WGR "Sabres" Radio 550

[Lv-Bills]

Seven different teams in seven different cities in seven different states have won the World Series since 2000. Would you care to amend your "6 major cities" statement or would you like to just continue being wrong based on what the Pirates have been doing?

So your proof that baseball is "going away" is Pittsburgh where the Pirates haven't had a winning record in 15 years and where the Steelers are perennial contenders and the Penguins have two of the best young players in the game?

 

Probably not the best idea to base your analysis on one data point anyway.

 

Yes, based on those attendance records both the major and minor leagues keep setting.

 

More Pittsburgh stuff. Still not relevant.

 

Name them.

The first argument is lame. It's what baseball people hang onto. When are the last times Pittsburgh, Cincy, Milwaukee, Philly, Washington/Montreal, Texas, Baltimore, Toronto, TB have made or sniffed the playoffs? Toronto, TB and Baltimore have no shot, ever.

 

Then you have teams that are run fairly well, that have to make the playoffs once every five years or so, until three or four teams take away their players. Those would be Oakland, Minnesota, maybe Cleveland, Florida, Houston and the whole NL West.

 

Economics has killed baseball. And again, attendance in baseball is much more about promotions than it is about actually watching a game. I'm from Pittsburgh and used to have season tickets until I couldn't stand it any longer. All of my family, lead by my late grandfather used to watch the Pirates until they became a farm team for the rest of the teams with large payrolls. No one in Pittsburgh cares anything about baseball, but love PNC Park. It's much of the same in other cities.

 

It's amazing that when the playoffs begin, and ticket prices double and triple that alot of teams can't sellout playoff games. None of the "park goers" care enough to ante up playoff money. Why would they, after all, Journey isn't there performing after the game. This includes the last time Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and LA had playoff games in the early and mid 90's with Barry Bonds. None sellouts. It now includes post strike teams such as Atlanta, Oakland, Arizona, Colorado, and Houston.

 

I now live in VA, and no one talks about baseball. NOBODY. Ever. Not in my office, not on athletic playing fields, on the radio, or in any conversation. Kids don't know any baseball players, and baseball leagues are dying in favor of soccer. Which actually makes me sick, but it's true. There are hardly any black kids who even know baseball exists, and more and more kids are playing soccer and spring football instead of baseball in the spring.

 

I'm a recreation director for a county gov't in VA. You piqued my interest in this so I just checked some numbers. I've been in this field now going on 10 years. In 1999, we had 556 kids playing youth baseball in this county from ages 7-15. Today there are 234. In 1999, we had 114 kids playing youth soccer in this county, and now there are 605. There are even 118 playing in a spring football league.

 

It's so hard for Yankee, Red Sox, Mets, and a couple of other large market teams fans to grasp that baseball is dying a slow death because of the economics of the game. WHen the novelty of these new ballparks again wear off, which it is starting to do, baseball will start to really feel the effects of the game losing popularity.

 

Until then, count on going to a circus at most major league stadiums. That's the only way baseball can fill seats in over 50% of it's cities. You'll see a game, some clowns, fireworks, bobbleheads, rock concerts, birthday parties for kids and everything else you can think of to get families to bring their kids there. Alot of stadiums are now even offering things like all you can eat seats for like $35 or $40 where you can pig out all game long. Kinda cool actually.

 

But if you are there to actually see a baseball game, lol, well, good luck, because it's definitely a secondary attraction. And we haven't even talked about minor league baseball yet.

[Lv-Bills]

You've obviously never been to Cleveland, Atlanta or Milwaukee during baseball season . . .

And I certainly hope you are kidding about this. You are right? Is this the same Atlanta team that can't sellout any of its playoff games? Year after year that Atlanta made the playoffs, their playoff games got more empty as their long run went on.

 

Milwaukee? That's gotta be a joke. I know you are kidding there. I used to go watch the Pirates at County Stadium with about 500 people sitting in the outfield bleachers. It felt like I was at a high school game. Overall attendance was like 7,000 per game back then. Nowadays, even with Miller Park attendance was again starting to wain big time, until the recent two year cash infusion the new owners have given the Crew. When this novelty wears off, so will the people again.

