bbb Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres/2012/06/sabres-announce-broadcast-changes-big-moves-for-rob-ray-kevin-sylvester.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fbuffalonews%2Fsabres+%28Sabres+Edge%29 2nd best is having Rob Ray do color instead of Harry Neale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Any change that leads to less air time for Harry Neale is OK with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 (edited) http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres/2012/06/sabres-announce-broadcast-changes-big-moves-for-rob-ray-kevin-sylvester.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fbuffalonews%2Fsabres+%28Sabres+Edge%29 2nd best is having Rob Ray do color instead of Harry Neale. So, is Sylevester's radio show replacing Cowherds' show? That would be outstanding! Not a huge fan of Harry Neale either, though I can tolerate him. He doesn't seem especially attuned to the Sabres. Only thing that worries me a little, Rob Ray has a brutal voice. I think he is actually pretty funny, but hopefully he takes some diction classes, or something. Just take a breath now and again Rob, and remember, speak from your throat, not your nose! Any plan that involved less Colin Cowherd has got to be a good one. But, I have to ask, if Sylevesters' show is slated to start June 18th (presumably for the NHL draft), isn't that an awful lot of time to devote to Sabres hockey talk, in the off season? I realize, Buffalo loves the Sabres...but that is a lot of time to fill. Almost 4 months of off-season talk? The sense I get, when I listen to GR now, is that while the fans are really supportive of the Sabres, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of knowledge about other teams in the league. It almost seems like Sylvester (who I think is pretty good) is being set up for failure on this one. Any word on a daily Bills show? Any changes in their game day broadcasts? Edited June 12, 2012 by Buftex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Yup, Sylvester is replacing Cowherd. The only thing I don't like about that was that I was hoping Brad Riter would be given that time slot. And, I wonder if Sylvester would view that as a demotion - having a daily radio show vs. having an 82 night gig on TV. I think he's better on TV than he was on the radio. I also wondered like you did - how are they going to do a year round Sabres show?!? The days that Schopp and the Bulldog talk Sabres these days seems really forced. I can't imagine having a show dedicated to it in June. If that's the case, then I'm glad Brad isn't getting that time slot. He's great at picking out the best topics of the day to talk about. It seems to me that Harry just mainly spit out stats. I thought it was funny - a commenter on the News site after a Sabres story said "The Sabres are 0-0-0 in games where Harry Neale gave us some useful statistics." He could have at least been in charge of giving out the score every 5 minutes or so, for the benefit of us listening on the radio. That was absolutely maddening and I hope Rob will do that. (I've given up on Rick doing it). John Murphy is supposed to have a nightly Bills radio show on GR. It was supposed to start soon, but then Alan Pergament reported that there is some snag with him getting away from Channel 4, and it's going to start a few weeks later than expected. I think maybe early August? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Yup, Sylvester is replacing Cowherd. The only thing I don't like about that was that I was hoping Brad Riter would be given that time slot. And, I wonder if Sylvester would view that as a demotion - having a daily radio show vs. having an 82 night gig on TV. I think he's better on TV than he was on the radio. Since he was covering in the booth during Rick's breaks, yeah he might. And though he was rough at the start of the season, I thought Sylvester improved noticeably as the season went on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Since he was covering in the booth during Rick's breaks, yeah he might. And though he was rough at the start of the season, I thought Sylvester improved noticeably as the season went on. I would definitley see that as a demotion...plus, they say Ray is only going to be in the booth with Jeanerret for road games....RJ goes solo at home. That is not a ringing endorsement of Gare, Roby, or Neale. Wonder why they are scrapping Neale...like I said, I can take him or leave him, but he is a well regarded color guy, at least in Canada. It seems like they must have him under contract, but don't really want him? I have heard rumors that he and RJ are not exactly besties. Just strange. I agree with you... I think Sylvester did a credible job filling in for RJ. He is no RJ, but if, like me, you watch your hockey via Center Ice, and you hear some of the other broadcast teams throughout the league, you realize, the Sabres broadcast team has been pretty solid. Danny Gare, IMO, was one who got better the more games he did. He had some good insights, but sometimes took too long to make his point. He got better as the season went on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 RJ going solo at home is kind of weird. I'll never get a score update on the radio, for sure!...........It's his only flaw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 Alan Pergament's take on the changes: http://networkedblogs.com/yHpjZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I would