Reminding the P1's to Be One - Holding On Good Strong

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by dallasdawg, Oct 9, 2012.

  1. BayouMafia

    BayouMafia Thought Leader in Posting
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    Do you know anyone who listens to The Fan?

    I remember when Whitt wrote that in November a couple of Ticket personalities attacked him on Twitter over it. I don't know where to find radio ratings to confirm what he wrote, but those numbers don't make sense.
     
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  2. Zebbie

    Zebbie Hey Mike, guess what I have in my underwear?
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    I don’t
     
  3. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    something is fucky with those numbers. that literally cannot be right. i have never heard one person say they prefer the fan or admit they listen to it

    gotta be the sportsday app skewing those numbers right?
     
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  4. Fuzzy Zoeller

    Fuzzy Zoeller College football > NFL
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    Yeah I listen every day from 7:30-4 and maybe 1% of that is over the actual radio.
     
  5. Fuzzy Zoeller

    Fuzzy Zoeller College football > NFL
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    Then again, the app and the stream have been around way longer than May 2019. I just don't get it.
     
  6. texasraider

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    I don’t know anyone that listens to Norm so maybe there’s an anomaly with the ratings because of Norm’s being so low? I have no idea
     
  7. Fuzzy Zoeller

    Fuzzy Zoeller College football > NFL
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    It goes show by show. Apparently the Musers are losing morning drive by 2 points to something called Shan & RJ.
     
  8. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    definitely call bullshit on those

    that article had to have gotten the ratings mixed up. you don't dominate like that for decades (decades!) then lose it all in 6 months
     
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  9. texasraider

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    That’s impossible
     
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  10. Soup

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    Tons of people listen to the Fan over the Ticket and the most common reason they give me is because they talk more sports. It’s more of a sports talk station. Which is accurate, but to each their own.
     
  11. Pokes

    Pokes Younger, hipper, cooler
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    I think the fan is super gay
     
  12. The Hit King

    The Hit King No, I said buttplug. She's heinous.
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    It’s awful but there’s a lot of trash that listens to it. Just having the Cowboys and rangers helps them a ton in the ratings.
     
  13. BayouMafia

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    article from The Athletic with host interviews

    A new era: Behind The Ticket’s decision to shake up the lineup and how it came about
    [​IMG]
    By Saad Yousuf Feb 11, 2020
    “Who’d have thought the McCarthy hiring story could be eclipsed in Dallas today?”

    That sentiment was expressed by quite a few P1s — devoted listeners of 96.7 The Ticket — on January 6th. They were reacting to news that legendary radio personality Mike Rhyner, who founded The Ticket, was calling it a career. The Dallas Cowboys hired a new head coach, yet for some, the news of a local legend announcing his retirement was upstaging the big news.

    That was the seismic impact of Rhyner. Those were the shoes somebody would soon have to fill.

    “When I heard the news, I was like, “Whoa, OK, alright,” Rhyner’s longtime co-host on The Hardline, Corby Davidson, said.

    The search for Rhyner’s replacement began immediately. The next day, Davidson tweeted, “Today, we are trying out this young go-getter named Jake Kemp. Tune in. We will all get to know him.” Kemp, the longtime producer of the Bob (Sturm) and Dan (McDowell) midday show, was universally assumed by many — inside and outside of the building — to be next in line as a host at the station. His fingerprints on BaD Radio have been enormous, and just about everybody at the station believed it was his time.

    Editor’s note: Bob Sturm and Jake Kemp both write for The Athletic.

    Whatever the decision, news of who would fill Rhyner’s spot opposite Davidson was bound to be pretty big. But what The Ticket announced Monday afternoon rocked the Dallas sports media landscape.

    “When (Rhyner) left, it had a really profound impact on me that kind of even affected my thinking as it pertained to this,” Davidson’s new co-host, Bob Sturm, said. “It messed with my head, but it also kind of opened my eyes to thinking about the overall health and longevity of this radio station I love. It occurred to me that out of respect for Mike, I should be willing to leave a comfort zone to help this radio station that has done so much for me.

