WWKB

WWKB was an Oldies station in Buffalo, New York from 2003 to 2006. This was a short-lived attempt to recreate the personality-driven music format from 1520 AM's Top-40 past when they were known as WKBW. WWKB is currentlly a Progressive Talk station. Stickers from a previous Sports format circa the late 1990s can be seen here.

Bills vs Jaguars

Drove up to New York yesterday for our annual Buffalo sports weekend. We saw the Sabres lose to the Rangers 6-3 in their home opener last night while wearing their beautiful 40th anniversary third jerseys. This afternoon we saw the Bills lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars 36-26. The Bills are now 0-5, the first time they've started the season this poorly since 1985.


WEDG "103.3 The Edge" is an Active Rock station licensed to Buffalo, New York. They are the co-flagship station of the Buffalo Bills along with "97 Rock" WGRF.

Actual Sticker Sighting #9 - WDCX

I saw a faded version of the above sticker on a minivan while driving on Interstate 90 today. WDCX is a Religious station licensed to Buffalo, New York. With 110,000 watts, they are the most powerful full-time Christian station east of the Mississippi.

Bisons vs Mudhens

Traveling 2 1/2 hours north this afternoon for a baseball double header between the Buffalo Bisons and the Toledo Mudhens. Game one is a continuation of last night's rain-suspended contest while game two will be an abbreviated seven inning affair. We plan on hitting a couple indie record stores beforehand and maybe grab a bite at Tony Packo's. Go Bisons!!

WGR is a Sports Talk station from Buffalo, New York.

WCWA is a Sports Talk station from Toledo, Ohio located at 1230 AM. Although they're otherwise all-sports and an affiliate of Fox Sports Radio, their 6 to 10 am morning show consists of Smooth Jazz. In 2007 WCWA became the flagship station of the Mudhens. Their call letters are a reference to Toledo's location on Lake Erie and its connection to the St. Lawrence Seaway (C-WA.)

UPDATE: Buffalo lost both games 12-6 and 5-4. Good fun nonetheless.

Sabres vs Blue Jackets

We're headed an hour east to Columbus for tonight's hockey game between the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets. The Sabres are clinging to a one point first place lead in the Northeast division while the Jackets sit in the basement of the Central division. The BJs recently fired their head coach which could mean they'll slump even further or provide a spark to play above their abilities. The Sabres have underperformed recently themselves going 2-7-1 in their last 10 games. Either way it'll be a fun night at Nationwide Arena.

WGR is the flagship station of the Buffalo Sabres. Previous WGR stix can be seen here. And here.

WWCD is a Modern Rock station in Columbus, Ohio and the FM flagship station of the Blue Jackets. "CD 101" is licensed to Grove City, OH.  Former Columbus Chill player (and later "CD101" DJ) Jim Ballantine became the first player in professional hockey to wear a three-digit number when he wore 101 to help promote the station.

I hope they didn't mind me stealing a bunch of their CD101 logoed pens from this table.

UPDATE: The Blue Jackets destroyed the Sabres 4-0. Depression ensues. It was great, however, to see so many visiting Sabres fans in attendance. An ESPN recap described them as a "huge throng" and at times they seemed to overtake every bar and restaurant in the Arena District of downtown Columbus. It would have been nice to give them something to cheer for.

Places I've Lived #4 - Middleport, New York

After leaving Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in December, 1979 we packed up again and moved to the small, western New York town of Middleport. Actually, we weren’t in town at all but rather stuck out in the boonies in a house that sat on 4 acres of land. The first thing I noticed about this part of the country in winter was the amount of snow that seemed to fall every day. My dad hired a guy to keep our driveway cleared and soon there was what seemed like a mountain range of snow lining each side which lasted well into spring. Being a gravel driveway we endlessly picked rocks out of the grass that were packed in the snow after it finally melted. A friend had a skating pond in his backyard complete with lights, goals and plenty of extra skates for whoever wanted to join in on some pond hockey. One time, the woods across the street from our house flooded and then quickly froze allowing us to skate through the trees. I followed the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid closely as the USA hockey team and Eric Heiden provided unforgettable moments. These childhood memories are probably why I enjoy winter so much. The more it snows, the better mood I’m in.
A couple years after moving here, I met a friend who was an American Top-40 chart geek. He would listen to Casey Kasem’s countdown every week and write them all down in his meticulous handwriting. If he was ever unable to listen to the show his dad would drive him to the newsstand to pick up a copy of Billboard so he could hand copy the Top-40. His dad also had a large record collection--Bad Company, Devo, Black Sabbath, The Cars, Styx and the Woodstock Soundtrack were a few that I remember. It was around this time I started to listen to the radio...mostly WGRQ/WGRF, WPHD, CHUM FM, WUWU and, for the hits of the day, WNYS.

