Cowboys Are In Trouble

Everyone is waiting for the glory days to return.  When will the Cowboys finally dominate again?  Don't expect that anytime soon.  This dysfunction starts with the pizza rapping GM/Owner and Its only going to get worse before it gets better.  I know the running joke is "when is Jerry Jones the Owner going to fire Jerry Jones the GM".  Well that ain't happening so lets move on.  Jerry though has creatively hamstrung his team with his personnel decisions, signing aging players to contracts that are so impossible to dispose of not even a mafia hit man would have trouble.  I look at these contacts and I scream.  I wonder why we are locked up with Miles Austin for a bunch of money. Doug Free, who hasn't been absolutely horrible this season, is still not worth a $6.5 million hit to the cap.  Jay Ratliff should of never happened. Jerry signs the players and then a year later they have regressed and have to ride out player not worth his contract.  There is also no way out because if you want to release a player it would hurt the cap even more.  Its as if Jerry won't be able to find another player like the one he has, so what does he do?  He locks him up so no one else can have him. Jerry also interacts too much with his players and develops relationships and has a hard time letting go.

I remember watching players who were there from the 90's Cowboys who carried on to the late and should of just been let go.  Now we have instead of Jimmy guys, we have Bill's guys over staying their welcome.  Tony Romo, who I've been his biggest supporter, should be having his last year of his contract this year.  Well Jerry Jones doesn't have contingency after Tony, so he locks him up to make more room in the cap to sign Sean Lee.  I'm not a business specialist but I'm a huge fan of the GM mode on Madden, you have turn your roster over.  Cowboys are traditionally the worst in roster turnover.  Instead of letting a player leave 1 year early, Cowboys keep a player 1 year late.

Do I want to see the Cowboys rise back to prominence? HELL YEAH! We all want to see the Cowboys in the playoffs.  The reason I don't believe the Cowboys will do anything.  THE DEFENSE.  I was watching the NFL Turning Point on NBC Sports Network (check it out) and during that recap, that is a fluid offense that should win ball games in the league.  Defense is the one breaking records this year for giving up the most yards.  Its pretty laughable, yeah the injuries suck.  Maybe stop putting injured guys on your team.

Cowboys are my least favorite team to discuss because it all leads back to one man.  Talk about Garrett, it goes back to Jerry.  Talk about the linebackers, It goes back to Jerry.  Jerry Jones will keep this team hand cuffed financially. These 8-8 seasons.  Enjoy them.  I think the 5-11 seasons are coming.  I'll leave you with this, I believe Jerry Jones the Owner......Just kidding.

Twit's End

So I did something very foolish. I gave Richie Whitt $4.95.  Well here is what I found.  Not exactly the riveting stuff.  I'm apart of some pay walls and they provide insight and even inside info. The only thing that was "inside" was the ratings which can easily be found.

Richie talks about a radio show or something that he heard from a "friend" that heard it sometime Sunday I guess.  I have never heard of this show and if someone can give me some insight let me know. I don't know if they aired an episode of the Broadcast as a trade off. Whatever but Richie said, " For a rabid fandom that constantly trashed The Fan for having the audacity to give air time to the likes of Sybil and Jane Slater and Jasmine Sadry, surely this type of show - even as a weekend time-filler - won't be embraced. Right?"  


Did the Ticket trash chicks on the radio, yeah probably. Mostly because most of them are awful at it. Well that was worth it right.  Hearing that he heard from a friend that The Ticket was playing a "chick show".  I'm sure glad I paid for that, and that was his great big tease. 

Richie then quote some Mandela quote which I don't have the interest to even quote. I paid for that. Richie then leaves you a link to check out his FREE blog on NBC 5.  Then write two sentences about defending the ban of tailgating at the Superbowl. He then commented on the throwing contestant that threw like a jerk wad. He's being topical guys.  He also wants the ice to melt, which I actually tend to agree with him.  Thanks Richie for all that. I'll leave you a quote from him.

"Today? Let's all thaw out. And hopefully chill out. Maybe some quiet time in the sauna. I mean, if I had a sauna. Don't be a stranger."