    “That doesn’t mean I thought I was the solution at all, because there isn’t such a thing as a one-person solution to Mike leaving. I mean, that’s Dirk leaving, that’s Mike Modano leaving. You don’t replace him, that just doesn’t happen. My thought was, ‘I don’t know that this is going to happen, but if they were to approach me, I need to think about more than the Bob and Dan personal bunker and think more about what Mike is responsible for.’”

    In the week following Rhyner’s retirement, Sturm thought about a situation that first came up more than a decade ago and then periodically ever since.

    “The idea had been floated to Bob and Dan, together and separately, that there might be a time where we have to split up for the betterment of The Ticket,” Sturm said. “That was as far ago as Greggo (Greg Williams) leaving in 2008. Now, it never happened, but the idea is something we’d at least heard about for more than a decade.”

    Sturm had no idea what options management was going to turn to in order to fill Rhyner’s spot, but he certainly knew that he could possibly be one of them. It wasn’t any sort of wishful thinking on Sturm’s part — far from it — but it was a sense of reality he had come to accept.

    “If they don’t (look at me as an option), that’s awesome because I would love to keep working with Dan,” Sturm said. “But if they do, well, I better be prepared to have an answer for them that is satisfactory. I told them when they were thinking this through, I want to be willing to help the team here, I really do. But let me say this: If you guys go in a different direction (for Rhyner’s replacement), you don’t have to apologize to me. I love working with Dan, I love our show, I love our audience. There’s nothing I’m trying to get away from.

    “But I totally get it if the answer to the question is, ‘Bob, we need you to be willing to go try this with Corby.’ I’m totally willing, I’m 100-percent on board. I felt like I had two scenarios, and I was okay with both of them.”

    The scenario that came to fruition — the one that made the most sense — was for Sturm to part ways with his running mate of more than 20 years and 5,069 episodes.

    “I felt really, really weird about leaving what we had done, but I also felt weird about not being willing to step up, since the station hasn’t really asked anything from Dan or I in 21 years,” Sturm said. “Maybe it’s just the idea of, ‘Are you willing to leave your comfort zone, or would you say no?’ I just didn’t think that’s what Mike (Rhyner) would do, or what Mike would want any of us to do.

    “He just retired, and we’re super happy for him, but I kind of tried to do what I think a lot of guys at the station are doing now, which is feeling energized or challenged to try to extend an institution.”

    While their run of success has been defined by how they complement each other, Sturm and McDowell were on the same page in this case.

    “It shook me up for a few days,” McDowell said. “Once thinking about it and the fun, new possibilities as far as creativity goes, and if this is the best move for the station long-term, and we can keep the station strong for another decade or so, then I’m all for it.”

    Sturm’s willingness to sacrifice personal comfort for the sake of the greater good of the station was not only key but in line with the company mantra that holds true from top to bottom.

    “The important thing here, and has always been, The Ticket,” The Ticket program director Jeff Catlin said. “The radio station, The Ticket, is a group. It’s more important and bigger than any one particular show, any one employee or any one day-part. That includes me or anybody else.

    “At that point, my job becomes very serious but very simple. ‘What is the best possible thing I can do for The Ticket?’”

    Approaching it that way made the decision easy: It’s in The Ticket’s best interest to have Bob Sturm join Corby Davidson and the regular crew Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

    Sturm’s move filled the hole left by Rhyner, but it obviously created another one for The Ticket in the midday slot opposite McDowell. While Kemp had initially hosted a few times from 3-7 p.m. with Davidson in hopes of landing a permanent role in that slot, this new opening was a perfect match for him.

    “In the 15 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never met anybody that has a better idea of what they want their show to sound like than Dan,” Kemp said. “I’ve learned how he does a show from him. So, to be doing a show with the guy I learned how to do a show from, it’s a very easy transition for me. He’s exceptional. I don’t know that most people understand how great he is at his job.”

