Sports Radio Times are a Changing

Now with a title like that you would think something is changing with the little "Ticket". You would be wrong.  A line up that has gone almost unchanged since Norm Hitzges joined the Ticket in 2000, The Ticket is as strong as its ever been.  The reason to write this post is about the dirty 105.3 The Fan.  CBS's 105.3 the Fan was started in 2008 after numerous format changes .  I remember 105.3 The Fan first came on the scene, and I can admit I was actually intrigued by the new sports station even though my loyalty was to the Ticket.  When they first came around it was like being on sports radio crack.  During one segment, the radio host would be discussing numerous sports topics.  Lots of phones callers, lots of "Vandergriff Honda Fan Texts" and a lot of crazy ass topics.  You would begin the segment talking about Cowboys,  get a text about the Rangers and then end the segment with your top point guards in the NBA.  It was too damn fast and seemed to have no order to it. The line up I remember was Jagger in the Morning which I had nothing to do with, mostly because he doesn't know sports.   Newy Scruggs and Sean Salisbury, were on at 10-2.  They were a pretty big beating, I guess they knew sports but it was pretty MEH!   Next was I believe Ben and Skin, which was actually listenable.  Ben and Skin would talk sports, heavy on baseball and basketball and dabble in pop culture segments.  I really thought they were much better than most of the guys on that station.  Then one year into the experiment, Ben and Skin were axed and Newy kept his job (at the time).  Don't worry about B&S, they are on ESPN and doing just fine.  Sean Salisbury would take over drive time and Richie Whitt and Newy would join forces.  Let's say Sean's swim through drive time radio in DFW was a quick one. After that Richie and former Ticket guy Gregg "The Hammer" Williams would take over the drive time duties.  Richie and Greggo isn't an awful show but its really not that great either.  Richie is pretty arrogant and dismissive and Greggo is just not the same without his former partner Mike Rhyner. 

 Now after that of course the Fan execs would just stop there androll with that.  Not so much.   The Fan then did some more changes,  Jagger would be out and replaced with Shan (??) and RJ Choppy (former ESPN host) New School.  I'll get back to those guys later.  Newy Scruggs also got the axed and was replaced by former weekend Ticket Host Mark Elfenbein and former Rangers TV play by play Josh Lewin.  Elf was a very interesting pick for regular weekday spot.  Elf had been with The Ticket since the very start in 1994 and had only done 8am Sunday mornings and the occasional fill in during dry dock.  The Fan had gone full bore then. Making a huge push to hit some big ratings.  Really wasn't about being #1, I think they would of just settled with just beating ESPN.  The lineup consisted of Shan and RJ in the mornings, Josh and Elf for middays and Richie and Greggo (RaGe) for drive time.  They did have some shows at night but really, nobody cares (they are awful!!). 

  Shan and RJ were pretty underwhelming, Shan is from Maryland if I have my facts correct.  Shan is a Redskins fan and loves the Lakers,  he was pretty big blowhard.  I would frequently contact Shan on twitter and we would have some pretty heated exchanges.  His "New School" attempt wasn't exactly bringing in big ratings, still coming in last to #1 The Musers and #2 syndicated ESPN show Mike and Mike in the Mornings.  RJ, I believe is a pretty cool guy, I talk to him time to time on twitter and he has never been rude or dismissive.  At one time, New School was putting out a segment called "Friday Fail", which would highlight their missteps through the week. Funny I remember another station with a similar segment. I actually called Shan out on the obvious forgery.  He denied it and said it was different.  RJ told me it wasn't his idea and had no control over it.  I did respect RJ more and Shan less after that.  If you didn't know this pretty much about the demise of the Fan and I hope RJ lands on his feet quickly in this town.  Josh and Elf show I guess went pretty well, from what I heard there was obvious chemistry.  Josh of course would land a new job doing PBP for the New York Mets.  Elf for months would then roll out "Elf and Friends" where they would plug in different co-hosts (Chris Arnold, Mike Bascik and many more).  Elf has done solo work before but the problem was this wasn't Sundays at 8 am.  Elf just recently would be paired with Jane Slater (yeah me either) until further notice. Not to sound really sexist but Women+Sports radio usually doesn't equal great radio.  The Fan has taken the approach to try and grab up the women demo.  Too bad they are too busy listening to Kiss FM.  

