The Dean Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 I think the suits at WGR are wasting him, using him as a pinch hitter when he should be their lead off hitter. I'm betting Sal will go national at some point soon. He's too good and WGR is the minor leagues. What happened to Howard Simon? I enjoyed him when he was in the FM station. He didn't deal in fake controversy, talked sports and was pretty thoughtful. Discussing multiple sides of a situation isn't very common (or popular, apparently) on radio talk shows. I know he went to GR, but I never hear about him or read about him on TSW.
jester43 Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) this will probably get my membership revoked, but i love Schopp. I don't always agree with him but he's always interesting to me. even when he talks about stuff i can't stand, like card collecting, baseball and tennis. sal's cool for Xs and Os, but I like the afternoon show the way it is. Sal and Schopp was pretty good last week. I think it is really weird how panty-wadded some of you guys get of WGR, and sports media guys in general (Buff news). You get so threatened when you hear something you don't like...so funny. Really I like all the guys who write and talk about the Sabres I can honestly say I enjoy them all. I wish I didn't feel like I was the only one. Edited August 28, 2014 by jester43
PromoTheRobot Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 What happened to Howard Simon? I enjoyed him when he was in the FM station. He didn't deal in fake controversy, talked sports and was pretty thoughtful. Discussing multiple sides of a situation isn't very common (or popular, apparently) on radio talk shows. I know he went to GR, but I never hear about him or read about him on TSW. He's okay. But all of WGR is amateur hour compared to almost any sports talk radio station you can think of. From the hosts to the production value of their shows. Sounds like high school radio at times. Ironically they are owned by Entercom, a company with other sports stations in bigger markets. I listen to WEEI in Boston and they are 100X better. (WGR does share the same voice guy and show bumpers as WEEI.)
Beerball Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 Does that make me a self-hating Wop? I'm part of the same group!
May Day 10 Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 the program director(s) at WGR are at fault. Howard Simon "plays" a bumbling everyman oaf. When he gets taken off character and he actually adds insight you see how knowledgeable he really is. For some reason they make him conceal that whil Jeremy White talks loudly about what HE believes.
Helpmenow Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 JW is getting old with me. Somebody needs to take him to task.
PromoTheRobot Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 the program director(s) at WGR are at fault. Howard Simon "plays" a bumbling everyman oaf. When he gets taken off character and he actually adds insight you see how knowledgeable he really is. For some reason they make him conceal that whil Jeremy White talks loudly about what HE believes. I do get the feeling sometime that the suits at 'GR tell the hosts to goad listeners to react with some of the nonsense they say.
PastaJoe Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) Howard Simon is my favorite host, I've liked him since the Empire Sports days. Humorous yet informative, and willing to allow debate. I don't mind negative comments about the sports teams, they're well deserved,but what I don't like about Schoop and Jeremy White is how they talk down to callers with different opinions. Sal can be a bit of a know-it-all at times, but he's fair to callers. I also like Matthew Collier, and Brian Kozial does a nice, fair job on Sabres game nights. Edited August 28, 2014 by PastaJoe
26CornerBlitz Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) I do get the feeling sometime that the suits at 'GR tell the hosts to goad listeners to react with some of the nonsense they say. The only one at WGR I have this feeling about is Schopp. I sometimes find myself wondering if really believes half of the stuff he puts out there. I think his role is to be an out of the box provocateur. I tune out many times when he reaches the point of insufferability. Edited August 28, 2014 by 26CornerBlitz
May Day 10 Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 the worst was the schopp/bulldog melodrama for weeks after the Junior Seau tragedy.
PolishDave Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) The only one at WGR I have this feeling about is Schopp. I sometimes find myself wondering if really believes half of the stuff he puts out there. I think his role is to be an out of the box provocateur. I tune out many times when he reaches the point of insufferability. You and Promo are right on about that. I have no doubt that he says a lot of what he says just to get under people's skin. He gets clicks like Rodak. That is his job. A lot of people used to listen to "The Coach" even though they absolutely hated him. A lot of people listen to Rush Limbaugh even though they absolutely hate him. It is the nature of the media business to stir up emotions. Newspapers and news television do the same thing. That is why people say the news is biased. The more emotions they stir up in people, the more addicted people become to listening to them. Yes, even when someone completely disagrees with them. They are mindfu**ing people at a primal level and people don't even realize it. The more people talk about him on forums like this one, the more he will get paid by his employer, even though 95% of the comments are negative against him. Edited August 28, 2014 by PolishDave
The Dean Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 I do get the feeling sometime that the suits at 'GR tell the hosts to goad listeners to react with some of the nonsense they say. I think that's simply the way of talk-radio, these days. Reasoned discussion is, apparently boring, these days, though I don't think it's given much of a chance. One show succeeds with rude hosts, fake controversy long rants, and then come the copycats. Radio program directors are a clueless lot, in general. You can see it happen on TV, too, Pardon the Interruption was very successful and had two guys often taking opposing positions. Now that seems to be the formula for every panel. Around the Horn? The two morons who scream at each other on the AM show? PTI succeeded because the hosts were articulate, funny and work very well together (they often agree completely, who'd a thunk that was allowed?). But apparently you can put any two, or six, morons on camera and tell them to shout at each other--and to take an extreme a position as possible.
The Big Cat Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 I got a warning point for posting that like two years ago! And my use was much, much funnier. **On a football note, I just cannot for the life of me figure out why so many people are over the moon for !@#$ing Tannehill. In my opinion, him and EJ are perfectly analogous, yet the world the world apparently flipped a coin: heads we hate Tannehill and always give EJ the benefit of the doubt, and the damn thing came up tails.