WNYS was a Top-40 station licensed to Buffalo, New York. The top sticker is circa 1983, the bottom is from 1986.

Bills vs Dolphins

After the Sabres big win over Carolina last night, surely it would be too much to ask for a Bills win this afternoon against the hated Dolphins. The Bills are having a pathetic season and stand at 3-7. They fired their head coach a couple weeks ago and are having major problems hanging with teams in the 4th quarter. It'll be the 88th time these two teams have played in the regular season.

WQAM is a Sports Talk station in Miami, Florida. They claim to be that state's first radio station going on the air in 1921. In the 1960s they carried a hugely popular Top-40 format then switched to Country in 1980. The change to Sports came in 1992. WQAM (We're Quality AM Radio) is the flagship station of the Miami Dolphins.

UPDATE: The Bills shock the Dolphins 31-14!! Rian Lindell kicked a 56 yard field goal to break a 14-14 tie with under 4 minutes to go in the game. Then the Bills made a couple interceptions and piled on two more touchdowns at the end to squish the fish!


Ian in front of The Ralph.

Hurricane Season Is Over - WGR/WRBZ

We're driving to western New York this morning for the Buffalo Sabres game against the Carolina Hurricanes. First stop though is Dave & Adam's store in Williamsville to pick up a couple of Sabres jerseys. They're about 40 bucks cheaper than buying them at the arena. It's a six and a half hour trip but the weather is clear so it should be a good drive.

 

550 AM WGR carries an all-sports format and is the flagship station of the Buffalo Sabres. 

WRBZ was a Sports Talk station in Raleigh, North Carolina. They were formerly the flagship station of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team.

UPDATE: SABRES WIN 5-1!!

After two periods the Sabres trailed 1-0 then exploded for 5 unanswered goals.

Ian shows off his gear.

The Buffalo Bills Are Horrible

The team that I love makes me want to puke. I watched the "highlights" of Buffalo vs. Cleveland on the internet and I'm not sure I've seen a worse Bills team since the 2-14 disasters of the mid 1980s. The Browns threw for 23 yards and an interception....and won! Injuries claimed two more players for the season. Our fraud of an offense scored one measly field goal against the 32nd rank defense. The Bills have lost two games in a row to teams who were previously winless. Buffalo hasn't made the playoffs since 1999. I could go on but it makes my stomach hurt and my blood pressure rise. I feel bad for my son who just this season is starting to "get" the game and asks "Why can't the Bills do that?" whenever he sees other teams execute well. I have cursed him to a life of professional football heartbreak and I feel terrible about it. For better of for worse we're still planning on making the 6 hour trek to Buffalo in late November for a game against the Dolphins. By then I expect a new coach and an awful lot of paper bags on the heads of fans who deserve better. I know you know this Ralph Wilson, you 90 year old coot. Fire the entire staff and, for once, pay a coach who knows how to win...there's plenty of them out there.

550 AM WGR is a Sports station licensed to Loserville Buffalo, New York.

WWKB

Taking a trip to Indiana for a Buffalo Bisons baseball game tonight. They're playing the Indianapolis Indians at Victory Field. The Bisons are the AAA affiliate of the New York Mets and the Indians are the Pittsburgh Pirates AAA farm club. We plan on duckpin bowling before the game which I've never done before. Also want to hit Luna Music and buy a few obsolete aluminum discs. Should be a fun day if it doesn't rain.

GO BISONS!!

WWKB was a Sports Talk station in Buffalo, New York around 1996. They now carry a Liberal Talk format. WWKB was formerly WKBW which began broadcasting in 1926.

UPDATE:
Bisons won over the Indians 6-3. Woo hoo!!

Happy Birthday Nikola Tesla / WGRQ

Nikola Tesla was born on this date in 1856. He and Guglielmo Marconi are often both credited with discovering radio but in 1943 the United States Supreme Court reinstated one of his patents effectively crediting Tesla as the actual inventor.

Here's son #2 on Tesla's lap in Niagara Falls, New York wearing a vintage 97 Rock t-shirt.

WGRQ/WGR-FM/WGRF has been a Rock station in Buffalo, New York since 1975 (except for a three year period in the mid-1980s.) They are also the flagship station for the Buffalo Bills Radio Network.
GO BILLS!!!