Monday, January 7, 2013
Monday Morning Quick Hits
(1) Who would have thought that Matt McClearin was a capologist? His MaSS segment on the financial aspects of attempting to improve the Cowboys was one of the best (and more depressing) analyses of the future of the team that I have heard and a powerful (if implicit) condemnation of the Jones/Jones regime. Well thought-out and crisply delivered. Very, very nice work by Matt.
(2) Bruce LeVine is struggling. His weekend Tickers are sometimes painful to listen to, so halting and almost confused-sounding. I swear, I heard him refer to "Ticker" as "Ticket." Is he reading some old Mitchell Kerasik copy? And in general he seems to be having a difficult time with his script, which I assume he composes himself.
(3) I will be listening to Scott Ferrall tonight. I thought he was appalling when I heard him years ago and my expectations are not high -- I could hardly believe it when I heard he was still "cracking a cold one" at the request of listeners -- but in fairness I need to give him another shot. At a minimum, I believe this means The Ticket will have to stop running the ad that proudly boasts that the channel doesn't offer coastal guys shouting at us.
(4) What was the big funny thing on MaSS this Sunday that had the entire staff and crew breaking down? I heard that, but did not hear the funny. I believe it was some naughty thing that Matt said, but didn't catch it. Anyone? Maybe it will be an E-Brake.
(5) In strong agreement with Confessors who are having a hard time believing that The Ticket is running ads containing a reference to "sucking less," a gimmick that was roundly ridiculed by readers when The Fan featured the same phrase.
Have at it, lads.
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I have hard time listening to Scott Ferrall. I have tried since he's been on and can only take about 15 minutes before i have to turn the station. I tried.
ReplyDelete4) I was listening (not very closely) at that moment as well and I was also trying to figure out what it was. I know they threw Matt under the bus about something, but there was a lot more going on in the studio than was going out over the airwaves.
ReplyDelete1. Agreed.
ReplyDelete2. Agreed, and downright puzzling considering his amount of years in the business, his being a hockey play-by-play guy, etc. Now that the NHL is back, he'll have something else to do (Stars pre and post when BaD can't do it).
3.I don't get this guy's crappy schtick.
4. Have no idea.
5. Agreed. What's more, the hosts have made fun of The FAN for its suck less campaign. This ad makes zero sense.
Since you mentioned Bruce "the vine" Levine, how in the hell has he and "sports panties" kerasik gotten jobs at the ticket? I can understand a new guy not understanding ticket schtick at first, but these two clowns barely sound literate. The routinely mispronounce common sports names and butcher tickers...
ReplyDeleteI would assume there are sharp young guys in the radio business who would kill to get a job at the ticket who could smoothly read a 2-minute ticker.
What's the story here?
I hear TC's on suicide watch. Has there been ONE competitive bowl game? #don'tdoitTC
ReplyDeleteAlright Plainsman, Ferrall is coming on right now. And with this crappy game, nothing should impede your listening pleasure.
So I'm gonna drive to Irving to see Dennis Rodman?
ReplyDeleteNot.
I listened to Ferrall and had an unexpected reaction. I want to catch some more before I report.
ReplyDeleteI don't know too much about Bruce LeVine. When I lived in Chicago there was a sports radio guy named Bruce Levine who pronounced his name the same way -- I think he's still there. I'm wondering if our Bruce added the internal upper-case "V" to distinguish himself. I thought he was a long-time guy, not a newcomer to broadcasting (although new to non-hockey Ticket broadcasting), so I've been surprised at how rough his Tickers sometimes are. (Some are fluid and just fine, but some are Craig-from-Ball-State rough.)
ReplyDelete@Tomfoolery
ReplyDeleteSame reasons Kelly Webster retains her job after years at ESPN, even though she can't. Read. A. Thing. Smoothly. To Save. Her. Life.
I stopped going out of my way for so-called "Major Announcements" at the Little ticket years ago, and they always underwhelmed. So what was today's big announcement? Was it about Ticketstock?
ReplyDeleteTicketstock. Now I breathlessly await this year's Ticketstock parody song. You know, the one that'll be played 12 times per hour, every day for the next month or so.
ReplyDeleteOn the MaSS someone made a comment about how Matt was conceived or some such.
ReplyDeleteSorry I don't have any other detail as I was only half listening.
@ James - They announced that Dennis Rodman is this year's featured guest.
ReplyDeleteReally, this was the best they could do?
My thoughts exactly, 1:39. Very disappointing. I guess the Ticketstock budget isn't what it used to be. Then again, excepting the Federal Government, most budgets aren't.
ReplyDeleteFerrall: While I've no idea where Plainsman's thoughts are going on this particular, I can say that after 4 nights of giving Ferrall an honest listening, I've begun to come around on him. Okay. I know. I know. But please hear me out. Yes, his voice is grating. In fact, there have been a few segments where I had to turn the radio off. Not switch the dial, mind you, but turn it off. I needed the silence. From time to time he falls into an almost chant-like monotone/inflection. It lasts for what seems an eternity. It's quite horrible. However, the more I listen, the more he grows on me. I'm not sure what his entire back story is, but from what I can tell, he went satellite and was supposed to be a sort of Howard Stern of sports talk radio. Obviously things didn't work out as planned. Big surprise there, huh. Perhaps it's because of this, or perhaps it's the way he's always been, but I find him to be genuine; and genuinely nice. If you can get past his voice and some of his (as one commenter rightly put) Guy Fieri-esque nature, his sports talk is pretty darn good. He's also respectful to, and engaging with, the callers; but without letting them drone. He seems to genuinely (there's that word again) enjoy taking callers. Sure, some of his bits are groan inducing, but overall it's not a bad show. Also, it's live. I know we (me included, and very much so) would love to see more local weeknight programming, but this is about as close as we'll probably get. Finally. the beer pouring gag is hokey and dated, but for whatever reason, I kind of find it endearing. It reminds me of the early Ticket days. Both because Ferrall was doing said gag on overnights back then, and because, friends, Romans, and MTCmen and women, our hero Mike Rhyner used to begin every single interaction with a caller with a deadly serious "Let's Mosh." And back then THL took a lot of callers. You want to talk about hokey. It was not done in a tongue-in-cheek manner, by the way.
MaSS: Matt is very good when it comes to analysis. Be it Cowboys or Stars. Though I'm not so sure if he's as competent where the Rangers and Mavs are concerned. Maybe it's my imagination, but it seems like he's dialed back his boundary issues a bit since the Christmas song bit/Christmas fill-in duties. Not sure if there's any causal relationship there, but it's something I've noticed. And appreciated. Scot just keeps getting better. There's something honest and almost wide-eyed and "innocent" about MaSS. They're not jaded in the least bit, and you can tell that they still can't believe they're on The Ticket and get to interact with their radio heroes. Scot especially.
Levine: Once the NHL went on strike, he made several mentions of needing a gig. He would go on to make it known that doing Tickers was a part-time gig that he was appreciative of, but wasn't his gig of choice by any stretch of the imagination. Still, that doesn't excuse his at times wretched delivery.
Sucking less: Let me give you all my impression of what passes for a sentence in a Jean Jacques Taylor column: Ridiculous.
and last year was Lawrence Taylor. Seems like it's a failed bit at this point.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, last year T.O. Owens was the Ticketstock headliner for about five minutes.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I would hold my breath on Rodman, either.
@3:10 I agree with your thoughts about Ferrell.I have given him a shot as well and have to say I am finding him quite enjoyable to listen to. He's funny. He was making fun of people from Georgia last night and I found myself laughing out loud. I do like that it is live and it beats listening to the fan at night.
ReplyDelete