Ep1 - "Whatever We Feel Like"

Summary

Episode Summary: The Musers The Podcast - Ep1 "Whatever We Feel Like"

Release Date: June 25, 2025

In the inaugural episode of The Musers The Podcast, hosts George Dunham, Craig “Junior” Miller, and Gordon Keith dive into the exciting transition from their long-standing morning radio show on “The Ticket” in Dallas-Fort Worth to the podcasting world. Balancing humor, personal anecdotes, and insightful discussions, the trio explores the motivations behind launching their podcast, the evolution of their radio program, and their unique relationships within the broadcasting industry.

---

1. Embracing Podcasting: A New Venture

The episode kicks off with a humorous yet candid conversation about their initial foray into podcasting. Gordon humorously admits uncertainty about podcasting compared to their established radio format.

• Craig (00:00): “I feel like I have no idea how to do a podcast.”
• Gordon (02:05): “This is more intimate. And I'm going to start using my NPR voice because I've always wanted to use my NPR voice.”

Motivation Behind the Podcast: Gordon elaborates on their desire to discuss topics that might not fit the traditional radio format, expressing a need for deeper, more relaxed conversations.

• Gordon (02:17): “Here's the reason why I'm doing a podcast, because there are certain things that I would like to talk about that I would not feel comfortable bringing broadcasting, but would feel comfortable podcasting.”

Defining the Podcast’s Identity: The hosts agree that their podcast will maintain the high energy and engaging style that their listeners love, while also allowing for exclusive content not available on their radio show.

• Craig (17:04): “What is our podcast going to be about?”
• George (17:11): “Whatever we feel like. Comedy.”

---

2. Evolving Their Radio Show: Cutting Back Hours

A significant portion of the discussion centers on their decision to reduce the hours of their radio show after 30 years, highlighting both the challenges and benefits of this change.

Reasons for Reducing Hours: Craig shares the strain of managing a four and a half-hour daily show and the collective decision to streamline their schedule for better mental and physical well-being.

• Craig (03:57): “We decided, let's try the three hour show. And I cannot tell you how great it has been. It's just been, it's made a complete difference in my life now.”

Positive Feedback: The hosts recount positive listener feedback, noting that the shorter format has enhanced the show's pacing and energy.

• Craig (05:04): “Some people that they've been 20 year listeners to the show. They think it's better now than ever because there's no wasted space, there's no wasted time.”

---

3. The Radio vs. Podcasting Dynamic

The trio delves into the coexistence of their radio show and podcast, emphasizing that both mediums serve different purposes and cater to diverse audience preferences.

Radio’s Continued Relevance: George argues that terrestrial radio remains essential for real-time updates and local news, which podcasts typically do not cover.

• George (08:14): “I still think there is a need for what's going on right now in my town. Whether it's weather or with your sports team or with your mayor, whatever it is. I still think there's a need for that, what's going on right now.”

Complementary Platforms: Gordon likens the dual existence of their radio show and podcast to having both physical books and e-books, each offering unique advantages.

• Gordon (09:19): “You can listen on demand or you can tune in live. There are certain things that I like watching live. Like it's a little bit defeating to watch the super bowl three days later.”

---

4. Nostalgic Anecdotes and Industry Insights

The hosts reminisce about their early days in broadcasting, sharing amusing and sometimes cringe-worthy stories that highlight their journey and relationships within the industry.

Interactions with Jerry Jones: A significant highlight is their recounting of interactions with Jerry Jones, the renowned owner of the Dallas Cowboys, showcasing a blend of professional respect and personal camaraderie.

• George (43:33): “He said, get the f out of my face. Write to me.”
• Gordon (46:31): “He cuffed his hand up under it like you're feeding a baby.”

Mark Cuban Connection: Gordon shares a recent and unexpected email from Mark Cuban, reminiscing about their time working together and the humorous yet awkward content of early broadcasts.

• Gordon (19:23): “He asked me and asked Katie, who was the woman who worked on the... he asked if we guys have any problem with that, doing that.”

The Art of Thank You Notes: A heartfelt segment where Craig and George discuss the importance of handwritten thank you notes, reflecting on their personal experiences and the lost art of meaningful written appreciation.

• Gordon (30:02): “...the old school thank you card that you discover in a box or a drawer many years later, that's going to give you warm and fuzzies.”

---

5. Reflections on Legacy and Digital Footprints

The conversation takes a thoughtful turn as the hosts ponder the impact of digital footprints on personal legacies, especially for younger generations.

• George (24:05): “I did a terrible job as a parent warning my boys about that, because it didn't really exist as they were.”
• Gordon (23:48): “Growing up with your growing up being documented is one of the worst things ever.”

They discuss the permanence of online actions and the potential long-term consequences, emphasizing the need for mindful digital behavior.

---

6. Closing Thoughts: The Future of The Musers

As the episode wraps up, the hosts express mixed emotions about their first podcast attempt, blending humor with genuine enthusiasm for future episodes.

• Gordon (47:35): “I think this is a one and done. Thank you guys. I love you.”
• George (47:50): “Yeah, Yeah, I. I think so. I think it's been a success.”

Despite some playful skepticism, the mutual respect and camaraderie among the hosts shine through, setting a promising tone for upcoming episodes.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Craig (17:13): “Whatever we feel like. Comedy.”
• Gordon (02:17): “Here’s the reason why I'm doing a podcast... feels comfortable podcasting.”
• George (08:14): “I still think there is a need for what's going on right now in my town.”

Conclusion:

Episode 1 of The Musers The Podcast serves as a heartfelt and humorous introduction to the hosts' expanded broadcasting endeavors. By sharing personal stories, professional insights, and reflections on their enduring passion for radio and podcasting, George, Craig, and Gordon lay a strong foundation for what promises to be an engaging and entertaining series.

---

Stay tuned for weekly episodes of The Musers The Podcast, where Junior, Jub-Jub, and Gordo continue to deliver their signature blend of absurdity, insight, and unforgettable banter.

Transcript

[Craig]

I feel like I have no idea how to do a podcast.

[Gordon]

This ain't no radio show. Say no disco either.

[George]

Are we podcasting now?

[Gordon]

This is la. You just about the middle of that sentence. You podcast a little bit. It was a little bit of podcasting, but then you switched back.

