I'm sure it isn't easy to find big-name active or recent stars to come to Ticketstock within budget. So I have some sympathy with The Little One in its attempts to fire up interest in the thing with notable sportsy figures wherever they can find one willing to appear.
Dennis Rodman, though: Off the court, he has to be the least-interesting sports celebrity who attempts to interest the public in his being a sports celebrity. For all of his eccentricities -- which, to me, have always seemed entirely ginned-up, and I lived in Chicago during the glory years -- when he's asked to respond orally to anything, his thoroughgoing banality pours into the mic. Lawrence Taylor's legal troubles aside, even in retirement he was never the dictionary picture of "washed up."
Rodman? Here's a report from March of last year:
"The former NBA badboy owes $808,935 in back child support for the two children — ages nine and 10 — he had with his third wife, Michelle Rodman. He reportedly owes an additional $51,441 in spousal support.
"But Rodman's attorney said in court documents that the Basketball Hall of Famer can barely afford his own living expenses, let alone support payments.
"'Respondent Dennis Rodman is broke and cannot afford any additional fees,' Rodman's attorney Linnea Willis wrote.
"Willis claimed Rodman was 'extremely sick' and that his marketability was diminishing with age and illness, making it impossible for the five-time NBA champion to pay the $5,000 he owes monthly for one child from another relationship, in addition to the $4,500 he owes Michelle Rodman every month.
"Willis added the attorneys representing Rodman have been working pro bono."
For the record, Rodman thereafter denied that he is either broke or sick -- the "sickness," by the way, being alcoholism. However, in late May he was convicted of contempt of court for failure to obey child-support orders, and sentenced to probation and community service. No word on whether he pays his lawyers or has come up with any of the child support. Perhaps The Ticket can explore this with him on one of itsTicketstock panels.
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| Wearing a wedding dress, claiming to be marrying oneself, even when accompanied by a meretricious relationship with Carmen Electra topped off by a nine-day marriage to same (acutely intoxicated Las Vegas nuptials followed by an anullment filing), does not make one an intrinsically interesting human |
So, much as I credit The Ticket for staging something like Ticketstock, which really is a cool thing for the P1 and always a well-planned and enjoyable event, the Rodman thing has about it the strong fragrance of desperation -- certainly for Rodman, and, since it can't seem to engage any non-desperate sportsy celebrity, The Ticket as well.
Maybe the showcasing of washed-up, troubled, convicted former athletes at Ticketstock should be a featured annual bit.
I would think The Fan might have some fun with this.
Hell, they should have asked me to appear.
* * *
Twitter: @Plainsman1310
Email: ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com
Dennis Rodman? Wasn't he on Tosh.0 two seasons ago? Totally relevant then.
ReplyDeleteI ask this in all honesty - who gives a crap? I don't go to TicketStock to see the washed up athlete du jour. I go to see my favorite Ticket hosts perform the job they do so well.
ReplyDeleteSo it didn't bother me when TO was the scheduled guest and backed out.
It didn't bother me when a rapist was the featured guest.
And it sure as hell doesn't bother me that a *gasp* broke, former athlete is a guest for 20 minutes or so of of a two-day event.
I'm not quite sure why anyone else cares either.
Then, 10:59, why do you seem to care so much what others think about Rodman being the "big name" guest? I mean, if it's no big deal, why bother posting up your rather amped up feelings on the subject? A real libertarian/pragmatist (which I assume you deem yourself are) wouldn't deign post up such a comment. But it's nice to know that you will get out of Ticketstock the thing that you want.
ReplyDeleteI would have rather had an extended "Ask The Ticket" segment rather than any big name guest. Did it really surprise anyone that the big announcement was Ticketstock related? Didn't think so.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't particular matter to me one way or the other. I will most likely ignore this interview like I do every single Cowboy's press conference and then laugh at the aftermath when the one or two tiny slivers of diamond are fished out of the doo-doo.
1059: Let me take a stab at this. You were doing just fine until your final sentence, then you couldn't resist taking a shot at the P1. Regrettable.
ReplyDelete(1) Why should anyone care about any decision The Ticket makes? In this case, the station touted this as a big deal; why should it perplex you that Ticket fans would have an opinion about it?