I also wanted to talk about his ratings blog which revealed the poor ratings of The Fan and the complete dominance of The Ticket. 
            
             October/ November

Morning
Ticket	6.8		7.1
ESPN	3.3		2.6
Fan	2.5		2.1
Mid-Morn
Ticket	8.1		7.9
ESPN	3.5		4.2
Fan	2.8		2.4
Midday
Ticket	6.7		6.6
ESPN	4.8		5.5
Fan	3.3		2.8
Afternoon
Ticket	6.9		6.8
ESPN	4.7		4.1
Fan	2.4		2.1

 courtesy of DFW Sportatorium

"Meanwhile, 105.3 The Fan and its bozo of a boss failed to capitalize on the Cowboys' dramatic season or the Oct. 7 departure of ESPN's Randy Galloway. From October to November The Fan suffered ratings losses across the board, including its new midday show, GBag Nation."

Real interesting to see a slight drop in ratings by The Fan even by G-Bag Nation.  Its crazy that Ben & Skin hasn't been able to gain steam.  I'm still rooting for those guys. 

How's That Pay Wall Working Out??

No worries, guys I'm not putting a pay wall on Luke Warm Sports Opinions.  I would never. Nor would anyone pay for this crap.  Well Richie Whitt, former writer for the Star Tele-gram and Dallas Observer and failed radio host on 105.3 The Fan, he had other plans.  Whitt came out last week with a pay wall for his site, DFW Sportatorium.  If you were wanting to read little quick hits about radio rumors or what he heard from his Cowboys sources, you gonna have to pay.  I just want to start off telling you I have no problem with anyone charging for content, everyone has the right.  If you have ever gone to his site, its full of advertisements from that bless your heart guys, a strip club, Richie's own pizza joint and I think a moving company.  Not sure exactly the amount you can charge to advertise on Richie's sports website and I'm not sure how much it cost to keep a site like that running. Well apparently he was operating at a loss, so he decided the best way to bring in some money is to charge readers $4.95 a month. (by the way you have to have a google account)

Here is my opinion on the situation.  It ridiculous to pay for this website.  He offers opinions and some "rumors" and that is content you can receive for free on numerous websites.  I believe this won't last, only from reading the readers in the comments section, which Richie Whitt replies with a snarky remark.  He are some of my favorites.

AnonymousDecember 4, 2013 at 8:15 AM

GREEDY BASTARD

Richie WhittDecember 4, 2013 at 3:46 PM

Wait, so you want me to provide you with daily content? And then you want it for absolutely free? But I'm the greedy one. Do I have that right?

AnonymousDecember 4, 2013 at 9:22 PM

um yeah, because media is based on advertising, if you have a million page hits you sell that to your advertisers and get them to pay, not your consumers...the business model is to make it so good that traffic comes to you and you monetize that with ad buys, cmon you know this

Not that's great but maybe this one is better. 

AnonymousDecember 5, 2013 at 10:38 AM

I wouldn't pay 5 cents for life to read this blog. This proves once and for all that your are the shithead I always deemed you to be. Hit the pavement and get some more advertisers you lazy SOB.

Richie WhittDecember 5, 2013 at 2:17 PM

Wait, because I want to be paid for my work makes me a "shithead"? You may refuse to join my site and that's cool. But a "shithead" seems a tad strong.

AnonymousDecember 5, 2013 at 2:28 PM

Wanting to get paid doesn't make you a "shithead". Thinking you will get paid for the level of content you provide for the price you are asking makes you a "shithead". http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shithead&defid=5232203

The friggin guy actual sent him a link to urban dictionary so he knew what "shithead" meant. 

AnonymousDecember 5, 2013 at 10:43 AM

Just what I have been waiting for! A poorly designed "blog" where I get to pay a monthly fee for some exclusive HSO's from some schmuck that works at a struggling pizza joint!

Richie WhittDecember 5, 2013 at 2:24 PM

I find it amusing that when my content is free you visit daily and comment and are generally satisfied. When my content costs 25 cents a day suddenly I'm a "schmuck who works at a struggling pizza joint" and my content is flatly unreadable. Ah, perspective.