[George]

Yeah, I have no idea what I'm doing. I have no idea.

[Gordon]

What's the difference in talking and podcasting?

[George]

I think you have a little more attitude when you podcast and wear sunglasses and being some.

[Gordon]

Hey, what's up, ass wipes?

[George]

Yeah, yeah, there you go. That's podcasting right there.

[Gordon]

I'm podcasting now.

[Craig]

So right now we're podcasting.

[Gordon]

No, not yet.

[George]

He just put us into it.

[Gordon]

No, I was accidentally podcast.

[Craig]

We were for a second, but we're not now.

[Gordon]

Well, we want to. We want to start intentionally podcast. That was accidental. Now, now. Okay, wait, hold on. I'm countdown again.

[Craig]

That was a false start.

[Gordon]

Three, three, two, one.

[George]

Hey, America, what's up?

[Gordon]

Hold on, we gotta. There's got to be some silence.

[George]

Do you want to open it?

[Gordon]

Yeah.

[George]

Okay.

[Gordon]

Yes. Three, two, one.

[Peter]

The Musers, the podcast, episode one. Whatever we feel like.

[Gordon]

Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Musers the podcast. I'm Gordon.

[George]

I'm George.

[Craig]

I'm Craig.

[Gordon]

That's exactly how we just did it before.

[George]

We used to get. People used to make fun of us for that.

[Gordon]

I think it's fine.

[Craig]

Well, I didn't know we were starting before.

[Gordon]

Yeah.

[Craig]

But now I know we're starting.

[Gordon]

Okay, so why the hell are we doing a podcast? Seems like we need to address that.

[Craig]

Right out of the gate, by the way. We need to address that. Open. That does sound like 1980s KRLB radio. Does it?

[Gordon]

Which is fine. No, but Carl, it's retro. It's vintage.

[George]

Okay, it's back cool again.

[Gordon]

It's back cool again. It's like a. It's like a podcast that you found in a vintage shop. Yeah, that's the way I look at it. So, yes. So we're a podcast. Different from the radio show.

[George]

Totally differently. Different.

[Gordon]

This is more intimate. And I'm going to start using my NPR voice because I've always wanted to use my NPR voice.

[George]

Do you think people do use that tone on most podcast?

[Craig]

Yes, like they're.

[Gordon]

So I listen to some podcast perspective right now, and they are so annoying because they are so little energy. There's one podcast listen to. It's a couple of women who host it and they are barely on mic. Barely can be bothered to even have a heartbeat at that moment. And for some reason, I stay tuned for it the whole time. You're there for it, I'm there for it. Here's the reason why I'm doing a podcast, because there are certain things that I would like to talk about that I would not feel comfortable bringing broadcasting, but would feel comfortable podcasting. And yet I have no idea why that is. As if one of them. As if one of them is secret.

[George]

Right.

[Gordon]

And the. And the other one isn't. But it's some weird psychological difference to me.

[George]

But still, on the record, if you say something outrageous, someone's going to say, did you hear what the Muser said on the podcast?

[Gordon]

The Muser's the podcast.

[George]

And then someone will put it on radio or social media and it'll be everywhere.

[Gordon]

No, but let me have my delusion, okay? Let me hold on to my delusion. I feel comfortable to share.

[Craig]

Yeah, we should make that clear very early on that the official name of this is the Musers, the podcast. So if you're saying there's not too.

[George]

Many these in there.

[Gordon]

No, that's fine.

[Craig]

If you're saying the Musers podcast, you're saying it incorrectly. It's the Musers, the podcast.

[Gordon]

Right. Okay. So one thing people have been very curious about is we do. For those of you who are just discovering us, who think, wow, these guys are just podcasters. No, we also have a radio show too. And one thing that we did on radio show was cut back the hours of the time. Why do we do that?

[Craig]

Well, that's easy.

[George]

That's easy. Yeah. Because we done. We. We had done four and a half hours for 30 years, and it almost put all three of us in a grave.

[Gordon]

Not the same grave.

[George]

I'm just. But yeah, that's a long radio show for a long time.

[Craig]

Yeah. We were and still are broadcasting on the Ticket, the all sports station in Dallas Fort Worth. We've been doing the longest show on that station, four and a half hours. Every other show was anywhere between two hours and four hours. So we've been doing four and a half hours at the worst possible time. Early, early, early in the morning and doing it for 30 years. And I know I started to feel the burden and the weight of the grind of that. And I know you guys were feeling it as well. I was probably more vocal about feeling that burden and that grind. But it was getting to all of us. As a friend, very close friend of all three of us, said to all three of us, Craig's feeling it right now, but it's coming to you two guys, it's coming for you.

[George]

Oh, I've been feeling it.

[Craig]

And you guys, I know, have been feeling it too. Not saying that you're not because yeah, we're all in the trenches together every morning. So something had to change for the good of all three of us, mentally and physically and professionally. We decided, let's try the three hour show. And I cannot tell you how great it has been. It's just been, it's made a complete difference in my life now. I don't feel like it's a grind anymore. I don't feel there's this massive weight on my shoulders every day. There's still responsibility because you want to, you want to put on a good show every morning and you want your segments to be good or entertaining or informative or funny. And so I'm still putting the work in. But I've had several people say this to me that they've been 20 year listeners to the show. They think it's better now than ever because there's no wasted space, there's no wasted time. They say the pacing to the radio show is very high, high energy and all three of us sound much more engaged. So I think it's been a great.

[George]

Change in my simple brain. I was a little worried about it cutting back because I just thought, I don't know, Gordon and I have talked about, I've been like this plow horse that just, that's how you plow the field every morning. You can't take a couple of rows off the field, you still have to plow those. And I never even thought about it, you know, until we brought it up in conversation. And if we're going to continue, it's going to have to look different. But I got to tell you, it has been same for me. It's just, I think it has freshened the show. It's freshened me. 30 minutes is 30 minutes as far as wake up time. But the hours that we've taken off each week I think have made for better programming for when we are on the air. That's just what I've heard. But, but yeah, it's, it's, it's been good.

[Gordon]

I, I think I was just more worried about change. This is kind of a life issue. Right. But it's, we, we did something so long for and it went well. And I've always been a little bit spooked by, I don't know what the magic of the ticket is. I just know that it works.

[George]

Don't mess with the magic.

