This Was Not the Greggo Article I Intended to Write -- AN MTC STD*

The Greggo article I intended to write would have gone something like this (but, because I am Your Plainsman, much longer):

I don't remember why I switched over to The RaGE the other day, but I noticed something about Greggo.  Oh, he sounded fine.  Unimpaired.  He and Richie were talking about the recent Rangers trade.  Made sense.  In fact, Greg made the same point that Junior made the next morning – this means trouble for Michael Young.  Absolutely nothing unusual about the conversation.  Except for one thing.   While Greggo sounded like the old Greggo, something was amiss.  His voice was huskier than it used to be – hell, we're all a little older than we were in 2007 – but it also sounded like he had dentures that didn't fit.  Or he'd lost bone mass in his jaw.  Or his tongue was swollen.  His speech was really whistle-y and kind of wet, he had some trouble pronouncing some words (but again, not because of inorganic impairment).  It wasn't extremely obvious, it wasn't awful to listen to, but it was noticeable.  It was as though he'd grown very old all of a sudden. 

I don't know where I was going to go with that, just something that a Plainsman surveying the sports talk radio horizon should notice.  As I say, the segment was fine, Greggo just sounded like an elderly man.

Today, Mrs. Plainsman had sent me out to do some hunting and gathering and I had The Hardline on.   I was waiting for her call and I was dozing in a parking lot.  The Hardline was doing a segment on whether Corby was going to turn into The Snake by talking to some very young woman about anal bleaching.  Early-forties Corby talking to early-twenties woman about anal bleaching.  Now there's an image that sharpens the appetite.  At that point, Mrs. Plainsman called and instructed me as to her dinner preference and I escaped that segment without further injury.

When I came back and turned on The Ticket at 6:30, it was Ralph and Razor.  I like Ralph and Razor.  But it is fair to say that I have more interest in:

   --  the State of the Union Message,

   --  not only watching paint dry, which is a fairly dynamic process, but watching a sealed can of paint, or

   --  103.3,

than hockey on the radio.

So I switched over to The RaGE, still broadcasting at 6:30.

They were talking about the Texas Longhorn TV network deal.  And Greggo was on fire.  He knew his facts, and he not only had an HSO, he had an ultra-HSO that I thought he supported reasonably well:  That the deal might not only mark the beginning of the end of the Big 12, but the beginning of the end of the NCAA.   I don't recall all the details, but I recall that it made sense, and was actually somewhat visionary.   Now, you can agree with that or disagree, but it was real good radio, and Greggo sounded just fine.  It made me think about his hypothesis and other circumstances that pointed in the same direction.  And I care less about the NCAA than I do about Stars hockey on the radio.

Now I'm not going to start listening regularly to The RaGE.  I'm not advocating that anyone else do so.  But I gotta tell you:  When they went to break, I tried to remember the last time I heard a Hardline SPORTS segment that provocative.  Now, the Hardline guys are interesting, and they talk in an interesting way, and an amusing way, and I'm as addicted to the showgram as you are, and I think Greggo did them dirt.  But numerous Confessors have mentioned it:  Those gents do not do significant preparation for their show, not so's one could notice.  Oh, they mention show meetings.  What happens in them is not entirely clear.  They're talented enough broadcasters, every one of them, that they get away with it and it's great radio and I listen whenever I can for as long as I can.

And the fact is, Mike R's increased interest over the past few weeks has been noticeable,  leading to something of a renaissance for that showgram.  I had intended to call attention to it in an article, and probably will sometime.

But the point is – The RaGE isn't messing around.  There's some hard-core content there, content that someone has thought about for more than a quarter-minute before it is uttered on the air.   Several recent comments have noted Corby's apparent near-total unpreparedness for E-News and Community Q-Hits, and, defend Corby as I might, that perception is widely shared and difficult to shake.  P1's want to be entertained, and our lads do that quite well.  But if they think they're being shown disrespect, they may go shopping to that new mall up north on the dial.

Now, please excuse me while I Google "anal bleaching."
_______________________________

* Scorching Ticket Disquisition