 The recent ratings for May are out and its The Ticket with a commanding lead for #1 and ESPN at #2 and way back in last is The Fan at #3.  Rumors have come out in the last month or two that 105.3 The Fan will be on the way out.  CBS has obviously been frustrated with poor ratings and tons of money being put into the product.  The Fan has a sports bar,  numerous vehicles with wraps and just recently.....a boat???  CBS just recently registered online domains AMPRadioDFW.com, AMPRadio1053.com, and 1075AMPRadio.com. AMP radio is format they have in LA and it seems to be doing fine, so they are looking to bring it to DFW.  Now this doesn't necessarily mean the Fan is done for but if ratings continue the way they are, bye bye Fan Fans.  I don't have direct inside info so take my stupid blog with a grain of salt.  Just wanted to have a little convo about the 3rd best sports radio in DFW.  I don't even wish the demise of The Fan.  I love talk radio especially about sports but the product The Fan is putting out, in my opinion, is deficient.  We will keep an eye on the situation. 

Sherrod's Corner

Interview By Brad Calhoun

Welcome to a new post of mine and this one is extra special. We have a guest today.
Sherrod Harris was a highly recruited in high school by numerous Division I colleges. What do I have in common with Sherrod? We went to the same high school. How about that?? Well he committed to the University of Texas along with Colt McCoy and Jevon Snead. Sherrod has since graduated from UT and is now able to be frank with me. I will try not to talk too much about himself personally but I would like to know what he thinks about sports. We will hopefully try to do this regularly or just until he gets annoyed with his former school mate.

Just in case your a moron, I'm BC (for Brad Calhoun) and Sherrod is SH (for Sherrod Harris)

BC: You opted out of playing this season with Longhorns and concentrate on school. Was this a hard decision for you to make? And what did you get a degree in?

SH: I did opt out. It wasn't as hard as most believe. It was the best decision to make based solely on the what I had been through while in the program. I graduated with 2 degrees including Marketing and communication studies.

BC: Overall what was your college experience like and what have you learned from it (mostly from football, we talk about all the great parties on another blog)?

SH: College football was amazing. It encompasses every emotion into this one sport while also giving you an avenue to change those emotions during your career with hard work and opportunities. It teaches you very much about life, in that things don't always work out for you. College football for the players creates the thickest skin. It's a fascinating experience.

BC:I know you would love to talk about yourself all day but I actually wanna know you opinion on sports. This year was one of the worst seasons I can recall the Longhorns having. What do you believe went wrong?

SH:I think they were simply young and not as good as everyone expected. That's all. Blame can be placed everywhere. There was no leadership apparent when I watched games and it was like no one wanted it as bad as players in the past. The fight was not there anymore.

BC:You worked very closely with Garrett Gilbert (a complete assumption but I figure you might of talked to him atleast) . Do you believe he will become star quarterback that Texas needs to make it back to BCS Championship or even just a bowl game?

SH: I did work closely with him, quarterback room is very close. I believe he will eventually get to the level everyone expects. I think people placed too many expectations on this team. Suspect o-line, no proven stars on the offensive side of the ball, and then a young quarterback? You didn't have that before. Colt - experienced o-line, solid receiving core, solid running backs and the same with VY. He made some mistakes this year but it didn't help that no one was there to help over look those mistakes like quarterbacks in the past.

BC: Greg Davis "resigned" from being the OC. Do you believe it was on him or the poor offensive line or lack of running game or the inefficiency of Garrett Gilbert or just the whole damn offense?

SH:I think all of those can be considered. I saw Coach Davis give more freedom in the offense this year than I had ever seen him do with Colt. He allowed for GG to be able to choose plays based on his perception rather than the numbers that he usually looks at. I believe a lot of things weren't good this year but the freedom he gave may have caused Coach Davis to look worse than he was.

