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Fox Sports Bus, Fan Express to Come Back to Tyler

July 31st, 2012

The Fox Sports Southwest Fan Express bus came through Tyler for the second time this baseball season Saturday and it’s scheduled to come back in late August.

Fans riding the bus get free transportation, free tickets and official Texas Rangers gear as well free food and beverages courtesy of Dr Pepper and Snapple. What’s not to like? Heck, on top of that, they get to meet Kaime and Liddy, the Fox Sports Southwest girls.

Jim Knox of Fox Sports will also interview fans from the bus live during the game telecast, but if the Kaime and Liddy aren’t reason enough to go, Knox probably isn’t either.

The seats are great seats, located in the outfield about in section 9.

Rangers Fans who ride the bus this past Saturday weren’t quite as fortunate as I was when I took the trip because they saw their team fall to the Chicago White Sox 5-2.

The game I went to on June 27 was great. It was almost like watching a home run derby. It was too close for comfort though because both teams were scoring runs left and right, but fortunately, it was the Rangers who came on top in a 13-9 final.

Not that all that matters, but what does matter is these trips are made possible thanks not only to Fox Sports Southwest but also ESPN East Texas, 92.1 in Tyler who partnered with Fox Sports Southwest.

Sports Talk host Bill Coates takes calls every day on his show leading up to the trips, and each day gave a pair of tickets to a random caller.

As mentioned before, the Fan Express bus is scheduled to come through Tyler again Thursday August 23 when the Rangers play host to the Minnesota Twins.

It’s not like there aren’t enough incentives to try to win a pair of tickets on that bus, but an extra reason to go is the fact Wednesday night is Dollar Dog Night at the ballpark.

If you go on the bus trip, you’ll be given a five dollar gift certificate for concessions which means you can buy yourself five dogs.

For a chance to win two tickets, call into sports talk within two weeks of the game and weigh in on your sports topic of choice. The show runs Monday through Friday from 4-6 p.m. and the show hotline number is 903-593-5822. For more information, call the station anytime at 903-593-2519.

The Comfort Inn & Suites in Tyler… & Beyond

May 7th, 2012

The fact that I grew up traveling has gone a long way to creating in me a nostalgia for staying in hotels. I realize that for many people who travel solely for work- related purposes that may seem like a fairly absurd statement. But for me, staying over night in a hotel was part of an adventure.  I’m sure that the level of one’s enjoyment of hotels is due solely to the purpose he or she has in traveling, but it’s almost always been a positive experience for me.

It’s always amusing to me to hear people discuss their requirements of a hotel. It must have this or that, it had better not be lacking in this amenity or that one… We all have different levels of expectations. I’m generally fairly easy to please. A cool, clean room, comfortable bed and working TV with Fox News and ESPN will generally keep me content. Throw in a good continental breakfast, and I may even stay another night.

On a recent trip to Dallas, (which was purely recreational mind you), I introduced my son the fun of staying in a hotel. We’ve stayed in them before, but he’s only four so his memories of previous trips are foggy at best.  On this outing I chose to stay in a Comfort Inn. Admittedly a simple establishment, but it came complete with a pool and all the amenities I’ve listed above, along with quite a few I didn’t. Now I realize this was Dallas, but I should reinforce the fact that Tyler also has a Comfort Inn which is arguably more upscale than the one I visited. Enough so that it should surely be able to meet the requirements of patrons whose needs are more… sophisticated than mine are.   The Comfort Inn and Suits in Tyler is located on South Broadway and has all the amenities one would expect, including an indoor pool, hot tube, fitness center and more. It’s generally on the more high- end side of the chain but prices are still reasonable. Tyler has what seems to me a surprising number of places to stay, but the Comfort is among the nicer choices. To read more or to make reservations read about them online or contact their office at (903) 534-0999.

Participating in the Nielsen Ratings

November 4th, 2010
Nielsen Ratings Tyler TX

Nielsen Ratings Tyler TX

I like television a lot. I realize this should be sort of an embarrassing confession for someone who has aspirations of appearing deep, intelligent, or very religious but its true. And I am a relatively intelligent person of faith. I should say that: first off, with work, and a three year old little boy, I’m pretty busy, so while my television is often on, I don’t pay super close attention all the time. Secondly, while I enjoy TV, I’m not indiscriminate about what I watch. I have often been appalled by the A- moral, even hedonistic messages presented on television, so I was pleased to receive a packet from the people at the Nielsen ratings group asking me to participate in the ratings polling this fall. This is something I’ve never done before.

Now I have to say that were it not an opportunity to put in my two cents regarding what is or should be on television, I would certainly not go to the trouble of participating. I don’t actually watch much network TV. I watch a lot of cable news, (Fox in particular), ESPN, the History Channel and the Travel Channel. Of course the boy watches Nick and Nick Jr. I had always assumed that the ratings groups simply monitored what their control groups watched for a week and assembled the results into a report of some kind. It had never really donned on me to question how they monitored my viewing.

Seems like kind of a stupid assumption now that I know otherwise. In actuality there is a fairly detailed log for selected viewers to fill out. It runs day-by-day, evening-by-evening for a whole week. The participant enters the names of the times, programs and channels he watches, as well as the number of people watching with him and their ages. Frankly the whole thing is a bit intrusive but it gives the viewer an opportunity to express an opinion to a venue that actually matters.

TV Tyler Texas

TV Ratings in Tyler Texas

In spite of the fact that completing the logbook is a little too much like homework I plan to my best to complete the survey. It seems like a more reasonable approach to influencing the networks as well as the cable and satellite providers than boycotts and angry letters of protest. I would encourage anyone else on Nielsen’s list this fall, to participate as well. At least this way you know someone’s listening to your opinions. For more information on Nielsen and how they gather viewer response, try visiting their web site at http://en-us.nielsen.com/content/nielsen/en_us/industries/media.html.

Quick Lane Tire & Auto

November 27th, 2009

Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center (Formerly called Super Pit Crew Oil Change) is a business that is based solely on the premise that men wish they were race car drivers. Why? Because race car drivers get to hang out where the action is, have their hands on really, really expensive toys, and get to wait on other people to do all the work on their cars. Fifty years ago, Quick Lane probably wouldn’t have succeeded. Men were men then, and knew how to change their own oil, align their tires, and pop in a new transmission all before breakfast! At least, that’s what they tell us. But for the would be Dale Earnhardt, Jr’s of the world, Quick Lane is the perfect place to bring your car.

Why? Because Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center lets customers hang out in their huge lobby, watch ESPN on their huge Hight Definition TV, enjoy a helping of popcorn, and salivate over their real race car. All while their own car is receiving a clean dose of oil, a wax, and maybe a brake job.[ad#large-blog-block]

Quick Lane specializes in on oil changes and tire issues. They have a broad selection of tires, especially Goodyear. They also are very good with alignments, brakes, shocks, struts, and inspections. I usually brought my car to Quick Lane for oil changes and general inspections, and they always did a good. Their customer service is excellent. They kept me, the customer, well informed, and were always thorough in giving me my options. Plus, watching sports in the middle of the day was always terrific!

Quick Lane is not so good for bigger jobs. Maybe it’s because they have a high overhead, but their prices are going to be higher than you will want to pay. Don’t go there for an A/C replacement or engine work. Let them stick to the basics: Tire, oil, and car wash. They’ll do a good job, and you will enjoy the pit stop.

Quick Lane is located on the West Loop next to the Jack-O-Diamonds Car Dealership. They accept all major credit cards.