WHITT'S END: 10.8.13

      Whether you're at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt's End

   *I'm not big into moral victories, but there are degrees of losses. I know some of you linear-thinking Neanderthals believe in only "dubya's 'n ellz, baybee", but there's more to it. There are bad losses. And, yes, like the epic 51-48 setback to the undefeated Broncos, there are "good" losses. I rank the Cowboys' Top 5 all-time over at NBC 5's Blue Star Blog.

   *While 105.3 The Fan inexplicably worries about trivial matters like who socializes with whom off the air, the station's alarming ratings plunge continues. The September PPM ratings are in and they show The Ticket as strong as ever (No. 1 in every daypart 6a-7p), ESPN saying goodbye to the 4th-rated afternoon show in Randy Galloway, and The Fan drastically losing listeners across the board from 2012. In the wake of RAGE being fired for reasons other than ratings - ring a bell? - program director Gavin Spittle lied that the move was indeed about ratings. "We need to be more competitive in that time period," he told the Dallas Morning News in attempting to justify our termination. The same guy who thinks Tim Dobbins is more relevant than Emmitt Smith must also be a tad confused about the not-so-subtle difference between more and less. Because - no way around it - The Fan is less competitive with him at the helm. Much less. 105.3's morning show had a 2.3 rating in Sept. 2012, but in Sept. 2013 dipped to a 1.8. Middays dropped from 3.1 to 1.8. And while a year ago Greggo and I had a 2.5, our replacement, Ben and Skin, last month posted their fifth consecutive sub-2.0 rating, this time a 1.7. In sports - and in sports radio - bad coaching can doom a team.

   *Speaking of The Ticket, don't fret Collin and Denton County P1s. As part of the Cumulus-taking-over-ESPN deal 104.1 FM may be Dead 'n Gone, but The Ticket's simulcast is actually moving to a stronger signal on 96.7 FM. The frequency has been home to WBAP 820's simulcast, but it's now The Ticket's sister station to 1310 AM.

   *Saw Gravity last night. Didn't love it. But, I admit, my expectations were probably too high. I wanted Castaway meets Open Water set in outer space, but instead I got some cool special effects harpooned by too-cool dialogue and glaring plot holes. Like, I didn't believe George Clooney could just jet-pack his way from satellites in different orbits, and turns out my skepticism was warranted.

   *As for Sunday's media "fight" in the Cowboys' locker room that I first reported, yes I originally Tweeted that I was going to "name names" and I had full intention of doing so. Then I talked to a couple of the guys involved and became convinced their livelihoods were at stake. There was more to it than me being first with some cheap "breaking news." The parties involved admitted their mistakes, called each other to apologize and realized that, yes in fact, a little professional "growing up" was in order. The names are out there if you care. And if you wanna call me "pussy" or "coward" for backtracking and - after further review - not directly contributing to fathers with families losing their jobs, so be it. I can live with that.

   *Try this experiment: Next time somebody says "Romo's a choker" jot down their career. Do it for the whole week. Come Friday I predict your results will show that those that use their brains for a living back Romo, and those that use their bodies for a living will be his critics. In other words, an air-conditioning repairman is more likely to say "time for Romo to go" than, say, a lawyer.

   *Hot.

   *Not.

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   *The President's Cup was boring. Until a patriotic-sorta-hot-but-too-skinny streaker showed up. Then she left. And it got boring again.

   *As a guy who had multiple partners, constantly changed time slots and was generally mediocre during five years in radio, I'm in awe of Galloway lasting 28 years. He debuted on WBAP 820 AM while I was still in college, way back in 1985. It takes a tough sonofagun to last that long in a tough industry, and ol' Randy's nothing if not tough. Kudos. Fittingly he was serenaded off the air by the country classic, "Happy Trails."

   *Crooked as it is, how long until Rays' closer Fernando Rodney just wears his hat totally sideways, Max Patkin-style?

   *Yes, you can have too much pink. A week after having its referees throwing pink penalty flags, the NFL will return to yellow next week because of confusion between pink flags and players' pink towels.

   *The Dodgers started the season 30-42. They are now in the NLCS. Reason? Yasiel Puig.

   *Saw a Georgia receiver go head-first into a padded wall last Saturday at Tennessee. Scary. The pad saved him. Surprised we almost never a player collide violently into the padded goal post just beyond the end zone. Dangerous as they are now, hard to believe that until 1974 those things were in the middle of the end zone.

   *Need a pick-me-up, Cowboys fans? Try this on for size. The New York "Football" Giants have allowed 182 points through five games, most since the Oakland Raiders allowed 187 in ... 1961. And you thought Monte Kiffin's defense sucked?

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   *In 2010 we were horsing around playing basketball in my driveway. Buddy got "accidentally" body-checked into the fence and a piece of the board came loose, splintered and eventually fell off. No problem, replaced it with a new board. It, of course, didn't exactly match the color of the older, weathered wood on the rest of the gate/fence. But over the years the colors have grown closer and ... hey, what the what?! Last week - three years later - I get a card in the mail from my neighborhood's friendly HOA demanding that I, yep, make all the boards on my fence match in color. Um, no thanks. I'm good. If you haven't noticed by now, is it really a problem? HOAs suck. And the people that enforce their asinine bylaws need more hobbies.

   *Let's admit it, through five weeks Doug Free has been a better offensive tackle than Tyron Smith.

   *Obamacare has hit home. Got my Humana premium increase for 2014 and it'll be ... $16 a month. Yep, that's it. If that's what it takes to help millions afford health insurance, I'm in. That's like one trip to Taco Bell a month for me 'n Sybil. We'll be healthier anyway. Don't understand how people don't see that the Affordable Care Act might be more expensive to some, but it'll keep others alive and well. Like, for example, these 10 folks whose lives were saved by ... Obamacare. Of course, all these good intentions don't mean squat if they can't fix the website.