    Kemp interned for The Hardline with Rhyner and Davidson as an 18-year-old right out of high school, doing so for two years. He’s spent the last nine years working with Sturm and McDowell on BaD Radio in some capacity. That’s something he credits greatly for his climb through the ranks from an intern to a board op to a producer and now a host.

    “I got to see how they do what they do every day,” Kemp said. “They included me from the jump, even nine years ago as a board op … I don’t know if there are two people better to learn from than Bob and Dan. I don’t think I could have been raised better. I’m very, very lucky to have spent this near-decade with them. They prepare better than anybody I know.

    There’s absolutely no way I could have gotten to where I am without Bob and Dan. Bob and Dan are two of the most impactful people, both personally and professionally, I’ve ever met in my life. They really do mean the world to me.”

    Kemp’s time as a host has also been a long time coming. He’s 34 years old and has spent almost as much of his life at The Ticket in some capacity as he has outside of it. But a hosting job opposite of McDowell is earned on merit, not time equity.

    “He had positioned himself for this but not because he’s been hanging around,” Catlin said. “There’s talent that’s involved, and he certainly has that. As I went through this and talked to all of these (candidates), internally and externally, this was not a slam dunk, it was not a dog-and-pony show and it was not a coronation. Everybody has an equal shot, everybody deserves that respect, everybody deserves that opportunity. The time is right for Jake right now.”

    Whereas many outsiders expected Kemp to get some sort of hosting job and Kemp had confidence in his abilities, it was still surreal for him to officially land it. Unlike Sturm moving to a different slot, Davidson inheriting him or McDowell preparing for a new co-host, this is Kemp’s first huge break. He’s getting a job he’s coveted ever since he first stepped foot in the industry.

    “The weirdest part for me about this is I feel like for 15 or 16 years of my life, I’ve kind of been chasing this one thing. Now I’m here, and I kind of don’t know how to feel,” Kemp said. “It’s like, this is what you wanted to do, this what you were after. I’m filing (stories) at 5 a.m. for The Athletic, doing this or that or whatever, the crow line (BaD Radio bit), which would take me eight hours. I don’t really know how to succeed. I only know how to be chasing it.”

    Kemp’s new co-host says he’s excited about this opportunity because he’s seen Kemp display his talents as a producer and feels this will help unleash his new co-host’s full potential. More importantly, Kemp stays in The Ticket family.

    “Jake is way overdue to be given a shot to host a show,” McDowell said. “If we lost Jake — if it was just me and Bob, and Jake went (with Corby), that would have been a big loss. He’s more than just a producer watching the phones or something like that. He’s a big, big contributor to the show and so great as a producer because he’s thinking about good ideas. We look good when we put them out there.

    “It was pretty much a given; like, of course you would want to work with Jake. They never had to ask, ‘Do you want to work with Jake?’ They knew I would. Bob would want to work with Jake. Corby would want to work with Jake. We all love Jake.”

    One difference for McDowell in going from hosting with Sturm to Kemp is the age gap. While the 50-year-old McDowell was just three years Sturm’s senior, he is 16 years older than Kemp. That part of the equation is just a prayer answered.

    “I’ve prayed for a new, young wife, but I didn’t specify my home wife,” McDowell said. “Apparently, my prayers were answered for my work wife. I’m looking forward to it.”

    As the saying goes, the only constant in life is change. With the realignment and addition, there’s no denying this is a season of change for The Ticket. But it’s also much of the same.

    “Of course, it’s a change. It’s a big change,” Catlin said. “Mike Rhyner’s not here, Bob’s moved to afternoons and Jake’s getting a hosting shot. All of those collectively look like big moves, and they are. I’m excited about it.