Here is one of my favorites and I'll end you with this. 

AnonymousDecember 5, 2013 at 1:48 PM

Me too, I've liked the RW for years. May not agree with everything he sees right, but everyone has their own opinions. But I feel like a friend kicked me in the nuts and now wants my lunch money. Good riddance RW

(Sybil, better reconsider...)

Richie WhittDecember 5, 2013 at 2:29 PM

The comments in here will always be free. And, yeah, you're probably right, Sybil's reconsidering marrying me because I'm profiting from my blog. Deal-breaker.

Again I'm not mad at the guy, I just think its funny that he believes his content is something someone would pay even $0.25 a day for.  I hear Richie is actually an extremely cool in person but even some of his former Fan buddies are cutting him lose.  Probably stemming from his "reporting" on radio station rumors that aren't apparently true.  Richie is obsessed with breaking news instead of providing actual insight.

Texas Rangers Pre Preview

Right to left: GM Jon Daniels, New 1st basemen Prince Fielder, Manager Ron Washington

Right now the roster is still being constructed so I know everyone is wondering why I would even start looking.  It's because I can. I hate predicting who might or might be on the team.  I just want to have a preview of what the team might look like.  I will preface this with saying, I think I will be completely wrong about this.  Let's just go base by base and see what our red shoed Rangers will look like in 2014.

I want to start with the Catcher position because I believe that this position is set.  Rangers signed JP Arencibia on Friday and Geovany Soto has been pretty much named the starting catcher. Soto in my opinion had a pretty decent year backing up AJ Pierzenski.  Soto's numbers as far as OBP and SLG were pretty respectable.  Yes the sample size is a little small, he was pretty productive.  Behind the plate, he is no gold glover, he is pretty decent at throwing base runners out.  His high marks are for the way he deals with the pitching staff.  Pitchers respond well to him and I think it shows.  JP is a different story.  His bat took a severe hit this year with Toronto.  He batted a whopping .194 with an OBP of .227, holy crap man, how do you let it get this bad? I would say in most baseball minds, he would be considered a complete bust.  His best year he hit 23 home runs and was able to crack .233 BA.  He is going to be a back up catcher for the rest of his career.  He is just a gap until Jorge Alfaro, Rangers number 1 prospect is ready to come up.


First base is going to be a little easier this year finally after the trade of Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder.  I'm going to admit at first I didn't like this because of what Kinsler has done in the past.  I finally came to the realization of the regression of Kinsler and that it was in the Rangers best interest to move on from Kinsler.  Prince Fielder wasn't exactly my first choice because of his stature and his poor season last year.  Prince has been known for that in the past.  He has had some killer years with a WAR over 6 but as low as 1.7.  Its hard to say he hasn't been consistent but he has for sure  been reliable.  Yes he doesn't get injured or miss games.  Yes he is fat, slow on the base paths and pretty crappy at first. Mitch Moreland is Mitch.  He will be a bat off the bench and will be great to have at first when we give Prince a DH day off.

Second base, barring any crazy ass trades involving Elvis Andrus,  Jurickson Profar will be the opening day second basemen.  Profar is going to give the line up some pop on occasion.  Profar its time to put up or shut up.  Kinsler has been shipped out to give him a full season at one position.  My expectations are actually pretty low for the kid. I think Profar has been slightly over rated and I was never a fan of getting rid of Andrus so Profar could play shortstop.  Profar should do fine this season but don't be disappointed if he runs into some problems against major league pitching.

Shortstop with Elvis Andrus.....Need I say more? Well I probably should calm some people who feel uneasy about Elvis's performance last season.  The glove, no one has a problem with, the best in the game. Andrus had a pretty inconsistent season in 2013. He was up and down and at times mostly down.  At the end of the season he had a career low OBP.  I know what he has done and at 25, I'm not seeing any type regression.  Its just a run of the mill "down year".  I'm expecting Elvis to get on base at a more regular pace and hitting more extra base hits.  His OPS should should be at around .700 instead of where it was last year at .659.  Elvis is 25, so lets relax. 

