Yes, like the rest of you, I cringe and hide when any of the shows strays into current events as a segment topic. It's almost always bad radio, and sometimes embarrassing at how uninformed our heroes are on both left and right. How many times have you heard them launch into a topic, only to come to a screeching halt because they don't really know some fairly basic facts about it? "More Questions than Answers," a nice little self-mocking promo/drop.
But I was intrigued by Junior Miller's global warming talk yesterday morning during the 5:30-Post-Rich-Phillips-Epic-Mother-of-All-Tickers segment in two respects.
First, Junior actually began his report of his skepticism over the global warming (hardly no damn hurricanes) with the distinction that too few people make -- there may be global warming, but it is not primarily the result of human endeavor. That is, you can believe in global warming as a phenomenon, and even be very concerned about it, without agreeing that human commercial activity should be forcibly reordered.
Second, Gordon offered support for my theory that he is The Great Ticket Moderate [Gordon as Great Ticket Moderate]. Making fun of the liberal position on Global Warming, he noted that the left has renamed it "Climate Change," and has essentially adopted a no-lose position that any adverse climatic effect is decisively influenced by human activity. To my ear, Gordon is charming when he adopts this kind of faintly self-mocking tone (only it's not really self-mocking, because he never strongly held the mocked position to begin with if he held it at all).
* * *
I wasn't around DFW in 2001, so I'd like to invite the Confessor to give us his or her recollections of how The Ticket handled things. We've heard about what happened on that day many times, but yesterday they said they were pretty much all 9/11 all the time for a couple of weeks, with only an occasional sports shot. I was a listener at the time to WSCR "The Score" in Chicago -- I was probably listening to the Mike Murphy show in the morning on that day -- but I couldn't tell you what they broadcast for the next little while and I may have been tuned to NPR for that post 9/11 period.
But I'll bet y'all were tuned to The Ticket, and do remember. What is your recollection of how The Ticket handled the days and weeks after 9/11?
But I'll bet y'all were tuned to The Ticket, and do remember. What is your recollection of how The Ticket handled the days and weeks after 9/11?
NOTE TO COMMENTERS: I will indulge comments with my usual liberality, but I would strongly prefer that this thread not turn into a discussion of the politics or science of global warming/climate change. My thanks.
ReplyDeleteCouple of Ticket-9/11 links for you, Mr Plainsman
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theunticket.com/musers-911-audio-slightly-extended/
http://www.dallasobserver.com/2001-09-27/news/boys-to-men/
Longer 9/11 replay audio
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theunticket.com/musers-911-replay-on-sept-911/
I was into being a P1 by about 4 years at the time 9/11 happened and their coverage is a lot of the reason why I granted much respect to all shows involved. They DID stay on topic nearly all of the 2 weeks or so after it and basically that was what most people wanted to hear anyway. It was a very shocking event for everyone, including them, and they definitely didn't go into any segment with anything planned. It was just what came off of the top of their heads. How they handled it is why I knew they were just one of us. Since then, maybe not so much...like Mike R. saying we don't owe them (the P1's) anything. Back then they didn't whos that much entitlement. Now most of the shows show some type of entitlement; maybe that's not the word I'm looking for, but either way, "back in the day" most of them were truly one of us. They definitely handled the 9/11 situation with class.
ReplyDelete*whos should be show. Sorry, little dyslexic there.
ReplyDeleteI was sitting where I am sitting right now, listening to the Musers as usual. When they started talking about fire at the WTC, I set up a TV with some rabbit ears to see what was going on. The reception in our building was not very good, but the picture was clear enough to see the second plane hit. I continued to listen to the Ticket for the rest of the day and for the following weeks ( I think they were on that first weekend, but I could be wrong about that).
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to described how this bunch of goofballs rose to the occassion and delivered serious, sober discussion of the events over the following days and weeks. There was no reason to switch to WBAP or KRLD - I was getting everything I needed from the Ticket. What made it different, I guess, was that I was getting information from a friend, not a genero-newscaster. They certainly proved to me that they were capabale of shifting gears and tackling such a serious issue.
Two thumbs up in the biggest of ways.
From what I remember, there were on it for a long time, I don't remember exactly how long, that time period is fuzzy to me.
ReplyDeleteI do remember waking up that morning to the Musers and eerily maybe a minute or two before they started talking about a fire at the WTC and it being on tv. I laid there in bed wondering what was going on, at the time I'd just moved and didn't have a tv.
