What's Up With the Buffalo Blitz Paywall?

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

55 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

Dude, there are a few national papers..and the BN is not one. I for one love all the local stuff the BN does..i do not expect the BN to cover Washoington like the WAPO or NYT..differnt products for different audiences.

The 'local stuff' used to include local stories of importance, reports from school boards, municipal governments, local hard news stories.  Not tipsy people leering into a camera, and the [BN] passing it off as news.  I'm not expecting the [BN] to cover items on a statewide or national basis the way the large papers can and do.  I expect a professional report covering what any 55 year old was taught in grade school (the 5 Ws of journalism, not slang, not a reporter thinking it's a blog).  Aside from Doug Turner's occasional op ed pieces on Sunday, it's barely worth looking at.  

Edited May 9, 2018 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[plenzmd1]

^^^^ I like seeing the tipsy young ladies

33 minutes ago, BringBackFergy said:

Neophyte? I'll have you know Memphis ribs have absolutely NO SAUCE on them whatsoever.  Why you want to put sauce on a Memphis rib??

thats why i said NEOPHYTE..if you want sweet and rub and Memphis..its a non-sequitur..only way to get sweet is in the sauce..of which a true Memphis rib has none...again for you Neophytes!!!!!!!

Edited May 9, 2018 by plenzmd1

[HiddenInLight]

Remember when Terry Pegula gave TBN the finger a few years ago in regards to the Sabres writers being giant whiny man-babies?  Remember when TBN did nothing to change how their writers behaved and interacted with the community even after being publicly called out?  That's when I lost all respect for them.  I'd probably give them my money if they cleared out all the trash and hired people who are looking to have positive interactions with the community.  Instead we get a bunch of old jackasses who insult fans over social media, use their platform to B word and moan while vomiting out what they call opinion pieces that they won't even admit are based on information that is factually wrong.  

 

In short

- Fire the whiny man-babies that make up most of your writing staff

- Hire competent writers that actually publish engaging pieces not unintelligent rant pieces that I could get from my 90 year old neighbor

-Control the social media interaction of your employees like every other self respecting company

-Maybe get a guy that knows football to write about the team instead of an out of touch baseball guy (I'm looking at you Sullivan)

-Maybe take responsibility for your failings instead of posting nonsensical factually incorrect bull **** on a fan site.

[stony]

2 minutes ago, HiddenInLight said:

Remember when Terry Pegula gave TBN the finger a few years ago in regards to the Sabres writers being giant whiny man-babies?  Remember when TBN did nothing to change how their writers behaved and interacted with the community even after being publicly called out?  That's when I lost all respect for them.  I'd probably give them my money if they cleared out all the trash and hired people who are looking to have positive interactions with the community.  Instead we get a bunch of old jackasses who insult fans over social media, use their platform to B word and moan while vomiting out what they call opinion pieces that they won't even admit are based on information that is factually wrong.  

 

In short

- Fire the whiny man-babies that make up most of your writing staff

- Hire competent writers that actually publish engaging pieces not unintelligent rant pieces that I could get from my 90 year old neighbor

-Control the social media interaction of your employees like every other self respecting company

-Maybe get a guy that knows football to write about the team instead of an out of touch baseball guy (I'm looking at you Sullivan)

-Maybe take responsibility for your failings instead of posting nonsensical factually incorrect bull **** on a fan site.

I understand much of the disdain here for a couple of writers on the BN payroll, but expecting them to kowtow to the demands of a team's owner is bush league.  That was one of Terry's weaker moments as an owner IMO.  

[HiddenInLight]

4 minutes ago, stony said:

I understand much of the disdain here for a couple of writers on the BN payroll, but expecting them to kowtow to the demands of a team's owner is bush league.  That was one of Terry's weaker moments as an owner IMO.  

 

I think expecting the team to bend over backwards and treat them like royalty is what makes this paper trash.  Maybe if their employees conducted themselves better none of it would have happened.  If I was the one in charge of the paper, I'd be questioning why exactly my employees are constantly taking personal shots at the guy that provides us with the majority of our content and his family.

Edited May 9, 2018 by HiddenInLight

[stony]

2 minutes ago, HiddenInLight said:

 

I think expecting the team to bend over backwards and treat them like royalty is what makes this paper trash.  Maybe if their employees conducted themselves better none of it would have happened.  If I was the one in charge of the paper, I'd be questioning why exactly my employees are constantly taking personal shots at the guy that provides us with the majority of our content and his family.

