Whether you're at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End:
*After the day-to-day teasing on here I hate to do this, but next week I'll have breaking local radio news that could re-shape the landscape you've known for three decades. And, yes, I'm talking about The Ticket. See ya Monday morning.
*I don't think there's a more dramatic play in all of sports than the relay throw to home plate trying to nab a runner in a 1-run game with two outs in the 9th. So many moving parts: Two throws, two catches, running, a slide, a convergence if not an outright collision and, of course, a tag. If you weren't standing and cringing as Elvis Andrus made a perfect throw to catcher A.J. Pierzynski to nail the A's Josh Donaldson in yesterday's 4-3 win, then you need a shot of 5hour Energy to wake your ass up. Gotta be the most exciting Rangers' win of the season, right?
*Watching the Heat beat the Spurs in Game 7 last night was nauseating, but wouldn't have been much easier to stomach watching Tim Duncan hoist another trophy. Reminds us how rare two summers ago was. The Mavs not only won their only title by beating the Heat in six games, but since then Miami has dominated the NBA. And, dang, doesn't Dallas' championship feel like 20 years ago instead of just two?
*Patriots' tight end Aaron Hernandez is in deep sh*t. Boston police issued an arrest warrant for him Friday morning in connection with the murder of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old who was driving an SUV in Hernandez' name and who was dating Hernandez' fiancee's sister. Lloyd was found in a field - shot in the head - a mile from Hernandez' home and so far cops have discovered that the Pro Bowl player was seen with Lloyd just hours before his death, smashed his cell phone, destroyed his home security system which included video surveillance, and hired a cleaning crew to his house Monday afternoon. Not good.
*I sincerely appreciate the feedback on this blog's curtain-lifter, "The Hard Lie 2". You guys devoured the series to the tune of - so far - 155,000+ pageviews since Monday morning's debut. Me - and my advertisers - thank you. If you missed any of it you can catch up right here with Parts
1 2 3 4 5 and check out
the accompanying photo gallery. Even after almost 10,000 words and 50+ documents some of you have lingering questions. Shoot them to me at
Richie@DFWSportatorium.com. I'll gather them up and next week post an item of your Q's and my A's. Deal?
*
Hot.
*
Not.
(continued from page 1)
*You guys know how hard I am to please. I'm a cynic and I'm stubborn and my standard for most stuff is irrationally high. But I'm telling ya,
This Is The End is one of the funniest, most creative movies I've seen in a loooong time. Actors portraying themselves? Genius! Triple thumbs up.
*When the Spurs' Ginobli jumped in the air without a plan and committed an ugly turnover with San Antonio down four and only 23 seconds left last night, would it be fair to call it a Manu-mental gaffe?
*Dead 'n Gone: Sad about the passing of
Sopranos' star James Gandolfini. But if you're shocked he died of a heart attack at only 51, you haven't been paying attention. You can't eat lasagna and drink a bottle of wine for every meal and live to tell about it.
*Now batting
seventh for the Anaheim Angels ...
Josh Hamilton. How delicious is that?! We're into late June and that over-hyped hypocrite is hitting an embarrassing .213.
*I've ragged on LeBron and I'll never forgive him for mocking Dirk Nowitzki's flu cough in 2011. But the dude just won back-to-back regular-season and NBA Finals' MVPs. Only other players to accomplish that feat are named Bill Russell and Michael Jordan. Facing elimination in Games 6 and 7, he produced a combined 69 points, 23 rebounds and 14 assists. Damn. No denying that greatness.
*Speaking of Dirk, once and for all let me win this debate. I don't care if you think you know the rules of the German language better than a German, if he pronounces his own last name
NoWitzki instead of
NoVitzki, then it's
NoWitzki! Right, Mr. NoWitzki?
*Think about the stunt the Heat pulled off to win this title. David Blaine ought to be impressed, because in Game 6 Miami somehow escaped handcuffs inside a Straight Jacket under six feet water with a block a cement tied to their ankles. On Tuesday the Spurs led 93-89 and had the ball with 28 seconds remaining. Lots of things have to go wrong to lose that game in that situation, and they did. Ginobli and Kawhi Leonard missed free throws, the Spurs coughed up two offensive rebounds and Miami nailed two 3-pointers to force overtime. San Antonio must just be sick at how it let this series slip away.
*Speaking of collapses, the Rangers are back in St. Louis this weekend for the first time since 2011 and the ... oh, you know. As a primer, Nelson Cruz yesterday made a fantastic catch in right field after sprinting back on a well-hit ball and gloving it on the warning track just before the wall. Ring a bell?
