First, thank you for all of the votes. We appreciate your input.
It’s no secret that I’d call every single person involved in this survey a friend. That said, it’s my job to lay out and interpret the data.
Our first category is “most influential.” Here’s how they ranked.
Unsurprisingly, WGR dominates this category. The only sports radio station in town drives the conversation and, therefore, has the most influence.
5. Mike Schopp— The team of Schopp and The Bulldog has been an afternoon fixture since 2002. Mike and Chris have been the afternoon drive-time sounding board for WNY sports fans for ten years and clearly play a major role in steering Buffalo’s sports discussion.
I’m in the media and I couldn’t care less about them. RT. @JoeBuffaloWins Do only media/bloggers care about media ratings?
— Mike Schopp (@Schopptalk) May 31, 2012
Oh snap!
4. Howard Simon— Howard replaced John Murphy on WBEN’s One on One Sports in the mid 90’s and has been a well-respected voice of reason ever since. He left radio for TV but returned to sports radio in 2004 to host the morning show on WGR.
3. Jerry Sullivan— Sully is a lightning rod and sports fans in WNY have developed a love/hate relationship with him since his arrival at The Buffalo News in the late 80’s. He’s highly opinionated and, between his TBN columns and his WGR appearances, may be the most dominant voice in the local arena.
2. Jeremy White— Despite somehow never having his name attached to the show that he co-hosts, Jeremy is a major part of the top-rated morning show in Buffalo. His outside-the-box thinking makes him a “must hear” Buffalo sports voice.
1. Paul Hamilton— There’s not a Sabres fan in earshot whose view of the team hasn’t been at least partially shaped by this veteran broadcaster. He’s an Iowa State Hockey Hall of Famer whose insight helps the community to better understand the team and the game.
I told Paul he’d “won” this category. Here’s his response.
“Wow! I guess I would say I’m very humbled. I love what I do so I would never think of it in those terms. To find out people think of me in that way is so nice. It’s nice to know that the work I put into this is appreciated because it’s sure fun to do.”
Still to come:
MOST KNOWLEDGABLE
MOST INSIGHTFUL
MOST ENTERTAINING
OVERALL WINNER
So, what’s wrong with this list? Who is ranked too high or too low? Who is missing?
Mike Schopp?? Are you kidding me…
undervalued, right?
Hardly undervalued but I’m sure he (Schopp) overvalues his opinions.
IMO if someone is considered a sounding board, they would need to listen the opinions and thoughts of others. #5 seems to be too self-absorbed to offer the callers and subsequentally the listeners a format which allows for a stimulating back-and-forth. Ironically, that is a style that Brad has in spades!!
Maybe five years ago Schopp came off as self-absorbed, but the chemistry between Schopp, Bulldog and Greg Bauch is phenomenal, and they rarely, if ever, claim to want a back and forth with listeners. Nearly every successful talk show is centered around the knowledge, opinions, and interviewing skills of the hosts, next important is getting interviews and guests, and least important is the rambling/opinion of ” Bob from Orchard Park, who is a long-time listener first-time caller Bills/Sabres season ticket holder for the past 30 years…who thinks the Sabres should shoot more on the powerplay and Lindy doesn’t know anything, or that the routes the receivers run are wrong and Gailey doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
People talk about hosts opinions and thoughts. 30 seconds after Bob hangs up and the hosts make a quick comment on his statement, the only people who care about his opinion is Bob and his family.
Chemistry between Schopp, Bulldog & Bauch is phenomenal? WHAT???? They are so rediculously stale and boring. WGR needs to mix up their pairings or something. All their devices and games are so tired and played out. I’m sure I’m not the only person who wishes there was another local option for sports talk.
Didn’t WECK switch to a hybrid sports/local talk radio for some time?
Todd, you make some good points (especially about hearing from “Bob from Orchard Park”) but a recent show they did validates my opinion on this guy and why I respectfully disagree with you.
After the Corasanti verdict (a non-sports topic )Schopp went on a rant about people being so up in arms about the jury. Any caller that phoned in to offer a different perspective; he was confrontational, rude and would hang up on a caller then go on a rant again pretending that the person was still on the line with no retort.
Case in point; if that same call was placed to someone like Jeremy White, he wouldn’t get confrontational but he still has the ability to get his point of view across as his own and at the very least an opposing, respectful, discussion takes place where at the end of it the caller wouldn’t get pissed for being talked down to and White would still be strong in his conviction(s). You have to learn how to talk to people, whether you agree with them or not and bottom line Schopp just doesn’t have it.
