Howard Simon "Winding down" from WGR

[Matt_In_NH]

Joe has been the guy while Howard has been part time, that seems like an obvious result to me.   Not sure about Joe, some of his takes are just bad but I think there has been improvement.

[corta765]

20 minutes ago, PastaJoe said:

Jerry Sullivan would add some spice to the morning. 😬

 

Back in the late 2000s early 2010s him and Jeremy would go at it, was fantastic radio.

[BullBuchanan]

On 8/22/2022 at 10:42 AM, arcane said:

I do statistics and data analysis for a living, and those guys really don't bring much to the table. They will tell you what "the communtiy" thinks about a player or a stat, but I've never heard them discuss the metrics themselves in a meaningful way, explain how they work, their limits etc.

 

All sorts of "intellectual" condescension, very little value added

I'm not a statistician, but I work a lot with metrics and insights and use them on a daily basis to make very expensive decisions. I think the sports world in general has a problem with "analytics". FAR too often you have analytics geeks point to a metric and think that it equals some universal truth. To your point, understanding how they work and limits of their applicability is critically important. Often, new insights are just combinations of existing metrics with weighting applied. While that may be useful in some cases, we're all assuming that the data points currently being captured are meaningful, sufficient and accurate.

Even then, an insight is just one data point and there are invariably situations that will net false positives and negatives if used exclusively.

[Nextmanup]

On 8/22/2022 at 10:59 AM, 78thealltimegreat said:

WGR has some really good ones like Jeremy and Sal and some awful ones like a few who have been mentioned here many times….the ultimate meltdown if someone like Thad Brown got the job and spent the whole time trashing Allen like his Twitter feed 

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..

As a result, I've taken to the habit of listening to totally non-sports-related podcasts to fill my afternoons while working.

 

 

18 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

Back in the late 2000s early 2010s him and Jeremy would go at it, was fantastic radio.

Jerry used to do a segment every Monday with Schopp and Bulldog; I loved that.  It was some of the best stuff Schopp and Bulldog ever did.

The other great segment was Rob Ray doing 20 minute segments every day there was a Sabres game.  He would tell stories about the old days and all the drinking/goofing around the guys did back in the day and it was fantastic.

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've come to the conclusion I need to find other things to listen to; WNY sports radio ain't gonna do it anymore.

 

 

[T&C]

On 8/22/2022 at 11:35 AM, Mickey said:

How old is he?

 

I just hope they don't replace him with someone who just reads stats out load or worse, spends the whole show talking about their gambling recommendations and/or their fantasy team.  Doesn't anyone want to talk about actual football anymore?

Buffalo News:

 

In a brief telephone interview, Simon gave multiple reasons for the decision to cut back: He turned 60 in June, has been in sports radio for 30 years and the job isn't as easy as many listeners believe it is to talk about sports for four hours daily. Aug 22, 2022

[Back2Buff]

Anyone listen last week when a guy called (I think his name was Lewis) and pretty much told what everyone thinks, the morning show has turned into trash?

 

It was a great call, and of course, Jeremy got so defensive because only his opinion is the correct one.  You could almost hear it in Howard's voice that the guy was correct, and he was just glad he's retiring.  I'm not sure if Howard had March 3rd as the date since he went to part time, but it wouldn't surprise me if after that day, he set the date of his permanent retirement.

 

I hope WGR executives were listening to the call and maybe it will spark something.  The network needs a whole new re-work.  I listen to other cities a lot, and Buffalo's morning show is truly one of the worst.  Most of it is because of Jeremy, he just doesn't really try.  He just gets on the radio for a couple hours a day, and that's it.  Howard put a lot of preparation into the show.  Way too much personal talk from Jeremy.  I just don't care about his personal hobbies like golf attire or some fantasy league.

 

Joe is a pretty good side kick.  The network needs a new host, Jeremy just can't do it.  They also need a permanent 3rd person.  The cities I enjoy listening to most, have 3 to 4 people on the regular, one almost always being a female, sometimes even 2 females.  It really helps to balance and provide more opinions.  It also allows for topics to be diverse.  

