Yesterday, Corby reported that while on vacation he had received a call from someone purporting to be a representative either of Shaquille O'Neal or Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. The caller stated that Shaq was slated to do a radio show for the network and had suggested Corby as a possible co-host. Corby was modest and claimed not to be interested; Mike urged him to follow-up on it.
This would be an extremely cool call to get. And the whole Corby/Shaq friendship arising out of Corby's radio-bit approaches to him, seems genuine and is makes for great radio when Shaq's around. What I found interesting, though, is that Corby, scammer extraordinnaire, did not betray the slightest suspicion that maybe, just maybe, he was being set up.
Chances are, he wasn't. Chances are, the guy on the phone gave sufficient evidence of his bona fides that Corby concluded it was the real thing. Still . . . prolific scammers really need to be alert for their victims looking for opportunities for vengeance. Could even be Shaq setting him up . . . .
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Current Worst Switch-Channels Ads
These ads run on other stations, but since I don't listen to other stations, I'm stuck with turning off The Ticket when they come on:
(1) The "kidnaping the mannikin in order to get back at department stores" series of ads. I can't even remember the sponsor, some discount clothing chain. First, who harbors deep-seated feelings of resentment towards high-price department stores at which they shop voluntarily? Second, there is nothing amusing about kidnaping and altered-voice ransom demands.
(2) The Orbitz "wake-up" call series of ads. Putting aside its overall obnoxiousness, what was the purpose of getting them to sort of sound like they're candid, real-time phone calls to regular folks, but producing and writing them in a way that makes it perfectly obvious that they're scripted on both ends?
I note that both are phone-call ads, which harkens back to the all-time most loathesome series of radio ads -- the gravel-voiced guy calling people to harrangue them about Mitsubishi automobiles.
(1) The "kidnaping the mannikin in order to get back at department stores" series of ads. I can't even remember the sponsor, some discount clothing chain. First, who harbors deep-seated feelings of resentment towards high-price department stores at which they shop voluntarily? Second, there is nothing amusing about kidnaping and altered-voice ransom demands.
(2) The Orbitz "wake-up" call series of ads. Putting aside its overall obnoxiousness, what was the purpose of getting them to sort of sound like they're candid, real-time phone calls to regular folks, but producing and writing them in a way that makes it perfectly obvious that they're scripted on both ends?
I note that both are phone-call ads, which harkens back to the all-time most loathesome series of radio ads -- the gravel-voiced guy calling people to harrangue them about Mitsubishi automobiles.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Junior Miller Looks Back
Being a sports talk-show guy has got to be harder than it looks, or require more charm, or skill, or something, than we lesser mortals think. After all, aside from The Ticket, other stations throughout the country are constantly shuffling their guys, firing guys, changing formats, to achieve a fraction of the The Ticket's share. (And failing.)
But one thing a talk show guy doesn't have to be is right. He can crticitze, predict, and analyze all he wants, and unless he's an obvious buffoon, being wrong about matters of substance isn't likely to come back to haunt him in the ratings.
So it is always nice to hear a Ticket host recall a wrong opinion from the past. Junior Miller did so on Friday's Musers. I don't have any statistics to back me up, but I've always thought Junior was one of the more astute analysts on the station. (He usually wins the season contest to pick the weekly high school/college/NFL winners.) On Friday he confessed error as to his earlier criticism of the Rangers for asking Michael Young to move to third in order to install Elvis Andrus at short. Startling but refreshing.
But one thing a talk show guy doesn't have to be is right. He can crticitze, predict, and analyze all he wants, and unless he's an obvious buffoon, being wrong about matters of substance isn't likely to come back to haunt him in the ratings.
So it is always nice to hear a Ticket host recall a wrong opinion from the past. Junior Miller did so on Friday's Musers. I don't have any statistics to back me up, but I've always thought Junior was one of the more astute analysts on the station. (He usually wins the season contest to pick the weekly high school/college/NFL winners.) On Friday he confessed error as to his earlier criticism of the Rangers for asking Michael Young to move to third in order to install Elvis Andrus at short. Startling but refreshing.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Rhadigan and Bacsik
Listening to John Rhadigan and Mike Bacsik filling in for the Hardline. It was OK, for a drydock show. I don't watch a lot of local news and wasn't familiar with Rhadigan. He was knowledgeable and kept the show moving. (I'll have more to say about Bacsik in an upcoming post.)
I got to thinking about why the Hardline is so much more enjoyable than this show. Sure, part of it is that we're familiar with the Hardline team, and we know all the inside jokes, and there is more nonsports fratboy content that is of interest.
But there was something else, and here's what I think it is: Between Rhadigan and Bacsik, there were no quiet spots. Someone was always talking. No pauses. The show was dense with sound, and Rhadigan was projecting into the mic. It was loud, it was nonstop. It did not have the same coversational quality as the Hardline. It did not have any periods. It sounded like the moment one guy had to take a breath, the other guy was ready to jump in.
As I say, it was OK. Pretty informative, actually. No objections to the show. But when you're used to the more comfortable, natural quality of the typical Ticket show, it was hard to listen to.