BC: Predictions for the Longhorns next year?

SH:I think the team will improve. To what? I'm not sure but I don't believe they will be below .500 again. The changes were necessary to shake things up and I think they did. They went and got some young talent for every coaching position and it was a great job by Coach Brown and Deloss.

BC:So we all know the BCS is complete bullsh, what do you think is the best idea for getting the best two teams in a national championship game?

SH:I believe the best teams made it to the BCS this year based on how they competed every week. I think it makes every game important. There is no other system like it where every regular season game impacts if you go to the championship. I do think eventually people will find a way to go to the 8 team playoff and I think it will be great for the game but as of now, the BCS is the best system for accountability throughout the whole year.

BC:I doubt we are going to break any stories here but in the light Cam Newton and his indiscretions, do you believe there is a problem with players getting money? Of course I've also gotta ask, how much did Longhorns give you? Yes this is a joke.

SH:Ha Ha I think they only pay the players they plan on playing. LOL I think it's worth looking at. When athletes finally get out of college, we don't have any work experience because we aren't really allowed to work. So mostly throughout the year we are broke and you'd be crazy to think guys are ok with that.

BC:Do you enjoy the spread offense and shotgun offenses? I like mixing it up more with being under center. Maybe I'm a little old school. Everything I see on Saturday now looks more like a flag football game then an actually football game.

SH:I am a fan of mixing it up. I think it helps for balance. I'm assuming that coaches believe it helps qb's see the defense better and it translates better from high school programs because all the high schools are doing it now... Well, in Texas at least.

BC:In the blog interviews you've done since leaving school, where would you rank this one?

SH:This is my first blog interview outside of the program so I believe I would have to rank this one second. LOL. I'm kidding. I'm always open bro, ask me anything at anytime. Let me know.

UnbeLee-vable Cliffmas!!

By Brad Calhoun

Game 3, everyone witnessed one of the most overpowering pitchers in baseball dissect the Bronx Bombers. Yankees walked in front of the machine gun of Clifton Phifer Lee. 13 k's, 0 ER, 2 hits was all busted up by 1 walked, just kidding folks. By the way did you see the reaction from the Yankees Fans when Tex drew that walk? You would of swore he hit a grand slam. That how lights out Cliff Lee was. Rangers come through and just embarrass the Yanks on their own field. It looked like a total 5,000 fans saw the end of the game (that's being kind). Rangers end the game 8-0 and make it a 2-1 lead in the series.

Now don't go buying your World Series tickets just yet, well I guess you can because they do refund them. I'm just saying tonight that if the Yankees win tonight, the series is tied right back up and we have to win 2 out of 3. I know we are still new to this playoff thing but game 5 will have C.C. at home (which of course he pitches better at). I'm really not trying to be a negative Nelly (no pun intended) I just believe we need to be aware that these 7 game series are very long and anything could happen.

The good thing about this is we don't play the game and the Rangers do. The Rangers are very confident they can play with anyone and0 they are still attacking. Staying aggressive and just being relentless against their opponents. Rangers in game 4 we have Tommy Hunter vs A.J. Burnett. Burnett hasn't pitched in 17 days and has pretty much blown but of course he is a guy with the big contract. There is no middle ground with A.J., he will either sucks or be masterful. Tommy is just Tommy, he has the same stuff he has had all year long. I truly believe out of any game I believe this one is so far up in the air. Anything really could happen. Rangers could come out of this with a win if they come out early with runs. I still feel that the Yankees hitters are like a sleeping monster and the possibility of big scoring is possible. Especially that small Yankee Stadium, I see the possibility of some home runs tonight. Enjoy the game and Go Rangers!!

"Hello Win Column!"

I imagine a lot of life-long Ranger fans are feeling similar to how I'm feeling today; and that is, we don't know WHAT we are feeling. For our entire lives, we have seen this team be so bad for so long. Yes, the 3 division titles were nice, but when you get completely ran off the field by the Yankees all 3 years, it takes a little bit of the luster away.