They painted a picture of what was going on, and when the second plane hit, I was in shock. Imagine, you're hearing all this and can't see anything. I quickly got dressed and ran down to the donut shop and watched in disbelief as all this continued.
Listening to that audio brings it all back to me. I kept my ears listening to the ticket, do you remember them taking a lot of commercial breaks?
"What the heck's going on at the World Trade Center?"
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the vivid memories that I have of the day. I was driving in and got to the office a little after that. I had an old 5" B&W TV and, in our area, we couldn't get anything except for one of the Spanish stations. They were showing the video and commenting on it in Spanish. I also somehow managed to get a Bloomberg feed on my computer and got to watch it all unfold.
From what I remember about The Ticket, they pretty much just rolled that day. No commercials, no stopdowns. Just a running commentary of what was going on and trying to keep everyone updated on the latest that they were seeing and hearing. I think that the breaks that they took were for PSAs, station promos and tickers. They slowly got back to regular rotation of segments, but the topic was mostly what was happening in NYC.
We have offices in NYC and had a client in the WTC. One of our network guys pulled up a ping to the router in the client's office. It was on UPS power and we continued to watch the ping replies until the tower fell.
I remember K-Scott doing a "Let's Check The War Page" segment daily on the Hardline for the next couple of months.
ReplyDelete'Making fun of the liberal position on Global Warming, he noted that the left has renamed it "Climate Change,"'
ReplyDeleteUmm no, that was largely the work of Frank Luntz--a noted Republican pollster. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Luntz
Why would the left want something to sound less severe (warming vs. change)? Anything talking-out-of-his-ass Gordon says should not be taken as fact.
Anon Ron perfectly captures my feelings at the time: it was like hearing the news from a friend. For the next several weeks they were able to articulate thoughts, questions, etc. that I had, but weren't always at the front of my mind.
ReplyDeleteI also remember the guys periodically stating, "I know one day we'll feel like talking sports again, but I'm not sure when that will be." They obviously figured it out, and their transition back to sports was natural and timely.
Those days they showed themselves worthy of the adulation they have earned.
I believe they went a week and four days before going back to sports. When the NFL resumed play they went back to normal programming. It may have been some of the best radio the station has done in it's history.
ReplyDeleteI was still listening to KLIF quite a bit during that time. I had listened to Ed Wallace on saturdays for years. He filled in the noon to three slot in the days and weeks afterwards. His opinions and presentation soured me on him and i have spent very little time with him since.
The Ticket only strengthened their relationship with the P1 in those times.
Well, if we limit the discussion to the science investigating climate change over the last ~50 years, it would be pretty boring since the research supports a single conclusion, thus taking "debate" off the table.
ReplyDeleteTake it to the DailyKos and The Slate, 732.
ReplyDeleteTheDude, you're obviously either not a scientist or one whose livelihood depends on grants or someone with a vested interest--no matter what side you happen to fall on. When the phrase "there's no debate" or the likes is said, you're no longer in the realm of science, you're spouting dogma.
I have some vivid memories of that morning. It was my day off and it was trash day so I was doing my usual morning routine. I would typically turn CNN on with the sound down and listen to the Musers. If something in the Real World started happening I could turn up the sound...but that morning it was Junior's voice that alerted me to the fact that a plane had just slammed into the WTC. Standing there with a sack of trash gripped in my hand in a stunned silence staring at the video rolling. The next week or so was sort of a blur. About the most sportsy discussions I remember were whether or not the NFL should carry on with the regularly scheduled games. The warm fuzzy I had for the NYY lasted about as long as the NFL hiatus. Then they went right back to being the team I most despised.
ReplyDeleteA dozen years later I tend to ignore them when they bring up current events.
Pman, if you are going to lob a grenade in the room and expect there to not be commentary about it, that is wishful thinking on your part. That it only garnered a couple of responses is a sign of restraint on the part of the commentariat. I didn't venture into gunz the other day and I am not going to start spamming the page with reams of research. This is the America of today. Polarized and firmly set in our opinions concerning the questions of the day. I don't expect to change Louie Gohmert or Smith County and he damn sure isn't going to change me.
Amen, Cactus. I can't stand political/social issues (real ones, not "You're an Ass If..."-which is greatness) as done by any Ticket host. The only one who seems to have any degree of actual awareness (and it is scant) is Bob. And usually I disagree with him. But he is the sole host who at least sometimes has a grasp on the topic at hand. If I can't stand it on the station, trust me, I can't quadruple stand it here. So kudos thus far to everyone who has restrained themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was in the Metroplex during 9/11 and flew back in to DFW on that Monday from SEA thru DEN, I remember more from The Ticket in the days after than from 9/11 itself as I was busy on the phone with my staff, my clients, and at that time did not really listen to streaming radio (if they had it) or listen to them via a small radio. I remember more that we had TV with increased audio up on more in our office when I was there.
