Howard Simon "Winding down" from WGR

[K-9]

47 minutes ago, Joe Ferguson said:

Then I don't give a darn.

I put those two over the 3 stooges, Marx Brothers and Laurel & Hardy as the comedic geniuses. 

Yeah, they were real craftsmen. It’s interesting to note that their routine was taken from a vaudeville routine in the early 1900s, which was based on the premise of two cities in a country named Which and What. But A&C refined it to the art piece it became. It literally never gets old and in my book, that’s the true test of comedy. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

1 hour ago, TheFunPolice said:

There is an art to being calm, sounding in control, asking good questions and actually letting other people speak that is lost on so many young broadcasters. These younger guys on WGR all sound like they're barking for attention, talking over everyone and anyone to get their voices on the air. It's unlistenable at times. 

Listening to a couple of the guys talking sports on WBNY 91.3 Buffalo State this afternoon.  If they're in the pipeline to go to WGR after graduation, sports talk radio is in trouble in River City.

*
(I wasn't looking for sports talk.  Was hoping for that eclectic mix that college radio often provides.)

[JohnNord]

I liked Howard.  His shows were never “must listen” but he did a really job as a radio host and was perfect for Buffalo.  
 

Sneaky Joe DiBiase is probably his replacement.  I think he’s ok, though ideally I’d like to see WGR bring in someone new.  But he’s young and radio is cheap, so he’ll get the job.

 

[Not at the table Karlos]

1 hour ago, TheFunPolice said:

Harsh opinion maybe but Howard is a professional on a station that sounds like a bunch of amateurs. He will be missed greatly. 

 

The rest of the well-known guys on WGR are cookie cutter radio characters who exist in every market in some form. Sad but true. 

 

Jeremy: the yappy know it all, younger sidekick guy who pokes fun at the real broadcaster because he's older 

Bulldog: the rough around the edges but likeable enough fan who is on the radio

Schopp: the "I know everything" heel character (perfect for pairing with the friendly fan guy in Bulldog)  

Sal: the team apologist who loves everyone and everything and it's all great all the time, which is... look it...  

 

Jeremy was better before, but now he talks over everyone (including Howard) way too much, which is probably where the younger guys on the station learned that from. 

 

There is an art to being calm, sounding in control, asking good questions and actually letting other people speak that is lost on so many young broadcasters. These younger guys on WGR all sound like they're barking for attention, talking over everyone and anyone to get their voices on the air. It's unlistenable at times. 

 

 

 

 

Has Jeremy's super secret source ever been right? I don't listen all the time but the times I have heard him say his source said something it was always wrong. 

[Solomon Grundy]

Who am I going to listen to whine about the Mets now?? Pick the Bills record?? Congratulations on your retirement!! 

[Buffalo Super Fan]

Good luck to Howard Simon on retirement. I haven’t listen to WGR 550 sports radio regularly in years. Why BSF because there not as good as in the past? That is part of it but also the blame is ESPN+ streaming why I don’t listen. I have no time. I watch every Buffalo Big 4 basketball game either live or archived of UB Bulls, St Bonaventure Bonnies, Canisius Golden Griffins and Niagara Purple Eagles remember I am old I follow all the Big 4 basketball programs at the old Buffalo Memorial Auditorium with Little Three doubleheaders that is still a big deal for my Buffalo sports generation. Then the Buffalo Bandits, Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Bisons, New York Yankees if I have the time the Buffalo Beauts along with local women’s basketball teams tell me when I have the time to listen to WGR 550? Plus what would I get out of listening? I watched what happened with my own two eyes the local Buffalo sports teams I can form my own opinion. Add in book reading of Buffalo sports why would someone with my knowledge want to turn that nonsense on?
 

