.]

(2)  MY WRONG THEORY ABOUT THE RANGERS' SWOON

It's not injuries.

It's not the departure of Michael Young, Mike Napoli, Josh Hamilton.

It's not questionable bullpen personnel.

Here's what it is:

It's Nelson Cruz.

I have no proof for this.

I only have a logical fallacy on which to rely, the old "happened contemporaneously with or after, therefore happened because."  Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

But it seems to me that the Rangers' collapse here really started right around the time that the dope story got big again.  I think it's an elephant in the clubhouse.  I'll bet every player on that team and every member of the coaching staff and every member of management believes that Cruz was dirty and that if he is denying it now he's lying.  Hell, he's even got the braces to keep his teeth organized in his jaw.

So there's this tension between public support and private concern, and uncertainty over whether they'll have him when playoff time rolls around.

It's casting a pall over the all-for-one, one-for-all Texas Rangers. 

And pretending like it's not there means Coach Ron can't "manage" it.  I don't know what I would do if I were him.  I know what I'd be doing if I were Jon Daniels -- I'd be getting the team's lawyers involved to get this thing resolved toot sweet, get the authorities to fish or cut bait, release a list or drop it.

So there you have a tragically sportsy MTC commentary.

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I'll try to be back soon, but in the meantime, my thanks for informative and interesting commentary.