TWC Interviews Mike Schopp, Part 2

Welcome to part 2, of the Mike Schopp interview! You can read part 1, here.

Katebits: How much responsibility do you feel for setting the tone of the sports dialog in Buffalo? Take the Sabres free agency fiasco from last summer for example. Obviously, there was a lot of anger and frustration in the community. How much obligation do you feel to allow that frustration to be voiced? How much responsibility do you feel for helping to facilitate a levelheaded conversation?

Mike Schopp: I suppose I have this responsibility to some extent, but I don’t think about it in that context. Rather, I take pride in helping to set the tone. I think the tone of the calls should match that of the fans in general. But when considering that only a certain small percentage of fans ever feel so strongly about an issue to call in, it can be difficult to accomplish that.

Last summer’s Sabres news is a great example of how this can be challenging. Anytime a rich owner and seemingly distant executives let good, popular players leave, thousands of fans come out of the woodwork to call these men cheap, incompetent, arrogant, etc. But many, many other fans, while not necessarily approving of the moves or the methods behind them, understand the process and accept that these moves were not made in an attempt to sabotage the organization. These people won’t call in to make that point often as they lack the impetus of outrage to do so.

I think that the serious effort we make to represent this more level-headed fan is a huge factor in our success. Our show does not sound like idiotic runaway madness like many, if not most, sports-radio shows do.

Katebits: Do you listen to This American Life? Howard Stern?

Mike Schopp: No, and not anymore. Was a big Stern fan about 10-12 years ago. Learned a lot from that show. My favorite radio show ever to listen to was The Phil Hendrie Show. He’d dream up ridiculous scenarios and proceed to conduct an interview with himself — Hendrie, the host, and some imaginary expert that he would play. Then he would take calls from irate listeners. I’m not sure this makes sense, let me give you an example:

He made up some story about a priest who claimed that God told him to spend church collection money on a hot tub. So he “interviewed” the priest, who was really just him in a different voice. And people would call in just furious that anyone would do that. Genius, and executed beautifully.

Katebits: I seem to recall you metioning having a journalism degree in the discussion after Tim Russert’s death. Please correct me if I’m wrong about that. When you started out as a fresh faced 18-year-old what did you envision doing with your degree? Was sports talk radio always the plan?

Mike Schopp: I graduated from St. John Fisher College in 1993 with a Communications/Journalism degree. Had this job that I have now been prevalent in 1993, I think I would have wanted it exactly. But it wasn’t; there were sports radio shows but not more than one or two stations in the country. And the shows were usually very dry and informational. Back then I wanted to do play-by-play. But this is better for me. Talk offers much more variety and intimacy. I think it’s more challenging than PBP. Announcers put touches on the artwork that is the game they’re calling, while talk-show hosts get blank canvases to work with. Don’t tell anyone, but I think play-by-play is easy.

Katebits: Hold on. Did you just call Rick Jeanneret “easy”? YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST, PEOPLE!

Katebits: Are you superstitious? The Sabres are, like, 1-883 with me in the building. This makes me feel sad. Do you think I’m bad luck?

Mike Schopp: 884 games and no overtime losses? Come on, Kate. I bet your record is more like 1-572-235-176-2-40-1. It’s the NHL, after all.

When I was a kid I used to think that if I concentrated really hard on the TV or radio announcer calling a goal for the other team that it wouldn’t happen. Inevitably, I would lose focus and that’s when the Sabres would allow goals. The worst example of this was, with the score tied 5-5 late in the decisive Game 5 of the Sabres’ first-round series with Quebec in 1985, I looked away from the TV and Brent Ashton scored to break the tie and win the series for Quebec. I still blame myself for that one.

No, I’m not superstitious.

Katebits: For me personally, I have a limit to how much sports angst I can deal with before I lose interest. At a certain point I just think, “Eh, I guess Marshawn Lynch is just a big dumb jerk. Whatevs.” I’m curious if this happens to you, and how you deal with your job when it does.

Mike Schopp: My first producer in Buffalo, Steve Cichon, once told me after three hours spent wallowing in Doug Flutie-vs.-Rob Johnson blabbering, that just because I’m sick of talking about the subject doesn’t mean some guy just leaving work is. Steve was right. It’s important to remind yourself that most people don’t listen for the whole four hours a day.

We like variety on our show, but we have to be mindful of the fact that if people tune in for a short while when there’s a big sports story and don’t hear it discussed, they might become annoyed.

But, do I ever hit the wall with topics? All the time.

Katebits: Do you read sports blogs? Which ones? Do you read BfloBlog?