 

The WGR morning show is the same topics over and over.  Rinse and repeat every day hearing the same two dudes talk about the same thing they have been talking about for the last 5 years.  Not to mention the amount of breaks and re-hashing after the breaks.  To put it in perspective, I restart the 6:00 am show at 7:15 am.  I fast forward the commercials and the re-hashing of scores/replays of calls that they play after coming back from a commercial.  By 9:00, I am back to being live.  I'm listening to 3 hours worth of discussion, in an 1 hour and 45 mins.  In the world of podcasts, how do they keep listeners?  I listen to the 9:00 to roughly 9:30 segment, and I turn it off to listen to a podcast instead.

[corta765]

58 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

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've come to the conclusion I need to find other things to listen to; WNY sports radio ain't gonna do it anymore

 

The over intrusion of gambling stuff has made the afternoon show very difficult to listen to. I do very light sports gambling and find zero interest in it.

[Jrb1979]

10 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

The over intrusion of gambling stuff has made the afternoon show very difficult to listen to. I do very light sports gambling and find zero interest in it

IMO the reason they talk about gambling so much is it's a draw for the younger sports fan. Sports radio is not as popular as it once was. I'm in my 40s and I only tune in once in awhile. I find that Satellite radio is much better for NFL and NHL talk. 

[Rhyno716]

10 minutes ago, Jrb1979 said:

IMO the reason they talk about gambling so much is it's a draw for the younger sports fan. Sports radio is not as popular as it once was. I'm in my 40s and I only tune in once in awhile. I find that Satellite radio is much better for NFL and NHL talk. 

The gambling talk has gotten more and more frequent because that's where they make most of their ad revenue from. Pretty much all of their sponsors now are sportsbooks and fantasy sports companies. It's only going to continue to get worse.

 

Local sports talk radio is slowly dying off. Most of the callers are dumb anyways. Podcasts are the way to go now for coverage.

 

I moved away from WNY so I don't listen much anymore because the Audacy app is garbage and every time there's an update it somehow gets worse.

 

[Livinginthepast]

2 hours ago, corta765 said:

 

Back in the late 2000s early 2010s him and Jeremy would go at it, was fantastic radio.

I loved the Jerry/Jeremy battles. It was interesting to see a younger Jeremy start to lose his mind in rage when he took Jerry's bait.

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, PastaJoe said:

Jerry Sullivan would add some spice to the morning. 😬

 

I'll bet Jerry's schedule is free.

 

FYI, Howard's cousin Jason Alexander (yes, George Costanza) is starting his own daily podcast. I wonder if Howard will offer any pointers?

Edited February 15, 2023 by PromoTheRobot

[pocoboy]

1 hour ago, Jrb1979 said:

IMO the reason they talk about gambling so much is it's a draw for the younger sports fan.

 

I think they talk about gambling so much because...well...$$$....

[Chandler#81]

Speaking just for me, good riddance. I no longer call WNY home but I listen to WGR every day on Audacy. I feel for y’all..

[Buffalosouth]

If you want to listen to strictly bills football I'd recommend cover 1s breakdowns. Commercial radio is what it is.

Edited February 15, 2023 by Buffalosouth

[Nitro]

I enjoy watching Howard since Empire Network days.  Some of the morning guys are thin skinned and talk over callers.  They should listen to the veteran who is starting to ease into retirement.

[corta765]

1 hour ago, Livinginthepast said:

I loved the Jerry/Jeremy battles. It was interesting to see a younger Jeremy start to lose his mind in rage when he took Jerry's bait.

 

He def has matured and reigns it in far more now. BUT every once in a while it breaks out again with a caller and it is glorious as a listener haha

[TheFunPolice]

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. 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by TheFunPolice

[Joe Ferguson]

7 hours ago, boyst said:

No he's on first 

Then I don't give a darn.

7 hours ago, K-9 said:

Perhaps the greatest comedy routine ever created and performed. 

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

[Airseven]

1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

Speaking just for me, good riddance. I no longer call WNY home but I listen to WGR every day on Audacy. I feel for y’all..

 

Yes, Buffalo media is quite homely and amateurish. They could use a shake up. 

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, corta765 said:

 

He def has matured and reigns it in far more now. BUT every once in a while it breaks out again with a caller and it is glorious as a listener haha

 

It's hard to have a meltdown when the Bills win 12-13 games each season. From a media standpoint, the ending of the playoff drought was a drag because it took away their biggest red-meat issue to fire the fans up with.