Show Repetition

We have often thought about it, but never noticed it. 

Every show today - Muse, Norm and D, BaD, Hardline - addressed the miracle of Dak Prescott throwing away a Gatorade cup at yesterday's football game. It felt like listening to the same segment four times. Today is not the first day where shows shared a sports story, in fact this happens every turn of the sun. But today seemed especially bad. 

Has any one else noticed the repetition?

Who Is Line 4 Guy

Rhett Miller is hanging around BaD today. He even stuck around for WTDS. He threw the rare direct address to Line 4 Guy. We rarely (once a week) witness a host directly converse with Line 4 Guy. When they do, it is superficial and non-inquisitive. But RM went right for it - asking who the guy is. There was a mention of Cleveland with the always known possible tie to Dan McDowell.  And as fast as he started, he stopped his pursuit.

It is like Bob or Rhyner or Cat or someone else tapped him softly on the wrist, gave a quick head shake no, and it was over. We moved on to continued controlled chaos. 

Welcome back. 

Killing It

Yea we looked at the ratings last week, and the Ticket is killing it. Ratings, and interpreting them, is a beating. They serve as a general metric to tell us how the station is doing.

But you don't need ratings to realize that the Ticket is killing it right now. It has been a wild past month, with the departure of TC to some sandy small market as program director, the departure of Rich to the TMS as pit crew for Tony Stewart, the rise of Logan, the Mohawk and Jet Black. It has left us waking up on Monday mornings at 5:30 AM, tuning in to hear just what the hell is going on next. No, this isn't sycophancy, this is an observation that we have not heard the station this strong or interesting in a while. BaD interviewing Dirk, THL losing bets, D&M talking to Turturro, and the sports, oh the sports.

Granted, for hard core P1's its captivating because this is a crazy time at a place where the status quo, as discussed earlier, is the norm. Half the fun for us is listening to see what JV is going to successfully rip through a ticker or try to channel their inner Gordo and hit a home run of an 8:40 bit. The other half is listening for the inevitable screw ups and stumbling that make it to the E-brake.

For the casual Dallas listener, beaten down in their Pontiac on the way home from work, this is where they tune in to experience the conversation about the insane sports that is happening in our city. And it is truly insane right now, with the Mavs battling the Spurs, with hockey being awesome again and with the Ranger wienie at full staff (I can not imagine being a host and trying to decide what to deliver over the airwaves with this much sports going on in our fair berg). The casual listener is loving it, learning in depth about some sports points he can discuss around the water cooler tomorrow. 

Like Followill said, "Just livin' in the now, man."

PS: Hearing Grubes play Norm drops over the PA last night was bad ass. The Ticket permeates everything in Dallas. And if you don't think it is special then you can suck it.

                                           

                            

Everybody hug.

Seamless Transition

Doubt that many people tuned in this morning right at 5:30 to see what the Ticket would offer us in terms of a new Ticker man. Well, we did. And if you did your research online.... well whatever. Dick Hick's departure left a big void in responsibility and talent demanding prompt and capable replacement. At lesser stations, this would be a problem. But at the Ticket, where there is a stable of young and hopeful kids like Logan Gourley, it was no problem. The young man is no stranger to the Ticker and he nailed it all morning. Don't know how long he will stay at this spot, but we like it. Add to that Gordo's absence and Jake filling in, there is a bit of a father/son or young/old camaraderie atmosphere on the show this week, which we dig. The show had a fun sound with George and Junes cutting up with the younger guys.  

Watching this Colby performance gets my baseball pants going crazy.

Name's Logan. Bitches love my offerings.

63,000 Ticket Tickers

At a station where the status quo is the norm, and any change like this one happens rarely, the departure of Rich Phillips is a big deal (especially this close to the departure of TC). Shocking almost. Shocking in the sense that he is one of the longest tenured employees up there, to the tune of 15 years. Not shocking at all when you see where he is going. Dick Hicks (his real name, on his credit card dammit) is leaving the Ticket for apparently greener pastures. Making his money now on football, basketball and auto racing broadcasting. Leaving the morning spot for a more normal schedule and a much shorter commute in. The Musers, who has had the same crew for 14 years, will experience a shake up. Who will replace him? Unknown at this point. And how do the other Musers feel seeing him go? Do any of them hear and see the delight in his voice and on his face, leaving this job and chasing his dream? Does Junes fleetingly think about all the biking or running he could do if he left this gig? Does George dream about making music a full time gig? Does Gordon weigh the idea of going full time into writing? They have to.

Hearing him recount interviewing with Rhyner in November 1995 was special, Friday on THL. That was a damn long time ago. Rhynes didn't even have a key to the building, so they went to the Jack in the Box at the corner of Fitzhugh and Central to chat. Rhynes remembers that the guaranteed onslaught of applications during the Ticket's opening did not happen, and Rich was one of the few to apply. Apparently it was only 25-30 guys, since no one wanted a part of this seemingly sure to fail station. Ironically Rich was not hired at that time, but hired on two years later (thanks largely to the great Followill).

Rich has always been in the backseat in the P1 Ticket brain. Case in point, the gold standard for Ticket blogs, MTC, has not tagged him in a post since June of last year. His departure has brought him up front, temporarily at least, in the middle seat with our arms around him. The throw back audio we heard this week including the awesome SMU football and basketball calls was great. And it reminds us how few  Ticket people we behold in our gestalt, how its only the hosts we hear and how there is so much more going on behind the scenes that the listener does not see.

Rich, oh Rich. Such a sweet guy and true class act. This gig at the TMS is his dream job, and we are happy for him. Lets hope these big Ticket shake ups stop for a little while.

Also, look out for Part II of the Ticket Movie. Soon. 

"Hey Rich!? Are your racing pants going crazy? Well, are they?"

TC's AMA

Been well known for about a news cycle. But here again is the link to TC's AMA on Reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/theticket/comments/22kfow/ama_tc/

Hey ladies. Try to love me.

Sea Bass on THL

Holy dog sh*t talk about lack of continuity in coverage of the Little Ticket. Rich Phillips is leaving, the Rangers are finally toying with your sports wienie again, Mike's due for a hair style make over and Sean Bass is becoming more and more present on THL.

Which is what we wanted to muse on today. Jake's departure to BaDD has had the possibly unintended effect of bringing out more Sea Bass. His input is often funny, witty even, but it sounds forced. Most likely because his on air persona does not share the chemistry that Corby/Mike/Black Cloud do. Nonetheless, this is a good thing for Sea Bass. He has his Shake Joint gig, Ticket Tickers, Diamond Talk and now this extra on air exposure. Some people reiterated the common theme of Sea Bass being slighted after Jake got promoted, but we see it differently. Sea Bass has never had more exposure, opportunity or Ticket responsibility until now. And that is regardless of how you feel about his on air talent.

Oh yeah, has anyone heard of how TC is doing? Or where we can stream him?