*As a reminder, I've developed ridiculously thick skin over the last 27 years in this market. I don't mind being a pinata, as long as you're consistently buying what I'm selling. I've never blocked anyone on Twitter (
@RichieWhitt) and I will allow anonymous comments on here. But, to be honest, I'm much more likely to respond and engage commenters if you have a legit profile. I set one up, and it's just lazy/chicken sh*t to rip me without a name or a face attached. Just sayin'.
(continued from page 2)
*Hey, guess what day it is?
You're welcome.
*If you're at 635/Preston this weekend: 1. God help you, because I bet you're stuck in traffic; 2. Look up at the northeast corner ... and honk at our billboard!
*The Dallas Stars have hired Lindy Ruff as their head coach? What The What?! Wasn't he the Sabres' coach when the Stars won their Stanley Cup in Buffalo in '99? Yes, yes he was. And he led the "No goal!" cries in the aftermath. I guess, even after 14 years, if you can't beat 'em ... join 'em? Sports works in mysterious ways.
*So I got my guy Tom from
XFusion Software helping build and maintain this web site. He's at my house one day painstakingly trying to teach me about HTML code, and 10 times faster than I can learn a <Div /> from an <i />, he picks up a jumbled Rubik's Cube and solves it. "I don't love code," he says. "But it's my gift. My brain just sees things in a certain way." No, I don't understand.
*Received some decent media attention this week re: the launch of the blog. From
D Magazine. From the
Dallas Observer. Coming this afternoon, from the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram. And Sunday night at 10 I'll be under the intense grilling of Mike Doocy on Fox 4's
Sports Sunday.
*Looks like I'm not the only one with
Greg Williams issues. Drinking beer? No way?! Yeah, way.
(continued from page 3)
*Bad news: They're baaaack. As you may remember, I despise squirrels almost as much as Dwyane Wade. They're rats, with cute lil' tails as a disguise. They gnaw on my roof. They poop in pellets. They torment our dogs. And now they're back in my attic for the first time in four years, scurrying around right over my bed at all hours of the night. Hope I'm as successful in the sequel as I ultimately was in the original. Game on.
*I love me some tennis, but this time of the year is just stupid. It was just two weeks ago that Rafael Nadal beat David Ferrer to win the French Open, capping a two-month clay-court season. Now, just like that, Wimbledon begins Monday on, of course, grass. Because of the the cramped scheduling, the sport's most prestigious tournament is played with a relatively minuscule 15-day ramp-up. The surfaces are so different, it'd be like a track star competing in the mile one day, then having to run the 100 meters the next.
*The fallout from what happened on April 15? No, not
RAGE's firing fool, the bombings at the Boston Marathon. Now organizers at Addison's annual "Kaboom Town" fireworks show say they'll check bags and limit attendance as a
security measure. Considering several marathon runners had their legs blown apart by the bombs and ultimately amputated, would it be okay to call it The Boston Knee Party? No? Of course not! I didn't think so. How insensitive.
*
"Touched" by VAST isn't new. But it's new to me. And it's bad ass.
*This weekend? Tennis in the morning on Saturday, followed by a buddy's afternoon wedding in McKinney. On Sunday I'll make my regular bi-weekly Unemployment filing (yuck), then head down to Dallas to talk shop with Doocy on Fox4 at 10 p.m. (yay). Welcome and, as always, don't be a stranger.
OK..Color me stupid but where do I set up a profile? Good stuff again. Only one thing, I hate radio teases.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I'm woefully uprepared for that question. lol.
DeleteSame question here.....
ReplyDeleteI went to Blogger.com and set up a free account. Or if you have Gmail, you can link them. Happy commenting!
ReplyDeleteCan you get Richie to add a "Sybil of the day" tab. I'm thinking like, racing onesies, costumes, etc. What say you?
DeleteLemme guess--The Ticket has a broken baby arm and will miss the rest of the season?
ReplyDeleteYour pageviews are about 8 times as high as they should be since you split every article into small pieces. This isn't print where there's a limit to the size of the pages. Breaking up articles is old school, much like the design.
ReplyDeleteDone to inflate numbers for selling ads. He learned that from the Observer site.
DeleteRichie gotta eat.
The page views are not counted twice. Those page breaks are just using hidden "div" tags, hiding and showing. They are not actually reloading new pages.