   *From the Dept. of Humans Are Weird: Why do we hide our happiest moments? I mean, when we're really enjoying ourselves we like to hide it. As in, crying tears of joy, piggin' out on a plate of food, sleeping or even, ya know, making out with ourselves. I guess we're trained to keep those moments private because, somehow, they're supposed to be embarrassing?

   *My sympathies to bettors who had money on Northwestern +7 against Ohio State Saturday night. The Wildcats led a large part of the game and trailed only 34-30 with less than 10 seconds remaining. They tried some crazy lateral play and - oops - a fumble returned for a touchdown by the Buckeyes as time expired. Final score: Ohio State 40, Northwestern 30. Vegas oddsmakers say $4 million changed hands because of that play. Nauseating. Or, I suppose, exhilarating.

   *Today? Off to Fort Worth to Pizza Buzz. Couple consultants coming in to tell us what we're doing wrong (and hopefully right) before opening. Don't be a stranger.

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The Ticket Begins Its Move to 103.3 FM. Step Aside, ESPN Radio.

   Not exactly sure how this is all gonna shake out, but - as I hunched about a month ago - 1310 AM The Ticket this morning indeed began the process of moving to 103.3 FM ESPN.
   Couple employees from both stations say they were told in morning meetings, but even they're not sure exactly what the what?
   From my July 12 Whitt's End:

The Ticket on 104.1 FM is about to be a thing of the past. Cumulus has sold the frequency, and doubtful the new owners will simply keep 1310 AM's simulcast on its station. So here's my working theory: The Ticket is positioning itself for a move to 103.3 FM. Yep, ESPN. I know for a fact that Clear Channel attempted to buy 103.3 FM earlier this year. If The Ticket hopes to buy it, and thereby move to a stronger, FM signal, it would have to dump its existing FM signal, 104.1. Again, it's only a hunch, but if The Ticket winds up on 103.3 FM and ESPN moves to 1310 AM, you heard it here first.

   For the immediate future, lineups will stay the same. But long-term - weeks and months, not days - it's going to mean huge changes for DFW radio listeners. Where will the Mavs and Rangers games be aired? Will ESPN wind up on 1310 AM?

   And, most of all, are you ready for 103.3 FM The Ticket?

   As I wrote earlier today, The Ticket is eating up its competition. Why not go ahead and take them over, too?

   EDIT 1 p.m.: Far as I can tell The Ticket now has "business control" over ESPN Radio. All Ticket shows, etc. could eventually move to 103.3 FM with 1310 AM becoming an ESPN affiliate, with Mike & Mike and Colin Cowherd keeping their existing time slots. As for Fitzsimmons and Durrett, and Galloway and Co., their fate now rests in the hands of the Cumulus/Ticket decision-makers.

Radio Ratings Forecast: Ho-Hum, Clear and Hot, With a 100% of Ticket

   Ah, the lazy days of summer.
   Another week of 100-degree temperatures. Another month of dominance by The Ticket.
   DFW Metroplex radio ratings have arrived for the month of July and it sounds like a hot, humid broken record:
1. Ticket               2. ESPN                    3. The Fan.
   Yeah, the gaps between the stations are that considerable.
   A month ago we detailed The Ticket's dominance in June and throughout the first half of 2013. Nothing much changed in July. In the coveted demographic of Men 25-54 The Ticket comfortably remained on top of the all-sports heap with a 5.7 overall rating, followed by ESPN at 3.4 and The Fan well behind with a 1.7.
   If not for that pesky language called Spanish, The Ticket would be No. 1 in Dallas/Fort Worth among all Men 25-54. But it's not. And it ain't even close.

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   The most popular station among sweet-spot men is, by far, 94.1 FM La Que Buena. Pretty sure "La Que Buena" translates into something along the lines of "That's Good," but the station's Arbitron description is "Mexican Regional." I do know it's a ratings monster, registering an 8.4 in July, compared to The Ticket's second-place 5.7. And, for what it's worth, No. 3 for the month was another "Mexican Regional" station - 93.7 FM La Raza. No. 4 was held down by Kidd Kraddick's old station, 106.1 KISS FM.
   While The Ticket resides as the English meat in a Mexican Regional sandwich, The Fan continues its sad slide toward oblivion. With a 1.7 rating, 105.3 FM is tied for 24th among Metroplex Men 25-54, down with the likes of i93.3 FM.
   While The Ticket (8.7) and ESPN (3.3) remained steady from last month, The Fan in June was at 2.2. Much more alarming, just two years ago - August 2011, when the station employed a bunch of knuckleheads - The Fan was up at a 3.9. And two summers ago The Fan's afternoon show earned a 5.2 rating. These days its offering can't crack 2.0.
   Add it all and what's the bottom line? There are now distinct categories of sports-talk radio in the Metroplex: XXL (Ticket), M (ESPN) and XS (Fan).
   We return you to your scheduled summer nap. Y-a-w-n.

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Cowboys May No Longer Be America's Team, But They Remain DFW's Darlings

   Sure enough, we are a baseball football town.
   Former Ranger-turned-.221-hitter Josh Hamilton was wrong when he said Dallas/Fort Worth wasn't a "baseball town." But let's not get carried away. The Metroplex is only a baseball town until the Cowboys start training camp.
   No?
   The Cowboys' pre-season opener against the Miami Dolphins Sunday night on NBC 5 earned a rating of 17.0. In other words, about the equivalent of a Rangers' big three-game series against an elite opponent.
   You can spin that any way you want, but bottom line is a meaningless football exhibition is more important in these parts than any regular-season baseball game.
   According to the Nielson ratings, almost 450,000 homes were watching Cowboys-Dolphins Sunday night. And the return of the NFL wasn't just popular in Dallas/Fort Worth. Over 10 million Americans were watching the kick-off to another football season.
   The game gave NBC its best Sunday ratings since - you guessed it - the Pro Bowl back in January.

