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The John Murphy Game


Stads

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Welcome to the John Murphy Game! I don't listen too often, but there is something I notice each time. He asks questions in a way where the only possible response is to agree with him. For example, when the whole "where could a new stadium be built" discussion was in full swing, John had on a reporter from Rochester. With regards to a stadium being built in Batavia, John asked, "You got to think a stadium in Batavia would be better for people in Rochester, right?" What is the gentleman supposed to say to that? He also asked Chris Brown one time, "If the defense can improve, this team should have a better chance for more wins, right?" The John Murphy Game consists of coming up with questions John would ask for certain guests, either football related or not. For example, he might ask O.J. Simpson, "It was probably a bad idea to commit armed robbery in Vegas, am I right?"

 

P.S. It's the off-season, so I'm bored.

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I used to listen just about every day for the first couple years, but I haven't listened for at least 6 months, as I got a little tired of the Bills sales pitch in every show, and there are just a finite amount of interesting guests about a limited topic such as Bills Football to fill a 250 shows per year demand. I have started listening again the last couple days, when I heard that the format is changing a little. I liked it when he would include his producer Jay into the conversation, so I think the guest host will really improve the show.

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Welcome to the John Murphy Game! I don't listen too often, but there is something I notice each time. He asks questions in a way where the only possible response is to agree with him. For example, when the whole "where could a new stadium be built" discussion was in full swing, John had on a reporter from Rochester. With regards to a stadium being built in Batavia, John asked, "You got to think a stadium in Batavia would be better for people in Rochester, right?" What is the gentleman supposed to say to that? He also asked Chris Brown one time, "If the defense can improve, this team should have a better chance for more wins, right?" The John Murphy Game consists of coming up with questions John would ask for certain guests, either football related or not. For example, he might ask O.J. Simpson, "It was probably a bad idea to commit armed robbery in Vegas, am I right?"

P.S. It's the off-season, so I'm bored.

Sometimes people use those types of questions as a way to sum up and confirm someone's meaning. In your first example think of it as him saying "Okay, what you're saying is that you'd like to see the new stadium put in a location that would be more accessible to people living in Rochester, right?" Then the other person can confirm and explain why or move in to something else.

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I think John is one of the he asks and answers the question in the process, like he does not want to give the interviewer a chance at saying something contrravercial(sp) . I for one am not a fan of this type of questioning, I would rather have a question like Seeing your from Rochester where would like to see a stadium built? Whats the point of interviewing a guy for yes and no answers and they are struggling to make it more than yes and no.

 

My two cents worth.

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Living in Richmond, VA I don't listen to Murphy's shows on local Buffalo radio, although I think I can through my smart phone (easy - I'm over 55 and still need my kids to help me with the darn phone....). but I do enjoy listening to the Bills home radio call through my Sirius subscription during the fall. I'm already lining up my Sunday afternoon projects starting in early September just so I can listen to the games. For those of you local to WNY listening to the Bills home broadcast is probably like I used to feel about going to Niagara Falls when out of town relatives came to visit when I grew up in WNY - ho hum.....but for us displaced natives, at least in my case, its a little bit of home. I even like the local commercials.....BTW - we just got our first Wegman's in June.....now i can get Zweigles hot dogs and Weber's mustard!!!!!

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Chacof- I'm with you in only 8 years behind you, but to help, just go to the App Store n your smart phone or I-pad amd download the free WGR App. It's really that simple bud.

 

I laughed though as I have to do everything for my dad who is much older than you at 85, but have all his favorites chosen to make life easy for him on his computer and I-pad.

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I don't mind him. That's his style, but if you choose to listen you know when you're getting. He definitely does that, but he works for the team so that's his schtick. I usually listen on demand via the App, so I pick and choose the segments of interest to me.

Edited by YoloinOhio
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I'm not a fan of the John Murphy show. I'm also not a fan of his GameDay calls.

 

I actually think he seems like a good guy and he's talented at what he does, it's just not my taste. I know Mike Schopp gets a lot of grief, but I think he's great. I feel like I've learned a lot by listening to his show, even if it not always positive. Why should it be anyways, the Bills haven't made the playoffs since 99.

 

Murphys show, on the other hand is just so vanilla and boring. You can definitely tell the Bills sign his checks.

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So, Stads, when you're listening to the John Murphy show, you get a little frustrated with the line of questions, right? :flirt:

Well played. I deem you winner of the first annual, never to be repeated, John Murphy Game.

