Random Items, and Let's Step Up the Comment Quality, What Say?

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The Guy in the Last Thread Who Said This Thing Needed a Fresh-Up Was Right

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The Future of Our Favorite Former Hangers

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Question on the NLRB Proceeding

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What Are We to Make of the September 15 Hearing?

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No One Knows Anything

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BREAKING: CUMULUS (through Susquehanna subsidiaries) HAS FILED SUIT AGAINST KEMP AND MCDOWELL -- DETAILED SUMMARY OF COMPLAINT -- PLEADINGS MISSPELL "BENNETT," FAIL TO CITE TX NONCOMPETE STATUTE

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There’s an Angle to This We’re Neglecting; Or, Some Sketchy but Nevertheless Long-Winded Speculations on What Might Happen Based on Limited Information

Forget It, Jake; It's Chinatown

Preliminary Note on Dan and Jake's Departure

BREAKING: Dan + Jake (and/or Dan or Jake) Are Not Going to The Freak

Something May Well Be Up

Just a Quick Refresh

Got nothing much on my mind.

I've had a big change in my work which, alas, means a lot less Ticket listening.  I'm hoping that will change soon, but for now I've missed a lot of shows I used to listen to frequently.  Let's hope I can continue to make this site worthwhile.  For now, I'm not planning on ending it.

Yesterday, I was able to hear a lot of 12-3.  I was impressed.  I know this may be a minority position, but I thought the show sounded really good.  Dan seems to have gotten a lot more comfortable with the new arrangement, and I liked listening to both him and Jake.

A lot of you have not liked 3-7 for the same reasons you didn't like the Mike R Hardline -- too much Corby, too much annoying virtue-signalling political talk from him and Danny.   Before my schedule got in the way, I had the opposite impression.  I liked the new arrangement much better and I thought Corby and Danny both were more focused, more mature-sounding.  After some initial uncertainty, Bob stepped up and provided the balance that show had lacked for some time.  I have not been able to listen to much of that show since sports came to an end, but I can see how those improvements could wither with the lack of any sports to talk about.

Anyone out there actually liking the "new" Hardline?  I'm going to make a special effort to tune in here in the next few days.

By the way:  No excuse for not finding new names for these two shows.  Maybe we should give Cat a hand and suggest some.

Anonymous 415 Nails It (That Is, He Agrees with Me)

I was getting set to do an article on some early observations on 12-3 and 3-7, when ConfessorAnonymous 415 posted yesterday to the previous article (lightly edited by MTC):

So far I'm mostly liking the changes. I will admit that I'm partial to 3-7 over 12-3. For me to say that is incredible since I haven't been able to listen to 3-7 for over 5 minutes at a sitting for years now. 

I said mostly liking due to being less and less sold on Super BaD. I'm beginning to see chinks in Jake's armor. I'm beginning to see that while deserving and in a fundamental way ready for prime time, he's not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination. 

I also think Dan needs to dial it back a notch or four. To me it's obvious he's trying to make sure everyone (CTO) know that he still has his youthful fastball. At times it makes for uncomfortable radio. And this isn't Stern so this isn't a good thing. 

As to 3-7, the more Bob asserts himself and the scarcer Danny makes his presence known the better this thing gets. Danny's good for a segment and has nice add-ins throughout the show. Bob's getting more comfortable with each passing show and as a result is SOMEWHAT putting a matte finish on Corby's Corbyness. Good stuff. 

I think 12-3 is going to take a lot of time, experimenting, and even off-air discussions between Dan and Jake and/or Cat interventions to find its sweet spot.

*     *     *

These observations mirror my own to a large degree.

Dan and Jake:  In general, I think this show is good, better than recent Bob and Dan.  I do think Jake has settled in very well -- it's Dan who seems to be thrashing about a bit.  He's clearly the boss of the show, which is fine.  But not having been the boss of the show for all those decades, he's having some trouble figuring out how he should be pitching his presentation.  "Dial it back a notch or four," says Anonymous, and that puts it pretty well.  He seems to be pressing.  It's not that he hogs the show -- that's neither fair nor entirely accurate -- it's that his role as the sarcastic gadfly hovering around the stentorian Bob doesn't sound quite right without Bob there to puncture.  He's a naturally intelligent guy -- he should just relax and broadcast instead of constantly setting up his next sarcastic observation, looking for angles for jokes, a process that (you guessed it) bogs down the show.  I have pretty much no complaints about Jake, except to say I'd like to hear a little more from him.