No longer are we feeling those feelings of despair. No longer are we the laughing stock of baseball. No longer will we have to suffer as the only franchise to never win a playoff series. Yes, it is the first round of a three round tournament, and yes there are still 2 rounds to go before we are champions, I am fully aware of this. However, if you are a life-long, die hard, bleeding heart Ranger fan, you do not care today. Today is a day of celebration. Today you sit back and try to come to the full realization that this thing is going to the ALCS!!!

I'm still in shock.

This will take a few days to sink in for me. I sit here writing this, trying to illustrate what I'm truly feeling and I'm having a difficult time. I think about the times when a washed up Andres Galarraga was our first baseman. When John Koronka was our best pitcher. When the future of our team was Laynce Nix. I think about the times where the Rangers were 37 games out of first place and I'm sitting in the cheap seats hoping Todd Van freakin Popple can hold on to our 12-10 lead in the 8th inning. For all of you die hards, you know what I'm talking about. There are even some fans out there who have been crazy enough to follow this team for decades! I can't even begin to imagine how they feel. wow.

Sometime after this season is over, we will all have to talk about the greatness of Jon Daniels and what he has done to turn this thing around. Without that guy, we're still stuck in the dead years of 2000-2008. Mr. Daniels's kudos will come, but that is for another day.

During the top of the 9th last night, I was thinking "ok, 2 run lead, Cliff is dealing but has thrown a lot of pitches. Do we go to Neftali? Do we go to CJ? Do we wait until he gets in trouble? Will we see the typical north Texas sports team meltdown?" And before I could even start to answer these questions in my baseball-brain, something incredible happened.

crack! swung on, hit high and deep to left field, THAT BALL IS WAY WAY BACK, THAT BALL IS HISTORY!

History indeed.

In one single moment, with one swing of Ian Kinsler's bat, it was imminent. There would be no meltdown, there would be no 9th inning drama. It was over. done. We were going to win, and I couldn't breathe.

If you're reading this, and you've stuck with this team over the years, you know what I'm talking about. What are we feeling? Hard to illustrate. But we feel it. And it's awesome.

If you're a new fan, welcome aboard. It's not always this easy, trust me, so enjoy it.

Watching Cliff Lee perform his magic last night was special. We all watched in pure amazement as that guy made major league hitters look like tee-ballers. This, plus Vlad's crazy score, plus Nelly's potential disastrous decision to steal third that turned into a miracle run, made me finally realize what was going on. This season is TRULY magical. We are going to the World Series, I am fully convinced. This is our year.

To quote a caller from Diamond Talk last night, "look out New York because a freight train is coming your way and it's got a big T on the front!"

Ray Out of Control: Game 2 analyst

I send these headlines in after every Rangers game and they never use them. Today I'm feeling something I've never felt before. The Rangers in the ALDS have won 2 games. They have won 2 games handily. C.J. Wilson gives the Rangers a great performance. 6 1/3, 2 hits, 7 k's and 2 bb. Rangers bats didn't cool down from game 1 with 6 runs on 9 hits (5 ER). Kinsler of course hits another one of his famous moonshot SOLO home runs. Michael Young hits a 3-run home run after a controversial check swing call (I will get more into that in a sec). Rangers were just so over powering and the Rays didn't have a chance regardless of the check swing.

The Rays make you scratch your head. The Rays led the league with 96 wins and you wonder how they even won 6. The Rays capitalized on walks and errors and the Rangers just aren't giving them anything to work with. Rays have a horrible team batting average (.247) and the Rangers just don't walk a lot of batters. C.J. who is known to walk a few only managed to walk 2 guys and strike 7 out. If the Rangers continue to keep up this pitching and offense they will be unstoppable throughout this postseason.