 

And Cleveland? Yeah maybe. Only because it's a sports town. When Jacobs field opened, the place was packed for years. Over the last few years, attendance wained. The fans are back now, because it seems they have some nice prospects for winning again, but it will again go in the tank as soon as they don't re-sign some on these guys.

 

The cycle never ends, making most of these once proud baseball cities, nothing but casual observers unitl their team shows any kind of respectability.

 

Unitl then, clowns, fireworks and pools in the outfield seats are needed to get people to the park.

[Gordio]

The one thing I can not stand about Schope & the bulldog are they will mock every other sport except. Bulldog openly bragged that he has not watched an NCAA bball game in about 5yrs & Schope was mocking the tourney saying I never heard of Drake. But then they praise hockey to no end. Hello??? The sport you are bragging about morons is the least popular sport among the big 5 in the country(Im including NASCAR) & you have the nerve to openly mock out the best sporting event of the year(The NCAA Tourney). I very rarely listen to those 2 idiots anymore. I like Simon & I like Dennis Williams at night the few times I have listended to him. Schope must be one of the most miserable bastards alive. He talks down to the callers all the time & dismisses their points as stupid. You get the feeling Bulldog's biggest dream is to make love to schope in the breakroom after everybody has gone home for the night.

[Gordio]

The first argument is lame. It's what baseball people hang onto. When are the last times Pittsburgh, Cincy, Milwaukee, Philly, Washington/Montreal, Texas, Baltimore, Toronto, TB have made or sniffed the playoffs? Toronto, TB and Baltimore have no shot, ever.

 

Then you have teams that are run fairly well, that have to make the playoffs once every five years or so, until three or four teams take away their players. Those would be Oakland, Minnesota, maybe Cleveland, Florida, Houston and the whole NL West.

 

Economics has killed baseball. And again, attendance in baseball is much more about promotions than it is about actually watching a game. I'm from Pittsburgh and used to have season tickets until I couldn't stand it any longer. All of my family, lead by my late grandfather used to watch the Pirates until they became a farm team for the rest of the teams with large payrolls. No one in Pittsburgh cares anything about baseball, but love PNC Park. It's much of the same in other cities.

 

It's amazing that when the playoffs begin, and ticket prices double and triple that alot of teams can't sellout playoff games. None of the "park goers" care enough to ante up playoff money. Why would they, after all, Journey isn't there performing after the game. This includes the last time Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and LA had playoff games in the early and mid 90's with Barry Bonds. None sellouts. It now includes post strike teams such as Atlanta, Oakland, Arizona, Colorado, and Houston.

 

I now live in VA, and no one talks about baseball. NOBODY. Ever. Not in my office, not on athletic playing fields, on the radio, or in any conversation. Kids don't know any baseball players, and baseball leagues are dying in favor of soccer. Which actually makes me sick, but it's true. There are hardly any black kids who even know baseball exists, and more and more kids are playing soccer and spring football instead of baseball in the spring.

 

I'm a recreation director for a county gov't in VA. You piqued my interest in this so I just checked some numbers. I've been in this field now going on 10 years. In 1999, we had 556 kids playing youth baseball in this county from ages 7-15. Today there are 234. In 1999, we had 114 kids playing youth soccer in this county, and now there are 605. There are even 118 playing in a spring football league.

 

It's so hard for Yankee, Red Sox, Mets, and a couple of other large market teams fans to grasp that baseball is dying a slow death because of the economics of the game. WHen the novelty of these new ballparks again wear off, which it is starting to do, baseball will start to really feel the effects of the game losing popularity.

 

Until then, count on going to a circus at most major league stadiums. That's the only way baseball can fill seats in over 50% of it's cities. You'll see a game, some clowns, fireworks, bobbleheads, rock concerts, birthday parties for kids and everything else you can think of to get families to bring their kids there. Alot of stadiums are now even offering things like all you can eat seats for like $35 or $40 where you can pig out all game long. Kinda cool actually.