(2) Perceiving a bore like Rodman as a draw for the P1 tells us something about the attitude of certain CTO toward The Ticket's constituency. That's noteworthy.
(3) No problem with you not being bothered by Rodman; I doubt many P1's are formally "bothered" by it. Being unsure as to why "anyone else cares" is not a deficiency in the "caring" of "anyone else," but does suggest that you have not considered the depth of interest of listeners in how the channel portrays itself.
(4) If I eliminated topics of minor importance, this site would evaporate tomorrow.
Did you hear Gordon take a shot at Richie Whitt this morning?
ReplyDeleteIt was during his live spot for "It's Just Lunch." He announced that he met Alexis at one of the setup lunches, "and we've been cohabiting for the last year-and-a-half."
It had a very amusing finish. Gordon, reaching for live patter to fill the spot, said (approximately):
GORDON: "And now Alexis is just waiting for a little something in a velvet box. You might be getting a little surprise this afternoon."
ALEXIS: "You might also."
Twist it, Alexis.
Another genius Gordon Jason Garrett interview. Been laughing out loud. He's got some great material to wrap around those spot-on mannerisms he's been nailing since he debuted the impression. Extremely clever writing. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteBruce Gilbert leaves the fail.
ReplyDelete@Plainsman
ReplyDeleteNice counter to 10:59's nowadays all too familiar attitude towards just about everything: "I don't care, you don't care, we don't care...let's not think, let's just feel and feel good."
Where's that Ferrall STD?
I heard the Gordo-Alexis exchange but didn't pick up on the Whitt angle. Now that you say it, yes, I think you're right. Funny.
@11:43
Is this for real, or is it a prediction? If real, can you please elaborate?
Just did a quick search, and yes, it's true: Gilbert has left The FAN.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2602453&spid=24698
I wonder what this means for the station? It's direction? After all, he's basically tried to recreate The Ticket.
One thing I did notice was that while driving home from work late last night and listening to the G-Bag Nation (Gavin and Chris Arnold) for live news/analysis about the Ryan firing, was that once the show was over, the station began to play RaGE. They didn't go directly into the CBS national feed. Not sure what, if anything, that means.
Duckandcover, from 12-1am they do a best of hour called the Midnight Munchies hosted by Jeff Cavenaugh
ReplyDeletePlainsman:
ReplyDeleteThere's no issue with you posting about topics of minor importance. But your diatribe about Rodman was preceded by several comments from other people in the previous thread. I'm merely of the opinion that people are missing the point of Ticketstock. I've always assumed the only people who cared about the guests were autograph hounds.
It's a free event that's a lot of fun for P1s. And as a previous commenter put it, I'd be perfectly fine with no guests.
But get fired up if you want.
*shrugs*
Thanks for the info, Big Anthony.
ReplyDeleteBut the guest athletes ARE a part of Ticketstock. You can't just separate that aspect of the event from the rest of it. And because this is so, then the quality of the guest does matter. The decisions made say something about those in charge. I think you are not seeing the larger picture here.
ReplyDeletePossibly. Either that or I don't like to complain for the sake of complaining.
ReplyDeleteNorm is promoting a hypothetical Trade Dirk segment to follow up his hypothetical Trade Romo segment that went over so well.
ReplyDeleteSo to your mind expressing an opinion that doesn't comport with your views is complaining. You must be a treat to be around.
ReplyDeleteGetting fired up over something as trivial as Dennis Rodman being a guest at a free event that you are in no way obligated to go to or listen to? If that's how you spend your day, you must be a treat to be around.
ReplyDelete@4:37
ReplyDeleteYou're the one who began this tack. Others are responding to you. You in turn keep responding. Thus the question must be asked...Who's the one that's truly concerned here? I think most people understand your point of view by now. However, it could be claimed that you don't seem to understand either Plainsman's or a few others' side. Maybe you're one of those individuals that just cannot be wrong or disagreed with. Okay. Then I'll go ahead and speak for what I'd imagine to be the majority of readers: you win, you're right. Happy? Good.
I think Fan should just go to "aGE"! It would be a hell of a better show!
ReplyDeleteCommenters, including Plainsman, asked questions. I answered. I truly don't care. I will be at Ticketstock whether it's Dennis Rodman as the guest or whether Dennis Farina and Dennis Quaid are the guests.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a real problem with it being rodman. As Craig said in his announcement, he IS a 5 time MBA champ and he was a Mav , so there's some dallad connection. Not like this is just some dude in the next cubicle .