[Gordon]

Yeah. And when you don't understand why something works, you're really hesitant to start messing with it. And so I was hesitant to do that for that reason or mess with it for that reason. But God, this chair is loud.

[Craig]

I got a loud chair too.

[George]

He said the loudest chair.

[Gordon]

But so I was worried that, you know, messing with the show. But as I told Craig, you know, at some point we're gonna have to make changes or we just stop doing this. And I don't want to stop doing it. I don't want to stop doing the radio show. Yeah, I think that, I think that there's a, you know, I also think there's kind of this fake battle set up between podcast and radio. And, and part of that you can understand if you're launching a podcast, you know, you, you, there's some trash talking that goes on, but there's no reason why both of those things can't exist. And look, they are here we are doing a podcast and have a radio show.

[George]

Right. I think you can do both. And I think the, the storyline that radio, terrestrial radio is just about dead is just, I don't think it's accurate. We know of thousands of people who are employed by radio stations who make, still make a lot of money, who do well, their companies do well. It is different and I've seen it talking to colleges and broadcast classes and you ask the student how do they consume it? And it's a lot different now than it was when the ticket went on the air. But I still think for terrestrial radio, just talking about what we have been doing for the last 30 some odd years, I still think there is a need for what's going on right now in my town. Whether it's weather or with your sports team or with your mayor, whatever it is. I still think there's a need for that, what's going on right now. And radio still addresses that. That's something podcasts don't do. Unless someone does a 24 hour podcast that I'm.

[Gordon]

Well, yeah, I mean there are people that do daily, you know, kind of.

[George]

Things you can do, which you can.

[Gordon]

Do some of that. It's just, it's a little bit different feel and it's great that there's that choice. Right? You can listen on demand or you can tune in live. There are certain things that I like watching live. Like it's a little bit defeating to watch the super bowl three days later, you know, you. Yeah, there's the excitement of a live event and the people are tuned in same time so in my view, I think that that both have a place in this world and I have a Kindle, I have physical books. You know, I got used to there being two different delivery sources for that content. So I'm sure there can be two different delivery sources for the Musers. The Musers, the radio show. The Musers, the podcast.

[Craig]

Yeah. And back to the original question, why are we doing a podcast? I think for me it's part about the future. We cut back our radio hours and now I find that instead of scrambling for topics to fill four and a half hours, I find that I come to the end of the day after a three hour show and I'm like, wow, we didn't even talk about this. And I've got a lot to say about this. So this gives us another outlet. We're starting here with one a week, an hour podcast. It's not going to be a huge extra burden for us, but I've always pictured this podcast as if the three of us were to do one our 815 segments on the radio show. It's very general interest, it's kind of life stuff. If it's a very sportsy day, we'll do sports at 8:15. But a lot of times we do magazine talk or summer camp talk or something like that at 8:15. And so often we get to the end of that 15 minute segment and I think I could have Talked for another 30 minutes about this. And that's what I think this podcast can serve as. It's an elongated conversation about these topics that we really like that we are limited on the radio side because we only have 12 minutes in that segment or 15 minutes and then we have to move on to the next segment. We have a guest where we can actually take some time to have a long form conversation. So it was partly about kind of adding that to our muser's arsenal.

[George]

Yeah. And I think you can do things with podcasts that would not work on radio. I know people that listen to specific podcasts that, whether it's gardening or something.

[Gordon]

Else that I want to start listening to. Gardening podcasts.

[George]

If you did that every day, if you did that every day on radio, I don't think it'd work very well. But some of those podcasts, I just threw that out. It could be something musical too, a genre of music that I think would be interesting to a certain segment of the population, but it wouldn't be broadly popular.

[Gordon]

Okay, so in doing things that you do here that you wouldn't do on the radio, would you be Willing to hit record on your iPhone and record yourself going number two and playing it on this podcast because it's very secret. Behind the scenes, peeling back the curtain, showing people the prep that you do. The prep for delivering content.

[George]

No.

[Craig]

Showing people the Preparation H, though, in your bathroom. No, I would not do that.

[George]

And I think at some point those have been some of my favorite conversations. Not the ones about number two, but the 815 conversations that we've had. I thought we just scratched the surface last week of fatherhood, you know, and we couldn't have done two hours on our radio show of fatherhood. I think eventually people would go, okay, that's enough. Or maybe they wouldn't. I don't know. Maybe radio is changing and maybe the ticket listener is changing. But I do think we can expand on Bigfoot playing in the NBA for more than 10 minutes.

[Gordon]

What? I'm not aware.

[George]

That was a conversation we had like 26 years ago. I think 1999 was.

[Gordon]

The insert audio was the Bigfoot conversation.

[George]

And all we have left of that is almost an inaudible, it's horrible recording of that conversation, which was Mavericks.

[Gordon]

Yeah, seriously, there's better audio of FDR giving a fireside chat than us talking about Bigfoot playing for the Mavs.

[George]

And that is a bingo. You love Talking about fire.

[Gordon]

FDRs fireside chats. Does anybody remember FDR? Oh, well, we happen to have him here. Guys, how are you?

[George]

Hey, it's FDR.

[Gordon]

December 7th. There's a day that will live in infamy. And then how do I watch jfk? Okay, I hate you, but didn't fdr. Wasn't he the one that had the weird cigarette holder like the Penguin?

[Craig]

Yeah, yeah, that was big back then.

[Gordon]

My kid brain always got the two of them confused.

[George]

He thought Burgess Meredith. Yeah, FDR were the same. Is that totally gone now? The cigarette.

[Gordon]

Cigarette holder. You would think that some women would like to do that because it is kind of a cool look for a sexy woman with the, you know, blunt cut, dark black hair. Okay, what I say, did you mishear blunt cut? That is prone to.

[Craig]

Did the Penguin and FDR also have similar eyewear? Did they wear a cool or little glass?

[George]

I think they were John Lennon glasses.

[Gordon]

No, FDR had monocles that he had, like, put a bar between called glasses? Oh, yeah, I guess. But. But yeah, they both had those round glasses. And for some reason with the cigarette holder, you always just clench it between your teeth and you're smiling all the time like that. Yeah. You say damn Japanese bomb Pearl hobby.

[George]

You see, now we really have character confusion, and it reminds us that we still have not had Mike Doocy do the unexplained monocle.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

Were you there on Free for All One of Us?