 

But if you are there to actually see a baseball game, lol, well, good luck, because it's definitely a secondary attraction. And we haven't even talked about minor league baseball yet.

 

Philly made the playoffs last year. Milwakee was in the playoff hunt until the final weekend.

[Gordio]

The first argument is lame. It's what baseball people hang onto. When are the last times Pittsburgh, Cincy, Milwaukee, Philly, Washington/Montreal, Texas, Baltimore, Toronto, TB have made or sniffed the playoffs? Toronto, TB and Baltimore have no shot, ever.

 

Then you have teams that are run fairly well, that have to make the playoffs once every five years or so, until three or four teams take away their players. Those would be Oakland, Minnesota, maybe Cleveland, Florida, Houston and the whole NL West.

 

Economics has killed baseball. And again, attendance in baseball is much more about promotions than it is about actually watching a game. I'm from Pittsburgh and used to have season tickets until I couldn't stand it any longer. All of my family, lead by my late grandfather used to watch the Pirates until they became a farm team for the rest of the teams with large payrolls. No one in Pittsburgh cares anything about baseball, but love PNC Park. It's much of the same in other cities.

 

It's amazing that when the playoffs begin, and ticket prices double and triple that alot of teams can't sellout playoff games. None of the "park goers" care enough to ante up playoff money. Why would they, after all, Journey isn't there performing after the game. This includes the last time Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and LA had playoff games in the early and mid 90's with Barry Bonds. None sellouts. It now includes post strike teams such as Atlanta, Oakland, Arizona, Colorado, and Houston.

 

I now live in VA, and no one talks about baseball. NOBODY. Ever. Not in my office, not on athletic playing fields, on the radio, or in any conversation. Kids don't know any baseball players, and baseball leagues are dying in favor of soccer. Which actually makes me sick, but it's true. There are hardly any black kids who even know baseball exists, and more and more kids are playing soccer and spring football instead of baseball in the spring.

 

I'm a recreation director for a county gov't in VA. You piqued my interest in this so I just checked some numbers. I've been in this field now going on 10 years. In 1999, we had 556 kids playing youth baseball in this county from ages 7-15. Today there are 234. In 1999, we had 114 kids playing youth soccer in this county, and now there are 605. There are even 118 playing in a spring football league.

 

It's so hard for Yankee, Red Sox, Mets, and a couple of other large market teams fans to grasp that baseball is dying a slow death because of the economics of the game. WHen the novelty of these new ballparks again wear off, which it is starting to do, baseball will start to really feel the effects of the game losing popularity.

 

Until then, count on going to a circus at most major league stadiums. That's the only way baseball can fill seats in over 50% of it's cities. You'll see a game, some clowns, fireworks, bobbleheads, rock concerts, birthday parties for kids and everything else you can think of to get families to bring their kids there. Alot of stadiums are now even offering things like all you can eat seats for like $35 or $40 where you can pig out all game long. Kinda cool actually.

 

But if you are there to actually see a baseball game, lol, well, good luck, because it's definitely a secondary attraction. And we haven't even talked about minor league baseball yet.

 

You do make some good points. It is distrubing even up here in buffalo kids are not playing baseball. My son is 4 so he has not really go into any leagues yet but I have a couple friends that have sons that are 7 & 8. They pretty much force them to play bball in the summer. All they want to do is play hockey whether it is ice hockey or inline hockey. My guess is it is more action packed then baseball. I dont know, when I was a kid those options for most kids just were not around. You played baseball & you liked it.

 

As far as the teams, Im not so sure I totally agree witgh you, but like i said, maybe I dont see it because Im a mets fan. I mean 6 different teams have won the world series in the last 7 years. I always thought to myself if I was a gm of mid to low range slaary club my strategy would be to use 90% of the draft to pick nothing but pitchers. I would also based my lineup on pure speed & make sure the ballpark that my team plays in has the biggest dimensions & outfield you have ever seen.