I'm confused.  The writers have asked the Bills to treat them better?

[HiddenInLight]

3 minutes ago, stony said:

I'm confused.  The writers have asked the Bills to treat them better?

 

The writers flipped out when the Sabres said they'd no longer provide special treatment to them, and told them that they would have to make their own arrangements instead of the team doing it for them.  IIRC this was before Terry bought the bills.

[BadLandsMeanie]

I think one thing being lost in all of this back and forth, is my "Portapotamus in the living room" joke. 

[stony]

1 minute ago, HiddenInLight said:

 

The writers flipped out when the Sabres said they'd no longer provide special treatment to them, and told them that they would have to make their own arrangements instead of the team doing it for them.  IIRC this was before Terry bought the bills.

Gotcha.  I think you're right, this pre-dates the Bills/Pegulas.  I remember some ruffled feathers w/ the Sabres.  I think Terry's whining about the treatment of his team w the media was Sabres-related, too.  Overall, I think the relationships with the BN and the Bills has improved.  Perhaps this is due to Berchtold's departure.    

[HiddenInLight]

2 minutes ago, stony said:

Gotcha.  I think you're right, this pre-dates the Bills/Pegulas.  I remember some ruffled feathers w/ the Sabres.  I think Terry's whining about the treatment of his team w the media was Sabres-related, too.  Overall, I think the relationships with the BN and the Bills has improved.  Perhaps this is due to Berchtold's departure.    

It was all sabres related, and was all based on TBN writers throwing a temper tantrum because the Sabres stopped providing them with special treatment only for them to use it to spit in their face.

 

I think it would improve even more if they hired some writers capable of publishing interesting and thought provoking articles instead of copy/pasting the same tired old takes and columns.

Edited May 9, 2018 by HiddenInLight

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, BadLandsMeanie said:

I think one thing being lost in all of this back and forth, is my "Portapotamus in the living room" joke. 

 

You want a Portapotamus for Christmas? 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsvOrtcrA5c

 

 

[stony]

Just now, HiddenInLight said:

 

I think it would improve even more if they hired some writers capable of publishing interesting and thought provoking articles instead of copy/pasting the same tired old takes and columns.

That's where there's a disconnect for me.  It would probably improve the BN's standing with their readers and many on this board.  But it shouldn't have any bearing on their ability to work in a professional manner with the team.  This isn't just a Pegula thing, either.  Billionaire owner's are notoriously thin-skinned weenies.  

[HiddenInLight]

1 minute ago, stony said:

That's where there's a disconnect for me.  It would probably improve the BN's standing with their readers and many on this board.  But it shouldn't have any bearing on their ability to work in a professional manner with the team.  This isn't just a Pegula thing, either.  Billionaire owner's are notoriously thin-skinned weenies.  

 

You mean besides their inability to work with ANYBODY in a professional manor?  I wouldn't call their writers professional in the slightest.

[stony]

2 minutes ago, HiddenInLight said:

 

You mean besides their inability to work with ANYBODY in a professional manor?  I wouldn't call their writers professional in the slightest.

I think we're arguing different points.  You seem to have personal problems with their writers.  Did Tim Graham insult you on Twitter?  

[HiddenInLight]

1 minute ago, stony said:

I think we're arguing different points.  You seem to have personal problems with their writers.  Did Tim Graham insult you on Twitter?  

 

Actually I've never had any personal interaction with any of them.  I just think that it's unacceptable that you hear about this type of behavior constantly.  If I were to go on twitter and publicly talk trash about my company's largest client, their family, and all of the individual smaller clients we have I'd likely be understandably fired.  Why aren't they held to the same standards?  They can't act like adults and their bosses wonder why nobody wants to read their "articles".

[stony]

1 minute ago, HiddenInLight said:

 

Actually I've never had any personal interaction with any of them.  I just think that it's unacceptable that you hear about this type of behavior constantly.  If I were to go on twitter and publicly talk trash about my company's largest client, their family, and all of the individual smaller clients we have I'd likely be understandably fired.  Why aren't they held to the same standards?  They can't act like adults and their bosses wonder why nobody wants to read their "articles".

Because the Bills aren't their clients!!!   They have no obligation to either team to paint them in the best possible light.  That's what state radio is for.  

[BadLandsMeanie]

24 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

You want a Portapotamus for Christmas? 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsvOrtcrA5c

 

 

 I do!