Final Member of RAGE Officially Leaving 105.3 The Fan

   And then there were none.
   As in, members of RAGE left on 105.3 The Fan after Armen Williams put in his two weeks' notice last Friday.
   Can't tell you where "Guns Up!" Armen is headed until mid-August, but I can tell you he is the only member of RAGE to leave The Fan on his own terms. Yours truly, Greggo and Sybil Summers were fired April 15, with Sybil catching on recently with 103.7 KVIL.
   The email sent from program director Gavin Spittle to his Fan staff:

Huge congratulations to Armen Williams, producer at the Fan who has accepted a management job for a radio station outside of Texas. Armen has been with us since 2009 and has been the ultimate team player. Always tough losing great teammates like Armen but at the same time, I’m so excited for him to take on this new opportunity managing a radio station, something that he has strived to do.Armen will be here until August 9th so join me in congratulating him.  Huge congrats Armen!!

   I met Armen, who for the last couple months has been a producer of the Elf & Slater Show, when I first started working weekends on The Fan in January 2009. He was one of my first board ops and, truth be told, I paid him to burn those tapes.
   Since then I'm been lucky to call him a co-worker and a friend, even though I dubbed his daughter "Weezie" and my backyard stole his Texas Tech class ring.
    Radio's a slimy business, but he's one of the good peeps.

WHITT'S END: 7.26.13

      Whether you're at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End

   *The scintillating debut of pitcher Matt Garza notwithstanding, the Rangers are going nowhere fast with this offense. We knew it'd be difficult to replace the bats of Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and Mike Napoli, but this is ridiculously anemic. Texas scored only 10 runs in splitting a four-game series with the Yankees' junior varsity. Rangers are now averaging 4.2 runs, their worst output of the millennium. Last club to score less was the 1990 outfit that won 83 games. Help? Lance Berkman and his bothersome hip/knee is pondering retirement and Manny Ramirez ain't lighting it up at AAA. Now imagine if Nelson Cruz gets suspended. Yikes.

   *Amused at all the uproar over Jerry Jones striking a deal to take "Cowboys" off his stadium in exchange for $20 million a year. I'd name my child "AT&T" for that, wouldn't you? Besides, most fans will still call it Cowboys Stadium. Not the media, but the fans. If you missed Thursday's dramatic video unveiling, I gotcha covered right here.

   *Radio waves: With the long-term direction of 97.1 The Eagle being murky (station management is currently pondering a format flip), Russ Martin and his crew are working these days on month-to-month contracts. ... I hear rumblings about yet another local sports station launching this Fall, supposedly on a 50,000-watt AM station. Stay tuned. ... Can't say who or why (yet), but 105.3 The Fan is about to lose a voice that's been at the station since early 2009. ... Also hear The Fan is attempting to attract a former Cowboys player to a regular appearance on the air. But if it ain't a Roger Staubach-Troy Aikman-Jimmy Johnson show, don't bother. ... For all it's b.s., what makes radio an appealing industry is the fame and fortune. At The Ticket recently George Dunham took his family to Hawaii, Craig Miller went to France, Donovan Lewis to Greece and some dude named Jake Kemp went on a multi-country trip through Europe. ... As we documented a couple weeks ago, The Fan's ratings have never been lower since it hatched in 2008. So the addition of Dallas' Only Daily columnist Tim Cowlishaw Fridays 4-6 p.m. alongside Ben and Skin can't hurt, right? ... Internet show I stumbled on that isn't half-bad: The 101 Radio Show on DeepEllumOnAir, Thursdays 6:30-8:30 p.m. It's got something. Not exactly sure what, but something.

   *Trading in my tennis shoes for some hiking boots. One - and, trust me, there are several - of the silver linings to getting fired from a 5-hour radio show is the time I now have to be selfish. I've done more for myself in the last three months than I did in the previous three years. Hosted a pool party. Played lotsa golf. Last week took a trip with Sybil to New Braunfels which included John Newcombe's Tennis Ranch. Planned my wedding/honeymoon to Tahiti/ Bora Bora/ New Zealand/ Australia/ Fiji. And, on Tuesday, I'm crossing off another item on my bucket list - climb a mountain. Going with a an old high-school buddy to hike up the 14,064-foot Humboldt Peak in Colorado. With any luck - pray for me - I will be blogging from the air way up there.

   *Remember my infamous "Dez Bryant to IR" Tweet from December 2012? Of course you do. Y'all never let me forget it. When I Tweeted the info I had two sources telling me the Cowboys had decided to end the receiver's season in the wake of his broken finger. And this week in Oxnard Cowboys' head coach Jason Garrett kinda corroborated my story, saying the team fully intended to put Dez on IR until "his will finally convinced us to give him a chance to play." Sorta softens the blow of me being wrong? Nope. Not even close. I still blew it. Close or not.

   *After the greatest year in A&M football  history, it's been a rough summer for the Aggies. We all know about Johnny Goofball's exploits. Now Von Miller is facing NFL suspension for drug use and rookie receiver Ryan Swope will never play a professional snap because of concussions. Take heart, Aggies, you can always giggle at former Longhorn Vince Young having to auction off his athletic assets to pay off debt. Young's first NFL contract, by the way, guaranteed him $26 million.

   *Hot.

   *Not.

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   *We all remember Ed "Too Tall" Jones right? Dominant defensive end for the Cowboys' in the '70s-'80s. Made three Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl ring in '77. Some forget, however, that the 6-foot-9 monster also was a badass boxer. He took a one-year sabbatical from the NFL in '79 to box, going 6-0 as a heavyweight with five knockouts before re-joining the Cowboys. These days he likes talking boxing as much as football, evidenced by his visit Thursday with the kids at the legendary Montoya Boxing Gym in far east Dallas.

   *Speaking of boxing, remember the sorta-scheduled appearance of Floyd Mayweather at the Rockwall Elite Boxing Club I skeptically wrote about? Supposed to be this weekend. Stay tuned Monday for what went actually went down. Or didn't.