[SilverNRed]

The first argument is lame. It's what baseball people hang onto. When are the last times Pittsburgh, Cincy, Milwaukee, Philly, Washington/Montreal, Texas, Baltimore, Toronto, TB have made or sniffed the playoffs? Toronto, TB and Baltimore have no shot, ever.

Philly made the playoffs last year and Milwaukee was in the hunt until the last week of the season. Toronto will have a shot this year because many consider them to have the best rotation in baseball. Just admit you don't pay attention to baseball and don't know what you're talking about.

 

Cleveland is considered maybe the poorest city in the USA. I guess they have "no shot, ever" right? Oh, except for being one game from the World Series last year. Tell me again about the "economics of the game."

 

Nothing you wrote in your enormous diatribe explains why both major and minor league baseball have been setting attendance records year after year. Unless you want to chalk all that up to fireworks and bobbleheads.

 

I'm sorry the Pirates are poorly run and that no one you know likes baseball anymore but your assertation that the sport is slowly dying is completely insane.

[bschmoove]

I have said it before...I think everyone would agree that GR55 has some problems.

 

I am sure there are more than a few people here that live in cities outside of Buffalo. Is there any local sports talk radio hosts that are that great? I have yet to hear any, after living in Buffalo, Baltimore, Atlanta, New York City, and now, Austin.

 

Local guys are on the air, to talk about whatever the hottest ticket is in their local market. It just happens to be the Sabres and Bills in Buffalo. Why is that hard to fathom? If you listen to the nationally syndincated sports talk shows, you mostly hear about teams that most of us here despise (you know, the Cowboys, Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers, Tiger Woods, etc etc)...it is the same thing, only on a national level. Forget about hearing anything about the NHL. Outside of ESPN radio from time to time, you would be lucky to hear which NHL teams lost on any given night. On FOX, they normally just rattle off the 5 or 6 teams that won that night, never mentioning a score, or who lost.

 

It is apparent to me, the problem most of us really have, is that sports aren't really that interesting to talk about, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There is only so much you can say, and so many spins you can put on something.... Too much of anything, even the things you love, will eventually get old...just look at the TSW....we all came here to talk sports, but, look at all of the other forums that evolved on the Wall...if you ever stumble upon the PPP board, or OFF the Wall, I dare say, you will meet Bills fans there, that rarely post on the main board...but they still love this team...

 

I can tell you after living in both the Philly and Atlanta markets that their sports radio is 10 times better. Not even being a fan of any of the teams (except the Sixers, Hawks and Braves) I listened to them constantly. They know their stuff and don't let callers get under their skin - unlike WGR. If you ever get a chance, listen to WIP on theWeb, and you'll get a true sense of what I am talking about. The sports guys - Anthony Gargano to Howard Eskin are held in high regard - some like them and hate them, but they never come off as whiners.

In Atlanta the guys on 790 the Zone will match sports knowledge with anyone. Chris DiMino, Steak Shapiro and Nick Cellini would never be challenged on their knowledge.

BTW, anyone who knows about Atlanta, knows people don't really care about the pro teams. It is all Georgia Tech and Georgia Bulldogs 24-7. (I don't get it, but college sports rule the South.) Because they did not sell out Braves playoff games is not surprising when you make the playoffs 20 straight years.

[Gordio]

I can tell you after living in both the Philly and Atlanta markets that their sports radio is 10 times better. Not even being a fan of any of the teams (except the Sixers, Hawks and Braves) I listened to them constantly. They know their stuff and don't let callers get under their skin - unlike WGR. If you ever get a chance, listen to WIP on theWeb, and you'll get a true sense of what I am talking about. The sports guys - Anthony Gargano to Howard Eskin are held in high regard - some like them and hate them, but they never come off as whiners.

In Atlanta the guys on 790 the Zone will match sports knowledge with anyone. Chris DiMino, Steak Shapiro and Nick Cellini would never be challenged on their knowledge.

BTW, anyone who knows about Atlanta, knows people don't really care about the pro teams. It is all Georgia Tech and Georgia Bulldogs 24-7. (I don't get it, but college sports rule the South.) Because they did not sell out Braves playoff games is not surprising when you make the playoffs 20 straight years.

