Ray Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 I never said or implied he is a jerk--overall I like him. But taking one point in history and saying the tide has turned is ridiculous. The Bills are and always will be numero uno in this town by sheer numbers. Like I stated earlier---nobody around the country cares about hockey. It was beaten badly in the ratings by bowling and poker!!!! Bowling and poker! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6060400897.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbillsfan12 Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 They're not the voice of the Bills-sour grapes. I listened for a while & then turned it off & put the news on tv. I'm not a hockey fan & when they get into hockey, my streaming ends ASAP. The Bills are still king in Buffalo and always will be in terms of numbers. Many more people like football--it's just a fact. The Bills still lead the league in terms of households watching their team. I think it's great the Sabres are great and have a chance at the Cup. I just moved back to Buffalo and was very disappointed in WGR and all the hockey talk though. I frankly don't care about hockey in Sept-Jan. And nobody else around the country does either! Face it, it's a regoinal sport and a Canadian sport. What league gets dissed for poker? When ESPN and the ocho and all of its 1-8 channels does not want to carry your league's games b/c ratings are so bad---nobody cares. Again I think it's great the Sabres are doing well, but talk about it Feb through May/June when it matters. After 5 games they're talking about the Sabres here--it's like talking about the Bills after the first half of their first game. The fact the Bills have not fielded a great team since '99 is the main reason they haven't gotten as much support lately. Once the Bills go to the play-offs and have a good team the psyche will change. The Sabres would be out of here quickly for lack of interest if they went 7 seasons w/o a playoff appearance. It's nice that B'lo has a good team in the Sabres, but there is as much interest nationally as Rochester having the Raging Rhinos as a good soccer team. Nobody cares or knows b/c there is just no interest nationally. i totally agree, i'm canadian and i HATE hockey. maybe because up here hockey so overly hyped and saturates every sports cast that i can't stand the stupid sport anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olaf Fub Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Wow, I don't know if anyone was listening to Mike Schoop today but his show is just awful. If you don't agree with the topic - they don't let you on. What a bunch of pu$$y's. Buffalo needs another, unbiased sports talk show cause this station makes me sick. I agree 100%. Everything he talks about is just meaningless and vague. He seems to pick topics like, "Is Buffalo a hockeytown?" because they take little to no show prep. He belittles the people that call into his show. He thinks he's intelligent but he's just arrogant and snobbish. Who the hell wants to hear him talk about his new favorite French cheese or when he prattles on about American idol? He's negative about the Bills, not to make legitimate points but just for the sake of being negative. I love listening to sports talk about the Bills and Sabres but the afternoon show on WGR isn't worth my time. I really wish WGR's management would fire him. He must have an audience, however, or he wouldn't be on the air. It must be the DeLucas of the world; they seem to have a lot in common with Schopp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Every day it's the same crap from him. Today the topic was "2006 - the year Buffalo turned from the Bills town to the Sabres town." Yeah, right - look at the TV ratings. Bills ratings tower over Sabres ratings. I think they even beat out Sabres playoff ratings. He's a shill and a loser..........it's basically the same topic every day - different title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 It is sports talk radio. Don't believe for a moment that they believe half the things they say, they are trying to touch nerves to create a reaction. Which seems to be going swimmingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 If that were true, then why didn't I hear any dissenting opinions. I didn't listen to the whole show, but it seemed all they were putting on were people who agreed with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatdrinks Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 How about according to the Fans? The Bills had what? 25,000 - 30,000 empty seats? In what could be described as a unofficial playoff game. The Sabres are taking advantage of the fact that the NHL is a better product than the NFL right now. Right now the NFL is not even the best football product. That goes to college football. WNY fans relate more to the Sabres. Not just because they are winning. It's because the NHL is more "neighborhood". The NFL is 100% corporate. The NHL and Sabres are our dirty little secret. The NHL shut down for a year so that teams like the Sabres can exist. The NHL is tailored so a team like