Here's How Little I Have to Post About

The Confessor will recognize this as an entirely burnt post intended to let you know I'm still out here and still providing the anchor for your trenchant Ticket commentary in your offerings below.

Here it is:

Jake Kemp:  He reads the ad copy put in front of him.  This is not a criticism of Jake.  This is a criticism of whoever writes the ad copy.

I speak of the ad copy for All-Pro Foundation Repair.  As this column has pointed out, one should never buy a house from a Ticket host, because they've all had foundation problems.  (Never, Never, No, Never, No, No, Never -- and I Mean Ever -- Buy a House from a Ticket Host)   Now, instead, they all say "we've all had reason to call" All-Pro.

Even new host Jake.  Apparently the moment you're elevated to Tier One, your foundation starts to get wavy and shifty and doors stick and paint cracks.

That's OK.  Never hurts to have your foundation checked on this supposedly difficult North Texas soil.  Although how homes have stable swimming pools but can't seem to have basements or sound foundations in this area is beyond me.

That's not my current issue.  It is:

During the latest ad, Jake says something like this:

"But what really sets All-Pro Foundation Repair apart, though, is  .  .  .  ."

No.

Just, no.

You can't say "but" and also "though."

It has to be either:

"But what sets All-Pro Foundation Repair apart is  .  .  .  ."

OR

"What sets All-Pro Foundation Repair apart, though, is  .  .  .  ."

Jeez.  An absolutely nothing moment, but drives me nuts.  Ad copy guys:  Jake has a Master's Degree in Communications.  Give the man correct copy to read.

And there you have the most vivid thought I've had about The Ticket in a while.

Wait, here's a couple more less-vivid thoughts:

I like Jake and Dan 12-3.  The show continues to warm.   Dan still has the occasional hissy moment, but Jake's good at handling them and overall I think Dan has upped his game.

I like Bob, Corby, and Danny 3-7.  Everyone is settling in nicely, I think.  Corby's calmed down, we're hearing less bonehead social commentary, and Danny has perked up.   Both Danny and Corby seem to be speaking with greater care in the presence of Bob's thoughtfulness and general niceness.

There you go.

Thank you for shopping at My Ticket Confession.

 

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

I'm Never Buying Another Subway Sammich, Ever

 

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ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

I'd Feel a Whole Lot Better about Buying Insurance from City Credit Union if Sharon Moore Knew How to Pronounce "Insurance"

[EOM]

[Not Sharon Moore.  Insured status unknown.]

Random Items

          (1) The Hardline is not out of the mainstream on this, but I am:  Season Two of "True Detective" was not terrible.  I thought it was very good, if not as linear as Season One.  Hard to follow, but I loved the atmospherics of sun-baked Los Angeles.  Had kind of a Twin Peaks getsalt that I enjoyed.

          (2)   Ditto Season Three:  It is being hugely overpraised by The Hardline (The Hardline?  Overpraising something?  Surely not)  and most other observers.  Again, I'm an outlier here.  The writing is sharp, but it suffers terribly from the Breaking Bad Disease -- endless lingering takes of Ali looking anguished, a la Bryan Cranston.  For having a two-hour premier, precious little happened except for shot after shot of said anguished Ali.  Hey, did the True Detectives kill that ex-con in the trunk?

          Two stars.

          (3)   Is that new Desperados ad the cheapest, cheapest-sounding, and overall worst commercial ever aired on The Ticket, with the possible exceptions of The Bulldog and those wall-removal guys with their ten-year warranty?  (What -- the wall might reappear after 10 years?  if the house falls down after ten years for lack of a supporting wall, no problem?)   Wait, I forgot those mortifying Tight Ends Sports Bar and Grill girls.  Good Jah, the mumbling, almost incomprehensible, unconvincing copy by some offspring of someone followed up with the goofy coda.  Awful.

          Is Desperados as good as the Ticket guys who get the free grub make it sound?

          Which makes me wonder if there is some review of commercials for suitability for the air.  Actually, I guess I don't wonder:  There must not be any.