   *When I'm not filling this blog with information and entertainment crap, I'm moonlighting as a small-business owner. I'm one of three founders of Pizza Buzz, a restaurant that will deliver pizza - and, yes, beer! - to northeast Fort Worth beginning in August. We're to the point where we're hiring. Managers. Cooks. Drivers. Counter. The works. Store is located at Basswood/Highway 377. Contact my partner Cliff@PizzaBuzz.com if interested.

   *Most of us live check-to-check, and day-to-day. Thankfully, via long-term contracts and upcoming events, sports constantly reminds us that there will indeed be a future. Hence, this week Oklahoma extended the contract of head coach Bob Stoops through ... 2020.

   *Once upon a time in 1998 Donnie Nelson was hand-picked by his Hall-of-Fame father, Don, to be the next head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Now? Stripped of power via this week's hiring of Houston Rockets' VP Gersson Rosas to be the team's new general manager. Love Donnie, but the move is warranted. Flat out, teams like the Spurs have done more with their crappy draft picks than the Mavericks have with theirs. Mavs re-signed Brandan Wright and traded guard Nick Calathes this week, but still don't see anything to convince me they are a legit threat for more than an 8th seed in 2014.

   *Twitter and social media be damned, the English royals announced this week's baby arrival via Town Crier reading aloud from a scroll and ringing a bell. There's tradition. And there's stubborn stupidity.

   *Speaking of Donnie, he was this town's forgotten GM. I see Jerry everywhere with endorsements and this week there was Rangers' GM Jon Daniels doing a (horribly awkward) commercial for James Wood Chevrolet. Donnie is great, but most of his work is done out of sight.

   *What's Rangers' stranger: Reliever Jason Frasor's follow-through high-kick? Or the fact that Berkman has the same number of stolen bases - 0 - as Jurickson Profar?

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   *For  my money, Fox 4's Fiona Gorostiza is one of the hottest, bestest reporters on local TV. Animated. Energetic. Informative. And did I mention extremely banana-ish?

   *You'd think a movie featuring Bruce Willis, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Zeta-Jones, sports gambling and Laura Prepon's boobs would be great. You'd be wrong. Sybil tricked me into Lay The Favorite last night. Awful. Not surprised it cost $20 million and only earned $20,000.

   *Swear this happened at Big 12 Media Day this week: Baylor stud safety Ahmad Dixon was asked if the Bears could really win the conference. His answer: "Can God save a hooker?" I smell T-shirts!

   *I think we're just trained to complain. Walked into Tom Thumb this week and got the obligatory "Hot enough for ya?" from a cart-gatherer. Honestly, no. It was 94 degrees. Born and raised in Texas, I'm accustomed to the heat. Love the heat. In fact, the hotter the better. (Conversely, I'm a wimp when it comes to winter.) But this is by no means a hot summer. Only one day in the 100s so far and twice this week I've awakened to morning rain. Relatively speaking, this summer is mild. So far.

   *Garrett was this week asked if he was a boring person. Expect to hear that during Super Bowl Media Day, but not during the early days of training camp. Only the Cowboys. By the way, I believe it was the Star-Telegram's Mac Engel who authored the query.

   *Speaking of Garrett, I got no problem with the Cowboys agreeing to allow Sports Illustrated/NBC's Peter King to tape and broadcast his pre-camp speech to players. If Garrett signed off on it, that is. And I know what you're thinking, this was Jerry telling Garrett to allow it. If that's the case, horrible idea.

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   *Last week's death at Six Flags reminded me of the woman who died on the old Roaring Rapids water ride back in 1999. If you had to choose, you taking a 75-foot plunge off a roller coaster or drowning in three feet of water trapped under a giant raft?

   *Chris Davis since the All-Star break: 7 games, .214, 0 homers, 13 strikeouts. The fact that his slump coincides with Ryan Braun's suspension will do nothing to mute the skeptics crowing that the former Ranger's rise is steroid-fueled.

   *I'm retro-actively pissed at Noah. Why didn't he do us all a big favor and just slap those two mosquitoes instead of welcoming them aboard?

   *Aaron Hernandez is a pretty big dude at 6-foot-1 and 245 pounds. But have you seen the bailiff that escorts him in and out of the Boston courtroom? Dwarfs the NFL player. Gotta be 6-5 and about 275. And the fact that he wears a buzzcut and black horn-rimmed glasses makes his look even more menacing.

   *Take your work seriously. But not yourself.

   *Dwight Howard this week took a photo with the great centers in Houston Rockets' history: Elvin Hayes, Ralph Sampson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming. Wondered what that Mavs' photo would look like: James Donaldson, standing beside Tyson Chandler. That's it.

   *Circle Saturday night, Sept. 7 on your (smartphone) calendars. I'm hosting a DFWSportatorium Launch Party at Baby Dolls in Dallas. I'll handle the cover, the suite and toss out some T-shirts and caps and goodies, you guys take care of your liquor and your lap dances. Should be lots of college football on the TVs and some decent "entertainment" in our suite. See you there.

   *This weekend? For the first time in a long time ... nada. Just sit back and relax and ... Oops, take that back. Tennis Saturday morning and a grudge-match golf outing with long-time family 'n friends at Eldorado Country Club Sunday afternoon. Other than that, rest and Pizza Buzzin'. Don't be a stranger.

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Reminder That You Read It Here First: Cowboys HQ to Frisco; AT&T Cowboys Stadium. Got It?