Third Base we have Texas Rangers's most consistent player. Adrian Beltre.  He had another stellar year at the plate hitting 30 home runs, 88 runs scored with an OPS of .880.  What you want from your top guy.  Now this is something people don't wanna hear and I can tell you Adrian doesn't want to hear it either.....he could possibly be regressing.  Actually I'm pretty certain he is. Adrian will be 35 at the end of the 2014 season so there is no shame in not being as good as you were the season before.  It happens. I'm looking at his batting and it doesn't look like it has stats have dropped dramatically there, even though I believe we could see a slight drop this next season.  The significant drop we are seeing in his defense.  I know that may seem crazy but he just isn't the man he use to be.  Adrian's UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating in runs above average (Arm+DPR+RngR+ErrR) has been hovering around 10-13, his 2013 season he had a -1.2.  What brought it down so much?  I'm thinking his range was significantly cut down because of his injury.  Is Adrian Beltre a below average fielder like UZR shows, hell no.  I believe he just had an off year with his reduced mobility.   Adrian is not a guy I like to bet against. I thought his career was on a down fall when he left the Mariners.  Adrian has two years left on his contract with a vesting option.  Don't be surprised if you see a slight drop in production from Adrian.

Outfield should be a lot of fun this year, good coverage all around the field.  Right now from what I'm seeing,  the opening day outfield should be newly acquired Michael Choice in left, Leonys Martin in center and Alex Rios in right.  I'll start with Michael Choice,  who I've heard and read a little on the guy so there is a little insight on what we are getting.  Choice has a decent arm and has average speed in the outfield. He is a big guy and he will hit for power.  Time will tell, he is very young in the league and needs to get his at bats in. He will struggle at times but it should be fun to see how he develops. Alex Rios had a pretty standard year for himself.  His OPS was .772 which is pretty respectable.  Rios is going to be a plus defender which the Rangers right field hasn't seen in quite a while.  Rios isn't going to be All Star material and isn't going to hit a ton of homers.  He is going to hit extra base hits and get on base, that's all you can ask.

Leonys Martin, oh Martin.  I'm very interested in seeing what kind of full season Leonys can have.  I pegged him last year to have a break out season and I would like to say I WAS FRIGGIN' RIGHT! Leonys showed us he had power, he could slap the ball around, he could run the bases efficiently and that he had an arm better than anyone in the league.  Some will miss Craig Gentry in center and I believe he was slightly better when tracking down balls, but in the end Leonys will be much better all around.  I'm not sure how great he will be at the lead off spot because last year he wasn't great at getting on base.  He is right now between average to below average in OBP last year.  I think he should do better in his 2nd full season.  But if this persist, they should start looking for an alternative in Elvis or maybe even Alex Rios. (Shin Soo Choo too if they Rangers sign him)  

While saying all this, I'm not sure if the Rangers get Shin Soo Choo or resign Nelson Cruz.  Right now I think their outfield is pretty decent but we all know that just won't cut it around here. I'm not sure what the Rangers do to add another piece.  Another bat will be welcomed though. We might not want to be stuck with watching Michael Choice figure MLB pitching out.  A bat will be welcomed by this guy.

Should be another fun season, with some added pop.  There is still speed but the only thing that should be alarming is there is no serious on base guy since Kinsler left. 

Possible opening day line up*:

1. Leoyns Martin CF
2. Elvis Andrus SS
3. Prince Fielder 1B
4. Adrian Beltre 3B
5. Alex Rios RF
6. Michael Choice LF
7. Geovany Soto C
8. Mitch Moreland DH
9. Jurickson Profar 2B

*not actually opening day line up. I'm just screwing aroun, so I do not wanna hear it.

Why Today Didn't Suck.

 This is truly great. Well my Dad's birthday was yesterday and my wife's birthday was Saturday so I decided to blend them both together.  I also really wanted to hear Norm and Gordo fight.  Here it is.  Also I'm really looking forward to writing more. Its very therapeutic.  I have no formal training in writing and I'm working off a public school education so I'm not sure how great its going to be.  Give me time and I might surprise some people.  Thanks to everyone.