That is why I am BSF I am my own sports talk radio. I don’t need to read the Buffalo News because I am old like the Buffalo media greats of Buffalo. I am not getting anything out of outsiders that are 43 years old Jeremy White. I don’t care about English soccer and I can’t stand that cheat Jim Boeheim Syracuse basketball so Jeremy White doesn’t add anything neither does Sal who is loyal to Syracuse Orange no switch off WGR 550 radio. Again good luck to them but no. Buffalo is the greatest place on earth and that is all I care about improving us Western New York. BSF what about Rochester? Regardless of what PSE says about Rochester sports they are the enemy to this Buffalo Bisons and Buffalo Bandits fan. But BSF they help support the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres? Which is fine but they are outsiders during baseball and lacrosse season.
 

BSF aren’t we going to change you that way? No the Rochester Red Wings are the Miami Dolphins or New England Patriots to this Buffalo Bisons fan if the Buffalo Bisons win 20-0 over the Rochester Red Wings I wish it was 21-0 as a Buffalo Bisons fan. I am old and I am not changing March 31 Bisons baseball they are the greatest team on earth 1877 and counting 14 championships take that Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres fans have standards like BSF has with expecting winners or someone should be fired or traded for failure in my opinion. Go Bisons! Let’s Go Buffalo 

[Niagara Bill]

The real issue with all GR guys is they do not establish insider relationships with Bills or Sabres. Thus you never really get truth, scoops, insider opinions or perspective. You get talk and some observations. Even pregame on field is only observation.

All the good stuff goes to national guys. 

I don't think most of them even could find their way to the Big Tree Inn. 

Awe, the good old days when Ralph's secretary spilled the beans, and The Coach Dickerson and Artie upset the Bills because they had some scoops.( not that I liked Dickerson).

Good luck to Howard!

[Big Turk]

Going to be sad not hearing the sing-song commercials read by Howard that you constantly hear on WGR...

[Nextmanup]

18 hours ago, TheFunPolice said:

Harsh opinion maybe but Howard is a professional on a station that sounds like a bunch of amateurs. He will be missed greatly. 

 

The rest of the well-known guys on WGR are cookie cutter radio characters who exist in every market in some form. Sad but true. 

 

Jeremy: the yappy know it all, younger sidekick guy who pokes fun at the real broadcaster because he's older 

Bulldog: the rough around the edges but likeable enough fan who is on the radio

Schopp: the "I know everything" heel character (perfect for pairing with the friendly fan guy in Bulldog)  

Sal: the team apologist who loves everyone and everything and it's all great all the time, which is... look it...  

 

Jeremy was better before, but now he talks over everyone (including Howard) way too much, which is probably where the younger guys on the station learned that from. 

 

There is an art to being calm, sounding in control, asking good questions and actually letting other people speak that is lost on so many young broadcasters. These younger guys on WGR all sound like they're barking for attention, talking over everyone and anyone to get their voices on the air. It's unlistenable at times. 

 

 

 

 

Great post!  As someone who listens to GR-55 quite a bit, I have to strongly agree with everything you are saying here.

 

I like Mike a lot more than most here do, but what I notice about him is that he actually has an anti-social edge to his broadcasting.  He assumes a confrontational stance against most callers, most of the time, by nature.

 

A few days ago, a caller called in and started by saying "Hi, this is ____ calling from (whatever geographical location in the USA).   He then stopped with an awkward pause, delaying the show; this annoyed Mike.

He immediately snapped back in a very annoyed tone: "That's fine; you can be from wherever you want to be; we don't care; you can be from wherever you want; what's your comment!"

 

It was just very snarly and I was like "God man, calm the F down!"  I get that we do NOT need to know the guy's name; and we do NOT need to know where he's from; we do NOT need to know that this is the first time he is calling, and every caller definitely does NOT need to ask the guys how they are doing!

 

But gosh Mike, calm down a little.  About just a quick: "Thanks, what's your comment?"

 

NOT talking over fellow broadcasters is Broadcasting 101.  Do these kids on their air go to broadcasting programs at colleges anymore?

 

I thought they all tended to come from Buff State.

 

 

[Nextmanup]

On 8/22/2022 at 12:15 PM, LabattBlue said:

I think this is because he longs to be hired by the Bills.  Unfortunately, Chris Brown is in that role, and he probably won’t be going anywhere for a long time. 