[Craig]

I've heard about this. Yeah.

[Gordon]

Okay. Yeah. He was filling in for you. That's right.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

And we dared him to go on the air, and he had to have a monocle that he never referenced. And it was the. It was. What do we call unreferenced monocle. Unacknowledged monocle. He could not acknowledge the monocle. He just had to do a whole broadcast wearing one.

[George]

And, like the cigarette holder, no one wears a monocle anymore.

[Craig]

Right, Right.

[George]

Why is that?

[Craig]

Because it's a pain.

[Gordon]

Yeah. He saw what he did to fdr, put him in a wheelchair.

[George]

Why doesn't Dick Vital do it?

[Gordon]

Because he doesn't need it. Can he see? But he can't see out of the fake eye.

[George]

Right? That's what I'm saying.

[Craig]

But he can see well out of his good eye, so why does he need a monocle?

[Gordon]

I think he has some vision in his fake eye. I think there's some vision in the fake eye. Right. Because there's still nerves back there.

[George]

You just see these cartoon figures.

[Gordon]

Well, no, he's not tuned into a different broadcast in one eye.

[Craig]

It's a glass eye, though, so he can't have.

[Gordon]

Yeah, well, TVs are made of glass.

[Craig]

He can't have any vision coming out of his. Or into his glass eye.

[Gordon]

But glass is translucent or transparent, obviously, so you could see things through it. Right. Just follow me.

[George]

No, that would not connect to your brain.

[Craig]

Maybe we can have him on as a guest. And that could be our first question.

[Gordon]

Right here along the way.

[Craig]

Can you see out of your glass aisle?

[Gordon]

Baby, I don't need it. You see.

[George]

Hey, it's fdr.

[Gordon]

Hey. We both don't like the Japanese.

[George]

I think you're awesome. All right.

[Gordon]

God.

[Craig]

So I've gotten this question a lot. What is our podcast going to be about?

[George]

I think you just heard it.

[Gordon]

It's mainly FDR related material.

[Craig]

And my first thought is exactly what Napoleon Dynamite said to that kid in the back of the bus. Whatever we want it to be about.

[George]

Whatever we feel like. Comedy.

[Craig]

Yeah, whatever we feel like. It'll probably.

[Gordon]

This podcast is gonna be a big. A waste of time, as that movie was.

[Craig]

That's a great movie.

[Gordon]

A great waste of time.

[George]

You know it.

[Craig]

That's a top five comedy of all time. I think the podcast will probably lean A little less sports than the radio show and probably more general interest. We'll have guests, but it'll probably change week to week.

[George]

Yeah, I think we'll get away from sports a lot here, but we are in a town and we talked about this during the campbound a while back.

[Gordon]

Yeah, it was like a year ago.

[George]

This town always gives us something just incredible that you need hours to discuss sports wise. We. We have, yes.

[Gordon]

Are you talking Johnson bond election now.

[George]

That, that all that stuff puts us to sleep. But our sports teams, our sports personalities in this town just keep giving month after month. Just when you think, yeah, I guess Cuban got rid of his interest in the Mavericks. It's probably going to settle down. And then the Luca thing happens.

[Gordon]

Oh, I didn't tell you guys Cuban. Did he text me? No, he emailed me recently.

[George]

Really? Like.

[Gordon]

Yeah, like a week ago. Plus however long you bury so many leads. I know. Well, I forgot to tell you guys. So Cuban texts me. I mean emails me out of the blue. I've not heard from him in forever. You know, I just see him when he's up here.

[George]

What are you wearing?

[Gordon]

Well, no, that's not. And then there's a shot that's very similar to the Brett Favre Jen Stirringer shot.

[George]

This is what I'm wearing.

[Gordon]

This is what I'm wearing. It's a G Shock Ficacio. Nothing else. Just wearing a watch while holding a noodle. So he emails me and says, hey listen, I'm digitizing and going to upload the Mark Cuban shows.

[Craig]

Wow, really?

[George]

Why would the world want that?

[Gordon]

Well, that was my question that I didn't send back to him. But. But I was like. And he said this is Mark Cuban, a billionaire, multi billionaire, famous Mark Cuban. And he asked, would you be okay with that? Which that's kind of interesting and classy. So for those that don't know, the reason I'm even mentioning that is because I worked on that show with him.

[George]

That's why he's show on the air. And when. Because I can't even place it back in.

[Gordon]

Yeah, I think he was only on the air for maybe a year. Late night, maybe two was right after he got the team. So when was that?

[Craig]

99.

[Gordon]

Yeah, so I would estimate it was 99, 2000 around there. And I guess he had found all these old episodes and wanted to digitize them and upload them and then asked if. He asked me and asked Katie, who was the woman who worked on the.

[George]

Show with us, Chicken George. What she also the chicken charge What's Chicken Charge? Said show that used to be on here. And she was on that show called.

[Gordon]

You're talking about Keep going.

[Craig]

January of 2000, he bought them out.

[George]

That's what.

[Gordon]

Okay, there you go.

[George]

Okay.

[Gordon]

So, yeah, 2000, 2001. And he asked us, you know, would you guys have any problem with that, doing that? Well, of course, I'm like, oh. I mean, I've been living pretty well with those things not being on YouTube. Why upset this delicate balance? But he sent a copy of it, you know, an unlisted link to it. And I watched it and it's painful.

[George]

But the only thing I remember was the Lakers line that fell really flat.

[Gordon]

Yeah, that Bob and Dan used a monologue. Every week he would come out and do a monologue and then it was, you know, he would have guests and it would be filmed in front of a live audience at a, you know, restaurant, club kind of thing. And he would interview. I remember him interviewing Ryan Leaf. And we're standing backstage talking to Ryan Leaf when he was coming here.

[Craig]

How weird.

[Gordon]

Yeah. And then I would do like bits, you know, in the street and things like that. You know, ostensibly okay comedic material, but.

[George]

I would watch those again just to see your stuff. I can't even remember what you did, George.

[Gordon]

It's. It's really.

[George]

I bet it was funny. You on the street. That's hilarious.

[Gordon]

The bit that I saw that he sent was me going to Fort Worth asking him about, you know, are they ticked? Because it's the Dallas Mavericks and it really should be Metroplex kind of thing. Something that. And I remember watching it going, okay, this is about six minutes too long.