    “But when you talk about the actual players, it’s not that big of a change, right? Bob’s been here, Corby’s been here, Jake’s been working here, Dan’s still here, so everybody’s the same. To use a sports analogy, I’m the offensive coordinator, and I’m trying to put the best people in the best position to make the plays.”

    Catlin also denied that either decision — pairing Sturm with Davidson or Kemp with McDowell — had anything to do with competitive ratings in the market.

    “Absolutely not. We program the radio station to the P1s and to our listeners,” Catlin said. “We try to be as funny and entertaining and informative as we possibly can. That’s the only thing that’s our guiding principle.”

    Any time there’s a new show, let alone two, the natural question is about chemistry on show between the hosts. Those questions are different for each of the new pairings on The Ticket for different reasons.

    Kemp and McDowell have a head start because of Kemp’s longstanding role on the show as a producer. Additionally, Kemp and McDowell have hosted a number of shows together through the years on days when Sturm was absent and Kemp slid from his producer booth to the hosting chair.

    “Jake is certainly fortunate that his first big-time gig is going to be sitting next to Dan,” Sturm said. “The combination of those two, that feels like way more of a sure thing than Bob and Corby, just based on the fact that we have a known versus an unknown. I have zero doubts about noon to 3 p.m. because they’ve done a bunch of shows together when I’ve been gone, and they’ve been very good.”

    Even though there is some history for McDowell and Kemp to build off of, there are definitely things they will spend some of the early goings working through on their own. Kemp brings a different flair than Sturm, one that McDowell says “is not as overtly opposite as Bob would be.” But that yin-yang dynamic is what Sturm and McDowell had perfected over the years and something McDowell looks forward to establishing with Kemp in this new era.

    “Me and Bob haven’t sat off the air and had talks about should we do this and that because things were rolling,” McDowell said. “But I bet I will with Jake. ‘Let’s go have dinner and talk about some things.’ It’s a new frontier, and that’s exciting.”

    Where McDowell and Kemp have familiarity on their side, Davidson and Sturm have experience going for them. Throughout the last month when hosts were filing in and out with Davidson, Sturm was never one of them. He didn’t need a tryout to land a show with Davidson.

    “Does Bob Sturm need a tryout at The Ticket?” Catlin said. “I mean, come on. He’s Bob freakin’ Sturm. Does Corby? Come on. These guys have more than enough skins on the wall.”

    While things likely won’t be hitting on all cylinders from the first show, Davidson says he anticipates a well-oiled machine sooner rather than later.

    “I think by May, we’ll be good,” Davidson said. “I don’t think it’ll take long. I think we’ll figure out what works, what doesn’t work, the format of it all. I’m not worried about chemistry. I was when this first was broached just because he and I haven’t done a solo show together before.

    “But we’re friends, we’ve been friends for a long time and have tons and tons of respect for one another. Whatever worries I had were quickly taken care of in early conversations with him.”

    The evolution of the show will be ongoing, but Davidson has been at The Ticket since 1995 and Sturm since 1999. Building that bond for the past 20 years has helped them understand what the other person is about.

    More importantly, they understand what The Ticket is all about.

    Dan McDowell and Jake Kemp will be on 1310/96.7 FM The Ticket Monday through Friday from noon-3 p.m.
    Corby Davidson and Bob Sturm will be on 1310/96.7 FM The Ticket Monday through Friday from 3-7 p.m.
     
  14. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk member of the blue tiger club
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    I am actually liking the switch so far. It’s weird, but I think the dynamic is there
     
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  15. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    yeah not bad at all

    mike had 2 segments today too
     
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  16. Pokes

    Pokes Younger, hipper, cooler
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    I gotta say, I’m a pretty big fan of 12-7. Sturm has been a pretty good fit on hardline and bad radio still works with jake.
     
  17. Zebbie

    Zebbie Hey Mike, guess what I have in my underwear?
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    I figured Jake & Dan would be fine, but I actually don’t mind listening from 3-7 now
     
  18. Line 4 Guy

    Line 4 Guy Well-Known Member
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    Im still out from 10 to 3. But im pleasantly surprised with Bob and Corby.
     