 

I never saw the video though. Her voice sounds unusual coming from that little body! 

 

Family lore had it that I was conceived to that song. I had forgotten that. Or blocked it out maybe.

 

This board is becoming a journey into self discovery for me. 

 

 

[Cripple Creek]

9 minutes ago, BadLandsMeanie said:

 I do!

 

I never saw the video though. Her voice sounds unusual coming from that little body! 

 

Family lore had it that I was conceived to that song. I had forgotten that. Or blocked it out maybe.

 

This board is becoming a journey into self discovery for me. 

 

 

Blocked it out, definitely blocked it out.

[BADOLBILZ]

3 hours ago, stony said:

Because the Bills aren't their clients!!!   They have no obligation to either team to paint them in the best possible light.  That's what state radio is for.  

 

 

This is the problem...........idiots like this HiddenInLight who think the newspaper should view the Bills as a client.

 

TBN is free advertising for the Bills and Sabres.  

 

And let's be honest here.........these reporters know A LOT more about the personal workings within the organization than they report on.

 

I could see if they were posting articles questioning the appropriateness of TPegs relationship with Kim when she worked for him or outing Russ for being a horny cheater before Kim fired him.........that's not the case........they write about the team and the teams have been awful for most of the past two decades.

 

Naturally the tenor is going to be more negative than positive until a sustained change in performance proves it should be otherwise.

[Bing Bong]

What's up with threads getting closed for no reason. We were literally just talking about Brady, a subject I love to hate.

[Buffalo716]

8 hours ago, BadLandsMeanie said:

I think one thing being lost in all of this back and forth, is my "Portapotamus in the living room" joke. 

 

 I thought it was funny if you want some validation ?

[BadLandsMeanie]

6 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

 

 I thought it was funny if you want some validation ?

Thank you! And I do.  

[Bing Bong]

12 minutes ago, Boyd said:

Ask Hapless.

 

For a mod, the guys ego is out of control, reminds me on beerball with his illogical punishments and comments. 

It wasn't even hapless he was contributing

13 minutes ago, Boyd said:

Ask Hapless.

 

For a mod, the guys ego is out of control, reminds me on beerball with his illogical punishments and comments. 

It was BuffaloBill I don't ever even see him post. So confused tbh

[Bing Bong]

1 minute ago, Boyd said:

Oh. My apologies.  I just Ass U Me d

we have a Brady lover modding. The enemy has infiltrated 

[Bing Bong]

3 hours ago, PetermanThrew5Picks said:

What's up with threads getting closed for no reason. We were literally just talking about Brady, a subject I love to hate.

nvm idiots were being homophobic. Ruining some good Brady hate.

[sullim4]

I'm not a particular fan of the subscription model... it is easy to forget you're paying for it, easy to forget to update credit card information when that changes, and is typically a PITA to cancel.

 

I'm more a fan of micropayment per article where people pay for the articles they actually want to read.  Say 25 cents an article.  It would reward writers who write interesting articles and would determine if Sully has any paying customers for his journalism.

[Punching Bag]

3 hours ago, PetermanThrew5Picks said:

It wasn't even hapless he was contributing

It was BuffaloBill I don't ever even see him post. So confused tbh

Well he could have banned poster instead; I have seen that happen.

[BadLandsMeanie]

There might be a middle ground here.

 

Does TBN take Meadcoin? 

[Bing Bong]

21 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

Well he could have banned poster instead; I have seen that happen.

Idk how modding works. I just know I'm seeing more mod presence than ever. 

 

We haven't changed we've always been idiots. So I wonder what's happening..

[NoSaint]

40 minutes ago, sullim4 said:

I'm not a particular fan of the subscription model... it is easy to forget you're paying for it, easy to forget to update credit card information when that changes, and is typically a PITA to cancel.

 

I'm more a fan of micropayment per article where people pay for the articles they actually want to read.  Say 25 cents an article.  It would reward writers who write interesting articles and would determine if Sully has any paying customers for his journalism.

 

$3 a month is pretty micro. It’s essentially the same concept but choose your paper instead of choose your article.

[Ol Dirty B]

12 hours ago, HiddenInLight said:

 

Actually I've never had any personal interaction with any of them.  I just think that it's unacceptable that you hear about this type of behavior constantly.  If I were to go on twitter and publicly talk trash about my company's largest client, their family, and all of the individual smaller clients we have I'd likely be understandably fired.  Why aren't they held to the same standards?  They can't act like adults and their bosses wonder why nobody wants to read their "articles".