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Chris Brown, a/k/a scared lemur, also asks questions in this manner.

 

Add me to the list of fans who aren't enamored with Murph as the "voice of the Bills." I'll echo what someone else said -- he seems like a terrific guy, but his announcing style is bland and because of his position his "interviews" are little more than propaganda and/or reminiscing with former Bills greats.

 

I certainly don't ever feel as though I'll pick up some new or insightful information from his show -- which is why I rarely listen.

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This is one of the reasons I'm more inclined to listen to NFLR. The Bills come up more than enough as there are so many avid Bills fans out there. There is never a show where some Bills topic doesn't come up. Murph is ok, but I'll agree he is a little bland. Seems like a nice man though.

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this should have been typed in capital letter bold print

half the time I even tune into Schopp (not often) they aren't even talking about sports. I like the morning show, but they obsess about the Sabres a ton. The one thing I know about the JMS is it will be Bills-related. If it's boring that night, I turn it off. Edited by YoloinOhio
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John's show is always upbeat and positive. the other radio guys spend too much time arguing with callers that don't agree with them. Sal didn't used to but I think the other WGR guys (Schopp) have rubbed off on him in a negative way in the past year or so and he now spends a lot of time trying to argue with everyone. John uses the tactics mentioned to steer the conversation back into a productive discussion and it works well

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Chris Brown, a/k/a scared lemur, also asks questions in this manner.

 

Add me to the list of fans who aren't enamored with Murph as the "voice of the Bills." I'll echo what someone else said -- he seems like a terrific guy, but his announcing style is bland and because of his position his "interviews" are little more than propaganda and/or reminiscing with former Bills greats.

 

I certainly don't ever feel as though I'll pick up some new or insightful information from his show -- which is why I rarely listen.

 

I am firmly entrenched in this camp, as well. While I appreciate the fact that Murph is a Buffalo guy and is truly a Bills fan, he does nothing for me in either the booth or on his show. I know it's not fair to compare him to Van Miller in his prime but I guess Van spoiled me over the years. It wouldn't bother me in the least if the Bills announced tomorrow that they were replacing Murph in the booth with somebody else. His calls are simply not that good. He tends to miss a lot of things and hesitates quite a bit ("And the catch is made at the Buffalo 40 by...let's see..........Robert Woods. No, no...it's Sammy Watkins. Sammy actually hauled it in."). The most annoying thing to me about his show is that he throws out a topic and asks for "your opinion" and then if a caller has anything even slightly negative to say about the Bills or takes a contrarian view from his, he invariably responds with, "I don't know", "That's your opinion but I would tend to disagree", "I'm not so sure about that" or something along those lines. He's always polite about it but it's annoying nonetheless. I listen from time to time on the Bills app or the WGR app when I'm walking the dog just because it's Bills related and I can get a quick fix but a lot of it is simply Bills propaganda, as others have stated. He's merely a company shill and is a loyal soldier indeed. I'm glad that he's not a Negative Nelly but he's a little too Pollyanna for me. I also believe that Sal Capaccio does a much better job on 'The John Murphy Show' than John Murphy does...but I'm sure that Murph would respond with, "I'm not so sure about that". JMO

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Chacof- I'm with you in only 8 years behind you, but to help, just go to the App Store n your smart phone or I-pad amd download the free WGR App. It's really that simple bud.

 

I laughed though as I have to do everything for my dad who is much older than you at 85, but have all his favorites chosen to make life easy for him on his computer and I-pad.

you're a good man to your father....i'm hoping one of my children will change my diaper when the time comes on the theory that I had to change theirs so it's only fair.....my wife tells me not to get my hopes up!

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I think John is one of the he asks and answers the question in the process, like he does not want to give the interviewer a chance at saying something contrravercial(sp) . I for one am not a fan of this type of questioning, I would rather have a question like Seeing your from Rochester where would like to see a stadium built? Whats the point of interviewing a guy for yes and no answers and they are struggling to make it more than yes and no.

 

My two cents worth.

 

Yup, this has bugged me for years - leading questions and putting words in the interviewees mouth............Oddly, I have Sirius radio for the first time and have been listening to Howard Stern's interviews. He gets praise as the best, and I do remember his interviews being good on terrestrial.........They're not bad, usually interesting, but he does the exact thing with putting words in the interviewees mouth. It drives me nuts.

 

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