          (4)  Any of you out there voting for the top Ticket moment?  I've heard so many of them so many times over the years I don't have much interest in it.  I've assumed the Nolan Ryan Great Snow Monkey Battle will win, but dunno.

(1) Crap; (2) Cool; (3) Click

CRAP:  I was waiting for the report on the intra-Ticket contretemps involving shots at George, but as the ads were winding down someone walked into my office and closed the door to solicit my confidential wisdom on proper plains management.  So I missed almost all of it, just picked up a bit near the end.

So Justin M is taking shots at George, I guess.  I've heard some of that banter on the Monty + The Machine showgram, but I always thought it was just a bit, the pygmies nipping at the heels of the giants for laughs.

But perhaps not.  I did hear Sean report that M+M is suspended for this coming weekend.

Can anyone fill in some details?  I guess it has something to do with the e-Brake?  M+M upset about weekend shows not being nominated?  Something like that.

By the way -- Gordon's bits frequently tease Justin, not in a harsh way, but there's clearly some (what I thought was friendly) friction there.

Perhaps Justin will stop by, or maybe I'll hear from one of my network of local industry sources who know some Ticket guys  .  .  .  .


COOL:  I was proud of The Little One in The Musers' and The Hardline's handling of the Odor/Bautista incident.  Balanced, interesting.

Odor's attack was colossally stupid, if emotionally satisfying.  And we didn't get any homerism from either show.  The visceral pleasures of the encounter were honestly acknowledged, but the bad optics and bad strategy were identified with precision (which is to say, I agreed).

I did not hear Norm or Dan/Bob -- can one of you fill us in on how they saw it?  I saw some Bob tweets but I have a hard time deciphering his Twitter attitude sometimes if I'm not following his thread or paying close attention to his Tweet-tormentors.

CLICK:  I've missed me some Ticket lately because I turn off the radio -- not just turn it down, turn it completely off -- within 1.6 seconds of the beginning of that Meador "Hidden Cost Motors" ad. Meador has hugely overestimated its appeal and persuasiveness.  It's running way, way too often on The Ticket.

You hear it once, you've heard all the jokes, unclever to begin with, then you hate it every other time it appears both because it's instant boredom and it goes on for a WHOLE MINUTE and the actor sounds like Gordon after a pack of unfiltered Camels.  It's a yuk-free bit and it goes on and on.

And really, Mr. Meador General Manager Guy who comes on and asks "have you ever had that experience?", no one has sold new cars like that since -- hell, I've never had that experience with any of the many new cars I've bought.  And you telling me Meador won't try to sell you an extended warranty and shine protection? 

And in all that airtime -- even the people who don't shut the damned thing off (1) don't hear the name of the dealership, and (2) don't hear the brand of cars being flogged until Mr. MGMG comes on, by which time people have already decided they will never, ever buy a car from whoever is inflicting this ad on them. The time would be better spent telling people how to spell "Meador".  (I assumed it was Medder or Metter -- never heard of it and thank Jah that Google searches phonetically.)

Meador is spending an enormous amount of money to drive people away from its dealership.

ThePlainsman1310@gmail

@Plainsman1310

A Word from The Sponsor

Not so very long ago I was dining with a professional acquaintance from out on the hardscrabble plains of North Texas.  He had selected the venue.

We were shown to our table by a nice young woman.  As we were being seated, I mentioned to her that I had heard that the restaurant would be closing at this location and re-opening somewhere near downtown. 

Yes, she said, they would be closing in October and reopening a week or so later at a location in Uptown close to Downtown.

As she was speaking, I heard something, a certain music in the voice, a certain smiling inflection in her cadence.

"You're Gina Cook," I said.

She confessed immediately.

I told her that I get a kick out of the commercials and she was very pleased about that.  I asked if I might take her picture.  The Kodak puts out a very harsh and undiscriminating flash so please take that into account, although I have tried to soften the glare with some adroit Photoshopping:

I told her I'd write about our encounter and publish it here, which also made her very happy.  So happy, in fact, that she sent over an extra side dish (the lobster mac) and a rather tasty after-dinner drink.