 

Wow you do not understand the media at all. The Bills, Sabres, and the Pegulas are not their clients.

 

How would you even come up with this concept? You are just severely misunderstanding things.

On 5/8/2018 at 10:25 PM, Idandria said:

I hate Schopp and the Bulldog but I’ve finally discovered something awesome. 3-6pm on ESPN Rochester.

 

the Sports Bar with Danger and Battaglia. It is so refreshing to have an alternative to listen to. THANK YOU ESPN ROCHESTER. 

 

You must be one of the hosts or related to them. That show is awful. I think Schopp says some stupid things, but they are a 1000x better than that garbage.

[Ol Dirty B]

On 5/8/2018 at 12:19 PM, stony said:

 

Where did you get this from?  I'm curious, is this is your opinion, or do you know numbers that indicate their demise is near?

 

That guy is a !@#$ing moron and doesn't know what he's talking about. Everything I hear and read is that that paper is one of the few doing good.

 

And I don't care what it does. Well actually I'd like for it to do well because papers provide useful local news outside of sports which many of the ass hats on this board, including Ddaryl apparently don't have any interest in at all.

 

I'm in Rochester, I don't know anyone employed by BN, have nothing to do with them and rarely read it. But the amount of hate it gets for just a dumb sports team vs all the other potential good and role they serve in the community is just stupid.

 

BN goes out of business, who else is covering that **** hole? You'll be getting what I get in Rochester on weekdays, it's just the USA today pretty much and it blows.

 

 

[Nick the Greek]

41 minutes ago, Ol Dirty B said:

 

Wow you do not understand the media at all. The Bills, Sabres, and the Pegulas are not their clients.

 

How would you even come up with this concept? You are just severely misunderstanding things.

 

You must be one of the hosts or related to them. That show is awful. I think Schopp says some stupid things, but they are a 1000x better than that garbage.

It's not that Schopp says stupid things.. I can't stand the awful negativity. All they do is rip the team, day in and day out. We made the playoffs last year and they still destroyed the team for not getting a better draft pick. 

 

shopp and bulldog SUCK! and I don't listen anymore. Thank god. And no, I'm not a radio host nor related to anyone in the industry. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

Every thing is being tightened up.  Can't take screenshots in incognito mode (new version Chrome).

 

They whore your cookies... Just reading something... Boston Globe.  Noticed I was in incognito... Oops, you have to sign in.

 

No thanks... Just do withOUT the needless gratuitous stuff.  It won't kill you.

 

Information is a cheap commodity.  You don't need to be bled dry.  They can't make a living, find a real job.

 

We need less gratuitous garbage in the world.

Edited May 10, 2018 by ExiledInIllinois

[JoPar_v2]

2 hours ago, Idandria said:

It's not that Schopp says stupid things.. I can't stand the awful negativity. All they do is rip the team, day in and day out. We made the playoffs last year and they still destroyed the team for not getting a better draft pick. 

 

shopp and bulldog SUCK! and I don't listen anymore. Thank god. And no, I'm not a radio host nor related to anyone in the industry. 

When the team doesn’t even make the chance to win a title for 17 years the negativity is deserved. Get over it, baby. Or how bout this? Don’t listen!

 

 

I appreciate Barnett chiming in and talking with people here, apparently the trolls haven’t scared him off yet. But 7 pages of dancing around the point - the point is not about the paywall, however cheap it may be. The point for many of us pissed about TBN is certain writers who, let’s face it, are Aholes, or at least appear to be based on what they write and tweet. Those couple of writers have poisoned the well for many fans here, partly because they are super bad at even masking their petty gripes with ownership and management. Good critics should be and are able to shade that bias. Your writers, JB, are not. To say the least. So make your paywall $0.10, doesn’t matter. Bucky and Jerry and whoever else goes by a friggin child’s name needs to go first before u get one indian penny out of me.

Edited May 10, 2018 by JoPar_v2

[Ol Dirty B]

29 minutes ago, Idandria said:

It's not that Schopp says stupid things.. I can't stand the awful negativity. All they do is rip the team, day in and day out. We made the playoffs last year and they still destroyed the team for not getting a better draft pick. 

 

shopp and bulldog SUCK! and I don't listen anymore. Thank god. And no, I'm not a radio host nor related to anyone in the industry. 

