Can the lil' Ticket get a mayor elected?

The No. 1 cop

The Ticket is the most powerful sports media entity in the Dallas-Fort Worth spectrum.

Over 17-odd years, they've ingrained themselves into the local lexicon of media ... and sports, the latter almost becoming a footnote in the station's legacy.

For the longest, it was the area's only sports talk radio station. And if ratings are any indication, it still kind of is as it leaves the World Wide Leader and The Fan perpetually in the dust. Those other stations have their fans and that's commendable. However, it's an uphill battle against an enemy that is beyond entrenched. It'd take a nuclear war to wipe The Ticket from the map.

It's not that The Ticket has more listeners than the Dallas Morning News or Fort Worth Star Telegram has readers or visitors to their website. Or that less people watch Dale Hansen on WFAA at night. The Ticket may wane in these areas. However, should the war come, and we all had to pick sides, The Ticket's army of Johns from Plano, Blues from the Grove, plumbers from McKinney and delivery guys from Benbrook would greatly outnumber other media outlets.

The Ticket may have numbers. More importantly, they have emotion.

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Several years ago, something strange happened on air. For whatever reason, The Ticket's afternoon drive show -- The Hardline -- was missing two of its regular hosts, Corby Davidson and Mike Rhyner. All that was left was co-host Gregg Williams.

Late in the afternoon, if I recall correctly, the six o'clock hour, Williams played host to the newish Dallas Police Chief, the No. 1 cop, David Kunkle.

For anyone who listens to The Ticket with any consistency knows what happened. The most bumbling, mind-blowing interview (or, first question) in the history of radio.

It was also indicated that Kunkle was a long-time listener to The Ticket.

Kunkle would serve as police chief through April 2010, when he stepped down to lead a quieter life as a consultant. He was pretty highly regarded and considering Dallas' veritable train wreck of past chiefs, his departure was probably pretty missed.

Fast forward three weeks ago. Kunkle's name is thrown back into the media ring after its hinted he might run for mayor of Dallas, as current mayor Tom Leppert is stepping down to run for a Senate seat.

Where did Kunkle first run to when his name popped up in the rumor mill? The Ticket's Hardline, who else?

A week later, he was on the morning drive show, Dunham & Miller. He hadn't even officially filed to run yet for the May elections.

Kunkle's no dummy. He knows that local elections typically bring out an interested minority as a disinterested majority sits at home and hopes someone else fills the potholes and arrests the criminals.

If he can engage The Ticket listener, the everyday man, the person that attends Guys Night Outs and Ticketstocks, he might have an opportunity to overcome whatever financial deficit he'll be fighting through against richer, more well-connected opponents.

However, I don't know if The Ticket really understands their role in all of this. This is a sports talk radio station! It's the home of "Gay or Not Gay," "Gordo's Corner," "Homer Call of the Week," "The Pool Party," "The Reconsider Lounge" and "What's on Mike's Mind?"

This is not supposed to be the medium in which a mayor -- the leader of one of the biggest cities in the United States! -- should be elected. But, come May, The lil' Ticket might have elected itself a mayor.

Are journalists assholes?

I listened to The Ticket's vaunted afternoon drive-time show, The Hardline, today and I heard the segment on co-host Corby Davidson going to the Dallas Mavericks-Sacramento Kings game tonight and sitting beside owner Mark Cuban.

The show then talked for 15 or so minutes about how fucking awesome their lives are.

I know, I know. They sandwiched their thoughts with that "aw-shucks," how did we get so lucky rhetoric and we're supposed to believe this as a salve for the tortured and underprivileged lives that the rest of us are living.

See, The Hardline -- getting to go to World Series games in New York City, NBA Finals games and playing with Roger Staubach in a charity flag football game -- just fell into this.

That's supposed to make them not sound like complete idiotic assholes.

It doesn't. For about 15 minutes this afternoon, The Hardline sounded like complete douches as they compared notes about how all this awesome shit they get to do for free as all the stars align in their sports lives and they get to front rock bands to boot.

It's generally known that journalists get free shit. It's OK because a vast majority of them are severely underpaid. If some writer gets a free lunch at a chamber of commerce luncheon, that's the least they can get.

I was part of this rabble once. Fresh out of college making $17K at a weekly in Dallas. The free lunches and dinners were a nifty perk of the job.

And, yes, I've been to countless sporting events for free. A vast majority of them from the high school ranks. Still. Free and most include an air conditioned press box and free grub.

If you can handle making $20,000 a year, it's a sweet gig for free food.

However, there is a vast difference between the regular journalist peon and those guys on The Hardline. For one, the pay. Without looking at their income tax records, I doubt they're hurting like a lot of kids still working at newspapers living in shitty apartments, paycheck to paycheck.

Also, catching a Cedar Hill-Duncanville high school football game is vastly overshadowed by almost anything our radio heroes have gotten to experience.

Finally, you don't get to read about some print journalist bragging about some free cheese and crackers they got the week before. Some people have tact. They understand that everyone has perks to their jobs or careers. You enjoy those and move on.

Maybe it's not that big of a deal. To a certain point, many listeners to The Ticket live vicariously through those hosts. It goes beyond this relationship the station has forged with its listeners. To a point, the listeners probably look at it like this, "If I can't do these things, I'd prefer my buddies at The Ticket to experience them." Which is weird.

It's just odd listening to those guys lackadaisically talk about their exploits as if they really didn't feel they sounded like complete jerks.