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  19. Line 4 Guy

    Line 4 Guy Well-Known Member
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    Actually when the courage boys mingle with the 10-12 show ill stick around if norms gonna be absent.
     
  20. C-Pay

    C-Pay Well-Known Member

    agree, find myself listening to the hardline much more



     
  21. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    man, sam gannon... yikes.
     
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  22. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    musers just said they came in 2 whole shares ahead of second place in january. i think that one article mixed up all the numbers
     
  23. Line 4 Guy

    Line 4 Guy Well-Known Member
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    This segment with the laddy is freakin awesome
     
  24. fsugrad99

    fsugrad99 I'm the victim here
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    I can't understand why anyone who listens to sports talk radio in Dallas would choose The Fan over The Lil' Ticket
     
  25. texasraider

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    I've honestly never listened to the fan and have no desire to
     
  26. BayouMafia

    BayouMafia Thought Leader in Posting
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    the only people I've ever talked to who have said they listen to The Fan are new residents who feel that The Ticket has too many inside jokes they don't get, but most of them migrate to The Ticket eventually
     
  27. Fuzzy Zoeller

    Fuzzy Zoeller College football > NFL
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    Greggo & Richie Whitt's show was pretty good. I would listen during Hardline commercial breaks. Of course, we're talking 10 years ago now.

    Speaking of, anybody caught any of Ben & Skin's show on the Eagle? They had Tony Romo on the only time I tuned in, and they lived up to their star-fucking reputation.
     
  28. Line 4 Guy

    Line 4 Guy Well-Known Member
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    WOO HOO ITS TICKETSTOCK...
    ...duh!
     
  29. Soup

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    during draft season the fan is miles better regarding insight/coverage. Other than that I’m with you.
     
  30. C-Pay

    C-Pay Well-Known Member

    Gordo asking if it's too soon to make a Kobe helicopter dad joke with Junior going "oh...my...god" then straight to commercial just now
     
  31. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk member of the blue tiger club
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    Drunk twitch Sirois is my fav. Would kill to party with that dude sometime
     
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  32. Line 4 Guy

    Line 4 Guy Well-Known Member
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    Lenin
    Didnt wanna fuck up the protest thread. But when you post stuff tonight about the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge can you be on the lookout for Marge Shimdiddler? Last night she was attacked by protestors and police at the same time. Thanks
     
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  33. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk member of the blue tiger club
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    Does anyone want to discuss what transpired this week?
     
  34. texasraider

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    ?
     
  35. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk member of the blue tiger club
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    Did you listen to ebrake this morning?
     
  36. John McGuirk

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    Just go ahead and fast forward to 1:35



    “I’m gonna go ahead and say, all the way out of step. As far out of step as you can possibly be”
     
  37. texasraider

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    ahh. I did. I need to look up what boofing is
     
  38. texasraider

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  39. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk member of the blue tiger club
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    As a Phish enthusiast, DUCKMOUTH does it all the time. He can explain
     
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  40. DUCKMOUTH

    DUCKMOUTH People don’t you know, don’t you know
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  41. Stagger Lee

    Stagger Lee Crazy. Sexy. Cool.
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    upload_2020-6-19_20-54-0.jpeg
     
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  42. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    i think it’s time for norm to take his norm and mary travel blog to full time
     
  43. BayouMafia

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    I haven't listened to him much over the past several years but have more recently as I've been working from home. There are long stretches of time where he doesn't say anything anyway, and Sirois and Donovan carry the show.