   Okay media, this is the carpet.
   And this morning you're being called onto it.
   Why? Because you know better. And you know you know better.
   Some will call this blog item "sour grapes" and others will belittle me as a pathetic whiner "tooting my own horn." Fine. Whatever. I categorize it as an emergency, necessary evil, because somewhere along the road to accountability and fairness we've forgotten the Journalism 101 ethics I began learning as a writer on Duncanville High School's Panther Prints newspaper in 1980.
   In the media game sometimes you break a story, and sometimes your competitor breaks one right over your head. Sometimes you nail it, you get the information right and you get it first. Other times you - ahem - get it first (Dez Bryant has a major finger injury ...) but only part of it right (that will land him on injured reserve.)
   Writing/radioing/TVing professionally in this market for 27 years, I've won both awards and goat horns. Like sports - and life - during the wins and losses journalism is supposed to teach us to be accountable. Do the best you can, deal with the results and try harder the next day. Right?
   But these days I'm embarrassed to say sports media has deteriorated into the despicable chap who cheats at golf.

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   When he stripes it down the middle he boastfully high-fives everyone on the course. And when he hits it behind the tree, he simply executes a foot wedge as if no one will ever see ... or call him out.
   It's bullshit. And it's wrong.
   I'm not going to pinpoint individuals because, personally, I respect and get along with most everyone on the local media landscape. But I will criticize media organizations, because I think the erosion of our morals starts at the top.

   In the past week I've posted news-making items on my lil' plot of the Internet regarding the Cowboys' impending move of their headquarters from Valley Ranch to Frisco, and their imminent naming-rights partnership with AT&T.
   Ground-breaking, Earth-shattering stuff? Naw. But in a market salivating for Cowboys' flavor while also being saturated with countless media digging for partial scoops of minuscule nuggets, it's a couple of tiny feathers in my small, fledgling cap.
   How do you know it's breaking news? Because if I wouldn't have written the Cowboys/AT&T story, you still wouldn't know about it. The first domino is always the most important, right?
   But not a word of credit. Or acknowledgment. On either item. From anyone in this town.
   ESPN is the worldwide leader in this sorry strategy, citing only generic "media reports" when it gets beat on a story. And the sick runs downhill from Bristol, winding up on ESPNDallas.com, where at 9 last night - more than 12 hours after my post - the site produced a piggy-back Cowboys/AT&T story citing "three sources" but never mentioning the genesis of the news.
   Just a simple tip o' the cap - "as first reported on DFWSportatorium.com." That's all it takes. Simple. Ethical.
    Similarly, Dallas' Only Daily posted a Cowboys/AT&T story Monday afternoon with nary a mention of the origin of the information. Worse, actually, the Morning News lazily and erroneously credited the scoop to 105.3 The Fan. Organizations from Sports Illustrated to D Magazine (you guys really should know better) and even a blog called The Landry Hat each mistakenly credited Fox Sports Southwest with "breaking" the looming partnership news, even though FSSW's story posted a good 80 minutes after DFWSportatorium's.
   And, what do ya know, this morning Dallas' Only Daily has an update - citing its "sources" - on the team moving its headquarters to Frisco.
   Slimy.

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   But it's not just me. I'm sure photographers feel the same about their pictures. And sales people the same about their cultivated leads and restaurants the same about their menus and ingredients. Any reporter that publishes exclusive information should be - at least temporarily - the king of the hill, not some poor sap raped of his handiwork and smothered and forgotten at the bottom of the media dog pile. To distinguish organizations from another, there is original, unique content that isn't supposed to be shared and distributed via Co-op like a final score or press-conference quotes.

   Like it or not, journalism needs to find an acceptable working margin somewhere between "stealing shit as your own" and "providing so many footnotes that you deteriorate your product into a bogged-down bibliography."
   Look, maybe none of this matters to you. The 24-hour news cycle has been tossed in our ADD, multi-tasking spin cycle and reduced to a 24-second shot clock of relevance. But to the media - from the largest corporation to the smallest blog - information, analysis and creative content remains our product. Delivering news first and accurate is what we're paid to do, or at least how we attract customers to spend money with us and/or our advertisers.
   These days I'm a one-man operation, with my time also being consumed by opening Pizza Buzz. Way more times than not I'll be the nail. But on these occasions when I am indeed the hammer, I still expect it the media to respect the fact that the noise came from somewhere other than their own workshop.
   Is that too much to ask?

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June Radio Ratings: The Ticket Is Twice As Good As Double the Competition

   So yesterday, in general terms, I documented how The Ticket has maintained its local sports-talk radio stranglehold throughout 2013. Today - by popular request - let's drill down a lot deeper and see just how wide the day-part gaps are between 1310 AM and competitors ESPN 103.3 and 105.3 The Fan.
   First, let's get the rosters of the teams in order. The Ticket? Check.
   Same as it's been since 2000, Craig Miller and George Dunham (The Musers) from 6-10 a.m., followed by Norm Hitzges 10 a.m.-Noon, then Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell (BaD Radio) Noon-3 p.m. and Mike Rhyner and Corby Davidson (The Hardline) in drive time 3-7 p.m.
   As for the other two stations, putting a name with a time-slot isn't so easy. And already the problems arise.

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   At ESPN Ben Rogers and Jeff "Skin" Wade (Ben and Skin) left on February 25, re-arranging the station's lineup into nationally syndicated Mike and Mike 5 a.m.-9 a.m., out-of-town host Colin Cowherd 9-11 a.m., local newcomers Ian Fitzsimmons and Richard Durrett (Fitzsimmons and Durrett) from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and veteran Randy Galloway (Galloway and Company) 3-6 p.m.
   At The Fan, where there are more shuffles than the World Series of Poker, yours truly and Greg Williams (RAGE) were fired on April 15, ultimately replaced May 13 by former Ticket and ESPN and Live 105.3 duo Ben and Skin from 2-6 p.m. The remainder of The Fan remained stable including 6-10 a.m. morning show Shan Shariff and R.J. Choppy (New School) - though without sidekick Jasmine Sadry, who was fired in March - and Mark Elfenbein and Jane Slater (Elf & Slater) 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
   How have the changes affected the landscape? Halfway through this year The Ticket is still the big dawg hogging the bowl, with ESPN clearly out-fighting The Fan for fewer and fewer scraps.