Now Confessors, I know that not everyone enjoys the bantering commercials for Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse in Dallas and Fort Worth, but I will strictly enforce a code of enhanced courtesy in the comments for this article.  This ain't a Republican debate, y'know.

She was really nice and loves supporting The Ticket with their advertising, so consider what keeps our heroes on the air, will you?

My medium rare filet was perfect.

The Plainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT -- FOLLOW-UP -- The Bulldog Goes to "Man's Best Friend."

Some readers out in the ether don't like it when this site comments on Ticket advertisers, or think it demonstrates the crappiness of the site, or something.  Fine.  You try writing a blog about one station for six years and let's see how your topic wheel spins.

Anyway, you will recall a column back a few months ago where I questioned whether Kelly McClure, Esq., of the McClure Law Group, was actually known as "The Bulldog" as her appalling commercials claimed.  You can refresh your recollection here:

Kelly McClure Probably Not Known as "The Bulldog."

Not a long time after that column ran (but probably not because of it), she got rid of those ads, and now runs much more conventional and convincing spots with a professional announcer, some production value -- and no wolf whistles or her faux-dismissive "thanks, hmpf."  And no reference to herself as "The Bulldog."  Also does some of those spot sponsorships now -- a real member of the Ticket client list.

She still doesn't do herself a huge favor by narrating a portion of that longer ad.  It can take you a second to figure out that "prordy" means "priority" and  "custy" means "custody."

But there was still something odd about the ad.

I believe the end of the commercial issues the claim that she or the firm or something has been "board certified in family law since 1985."

I can be corrected on this, but I believe only attorneys (as opposed to firms) are eligible to be board certified if they meet certain criteria.

If we go to her website (http://www.mcclure-lawgroup.com/), we see that her firm has six attorneys.  The first line of her bio states that Ms. McClure got her board certification in 2005.  The next most senior attorney didn't graduate from law school until 2008.

Turning to her bio, we find the odd bullet item:

"Family Law Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
"Member Since: 1985-present"

I don't know what it means to be a "member" of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, but I am pretty certain that it does not mean you are board certified.  In 1985, the McClure Law Group didn't exist and Ms. McClure had been out of law school for one year.  As noted, that same bio states that she did not achieve certification until 20 years later in 2005.  So what exactly happened in 1985 with the Texas Board of Legal Specialization?

To add to this mystery, her LinkedIn profile states that she has been Board Certified in Family Law since 1995.

Does it matter to the P1?

No.

Just something that struck me as peculiar.  I'm sure Ms. McClure is a terrific domestic relations lawyer.

Remember, though:  She represents "high net worth individuals."  So smoke out before you call.

"I'm know you're glad to see me, but if that's a Kelly McClure prenup in your pocket you'll have to get your jinj on elsewhere."

NEW MTC FEATURE: Bit or Not?

Confessor Brad Gilbert somewhat anticipated this topic in his comment to the last post so thought I would go ahead and throw it up here.

Every once in a while you will hear something on The Ticket that will make you go "hmm, is this sincere or are they (or "is he") doing a bit?" 

The most recent puzzler is the series of ads featuring the hosts claiming to be P1s, swearing that they listen all the time and even identifying some favorite segments.

There are several possibilities here:

It could be sincere, more or less, in its entirety.  It would not be hard to believe that hosts tuned into the station during their listening time, in the car, doing whatever it is they do when they can also be listening to the radio.

The first thing that struck me as odd was Mike's statement that he simply had to tune in to the 8:40 bit everyday.  Had some trouble picturing Mike up that early, and if so, targeting that particular segment.  Still, made some sense.  Could be we are supposed to take it entirely seriously.

It should come as no surprise that Dan is the one most obviously lying -- in a way intended to be amusing, of course, and it is.  His first clue is actually somewhat sly, as he identifies the Muser segment in question as "Gordon's [not 'Gordo's] Corner."  This is clever – it is just the most subtle hint that he is pretending to know about a segment that he in fact never listens to as evidenced by getting the name just a little bit wrong.  In the one I heard this morning, he describes Junior's "Top Five/Bottom Five" lists as the most important thing ever on radio.