    No way he retires voluntarily, but they need to put some pressure on him to go.
    [​IMG]
     
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  44. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    were you listening on tuesday when they were playing clips from his mavericks coverage days in the 80s? i almost took it as sirois saying "this guy was good... 35 years ago"
     
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  45. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk member of the blue tiger club
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    It’s time for Sirois to shine. That man is an American treasure. Understand why they made the Bob to hardline move (they needed someone that actually knows sports), but I always enjoyed him when he filled in
     
  46. Stagger Lee

    Stagger Lee Crazy. Sexy. Cool.
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    When we get through Covid, y’all go check out Rhyner next time he does Dylan and the Dead with Forgotten Space.
     
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  47. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk member of the blue tiger club
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    Morning drive was absolutely unbearable yesterday. Work in progress needs to go back to the drawing board

    Love Sirois and Danny at the mid day spot, but Sirois also made the morning show bearable. Sean Michael’s Peter was the superior shakeup format
     
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  48. Ball Gag Giorgio

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    I wasn’t mentally prepared for two weeks without the courage boys
     
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  49. BayouMafia

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    good article in The Athletic today.

    How Donovan Lewis went from ‘awkward’ beginning to thriving at The Ticket
    By Saad Yousuf 6h ago

    [​IMG]
    In late July of 2006, Donovan Lewis was in Oxnard, Ca. for Cowboys training camp. The then-34-year-old had joined The Ticket in May as the third voice on BaD Radio with Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell. Now, less than three months in, he sat outside of the hotel swimming pool at training camp with Corby Davidson.

    Confused and frustrated.

    “I was struggling a little bit to find where my place was in that show,” Lewis said. “Although Bob and Dan were really nice and really accommodating, they had to look out for the show and the well-being of the show and not worry about how they were going to fit me into the program.”

    Based on his adaptive personality and easy-going demeanor, these struggles were unusual for Lewis. However, the circumstances in which he started at The Ticket were quite unusual in their own right. Lewis was part of the morning show on 93.3 FM, when the station was known as The Bone, from 2003 until Cumulus bought the station from Susquehanna May of 2006. At that point, the entire staff was let go during the overhaul. But regional vice president and Cumulus Dallas market manager Dan Bennett approached Lewis about staying in the building and joining The Ticket.

    “For a couple of days, I watched him in the break room where people would gather for lunch,” Bennett said. “He was always holding court, making people laugh and just naturally entertaining. I remember thinking, ‘Man, this guy ought to be on the radio.’”

    Though Sturm and McDowell were doing fine as a duo, Bennett felt Lewis’ addition could be an opportunity to upgrade with a fresh perspective. Lewis already had familiarity with BaD Radio because he would pop on for guest segments, so both of the namesake hosts were receptive to adding Lewis to the show.

    “We love Donovan. You’re going to give us a resource of more possible radio gold every day?” McDowell said. “Yeah, we’ll take it. It was a challenge because it was different but it was welcomed.”

    The unusual aspect of joining the show at that time was the Dallas Mavericks’ ongoing NBA Finals run. Sturm and McDowell were broadcasting on the road with the team while Lewis was the third leg of the show back in the studio.

    “Those guys are in Miami kind of talking to each other and I’m in the studio, like, OK,” Lewis said. “It was a really awkward and weird time at first because I don’t think any party involved knew what to expect from the other person. Guest appearances are one thing but to be a person on every day for a show that was established for seven years, it was like, ‘I don’t know where I’m going to fit in here.’ It was a lot of bumps in the road early on. I was struggling a bit to find where my place was in that show.”

    It was a new experience for Lewis, who never had trouble fitting in anywhere before. The challenge started consuming him, which is when he finally approached Davidson at that hotel swimming pool at training camp. Davidson could relate to the struggles because he had been the third voice to Mike Rhyner and Greg Williams on The Hardline for years prior to Williams’ departure. They talked through Lewis’ concerns for three hours and Davidson was able to inject a sense of patience and confidence in Lewis.

    “He talked me off the ledge and let me know that if you thought you were going to come into this situation and it’s going to be perfect in three months, then you’re nuts,” Lewis said. “He told me to just slow down, let the game come to me and I’ll figure out a way to succeed. That set me down the road of being more comfortable at the station and on the show.”