 

 

I totally agree. This bs that no local talk show guys are good or informative does not hold water. If your a sports talk show person, you should be able to comment at least semi intelligently on the NCAA Tournament & not make it a running punch line for your jokes because you do not like the sport. They did not even talk about the nCAA tourney last year most nights & buffalo hosted the first 2 rounds.

[Lori]

Philly, schmoove? Aren't those the guys who took a busload of Eagles "fans" to the draft to boo McNabb, because they wanted Ricky Williams instead? Based on reports from a relative who works in the industry down there, Eskin is a Grade-A !@#$.

 

Which doesn't excuse the local afternoon show's aversion to talking anything other than Sabres/Bills -- agree completely about that. They'll say that the listeners don't care about other sports; while that's not entirely false, Simon (on WNSA) used to do all right with call-ins when he went off the beaten path for a segment or two.

 

That made it all the cooler to hear Dennis Williams go off about the Beijing Olympics a couple of weeks ago. Right now, I'd take either him or Brad over one of the current afternoon hosts. (The other half of that duo would be just fine, once he got away from his co-host's aura of negativity...)

[ExpertOpinion]

The one thing I can not stand about Schope & the bulldog are they will mock every other sport except. Bulldog openly bragged that he has not watched an NCAA bball game in about 5yrs & Schope was mocking the tourney saying I never heard of Drake. But then they praise hockey to no end. Hello??? The sport you are bragging about morons is the least popular sport among the big 5 in the country(Im including NASCAR) & you have the nerve to openly mock out the best sporting event of the year(The NCAA Tourney). I very rarely listen to those 2 idiots anymore. I like Simon & I like Dennis Williams at night the few times I have listended to him. Schope must be one of the most miserable bastards alive. He talks down to the callers all the time & dismisses their points as stupid. You get the feeling Bulldog's biggest dream is to make love to schope in the breakroom after everybody has gone home for the night.

As far as Schope getting edgy with callers I'd be ok with that if he had any clue what he was talking about.

But the idiot is wrong 99% of the time and at the same time he is talking down to everyone else.

I think that the Bulldog just goes with Schope along to get along, I really don't think he respects Schope or Schope's BS.

Also the Bulldog takes his Norm from 'Cheers' act too far , he comes off as a phony.

[bananathumb]

Philly, schmoove? Aren't those the guys who took a busload of Eagles "fans" to the draft to boo McNabb, because they wanted Ricky Williams instead? Based on reports from a relative who works in the industry down there, Eskin is a Grade-A !@#$.

 

Which doesn't excuse the local afternoon show's aversion to talking anything other than Sabres/Bills -- agree completely about that. They'll say that the listeners don't care about other sports; while that's not entirely false, Simon (on WNSA) used to do all right with call-ins when he went off the beaten path for a segment or two.

 

That made it all the cooler to hear Dennis Williams go off about the Beijing Olympics a couple of weeks ago. Right now, I'd take either him or Brad over one of the current afternoon hosts. (The other half of that duo would be just fine, once he got away from his co-host's aura of negativity...)

 

 

We should just boycott WGR once they do stop talking hockey. They treat football fans as second-class listeners, so that's how we should treat them. Let the hockey fans listen all summer; see how their ratings fall.

 

What a joke this station has become with its current programmer. Think back to the days of Chris Brown, Bob Gaughn and the Coach, among others who actually knew their football. The guy - Andy Roth - turned the station into a hockey-only loser.

[Kantorski]

We should just boycott WGR once they do stop talking hockey. They treat football fans as second-class listeners, so that's how we should treat them. Let the hockey fans listen all summer; see how their ratings fall.

 

What a joke this station has become with its current programmer. Think back to the days of Chris Brown, Bob Gaughn and the Coach, among others who actually knew their football. The guy - Andy Roth - turned the station into a hockey-only loser.

The coach ?

He knew what he was talking about ?

He said on more occassions than anyone could count that Rob Johnson was the type of QB that could take a team to a super bowl.

[Buftex]

The coach ?

He knew what he was talking about ?