Interesting. I didn’t hear the Corasanti show, but I know what you mean about hanging up on callers. Sometimes it seems premature, other times, not.
The other side of that, to me at least, still, is how badly listeners need to hear the same call.
Schopp can definitely come off condescending. It seems to me that he has a level of expectation about the knowledge and intelligence of the callers that angers a lot of people.
When I listen to Schopp, I hear someone who seems to have a deep respect for talk radio, and wants both himself, Bulldog, Bauch, and the show, to excel and succeed.
I think others take it a lot more personally than it is intended.
On the flip side, I don’t get the love for Jeremy. He comes off to be as condescending, if not more condescending, than Schopp. Where they differ is that Jeremy uses a wicked (some may call it witty, I think it’s fairly mean) sarcasm, where Schopp is simply more direct (some may call it fairly mean) with the callers.
To say Jeremy is patient and respects everyone blows my mind. There have been multiple screaming matches between Jeremy and Sullivan, usually during Bills season, that have made me turn the radio off because of how unlistenable it is. It figuratively makes my ears bleed.
Also, the Whiner line. Jeremy bashes 90% of the callers. Are the calls dumb? Sure, but they’re also part of a fairly strong campaign by the station to actually use the whiner line. The calls are recorded, sanitized, and often it seems like the comebacks are somewhat prepared, and (of course) the caller doesn’t have the opportunity for any kind of discussion. That kind of gives Jeremy an out when it comes to hanging up, and/or listening to callers.
I can’t think of a time, other than Mondays after Bills games, that the morning show even takes listener calls, but I usually only listen until I get to work, so maybe it happens after 8.
I thought Jeremy and Brad were great together back in the day. They had a very strong chemistry and I thought it was too bad when they were split. It seemed that neither was as good without the other.
I do, however, think, that like Schopp, Jeremy does have the best interests of the show at heart and also has a respect for his craft. Jeremy just comes off to me as being more entitled as Schopp, but I know that is an argument I won’t win.
Todd, solid points, but people should take it personally if he cuts them off or acts like a trial lawyer over a simple sports topic. Granted, I hear some of these callers and roll my eyes but shouldn’t the issue be with the call screener who lets these people through? That’s who Schopp should be acting postal to.
I don’t have any love of Jeremy and I never used the word patient. I just think he come across better than Schopp but your point is well taken. The screaming matches between Sully and White I’m convinced are made for radio drama and is staged by Jeremy and, you’re right, when that segment is on I switch to the Fan 590 or Shredd and Ragen. The Whiner Line can be an entirely different thread! When it’s the same 4-5 callers with bad phone connections and I hear Jeremy and Howards responses I’m always reminded of those two old guys from the Muppets who sit on the balcony and bash everything
While agreeing on the Top 4, I’m left to wonder how many people actually voted in this poll. I thought this was “most influential” from a sports perspective, not based on food drafts and what’s your favorite cheese?? I guess having a good radio voice and coming across as a know-it all is the pre-requisite for the 5th place slot. Love this site and the sports forum but that was a misfire for 5th.
Thanks for your interest. We had a total of 441 survey responses for the Buffalo Sports Media survey. All online from Twitter, FB, & email invite. All the rankings are taken directly from the data.
Jeremy White? Hahahahahaha!
You wouldn’t listen if Schopp didn’t argue with the callers who make zero sense. Honestly I don’t want to hear people not called to task for stupid calls. Brad did it on GR and Weck. Jeremy is also must listen, funny and smart dude.
How was the question phrased to voters? The list seems strangely askew, and your lists are starting to contradict each other.
Jeremy White may be entertaining, but however influence is considered, everyone on the list, as well as Tim Graham and Chris Brown all should be ahead of him. And if you’re talking about media members who have shaped the collective hockey minds of individuals in the area, Jeanneret and Robitaille easily have as much influence as Hamilton does. I also think Sullivan and Schopp belong closer to the top.
Actually there is a guy named Rob who calls into the afternoon show all the time. It usually goes as follows
” Hey guys how are you, it’s Rob from Buffalo….Oh I’m on the air, okay wow. Ling time first time but as a 40starter year season ticket holder and the fact that my sisters husbands cousin happens to know the guy who told him that we are going to trade Kaletta for Ovechkin. Yeah should happen soon….
@not an idiot
Great point, I hate those calls too, but shouldn’t Schopp’s anger be more at the call screener who lets those people get on the air?? There is a filter to avoid the “I’m a season ticket holder so I know more” guy and it’s the person who answers the incoming call.
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