ReplyDeleteAnd I get the economics if it. Go to aikmam dot com. Troy charges 200 bucks a signature. He'll sign anything you want, 200 bucks. Now multiply that 200 times how ever many tix they usually hand out (400? 500?) and it adds up
Go to athlete promotion dot com and see what some of those guys still ask. Woodson is 20k, emmitt 50k, jimmy. 50k. Ticket probably trying to balance who might be interesting on air , versus howuch they cost versus who hasn't been overexposed in the autograph field ( nova crk, emmitt, etc, some of those guys are constantly st academy )
But okay you don't like rodman. You know cat reads this, instead of just bitching, throw out some ideas. Who would you consider a big name guest? They've had Pete rose sanders Taylor , etc who do you want to see? And why ?
I'm with one of the previous posters, I don't care I'll go no matter who the big name guest is, just tell me who you think qualifies as big name if its not a 6 time champion
Nice job. Commenting on your own comment as another likeminded commenter. Awesome. But fooling no one.
ReplyDelete*eye roll*
ReplyDeleteHow about Denise Milani again? I can think of a couple of reasons to have her back.
ReplyDeleteRodman has both a personal and NBA connection with Dallas. Grew up in Oak Cliff. He was a fine player and contributed materially to championships. I was in Chicago for most of that. He was a Mav for 13 games. Got thrown out of two and was suspended for one and generally disgraced the uniform (although his rebound average was impressive during his short stay).
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of sounding fairly ridiculous and prolonging a fairly ridiculous argument, let me say that I don't care if you don't care about Rodman's Ticketstock appearance. That's fine -- those who feel that way on this thread have been fairly decent about it, no one's flirting with deletion.
The problem that I had with the original critic, and I think it's what provoked other Confessors, was the gratuitous shot in his last sentence at people who find some significance in the story. ("I'm not quite sure why anyone else cares either.") It was unnecessary -- and not exactly self-flattering. It is possible for one not to care whether Rodman appears or whether Batman does, but still draw conclusions about the fact that the CTO are trying to sell this down-and-outer to the P1 as a major catch.
My original post expressed sympathy for the CTO trying to find someone who wouldn't bust the budget. I do not expect them to bring in any of those guys you listed. You want suggestions? How about "nobody." How about quadrupling the numbers of low-cost Ticket Chicks? How about making Mike Rhyner sit and sign some autographs? How about letting a contest-winning P1 interview a Ticket host of his or her choice? How about giving Jake and T.C. a live "It's Just Banter" segment for any guest or host they can persuade to appear (I know they've gone through most of The Ticket hosts, but the lads are resourceful and I'm sure they could come up with someone of interest to the P1 and do a fine job interviewing him or her)? How about a P1 roundtable with Brad C, DP, Hakeem from Frisco (he may be solely Cowboys, not sure), and one or two other P1s to talk some Ticket? How about having a local makeover artist do a live job on one of the mangier JV? There are all kinds of segment-killers out there that would interest the P1 and wouldn't cost much of anything.
Rodman -- depressing. You can tell the hosts have less than no interest in engaging with him. Should be interesting as the flop sweat begins to pool.
I, unforch, will be out of town all next week, so I'll be posting an open thread and hoping to get some reports.
Wonder if Greggo ever thought about crashing TicketStock.
ReplyDelete@7:37
ReplyDeleteThat is not what Troy charges at shows.. that $200 is a charity right off. Trust me when I say this, the little Ticket didn't pay Troy $100,000 to sign. When Troy does a show the promoter pays him about $55-$75 per piece. Last year headliner was Lawrence Taylor, and in past the have had Pete Rose, Dr. J, Kareem, Dick Butkus etc.. and yes, for most part the people who attend for the athletes are autograph hounds and/or collectors as is myself
A shot?! Not trying to extend the argument, but I was not taking a shot at any P1s with the final sentence. Just being frank. Not sure why anyone would really care (other than autograph hounds) who the guests are. That's all. Nothing else. It's an opinion, and I could very well be wrong. I likely am based on the strong outrage here to the decision.