Corby and Bob:  After an uncertain couple of weeks, this show has taken off.  I listened quite a bit over the past few days, and I thought it was an enormous improvement over legacy Hardline.  Bob is so much more comfortable, so much so that he is really remaking the show.  Corby is proving to be a solid equal partner, and he has dialed back the Corbosity.  Danny has done a good job of picking his spots.  A very enjoyable listen.

*     *     *

And, by the way:  Are you catching The Ticket's promos once again saying they're the number one sports talk station?  I don't have details, but I believe the latest book shows overall victory over The Fan.  But no one's making much noise about this; The Eagle beat 'em both in the demo, did it not?  (I'm not a ratings maven).

#The Ticket Too?

A long, long time ago, I wondered on this site if The Ticket were going to get in trouble with women.

At the time, my concern was with The Hardline.  With Greg Williams, Mike R, Corby, and Danny, the show would frequently take what I characterized at the time, and still recall, as a frankly misogynistic turn.

Even after HeeHoo got the boot, the show would frequently veer into that territory.

I'm not a politically correct guy at all.  But I really disliked the attitude toward women I heard from The Hardline from time to time, all three of the remaining personalities.  And I would also sometimes hear it from Dan McDowell.  Real disrespect and even hostility that was not just a bit.

At the time I thought:  Man, some of this Hardline stuff is really rough.  I wondered what would happen if some women's group decided they were going to make a name for themselves by urging listeners to boycott The Hardline and, more importantly, boycott advertisers who bought time there.  Get some picketers outside the building for photo opportunities for the local journal.

Never happened, of course, Dallas not being a hotbed of feminist activism.

And then, over time, The Hardline seemed to drop the hostility towards women, or greatly reduce it. In any event, I stopped noticing it.

I have noticed it some with Dan and Julie -- not too much, maybe just Dan trying to figure out if he's still the Sports Humorist with the realignment, nothing that made me punch out (I'm liking the show) -- but apparently something popped up the other day.  I didn't hear it and I'm not entirely sure what took place (something to do with Tyson Fury's training regimen and his wife) but the subject of The Ticket's relationship with women seems to have moved closer to the front burner.

We've all noticed The Ticket's recent celebration of The V1, a phrase I personally dislike -- talk about objectification of the female -- but looks like it's here to stay.  And Julie's participation in noon-3 seems to have been a success.  So seems to me that things are taking a turn for the better in terms of gender outreach.  Which I don't necessarily favor when it looks like pandering or bowing to PC pressure (which Julie's elevation doesn't feel like), but it beats what the station was throwing out in its earlier years.

But perhaps there's some way to go.  With #MeToo reaching even Dallas, there may be women out making picket signs as I sit here typing.

A Hearty Congratulations to BaD Radio

I had hoped to get something more substantial up for this notable accomplishment, but  .  .  .  failed.

Congratulations to Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell on their 5,000th show.

I was able to catch some of this today.  Was a kick to hear Gribble, that Nice Young Michael Gruber, and T.C. Fleming again.

On the one hand, the show's obsessive self-chronicling (do they have every show on tape?) is a little self-absorbed.  But forget that hand -- I'm really glad they take the show seriously and archive their stuff, keep track of show numbers, all the rest.  Keep it up, lads.   Whatever one may think of the show, it can't be denied that their show preparation is tops at The Ticket -- yes, topping even the Sainted Musers.

That shows respect to the listeners.

And we shouldn't forget that they turned down an opportunity for (it is said) more money to move to another station not so very long ago.  There's some love there.

I do worry that Bob will take his Large Sports Brain to more lucrative fields full-time (TV, behind the scenes with a network, play-by-play, sports journalism, books), so let's enjoy the team while we can.

A question for wayback P1s:  Don't The Hardline and The Musers each have more shows in the bag -- maybe not at their current time slots, but at least identifiably as the shows they still are -- than BaD?  I don't want to detract from the 5,000-show milestone, but, in the words of an immortal BaD staffer -- am I wrong here, guys?

Again, best wishes and for many more shows to come.

 

Top Fake Laughs on The Ticket

[Not the STD.]