Bob gets into the act by expressing uncertainty as to whether Gordon has an Observation "Deck" or "Desk."

And yet we have Norm, George, and Craig more or less playing it straight in their claims of actually listening to the station.

Yes, I know this is a repeat. 

So what we're left with is a promotion that pretty much undercuts itself.  With Bob and Dan being funny, it calls into question whether all of the lavish mutual admiration is sarcastic.

This really isn't intended to be a criticism; I get a kick out of the commercials, and Dan's remarks are amusing.  But the schizophrenic message robs the spot of any kind of persuasive power. 

On balance, though, I think the ad was intended to be sincere and that we are intended to believe that the hosts tune in to one another with regularity throughout the listening day.  So while the spot is not effective in conveying this message, my vote on this one is:

Not a Bit.

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT: Kelly McClure (Insert Stock Wolf Whistle Here) May Be a Great, I Mean a Really Great Lawyer . . .

.  .  .  but she doesn't seem to be referred to as "The Bulldog." 

Except possibly by herself.

And maybe not even by herself.

Except in that ad.

The Confessor is aware that Your Plainsman does what he can to protect him or her from questionable advertising claims broadcast on The Ticket.

Lately the P1 has been subjected to what has to be one of the worst, most tone-deaf ads ever to cause our jaws to drop with its awfulness.  Yes, I'm referring to the one offered by domestic relations attorney Kelly McClure, principal of The McClure Law Group. 

The most jaw-dropping aspect of which is that she believes it will appeal to "high-net-worth" men, presumably possessed of a touch of class, to make reference in her ad to her physical allure.  I'll say this – she dresses absolutely killer:

Which you can do if you charge fees to high-net-worth individuals, I guess.  As for the rest, I will leave it to the always-fair Confessor to determine.  For a woman in her mid-fifties – sure, that's worth a whistle from gentlemen of a certain age, if you like those sorts of  .  .  .  amendments.   And an impressively volumized, if dubious, coiffure.

I have heard of the McClure Law Group and I even knew that Ms. McClure cleaned up fair.  But I was suspicious of the claim that she is known as "The Bulldog."  We've all heard of "Jim Adler, The Texas Hammer" (whose moniker, truth to tell, is probably also self-created).  But I have never heard of "Kelly McClure, The Bulldog."  Or "Kelly 'Bulldog' McClure." 

So I interrogated MTC's research database, viz., Google.  A search yields zero hits for ["Kelly McClure" bulldog] other than those associated with her own website – which, oddly, also does not seem anywhere to refer to her as "The Bulldog."   Bing – from which, I confess, I have never retrieved a useful search result – and Yahoo yielded similar results. 

So if she is generally, or even a little bit, known as "The Bulldog" outside of her premises -- indeed, beyond her recent advertising -- it has escaped the notice of The Internet.

She would seem more credibly canine if she got her grammar right.  She declaims that she is "sometimes referred as The Bulldog."   She's missing a "to" in there, although I'm not going to thrash you with the explanation.  (Because I don't zackly know it.)  Maybe she used to drive bus.

Could she be known as "The Bulldog" among those in the know in the Dallas domestic relations community, which is probably one helluva tough community with all of the high-dollar marriages and divorces around here?  Sure.  She's obviously very successful, and you can't succeed in that very challenging, emotionally-charged practice if you haven't got some sand.  So if she wants to be, or become, known as "The Bulldog," fine by me.   

But if any Confessors work at the McClure Law Group, do a little experiment for Your Plainsman and drop us a report:  Next time you see her in the hallway, say "Hey, Bulldog!"  If she gives you the stinkeye, just tell her you were influenced by her memorable advertising on The Ticket.  Or you were singing the Beatles song.  Or you thought she had gone to Yale.

Gentlemen:  Let's keep the comments gracious here. 

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Comments to this site are moderated.

Before posting, see Rules of the Confessional.