Campy Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 Sal's one of my favorites. I don't always agree with him, but I know his takes are not just to stir things up. He's a Buffalo fan who can still be objective, but he's also genuinely enthusiastic and generally optimistic. I was scrolling down to the "Reply" button when and noticed eball said - almost verbatim - what i was going to post. Sal is very good, I'm definitely a fan of his.
SRQ_BillsFan Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 I live in Florida but am working in Charlotte. I'm not 100% sure it was a Charlotte station I was listening to but the host was telling every caller they were dumb. He would then say it was not their fault because it was genetics from his/her dumb parents mating. He would then get in an argument with each person hang up and question why they were all upset. It never dawned on him he just insulted people's entire family? In the end it was worth it because I heard a commercial for Sahlen's hotdogs available at a local supermarket, stopped in and bought a few lbs to take home. Forgot about all of the local transplants here. What else can I get from WNY in the Charlotte area to take back to florida? Should have looked for Webbers mustard, damn.
beerme1 Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 Sal is the only listenable guy on that station. I imagine them sitting in the break room all laughing with each other and acting like they are all top notch. None of them except Sal have a future anywhere but Buffalo. Jeremy White, Bauch ... Not funny at all. Cringe worthy embarrassing. When was the last time the station broke a story? You've not listened in a while I take it. Greg B has been gone about a year now I think. I did find him funny. I think the suits at WGR are wasting him, using him as a pinch hitter when he should be their lead off hitter. I'm betting Sal will go national at some point soon. He's too good and WGR is the minor leagues. I think they're using/abusing him like they did Brad Riter before he got fed up and left. Kind of like hey we need you to work Wednesday morning show. Thursday afternoon show. Fill in for John Murphy Friday night and then be ready for your own show Saturday also. I actually thought Joe B would go national a couple years ago. I don't feel that way anymore. I think he's slipped some and the hate on for EJ warranted or not is coming off poorly from just a commentary basis.
hullhawk Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) I think the thing thats missing from this discussion is the all mighty dollar. THE ONLY thing the suits care about is ratings, because ratings=Advertising dollars. Schopp and the Bulldog consistently win that spot. WHY? becasue its commute time and as much as we ALL HATE the hosts.(more on that later), we all Have no choice if we want to listen to pure LOCAL sports talk. With everything going on, (preseason, cuts, new stadium, New ownership, Harbor center, etc ) I at least tune in for a half anhour and listen on the way home at least through 1 update. I think Most ofus are like that. So no matter how much we hate it, it wins, and thats all advertisers care about ishow many people are going to hear my ad. I hate Shcopp for all of the reasons that everyone mentions. I don't mind critisicm when I feel the person knows what the hell they are talking about, and Schopp clearly dosn't. He's talking about never punting and running fake plays, and all this high school crap. THAT will not work at the NFL level. Even if you got the 1st down 1/2 the time, that means your giving your oponent points half the time... and NOT by any stretch guaranteeing that you will get points half the time too, its stupid. it just won't work in the long term. And fake punts don't work if the other team KNOWS your going to do it. He thinks Madden=Real life. He thinks he is just SOOO much smarter than football people. He acts like NOONE has ever tried this. THEY have, it failed, and they were fired. Its real easy to tell someone to go for it, and never punt when its not YOUR JOB on the line or your familiies future. Its just maddeing to listen to him espouse this stuff like a bored roman dictator who simply wants to be entertained. Its not just the fact that he isn't a fan of the Bills, he dosn't much care for Football or the league. He thinks punting from the 45 is a bad idea. I don't if you have a good punter, and a good defense you cna pin your opponent deep, and the chances of stopping him go way up. The chances of a defensive TD go way up. Its the high percentage play. Its not exciting... Now punting from the opponent 45 in the 4th quarter when your trailing by 2 is a bad idea.... MY best hope would be SAL and joe in the afternoons, with Hamilton sitting in during hockey season. Edited August 28, 2014 by hullhawk
bananathumb Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 I think the suits at WGR are wasting him, using him as a pinch hitter when he should be their lead off hitter. I'm betting Sal will go national at some point soon. He's too good and WGR is the minor leagues. Oh my god!
jester43 Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 hullhawk, your comments are interesting. because you disagree with him about sports you HATE him. I don't quite get that, but you fit in really well here!
TheFunPolice Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) Did I read that JB is an EJ "hater?" A "hater" is someone who tries to downplay somebody's accomplishments and minimize their accomplishments by explaining them away. Reporting what is obvious to anyone who is watching (that EJ is struggling badly) is not being a "hater." What amazing things is EJ doing that are being explained away or overlooked? Part of the reason so many people are so down on WGR is that the station's job is to report on the Bills. The Bills have been one of the worst teams in the NFL for the past 15 years. Like I mentioned before, if you just graduated high school you have no recollection of the Bills EVER being a playoff team. When that is the situation, there isn't much sunshine to pass around. That's what John Murphy is for. Everything is sunshine, rainbows and good vibes with him. Personally, I find that far more insulting than someone ripping bad decisions, bad players, and bad coaches. Don't believe your lyin eyes... this team is great! EJ is great! Marrone is great! As far as Sal, he's okay but as a couple others mentioned he is just as arrogant as Schopp. It's just that he is more positive toward the team, so people like him more. It's simple really: fans want to hear good stuff about the teams they love. The reality of Bills football has been pretty bleak for a long time now. Edited August 28, 2014 by TheFunPolice
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