ReplyDeleteAnd finally, it appears that you're under the assumption Ticketstock is next week. It's Feb. 15 and 16. Not January.
Considering the counterarguments to your ever ossifying responses, I'd say that, yes, you do keep extending the argument; an argument that I think anyone with half a brain "gets" your side of by this time. Agreement is another thing. And again, it's not evident that you understand the other side of the argument. As you've yet to address anyone else's thoughts on the subject. Oh well. Like BBQ said "You're one of those individuals who either can't be wrong or agree to disagree." So, buddy, just pretend you're right, everyone else here who differs is wrong, and move on. Cool? Kick ass! Now move on to another topic.
ReplyDeleteRodman has cred as a Dallas sports celebrity.
ReplyDeleteBut, using my best Ticket parlance, he doesn't move the needle for me.
God, you're right. Not listening closely enough. Thanks for the correction on the TS date.
ReplyDeleteWHAT I LEARNED LISTENING TO THE TICKET: Speaking of being wrong:
ReplyDeleteI've been shaking my head over the SMU ad and some Tickers using the phrase "chomping at the bit" when the correct phrase is "champing at the bit."
When I looked into it, I discovered that even persnickity grammarians now accept "chomping at the bit" as acceptable usage, while still preferring "champing at the bit."
Wrong again.
Now that you mention it, Plainsman, the grammatical errors in official station utterances have been getting under my skin lately. There have been a couple pretty big ones lately, but the use of "oogling" in the latest TicketStock promo is too much for me. Does nobody check this crap?
ReplyDeletebirq, I thought about mentioning "oogling," but I thought that maybe this was a historical reference to a Craig Rosengarden or other station word-mangle that any good P1 should know about, and I did not want to expose myself to further obloquy as a bad P1 for not knowing it. So I let it go.
ReplyDeleteRodman - he was somewhat interesting 10 years ago, now he's just sad and washed up. I'd prefer they get someone who's possibly in it for more than just a quick buck and had some interest in giving the person paying him their money's worth. Then again, I've never been and won't be going so I really don't care -- only reason I even care a tiny bit is just because I have to hear his name promoted on the station constantly.
ReplyDeleteThe Fan - has anyone else heard their promo which refers to the station by a similar, if not exact, phrase that The Ticket used to use to describe itself. I just heard it once in passing and I'm annoyed that I can't remember what it was now but it definitely stuck out to me.
Gilbert leaving The Fan means nothing but a new PD coming in, and probably some changes. Fan will still exist and will still be LIVE AND LOCAL 5:30A to 1:00A
ReplyDelete@Steve
ReplyDeleteIs it something like "your teams, your town?" I've heard it too and thought the same thing.
Your teams, your town, your sports station" has been the Fan's trademark since inception in'08
ReplyDeleteMike addressed Gilbert leaving in the first HL segment today. Something about leaving a sinking ship. A couple of people predicted The FAN's breakup sometime this summer. They might be on to something. But who knows. Really, who cares. It's a bad station. It's supposed signature show, RaGE, is awful, it has a couple of nice but zero compelling hosts (e.g., Elf), several d-bags (e.g., Whitt), a slew of ex-Ticket people, and even a few bright spots that either haven't or cannot be utilized (e.g., Josh Lewin and Bacsik). Instead of "sucking less" it continues to suck more. Oh, that's another thing The Ticket strangely copped from The FAN (suck less).
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, the ogle/oogle promo drives me batty. HOW does that happen?
So 12:26, you seem to pop on here on a semi-regular basis with FAN info. I take it you're either a true FAN fan or are associated with the station. Whatever the case, you seem to know more about the thing than anyone else. What sort of changes do you see happening?
Oh, one more thing. The new Farrell promo is HAWWWWRIBLLLLLLLE. Boy, that really makes me want to listen to him. Not.
ReplyDelete458, many thanks. I heard the end of that segment, where Mike was talking about someone (Gilbert, I guess) having "tethered himself to the anchor that is The Hammer" or words to that effect.
ReplyDeleteTwo things:
ReplyDelete#1 Naybe they get guys like Ridnan to bring in people who don't normally listen to the Sration a.k.a autograph hounds.
#2 Now that I think about it, a P1 round table MIGHT be interesting if they talked about things that are said here and other blog-type sites.