definitley see that as a demotion...plus, they say Ray is only going to be in the booth with Jeanerret for road games....RJ goes solo at home. That is not a ringing endorsement of Gare, Roby, or Neale. Wonder why they are scrapping Neale...like I said, I can take him or leave him, but he is a well regarded color guy, at least in Canada. It seems like they must have him under contract, but don't really want him? I have heard rumors that he and RJ are not exactly besties. Just strange. I agree with you... I think Sylvester did a credible job filling in for RJ. He is no RJ, but if, like me, you watch your hockey via Center Ice, and you hear some of the other broadcast teams throughout the league, you realize, the Sabres broadcast team has been pretty solid. Danny Gare, IMO, was one who got better the more games he did. He had some good insights, but sometimes took too long to make his point. He got better as the season went on. I wonder if Neale has hit the point where he doesn't want to travel anymore. It wouldn't surprise me one bit since he's now 75. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I wonder if Neale has hit the point where he doesn't want to travel anymore. It wouldn't surprise me one bit since he's now 75. Yeah, you are right...didn't even really think of that scenario. I suppose, if team Pegula didn't want to use Neale, they could have just canned him...the money wasn't likely a factor. I kind of liked the old-timer feel he lent to the broadcasts, but I never felt that his knowledge of the Buffalo Sabres was more than surface, hence, the filler stuff that he usually spoke. As the linked Pergament column points out, he did have a good sense of humor. But even there, I think RJ has always had a sort of sublime sense of humor. RJ isn't the demented "puck-head" that he sometimes sounds like...he is actually pretty witty in ways that I am sure everyone does not pick up on. I think he and Neale just never had much chemestry in that area. It's weird. I moved away from Buffalo in 1988, so for most of my life, Ted Darling was the "voice of the Buffalo Sabres", while Van Miller the "voice of the Buffalo Bills". When I was a kid, if you had to hear Van Miller doing Bills games (or Braves games for that matter), or Rick Jeanerett doing Sabres games, it meant, basically, you were listening to them on the radio, and couldn't see them on tv. That never made me happy. So, I never appreciated RJ as much at that time...or Van Miller for that matter. Not to take anything away from Murphy, as I realize he has been involved with Bills radio, in some form or another for a long time, but I don't really hear anything very distinctive about the Bills radio broadcasts any more. When I hear the odd radio highlight on ESPN, or something, I have to listen really close to tell if it is Murphy, or the other teams announcing team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 The one thing I haven't seen mentioned is who will do the play-by-play for the 17 games RJ will not do next season. Pergament says it won't be Sylvester, who handled it last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 The one thing I haven't seen mentioned is who will do the play-by-play for the 17 games RJ will not do next season. Pergament says it won't be Sylvester, who handled it last year. Good. Kevin is pretty good in the studio but he's not a PbP guy at all. They need to get someone who has the chops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) Rick Jeanerett just announced he will do all of the Sabres games this coming season...says the decrease in back to backs made the schedule easier for him...missed the game a bit more than he anticipated last year, when he was off...excited about the season! Edited June 27, 2012 by Buftex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muffmonster Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Rick Jeanerett just announced he will do all of the Sabres games this coming season...says the decrease in back to backs made the schedule easier for him...missed the game a bit more than he anticipated last year, when he was off...excited about the season! Just heard that, excellent news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 This really is great news. Now only if Rob can remember to give people on the radio the score, everything will be perfect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Just heard that, excellent news! Still kind of unsure how I feel about them having Rick flying solo in the booth for home games. I guess Ray will be chirping in from the ice level. I never really liked that set up...but maybe it will be less cumbersome with two people than three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biglukes Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Still kind of unsure how I feel about them having Rick flying solo in the booth for home games. I guess Ray will be chirping in from the ice level. I never really liked that set up...but maybe it will be less cumbersome with two people than three. Ray will be kind of filling the Pierre McGuire role. Granted I want to drive a tire iron through my face everytime Pierre talks but Ray be filling the Harry Neale role just from the ice. As far as Rick and Harry's relationship, Rick said he's going to miss hanging out with Harry on the road a lot so I don't think there is any animosity between them at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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