White Elephant Day Reviewed

I will just say I of course didn't get to listen to every minute of White Elephant.  I listened to some of the morning show, most of Ty's show, just about all of Bob and Corby's and All of the Rhyner and Gordo's show.   I enjoyed most of what I listened to. Wheels off moments and added comedy.  Its The Ticket's one day to take off.  They will discuss Cowboys but most the day is the interactions that don't usually happen on a regular shift.  Listening to see how some Ticket host interact.  Are you going to get much info from the Tickers? Not a chance.  The Ticket has a full day of recess essentially.  And in all honesty, I don't know another station that can do the same thing and make it work. The Fan has done it before but it was pretty boring and they just talked sports like usual.  This day is very different.

Well I caught the 8 o'clock hour of the morning show.  SPORTS DUCK IS SPARE. That's all I have to say about that.  The Tickers from Sean Bass was pretty entertaining and I think he was pretty happy to not have to do the same ole boring tickers.  He did Tickers from the past which was great, also he had some audio I haven't heard before.  He even had a special guest Leila Rahimi, former Ticker chick who brought us one the most memorable meltdowns ever on the Ticket. She even got to redeem herself.  Norm played the Gordo and did his Nose in the News and Norm's Corner.  He even surprised everyone with a Ticket Mouse which was...meh. It wasn't awful, it just wasn't very good but if it meant having the magic of the 3-7 shift, it was fine.
Grade: C-
Segment to listen to: All Sean Tickers.....I think that's it. 

Ty Walker's show was much better than anticipated. I haven't heard anything from anyone but I believe Cat or someone told Danny Balis and Donovan to help Ty. Ty talked wrestling (cool), baseball I think and Star Wars (which wasn't as boring as I thought it would be)  I had some time to kill during that show and it seemed to go pretty fast listening to that show. So thanks Ty for not sucking.
Grade: B
Segment to listen to: Wrestling and Star Wars are both decent.

Next was Bob and Corby which is a show that could totally be a regular show and be pretty popular. I think they have great chemistry.  Bob talked about his run in with Ian Rapoport on twitter which was pretty great.  Having trouble remembering many of the segments but no complaints here. (I did got back and listen, they did talk some college football and it wasn't bad.)
Grade: A-
Segment to listen to: Bob Sturm getting into a fight with Ian Rapoport

The 3-7 shift was the show I was looking forward the most.  Mike Rhyner and Gordon Keith would be taking care of the hosting duties and Junior Miller would be the Yuk Monkey.  Dan McDowell delivering his give up Tickers with time wasters and jokes and actually bringing back Alexis Smith for a cameo.  Rhynes and Gordo have really interesting chemistry, Gordo takes it far and Rhyner instead of deflecting, actually takes it further. I was picking my daughter up from school and I actually had to turn it down during part of it.  Maybe it was the part about auto-errotic asphyxiation.   Junior did E-News and Community Quick Hits, did a fine job.  In my opinion, Mike and Junior with Gordon Keith as a third wheel would of been a fine show.
Grade: A+
Segment to listen to: ALL OF THEM! 

White Elephant Day is a true example of "We can do what they do, but they can't do what we do."  Any other station and any other city, no one would understand or even get White Elephant Day.  They would most likely just scream at their radio wishing for more sports talk.  The Ticket wins and they will continue to win.

SIDE NOTE! I received a call from 1310 The Ticket today to tell me I have won tickets to the live show on KTXD Ch47.  My friend Jacob and I will be attending so get ready for a full report. 