Now onto the Michael Young check swing. Everyone has been pretty torn on if Young swung or not. I'm about 90% sure he swung but its one of those things where its all up in the air. There is no real rule about check swings, its all about interpretation. So should judgment calls like that really be replayed? There was no video evidence that the ball didn't hit Carlos Pena on the bat or his hand. Everyone is going to pull this BS that the Rangers got some breaks and flew by Rays. That will royally piss me off if they diminish what the Rangers are doing. The Rangers deserve this. I hear fans on twitter on how horrible the calls were that they were cheated. Rays fans need jump off a cliff. The Rays have been in existence for little over 10 years, try almost 40 years of abysmal baseball in Arlington. Rangers never get any breaks and think its about damn time. I'm tired of the Yanks getting balls pulled out of the stand, its time for Rangers to finally get what they deserve.

Rangers in game 3 start Colby Lewis (12-13) vs. Tampa Bay Rays Matt Garza (15-10). Matt Garza who has had a great season which include the Rays franchise first no-hitter. Colby Lewis who's record doesn't reflect the season he had. 196 k's and run support couldn't of been worse. This should be the tighter of the two games. Lewis was a little shaky at the end of the season but he should be able to turn it on for the playoffs. It is highly possible that the Rays could come out with a win but in hostile house that Johnny Oates built, it could be difficult. I'm still hoping for a spot start by Feldman (I have tickets for Sunday). Just messing I really want to see this over so we can look forward to the next team. Do the Claw but please don't play that song. Go RANGERS!



Check this little gem out. This should be making a come back on the hot 100. GO RANGERS!

Get out of the Rays, the Rangers are coming!!

Was that an awesome headline or what? It just popped into my head. Everyone must forgive me but I have been out of town for the past few days I've actually been on the road driving back home all day. I woke up this morning and made sure my updates were activated and I wouldn't miss one run. As driving down the road I would hear a "ding! ding!" and then if you were in there you would hear, "F#@$ yeah! Don't F@$# with the Rangers!! F#$% the Rays!!" I was so pumped up during this game and I couldn't even see the damn thing. After the game I turned on 1310 the ticket to hear what all happened (by the way my fiance did record the game for me so I can watch it when i get back tomorrow). Rangers win game 1, 5-1 which is just absolutely incredible. But of course as a Rangers fan you have to tap the breaks and realize what team you have. The last playoff win was in 1996 against the Yankees game 1 6-2. Rangers of course lost the series and the Yankees went on to win the series.

The Rangers back in 96' ran into a buzz saw when facing the Yankees who would later win the World Series. The 96 team compared to this current team is just different. Not really better not really worse but just different. 96' team didn't have an over powering pitcher like Cliff Lee. They had John Burkett, a young Darren Oliver, Bobby Witt and Ken Hill. The current Rangers top three pitchers have ERA's under 4.00 and Tommy Hunter hasn't loss at home (7-0). The Rangers also have depth and I know it sounds funny but we really do. Having two first basemen, one for lefties and one for righties. Francoeur had a great game and now he will take a seat and Borbon or Murphy will face a right handed pitcher for game 2. Matt Treanor will take over for Molina.

Game 1 everyone was firing on all cylinders. Cliff Lee was electric after his little hiccup in the first two innings. Lee pitches to batters and either he gets out or gets hits. Putting the ball in play reduces pitch count and stuff like today just happens. Hitting was just incredible, they made Price look like he was a minor leaguer. Cruz of course hitting a moon shot back to Texas. I really see Cruz being a silent hero in these playoffs. When ever we need a clutch hit, he seems to come through. Price did settle down later in the game but it was way too late. Rangers have to go out with that intensity, playing loose and having fun. I was telling everyone that if the Rangers just go into this series, "We're just glad to be here!", then we are effing toast. The Rangers need to go out and know deep down that they are better than everyone out there.