Delete@WebGuru
Yeah, just go to Blogger prompt on the drop down options under 'More' on the Google home page. This is the same moniker I have carried around the intertubz for a while and I see no need to put my actual irl name out there. I at least have the illusion of some measure of anonymity while allowing someone to address me directly.
ReplyDeleteYeah, what cactus said.
DeleteRichie, Been some good reads here lately. Keep up the good work and glad to see you moving forward.
ReplyDeleteGracias. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteSince Mike Doocy is a tag on this blog post and isn't mentioned in the article, I'm going to assume that next week's big news is this new lineup at The Ticket:
ReplyDelete5:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.: The Gentle Mike Doocy
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: The Norm Hitzges/Mike Doocy Show
12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.: BaD Mike Doocy
3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.: Stay Hard with Mike Doocy
Great guesses, but pretty sure Doocy is mentioned in the column. Check again.
DeleteThat's too bad. Your scoop would've been a real Doocy.
DeleteWhitt's End is always a must read. Fascinating content this week, keep it going.
ReplyDeleteThanks my man.
DeleteNow THIS is the writing I missed every Friday!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to be back. Thanks.
DeleteMoving to an FM signal, maybe 93.3.
ReplyDeleteWhen Rage was good it was gold? Really? When was your show ever good? Never. And, you want a pat on the back for working 25 hours a week? Wow, what a hard worker you are. Wake me up when you're in the real world with us real working folks working 40-50 hours a week. Your stupidity continues to amaze.
ReplyDeletePre-show prep meetings and research for a 5 hour radio show every day.
DeleteSponsor Events.
Travel.
Some of these events were more fun than others, but all were work.
I could tell you whose stupidity continues to amaze, but really it is not all that amazing.
Amen.
Deleteprep meetings and research for a half ass radio show? sponsor events where spare fan listeners kiss your ass and shake your hand? travel? wow i'm convinced. what a hard worker dick whit is.
DeleteYou’re a fucking joke bitchy Richie . How about that fact you and sib starting dating around the same time ratings started going down! If greggo wanted out then why didn’t they just let him go?? Instead they let all the three of you go! Think about it dip shit! Instead of trying to pawn it all off on greggo!
ReplyDeletePeople who really think Me and Sybil dating had anything to do with our show's demise amuse me. First of all, you have no idea when we actually started dating. Secondly, did you read the Hard Lie 2? Fool.
DeleteI posted. Yes!
ReplyDeleteGold star!
DeleteIt took me a week to figure out. When my email to you went unanswered about this issue I said "F" it and took the bull by the horns. lol
DeleteSo Norm's out and Doocy's in?!?!
ReplyDeleteGlad this is back, I hated this on CBS' site, it was slow and the pop ups were annoying.
ReplyDeleteFucking squirrels almost cost me $200 from having Brinks come out and rewire my alarm system from them chewing through wires.
Luckily they did the work before telling me how much it was going to cost. They are, like you said, rats with fluffy tails.
Thanks for linking Riggs' blog. Seems like a nice guy that has a big hill to climb.
Glad to be back. Hated CBS' web site. Still do, in fact.
DeleteWell obviously you know what's going on at the Ticket and it will leak before Monday. How about putting an anonymous post on MTC? The hugging incident at summer bash was not orchestrated I'm sure.
DeleteOh well, I'll probably forget about this until Monday but sure would be nice to know. I hope you are still in enough with the guys in this market. I enjoyed your articles on sports radio more than Barry Horn's.
I can't believe anyone would tell this scumbag anything regarding the ticket but he appears to be right
ReplyDeleteI listened to RAGE faithfully. The mix of life's experiences and sports combo was great no matter what dbag spittle says. I know you have respect for ben and skin but their act is very corney and seems forced. I have not listened to the show since yall left. Best wishes to the future man.
ReplyDeleteThank you sir. I don't love their show, but I do like them personally. A lot.
DeleteI'm a 36 year old woman who started listening to you and Newy all those years ago. I loved your "tell it like it is" attitude. I'm so sorry Spittle and Williams screwed you and Sybil over so bad. I wish you two the very best and have book-marked your website. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Marisa. Welcome!
DeleteAnother Last Supper for the Ticket, Richie?
ReplyDeleteIs Texas/OU still moving to JerryWorld, Richie?
Dez broke his finger and is out for the year again. Or... Richies pizza shop will still be in business a year from now.
DeleteDan just gave Mike Rhyner a hug on the air following their shift. I would assume BaD radio is leaving.
ReplyDeleteWas it a "you broke my heart, Fredo," hug or more of a "let's hug it out bitch"?
