As we approach the 25th Anniversary of The Ticket and this year's TicketStock, I've been thinking of what I should put in this space to commemorate it.
I couldn't think of anything.
I don't have a lot of interest in Top Ticket Moments for some reason, astounding and entertaining as many of them have been.
I've been listening to The Ticket since 2004, the year I arrived in Dallas -- 15 years. The singular fact about The Ticket during that period -- and before -- is that it hasn't changed much. With a few changes, some of which occurred very early on, it's been the same hosts in the same time period for all those years. Amazing, and certainly a reason for its continued success.
But The Ticket has changed, sometimes in subtle, gradual ways. I was hoping to come up with three, but I've settled on two:
(1) The Ascendance of The Musers and Craig "Junior" Miller. The shows have never been ranked, but in my early years of listening I would have said, if asked, that The Hardline was the quintessential Ticket show and certainly the one most closely identified with the station.
I think that has changed not because The Hardline has declined -- I don't think it has, contrary to the views of some Confessors -- but because The Musers have continued to grow and improve. "The Musers" is now the most prominent and celebrated show on the station and I would say that even if the ratings didn't bear me out.
And I think the rise of The Musers is because of the rise of Junior Miller, the Fred Astaire of The Ticket. When I began listening, George Dunham was "The Commander." You don't hear that much any more. Instead, Craig Miller is the Judge and Lord High Executioner for station controversies, and the creator of "tiers" to rank the relative prominence of persons appearing on the station. He is the most prominent host on The Ticket, eclipsing Mike Rhyner and even his podnuh George Dunham.
(George -- love the guy, but there came a period some years back where his interest level clearly waned. I don't know if it was because he was building a house or building a band, but there were some segments where he simply wasn't ready to broadcast, and you could hear Junior's irritation. Not really a knock on George -- he's still great -- but not the station leader he once appeared to be. (And his occasional unpreparedness seems to have abated in recent years.))
(2) The Growing Prominence and Quality of the Junior Varsity. I credit Jeff Catlin for hiring and showcasing down-tier talent. Yes, there have been some flameouts, some misses, some jerks, and some who just flat failed to launch, but by and large the non-daily-host on-air people are very good and getting better and better. There's not enough room in the broadcast day to give some of them the prominence they deserve. Too bad you can't sell enough advertising off hours to give some of these guys (and Julie) their own shows other than on weekends. (Or can you -- while leveraging the broadcast day on the Ticket Top Ten is genius, could you do better with a live Work-in-Progress from 7-10 nightly?)
I hesitate to name names for fear of leaving out some top-quality folks, but in no particular order, there's Justin Montemayor, Mike Sirois (honorable mention -- Cash), Jake Kemp, Sean Bass, Ty Walker, Julie Dobbs, David Mino. (I don't count Danny Balis as JV, but he's kind of equivalent to Jake on BaD, so you could list him here too.) Dave Lane as a cameo JV. Hey, I'm sure I'm leaving out some real good up-and-comers, so help me out here in the comments.
(3) The Hardline? I said I was going to do two, but of course the show with the most wrenching change during my listening history has been The Hardline, with the separation of Greg "The Hammer" Williams a decade or so back. Of course that's a "change," but here I'm going to offer a view which I know will be at odds with those of some long-time listeners: I think The Hardline is in some ways a better show now than it was when HeeHoo was on it.
Yes, it is true that Mike's interest has declined and he doesn't pay a whole lot of attention sometimes.
Yes, it is true that Mike allows Corby and Danny to browbeat him when he should be putting them firmly in their respective places.
Yes, it is true that Corby is a mic hog.
Yes, it is true that the lack of show prep can verge on disrespect of the P1.
But for all that, I listen. And I laugh more at The Hardline than at any of the other shows. I've said it before: Corby Davidson is the Howard Cosell of The Ticket -- he'll irritate the living bejeebers out of you, but still you tune in and (usually) don't tune out. And I and other Confessors have observed how good he can be when he's away from the nurturing biosphere of the who-cares Hardline.
I was tired of Hammer's ignorant redneck act before he got the heave-ho, and his various issues were plainly affecting his broadcasting long before he crashed and burned. I'll punch out on Corby and Danny from time to time (Mike isn't present or flavorful enough to excite the punch-out finger much anymore, although he's still a mesmerizing broadcaster when he's engaged -- that is, when he's got a subject that really interests him, or with a co-host who engages him), but for me, The Hardline is great entertainment and better than it was 15 years ago.
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I'm not going to make TicketStock this year, so send your photos of TicketChicks and other watchables to:
ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com
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How has The Ticket changed for you?