Game 2 they have James Sheilds pitching for the Rays and the Rangers send C.J. Wilson on the mound. I really believe this should be a good game. All pitchers give their all in the playoffs so don't automatically write off Sheilds 13-15 record. He has more strikeouts and a lower ERA at home but all in all he just hasn't been that impressive lately. I really believe the Rays threw all their eggs in one basket and hoped to win game 1 with Price and then take a shot with Sheilds. Garza is suppose to pitch game 3 which will of course be trying. Lets just take one game at a time. I think tomorrow should be interesting as Texas goes for history, winning a franchise high 2 games in the playoffs (its a little sad). Go Rangers and the Rays sucks!

No I'm Not Kiddin' You, PLAYOFFS!

by Jacob Sailors:

For me, and a lot of fans, we are experiencing a sports first. For the first time in my cognizant sports life, I get to look ahead to a Rangers playoff run. Yes, the Rangers were in the playoffs in the 90's, but I was so young I barely remember even watching those games. There have been Stars, Mavs, Cowboys, and Sooner championship games and playoff runs in the past 10 years and they have been great, but what I have always really wanted was a legitimate shot at a Rangers World Series.

So how will we get there?

First thing is first: We have to go through Tampa. Before the AL East was decided, there were various reasons why I preferred the Yankees in the first round over the Rays. These are the same reasons that give me much trepidation about this series.
Baseball consists of endless statistics, therefore I won't bog the blog down with a ton of stats that are interesting but dry. Instead I will talk about what concerns me most about this series and you will have to trust that it is all backed up by statistics.

First of all, the Rays have scary pitching. David Price is possibly a Cy Young winner this year and has dominating stuff. Behind him are guys who also have incredible skill and can dominate an entire game any given day. For the Rangers to have success, they will have to be patient. If the Ranger hitters get ahead of themselves and start chasing pitches out of the zone, the Rays pitchers will have a field day with strikeouts. However, if the Rangers can demonstrate patience, the Rays' pitchers have a tendency to get out of control and get hit around.

The Rays can flat out fly around the bases. Crawford, Bartlett, Zobrist, and Upton can take over the series if they are consistently getting on base. Not only do can they fly, but our pitcher/catcher tandems have struggled hard core at holding runners and throwing out runners. If these guys are able to get on base numerous times, the Rangers are in trouble.

The Rays hit for power. Upton, Crawford, Pena, Longoria....these guys are scary. The good thing is, Crawford and Pena are lefties and will have a hard time against Cliff and CJ.

So, the Rangers have no chance right? Not so fast my friend.....here is what they need to happen:

Cliff Lee needs to dominate. Our future all-star first baseman was traded for this very scenario. If Cliff leaves the ball over the plate and gets roughed up like we're playing Baltimore, it's going to be a short series. If Cliff can 'did what Cliff do' for two games this series, the Rangers are in it.

The Rangers must hit. There have been times this season where the offense disappears and we wonder if we'll ever score more than 2 runs again. The talent is there, but they must show up and play to their capabilities. The good thing is, David Murphy pending, is we will have our full line up healthy and playing together for pretty much the first time this season. Wash said he thinks there were 8 games all season where he's had everyone in the lineup at the same time. Also going the Rangers way is David Price is the only left handed starting pitcher in the rotation. The Rangers hit righties much better than lefties.

These things the Rangers must do to win are possibly predicated on the 3rd key: mentality. The Rangers have 3 starters in their entire lineup who have pitched in the post season before - Cliff, Vladdy, and Molina. Meanwhile, the Rays had pretty much their entire team in the World Series two years ago. Folks, this matters. Everything is different in the playoffs, and the team that holds the trophy at the end is the team that wins the mental game each year. The Rangers must stay within themselves and stay in control of the game. All through the season, this team has been loose, relaxed, and having fun. Will this continue? Or will the playoff pressure tense everyone up and cause mistakes. The answer to that question will most likely determine the series.

I'm fired up, I'm hopeful, I'm excited. This is a new sports venture for me and I'm going to soak up very second of it. Prediction? My sports-brain says Rays in 4. However, these playoff runs don't come around very often so I'm going to be unusually optimistic and say Rangers in 5.

LET'S GO RANGERS! *clap clap clap-clap-clap*