First, he IS a jock sniffer, by nature.  He likes to think he is a part of the team and he gets off on that.

 

But he already IS hired by the Bills.  His sideline reporting on the radio during games is paid for by the Bills.

 

He would not say anything bad about the team, however, because of who he is--a guy from Buffalo who grew up loving the Bills; bit of a conflict of interest for someone who is supposed to be a "reporter" on GR-55...but that's the world we live in now.

 

 

[May Day 10]

On 2/15/2023 at 12:33 PM, Nextmanup said:

LOL; Jeremy and Sal are among the worst; the smartest is Schopp, though he's also highly disliked because he's self-centered, arrogant, and treats idiot callers like idiots.

 

Howard was great, but for years now, he has missed a TON of time.  He's always taking days off.

 

I think his last day is March 3rd....enjoy him until he's gone.

 

There really isn't anyone left in Buffalo sports radio talk worth listening to for the most part.

 

I like Schopp a lot more than others, but it's getting to the point where ALL HE DISCUSSES is gambling aspects of sports, which I have zero interest in..

Of course, both segments are long gone now and instead we get gambling experts talking about how to throw your money away on sports.

 

 

I agree on schopp.  Overall, I appreciate his approach to sports.  Everything needs to be backed up and proven.  Nobody has any time to suffer through some fan's trade proposal for connor mcdavid.

 

 

But man, I can't listen to the constant gambling and fantasy talk.  It's just boring radio.  Maybe have an hour dedicated show to it or something. 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

4 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

Great post!  As someone who listens to GR-55 quite a bit, I have to strongly agree with everything you are saying here.

 

I like Mike a lot more than most here do, but what I notice about him is that he actually has an anti-social edge to his broadcasting.  He assumes a confrontational stance against most callers, most of the time, by nature.

 

A few days ago, a caller called in and started by saying "Hi, this is ____ calling from (whatever geographical location in the USA).   He then stopped with an awkward pause, delaying the show; this annoyed Mike.

He immediately snapped back in a very annoyed tone: "That's fine; you can be from wherever you want to be; we don't care; you can be from wherever you want; what's your comment!"

 

It was just very snarly and I was like "God man, calm the F down!"  I get that we do NOT need to know the guy's name; and we do NOT need to know where he's from; we do NOT need to know that this is the first time he is calling, and every caller definitely does NOT need to ask the guys how they are doing!

 

But gosh Mike, calm down a little.  About just a quick: "Thanks, what's your comment?"

 

NOT talking over fellow broadcasters is Broadcasting 101.  Do these kids on their air go to broadcasting programs at colleges anymore?

 

I thought they all tended to come from Buff State.

 

 

I have listened to WGR going back to Chuck Dickerson in the 1990's. 

 

I think outside of Bulldog when he does the show solo, all hosts on WGR cannot stay calm when a caller disagrees with them. 

 

Howard can't help himself, he must butt in immediately, Jeremy cannot handle it, Schopp runs you off the air, of course all the young guns want to talk over you. 

 

Now, the station takes 10 calls, about 6 of them are basic takes about the refs, old references to the league Dungy replaced by Gruden with the Bucs, Andre Reed was a 4th Rounder, Brady was a 6th Rounder, Marv quotes and references, etc. 

 

I don't know about you, but what irks me about Howard, is this constant, I'm fat, I'm out of shape, you should see me try and do a pushup haha, I don't eat any vegetables. I just don't see Howard or Bulldog really bring any preparation to the show. When Schopp or Jeremy set the topic, set-up the boundaries, they can respond when prompted. 

 

In summary, I generally defend hosts like Jeremy and Schopp because they are the brains for their respective shows. They set the table. They come with the topics. They come with some semblance of data. Now, when Mike talks about the draft. he makes it sound like he has all the answers, even though he doesn't do any actual investigation into the prospects. Jeremy has become a record player of don't punt, never run the ball, go for all 4th downs, relating everything to a golf analogy. 

