Been thinking a lot about the lower class men at The Ticket, and wanted to talk a little about Grubes. Has any JV had such an impact on the Ticket? During his decade at the station, the young man left an unrivaled mark. Grubes was not the inventor of the drop, however he was the one to harness its power and cement its place in everyday Ticket broadcasting (sorry Jer, but Grubes was the one to elevate the drop in our opinion). He cemented the chair of fun, and who could not love hearing his soft bearded chuckle waft through the studio, picked up by probably Danny's mike and played on air.
We were truly saddened the day Mike discussed his departure. It was truly emotional to hear how he called up THL individually to tell them his decision to go back to school and leave The Ticket. Even though Jake was able to slide in and take over quickly, the P1 shed a tear or two. It was just not the same, and many argued that the show suffered for it. And Grubes moved on, going back to school full time in Denton, stopped drinking and apparently got on the straight and narrow. Even though since he has dropped back out of school and started working for the Stars/FSSW/The Observer. Not the point of this post.
His legacy goes beyond the extensive work he did archiving drops in the ENCO. Grubes created a connection with the P1 that none of the hosts can. As one would listen to THL when he was board op, it almost felt like you were sitting next to Grubes, listening to the guys on the other side of the glass and waiting for the next drop to play. Chuckling along with him as Danny and Snake ganged up on Mike about his Celine Dion hockey jersey. Off air he was accessible, you could find him playing with Gribble at Barley House almost weekly and drink a beer with the guy. And Twitter, geez. There are even T-shirt companies that sell merch with his face on it. While we don't much understand the site, the GIML message board is very active and has an almost cult like following. He created a Ticket sub-culture if you will.
Grubes was the secret leader of all the 20 somethings that listened to the Ticket during his time, and it remains to be seen who will take his place. TC lost his chance, his reputation was tarnished early. Jake is destined for a big role at the station. Sean Bass, well, just not happening. Mino? Who knows. Fact of the matter is, there may never be another Grubes at the station, because there may never be another afternoon board op who will match his tenure.
Wow, thanks for the incredibly kind words! I really don't know how to respond to this other than to say I can't believe it happened.
ReplyDeleteThe Ticket has been and will always be the greatest thing in my life. I'm disappointed I couldn't make a career out of it, but that's the business. I still love the station and I still love the guys there, and thankfully they still love me too. My time there is over, but the Ticket will always be a part of me.
Thanks again for the kind words. Means a lot to me!
Aww Shoopie!
ReplyDeleteThanks for weighing in Grubes. Good to hear from ya.
ReplyDeleteRichie turned off his paywall but you still have to be a member to leave a comment. I sent him an e-mail asking if this was deliberate or an inadvertent oversight. Have not heard back yet.
ReplyDeleteAnd now the Plainsman has disabled comments over on MTC. Hopefully this is a short-lived issue
East Texas:
ReplyDeleteI think RW's blogging days are over unless/until he becomes unemployed, again. He might put up something every now and then, but I kinda doubt it. Regardless if whether he ever posts anything up again, I bet he never enables comments. I think he finally hit his wits end (rock me!) with the ball busting. I also noticed that Pman disabled the comments on his latest thread. I guess it got too testy. There also seems to be a troll who constantly makes one or two line Corby bash hit and runs. Maybe the troll or trolls got out of hand. One thing I have noticed is that there are a few regulars (some named, some anons) who seem to be unable to carry on a dialogue without getting personal or political. I won't name the named contributors, but it's not too hard to figure out who they are. A cursory glance tells it all. It sucks because most of these culprits have lots of interesting things to say. But they seem unable to let others disagree with them or have a different take on the world. They have to be right, always, or so it seems. Anyways it's a shame. It's turning me off of Pman's mostly kick butt site. I think for now, I'll start hanging out here a bit more often. While it's a bit too much on The Ticket can do no wrong end of the spectrum for my tastes, it's pretty darn good. Plus it hasn't yet been infested with trolls and the types I described above.
Grubes's departure marked, for me, the passing of the last remnant of how The Ticket used to be. He was the last member of the on air staff who was still connected with the listener in a personal way. I understand why the others aren't. I understand how things got to be the way they are. So I'm not going to say anything negative about it. I get it. The station is bigger than ever. The numbers don't lie. Still. The "We're one of you" aspect of The Ticket left the building with Grubes's exit. He "got" the original feel of the station and its relationship with the listener in a way that I believe many of the day one hosts have long since forgotten. I miss that. And I miss Shoopy.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you all, BBQ, ETP1 and anons. Hope the scene over at MTC gets cleaned up and those fires die out. The conversation over there is usually very good.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:06, like your opinions there. Agree totally, that something left with him. He was able to connect with the P1 like no other guy up there.