He said on more occassions than anyone could count that Rob Johnson was the type of QB that could take a team to a super bowl.

 

 

The coach is a blowhard...and he may be wrong in assesing players from time to time (who isn't?), but he does know football. If you can get past his schtick (not an easy thing to do at times), I think he is pretty informative. He may not know QB's (I have heard the best of them make incorrect assesments about the QB position), he has more insight than almost anyone I can think of (local or national), on how the game is actually played.

[Adam]

As far as Schope getting edgy with callers I'd be ok with that if he had any clue what he was talking about.

But the idiot is wrong 99% of the time and at the same time he is talking down to everyone else.

I think that the Bulldog just goes with Schope along to get along, I really don't think he respects Schope or Schope's BS.

Also the Bulldog takes his Norm from 'Cheers' act too far , he comes off as a phony.

Schopp isn't an idiot. He portrays the character that he is told to. I heard him filling in nationally on ESPN radio a few years back, and there was none of the moronic schtick they use at WGR 55.

[Buftex]

I can tell you after living in both the Philly and Atlanta markets that their sports radio is 10 times better. Not even being a fan of any of the teams (except the Sixers, Hawks and Braves) I listened to them constantly. They know their stuff and don't let callers get under their skin - unlike WGR. If you ever get a chance, listen to WIP on theWeb, and you'll get a true sense of what I am talking about. The sports guys - Anthony Gargano to Howard Eskin are held in high regard - some like them and hate them, but they never come off as whiners.

In Atlanta the guys on 790 the Zone will match sports knowledge with anyone. Chris DiMino, Steak Shapiro and Nick Cellini would never be challenged on their knowledge.

BTW, anyone who knows about Atlanta, knows people don't really care about the pro teams. It is all Georgia Tech and Georgia Bulldogs 24-7. (I don't get it, but college sports rule the South.) Because they did not sell out Braves playoff games is not surprising when you make the playoffs 20 straight years.

 

 

You may be right about Atlanta. When I was there (about 18 years ago, when sports talk radio was in its' infancy), the sports talk radio was unbearable, mainly, because they didn't talk about the things I wanted to hear about...which seems to be the cruxt of the main complaint here. If we want local guys talking about March Madness, Nascar, Tennis, Golf, etc etc, why not just watch or listen to ESPN? As much as we are complaining (and believe me, I am not defending the quality of the GR55 personalities, but they don't bother me as much as they seem to some) just listen to ESPN radio all day. You will almost never hear mention of the Bills, and certainly never of the Sabres. I think that is the reason that most sports talk stations are only local part of the day. You see what I am saying?

 

I happen to be one of the few people here (I am guessing, by the degree of hate that usually fills most threads on the topic), who kind of likes the NBA. I don't expect to hear much about it on GR55, but I know, when they turn the reigns over to ESPN overnight, I will hear more about it than I want to.

 

I guess I mostly just listen to the archived stuff on GR55 most days, so I don't hear all the banter between the listeners and the callers. For the most part, that stuff is pretty useless, local or national. In the case of GR55, what little I do hear of that, I think the callers, for the most part, are as well informed as the hosts. Nothing wrong with that...I am not sure if I have ever listened to Schoop & the Bulldog live, only the highlight packages they put together.

[ET1062]

To begin today's Jerry Sullivan show, Schopp and Sully attempted to have a conversation on the NFL. Both admitted to knowing absolutely nothing about any of the players in this years draft. Schopp mocked the national media and their draft coverage. The segment ended with Schopp crying and whining about getting jelly on his pants. These two chumps couldn't even fill a 15 minute segment on NFL football.

