That's THE TICKET!

I'll take a break from Matsui Madness at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and post on another favorite subject - Sports Radio.

Harkening back to March Madness and the Triangle's affection for college hoops, we had very strong ratings during the NCAA tourney. Sports blogger (and number cruncher) Clay Travis has 99.9 The Fan tied for number three sports radio station in the country:

From outkickthecoverage.com

Another development on the bleeding edge of HD Radio...

We just premiered a new sports outlet - 99.9 (HD-3) The Ticket. This station is unconventional. You need an HD receiver. And you can listen online via PC or smartphone. 

The Ticket is affiliated with Yahoo! Sports Radio and they serve up Tim Brando from 10a-1p each day. The new HD station is also the home of Carolina Railhawks soccer and Appalachian State sports.

The Ticket gives us the opportunity to do more local play-by-play. This past Saturday we aired the state championship high school lacrosse match. 

Digital technology...digital radio...more sports...more local programming...that's the ticket!

More on The Ticket
More on HD Radio

Matsui's Entourage

BIG, BIG week at the DBAP. The atmosphere is Major League. Hideki Matsui is in the house. Aaron Shoonmaker writes about his debut for wralSPORTSfan.com. Tonight, Kevin Youkilis plays for the PawSox, and Dice-K pitches on Thursday. 

We have thirty-five members of the Japanese sports press visiting Durham, and more are expected by Thursday. It was crowded in the press box last night. 

Our press box is the size of your kitchen...so we created a media work room in our storage area.

Another international aspect of Matsui’s donning a Bulls uniform - we have Japanese advertisers. Notice the media back drop. That’s an ad for a Japanese law firm. 

And behind home plate - in the right-hand corner of this screenshot - that sponsor is a Japanese men's salon. 

 

Mayberry goes global! And WELCOME to our Japanese visitors.
 

Matsui to Durham - This Week!

2009 World Series MVP Hideki Matsui is expected to join the Bulls in Durham on Tuesday. We aren't sure if he will play against Pawtucket that evening, but it's a distinct possibility. 

Kim Klement, US PRESSWIRE

This gets even better: Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka - Dice-K - is on a rehab assignment with the PawSox, and he may pitch Thursday. Both of the Japanese legends could be in the same game at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park!

Again, no promises. We're not in the drivers seat - just the host - but keep an eye on our website and Facebook page as this unfolds.

Matsui remains a rock star in Japan. We are expecting a media entourage approaching fifty reporters and photographers from his native country. Matsui will probably hold pre- and post-game news conferences. That's not quite our routine in the minor leagues.

Our clubhouse seamstress delivered his jerseys on Friday.

We will have these t-shirts in the Ballpark Corner store later this week. I believe that's Japanese for baseball...but don't rely on my translation skills.

Baseball Battle in Blue

  

We are awash in blue this weekend as the Duke Blue Devils play a three-game series against the UNC Tar Heels on Goodmon Field - Friday, Saturday and Sunday. More from wralSPORTSfan.com

UNC warms up for the Friday evening game.

In the true spirit of the Duke-UNC rivalry, 99.9 The Fan is giving away a pair of tickets to a 2013 hoops game. You can register at the baseball game or online for Hit Bull-Win Tickets.

Weekend Reading

Recommended...

The DBAP was visited recently by a sports-minded couple traveling the country in a RV. They’ve taken a year off to take in the full spectrum of sports in America.

May features the Kentucky Derby, Indy 500, a Bassmaster event in TN...and the Durham Bulls.

They’ve created a fun atmosphere inside of an open and picturesque ballpark that lends itself to communal interaction. There’s office building balconies behind the home run fences, a bar/restaurant overlooking the outfield, great concessions, and even a children’s play area. Everything about the stadium lends itself to enjoying a night out with family and friends. Check out their blog. The DBAP visit is the only Minor League baseball game on their itinerary. 

There was a great article by Eric Ferreri about downtown Durham and American Tobacco in the March/April edition of Duke Magazine.

Eight years after its reopening, the former cigarette factory has become a poster child for mixed-use urban redevelopment, a sprawling, eye-catching collection of restaurants, bars, offices, and shops that, along with several other new projects in the area that followed its lead, has brought about a stunning rebirth of Durham’s core. In many of those renovated spaces, innovative new businesses are taking root, fueling Durham’s surprising new standing as a vibrant, hip center of entrepreneurial activity. Click here for the full article. Read more about Duke University's crucial role in the revival of downtown Durham.

Bullish on HD Radio

This is complicated. Bear with me... 

99.9 The Fan (WCMC-FM) has expanded its HD Radio footprint in the Triangle, and with an HD Radio you can hear Bulls play-by-play broadcasts on the FM band.

Bulls flagship station 620 The Buzz (WDNC-AM) is simulcast on WCMC's HD-2 channel. I know it seems byzantine, but with an HD Radio, it's effortless. I just had this Kenwood HD rig installed in my car. 

This coverage map shows our HD-2 (620 The Buzz) coverage compared to WDNC's night-time signal. Bulls broadcasts on WDNC are pretty much restricted to Durham County at night. On HD, however, you can hear the Bulls across Wake County and beyond. The sound quality - digital - is greatly improved, too.

This is a palm-size, portable HD radio. I bought it at Best Buy for about fifty bucks. I've got three HD radios now...seems to be an obsession.

More on HD Radio

News and Entertainment @ ATC

The Bulls are (struggling) on the road, but there's positive news from the American Tobacco Campus. 


On Friday, ATC announced a major tenant for the new Diamond View III office building in left field. Our new neighbor will be fhi360...when the building is finished in 2013. 400 neighbors, actually, as DV3 becomes the global headquarters for fhi360.


Formerly known as Family Health International, the public health and development organization got its start at UNC forty years ago. It now has 2500 workers in 55 countires. fhi360 website. ATC news release.

ATC released its On the Lawn line-up for 2012. Outdoor music, dance and movies. Click here for the complete schedule.