Before I begin this, please note that this is only the opinion I hold in my mind. It does not represent DP or anyone else on this site. It is mine and mine alone, so if you agree or disagree with it then you are doing so with myself and as a citizen of this great land of ours you have all right to do whichever you choose.
I’ve been a P1 of the station ever since I can remember around 6 years old. Over the past twelve years, I’ve heard a lot done on the station I love so much. The station is the reason I want to get into radio, and almost two months ago I got to live my dream and actually appear on the radio station for three segments, and that further cemented my dreams of someday making my own voice one that regularly broadcasts on the airwaves of the Ticket. One of the voices that we normally hear from ten-noon was let go today, and I’ll be honest I don’t agree with it in the least.
By now every visitor to this site is familiar with the problem involving Mike Bascik. For those who don’t, he Tweeted some things that are without a doubt offensive and obscene when he was intoxicated at a bar during Game 4 of the Mavericks-Spurs playoff series. He was suspended yesterday, and today was let go by the Ticket and Cumulus for these transgressions. You will never hear from me that what Mike did was a good thing; he flat out acted like an idiot. He made a mistake, and one that in the eyes of many was a pretty major one. You’ll get no dispute from me on that side of this, but the rest of it you will receive a fierce argument from me.
When I first heard that the Ticket was suspending him indefinitely without pay, I was satisfied with that. I figured, and my P1 father concurred, that he would be gone a couple weeks to ram the point home and then be put back in his producer job with a leash that is roughly an inch long. When I read Barry Horn’s blog post that he was let go, I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy because I see this as a bit hypocritical if you must know. I find it absurd that a producer can be fired for what he says on a personal Twitter account when he is not working, yet hosts that have to be dumped over and over again for swearing on the air are just given a talking too off the air and then are allowed to go right back in front of a live microphone again. One of the Ticket’s favorite drops to play in the old days was Wolf Blitzer after Hurricane Katrina saying “They are so poor, and so black.” Did anyone see Wolf Blitzer get fired for something that in all honesty I consider even more offensive because it was in the wake of a tragedy, while this was in the wake of a basketball game? No Mike Bascik isn’t Wolf Blitzer, but the principle is the same when you think about it.
I won’t come on here and talk about boycotts of the station, because something like this isn’t going to stop me listening. I love the Ticket, before during and after Mike Bascik worked there. However, in a society that gives quite a few people second chances for much more harsh offenses than the one that cost Mike his job I feel that he got a raw deal on this incident. I know there are some people that are going to say I am being biased and insensitive, and I can’t and won’t stop you from saying that because it’s your opinion and are entitled to have it. But, from this P1s simple view of things, the Ticket and Cumulus dropped the ball on this one. Mike apologized profusely, and was suspended. Firing him is nothing but overkill to appease the Dominique Garcia’s of the world who would not have accepted any apology given from anyone and would settle for nothing less than than a full blown racial bigotry sermon from the Reverend Al Sharpton himself to break out. Twenty years ago, when the world wasn’t as wrapped up in being “pc” as it is now this would have been over at a suspension. But with the entire world being scared of its own shadow for fear that it could end up ruining their lives, no matter how remorseful they are, this is all together not unexpected.
There really is only one thing I changed about my own daily routine out of this, and that is I deleted my own Twitter. I don’t work for the Ticket, even though that is my hope someday, but if Mike Bascik can be denied a second chance when others who have committed much worse transgressions are given carte blanche to a point, then I don’t want to run that risk either. Before I leave you be however, I want to end this with something that I hope everyone who reads this little Norm-like mini rant gives a bit of thought too. Have we really devolved so much in a society to believe that if you make one mistake, be it big small or medium, then you have essentially ruined your career or your reputation? People are by no means perfect, and they never will be perfect. All we can do is when a mistake is made is to apologize, and try to never make the mistake again. Mike Bascik made a mistake, and he apologized for it. That wasn’t enough for the powers that be, so they made a mistake to match his. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and in my humble opinion Mike Bascik got wronged. So, if I may, I propose a toast to a producer that didn’t make it that long with the Ticket, but in a world not clouded by an over reactive public opinion probably would have. Mike, stay hard keep jammin’, and hopefully we’ll see ya pal.
