The fabled Sports Trip.  It is one of those things that people always plan on doing, but rarely follow through with.  Remember that bucket list of Wrigley Field and Fenway that you have been talking about for years and still haven’t done?  Well, you should atleast make a few of those dreams a reality.  In 2011 I made a handful of trips.  Went to Georgia Tech/Kansas football game where I saw GT break almost every single-game rushing record by the 3^rd quarter.  I went to the Cowboys/Lions game in Dallas with the Lions making a record-breaking 2^nd half comeback.  I made the short trip to Minute Maid park to see the Red Sox take on the Astros in a series that will be the norm in a year or so.  I got a chance to see the fabled ‘College Gameday’ at the University of Houston where Lee Corso dropped a F-bomb on live TV.  A few weeks later I saw that same University of Houston lose in a conference championship game that would have meant the first BCS Bowl game in the history of the school.  Lastly, I saw Texas A&M play their last football game as a member of the Big 12 against Northwestern in the bowl formerly known as the Texas Bowl.  Many great memories and some history seen last year.

With 2011 as the springboard, and a wife that doesn’t mind, I have a few events circled in 2012. In no particular order -

• Kickoff Classic at Cowboys Stadium featuring the Michigan and Alabama – We enjoyed the drive up to and our experience at Cowboys Stadium last year so we are going to do it again.  My wife is from Michigan, so it should be a good time regardless of the outcome.
• Rangers vs Tigers – I have seen the Tigers play once.  That was in Detroit against the Orioles.  I have seen the Rangers play in Arlington once, that was against the Astros on a 100+ degree day.  So another trip to Dallas to see both teams seems to be in order.  I am not sure the last time the Astros were even competitive against the Rangers so not in a hurry to see that match up.
• Lions vs Texans on Thanksgiving Day – Even before I met my wife, I always had a desire to see a Lions Thanksgiving Day game in person.  With the rumored match-up with the Texans this season, this seems like the right time to do it.  I will be repping Houston, BTW.
• U.S. Open Tennis – This one is a dream for my wife.  I am trying to find a way to make it a reality.  The first couple of round tickets are surprisingly affordable, so this maybe be closer than what I thought it would be.
• Michigan game at the Big House – My brother-in-law came up with this one.  I have never seen a game at the Big House in Ann Arbor so this is high on my list. 

That is my list so far.  I am sure opportunities and surprises will be coming in the new year.  One thing to do when considering a trip is expenses and how you can minimize them.  Try to find events where you have family or friends. The tickets are going to be expensive enough, might as well try to save where you can.  Try to look for tickets early on when they go on sale.  For instance, I am buying the tickets for Rangers/Tigers the day single-game tickets go on sale.  Going through stubhub or a similar site closer to the event date can be much more expensive.  On the other side of the same coin, sometimes those sites can be helpful.  I used the NFL TicketExchange for the Lions/Cowboys tickets last year and got in cheaper than face value.  Explore all your options. 

Lastly, and my wife hates this, spend the extra money to get good tickets!  Why travel to a new stadium and then sit in the clouds?  This is supposed to be special, make it a good time. 

So does any one out there have and 2012 Sports Trips planned? If so, leave your plans in the comments.

The iheartradio festival did give us this badass theme song

The fact that it is Clearchannel talking about discovering new music and embracing new technology is totally weird.  Clearchannel's past is one of being accused to helping the downfall of popular music. Accused of creating the “play the same 10 songs over and over again” model.  So now they want to be the ones to bring you a service to help you discover new music?  What gives?

So I tried out the iheartradio app on my iPhone.  It works much like Pandora.  You enter a song or artist and a “station” is created based on that selection.  Similiar songs and artists are played.  The collection of songs are surprisingly un-popular, they actually are living up to the “finding new music” mantra so far.  The songs also are all related to the original selection.  So you won’t hear Kool Moe Dee if you created a Patsy Cline station.  I was impressed with the slick look, the performance, and music selection as well.  Dare I say Clearchannel has changed their tune?

As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friend!”.  There is another part of the iheartradio app. It is the portion that is the trojan horse that they really are concerned with.  This part of the app simulcasts every Clearchannel terrestrial station. So if you are interested in hearing a rap station in Detroit and you are in Houston, the app has you covered.  Much of the terrestrial radio listening is taking place online and on apps.  Clearchannel is adapting to this with the app.  While the Pandora-like stuff is the big push, but the Clearchannel simulcasts are the thing here.  To bring those listeners who are gravitating to Pandora and Spotify back to Clearchannel stations would be a huge move.  That is what this is all about.  The concerts, the “discovering new music” mantra, the slick app and web site are all about reversing the trend.  Bring people back to the Clearchannel nest.

Is it a good thing?  Is it evil?  I know alot of people don’t want to support evil corporate radio, but I don’t see it like that.  I see it as benefitting me, regardless of who the company is.  I can get hear many of my favorite stations from across the country on my phone or computer using iheartradio.  I can actually discover new music on that app and then jump over to Spotify if I want to hear more of a particular artist.  Great concept, great execution, no matter how “evil” Clearchannel is.  

11 more days... 

4.  Lance couldn't resist the chance to see Palilo's John Stockton-style tennis shorts daily.

3.  Lance didn't feel comfortable with the thought of relieving himself in a trough at station-supported college football games.

2.  Every since he was a teen, Lance always wanted pull a Hulk Hogan-style heel turn.

1.  790 management promised to turn the old studio into a day care for the Zierlien clan.