the Sabres can win it all. The NFL would rather forget small markets like WNY even exist. They would rather see teams in Mexico, Canada and Europe. Wow, you and Schopp must be best pals. I tried to call the show as well and the screener just tried arguing with me. The NHL can't even TOUCH the NFL. NFL football is more popular than the NHL because it's a BETTER GAME than hockey. Period. College football is okay, but the talent is too uneven. The NFL is the best of the best playing on Sunday. You are way off base. The Sabres are popular right now because they're winning and casual fans are paying attention. But they wouldn't get 50,000 fans to watch one of 40 odd home games on their best night. Citing a 5 year low turnout for a Bills game on Christmas eve is a stretch at best. What kind of TV ratings does a Bills game get compared to a Sabres game? It's probably not even in the same area code. Schopp saying the Sabres are more popular now and may be permanently is pure insanity. And nationally? I bet the vast majority of people in major cities around the USA couldn't tell you who won the Stanley Cup last year. Or even what that is! People around the globe know who won the Super Bowl. There's a reason it's more popular. Superior athletes playing a far more exciting and dramatic game. I can't think of a single hockey player who could last a minute in pro football. What a joke. Hockey is and always will be a third tier sport. I'd watch any two NFL teams play over watching a Sabres game. But WGR didn't want to hear that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurmal34 Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 "miracle" = 1 Jets Loss? Nice try buddy. Shouldn't you be looking up some facts before you post A few other things had to fall into place before that game even became relevant, Ace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitner20 Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 OMG talk about sour grapes. God.... Mike Schoop doesn't OWN wgr. He works for a radio station. If his Sabres talk was so unpopular and if his BOSS kept recieving calls and letters saying they hate hockey talk and want more Bills talk, then BELIEVE ME, he'd talk BILLS! What a joke of a thread this is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammered a Lot Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Wow, I don't know if anyone was listening to Mike Schoop today but his show is just awful. If you don't agree with the topic - they don't let you on. What a bunch of pu$$y's. Buffalo needs another, unbiased sports talk show cause this station makes me sick. When talking with the screener AGREE with topic then do a flip when talking with schoop. Mike might be talking a little less and playing MORE commercials $$$ http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2006/dec/dec27b_06.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLuca1967 Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 A few other things had to fall into place before that game even became relevant, Ace. And they all did, Ace If the Bills wouldn't have choked the game away Sunday then two things would have needed to happen. A Bills win and a Jets loss. That's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLuca1967 Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 OMG talk about sour grapes. God.... Mike Schoop doesn't OWN wgr. He works for a radio station. If his Sabres talk was so unpopular and if his BOSS kept recieving calls and letters saying they hate hockey talk and want more Bills talk, then BELIEVE ME, he'd talk BILLS! What a joke of a thread this is. Ding ding ding. Give the man a prize. WGR is a slave to the ratings and the callers. They sell advertising based on the number of listeners and callers to the shows. If you listen to WGR on a regular basis you would know that fans want to talk Sabres. Even on the Sunday football pregame show with White and Sullivan they get a ton of hockey calls. It's what people are interested in. If you need more proof? Catch the Bills on the NFL replay this weekend. The stadium looks like it's a preseason game with almost half the seats empty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLuca1967 Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Wow, you and Schopp must be best pals. I tried to call the show as well and the screener just tried arguing with me. The NHL can't even TOUCH the NFL. NFL football is more popular than the NHL because it's a BETTER GAME than hockey. Period. College football is okay, but the talent is too uneven. The NFL is the best of the best playing on Sunday. You are way off base. The Sabres are popular right now because they're winning and casual fans are paying attention. But they wouldn't get 50,000 fans to watch one of 40 odd home games on their best night. Citing a 5 year low turnout for a Bills game on Christmas eve is a stretch at best. What kind of TV ratings does a Bills game get compared to a Sabres game? It's probably not even in the same area code. Schopp saying the Sabres are more popular now and may be permanently is pure insanity. And nationally? I bet the vast majority of people in