[George]

You always think that, though, when you.

[Gordon]

Watch something on tv, you need to make that shorter.

[George]

You should have been an editor.

[Gordon]

A what?

[George]

I didn't say it very well. An editor.

[Gordon]

Maybe we can edit out a few of those syllables you put in editor. You should be an editor.

[Craig]

Do you remember that time period in the late 90s where really through all the 90s and maybe the early aughts, where a 30 minute or one hour local TV show on a more random channel, like 39 or something like that? Like that was a big deal.

[George]

Yeah.

[Craig]

What was the show with Jim Dent and Lee Martin and I don't know.

[Gordon]

But how to evade cops.

[George]

We would make appearances on that show to do impersonations.

[Craig]

George and I were.

[George]

Please tell me those don't exist anymore.

[Gordon]

Delicious. Well, maybe Jim Dent will email me and say, hey, I'm digitizing all the old shows.

[Craig]

But there was actually a Ticket on TV show for a couple of years. And, yeah, we were all trying to do anything we could on that.

[Gordon]

And that was in the heyday of the, you know, Stern and Shock Jockey. So we're all more like that.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

Those stuff really cringe at now.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[George]

Oh, man.

[Gordon]

That's what I've tried to. It's weird. It's weird to have any complaints about the job that we've had or the careers that we've had, because we've lucked out and it's been a joy.

[George]

Mm.

[Gordon]

But one thing that I tell people, that sucks. Which kids, even your average kids today that don't even have huge careers, they're living under it, too, is that growing up with your growing up being documented is one of the worst things ever.

[George]

Yes.

[Gordon]

And now that kids have a digital trail of every stupid phase they've ever been through, that sucks.

[George]

Could you imagine?

[Gordon]

And in our careers, our careers, we've had, you know, you grow, you grow and you change, but yet your old things were preserved. And that sucks.

[George]

I know. And I did a terrible job as a parent warning my boys about that, because it didn't really exist as they were.

[Gordon]

You thought that the Internet would forget?

[George]

Yeah, I just didn't know how it worked. And thankfully, they got through the most reckless time of their lives in their teenage years without doing anything too crazy online or.

[Gordon]

But it could have gone a different way for them. I mean, think about this. Think about that. They're with their friends and they use a. Let's say, a homophobic slur. Homo. Homophobic slur to one of their friends, and that gets preserved, and then they build a nice career and they're a CEO of some company, and then it's discovered 40 years later, and then they just. They lose their. That's it. They're done.

[George]

I know.

[Gordon]

Maybe that's an exaggeration. Maybe that doesn't happen, but. But it seems like it happens.

[George]

It does. I think it does. Even if it was 10 or 20 years ago.

[Gordon]

Yeah. So, yeah. I remember on Ticket TV, I was buying bras from women. Remember that?

[Craig]

Off women.

[George]

And they would give you their bra.

[Craig]

That they were wearing.

[Gordon]

Yes, it was a bit. I was out in the street for Ticket tv and it was to see how it was, of course. Hard line, I think.

[Craig]

See how much?

[Gordon]

Ask her how much. And. Yeah. And I think I bought, like, I don't know, six or seven. It seemed like.

[Craig]

You still have them?

[Gordon]

No, I'm sure I gave them back to him right afterwards, you know, after you've done it for the TV camera. You're fine.

[George]

So that's wild that Cuban reached out to you. We have not talked to him. Well, I guess you see him at the gym.

[Craig]

I see him every week at the gym.

[George]

Okay.

[Craig]

He does a 9:30 class there, and it's one of those, like, CrossFit type things. And he is in the best mood and I'll. I'll talk to him. And he comes up to me and we never talk basketball. I don't want to beat him down with that. We talk kids, we talk life, we talk working out, we talk getting older. And I think I've told you guys, I've told you guys this before. Since he made the decision to retire from Shark Tank and sell the Mavericks, he seems like a weight has been lifted. He's just always buoyant, in a good mood and smiley and just. He's always been really nice to us and good to us.

[George]

Yeah.

[Craig]

But he seems like he's in a really good place.

[George]

Wonder what's next for him.

[Gordon]

Podcast, probably.

[George]

Presidential podcast, FDR podcast.

[Craig]

We need to get him on this podcast.

[Gordon]

Yeah, we will. Yeah, I think you'd do it.

[George]

I think that'd be a good possibility.

[Gordon]

Okay. So telling the Cuban story reminded me of something else. I was going through an old box of early. Early ticket stuff. Early stuff.

[Craig]

Oh, God.

[Gordon]

And I have everything. I preserved everything from the early days. There are sales sheets from when we initially sent out, trying to say, hey, this is a new sports station coming on the air here in Dallas Fort Worth. And here are our rates. And I want to say that a commercial and morning drive Skip Bayless morning drive was $50 for a minute in Dallas Fort Worth.

[Craig]

50 bucks.

[Gordon]

50 bucks. You could buy an ad these days.

[Craig]

You'D have to pay 60 bucks.

[Gordon]

60 bucks. That's inflation.

[George]

It's inflation to get on our show.

[Craig]

That's hard to believe.

[Gordon]

So anyway, in this box of stuff that I found, I found a letter and I opened that had a card in it, you know, a piece of snail mail, as I call it. And I opened up the card and a photo falls out. And the photo is of a laughing Stephen Jones, believe it or not, Stephen Jones laughing. Could you imagine?

[George]

No.

[Gordon]

The over laugher himself was captured on photographic film laughing. So it was a photo of Steven Jones dying, laughing. And it was a handwritten card from Stephen thanking me for some event that I had no memory of doing, did not remember it.

[George]

What whatsoever do Fake Jerry in front of everybody.

[Gordon]

I'm assuming that's what it was. It was some big event or luncheon that was honoring him, or he was there and I was there to provide some entertainment. And I got up there and I must have done some stuff and ragging on him and his family, you know, making jokes about the Jones family.

[George]

Wow.

[Gordon]

Yeah, I need to bring that in. Yeah. And he thanked me for it. He said, you know, thank you for.

[George]

You know, making fun of us.