Mike Schopp: Yours is the first one I’ve visited more than twice. I’m sure I’m missing a lot out there, I’m just a creature of habit. I couldn’t even name another blog. Seriously.

Katebits: Well, I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty pleased that TWC is your introduction to the world of hockey blogs. That is…..hilarious. But, Mike, you really HAVE to read BfloBlog. I’m going to hold my breath in protest until you do. I could DIE, Schopp. I could die.

Katebits: This might sound weird, but bear with me for a second. Sometimes I feel like I’m playing a character on The Willful Caboose. “Katebits” is a much more outspoken, obnoxious, and outrageous version of me. Do you ever feel like that on the radio? Do you ever ramp up the drama for the sake of entertainment, or is it the opposite, where the goal is to be as genuine as possible?

Mike Schopp: I feel the same way you do. I wouldn’t say I “ramp up the drama” though. Basically, some of the sports topics we discuss mean a lot to me, and some mean less. I don’t much care for or about the Buffalo Bills. I used to, but their management style and the attitude of players and staff have over the last few years annoyed or offended me in just about every way. So pretty much anytime you hear me talking about the Bills I’m having a conversation that I wouldn’t be having with friends.

Katebits: What’s up with the Panther? Just so you know, I LOVE the Panther. I’m not complaining about him at all, I just want to know where he came from. I also want to commend you for being so consistently polite to the Panther. “Thank you, Panther” is pretty much always funny to me.

Mike Schopp: I was watching some game — Florida Panthers, Carolina Panthers, I don’t know — and I thought, we should do what they do and just drop in a panther noise every once in a while. Quality entertainment.

Katebits: Agreed. The Panther is quality. Perhaps I should start lobbying for some random panthery growls during BPO concerts.

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Well, dear readers, thanks for tuning in to the Mike Schopp interview. This is pretty far outside the normal TWC fare, so let me know if you think it worked.

I owe a special thanks, of course, to Mike Schopp for playing along. Thanks, Schopp!

TWC Interviews Mike Schopp

You guys are not going to believe this, but a few days ago Mike Schopp of WGR fame agreed to be interviewed for The Willful Caboose. I know. He must have taken a recent blow to the head or something. He’s definitely not thinking clearly. I suppose he figures he really has nothing to lose by tangling with the like of me, but you’d be surprised. My ridiculousness has a way of tainting everything it touches.

I’ll start out by telling you that Mike Schopp is an Official Friend of The Willful Caboose. A few weeks ago he was making a really interesting point on his show and it inspired me to write him an email. He and I have developed an email friendship, and although I probably wouldn’t recognize him on the street, I now consider him a BFF. (I tried to give him half a BFF locket, but Schopp claimed loyalty to Bulldog and declined. Harsh.) I’d also like to thank him for dealing so respectfully with me, a lowly blogger. (He even mentioned TWC on the air once. We’re famous, guys!) Considering his lack of experience reading blogs, he’s been very open-minded about the whole thing.

Just a word of warning: I’m, um, not a journalist….to say the least. I’ve never interviewed anyone before, and once you read this you’ll surely agree that Schopp was very generous to put up with my shenanigans. This interview was conducted over email, so please forgive the lack of conversational flow.

Without further ado, I present Part One of the Mike Schopp Interview:

Katebits: First of all, and most importantly, who is your favorite Sabre? And none of this “I don’t have a favorite”, bullhonky. Who is your man crush? If it makes it any easier, I’ll tell you that my girl crushes are on Kate from Lost, and on all the cylons from Battlestar Galactica. If you have to resort to Sabres from the past, I suppose I’ll allow it, but only because you have to deal with the Sabres in person from time to time. At this point, after all I’ve written on TWC, I think I’d rather die than have to deal with the real life Paul Gaustad, so I can respect it if you’re too bashful to admit he’s your man crush. Just blink twice if it’s Goose. I won’t tell.

Mike Schopp: One of the first things I learned from Mike Robitaille when beginning to work in Buffalo radio was, “You’ll never need a hockey player for a friend.” While I have known a few players through the years, I generally like to keep a safe distance from them. I do consider Martin Biron, Jay McKee and Rick Martin friends, and I feel safer communicating with them now that they no longer play for the team.

I admire certain traits about a few players. I admire Ryan Miller’s analytical mind, and I like when he challenges inquisitors in the locker room like he does shooters on the ice. Brian Campbell and Adam Mair have a great way with people. Gaustad is just a super guy, and I admire how well-rounded his interests in life are. And to finally get to the essence of your original question (I think), on last year’s team there is no question in my mind that Nolan Pratt was the cutest.

Katebits: Oooooh. Good call. Nolan Pratt is extremely adorable. You get a gold star for not only having exemplary tastes, but for being such a good sport about this question.