 

I understand why he can be grating to some listeners. Some days I enjoy listening other days I listen, and I'm just like the !@#$ is this dude talking about. I think he out thinks himself sometimes.

 

For example, he was criticizing the McCoy trade Monday saying it set the franchise back because they committed to being run first. He then went on to say he didn't care what they gave up, he just cared that they got an elite talent at running the ball and that would prevent them from effectively passing. Bulldog said he didn't think they had the qb to do that, and I was a Tyrod guy and even I disagree with Schopp.

 

All he said was, well I think they did, and that was the end of the convo. He didn't really support his point or anything and you'd think saying the McCoy trade was bad is worth more than one segment, especially in May. Yet it just ended abruptly. 

 

So when I hear him make the McCoy trade into a negative I start to understand where posters are coming from. The guy is bitching about McCoy, !@#$ing McCoy. That's a no fly zone for me.

[ExiledInIllinois]

On 5/5/2018 at 9:11 PM, Augie said:

 

Did you read everything he wrote? 

 

 

.

 

 

I wonder if the people selling slide rules went down without a fight? 

 

This is similar, they are dinosaurs, with writers people seem to almost universally dislike. (I haven’t read their stuff in years.) Good luck with that formula. 

My mother was an accountant  She had an adding machine, paper thing... At first didn't trust digital calculator... 

 

I remember the first one she bought, a desktop Uniden w/memory feature... About $100.  $100 bucks in 1974?  We took our whole family to Crystal Beach for under $20.

 

Anyway... Calculators are now a cheap commodity... Just like news journalism... It should be pennies, if not free. $2.99 here, $2.99 there is way overpriced for this stuff.  Like spending $100 bucks on a calculator that you can get @ family dollar 4 for a buck.

 

$2.99?  Throw in a consortium of 20 papers and drop my monthly ISP/cell data amount down.  What are they doing with the money.

 

People should be smart with their money... Ask you to pay, hit the back button... You don't need it.  Not necessary.

 

People are hooked on gratuitous junk.

Edited May 10, 2018 by ExiledInIllinois

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

6 hours ago, Ol Dirty B said:

So when I hear him make the McCoy trade into a negative I start to understand where posters are coming from. The guy is bitching about McCoy, !@#$ing McCoy. That's a no fly zone for me.

Contrived controversy.  A hallmark of talk radio.

[Rochesterfan]

On 5/6/2018 at 9:33 AM, BadLandsMeanie said:

Yes. I wonder through, has he done anything with the input here gave him about what they would like to see?

 

 

Actually - I believe that is where the voice of the fan section came from - I am sure there are others.

 

I have a lot of issues with local sports hosts - both WGR and TBN, but much like Hap said - I choose what to pay for (or not) and find content that I enjoy elsewhere.

 

There are many long time writers that I loved reading when I was living in Buffalo in the early 90’s and I kept my subscription when we moved to Rochester, but as things soured - many of these guys became bitter and I can read or listen to them anymore - so I don’t pay.  

 

Buffalo needs to begin to replace these “legends” with fresh blood and guys who’s takes are not always so jaded and slanted.  This goes for both TBN and WGR, but as long as we are talking about them they will stay on because even negative commentary draws readers if it is talked about.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

On 5/6/2018 at 8:55 AM, Ol Dirty B said:

 

You know people buy the paper for other reasons than the sports section.

 

I never buy the paper for sports. 

 

Well, certainly.  But since I live out of town, I look to my local paper for local news (still working on them to offer digital only subscription) and some national papers and publications for national news (I have several digital subscriptions).   For TBN, that leaves sports, or it would if I did.

 

39 minutes ago, Rochesterfan said:

I have a lot of issues with local sports hosts - both WGR and TBN, but much like Hap said - I choose what to pay for (or not) and find content that I enjoy elsewhere.

 

There are many long time writers that I loved reading when I was living in Buffalo in the early 90’s and I kept my subscription when we moved to Rochester, but as things soured - many of these guys became bitter and I can read or listen to them anymore - so I don’t pay.  

 

Buffalo needs to begin to replace these “legends” with fresh blood and guys who’s takes are not always so jaded and slanted.  This goes for both TBN and WGR, but as long as we are talking about them they will stay on because even negative commentary draws readers if it is talked about.

 

OK, so I'm not hallucinating - someone else remembers a day when Gleason and especially Sullivan were much more balanced, and when critical worth reading because they had some depth to their critique.