VSBB aka Sam the Azle P1
This is the one thing that scares me the most about where our country is headed. I just heard that our state legislators are thinking about introducing legislation like Arizona. This would be a big jump towards a communist society if anyone is allowed to be detained based on one persons opinion of another.
I think one thing worth mentioning is that what he said really doesn’t matter. It all comes down to the negative reaction that reflects negatively upon the little Ticket. I have family members from SA asking me about “this Ticket radio station guy who said…”, and I have to explain to them that this is some minor character on the station… and that it sucks that this is the only time they’ll probably ever hear about the greatest radio station of all time.
And that’s the other big thing here… If Corby says this, he’s too popular to fire. Because it’s a relatively new guy who plays a small part in maybe the least listened to show, he’s expendable. Its a lot easier to fire Bascik and not have to worry about backlash. One of the major personalities brings a tough choice, but not Bascik.
Cumulus and The Little Ticket did not have a choice in the matter. When you make a comment like in a state like Texas, where every business relies on the hispanic purchasing their product, or in this case, listening to their radio station. The number of calls and letters that the ticket and cumulus must have received in the last 48 hours is probably way more than any of us can imagine. Mike’s comments personally offended a large portion of the ticket’s target audience, and in business, you just can’t condone offending your customer in anyway.
I would’ve liked for The Ticket to do what I hoped they would do, which is to stave off all the ridiculous San Antonio blowhards who apparently have never said anything they later regretted. You should see the facebook page they made calling for Mike’s head. Those people are f’in sick. They posted a picture of Mike WITH HIS DAUGHTER on a page where they’re just ripping the dudes to shreds. And then when I let them know how classy it was they deleted my comment and blocked me from the page (though, granted, there was a VSBB at the bottom of my comment). This wasn’t the ticket’s fault though. As badass as we all think they are (which, they usually fill that quota) the issue got blown way too out of proportion to do anything else. It sucks that Mike got the shit end of the stick and pissed off the wrong type of dirty people, but sometimes that’s just how the world works.
Adios, mofo.
Sam, you’re a good kid and I salute your conviction. Unfortunately, I think that as you mature in this world you will come to find out that sometimes people have to be removed from positions for their actions. Mike didn’t make a mistake, he revealed a couple of character flaws. We all have them, so please don’t think I’m being all high and mighty. When something like that is shown to the world, management must act swiftly and decisively.
As for Mike himself, I think it was commendable that Cat/Bennett decided to end his career swiftly and cleanly. If he was allowed back, he would have been scrutinized for every comment, an albatross around the neck of the station, and in the end the outcome would have been the same.
Please use Mike as an example for your own career to never get too comfortable with your place in this world. (Especially in radio.) 30 seconds of letting his guard down put his fate in the hands of someone who does not have his best interest in mind, but the company’s. The people in charge will always choose the path that is best for Cumulus, The Ticket, and the employees as a whole. That way of thinking is fundamental to management, and it is sound.
Keep following your dreams and I wish you the best of luck. Go Hornets!
While I liked Mike Bacsik and thought he was starting to find his place on The Ticket, I understand why Cumulus fired him. His comments on Twitter were racist, pure and simple. There was no joke to his tweet – it was Mike showing a darker side of his feelings towards minorities, brought on by him being intoxicated. Public figures are accountable via any form of media, whether it be Twitter, Facebook or email. I appreciate his apology and do hope he lands on his feet and learns from his mistake.
i hope that the ticket lets bacsik come back… everyone should get a 2ND chance. i understand he made a mistake, but i think he has become the best thing to Friedo as a Norm producer you can get. he adds to the show great detail in to all sports with a big plus on baseball. HE SHOULD STILL ME HERE no questions asked
Let me preface this by saying that, as a Mavs fan, I despise the city of San Antonio because of the Spurs and their fans. Plain and simple, I don’t like being in San Antonio for that reason. A dislike for a city and its people just because of a sports franchise based there is normal. After having grown up in Dallas, I now live in Washington, DC, and when I tell a Washingtonian I am from Dallas I often get angry looks and snide comments because of the hate for the Cowboys around here. I just ask them how many Super Bowls they have won. Sports do this and that is fine. In fact, that is what makes sports so much fun to follow.