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   In June - in the all-important demographic of Men 25-54 years old - The Ticket dominated with each time slot garnering at least a 7.4 rating and finishing no lower than second among all stations. How dominant is The Ticket? In each of the three metered dayparts, its shows' ratings were easily higher than the two competing stations - combined.

  The Hardline, as it's done every month this year, owned afternoon drive with a 9.1, ranking first in the Metroplex among its target demo. ESPN's Galloway finished 10th with a 3.5, while Ben and Skin are stumbling out of the gate at The Fan with only a 1.7 rating, slotting them 23rd in the market.
   The Ticket's BaD Radio - which seriously flirted with The Fan last month - gobbled up its competition in middays with a 7.4. And The Musers continue to control mornings with a 7.9, smothering ESPN's 4.0 and The Fan's 2.3.
   The June snapshot is merely duplicated when extrapolated.
   While The Ticket's shows have maintained or increased their numbers since January, ESPN's Fitzsimmons and Durrett are merely holding steady in the mid-2's while Galloway fluctuates between 6th and 11th overall. Meanwhile, every show on The Fan has endured significant damage since the dawn of 2013.
   New School has fallen from a 4.5 in January to a 2.3 in June, Elf & Slater from a 3.9 to a 2.5, and where once there was RAGE at a paltry 2.8 there is now Ben and Skin under 2.0 the last two months.
   In the end, nothing new. The Ticket's dynasty is seemingly as strong as ever via stability and consistency as much as talent. Their challengers prove time and again they have neither the stomach for the fight nor the backbone to remain consistent enough to even be competitive.

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   A detailed breakdown of The Ticket's bludgeoning of ESPN and The Fan ...

TIME SLOT		JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN
6a - 10a	Ticket	8.3 (1)	8.7 (1)	7.7 (1)	7.5 (2)	7.0 (4)	7.9 (2)
	ESPN	3.6 (8)	3.4 (8)	2.8 (11)	3.2 (10)	3.6 (7)	4.0 (7)
	Fan	4.5 (7)	3.9 (7)	2.8 (11)	2.2 (17)	2.5 (14)	2.3 (16)
10a - 3p	Ticket	5.0 (4)	5.6 (4)	7.2 (2)	7.4 (3)	7.3 (3)	7.4 (2)
	ESPN	2.5 (16)	1.9 (24)	1.9 (22)	2.4 (17)	2.7 (12)	2.6 (12)
	Fan	3.9 (6)	2.9 (11)	2.7 (13)	2.1 (19)	2.3 (15)	2.5 (15)
3p - 7p	Ticket	7.3 (1)	8.0 (1)	8.9 (1)	9.0 (1)	8.9 (1)	9.1 (1)
	ESPN	3.8 (7)	3.4 (11)	3.0 (11)	3.6 (7)	4.0 (6)	3.5 (10)
	Fan	2.8 (14)	2.7 (14)	2.6 (18)	2.3 (21)	1.9 (22)	1.7 (23)

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June Radio Ratings: Ticket Remains King; Fan Fades

   This radio ratings update isn't brought to you by the bitter folks at Sour Grapes, Inc., but rather a fair-minded spin-off company called Yes, In Fact, I Do Have The Facts To Back This Up.
   Radio numbers are in for the month of June but - seeing that some of us are now spectators instead of participants - it also feels like a good time to check out what's been going down the entire first half of 2013. And for my old station - 105.3 The Fan - down is indeed the operative word.
   We'll get to the specific shows and dayparts in a couple days, but for now I can tell you that, generally speaking and as expected, 1310 AM The Ticket continues its dominance in Dallas-Fort Worth.

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    In the very broad category of listeners ages 6+ tuning in Monday-Sunday 6 a.m.-12 midnight, The Ticket ranked 16th in the Metroplex, well ahead of competitors ESPN 103.3 and The Fan. Dallas-Fort Worth's No. 1 station - by a mile - continues to be 106.1 KISS FM, whose 7.8 rating out-distanced No. 2s 94.9 KLTY and 99.5 The Wolf by a whopping three points.

   At The Fan, meanwhile, there has been a precipitous plunge since Gavin Spittle took over as program director from Bruce Gilbert in February. Obviously the end of the NFL season is a factor in The Fan's slide, as it is home of the Dallas Cowboys. But the drop has been dramatic.

   In January The Fan earned a 2.0 rating; in June a 1.0.
   And in Cume - a station's cumulative audience - The Fan has withered from 417,000 listeners in January to 263,000 last month.
   In other words, thank God The Fan got rid of those folks and shows that were soooo dragging them down. Right?

STATION		JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	RANK
The Ticket		2.7	2.4	2.8	2.8	2.6	2.6	16th
ESPN		1.6	1.3	1.2	1.6	2.2	2.1	21st
The Fan		2.0	1.4	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.0	26th

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The Hard Lie 2 Wrap-Up: Your Q's and My A's

   Okay, let's bury this baby.
   Thanks for reading my 5-part, Hard Lie 2 series last week. Response was overwhelming. But apparently almost 10,000 words and over 50 documents weren't enough, because I've received countless questions about the story via email and Twitter.
   As this week has hopefully proven, this web site will be much more than just Greggo fallout. So until something newsworthy happens to someone on the show - Oh, I dunno, an arrest? A new radio job? A move to upstate New York? A pizza joint opening? - let this be the final item centering on the radio show formerly known as RAGE. Cool?
   But before we depart, let me put some answers to the five most popular questions in the wake of the story ...

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Q: How did you obtain the Twitter Direct Messages used in the story?
   A: Legally. Totally. I'm not nearly smart enough to be a computer hacker. The information was, literally, handed to me. In radio, newspapers and life, it's good to have sources.

