Saturday, September 28, 2013
AWOL
The fact is, I'm coming around on Dan McDowell.
At first, not my favorite, but my appreciation has grown over the years. Smart. Funny. I'd actually like to hear him on his own show.
He did not make it to the All-Ticket golf tourney last week.
The Musers kind of glossed over it. They mentioned that, when invited, he said he would participate, and his participation was assumed in the pre-tourney bits (the Las Vegas rankings, for example). But he just didn't show up. They didn't say why. Perhaps they didn't know.
I did not hear what BaD had to say about it. Perhaps one of you can fill us in.
Here's what I want to know:
How far did the steam jet out from Junior's ears?
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Unless I missed hearing it, Dan's absence was also glossed over on BaD. He claimed that he overslept, and that was the real reason he missed the tournament. If that's the case, that's rather lousy of him. Something says to me that this is not the case, because neither Bob nor any host made a big deal about it. This leads me to believe there was some sort of personal/family emergency/dilemma he had to attend to; one that he wants to keep in-house, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind Mike was two hours late and the competition portion was over before he got there. We did get an hour of him and Norm talking baseball though.
ReplyDeleteDan goes to sleep between 3-4 am every night and does not wake before 10. Bob told George that he knew all along there was no way Dan would make it out there.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing someone's comment (but I can't remember who or what show) predicting Dan's absence. This was either 1 or 2 days before the tournament.
ReplyDeleteWhoever it was said Dan would sleep in and miss the tournament
Bob tried to mention it during the tournament that he knows Dan better than either of the other hosts and he knew Dan wasn't going to attend. Dan has mentioned on numerous occasions that he doesn't get up early. I'm not sure if that is just radio talk of if he's serious. Remember the Christmas stories? He tells stories that his family waits for HIM to get up before letting the girls open this Christmas presents.
ReplyDeleteHm.
ReplyDeleteAnother very sound Shake Joint.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with you that today's Shake Joint is sound, I am beginning to have some issues with it. Namely two; both are related: 1. Sean's self-confidence in the correctness of his opinions and of others is becoming wearisome. I think that he's eventually going to bite his own arse if he's not careful. It's one thing to disagree with the show you work for (THL); it's another to pretty much claim that their (Mike's and Danny's) stances are knee-jerk and not those of a true fan. And it is exactly what Sean was implying, whether he realizes it or not. It's the same line he uses during Diamond Talk when addressing so-called, in his opinion, fair-weather fans. The same can be said in a relative way when Sean refers to Goose Gosselin's (the head of the Sports page for the DMN, one of the most respected voices in the country on all things NFL-especially the draft, and 30+ year veteran of sports journalism...yeah, that guy) latest article as pointless. If that's what Sean thinks, and obviously it is, he'd be smart to keep it to himself. An up and comer trying to make his way through the ranks does himself no favors with such statements--especially about the work of highly esteemed elder statesmen of the craft. All of these things smack of arrogance, an unwarranted overabundance of self-confidence in his opinions, immaturity, and quite frankly, more than a bit of stupidity on Sean's part. 2. In conjunction with 1., both Sean and Jake need to work on (i.e., get rid of) their tendency to lecture / talk down to the audience. At times it's as if they assume the audience either doesn't understand what they're getting at, or by default doesn't agree with them. They both, again, at times, speak in an argumentative, almost aggressive tone. At first I barely noticed it; or at least it didn't bother me. Lately, it seems to have ramped up. Especially now that the Cowboys season is in full-swing. They need to realize this isn't a formal debate, and it isn't a lecture hall with them at the lectern giving a seminar.
ReplyDeleteYou listen for opinions, no? I am going give mine and do my best to support them with facts, research and reason. Jake does the same. I'm sorry if you don't like the tone.
ReplyDeleteWe are gonna keep doing our show how we want. We are going to keep speaking with confidence.
I am really glad you are listening. Please keep making us a part of your Sunday mornings.
Sean Bass
Sean I for one am dying for a show like y'all's on a daily basis. We need to be tought and to be forced into more intelligent arguments about everything not just sports. No matter the station you choose the hosts are usually talking about the same topics in the same manner that they have for 20 years.
ReplyDeleteNorm is a great guy and a radio legend but it may be time for guys like hito step aside and let a new generation take over.
Thanks for the response, Sean. I'm not sure if fangraphs.com consists of you doing research, but if you think so, fine. That's not my point, at all. My point is that there's a difference between having the self-confidence and conviction to express your own opinions and stake out your own territory, and the attempt to (whether consciously or not) tear down and/or demean what's come before you--i.e., to paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton "The giants upon which you stand." Except in your case, you'd make a condescending remark towards Ptolemy's simplistic equations for predicting eclipses. Per your comment, it's evident to me that you have no idea the implied meanings (again, intended or not) that you convey when you make some of the comments you do. This includes the way in which you say them (this also includes your co-host). I think that, on the whole, you do a fine job; be it Tickers, Diamond Talk, or The Shake Joint. But there are times--and they seem to be occurring more often--that you get ahead of yourself, so to speak. Put the horse back in front to the cart where it belongs, Sean.
ReplyDelete@Dustinwb
ReplyDeleteIf that's your aim, then stop listening to The Ticket and, as the small voice of an unseen child exclaimed into St. Augustine's ear on that fateful day in a garden in Milan:
"Tolle lege! Tolle lege!" (Pick up and read! Pick up and read!) So, yeah bud, go pick yourself up a copy of, oh, say, D.Q. McInerny's "Logic: A Guide to Good Thinking." Moreover, for a nice prodding down those lines, try your hand at G.H. Hardy's "A Mathematician's Apology."