With that said, I have to respectfully disagree with you here. What Bacsik said crossed a line because it removed the barrier between not liking the city because of its team and the mocking of a racial stereotype in that city’s community. Do I make jokes about the stench that comes from the Riverwalk? Sure. Can I not stand Spurs fans because they might be predominantly Hispanic? No. I can’t stand them because they are with the Spurs and I love the Mavs.
Arguments can be made that Bacsik should be cut some slack because he was drunk and because other Ticket hosts are given leniency when they make off color racial remarks. As to the drunken excuse, Bacsik has to know that he is a media member within a major sports market. He is a voice of the community because he is the producer of a prominent sports radio show. As the producer, his job requires him to steer the show’s ship both on and off the air, and that job extends past the hours of 10 to noon on weekdays. Bacsik clearly did not understand the responsibility that accompanied the position because he put himself in a situation that showed a disregard for the trust placed in him by The Ticket. Although drunk, he acted in a way that demonstrated severe immaturity and disrespect for the opportunity given to him. All of this is unfortunate because he has a talent for radio and knows his sports.
As to the excuse that other Ticket hosts also make racially crude remarks, Bacsik again finds himself in a unique position that precludes him from being exempt of the harshest punishment. He had the rare privilege to play major league baseball. He got to experience something that millions of kids have dreamed of and will dream of doing. With that accomplishment, however, comes another responsibility that Bacsik sadly forgot to understand. Because of his professional baseball career and, more importantly, the fact that he played a critical role in an historical baseball moment (the Bonds home run), he will forever remain in the public eye no matter how far he feels like he might be out of it. That spotlight means that it is far easier for him to draw national attention to the Little Ticket. That attention is dangerous for what is, essentially, a business. The Ticket is able to deliver its glorious product to us everyday because of advertising revenue. That is the bottom line. Bad national publicity means reluctant advertisers that do not want to be associated with a business that employs a now controversial figure like Bacsik. The name Mike Rhyner or George Dunham would not draw the same kind of national attention because they are not national names. They cannot so easily be drawn into such a focused spotlight. Bacsik, despite now being a radio producer, is a name. Although for us P1s he is low in the pecking order at The Ticket (hence the Chewbacsik joke series), he is the biggest name at this station in terms of who can make national news. This is a business and we cannot ever forget that. If your biggest national name causes a stir because an audience outside of our fair city perceives him as a racist, you have to cut your losses. As a P1, I care about the health of the The Ticket first and foremost, and the continued employment of Bacsik was simply unsustainable for station management. Consequently, they made the only decision they could: to immediately end his employment. That decision, no matter how harsh, was the correct one.
Do I believe Bacsik is a racist? No. Do I actually believe Bacsik would have blown up the NBA offices if he were diagnosed with cancer? No. But I do believe Bacsik showed a supreme disdain for the opportunity he was given. His poor judgment was, on its face, an insult to the Hispanic community of San Antonio and a crude threat of violence directed toward the NBA, but more importantly for us listeners, it was an affront to The Ticket because it put the station, its advertisers, and its followers in a position where they might have to defend themselves against a charge of racism. That is unacceptable and is an offense that justifies Bacsik’s termination at The Ticket. I hope he learns from the mistake and better understands what responsibilities will always accompany his (albeit minor) celebrity.
Without a doubt I agree that while I don’t agree with that they have done, I am not blind to the reason they did pull the trigger. Conceivably if they had brought him back, you might have had a situation where people who called the station would say “Oh hey Mike, made any Twitter posts lately?” and of the alike. You’d have the possibility for a situation to turn potentially offensive, and in a way that could spill over to show content. There’s no doubt this was a no win situation for Ticket management, because I’m betting that letting Bascik go wasn’t a fun day at the office for them. In the end, I know Cat and Dan Bennett have to put aside their own personal feelings and do like Ryan’s Dad said, what is the best for business. In all fairness, they are making the big bucks to make these choices and I’m just a guy out of millions who listeners to the station so they probably have a pretty good grasp on the situation and made the sound choice for the greater good.
Basick sucked on-air. He was *terrible*. And he revealed himself to be a racist, in addition to being a dumb jock (which all the on-air guys knew, but were hesitant to say). Now he’s gone, and it’s a good thing. Chill out, dude. You’re doing a major public service here with your site. Let the Basick thing go. He sucked. You rock. Carry on . . .
Let it go. Basick sucked, on-air. He was a dumb jock, and the ticket is better off without him. You rock, and he sucked. Let it go.