Deleteor Mike is retiring. sure hope cobra isnt taking over.
DeleteYou and Grubes are taking over the 10-noon spot? Rage is coming to The Ticket?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Cumulus is selling the station?
ReplyDeletesounds possible, this station is worth tons.
DeleteNot BaD leaving. Rhyner retiring. Think about it. 3 Decades. Mike's worked over 30 years in the market. From The Zoo to The Ticket. He's been a permanent and important local radio fixture. I'd lay any amount down that this is the dealio.
ReplyDeletei believe it, Mike doesnt seem into it anymore, hasnt for a while. Hes in a band now, lol.
DeleteRyner is retiring. enjoying the blog.
ReplyDeleteBad Radio is moving to drive time.
ReplyDeleteAnother guess: Catman leaving? It says "could re-shape the landscape" which sounds more like a gradual lineup change rather than an immediate one.
ReplyDeleteDam Richie I wish you and Greggo would've worked. I loved RAGE I listened everyday. I will keep reading this your love it so far. Hope to hear back on the radio soon. The Ticket? I guess we will see on Monday. One thing if so I will be listening. Oh yeah Sybil is with ya on there.
ReplyDeleteAttention Complaint Department....now that the NBA is over, it should be all Cowboys ALL the time. No Cowboys news? Maybe a 'where are they now segment' even?
ReplyDeleteIf someone breaks it first, it won't be breaking news Monday
ReplyDeleteWhat if someone breaks it on Saturday?
DeleteShaggy was the one to break it. Thanks Shaggy!
Deleteim hearing what this ticket thing is about.
ReplyDeleteWell what is it
DeleteIt is Rhyner retiring. The hint is in the 3 decades of radio part.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Norm retiring? He has been around for a while.
ReplyDeleteNorm would be "four decades" not three. He used to work for Newsweek and arrived at KERA in 74 or 75.
DeleteWanted to say how glad I am that the "sportatorium" is back. Missed it greatly when the observer dropped you and the CBS version seemed a bit "censored". Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's good to be back with tons of freedom and only one dick as a boss. lol. Thanks.
DeleteAs of two days ago, The Ticket posted a help wanted ad looking for someone to host the pregame and postgame Stars shows:
ReplyDeletehttp://hockeyjobs.nhl.com/teamwork/r.cfm?i=56310&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Isn't that Bob and Dan's gig?
Bob and Dan did home games, I thought...the position in question is to fill the void left by Matt Mclaren, who is now doing mid-days in Birmingham.
DeleteBob and Dan are going to be too busy doing afternoon drive.
ReplyDeleteFrom an article from GQ on James Gandolfini... Firings Happen. Most, if not all, are justly unfair. This guy has a more compelling case than Richie will ever have. He understood that "the best revenge is living well." Not whining in a "factual" blog series.
ReplyDeleteI encourage everyone to read the article. This is from page 5. It's an eye-opening look into "The Sopranos"...
"Kessler threw himself into the show, staying on unpaid at the end of the season to watch the shooting of the finale, which he'd co-written. After that, he said, Chase allowed him to come to Los Angeles to sit in on two months of editing, asking him not to mention it to the other writers. He became close with the Chase family, often going out to dinner with them. Kessler's agent, who happened to also represent Chase, told him that Chase was considering the possibility of someday handing the show off to another writer and that he, Kessler, was being groomed.
Chase dismisses that idea outright, saying he had never thought about handing the show over to anybody. In fact, he says, he had been growing increasingly unhappy with Kessler's work as the writers reconvened for season three. "He had written a really good episode, and then it seemed to me that it was declining after that," Chase says. "Some people understand this completely strange, bizarre mind-set of organized crime. Some people don't."
On July 21, 2000, at about 8:30 a.m., the nominations for that year's Emmys were announced. They included one for Chase and Kessler as the writers of "Funhouse," the season-two finale. Chase had written the first thirty pages: Tony's long fever dream, occasioned by a bout of food poisoning and punctuated with graphic bathroom sound effects, in which his subconscious reveals what he's known for a long time but refused to acknowledge, that his deputy, Big Pussy, is a rat. Kessler wrote the second half, in which Pussy paid with his life, meeting a watery end.
As Kessler remembers it, he spent the next ten minutes fielding congratulatory phone calls. Then came one from Chase's assistant, saying that Chase wanted to see him in the office. When Kessler arrived, Chase closed the door and sat down.
"I guess the timing isn't great," he said, "but I think I need to end this relationship."