Best Day Of Radio For The Ticket

Tomorrow (Wednesday Dec. 4th 2013 depending on when you read this) is WHITE ELEPHANT DAY!  This my favorite day of the radio year.  Mix and matching of host and shenanigans will ensue.  Host doing awful tickers or doing fun bits and other stop down moments.  I for the most part try to catch every second of White Elephant Day.    Here is the line up: 




5:30-10am
Rich & George - Hosts
Norm - Yuk Monkey
Sea Bass- Ticker Anchor
Tom- Producer

10am-12n
Ty Walker - Host
Donnie - Ticker Anchor 10a-3pm
Danny - Producer

12n-3pm
Bob & Corby - Hosts
Fernando- Producer

3-7pm
Rhyner & Gordo - Hosts
Junior - Yuk Monkey
Dan - Ticker Anchor
Sirois- Producer

I can tell you right now, I'm not waking up super early to catch the morning show.  Rich is a host which will be awful.  George is great but only with the right partner. Norm is Norm.  I bet there will still be moments but that's not a really stellar cast. 

10-12 should be slightly better only because I hope to hear Danny kick Ty Walker in the nuts.  Donovan is always good for a laugh when it come to a ticker and he has the long shift.

12 to 3 should definitely be good. I enjoy Bob and Corby, they hosted together I believe a few years back.  Fernando will say and do just about nothing so who really cares. 

3-7 is the basically what I'm calling the main event.  Rhyner and Gordo are hosting with Junior "Junez" as the Yuk Monkey.  Dan will be delivering the tickers and hopefully butting in with greatness.  Sirois is producing which I'm sure he will just stay out of the way and let the greatness happen.

Should be a fun time, too bad Kevin Turner won't be there to help with the Tickers. Oh well. 

Sports Radio Spares

Left to Right: Kevin Turner, Some Old Guy, Jake Kemp and Mike Marshall

Did you know I love sports radio? Did you know I love radio in general?  I really enjoy the current guys on the radio but I actually really enjoy the "young" talent on the radio.  I feel like I relate to them a little more than maybe Mike Rhyner or Randy Galloway. I'm 26 years old so its good to relate to guys my age.  I've compiled a list and its not a top 10 its just list, no particular order.  I have taken guys from all sports radio stations.  These guys are not currently hosting and in all honesty, pretty spare. 

Jeff Cavanaugh

First up is Jeff Cavanaugh, he the producer and on-air personality for the G-Bag Nation on 105.3 The Fan.  I know some people will roll their eye seeing someone from The Fan on this list, especially first.  Jeff is funny, loud and almost obnoxious.  Jeff is an acquired taste but one thing I really like about him is that he is fearless.  Everyone is wanting to do safe and clean radio.  Jeff wants to be different and bring something more than box scores to the table.  For all the people looking at this still wondering why they should give a crap about Jeff, well he is an original listener of 1310 The Ticket and you can really tell while listening to him. Jeff makes people uncomfortable and is not afraid to mess up. I can really respect that and that is something I enjoy.  I realized he was something special when he asked the great and almighty Mickey Spagnola a question.  Jeff asked him a question about Mickey basically contradicting himself. Mickey twisted off!  Jeff backs away from the mic and looks over at his other co-workers.  They look in concerned, as if, "what have you done Jeff?"  Jeff looked back and said "who cares".   The Fan needs more uncomfortable moments like this instead of trying to pull off flawless boring radio.  Jeff Cavanaugh may not be perfect in his sports mind, but I believe he is a shining star with The Fan.  Don't let him know that I said that, if he hears that make sure he knows that I said he sucks.

Not Actually Landry Locker

Next is Landry Locker.  This one is quite controversial.  Out of all the people on my short list, this is the one that listen to the least.  Landry is young guy with a good amount of knowledge of sports.  He is not a conventional thinker.  He does make me bang my head against the dash a little but I guess I appreciate his courage.  He is pretty enjoyable on twitter and I thought he was in radio there for second with ESPN/Cumulus take over.  He has managed to come back on air at some capacity. Not exactly sure what he is doing. I haven't had the time to flip over to that channel lately.  But the amount that I have listened to and read on twitter, I think there is something there.  Keep an eye out for Landry.