 

I think Schopp and Bulldog has become formulaic (football season), with the same hosts in the same time slots every week. As others have mentioned, the constant betting, Schopp with the constant references to Vegas as the source of truth, of course the fantasy football. 

 

But I'd rather listen to local, because the national scene with Dan Patrick, Cowherd, Mike Greenberg are all guys who have been in the roles for 20+ years. ESPN is nothing but ranking players constantly. Cowherd is the same 4-topics every single day, and Dan Patrick just tries to bait every guest into saying something. 

[Royale with Cheese]

Howard’s Farewell.  It got pretty emotional!  I will miss him.  He was the first Buffalo Sports radio guy I listened to back in the Empire days.  Good luck Howard!

 

https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/sports/news/listen-a-fond-farewell-from-howard-simon?fbclid=IwAR0_zmTOuTVJEZlvAf73Zr_YxgimuDs4w8wfEhOjQyrWOTwOm88x3MKqUy0

[LabattBlue]

I miss WBEN back in the day with “One on One Sports” hosted by Murphy who at some point hired Howard and then the Bulldog. Howard then was at WNSA along with Shoop for a few years before they went under. 
 

 

http://blog.buffalostories.com/tag/wnsa/

 

 

Both were far superior to the crap coming out of WGR nowadays.  How times and the sports talk format has changed. 😞

Edited March 4, 2023 by LabattBlue

[John Gianelli]

I lived in the Philly area for nine years, and I believe the host who sets the standard for sports talk radio is Jody McDonald (Jody Mac) of WIP, who also has a gig at WFAN and subs at times on CBS Sports Radio. He knows sports (his dad was a MLB exec), he has a good knowledge of many different sports, he stays away from politics, he is conversational, and he respects the callers unless they say something outrageously stupid. We don't have anyone like him in Buffalo. Way back in the 1970s Stan Barron with Free Form Sports was the closest that I can recall.

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

Howard seems like a nice guy, wish him well. Obviously he is a true radio professional and understands how an on air program should move technically. Probably could have done radio of any genre. He certainly leaned hard into the old man, nerd guy. It was overkill at times and never once funny. My biggest issue with him is he simply knew nothing about sports. Maybe his schedule of having to get up early for the show made it hard for him to stay awake to watch? Or maybe he just didn’t think he had to try because he was around for so long. Him picking the Bills was such a big thing to those guys. They could have had the janitor pick the games and it’d be most likely more sensible.
 

If you are a true die hard sports fan, it’s tough to find sports talk shows where you feel Impressed with their opinions. Other than the guys on gambling shows or a few film breakdown/old GM types…you usually aren’t hearing anything that moves the needle. But when it’s painfully clear that a guy knows close to zero, it’s tough. Jeremy is horrible. He tries to be like Schopp and succeeds by being wrong constantly. Coming up with ludicrous or factually incorrect statements to then use as reasoning for opinions is aggravating. Sal is certainly a homer, nobody can fight against that. But you can hear it in his voice because of how often he is frustrated by these WGR takes. Sal knows what he’s talking about but I think he gets handcuffed by not wanting to step on toes. I have heard him get very upset with Schopp before because these guys on WGR, truly are clueless about most things. It’s as if, Schopp, Jeremy and the most used young guy (they all

sound the same) all get together and just decide the narratives to push.
 

Never punting and going for 2 constantly, thinking defense doesn’t matter, wanting to pass every down, only wanting offensive HC etc. It’s like they take a tiny idea that has validity in certain situations and just run it to intolerable levels. And nobody can say anything to change their minds. A punt is a turnover…..That’s something that you’d hear an 8 year old say. These guys really talk that way.

[Nextmanup]

On 2/15/2023 at 5:54 PM, Solomon Grundy said:

Who am I going to listen to whine about the Mets now?? Pick the Bills record?? Congratulations on your retirement!! 

Howard indicated he would continue to come on the air (on Tuesdays I think) and do his "Howard Picks the Bills" segment each week during Bill season.