This is the type of nonsense Craig Larson and David Gow are ridding themselves of at Sporting News Radio and 1560 The Game. In fact... if you listen closely, it's as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

I've generally kept my thoughts to myself except for a few conversations with some close friends about what I think about the station in its' recent state, because at the end of the day, our voice no longer influences what is going on at the station. Spin it any way you want, but it's the truth. Financially, it's probably the only choice. Which is fine and good, but this also makes the station the same as the other stations in terms of management/behind the scenes. Going to just give a quick run down with my thoughts on everyone's individual situation.

Chance McClain:
The person at 1560 I've known the longest. From ClutchCity.net (ClutchFans.net) to SportsRadio 610 events, to "The Chronicle" (ie: the 6 month non-compete era), to 1560, to Blue Light Media. Chance's creativity never stops flowing. Despite what the powers that be attempt to do to stifle said creativity. As soon as I heard about the move from Programming Director to random job in sales/advertising, I knew the clock was ticking on how long Chance would be at 1560. Well, I didn't know, but I imagine it was part of the same reason he left 610 originally. This guy, along with the following guy I'm about to talk about, have more creativity in their nail clippings than many people (including myself) have ever had in their lives.

Frank Bullington:
I haven't known Frank nearly as long as I've known Chance, but it was quick to see the creativity flowing out of each and every one of Frank's orfices... (disturbing visual, I know, but it's true) It oozes out... ok I'll stop, but between Frank will come up with the craziest things off the top of his head and it's instantly one of the funniest things I've heard. On their own, Frank and Chance are some of the most creative guys I've ever known. When you put them together, they feed off each other and create a MegaZord of creativity known as Chank. Rita Repulsa has no chance. Chance leaving, and conversations with Frank earlier in the year seemed to me as if Frank wouldn't be far behind. It's sad really, but as I said, the Gow Communication way is now to be more like other radio stations, which, like I said, will possibly get them back in the black, but it's not the reason I started listening to the station in the first place. 

John Granato:
I don't think Granato's heart is in this anymore. While him and Lance getting into it about a random Texans or Astros topic is fun from time to time, and shows he still has some interest in being on air, it seems to me like he doesn't plan on doing this much longer. Granted, he is the...VP(?) at 1560, so he definitely has other responsibilities, so maybe the "disinterest" I'm seeing is just more responsibility that is focused elsewhere, but that's how it comes across on air. 

Lance Zierlein:
This is going to come across as a complete fanboy/groupie section, but without Lance, this station would have fallen apart already. Lance frequently will kill 1-2 segments on every show on air regularly, whether it's SEC Guy, Hatchetman, breaking down a game, draft coverage, staying late after his show and jumping on Nuno and Raheel's show. Lance on air is never a bad thing, and he's been paired up with many hosts over the past few years and always has great chemistry with everyone on air. Even Craig Sheamon... somewhat. 

David Nuno:
Where do I even start with Nuno? This guy has gotten dicked around at the station so often I'm surprised he has hung in there all this time and hasn't jumped ship elsewhere. He's talented, works hard, and knows his sports, with his specialty being basketball, which came across really well during the Rockets playoff runs, and espeicially this year with possibly the greatest NBA Playoffs in recent memory. Credit where credit is due, he's gone through all the changes and never made a peep publicly about anything. I enjoy both his national stuff and the local side of things as well, especially when paired up with Raheel. The chemistry between these two is great, and when it comes to basketball, especially NBA, you're not going to get any better analysis at 1560. 

Raheel Ramzanali:
Bukakke. Yes, this got Raheel suspended (ALLEGEDLY) a week or two ago for saying it on air one or seventeen times. While it's not entirely out of the question that something like that be worth suspension, it's something that probably would have been let go years ago. Although, I am very surprised Del actually let that go through... I thought that was something Del would have dumped right away... but then again the midday hour has always been crazy. In any case, Raheel likes to leapfrog over "the line" sometimes, and it regularly makes for good radio, making others uncomfortable, while still being able to talk about whatever sports topic is going on. Music douche extraordinaire as well, he regularly has new bands and local bands as rejoiner music on his shows, while generally being in tune with popular music in this time. He's a little over the top with the craziness sometimes, but he's definitely grown since his first year at the station, where it seemed like he was trying a bit too hard to make a name for himself. Now he's got his niche, and while he can be serious about a topic, he will sprinkle in a little Raheel nonsense when the show requires it and does a good job now balancing it all.

Sean Pendergast:
Five time. Five time. Five time. Five time. Five time... Sean's been known as The Cablinasian since his Jim Rome days, and the name has carried over from Jim Rome to 1560 and now to Twitter @SeanCablinasian. The evolution from co-host with John Harris to hosting his own local show to hosting his own national show has been a good one. Fairly smooth transition as I can tell. Him and Harris had a great show, a little football centric sometimes, but an entertaining show. Then he moved to a noon local show on his own, and together with Brandon Strange up until recently, they had a great show and it was clear both of them worked hard at the show every day, from the awesome intros every day, to the banter between the two occasionally, to Sean breaking down the latest happenings in the world of sports, it's an entertaining 3 hours of radio. Now, the move to national should be a smooth one as well, as Sean has filled in for other national radio shows in the past pretty much every single possible hour of the day. Wherever he goes, he digs in and pumps out some great hours of radio. The twitter segments get out of hand every once in a while, but otherwise, I'm not worried about the move to national. He will keep doing what he does. 

That's all I have, partly because that's the last current local guy (til July 4th)... and also I'm about to head out and watch Transformers. Agree... disagree... find me on Twitter @MigM_