I sent the relevant people at the station an email last night and i’ll paraphrase here:
– Twitter’s not real.
– What he said was more funny than offensive.
– They really hung him out to dry.
Relevant paragraphs–
You really should institute a policy that any communication from the ‘talent’ on non approved channels is their business, not yours. I don’t think Cumulus Media Inc wants to stand behind gordonkeith.com and they shouldn’t stand behind @mikebacsik. I don’t want to be deprived of the good strong content on gordonkeith.com and if I go out of my way to find out what Bacsik’s twitter account is it’s because I want to hear what HE says, not the station (I personally didn’t and don’t).
You (Cumulus Media Inc) really hung him out to dry here. I understand that the big national media picking this up made the big boys in Atlanta mess themselves a little, but if you’d been proactive about either having a prior personal media policy or denouncing his tweet immediately as his personal opinion this wouldn’t have gotten this far.
I feel weird caring about this. Bacsik meant nothing to me as a P1. It’s nice to get some younger guys on the station and he sounded like Chewbacca, that’s the extent of my support for him personally. But it’s just wrong for the policy to be:
— “Anyone who has been on air more than once better not ever get caught saying anything remotely both un-funny & offensive to someone or you’re fired.”
This is a horrible precedent to set and is a little bit of the Ticket dying.
I wrote a big email to the station last night and i’ll paraphrase here.
What he said wasn’t that bad.
He said it on Twitter. Twitter isn’t real.
It was his personal twitter, not @KTCK_Bacsik or @Bacsik1310.
The Ticket shouldn’t pretend that they’re responsible for everything their ‘talent’ says 24/7. They don’t claim responsibility for gordonkeith.com and shouldn’t claim responsibility for a spare producer’s clearly drunk twittering. They completely hung him out to dry. They should be out ahead of this and clearly demarcate what they claim responsibility for.
I don’t want Ticket ‘talent’ to be stifled either on or off air. I listen to them BECAUSE they’re funny and offensive.
What Bascik did that should have raised some eye brows was when he actually made it sound like throwing a fastball at someone’s head is a good idea. You’d expect a big league pitcher to have a little better grasp of his thoughts.
Now he can be at home with his children and teach them in private the ins and outs of knocking people’s brains out and hating other races of people.
I won’t miss him and never understood why the Ticket hired him to begin with.
Next story.
Well since I am…
1) hispanic
2) from San Antonio
3.) a Spurs fan
Bacsik hit the trifecta for me in offense. That said, this was totally selective enforcement. They got rid of Bacsik because they were already soured on him. I think he didn’t get along with some of the on-air staff, his family threatening the ticket for making fun of his voice and just his general attitude toward Ticket events was his downfall. This was just the excuse they needed to get rid of him.
Just heard the Musers discuss the incident. The newest bit of info is that this was decided in Atlanta and not by Ticket management. Suspending Mike indefinitely was the right thing to do. The public humiliation that Mike will go through is going to be his burden to bear. However, I believe that Cumulus Media firing him is going too far. (I can’t help but wonder if some paranoid executive in Atlanta thought others would tie this incident with immigration reform.) It’s a tad excessive in my view to terminate a producer for a first-time offense.
I’d like for Mike to get rehired. I don’t think that any listener action will do any good. Not listening or boycotting hurts the local station and personalities who didn’t make this decision. However, since this is a corporate owned station, all sales/ad revenue is sent back to Atlanta. It’s a well known fact that 1310 The Ticket revenue contributes greatly to keeping Cumulus afloat. If more than one significant large ad buyer were to contact Cumulus in Atlanta and state that they were pulling their advertising for a period of time, unless Mike was rehired… maybe that would work. In the end, money speaks louder than words.
exactly right.
Backlash grew and grew so they had to fire him.
Sucks.
Bad thing is that all these people outside of Dallas who don’t know Mike, now think he’s a dumb racist jock, which he totally isn’t.
Stay hard Mike!