Kessler, astonished, asked what he meant. "I think you've lost the voice of the show," Chase said.
"David, the last thing we wrote was nominated for an Emmy, less than an hour ago," Kessler said. "If you felt this way, why didn't you say something?"
DeleteChase considered this. "I guess you're right," he said finally. "Do you want a second chance?" Kessler, more confused than ever, said yes. "Well, I need to think about it," Chase said, showing him the door.
Kessler left work and went to see his brother, Glenn, an actor and writer, at the SoHo apartment they shared: "As soon as I started to tell him what happened, I burst into tears. Like the embarrassing, childlike crying where you can't catch your breath. The show had been my entire life." As he sat there, sobbing, a call came from Chase.
"He was asking my advice on writing a scene. Like, would Tony say this or something else. No mention of what had just happened," Kessler says. Two days later, Chase told him that he'd get his second chance, but that his next script had better come in "production ready," with no need of revision. Given Chase's way of working—and really any showrunner's—this was as definitive a death sentence as a fish in the mail. Sure enough, several months later—and after the two had lost the Emmy to The West Wing—Kessler was summoned once again to Chase's office. This time it was definitive.
"I've never seen people get fired so fast. You walk into David's office and ten seconds later the door opens and you have your shit in a box. He does not mince words," Winter says. This time, he didn't even see that much. Winter called Kessler a week later, wondering if he was sick, since he hadn't been showing up for work. Chase had failed to mention the dismissal."
Source: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201307/sopranos-james-gandolfini-david-chase-july-2013
Thanks for posting a novel about what Tony Soprano thinks. Very relevant to Dallas sports talk radio you fucking idiot. You seem to have killed the whole thread.
ReplyDeleteI agree what a jack ass. Just stopped the whole damn thing down.
DeleteIt's incredibly disheartening how many hateful people there are on the web.
Delete@anon above fuck you.
DeleteCompletely disagree. It is not at all what Tony Soprano thought but rather a tale of an unjust firing from a writer on the show who was fired an hour after receiving an Emmy nomination for writing the show--hence why it's perfectly apropos for this site.
DeleteI would have just posted the link, but no one would have read it. Moral: pull a chumba-wumba and get up again, but don't do it at other's expense.
I didn't read it anyway. Tired head commenced 10 sentences in.
DeleteWhat a weird detour.
DeleteAny chance we can be told how the text between Greg and Jen made it to you?
ReplyDeleteLook at that mess over there. The Hardline. Yuck Monkeys and some such. The Emperor can only go with NO CLOTHES for so long. Rhyner is DYING.
ReplyDeleteNot since Mike Fisher has anyone thought more highly of themselves in this market. Yet, in reality, Richie is seen as a journeyman hack. He makes it sound like RAGE was killing it in the ratings. I would invite anyone to examine their ratings--you'll find, in M 25-54, a lot of 21st, 25th, 17th, etc, places. That's in their TARGET demo. That is the opposite of killing it--that's being killed, which is the biggest reason he was fired.
ReplyDeleteOr, you could keep reading this blog and have Richie brainwash you into thinking he's Howard Stern.
Well said.
DeleteThis is so right on, same goes for greggo. Hope these two fade into obscurity.
DeleteNever said "killing it", never said "Howard Stern." Read my story again, and stop embellishing in an attempt to strengthen your weak point. Lame.
DeleteHere's the big news, folks. No need to wait until Monday.
ReplyDeleteBob and Dan got a big offer from the Fan to do 10-2 and the Ticket had yet to match.
Sorta like years ago when Mike R. was super close to leaving as well.
That's what you get for teasing until Monday, looking for more page views.
Wow. So Bob and Dan not getting renewed might actually pay off on Richie saying the Ticket is having a Last Supper from about 5 years ago. So Summer Bash was the Last Supper.
DeleteI'll just get 'em on Saturday, Shaggy, all the same to me.
DeleteExcept you didn't get to break the news.
DeleteAfter looking into this^ that's the story.
ReplyDeleteI pretty sure the clue is in " landscaping" perhaps a new garden right outside the aac..fresh tomatoes and cucumbers
ReplyDeleteBob and Dan are going nowhere. Bob Sturm just announced via Twitter that they just could not leave all they had built at 1310. I saw the retweet from Mark Followill since Sturm hates me..
ReplyDeleteLooks like religious Fan Fans are stuck with Elf and Slater! Maybe I should start streaming 1310 from my phone in my car from 10-2
ReplyDelete