    It took a few more months for Lewis to find the sweet spot, but that conversation helped him “tremendously” to find his footing and capture his role. By the turn of the calendar, the show was in a groove. What seemed to Lewis like a spiraling failure ended up lasting nearly a full decade.

    By the end of 2014, Lewis was entrenched in his role at The Ticket. From noon to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, he would entertain the masses as a valuable third host alongside Sturm and McDowell. In the fall, he was seven years into hosting the Cowboys postgame show with legendary radio host Norm Hitzges. Occasionally, he would fill in elsewhere when needed.

    In early 2015, Lewis was filling in for The Musers, KTCK’s morning-drive show. During a commercial break, as he walked out of the studio and across the hall, program director Jeff Catlin called Lewis in his office. Catlin told Lewis that he was going to throw out a proposition but he didn’t need an immediate answer; he just wanted to put it in Lewis’ head and let the idea marinate.

    “He said he was thinking about moving me with Norm,” Lewis said. “It took me by surprise because that was probably furthest from my mind. I wasn’t even thinking about that.”

    Lewis didn’t think too much about it, knowing that ideas get kicked around often but don’t always come to fruition. Hitzges had been on-air as a solo host for 39 consecutive years at that point, so the odds felt slim. However, the question for management wasn’t if they would pair somebody with Hitzges but a matter of who it would be.

    “You look at most successful talk shows, they’re usually more than one person,” Bennett said. “We just felt that the show needed a new dimension to it.”

    [​IMG]

    Because of his stellar work as a host on BaD Radio combined with his existing chemistry with Hitzges on Cowboys game days, Lewis was a prime candidate for the job. The conversation resurfaced in April of that year. This time, it was serious and imminent. Lewis would be going from the third chair to a co-hosting role with his name on the show. That was his dream, so he was all in. But with the pending host being an addition to Hitzges’ show, Hitzges himself had to approve as well.

    About a month later, on May 6th at The Ticket Campound event, Lewis and Hitzges were driving around on a golf cart together. Hitzges brought up to Lewis that he had talked to Catlin about doing the show together.

    “Probably one of the most nervous moments I’ve ever had in my life,” Lewis laughed.

    Hitzges told Lewis that it would be great to do a show together. Even though Hitzges had been hosting alone for about as long as Lewis had been alive, he said if there was anybody at The Ticket he would want to host a radio show with, it was Lewis.

    “Donnie and I had been doing the Cowboys postgame show for seven years. I really enjoyed Donnie as a person,” Hitzges said. “The one thing I would really like to get across is just what a nice human being he is. He’s a good human being and he’s fun, doesn’t take himself all that seriously and I just so enjoyed doing the postgame show with Donnie.

    “When it was suggested we work together, it took me a couple of weeks to get used to that idea because I worked alone since I started doing this in 1975. But the pairing seemed so obvious to me.”

    It was the dream scenario for the station as well, because they wanted to elevate Lewis to a bigger platform on their airwaves while also helping relieve some of the workload from Hitzges, who is now 77 years old. The talks were tabled again until Cowboys training camp in Oxnard. There, Hitzges, Lewis and Catlin met in Hitzges’ hotel room and discussed what the new show was going to look like. Lewis was excited but wanted to get something important to him across.

    “I just didn’t want it to be Norm’s show with Donovan added in. If we’re going to do this, I want this to be our show and ideas together,” Lewis said.

    Everybody agreed that would be the ideal approach to take to maximize the potential they had as a pairing. When that hotel room meeting ended, the show was in place but put on hold for a month. Hitzges’ on-air anniversary was in early August so they wanted to let him hit the milestone of 40 years hosting by himself before he joined forces with Lewis. Finally, on August 31, 2015, the Norm and D Invasion made its debut.