[Turk]

"When your tired of the company line" that was an ad GR use to run in relation to the Bills kinda hypocritical when you consider there pro Sabre management stance which now has become dysfunctional. The station as a whole has become comparable to a battered wife in denial. I think it is time to work the Bills back into regular rotation as far as programming goes but I think the B word has some left over bad feelings from the Donahoe era and can't let it go. I'm guessing he was put in his place by someone back then and like a B word will do nothing but bad mouth them, maybe they never called when they said they would. Seriously though any way to get out of Bills chat and onto tennis, or fashion, or some tidbit about his social life will be jumped on and bandied about ad nausium. I feel like everyone else that you can't tell me that in a four hour show this time of year you can't find one hour to talk Bills football or how about the UB Bulls? They just had there spring game probably could have used a little attention there, and I'm not sure who's in town still but there has to be some guys from the Bills who would have come on the air and talked a little bit about there off season and such. Heres hoping WECK grows quickly and they lose Dennis Miller and give someone even Bob Gaughn a slot opposite the B word ( I hope Howard Bolts being tired of am) I also think Dennis Williams would be good heel I'd prefer that cougar they use sometimes.

[throwbackbilly]

4 years without tears...and a hundred miles of smiles...

 

Thats the WOW warranty, the without worry warranty at

 

RIVERFRONT AUTO SALES....

 

Dude...if you don't know who Mama Pecararo is, you must never listen to WGR....that commercial is on in some form at least 6 times an hour...

 

 

Exactly. Sweet deal for WGR. Howard and Jeremy run the commercial 6 times an hour and they each get matching '81 Pinto's to drive to and from work.

[Lori]

turk, here's a little insight on the Donahoe-vs-WGR cold war. Plenty of blame for both sides, but yes, the afternoon crew was involved:

 

Olean Times Herald, Jan. 5, 2006: Bills had no choice but to let Donahue go

Donahoe was polished and positive in his meetings with the press and public and met with the team’s beat media, at metered intervals, for off-the-record sessions to update us his feelings about player performance and NFL issues.

 

It was unprecedented access to a Bills’ executive.

 

However, that relationship eventually eroded.

 

As Buffalo struggled for consistency — 3-13, 8-8, 6-10, 9-7 — it became increasingly obvious that Donahoe, in baseball lexicon, had rabbit ears.

 

He was bothered by criticism almost to the point of paranoia.

That attitude kicked into high gear during training camp of 2004 on the day then-rookie quarterback J.P. Losman broke his leg when hit by cornerback Troy Vincent at the end of a showy scramble.

 

Speculation was rampant that Vincent made the hit, surely not with the intent to injure, but certainly to make a point to Losman that hot-dogging has no place in the NFL ... especially in practice.

 

Later that afternoon, Donahoe did an interview on WGR radio and vehemently denied that Vincent’s hit had any other purpose than merely playing his position.

 

The Bills’ chief executive had barely removed his headset when the show’s host, in effect, asked the listeners, “Do you believe him?”

 

Donahoe took understandable umbrage at the suggestion he was lying and that began his alienation from WGR which lasted to the day he left.

 

From then on, the sports talk station had no player interviews unless they were recorded in group media access situations and reportedly it wasn’t directly informed of press conferences or team news. As a result, WGR stepped up its criticism of the Bills, in general, and Donahoe in particular.

 

Even as he leaves, stories persist of Donahoe having PR lackeys listen to Buffalo sports talk radio to take note of criticisms of both him and the team.

 

Those tales might be apocryphal, but there’s little doubt Donahoe was overly concerned about what was said and written about his performance.

 

That’s wasted energy in a city consumed by its football team with a full-time sports talk radio station and only the Sabres with which to compete for interest and discussion.

Sorry about the formatting; this ran as a column. I can confirm the part about TD freezing them out of player interviews -- that came first-hand from a GR employee, one who had absolutely nothing to do with the Vincent/Losman episode.

[BillsVet]

Thanks for the article Lori. This is the first story I read about JP's injury coming in training camp. At the time it occurred I was in Iraq and missed pretty much all of 2004.

 

I'd like to know why Schopp goes out of his way to admit his novice understanding of football. I've never heard on-air talent simultaneously ignorant and arrogant but Schopp is. Leading with out of town hockey this afternoon was radio insanity.

 

I'm not saying they need to lead with the draft every day, but this is Buffalo, and hockey season is over. I guess Schopp didn't get that memo. What's next? Tennis?

 

Competition in this market is the only answer to GR's pathetic personalities.