major cities around the USA couldn't tell you who won the Stanley Cup last year. Or even what that is! People around the globe know who won the Super Bowl. There's a reason it's more popular. Superior athletes playing a far more exciting and dramatic game. I can't think of a single hockey player who could last a minute in pro football. What a joke. Hockey is and always will be a third tier sport. I'd watch any two NFL teams play over watching a Sabres game. But WGR didn't want to hear that. Better game? 7 minutes of action surrounded by 3 & 1/2 hours of talking about what happened in the 7 minutes is better than 60 minutes of continuous action? I don't think so. The NFL is not the best football product available. The NFL doesn't draw 100,000 fans a game like the major college teams do. "the best of the best"? The NFL has a couple of really good teams, a couple of really bad teams and the rest are boring interchangeable teams. The talent level at the sports highest profile position, QB, is at an all time low. The NFL is a power nationally. No one would deny it. But it's not because of the product on the field. It's for two reasons. 1) Gambling. Take away people's ability to bet on NFL football and they lose half of the national interest right off the top. 2) Fantasy Football. This is the driving force behind the NFL ratings. It's why the NFL produces their games on TV more like a fantasy football tracker. Almost every play is followed up by a blitzkrieg of stats. Of course they do have 3 & 1/2 hours of down time to fill in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 I am a bigger football fan than I am a hockey fan - BUT I LOVE WATCHING HOCKEY NOW! It is an awesome game since the rule changes. Also, the Sabres are a fantastic team - not just good. I also don't feel depressed when watching them -as I do with the Bills. I feel like I am watching a slow funeral when I watch the Bills because of all the talk of them leaving. The Sabres are much more fun to watch and talk about. That is it. Enough said. Oh yeah, nobody mentioned that WGR has a contract with the Sabres to carry the games on their radio station. That may slant their programming choices as well. You can not fault them for that. So go cry in your pillows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical TBD Guy Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Wow, you and Schopp must be best pals. I tried to call the show as well and the screener just tried arguing with me. The NHL can't even TOUCH the NFL. NFL football is more popular than the NHL because it's a BETTER GAME than hockey. Period. College football is okay, but the talent is too uneven. The NFL is the best of the best playing on Sunday. You are way off base. The Sabres are popular right now because they're winning and casual fans are paying attention. But they wouldn't get 50,000 fans to watch one of 40 odd home games on their best night. Citing a 5 year low turnout for a Bills game on Christmas eve is a stretch at best. What kind of TV ratings does a Bills game get compared to a Sabres game? It's probably not even in the same area code. Schopp saying the Sabres are more popular now and may be permanently is pure insanity. And nationally? I bet the vast majority of people in major cities around the USA couldn't tell you who won the Stanley Cup last year. Or even what that is! People around the globe know who won the Super Bowl. There's a reason it's more popular. Superior athletes playing a far more exciting and dramatic game. I can't think of a single hockey player who could last a minute in pro football. What a joke. Hockey is and always will be a third tier sport. I'd watch any two NFL teams play over watching a Sabres game. But WGR didn't want to hear that. Yes, football is definitely a more popular overall sport than hockey in the United States...no doubt about that. But the world?! Most people in the world don't even know what American football is, let alone who won the Super Bowl; rugby has more international popularity than American football. And hockey is a very popular sport in most of Europe. Hockey is played in the Olympics; American football is not. Just curious, if hockey is a "3rd tier sport" as you say, what constitutes the 2nd tier to you? And how are you defining what sport belongs in what tier? Also, I don't understand how you can say pro football players are superior athletes to pro hockey players...apples and oranges. What's your definition of superior athleticism? Physical strength? Speed? Stamina? Agility? Some ideal combination of these categories? The vast majority of NFL players probably have better upper body strength and better track speed and agility (for the skill positions only), but I bet your average non-goalie NHL player has way better lower body strength and heart stamina than any pro football player at any position. I also don't think you really know much about hockey...and you clearly haven't played it before at a legitimate organized level. It is a very physically demanding sport, just slightly below wrestling, boxing, and mid-distance track running in terms of preparation at equivalent skill levels (junior, amateur, pro, etc...). Your comment about hockey players not lasting a minute in pro football, BTW, is simply retarded. I'm sure marathon runners, cyclists, basketball players, etc.. couldn't last a minute in the NFL either...what's your point? Could a big fat pro offensive guard play left wing in the NHL? Lots of pro hockey players tend to have the same body fat percentages as the pro football skill position players (8-10%), and many hockey defensemen (for example) approach the sizes of LB'ers...so some might actually be able to compete at the NFL if they had started playing football since childhood. One final note regarding the popularity of the two leagues among WNYers: in as little as half a decade from now, the NFL will be going the way of MLB in terms of the big market haves vs. small market have-nots. Once Ralph Wilson dies, the Bills are pretty much as good as gone from Buffalo (like 90% probability ). The most significant remaining pro sport team in Western NY will be the Sabres, who now play in a very competitive league with a salary cap structure similar to the NFL of the 90's. Golisano currently has the Sabres at the cap limit and competing for the President's Trophy/Stanley Cup. Wilson, meanwhile, will have $40 million in salary cap space and yet still expects to replace guys like Nate Clements with guys like Ashton Youboty . BOTTOM LINE: if and when the Sabres win their first Stanley Cup, Buffalo's alleged reputation as a hockey town will become permanent and inarguable. Expect the Bills, meanwhile, to continue fumbling and bumbling and generally finding new ways to not make the playoffs up until the Snyders and Jerry J a$$clowns force them out of WNY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunTheBall Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 This topic always comes up when the Sabres start playing well and Buffalo is mediocre. Buffalo is, always was, and always will be a Buffalo Bills town (unless they move, of course). When Ralph hits the box, I wouldn't be surprised if Gallisano steps up to the big leagues along with some minority investors (Jimbo). On another note, I knew Mike pretty well growing up. He always wanted to be a play-by-play guy and was pretty knowledgeable about sports. He's just playing the "sports talk radio" game like they all do. I'd say its smart marketing to aggravate a portion of your audience to the point where they go on a Bills message board to voice their displeasure at your show. Tune in, lemmings! RTB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risin Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Schopp is as clueless as DeLuca, in fact I think they're the same moron. He has refused to give Losman credit, and after the Titans game basically said JP looked rattled at the end of the game. I agree JP looked rattled, could it be because the staff didn't get the 4th down play into him until 20 seconds were left on the play clock? This dude looks like he got hit in the face with a bag of hot tar, and was the PA announcer of his HS football team. Also, I heard he wrote about gardening in Rochester. Anyone who takes his opinion on any sport seriously... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLuca1967 Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Schopp is as clueless as DeLuca, in fact I think they're the same moron. He has refused to give Losman credit, and after the Titans game basically said JP looked rattled at the end of the game. I agree JP looked rattled, could it be because the staff didn't get the 4th down play into him until 20 seconds were left on the play clock? This dude looks like he got hit in the face with a bag of hot tar, and was the PA announcer of his HS football team. Also, I heard he wrote about gardening in Rochester. Anyone who takes his opinion on any sport seriously... So you are mad at Schoop for saying that Loseman was rattled? Yet you agree with him? Loseman was rattled. Watch the NFL Replay. 2 and 6 he throws a 1 yard pass. 3 and 5 he has one man to beat on the outside but throws an uncatchable ball to the sidelines. 4 and 5 was just sad all around. That whole series was a gift to the Titans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalobillsfootball Posted December 30, 2006 Author Share Posted December 30, 2006 So you are mad at Schoop for saying that Loseman was rattled? Yet you agree with him? Loseman was rattled. Watch the NFL Replay. 2 and 6 he throws a 1 yard pass. 3 and 5 he has one man to beat on the outside but throws an uncatchable ball to the sidelines. 4 and 5 was just sad all around. That whole series was a gift to the Titans. *Really* hard not to think "DeLuca1967" doesn't have some connection to WGR55. He's the only one really going out of his way to defend the station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalobillsfootball Posted December 30, 2006 Author Share Posted December 30, 2006 Here you go. http://www.forbes.com/business/2006/11/09/...09nhlintro.html You're throwing a lot against the wall but none of it's sticking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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