Q: Don't you owe The Ticket an apology for bashing the way they shunned Greggo after he was fired there, because now you're treating him the same way?
   A: Nope. To me the situations are drastically different in that when Greggo was fired by The Ticket, those who turned their back on him personally still retained their jobs. He caused them headaches, but not employment. At The Fan, he took me down with him. Had Greggo been fired from RAGE but Sybil, Armen and I kept our jobs, I would't have publicized his destructive actions and would sympathetically reach out to him to get help. But we didn't. So I did. And I'm not.

Q: As Greggo has said many times since y'all's firing, did The Fan force ya'll to talk Cowboys every day?
   A: "Force" may be too strong, but certainly "expect" was in play. Our unofficial station motto was "When in doubt, Cowboys." And, honestly, I didn't have a problem with it. We were the home of the Cowboys, and we all know nothing moves the Metroplex sports needle more than America's Team. I was never told personally to force positive spins on Cowboys' stories, but I certainly did skip over a national baseball story or two to talk another Cowboys' angle.

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Q: Why do you blame Greggo for your firing? Can't you just admit it was because of your lack of talent and your show's horrible ratings?
   A: As I've said before, from the birth of RAGE in 2010 we steadily climbed until in the last half of 2011 we had decent ratings. Nothing to threaten The Ticket's Hardline, but enough - in the 4's - to consistently beat ESPN's Galloway and cash some ratings-based bonus checks. It was about midway through 2012 when Greggo began missing work, or showing up in a less than desirable state of mind. In accordance, without any consistency and with an eroding chemistry, our show's quality, and ratings, dropped. So, yes, the low ratings might be the scapegoat. But I still believe Greggo's irresponsibillty and unprofessionalism sent the show into its spiral. That's not to say I don't share the blame for our demise. My natural talent is writing, not radio. But, again, I did all I could to throw RAGE a life raft, on and off the air.

Q: Have you heard Greggo's podcasts? And what do you think of him being mad at you for "dragging Jen into this mess"?
   A: I haven't. And I won't. I've heard enough from him to last me a long time. As for "dragging" his girlfriend, Jennifer, into the equation, I'd counter by saying she instead voluntarily injected herself into it when she helped Greggo fabricate and choreograph the lie to miss work in Nov. 2012, which was, looking back, the beginning of the end.

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Dallas Mavericks Moving to a New Radio Home?

   As your Dallas Mavericks prepare for a draft pick this Thursday and a recruiting strategy of Dwight Howard this summer, they're also pondering a move to a new radio station next season.
   The Mavs, who have been on 103.3 ESPN since before their first run to The NBA Finals in '06, are radio free agents in the wake of their four-year contract expiring after the 2013 season. And, according to radio industry sources, the team is at least "kicking the tires" on a potential move to 105.3 The Fan.
   When asked about his team's radio status via email, owner Mark Cuban responded "Nothing new to report."
   For a couple reasons, however, The Fan seems primed to steal the basketball away from ESPN.

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   At ESPN the Mavs had to share the spotlight with the Texas Rangers. Their games in April-May sometimes conflicted, with most of the time baseball moved to AM sister station 660 KSKY. And if you've tried to listen to games at night on ESPN, you know how splotchy its signal can get.

   At The Fan, the Mavs would obviously bat second behind the Dallas Cowboys and in front of NASCAR. But they'd get the benefit of CBS' 100,000-watt signal and few, if any, game conflicts with the Cowboys. Football plays mainly on Sundays and Mondays, and the overlap would be only November-December, when the Mavs are just getting ramped up and the Cowboys are traditionally spiraling toward the non-playoffs.
   Last season, for example, the Mavs would have had only one conflict with the Cowboys, when on the night of Dec. 30 they played Spurs and the Cowboys visited the Redskins in their season finale.
   Further sweetening its flirtation, The Fan has comfortable built-in Mavs' connections in afternoon co-host Jeff "Skin" Wade (who provides color analysis on the team's home TV games), beat reporter Mike Fisher (who provides studio analysis on Fox Sports Southwest TV games) and night co-host Chris Arnold (long the team's on-court emcee for home games at  American Airlines Center.)
   If indeed The Fan is recruiting the Mavs, however, they aren't yet applying their full-court press. Because, as of this morning, there are no station plans for any sort of special NBA Draft coverage Thursday night.

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The Truth Behind Me vs. ... The Ticket?

   So, from my viewpoint, there is no Richie Whitt vs. The Ticket.
   But apparently this morning - this comes second-hand via Twitter, I didn't hear it because I got out of the habit of listening to them the last five years when I was at The Fan - The Ticket's morning show, The Musers, criticized me, calling me a "sideline sitter" and "Bitchy Twit."
   The first label, of course, refers to me having recently been fired from The Fan. Seems a little mean-spirited, but hey, it's their microphones. All's fair in love and radio. No biggie. And I guess the latter is supposed to be a zinger but, other than displaying their fundamental ability to rhyme, it just takes me back to 2nd grade.
   Folks are now asking a valid question, and one I'm not sure I have a good answer for:
   When did The Ticket and I get crossways?

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   Like most sports fans in The Metroplex I grew up with The Ticket. I listened to Brad Sham's Sports Central in the '80s but it was just one hour, at night. When the Ticket was hatched in 1994 I was a Cowboys' beat writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and it was a light-bulb-over-my-noggin' awakening: "How the Hell have I lived this long without sports talk radio?!"
   No doubt, I was a  P1.
   I immediately grew to like the hosts personally and, professionally, began making frequent on-air guest appearances. When I moved to the Dallas Observer in 2005 I consistently wrote flattering blog items - like this one about TicketStock - and columns - like this one about Mike Rhyner. I'd go out with Ticket hosts at Super Bowls, and got invited to their compound broadcast. I wasn't one of the family, but I was a friendly, distant relative.
   Fast-forward to 2008.