This is a bit of a misnomer, because not all of the laughs mentioned here are fake.  In composing this list, I tried to think of what various host's laughs sounded like, and I couldn't come up with some of them.  They may be secret chortlers, larfing under their breaths when bemusement overtakes them.  I ended up with a very short list.  From worst to first, and I will welcome corrections and nominations from the Confessor who may pay better attention than I do:

(4)  Corby Davidsion.  With the departure of T.C. Fleming, he will be at the bottom of any list, no matter how many other hosts or JV are included.  His shrieking, choking, breathless yowl at even the slightest funny leaves listeners bewildered at his comedy standards.

(3) Craig Miller.  This one isn't entirely fair.  Sometimes, Craig is left as the only voice left in the studio to support Gordon's bits where George is also an actor.  I have written in the past at the artfulness of his intelineated laughter to keep the bit going, which is why he is, among other reasons, the Fred Astaire of The Ticket.  Also, Craig tends to be somewhat on the acidic and judgmental side, so it is hard to imagine him laughing voluntarily at lame stuff.  He does it anyway, and he does it quite well, but not as well as:

(2) George Dunham.  His laughter is less prominent than Craig's, but because he's skeptical of much of Gordon's humor to begin with, when it appears it is warmer and more sincere.

(1) Donovan Lewis.  The hand's-down champ.   His guffawing always sounds genuine.  Makes me want to laugh along with him.

Honorable Mention:  Julie Dobbs.

The discerning Confessor will notice an absence of candidates from BaD Radio, except HM for Julie.  No particular reason for that.  In fact, I'm listening to more BaD than I have in many years.  It's just that when I think of their show and try to remember what a Bob/Dan/Jake's giggle sounds like, I draw a blank.

Well  .  .  . no, no, I think I'm wrong about that.  I'm having an aural memory of Dan sometimes cutting loose with what sounds like spontaneous hilarity.   I think I might rank him in pretty close to a tie with George, high on the sincerity scale.

Let's not turn this into a Corby Sux thread, OK?

OMAHGERD!  This site's been around almost ten years?  I can't believe no one ever told me about it!  It's the best and full of merry japes and jests!

Two Medium Hits and Four Quick Hits

No, this is not the STD.  It's still baking.


(1)

I heard the Jake/Dan/Bob/Julie from a week or so back on Work in Progress last Sunday.

It had an odd quality.  Very disjointed.  No one knew quite what was going on or knew quite what to say, so there was a lot of interrupting.  No one seemed all that angry.  Everyone seemed childish.

It got started in a strange way.  I thought the throw-in of the Country Music Saturday reference (by Bob, I think) in the middle of whatever else Jake was talking about -- it was a Jake segment -- was gratuitous and I didn't get what it had to do with what Jake was saying.  I don't think Jake did either, and that's why he got up on his hind legs, upset that one of the hosts had to reach for a doesn't-follow reference to bust his balls.  It sounded like they were spoiling for some kind of fracas with Jake.

I don't think this is the beginning of the end of anything -- does BaD sound appreciably different since then?  no -- but I do think it pulls back the curtain a bit as to who is getting on whose nerves in this cast.  We know Dan is somewhat thin-skinned.  Bob can be, too.  Jake, generally, is not.  He fights back when challenged, but he doesn't usually sound like he's taking it personally.  This sounded different, and it made me wonder if maybe there's some simmering jealousy there, some off-mic slights that have been building up to this.   Bob and Dan toiling for years in what they probably consider The Ticket backwater, sacrificing a good offer from CBS to stick with The Ticket. Jake the very talented and smart upstart, all over the station, talked up as a guy who may be needing his own show before too long.   Dan has a history of belittling underlings but it's tough to bully Jake.  The whole thing had a flavor of remember-you're-still-only-a-producer-just-like-Gribble to it.

I don't have any predictions.  I don't expect a series of similar jousts.  But it won't surprise me if Jake finds something else to do in DFW media if there are no host openings on any of the shows in the next year or so.  And none are anticipated. 

(2)

I've always liked Work in Progress, the Sunday ayem extravaganza.  Everything except the title, which makes even less sense now that it's an established weekend joint
What I want to mark today is the ascension of David Mino.