 

Not sure if this is what you meant!

 

 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

1 hour ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Howard seems like a nice guy, wish him well. Obviously he is a true radio professional and understands how an on air program should move technically. Probably could have done radio of any genre. He certainly leaned hard into the old man, nerd guy. It was overkill at times and never once funny. My biggest issue with him is he simply knew nothing about sports. Maybe his schedule of having to get up early for the show made it hard for him to stay awake to watch? Or maybe he just didn’t think he had to try because he was around for so long. Him picking the Bills was such a big thing to those guys. They could have had the janitor pick the games and it’d be most likely more sensible.
 

If you are a true die hard sports fan, it’s tough to find sports talk shows where you feel Impressed with their opinions. Other than the guys on gambling shows or a few film breakdown/old GM types…you usually aren’t hearing anything that moves the needle. But when it’s painfully clear that a guy knows close to zero, it’s tough. Jeremy is horrible. He tries to be like Schopp and succeeds by being wrong constantly. Coming up with ludicrous or factually incorrect statements to then use as reasoning for opinions is aggravating. Sal is certainly a homer, nobody can fight against that. But you can hear it in his voice because of how often he is frustrated by these WGR takes. Sal knows what he’s talking about but I think he gets handcuffed by not wanting to step on toes. I have heard him get very upset with Schopp before because these guys on WGR, truly are clueless about most things. It’s as if, Schopp, Jeremy and the most used young guy (they all

sound the same) all get together and just decide the narratives to push.
 

Never punting and going for 2 constantly, thinking defense doesn’t matter, wanting to pass every down, only wanting offensive HC etc. It’s like they take a tiny idea that has validity in certain situations and just run it to intolerable levels. And nobody can say anything to change their minds. A punt is a turnover…..That’s something that you’d hear an 8 year old say. These guys really talk that way.

Yeah Brianmorman4jesus, I hear you. 
 

I’m mean look at most of us, it’s Saturday morning and we’re posting on a Bills board, looking again at Combine numbers, looking scouting reports of Josh Bloom to see if the Sabres gave away a good prospect, we’re fans.

 

I agree with a lot of what you’ve wrote here.

 

Over the years I do think Howard prepared less and less for the show. There were less notes he took from the Bills games that made the radio. He did lean into the self-deprecating, I’m fat, I’m old, I never work out, I’ll eat 6 doughnuts before a piece of broccoli hahaha schtick.

 

And you’re right about WGR and narratives. That was the word I used in my last call with Howard and Jeremy after the Dolphins game, where they were going on and on about “no layups” in this offense but then simultaneously wanting Josh to check it down more often. They complained about how there is no run game, despite never wanting to run. 
 

It ties in with another point you made about listening to real experts break down film. You know that Dorsey schemed checkdowns into the offense because Kurt Warner showed you the play design on film and explained in detail the nuance of each play. 
 

But when you take that to Howard and Jeremy and site your source you get run off the air. 
 

Callers will reference old saying by Marv Levy, or talk about how important fullbacks are, or how the Sabres need an enforcer, or they’ll start crying on the air and they’ll get time. 
 

You make a technical point, you better make it quick and get off the air.

 

Jeremy and Joe have ADHD as they bounce around from the Madden cast, Everton soccer, golf documentaries, and Twitter statistics. 
 

Schopp has been on a crusade this week about how teams don’t know who is going to be good or bad in the draft. 
 

With all that said, your large National programs are even more limited in scope. It’s Cowboys, Aaron Rodgers, Lakers, Mahomes blowing, Russell Westbrook bashing. 

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by Straight Hucklebuck

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

On 2/16/2023 at 10:06 AM, Big Turk said:

Going to be sad not hearing the sing-song commercials read by Howard that you constantly hear on WGR...

The chorus from the 'Brothers of Mercy' jingle is chomping at the bit, in anticipation of their increased revenue.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

14 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

The chorus from the 'Brothers of Mercy' jingle is chomping at the bit, in anticipation of their increased revenue.

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