Left: Kevin Turner  Right: Mike "The Machine" Marshall

Kevin Turner aka KT aka @KTfuntweets.  The producer for the Ben & Skin Show on 105.3 The Fan and former spare on 1310 The Ticket.  Kevin Turner is something of an enigma.  I swear there are joke he tells that only me, Kevin and one other person are laughing at.  KT is out side the box when it comes to comedy.  I've listened to KT for quite a while going back to listening to a dumb podcast with him and Mike "The Machine" Marshall.  KT was on The Ticket as a spare for Sirois brothers show and an actual hand picked successor for Gordon Keith.  KT left for greener pastures over at The Fan, when I mean greener, I mean they actually paid him.  KT was basically working at The Ticket for slave wages.   He was treated like a third class employee like most Ticket employees without a name on a show.  KT is super funny but extremely knowledgeable about sports.  Right now he is playing the Yuk Monkey for Ben & Skin and doing in my opinion a fine job.  He has a good head on his shoulders and I believe he is another young star on that struggling but up ticking station.

TC Fleming or Fat Lesbian?

Now on to America's favorite radio station 1310 The Ticket. I will start with TC Fleming.  Some might think I'm wasting my time with this entry.  Some only see TC as red velvet cake eating nerd.  Some would be correct.   I've been listening to TC for about 3 years now.   Listened to hours and hours of his podcast with Jake Kemp, Its Just Banter. TC seems like a very difficult guy to be around. Seems like he always has to be right and for some reason I think he might be. No doubt he has his moments of being full of shit.  TC is an analytical guy and extremely knowledgeable about sports.  TC in my mind will never amount to much at The Ticket if its true that Jeff Catlin hates him but I believe if given a chance he would succeed.  Check out It's Just Banter podcast to hear more from TC Fleming and realize how talented he really is.

Jake Kemp

Jake Kemp, 1310 The Ticket's board op for BaD Radio and The Hardline. Also one half of The Shake Joint, his Sunday show with Sean Bass.  Jake Kemp thinks space is gay and Tyson Chandler was a good player to pass on. Jake has come up the ranks rapidly lately.  He started his journey as the only known Hardline intern and then a Ticket Spare doing odd jobs and Tickers.  Then his big break came when Chris House decided to leave as The Ticket Top 10 host and Jake took over.  Jake Kemp then was hired on as the board op after Grubes left to go to school but mostly because he was being paid peanuts. Not confirming anything but the rumor is that after Bob and Dan got their contract from Cumulus, Jake was given a significant raise.  Nothing crazy but much much more than a basic board op can make and he should be paid handsomely for the work that he does.  If you didn't know he also has a little podcast with TC Fleming.  I've heard more than enough, again I've listened to almost all of IJB's 216 episodes.

Now who is Jake Kemp?  He is a down to earth guy and an advanced stat advocate.  When he talks sports it is always solid but I think he really comes into his own when he talks about world issues. I learned about Cameron William Todd and the Georgia Guidestones from IJB.  Jake will be a major host on a radio station barring he doesn't get drunk at bar while watching a Mavs loss.

Here is the honorable mention.

Mike "The Machine" Marshall who if I'm correct, is still the producer of the Sirois Brothers show and a fill in producer for Norm Hitzges. I still think he's a funny guy but he has been heard less and less on The Ticket.  I still think he will be okay but I just haven't heard much from him lately. I think he is doing a podcast with Mike Fisher on Dallasbasketball.com

Roy White is the producer for New School for 105.3 The Fan. He is a former Ticket intern and he had done some on air work with the Ticket before he jumped ship.  Not a huge bucket of personality but he isn't bad at what he does.  He was actually there the day TC Fleming got thrown out of the Rangers visitor clubhouse for asking silly questions.

Sean Bass is I guess part of the young crowd and even though he is balding and I think over the age of 30 years old.  He is a Ticker guy from 10-3 on The Ticket and Sunday host with Jake Kemp on The Shake Joint. He is a little sensitive on twitter but all in all a good listen when it comes to talking baseball.

Brenden Smith is a board op for Ben & Skin who followed them from ESPN radio.  He isn't just a guy who plays audio but is actually given his own segment that sounds closely like "Community Quick Hits".  You be the judge.

"Cray" Trey Mitchell does something at the Ticket but I'm just not sure exactly what. He doesn't have a face for radio and almost doesn't have voice for one either. I liked a few bits he did and he is a pretty good follow on twitter.