ReplyDeleteTo this week: Cumulus reached a settlement with former KNBR host Ralph Barbieri for about $4M. Barbieri is about the age of Norm, but is a single father of a special needs son in his teen years. Not sure how long after taxes and attorney fees $4M will last.
http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-barbieri-knbrcumulus-settlement.html
I have worried about Norm ever since Barbieri got dumped since they are near the same age.
DA is right. Meaning, what he is implying is right. Norm is not long for "The Show." Times, they are a changing." Funny, how Norm the 60s/Baby Boomer he is (in some ways a caricature of it) is about to be, like so many of his brethren, to be "times a changing" out of a career. No matter that he/they are not nearly ready for retirement. It isn't merely Dickey/CBS/lawsuits/demo/terrestrial-satellite issues. It also has to do what's about to come down, come January, with the, ahem, Affordable Health Care Act. You think I'm blowing smoke? Well, sir or madam(e), you are a fool. You think Mike R, now in his 60s, is viewed as a "commodity"? If you do, you live in a fantasy world. The idiot who knocked DA is/was woefully wrong. The S is about to hit the fan; not just around here, but across the entire radio landscape. Just you wait and see. Within the next 18 months, what will take place will blow your minds. And you'll all once and for all understand what Mike R meant when he said: "Once this thing is gone, there will never ever be anything else like it." Enjoy "it" while "it" lasts, people. And I mean it. All your they'll never blow up something this successful talk, etc., has no bearing on what's coming down the pike. Take heed. Take warning. Bury your head in the sand. Whatever. But know that you have been warned. Sufficiently.
ReplyDeleteATTN: Sean Bass
ReplyDeleteI know you stop by here, so it is here where I will address you.
Exactly who are you to tell me, or anyone, which you are often want to do, how to be a good Rangers fan? Moreover, who are you to tell me that I'm a bad fan for thinking or doing x,y, or z?
For the most part I like your work. However, I think you erroneously believe yourself to be some sort of baseball mind/expert. State away all the Ranger HSOs you wish. But do us a favor--especially those of us who have followed this team for decades--and keep your notions of what a "real fan of baseball" does to yourself.
I'm a Seabass P1, but I gotta say there's something to what 454 says.
ReplyDeleteAnywho.
Long time jock John Dillon was fired yesterday. While he worked at a Clear Channel station (KZPS), the scuttlebutt according to some radio biz boards is that there is about to be some big time changes and firings and not renewing of contracts all across the landscape. Regardless of station and parent company. Evidently, the entire industry is changing rapidly and even radically. Buckle up folks, it might be a bumpy ride ahead.
Sean Bass is an idiot. It turns my stomach how he speaks us so authoritatively any time the topic of the rangers comes up.
ReplyDeleteDear Sean: nobody listens to Norm or BaD to hear your annoying, baseball-nerd opinions.
Whoa. Sounds like I'd better tune in to That Shake Joynt Thang today.
ReplyDeleteI like Sean's work, too. What was the context about his remarks on "true Rangers fans"?
Well, I guess this evens things up. As we know from some recent comments he has offered on this site and Twitter, he thinks MTC/Confessors should not write about certain things, i.e., what goes on (or what we think goes on) at The Ticket workplace, and some other items.
But, as I say, he's a good listen. I would not have thought he's a candidate for Corby/Gordon/Dan lightning-rod status, but maybe I need to listen harder.
Sounds like you butthurt guys above are big fans of the bunt and the wave.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLet me get this straight: Shaggy comes on here and, without knowing a dang thing about what a comment is referring to, calls others "butthurt," and that's OK by you, Plainsman. I reply to him; and in doing so I call Shaggy a dope. Not an a-hole, not some other curse word. Merely a dope. A dope for making a jerk wad Twitter/flame/GIML/Dallas Observer/DMN comments section kind of attack on a view/topic he obviously demonstrated having no knowledge of. . . . . and that earns deletion. Aren't you wonderful. Aren't you fair-minded. "Butthurt." You've lost a reader and contributor. Yeah, you don't care, I know I know. "Thanks for shopping at MTC, etc. . . ." Too above it all, you are. Suck it.
ReplyDeleteNot all you said, was it, Anonymous?
ReplyDelete