    Though Hitzges and Lewis were known commodities at The Ticket in 2015, putting them together was a big decision with inherent uncertainty. The results have been resoundingly positive, especially recently. The Norm and D Invasion was the highest-rated show on The Ticket in May 2020.

    “During this COVID crisis, the highest-rated day-part has been Donnie and Norm because so many of these guys are at home and have the ability to listen,” Bennett said. “I think the show got people that normally couldn’t tune in between 10 a.m. and noon to listen and I think they could hear how good it was.”

    One reason why the show has been so successful has been the on-air chemistry between Hitzges and Lewis despite their vastly different perspectives. Hitzges jokes that anybody the station “would have paired me with outside of Mike (Rhyner) would have had a big age gap,” but with Lewis being nearly 30 years Hitzges’ junior, the age difference is generational. That not only allows for healthy conversations with different vantage points but also pulls in two very different audiences.

    “There are some levels of hey, we’re having some fun and doing bits and then we’re doing sports and we all know that Norm’s show was way more heavily into the sports than doing bits like Bob and Dan,” Lewis said. “At first, I was even nervous to bring up some more fun segments because I didn’t know how comfortable he would be presenting those. It’s all about that trust factor, like, OK, I’m not going to do anything to try make you look ridiculous but I do believe this radio station was built on that balance of sports and fun and I can bring an aspect of fun that maybe he didn’t even think about.”

    While sports are inherently entertainment, Hitzges says Lewis has a way of elevating that to make it even more enjoyable because of his demeanor.

    “Donnie is open-minded and he’s just an innately happy person,” Hitzges said. “He brings that to the job every day and plus, he’s smart. He forms good opinions and insights. He has a feeling for human beings. Those are a lot of things I think are essential to doing this job if you’re going to do it well.”

    Lewis’ relative youth is one differentiator he brings to the show with Hitzges, but another different perspective is one that transcends his own show and carries weight throughout The Ticket. In an industry predominantly filled with white men, Lewis is the only Black man at The Ticket. His role fluctuates, with times like the present emphasizing that part of who Lewis is. This “role” Lewis has is one he has learned to embrace more and more as time has passed.

    “It can play a huge role because I can bring a perspective that no one else at The Ticket can,” Lewis said. “There are some issues and struggles I’ve had growing up that I can present that some people haven’t thought about. That’s a good thing. These guys have treated me like a trusted coworker and a really good friend so that brings that comfort level that I have with them.

    “First of all, they respect me as a coworker and a bunker mate at the station but I think they can respect the fact that the different perspectives and views that I have are legit and they’re not overlooked.”

    [​IMG]

    With coworkers, Lewis’ background can be a resource for developing an understanding certain things he’s gone through. They are also aware of some inherent responsibility Lewis may feel as a Black man or how listeners may develop certain expectations for him that the rest of them may not shoulder.

    “There are times when he’s not trying to speak for a large group, he’s just trying to speak for himself, and there are other times when he does feel an obligation,” Sturm said. “I realize that it’s a big responsibility … I assume that by now, he’s secure enough in his own career and his own skin that he handles it really well.”

    Lewis echoed those thoughts, saying that finding that balance and how to approach it required a journey. Now, he’s at a point where he’s very comfortable in everything he brings to the table.

    “It’s something that I don’t think about a lot but I know it’s out there,” Lewis said. “I know the platform and responsibility I have as the only Black guy on The Ticket, especially now. I don’t take that lightly.”

    Bennett, Hitzges, Sturm and McDowell reinforced that Lewis’ talent as a radio host, as well as his kind personality, are what made him such a success at The Ticket.

    In both of his stops at The Ticket, Lewis started as the added voice that the existing show never had before. BaD Radio had always been a two-man show with Sturm and McDowell yet Lewis came in and helped elevate it. Then he left to join a legendary host in Hitzges who had been riding solo for 40 years.

    He helped turn that into the highest-rated show on The Ticket.
     
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