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com
@Plainsman1310

Is it Fair to The Ticket to PO on Those Execrable Comerica Ads Where the Pretend BusinessBroad Recites Terrible Ad Copy While Trying, and Completely Failing, to Make it Sound Ex Tempore and Genuine by Pausing, Throwing in Some "Uhs," and Inserting Gratuitous "You Knows"?

No.

But I do it anyway.

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ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@ThePlainsman1310

Accumulated Quick Hits

[Comments to this site are moderated.  Before posting, please read Rules of the Confessional.  Thank you.]

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(1)  Why is the phrase "Keep doin' whajja doin', playboy, and chase that money" a Ticket drop?  I read on a Reddit thread that it came from an interview with Quentin Ross on K104 conducted by DJ Bay Bay, but how did it end up on The Ticket?  Was it featured in a Norm bit or something?

(2)  Is Mike Rhyner aware that his "good friend" Rodney Anderson of Supreme Lending is now a competitor of The Norm Hitzges Program with his show from 11 AM - Noon on KRLD 1080 AM?

CORRECTION:  Thanks to readers for pointing out that Anderson is not on KRLD weekdays.  His 11-noon show weekdays is on 1190 News Talk Radio.  His KRLD show is on 9-10am Saturdays.

(3)  Favorite Super Bowl Ads:

       --  Chevy Colorado Pickup, the one with the fake TV malfunction.  I'd never heard of the Chevy Colorado, now I'll never forget it.

       --  The Coke-in-the-computer ad.  A great concept, and visually arresting.

       --  BMW i3 with Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel, neither of whom I like.  But a great plot and punch line.

(4)  Roger Goodell looked awful after the Super Bowl.  Still think the guy is a juicer.

(5)  It wouldn't surprise me if Brady didn't have anything to do with deflating the balls in that single game against the Colts.  Reason:  I think he's been dirty for a long time, that there was a plan in place stretching back for quite some time to treat the balls when the conditions were adverse and maybe all the time.  Then I saw this article:

Patriots' Unbelievable Fumble/Bad-Weather Stats

And this one:

Bet on Pats in Bad Weather, sez NY Times

The evidence is circumstantial, but murderers can be convicted on circumstantial evidence.  The Pats have been doing something to change the odds for a long, long time.   Deflating the ball is consistent with both anomalous trends, although not proven thereby. 

(6)   An email correspondent notes that before The Hardline hit drydock before Christmas, Mino replayed Mike's musings from the campout a couple years back on the uncertainty of his future at The Ticket.  Those musings were possibly, just possibly, alcohol-fueled. But interesting that Mino would play it and that Mike would allow it.

Having said that, I think Mike is in for at least the medium haul.  He's not going to depart with The Ticket on a downswing -- he'll do whatever he can to right the ship (if the next book or two indicates the need for righting) and get the ratings back where they were.  (I'm still not convinced we won't see a bounceback now that football season is over.)

Are we in agreement that Mike has been more energized, active, participatory in the show over the past several months?   But even that is a two-edged sword.  While it makes the show noticeably better (my view), by contrast it more or less proves what many listeners have been saying for a long time, that Checkout Mike put on those headphones too often for too long.

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[Comments to this site are moderated.  Before posting, please read Rules of the Confessional.  Thank you.]

This is Very Disturbing

Some topics for a holiday weekend:

(1)  Cover Story.  After five years, I hope I have earned the trust, respect, and affection of the Confessor.  Oh, there are those who loathe the site and me, and why they keep returning to disturb our merry discourse I will never know.  (See item 5, below.)  But in general, I sustain myself with the thought that on the Big Subjects, the Confessor and I would manage to find some common ground.

Bart's cars salute as he passes.

 But now, I'm not so sure.

I'm becoming intrigued with those Reagor-Dykes ads.

The ones that start with the high-production-value brassy fanfare and an actual radio voice-for-hire booming in sparkling hi-fidelity:  "REAGOR DYKES AUTO GROUP -- KEEPING IT REAL."  (May not have the wording entirely right -- next time I hear it I'll make a note and come back and correct.)  Followed, however, by the same phoned-in-from-Arcturus spiel from Bart himself, demonstrating the ways in which he keeps the car-buying experience real.