When WiP began, it was pretty much the Justin Montemayor Show, with Mino alongside.  Nothing in the world wrong with that.  Justin is a favorite of mine and I was glad he had his own show.  Didn't have a problem with Mino, either, but he was pretty green.  Had trouble getting out of his own way, lots of self-deprecating remarks about his inexperience, some uncertain starts to his segments, etc.  But Justin kept the show going and it was cool just the way it was.

But someone -- face it, it was the New World Catman -- had patience and let the show, and David, find their path.

And they did.  I listened last Sunday and was struck at David's polish.  I've been listening, but his improvement has kind of snuck up on me.  Dare I say it?  He led that particular show.  Seemed to helm most of the segments, was well-prepared.  Justin was even back on his heels once or twice, board had to dump the guy.  In fact, the show has a great balance now and it's a lot of fun.  More fun now that Justin doesn't have to carry the load.

Well done, Justin, David, and Cat.

(3)

Those Juul stop-smoking-device ads.  Not the worst we're-trying-to-make-something-utterly-scripted-sound-unscripted ads, but pretty comical nonetheless.  ("I thought  .  .  . OK, I'll try it.")   What was that one that aired a few years ago that tried the same schtick? 

(4)

I'm not anti-Christian -- raised in a church, was an officer at a major Protestant church, not so active now -- but I do wonder about some of those Good Contractor's List ads.  The ones that are frankly evangelical, the message overtly religious and really with very little to do with the GCL.  I don't find them offensive, but they're just the littlest bit creepy. 

Here's what occurs to me:  How would we feel if a Muslim business proselytized in Ticket ads in this fashion?  Hindu?  Druid?

(PS:  Out on the Plains, I sometimes deal with self-professed "Christian businessmen."  YHWH save me, I'd rather negotiate with Michael Avenatti's less ethical cousin than some of these guys.)


(5)

Someone in a comment a post or two back said they didn't care for those Sharon Moore good-citizenship City Credit Union ads.  I think they're OK, she sounds like a nice lady, the good deeds sound sincere.

Here's the thing.  Listening to these things for months on end, I formed a mental picture of her.  Maybe mid-forties, early fifties.  Blond.  Hair parted in the middle, straight, mid-length,  framing her face.  Pleasant face, quite attractive but not glamorous.   No Kelly "The Bulldog" McClure, she.

Looked her up:

(6)

God, do I get sad listening to those Tight Ends ads.  Poor Savannah.  Poor all of those girls.  Although  .  .  .  woman's gotta work, the tips can probably get them through the week, pay the rent, get some pot pies on the table for the kiddo, pay the cell bill.  Is it really more fun than a 9-5 gig?

Yeah, probably.

Savannah and Emma suffering from cell phone's poor optics in handling relative sizes of items at different distances from the focal plane

Obviously a slow ad season.  The Baby Dolls Saloon ads are back, too.

Nice hits, Plowman.  But can't wait for your STD.

On the Run with Dan and Mike

I caught a fair bit of the Dan McDowell-Mike Sirois midday presentation today in the car and thought it was pretty good.

I was going to write a compare-and-contrast thing about Dan and Bob, on the one hand, and Dan and Other People, on the other, but I'm in between commitments here and expected elsewhere soon.

Also, I'm uncertain what I think about that topic.

Maybe I'll come back to this later and jot down a few thoughts on the enigmatic chemical ingredient that is Dan McDowell.

Or maybe you guys can write it for me.

Dan and Mike, it's not important that you have hair; it's only important that I have hair.

Drydock Tock + Happy Birthday to MTC

Let's have some.

I'll start.  I was glad to hear The Shake Joint in the ayem, but was sorry to think that I would not have the pleasure of hearing Jake on with Dan McDowell.

I was in error.  I was able to tune in midday yesterday, and there they were.

I like Bob, I like Dan, and I like BaD, but BaD bogs, boy does it bog.  But Jake and Dan do not bog.  Jake keeps things moving and maybe I'm just imagining this, but it seems to me that Dan steps his game up with this pairing.

Gotta run.  Gimme some drydock thoughts.

ALSO:  Please keep a good thought for this My Ticket Confession internet online website, which is celebrating its ninth anniversary.  Yep, Your Plainsman went live on June 30, 2009, with none other than that Nice Young Michael Gruber as its first non-test commenter (although not on the first article, as I recall).  Hope to keep this joint going for awhile longer.  Thanks to all readers and those of you who take the time to comment.  Hope to meet some of you someday.