[Gordon]

Yeah, haven't we had a lot of fun? Everything. Even though if it was, some of it was at my expense, exclamation point, smiley face, you know, all that. I was like, I'm glad I kept that. I wouldn't even remember that. And you know what? It's strange about the Jones family. As you mentioned, Giorgio, they give us a lot to talk about, including the fact that now I'm on an animated series that is tangentially about the Jones family. I know, but I remember also another time when I did something for Charlotte. She asked me to do some fake Jerry for her for something they were surprising her dad with. And I want to say it was surrounding the hall of Fame time when he got in the hall of Fame.

[George]

I remember that. Yeah.

[Gordon]

And I did this thing for her. And she also sent me a handwritten note. They're very old school Southern manners that way. To that you send thank you notes.

[Craig]

That's great.

[Gordon]

I mean, here's Steven and Charlotte Jones sending thank you notes to me, which.

[Craig]

Just for skewering their family and their dad.

[Gordon]

Yes. It's one weird quirk about them that.

[George]

Is a lost art, sending the handwritten thank you note. I kind of forced myself to do it, and I'm terrible about it, but when you get something like that, especially from somebody high profile like that, it's really meaningful.

[Craig]

My dad, until the day he died, would write thank you notes for everything. We would have him over for dinner, just a random Tuesday night dinner, and two days later, in the mail, we'd get a thank you note.

[George]

Wow.

[Craig]

Yeah. Not too long ago, one of my cousin's kids, I got him. He's a big hockey fan. He plays Gold Tender. And I got him some Dallas Stars Swag. And. Or is it swag? Swag.

[Gordon]

No, it's swag, isn't it?

[Craig]

Swag. Swag. Yeah, that's right, Corby. And I thought it was swag, but it's actually swag.

[Gordon]

Don't listen to anything Corby says. But anyway, someday we'll spill the beans on that guy.

[Craig]

I got him a couple of Dallas Stars thing. Few days later, he sent A handwritten thank you note in the mail. A 15 year old kid. And I thought, that's great. Yeah, that still exists.

[George]

My mom used to make us write thank you notes after birthdays and. But I did a terrible job of taking that to adulthood.

[Gordon]

Yeah. My mom made me do that too. And I swore that when I became an adult, that was the one thing that I was going to do, is not never do thank you cards because she had forced me to. Yeah. That was going to be my one benefit of being an adult.

[George]

Yeah. I got to do a better job about that because I do think it means something to somebody.

[Gordon]

It absolutely does. And even just the little, like, gifts for people that you get them. You remember when, when the Internet started and everybody started sending Evites and then E cards, they would send you thank you cards that. I mean, I get the convenience of it and we were all obsessed with the novelty of it. But the old school thank you card that you discover in a box or a drawer many years later, that's going to give you warm and fuzzies. You're never going to go back through your junk folder and find the Evite or the e thank you card that you got 15 years ago. But when you find a handwritten note from your departed father that just thanks you for the meal and maybe mentions what y' all had and hey, that was fun playing darts afterwards, you know?

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

And then it reminds you of that. That physical memento will mean so much more to you.

[Craig]

We all like the Jones family. But when I hear that Charlotte wrote you a note and Steven wrote you a note, part of that makes me wonder, is that also part of the business plan, their business model? Because we all know how Jerry treats the media. You can skewer him left and right 365 days a year, and he still is going to smile and shake your hand and ask you how your family's doing. And I think he learned that from his dad. That if you're going to be successful in business, you need the old saying, keep your friends close, keep your enemies close.

[Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's, it's. And I think the proper response to have is, Is, you know, Yes, I do think that the Jones family knows how to work the media and they know how to work people and they know how to work business associates. They know everything's about relationships and all that. So cynically you could say that it's a manipulation. But you could also say, you know, it's still the right thing to do, even if they do it for the wrong reason.

[Craig]

Right.

[Gordon]

And I'm not even doing the right thing for any reason. I've been writing the thank you note.

[George]

And, boy, this would be a good topic. And we've talked about Jerry so much. But when you are around their family, there is a real goodness to their family.

[Gordon]

It's a weird deal, isn't it? They have, like this. They have this golden tractor beam charisma of family around them. I mean, as crazy as they are, it's insane to me that you would have a family that's that wealthy, that has had this much drama surrounding them that still all talk to each other and act like they really enjoy each other's company.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[George]

And go out of their way to. When they hear about another family going through some sort of tragedy or triumph. Like, you guys remember when the Morning News did a story on my son playing for North Texas while I was doing the games? And I got this long letter from Jerry saying that reminded me of when Stephen was playing at Arkansas and I was going up to the games and he was, you know, second generation Razorback. I never played for North Texas, but slightly different situations. But I still have that note that he, you know, and I just think he did it out of the goodness of his heart of, hey, good for George, good for Blake. Let me. Let me write them a little note. Or when he sent, I mean, a ton of food over to our house after my mom passed away, he didn't. Didn't publicize it.

[Gordon]

I know, I know. It's. It's weird. And people are going to say the Muse was the podcast. All they did was just sit there and be apologists for the Jones family. But no, these are interesting stories.

[Craig]

I think it's half and half. I think he does that because he does like you or care. But I think it's also good business, you know, ingratiate yourself to the media. That's why he throws that huge party at Nobu every year in Malibu. And the media eats it up. And they're going to be a little less likely to criticize him after that.

[Gordon]

Right. And maybe that's why the fake Jerry never has anything negative about the Jones family in. It's because of thank you notes and sending food over to your house.

[Craig]

And what's funny is that he embraces the fake Jerry.

[Gordon]

I know it.

[Craig]

And I remember one time he was. I can't remember where we were. There've been a few of these settings where he will see Gordo and light up and tell everybody, yeah, this is the guy that does me, Jonesy Jones. And one time, I remember him laughing, boy, you guys really give it to Junior, don't you? To Jerry Junior. He was laughing.

[Gordon]

Jerry Senior said that.

[Craig]

Jerry Senior said, you guys really give it to Jerry Junior, don't you? About being rowdy or something. And he was laughing about that.

[George]

Okay, but this was all BGA.

[Gordon]

Before. What?

[George]

Gate agents. We have not had a conversation with him.

[Gordon]

He's not sent food to your house since.

[George]

No gate agent.

[Craig]

True.

[George]

And you think Jerry talks about that a lot?

[Gordon]

I think Fake Jerry's mentioned it once.

[George]

That's a weekly bingo for him. And I don't know if we see him this training Jerry, I don't know. You're going to get the same reaction.