I confess (of course) that this calls my judgment on other matters into some question.

But I find myself kind of getting sucked in to the aw-shucks sincerity.  I find ol' Bart's persona likable.

And anyone who will spring for the high-quality intro but won't take the time or spend the money to get himself into a studio to cut a decent-sounding spot -- there's just something quirky about that that sort of draws me in to Bart's World.

Don't know that I'd buy a car from the guy.

But I'd let him give me a lecture about leasing.

(2)  Gushing.   More ad weirdness:  Those oil-well investment ads.

In the first place, what a terrible time to run an ad talking about ever-rising oil prices, at a time when the world is absolutely awash in petroleum and natural gas (hilariously contrary to the decades of predictions we've heard from the "limits to growth" crowd) and prices are plummeting and are likely to stay low for the foreseeable future.   Unless they're giving shares away, probably a poor time to invest.

In the second place, oil-well investment, like precious metals and other natural-resource investments, are home to some of the most virulent scams out there.  I don't expect The Ticket to investigate the claims of all of its advertisers, but if you are among the numerous very wealthy P1's thinking of making an investment (they usually require some minimum investment, typically but not always in the mid-five or low-six figures), please make your first call to the Texas State Securities Board to see if the investment is registered.  If it is not, find out from the investment company why it believes it is exempt from registration, and have them cite the statute or regulation upon which they are relying.  Don't invest without reviewing a complete prospectus.

In the third place, oil production revenue and taxation are hugely complex topics, and investors at your level do not take dollars off the top.   I'm not going to get into working v. carried interest, depletion, direct participation, and so forth.  If you have the dough to invest, spend an extra few grand and engage a reputable oil and gas lawyer to advise you.

Finally, don't do it.

(3)   T.C. Isn't Going Anywhere Anytime Soon.    Okay, okay, he may not be the favorite of The Confessor.   I get the criticism, but it really does seem overblown among the commentariat.  (I do not delete T.C. criticism unless it is scurrilous, overly personal, or violent.)

But someone out there likes him.

Or maybe his rates are attractive, because he's now doing advertised promotional appearances.  Sponsors have judged that he's a draw, that he'll bring people into their establishment to meet the increasingly famous Source Ragonk, and if sponsors think that, then Jeff C is probably prescient in having taken him back on.

Doesn't mean he's great -- just means he's appealing to certain sponsors.   And I'm guessing if you went to one of his appearances you'd see lots of folks shaking his hand, getting their pictures with him, collecting an autograph, and telling him to keep up the good work with The Ticket and IJB and ragonking the absolute bejeebers out of him.

And that, if nothing else, will keep him popping on.

(4)  Jake.  Sorry.  Still think the guy has got a lot and sounds good on The Ticket.

His sports talk is no worse, and, I think, better than that some of the hosts.  Wrong about everything?  Oh?  Well, if I'm recalling correctly, he was the only Ticket person who thought the Cowboys were going to be improved this year.

Yes, his voice has a Dylan-The-Argumentative-Teen lilt to it.  And I do count myself among those who wish to hear less socio-political-current-events commentary from him, but I wish the same thing about every other talker on The Ticket.   He's smart, he can be funny, he's knowledgeable.  Smarty-smug sometimes, sure.  But jeez, it's just not going to bring down the station like some seem to think.  If he proves to be a fixture on a daily show in the future, I can absolutely deal with that.

(5)  Moderation Report.   Every time I get to a screen I check the pending comments, so hope that hasn't slowed things down too much.  Certainly hasn't slowed the hits to the site, and I hope we can all agree that the conversation has returned to its historical lofty level. 

Just to be fair, let me report that some readers, or maybe only one or two, believe that I am an idiot and a bitch.  And some are unaccountably convinced that I have been doing this so I can be good chums with Ticket guys.  If so, then I am indeed an idiot, if not a bitch, because after close to 700 posts now, I have yet to meet or speak to a single Ticket employee or former employee.

Uh, Rudolph, I've got some bad news for you.