Bits are fun but how many more Jerry needs to arguments do we need? Or blanket statements that the I line is bad without explaining exactly what us wrong in context to the scheme.
ReplyDeleteA couple weeks ago a caller asked Norm to explain what the 3 technique was in the 4-3 and he couldn't do it. This is what we trust in an opinion giver and sports talker.
Then you might now want to listen to the ticket, dude. You might want to get siriusxm or start going to fangraphs and places like that. The day the ticket starts to be more of what you're looking for than what it is is the day it falls back to its competition. The ticket is the view for guys. Part of this version of the view happens to talk about sports because guys like sports. Sports aren't its priority. Making you laugh and think hey I think that chick is hot or a hog or both is their aim.
ReplyDelete@SeaBass
ReplyDeleteProps for sticking to your guns.
There was zero chance of Dan showing up to an early morning tee time. Unless Bob went over and picked him up he wasn't going to be there.
@SeaBass
ReplyDeleteProps for sticking to your guns.
There was zero chance of Dan showing up to an early morning tee time. Unless Bob went over and picked him up he wasn't going to be there.
I haven't seen any comments on Breaking Bad here, but they played Baby Blue by Badfinger to end the series. Everyone was speculating that Felina was Skylar, but come to find out Felina was the meth lab and Baby Blue was the meth. Very methodical of Vince Gilligan.
ReplyDeleteVery glad that Breaking Bad is over. Hopefully after this week, all BB talk will stop.
ReplyDelete@Seabass @radish
I'm a Seabass P1. The sole point on which I agree with radish is the questioning of Sean's calling Goose's article pointless. I heard that segment this past Sunday morning. I was also taken aback by the comment. I have no problem whatsoever with Sean seeing things differently from a luminary such as Goose and not being shy about publicly disagreeing with him. There is, as radish pointed out, a difference between disagreeing and being disrespectful. Calling a piece pointless is disrespectful--even if support for the statement is given. Having said all of that, I totally disagree with radish about Sean and Jake taking issue with THL or anyone else at the station. They are always respectful and provide support for their opinions. Mike, Corby, Danny, and excepting Bob and some times Norm, most of what's said on The TIcket (especially by THL) is based on "eyeballing it" analysis. Sean goes deeper than that, and it shows. So I take no issue at all with him disagreeing, openly, with his co workers--yes, even with the show he's a part of. Mike, Corby, and Danny DO knee-jerk a lot. They many times say things that are no different than what you'd hear the guy sitting next to you at the bar would say. They will, in the span of a week, go from utter pessimism to manically high to stoic pragmatism. Sean and Jake are not like that. I for one appreciate their long term, big picture view.
The upshot is: Keep on keepin' on, Seabass. But do be a little careful with your choice of terms.
Tuesday's Hardline:
ReplyDeleteMike's Mind: Breaking Bad
E-News: Badfinger's song on Breaking Bad
And now - the official Breaking Bad Talk segment.
Can we put this thing to rest now?
They won't for a while. Why? Because none of them read a thing isn't either a book about sports or a rock band. This is their only foray into actual analysis of anything that remotely involves the actual firing and connecting of neurons/synapses/and the rest.
ReplyDeleteAnd unfortunately the thing that does this for them is nothing more than an ultra violent, degenerate soap opera. In other words, trash.
ReplyDeleteLol @ 7:00 anon. I think you might be listening to the wrong station.
ReplyDeleteTuesday THL
ReplyDeleteI especially liked Corby's "College Football" segment. He basically just read off a recap of every game while offering no real insight conversation points... Hell...I could just read the box score and get the same information!
How many segments can one show just burn each day....
Per the Star Telegram, Monday is Galloway's last broadcast day. Says Cumulus 103.3 agreement will be finalized that day.
ReplyDeleteFor the folks (maybe it's just one person?) that are annoyed by Sean and Jake's baseball bravado, there was ample evidence this week that their opinions and insight are needed on the air. The Musers were woefully uninformed on many of the Rangers' issues, and yes, even The Hardline and The Old Grey Wolf and Big Dumb Danny had no clue when it came to talking about bunting and its place in the game.
ReplyDeleteFor me Sean, Jake, TC and to a lesser extent Bob and Dan are the only on-air talent that can intelligently discuss The Great Game anymore. Times are changing fast, and the rest of the on-air talent has been left behind.
...and the same goes for football, really. For football opinions I respect Bob, TC, and Jake above anyone else on The Ticket.
ReplyDeleteBut then, baseball is my favorite sport by far, followed by football, with basketball farther down and hockey way down the list.
I am more annoyed that three shows (Musers, BaD, THL) each did a segment on going to Notre Dame which were not very different from each other.
ReplyDeleteShaggy, you nailed my thoughts from which hosts can talk which sports right down to your sports rankings.
ReplyDeleteJunior Miller is unbearable to listen to talk about baseball. His opinions are extremely outdated and he calls advanced metrics guys "baseball nerds", as if that's an insult (nerds embrace their nerdiness these days) and as if he's some baseball stud.
But alas, I don't listen to the Ticket for sports talk, so I still love me some Spank Miller overall.
I like Junior's baseball talk, but I'm admittedly old school. I love his campaign against the ridiculous use of RBI instead of RBIs. Nadel says RBIs, which should end the argument.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Bob makes fun of the metric nerds, too.
I think every host is good to great on football, which is nice since it's the most important sport around here.