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   In the wake of Greg Williams' infamous departure from The Hardline, the popular afternoon show was in flux. One of their ideas was to hold what Rhyner called "Plus-1" on-air tryouts. Flattered, and surprised, by the offer, I joined Rhyner over lunch at Genghis Grill and accepted a tryout.
   I sat in - as did a myriad of others - and guest-hosted on two afternoons with The Hardline, but the show ultimately decided to hire no one new and simply promote Corby Davidson to Williams' No. 2 chair. Disappointed? Sure. Bitter? Not even close. I can't argue with their decision. Corby has made people forget about Greggo and the show is as popular as ever.
   No hard feelings.
   During the tryout phase I had called Greggo, just to alert him out of professional courtesy that I was going to sit in his vacated Ticket chair. We kept in touch. A couple months later, I morphed the facts that people were interested and fascinated by everything Ticket and almost everything Greggo into an Observer cover story about his fall from grace.
   During that process I learned that almost all of The Ticket hosts were shunning their former co-worker. Not just for my story - most of the hosts didn't return my calls for interviews, but I understood their position -  but also personally. That I didn't get. And I still don't.

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   Having "experienced" Greggo for three years, I appreciate what they had to endure. But the big difference is, when Greggo left The Ticket his co-workers retained their jobs. At The Fan, he took me down with him. He cost me a job; He cost them merely frustration.
   I know Greggo is these days at least casually friendly with some of The Ticket guys. And at some point I'll probably reach the same conclusion and return his calls. But not yet.
   Maybe I earned Ticket resentment when I revealed how the hosts initially shunned Greggo. Maybe it's because I teamed-up with Greggo, a guy who betrayed them. Maybe it was when I'd go on The Fan and say I hated them. Of course, I didn't "hate" The Ticket any differently than how the Cowboys "hate" the Redskins. Nothing personal, I just wanted to beat them professionally.
   Personal relationships > Professional rivalries. At least where I come from.
   But now we're here, wherever that is.

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   Over the weekend on this here new web site I covered the news of Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell almost going to The Fan but, in the end, staying at The Ticket. I had no agenda whatsoever, other than to provide unique content for a growing audience. Again, I like Bob and Dan (and Donovan Lewis) personally. I'm always friendly to them at events. My blog items about their situation were motivated purely by it being news, not some cross-my-fingers-and-pull-for-The-Ticket-to-crumble destination. Out of professional courtesy I called their agent and texted both Bob and Dan, in addition to having reliable sources of information inside both The Ticket and The Fan.
   But now, at least with morning-show boys Craig Miller, George Dunham and Gordon Keith, I'm being tarred-and-feathered for ... being the messenger?
   Like I've said before, over 27 years across all media platforms in this market I've developed a thick skin. The professional name-calling will never make it to my heart. I do, however, hope it's only a skin-deep radio bit, and not some fabricated bridge-burning that has somehow been nurtured from myth into reality.
   That said, this isn't an olive branch to The Ticket. Merely my defense, my answer to all your questions in regards to our relationship.
   I do find this fascinating:
   For being the top dog in this market for going on almost 20 years, The Ticket is, as a whole, an irrationally sensitive and paranoid bunch. If I was at the No. 1 station for three decades and someone who just got fired from a competitor began reporting on my co-workers' potential departure, I wouldn't notice, much less go out of my way to spend precious air time criticizing him.
   But, in the end, that sacred, sensitive "bunker mentality" may be The Ticket's greatest asset.

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Me 'n Mike "Douche": The 5 Dumbest Things I Did on TV Last Night

 

   Nervous? No way.
   Rusty? Damn skippy.
   It was good to be back yapping to the masses via moving pictures last night, hanging out with Mike Doocy on Fox 4's Sports Sunday.
   I'll let you give my appearance a final grade, but I will admit that is was far from perfect. Giggly goofbally at times, even.
   In fact, when Sybil made me watch the replay this morning I found enough flaws for a list.
   I call it The 5 Dumbest Things I Did on TV Last Night:

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   5. From going to an outdoor wedding Saturday night I've got mosquito bites all over my arms. (Makes me wonder why Noah didn't do us all a favor and slap the two bastards aboard his wooden ship.) What in my head was subtle itching, looked on TV like country-dog-with-ticks scratchin'. Just know that the quirky mannerisms had nothing to do with my shirt (thank you, D Custom Tailors) and everything to do with my onset of West Nile Virus.
   4. It wasn't easy to spot with the naked eye, but I almost ended my segment with a handshake. But just as I lifted my right hand a smidge off the desk, the thought of Doocy dissin' me on TV sprinted through my mind. In football, it would've been a 5-yard penalty for a false-start flinch. On TV, it was just another glitch.

   3. Sybil and I are going to Happy Hour Wednesday with friend/CBS 11 reporter Susy Solis. And last night on Fox 4's news just before Sports Sunday sat three peeps I've long been acquainted with: Weatherman Ron Jackson and anchors Richard Ray and Natalie Solis. So, what did I do? In the awkward, frantic transition from off-screen spectator to in-chair guest I shook hands with Ray and Jackson and blurted to Natalie, "See you Wednesday!" She's probably still scratching her head. Or thinking I can't wait to watch her on the tube in two days. FML. Apologies to both Solis's who, by the way, are both "bananas."
   2. To my rusty TV eye, finding the red light for the active camera was a hunt-'n-search of "Where's Waldo" proportions. As soon as I'd settle in on Camera 2 the tiny light would go out, meaning I should shift my focus to Camera 1, er, Camera 3. Nope, Camera 1. Dangit! I didn't avoid eye contact directly into the camera on purpose, but rather on my lack of skill.
   1. For my salutation I decided to keep it casual and give props to Mike for having me on. Um, it didn't exactly come out that way. Somehow my head thought "Thanks, Dooce" but my mouth said "Thanks, Douche." Doocy doesn't wear socks behind that desk, but he's far from a douche. So let me publicly apologize for the gaffe, in hopes that I'm invited back. Right ... Dooce?!

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