Some of the posts I get are actually amusing in their apparent lack of clarity on the concept of moderation:  profane, furious, violent, and one or two with factual assertions that are demonstrably false.  But all of them still seem to think that someone other than me is going to be reading them.  Their words live on the screen for about 1.7 seconds, most of those words probably unread by me, and they're gone.  What satisfaction there is in this effort on the other end, I have no idea.

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Thanks for doing your Christmas shopping at My Ticket Confession, everybody, and have a Holly Jolly Ticket.

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

This Is More of a Radio Question Than a Ticket Question

Yesterday at around 4:30 The Hardline mistakenly ran two ads simultaneously, one right on top of the other.

I thought -- someone will catch that, push a button, and fix it promptly.  But it didn't happen.  The ads ran for their full length, completely incomprehensible gibberish, until the next ad came on, which had no similar problem.

It got me wondering:  Who at the station listens to the station?  At any given time, who knows what audio is going over the air?  I guess I thought that would be the board operator, but perhaps he has other duties as the ads play.  I picture Jeff Catlin with the station on in his office, but he has duties for stations other than The Ticket, and at any given moment he may not be near a radio or iHeart or SportsDay or whatever.  Of course, the P1 listens intently and I'm sure Tweets or emails directly when he hears the occasional error.

Anyone know who actually "supervises" the minute-to-minute sound of the station?

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What in the world is with Gordon today?  Starting with the Observation Deck and continuing through Muse in the News, he's operating at Paul Harvey speed (and even sounds a little like Paul Harvey from time to time).  I'm thinking some meds.  Something's off -- actually, it's not really unpleasant to listen to, just sounds like someone's finger's on the reel. Uncharacteristically mellow -- it sounds like he aged ten years overnight.

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I used to follow baseball more than I do now, but I do follow a couple of teams a bit.  Not much anymore.  And, of course, I listen to SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket, a local sports-talk station.

I'm completely embarrassed that I never heard of Giancarlo Stanton until this morning. 

LISTENING TOO HARD: There's a Problem with Norm's Crest Cars Copy

I've heard this ad, the one that focuses on Crest Cars' service organization, a dozen times like we all have.  Each time, I pause and think there's something odd there, can't quite put my finger on it, but it's just an ad, it's there and gone, who cares.

But this morning when I heard it, I stopped in mid-stroke.

(I was shaving.)

I hope I hear it again before I post this so I can get the words exactly right, but here's the gist of it, emphasis mine:

"If you think you're getting the best service for your Mercedes, Infiniti, or Cadillac, you've never been to Crest."

We know that the copywriter meant to imply the conclusion:

" .  .  .  because if If you had ever been to to Crest, you would think that Crest [and not whatever lame service place you're going to now] provided the best service."

But when I heard it this morning, it jumped out at me as more naturally implying the following:

".  .  .   because if you had ever been to Crest, you would never think you were getting the best service for your Mercedes, Infiniti, or Cadillac [i.e., because it sucks]."

Mind you, I am agnostic on the excellence (or not) of Crest service.  I'm sure it's great, or else surely Norm would not be endorsing it.

I know.  Don't call him Shirley Norm.

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Speaking of endorsements:

A commenter to the "It's Just Lunch" post of a few days back noted that IJL was being sued in a class action for fraud, and the judge has ruled that the suit can proceed as a class action.  I won't go into details but it's an interesting claim plaintiffs are making -- essentially, that ILJ falsely represents the "custom selection" feature of the service.  In fact, I think there's more than one of them.  Check it out:

ILJ Class Action Lawsuit 1

This looks like a brand new one with more serious allegations of fraud:

ILJ Class Action Lawsuit 2

And while I may be projecting my knowledge of these suits onto Gordon, it seemed to me when I heard him reading that copy today, that he had lost interest, that his presentation had taken on the "do you like good food?" level of enthusiasm.

But, as I say, I may have been projecting.

AMENDMENT:   Just heard Norm's Crest ad.  Think I wrote down the material phrase correctly.  It's:  "if you think you're getting the best service in town, you haven't been to" Crest.  Point stands.

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