[Gordon]

Jerry thinks gate agent is funny. Gene does not.

[Craig]

Right.

[Gordon]

Gene does not. Therefore, now, when they're having their family listening parties and they're listening to the bit, Jean is not laughing. And Jerry is looking over at him, cutting his eyes over at him, and he's stifling laughter because he knows he can't laugh in front of her. But as soon as she leaves the room after hearing the bit, him and Steven laugh at gay agent.

[George]

I don't think so.

[Gordon]

Yeah, they do.

[Craig]

I bet they do.

[George]

Okay, I was going to protest the Nobu dinner like I did last year.

[Gordon]

Oh, yeah. This is. This is George's stupid protest where he says he's not going to go enjoy the fine meal provided by the Jones family. Food is so good at the most beautiful setting in the world.

[Craig]

I also protested last year.

[Gordon]

Y' all dress up your laziness as protest. But I didn't want to get out of the hotel room.

[George]

Well, that, too. I didn't want to stay out late. But I think we should go this year just to test the. Is gate agent funny?

[Gordon]

Well, I went last year and he didn't. He never cornered me or sicked New Roosevelt on me to be Right.

[George]

But he didn't pull you aside and go, hey, that fake Jones saying that? Sure.

[Gordon]

No. Well, he didn't do that.

[George]

Okay. Because that's what it used to be.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

What if he did call me over to say, hey, I love the fake Jones and everything in front of all his friends, and I just launch into gate agent humor in his voice.

[Craig]

Oh, my gosh, he's not going to.

[Gordon]

Bend her over and I did my thing out there on the flight concourse.

[Craig]

He's not going to dress you down at Nobu.

[Gordon]

No.

[Craig]

He's only going to compliment you there.

[George]

They whisper in your ear, hey, let's Cut the gate agent stuff.

[Craig]

Cut back on gate agent.

[Gordon]

Don't do gate agent anymore. I should have never done her to begin with.

[Craig]

He's only in 31 years. Called us once to complain about something we said on the air. Do you remember that? That was probably 15 years ago.

[Gordon]

It wasn't something that was more factual than for some reason I'm remembering it.

[Craig]

Didn't you have to go into the control room and talk to him during a commercial break?

[George]

Yes, it was right after we interviewed him and we were trying to nail him down on something about a negotiation or something, or maybe it was football related.

[Craig]

He was mad.

[George]

Yeah. He cussed at me a little bit and said, I don't mind, you know, debating something, but what you did to me was BS And. But we're still friends.

[Gordon]

And what were you. But he said that we're still friends.

[George]

That's what he said when he fired me from PA that was a weird phone call. The ticket had just lost the rights to the Cowboys and it went to a competitor that was owned by CBS. And from what I understand, it was the Jerry Jr. Thing, that they didn't want somebody from the ticket up in the PA Booth because I wouldn't read their radio promos, which I used to do for kvil, which is ridiculous. But anyway, I get a phone call.

[Gordon]

And what do they mean, the radio promos? Meaning like you read them over the PA?

[George]

Yeah, listen to the post game show on 153, the Fan. You know, like, I wouldn't read that, but I used to read that when KVIL did. You know, I was professional about it. I didn't do it in a funny voice or anything. And so, yeah, one day after the Cowboys left Texas Stadium, they're going to the new stadium, I get a phone call, says Dallas Cowboys. And I guess it was Maryland. The late, great Maryland.

[Gordon]

It was his. His secretary, Right hand person.

[George]

Yeah. And said, george, how are you? I'm fine. Mr. Jones wants to talk to you. Oh, gosh.

[Gordon]

Do you know any good gate agents around here? Dfw Love don't matter.

[George]

No. He said, hey, I appreciate the job you've done for us, I do. But we're changing radio stations and therefore we're. We're changing PA announcers. And that means you're not going to do it, but we're still friends.

[Gordon]

And then he hung up.

[George]

Okay, well, thanks, Jerry. Bye.

[Gordon]

So it was short.

[George]

That was very short. It was very strange.

[Craig]

The story of you getting the job is even more interesting because it stems from that night In New Orleans, where you guys went out and you can tell that whole story if you want to, but you didn't. You had never done any PA before that, right?

[George]

No, no, no.

[Gordon]

That was. You talk about Jones family cover up. That whole you getting the PA job was total Jones family cover up.

[George]

I think they were changing PA anyway, and they wanted a. They had talked. Seriously. They did have a talk that they wanted a radio personality. Not a podcast personality, but a radio personality.

[Craig]

Before New Orleans, before your night out with him or after.

[George]

I don't know about that. I just know that it came up in conversation somewhere between January and May, and after our time in January, I think Jerry suggested to the people who were in charge, you need to get.

[Gordon]

George Dunn on the payroll by any means necessary.

[George]

He was funny.

[Gordon]

Make him sign that NDA, too.

[George]

He thought I was a lot of fun. I thought he was a lot of fun.

[Gordon]

Okay, so we're at the Super Bowl. It's New Orleans.

[George]

Super Bowl 31.

[Gordon]

Okay. Yeah, new Orleans. And this was in the. It was earlier days of the ticket. We all drank a little bit more.

[Craig]

02. What year was it?

[George]

Oh, no, it was 96. 97 season.

[Craig]

That early?

[George]

It was 31. So it was the year after the Cowboys won it. It was packers and Patriots.

[Craig]

Okay.

[George]

In New Orleans.

[Craig]

It was that Super Bowl. Yeah, that's right. That's right.

[George]

Yeah.

[Craig]

Because you, George and I were rooming on that road trip. Yes, Gordo, that's when you stayed with the laddie in another hotel.

[Gordon]

Yeah, George and I stayed with our boss. And that was when our boss told me at the beginning of the trip, you're rooming with me. And meanwhile, I'm the young guy at the station. He's an older gentleman.

[George]

It was a weird matchup.

[Gordon]

And he said, buddy, you're going to be rooming with me on this trip. Yeah. Yes, sir. You're going to learn some things about me. Okay? And then we got to the. And I was, like, nervous about this the whole time leading up to. What is he. What is this cryptic talk that he's doing? What am I going to learn about him tonight? Our first night in the hotel room, and he was laying on the other bed on his side, he was a heavier gentleman, wearing just his boxers, laying on his side with his arm propped up, you know, as his chin, you know, at the side of his head, propped up on his elbow, his arm. And he goes, well, I think it's time. What?