Everytime we cave in to the PC crowd we invite more intrusion into what we are allowed to think and say. I completely understand why the Ticket feared the mob, but would to God someone had the guts to stand up and say that everyone has the right to believe and to say offensive things. You have the right to not be offended by stupid little things, but if you are get over it. This was not on air, this was his personal thoughts as if you were sitting with him at the bar. How far are we going to allow this to go? Can your spouse one day threaten to reveal what you say in bed that might be offensive to women? We ARE the thought police, all of us! It’s time we took back our liberties, our freedoms. Aren’t you tired yet of watching every little thing you say lest it offend someone? Let’s stop being offended. Before it’s too late. At some point, this will become actually criminal behavior if we don’t put a stop to it. Let’s stop the nonsense now before it’s too late.
When are we going to realize that Twitter is a bad thing. Eventually, it’s going to be for companies to promote product (i.e telling me what’s on the musers later on) or where Sprinkles is handing out free cupcakes.)
I don’t care what pro athletes have to say and neither should you.
Twitter….Bad
Twitter…Bad
Hence the reason I went ahead and got rid of mine. It’s just not worth it, and it really is just a huge time kill.
Dave: Thanks for throwing your opinion in, that’s all I was doing here as well.
I fired this email off to the morning show…
“Since I am…
1) Hispanic
2) a Spurs fan
3) from San Antonio
Mike pretty much hit the offensive trifecta with me and I have no remorse for him. I hope he ends up coming back from the unemployment office and weeps tears of blood as he lazily tugs himself while watching the Barry Bonds homer on repeat. That said, I think this was selective enforcement and you guys are a-holes for letting him go. I hope you all contemplate this while Cobaining yourself’s naked and glassy eyed in front of each other. I will never listen to your show again…
Just kidding…I still love you homos! (cue the Chris Chris music). When is Johnny Wyatt going to come back?”
I disagree with a couple of the guys on here that Mike’s comments were a result of an alcohol induced racist character flaw. I think he was trying to be funny in a locker room kind of way. And – while I am as tired of our PC world as the next guy – realize that what he said was a fireable offense and his lack of skins on the wall in radio left him more vulnerable than some others who might have been given the benefit of the doubt. I’ve seen people fired for less and seen others get away with more (e.g. Imus). If you want management to stand by you, you better be bringing a lot of business through the door or have established a lot of credibility prior to your mistake. Otherwise the risk / reward for the stations reputation is too great to overcome. In the end it was a judgement call by management and it’s too bad that Mike allowed himself to be put in the position of forcing them to make a call. I believe his apology is sincere but sometimes we have to live with the consequences of saying or doing something that we honestly regret. It doesnt make him a bad guy. The whole thing is a shame.
Stay hard Mike.
Not a Mexican: While I agree, the only thing I can say you do have wrong is that Bascik was intoxicated at the time he Tweeted. That might be the real mistake here, but for the most part I agree with what you said.
I emailed Cat on Monday supporting Bacsik. not for what he said but saying that his immediate reaction and apology should have been enough.
He tweeted and then realized his mistake and took down his tweet. He tried to Mulligan. Just b/c some people saw it matters some but not that much. It’s not like he left the words up glaring and stood behind what he said.
Grow a pair people.
Targo hit the nail on the head. What if Bud Light comes in and yanks their ad dollars because of this? What if InTouch Credit Union decides that they no longer want to be the title sponsor of the Great Game? All of a sudden, all we hear are strip club advertisements on the Ticket, and things start to spiral from there. Cumulus probably has very little knowledge of the “Ticket Culture”, and probably couldn’t care less. All they care about is that Bud Light will drop several grand to sponsor a team, and so on.
We can NEVER expect anyone outside the listening area to understand what we have in the little Ticket…and that is why they HAD to make that decision…without ad revenue, the Ticket ceases to exist, no matter how much we like it. Do I agree with it? Not really, but I totally understand. Bacsik will land on his feet and be just fine. MLB nepotism is the 2nd worst type of nepotism in the world, right behind MLB umpires.
Oh, and MexicanJunior, you win the prize…The ChrisChris callback was genius.
What did he even say? Everyone’s talked about this NOBODY has said what he actually said or what his twitter account name is even.
Oh please P1 Paulie, where this country is headed? Its headed to the toilet if we dont do SOMETHING about the drain on society, resources and common decency that the illegals destroy like a swarm of locust.Gimme a break, Arizona has it right which is mroe than I can say for the rest of the nation.and IM HISPANIC so dont bother with your name calling and finger pointing and the typical race card “when all else fails”..Illegal means illegal.period.Obey the laws of the land.