I got to thinking about why the Hardline is so much more enjoyable than this show. Sure, part of it is that we're familiar with the Hardline team, and we know all the inside jokes, and there is more nonsports fratboy content that is of interest.
But there was something else, and here's what I think it is: Between Rhadigan and Bacsik, there were no quiet spots. Someone was always talking. No pauses. The show was dense with sound, and Rhadigan was projecting into the mic. It was loud, it was nonstop. It did not have the same coversational quality as the Hardline. It did not have any periods. It sounded like the moment one guy had to take a breath, the other guy was ready to jump in.
As I say, it was OK. Pretty informative, actually. No objections to the show. But when you're used to the more comfortable, natural quality of the typical Ticket show, it was hard to listen to.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Listening Too Hard -- (2)
Why are there so many edits in those Bob Tomes Ford (in McKinney) commercials? There was one sentence in today's ad where there were at least three or four obvious edits. It is hard to imagine that just speaking the sentence could have sounded any worse. Sometimes ads get edited for length, small pauses being eliminated to cram everything into the spot, but this didn't sound like that. Or maybe it's just that his voice, which is very sing-songy, doesn't lend itself to smooth edits.
Listening Too Hard -- (1)
Noticed something odd during the Junior-for-Mike wife-swap yesterday:
When Mike became the "main host" --when he would bring them back from a commercial, for example -- it sounded odd, like he was a guest on the show acting like it was his show. Nothing wrong with it, but it made me sit up and take notice. (Part of this might have had to do with the murky levels they had on his mic.)
When Junior did the same thing on the afternoon show, it seemed like it was his show, no big deal.
When Mike became the "main host" --when he would bring them back from a commercial, for example -- it sounded odd, like he was a guest on the show acting like it was his show. Nothing wrong with it, but it made me sit up and take notice. (Part of this might have had to do with the murky levels they had on his mic.)
When Junior did the same thing on the afternoon show, it seemed like it was his show, no big deal.
Are These Guys White American Males?
Mike Doocy fits in nicely with the Musers, even though hearing those TV/radio pipes next to the average-guy tones of George and Junior is a little, uh, jarring.
But how could any white American guys think that "Curly of the Three Stooges" died in 1993? Curly Joe DeRita died in 1993, but the "great" Curly they were thinking of -- Curly Howard -- died in 1952.
Still, nice work.
But how could any white American guys think that "Curly of the Three Stooges" died in 1993? Curly Joe DeRita died in 1993, but the "great" Curly they were thinking of -- Curly Howard -- died in 1952.
Still, nice work.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Today's Wife Swap
I thought it was refreshing to hear Mike on the Musers and Junior with the Hardline. Both shows were good, with an exception.
Mike's level needed some brightening. Sounded like he was in a different studio in a different state.
Exception: The "Corby and Danny Speak Their True Minds During Junior's Bicycle Hero Story" bit was so stagey, so written (not that they were trying to conceal it), and so annoying, that it wins the Most Failed Bit of 2009 award and the year is only half over. I was listening to the show on a good stereo and the thing was incoherent and, when audible, a one-joke bit that went on and on. (And the underlying Bicycle Hero story was kind of interesting.) Other than that, a pretty good show. Junior holds his own with those two scamps.
Mike's level needed some brightening. Sounded like he was in a different studio in a different state.
Exception: The "Corby and Danny Speak Their True Minds During Junior's Bicycle Hero Story" bit was so stagey, so written (not that they were trying to conceal it), and so annoying, that it wins the Most Failed Bit of 2009 award and the year is only half over. I was listening to the show on a good stereo and the thing was incoherent and, when audible, a one-joke bit that went on and on. (And the underlying Bicycle Hero story was kind of interesting.) Other than that, a pretty good show. Junior holds his own with those two scamps.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Where's Doyle?
Why should we ever have to listen to anyone but Doyle King when Barb Smith is absent (as she ever more frequently is)?
Where's Greggo? How's Greggo?
I'm surprised at how little comment there has been in the blogosphere about the abrupt departure of Greggo from the ESPN evening show. I tuned in a couple of times in mid-run, didn't hear much of anything that made me want to keep listening, although he seemed coherent at the time. I was glad that he was trying to make a comeback, we all root for those American second acts. It wasn't beyond imagining that if he cleaned up his act he might one day rejoin the Hardline. Stranger reconciliations have happened in show biz.
But now -- gone, and nothing much I can find on what's up with him.
I was one of those who thought that Corby and Mike (and the rest of the staff) behaved about as well as one can behave when confronted with the unreliability of the addict. There were a lot of folks out there, though, who carried some special reserve of bile for Corby, blaming his opportunism for the Hardline's problems. Given Hammer's repeat performance at ESPN, that position is pretty difficult to maintain.
But now -- gone, and nothing much I can find on what's up with him.
I was one of those who thought that Corby and Mike (and the rest of the staff) behaved about as well as one can behave when confronted with the unreliability of the addict. There were a lot of folks out there, though, who carried some special reserve of bile for Corby, blaming his opportunism for the Hardline's problems. Given Hammer's repeat performance at ESPN, that position is pretty difficult to maintain.
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