[George]

Oh, my God. For what?

[Gordon]

I said, for what? Exact same question. And he goes, I think it's time to introduce you to the apparatus. And he reaches back behind the bed, which was along the wall between the bed and the wall, and he pulls out this fighter pilot's mask. And I thought, my God, what kind of Pulp Fiction sex scene have I just run into?

[George]

Because that was the beginning of the CPAP machine, I guess.

[Gordon]

Y. Well, I had never heard of a CPAP machine. And I'm thinking he's pulling out something, some apparatus that's going to be like from the movie 7 that the guy had to strap on or I don't know. And then a fighter pilot mask. We're both going to be inhaling nitrous while he's, you know, doing what I'm wearing.

[George]

You wear a skirt, right?

[Gordon]

But yeah, he pulled out the apparatus. But yes, I was rooming with the laddie at that time. You guys were rooming together.

[George]

And we went out on the Saturday before. No, Friday night before the Super Bowl. We were down for the whole game. And we had gone to several bars. We're having a great time. And we ran into the Jones family at a bar, and Gene was there.

[Gordon]

Bourbon Street.

[George]

Right on Bourbon Street. And Jerry was there. And we eventually worked our way over to Jerry, but we first we saw Gene, his wife, and she knew who we were. We talked to her and for a little bit, and she said, could you do me a favor? Well, sure, Mrs. Jones. Could you tell Jerry that his family's ready to go?

[Peter]

Oh.

[George]

So I was more than a few in and I said, yeah, that's easy. We do a weekly show with Jerry.

[Gordon]

Right in the middle of a 40 year domestic disagreement about how late do.

[George]

We stay out on Friday night? And so I went over to Jerry and, hey, what's going on? You know, we had a little. Just a small talk, and he's all happy.

[Gordon]

Yeah, great. How are you?

[George]

And I said, hey, I just talked to Gene and she wanted me to pass along a message. She wants you to know that the.

[Gordon]

Family'S ready to go and we're not on broadcast radio. So I think you can give the actual quote now.

[George]

I thought we weren't going to say that word.

[Craig]

You don't have to force it. Well, he said, don't force it.

[George]

He said, get the f out of my face. Write to me. After a little bit of a very awkward pause.

[Craig]

That has to be very intimidating for Jerry Jones to say that to you in your face.

[George]

And he was no longer smiling.

[Gordon]

You said it was like dripping with venom.

[George]

Yeah. And I was like, oh, my gosh what have I done? And then all of a sudden he said, apologize, Sit down. What are you drinking? And that's where it started. And it didn't end until 7 o' clock the next morning.

[Gordon]

The partying that you did together, we went hard.

[Craig]

So I'm back at the hotel room.

[George]

And you probably wondered if I was dead.

[Craig]

Yeah. So he finally comes in at seven and I'm like, what is going on with you? Where were you?

[George]

I was like, what's going on with you?

[Craig]

And the first thing he says is, I lost a lens out of my glasses. He had dropped a lens and he only had one lens in his glasses so he couldn't see it very well.

[Gordon]

Did you just get her into a storm drain, you know?

[George]

No, because I found it. But I got caught up in some crowd and I got knocked back and forth and my glasses fell off.

[Gordon]

Did you get knocked by a horse or something?

[George]

No, it wasn't a horse.

[Gordon]

Yay.

[George]

Full repeat, Georgio. But yeah, they were broken. So the rest of the night I, like put them in my shirt pocket and was trying to see going around.

[Gordon]

This before, I had Lasik with one eye shut. And you always could have used the unacknowledged monocle.

[George]

I needed a monocle.

[Craig]

You all were chauffeured around that night by New Orleans police.

[George]

Yeah, that's how we got it. This was before, but weren't the police.

[Gordon]

Like taking y' all to various chili dog stands? It was a weird bit of police.

[George]

Escorting from bar to bar. And then we were got in the back of the police car and he said, hold on a minute. And Jerry called out to a guy named Freezy. Hey, Freezy, come over here.

[Gordon]

Jerry always has these weird, weirdly named people who are attendants.

[George]

He knew this guy named Freezey who I don't think ran the hot dog stand, but he was able to deliver us two chili dogs to the backseat of the police car. And Jerry took a spork and cut off part of the chili dog and then kept his hand under it and.

[Gordon]

Oh, he cuffed his hand up under it like you're feeding a baby.

[George]

Slowly went over to my face and said, you want to taste a piece of heaven on earth? Spork fed me a chili dog. At least the first bite. I gotta tell you, at 3:00 in the morning, it was a piece of heaven on earth.

[Craig]

And you still had four more hours out with him on the town. Yeah, until he finally came home at 7am and then miraculously, a few months later, you're the Texas Stadium, PA guy.

[George]

But you know what? As we put the timeline together, that was the 96, 97 season because of Super Bowl 31. Right. And I didn't start till 98, so a full season went by.

[Gordon]

Well, he knew that he had to pad the clock a little bit, so.

[George]

The what?

[Gordon]

Pad the clock a little bit because he didn't want it to be too obvious that he was paying you hush money.

[Craig]

Right?

[George]

Maybe. But I've told the story on the air. It's not as if I think I even told the story.

[Gordon]

I know. That's the thing. All these nice things that the Jones family have done has haven't resulted in any sort of closed mouths from us.

[George]

So no, it hadn't worked.

[Gordon]

So yeah, it's the worst policy ever. They have charm them to death.

[Craig]

Maybe the George Jerry Jones story is a great place to wrap up our first ever podcast.

[George]

Yeah, Yeah, I. I think so. I think it's been a success.

[Craig]

Has it?

[Gordon]

No, I'm just trying to be positive. I think this is a one and done. Thank you guys. I love you.

[George]

I'm spent.

[Gordon]

I just ran out of material for my whole life. The end.

[Peter]

The Musers, the podcast. You can now find the guys on Twitter, Blue Sky, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and yep, even TikTok. New pod episodes each Wednesday. And don't forget, you can still listen every Weekday morning from 6 to 9 Dallas time on America's favorite radio station, the Ticket. The Musers. The podcast is produced by Peter Welton and is a tired head production.