Please forgive me if this question is insulting. I really, really do not intend for it to be. Do you consider yourself to be a journalist? Radio seems like a no-man’s land between print journalism and a couple of fans shooting the breeze over some beers in a bar. Do you consider radio closer in nature to newspapers, or to fandom?

Mike Schopp: I think of radio not as a “no-man’s land” but as more of a convenience store. We’ll give you the news, we’ll offer personal opinion, we’ll make you laugh and scream. We generally won’t offer the depth of reporting on particular subjects that the newspaper does. (Theoretically, anyway. The Buffalo News’ sports media analysis, for example, is consistently as shallow as a kiddie pool.) But we offer way more volume. As evidenced by sports radio’s massive popularity here and all over the country, this works for people.

Talk-show hosts simply cannot be journalists. The job requires, at least if done well, too much personality. For people to tune in to our show regularly, they have to want to know how Bulldog and I feel about certain stories. I learned this several years ago from Bob Koshinski, a former boss. I asked him his interest in a certain other local radio personality. His response was, “I don’t think people really need to know what he thinks.” People come to your blog to find out what you, Kate, are thinking. It’s personal. This is the key to your success on the blog, and mine on the air.

Katebits: If you had to choose for the rest of your life, which would you choose? Mountains or beaches? Cats or dogs? Television or Internet? Would you choose to have the super power of invisibility, or flight? Please answer carefully. There ARE wrong answers here.

Mike Schopp: Beaches, no doubt. MUST be near water. I’ll never live far from water. I like cats, so cats. Internet will make television obsolete in four years, so Internet. Being invisible would be too cool. And there’s no simulation for it. I can fly- in planes. I don’t even love it.

Katebits: I’m sorry, but “beaches” and “invisibility” are incorrect. Good call with the cats and the internet, though.

Katebits: What’s the best thing about working in radio? What’s the worst?

Mike Schopp: I’ll take the second part first. The worst part — all tied for first place — the thrill of broadcasting on big news days; the access to Sabres management and players; the occasional compliment from a loyal listener who appreciates the show’s variety and sense of humor; the guys I work with, particularly Bulldog and Greg Bauch; the satisfaction of finishing first in the ratings; and being able to do this instead of really working. The best part, obviously, is all the attention I get from women.

Katebits: It’s true. Women love sports talk radio hosts. I can relate because as a viola player, I am highly coveted myself. It’s a perk of the viola biz, for sure.

Speaking of quality dudes, I think everyone should start calling Ryan Miller, “Crunchy”, and Jason Pominville, “Pommerdoodle”. When can I expect you and Bulldog to adopt these nicknames on your radio show?

Mike Schopp: Not before the year 3 million. To say that I’m not a nickname guy is to say that Nathan Paetsch is not a goal-scoring machine. WGR callers used to use nicknames all the time; on our show it never happens. I even bristle when I hear a baseball announcer say “A-Rod”. I think this makes me a little crusty.

There are many reasons for this, but basically it’s a matter of, do I know this person well enough to call them by a nickname? If I don’t, I won’t. And with callers, to me a nickname is a warning sign that the caller is either going to attempt to be extreme, in an effort to distance his real self from the opinion he’s about to offer, or funny, which he hardly ever will turn out to be. Either result can knock the show off the tracks.

Of course, my partner is nicknamed “Bulldog”. We both wish I could call him Chris, and off the air I always do.

Katebits: First of all, henceforth I shall call you “Crusty Sir Names-A-Lot”. Second of all, this is an interesting answer. For the purposes of my blog, I like nicknames for the very reason you dislike them. Calling Ryan Miller “Ryan” seems uncomfortably familiar, and using his actual name seems like a violation of the natural boundary between fan and athlete. “Ryan Miller” is an actual human being, “Crunchy” is some imaginary version of Ryan Miller that I write about online. I never ever deal with Ryan Miller in real life, though. Using a nickname in person is a whole different ball of wax and I can certainly understand your vantage point, even if it is a little crusty.

—–

….to be continued! Tune in tomorrow when I threaten to kill myself if Mike doesn’t start reading BfloBlog, and Mike explains why it’s his fault the Sabres didn’t win the Cup in 1985.

The New York Times, Baby

I would like to interrupt your busy schedule of depressed drinking, and feverishly refreshing your browser in the hopes of discovering Soupy has been traded for Olli Jokinen, but only for a moment. Then it’s right back to wallowing, and soul-searing frustration, I promise.

*******

Imagine my recent surprise when, while relaxing at TWC headquarters, I received an email from the New York Times. According to the email, they had a project in the works that required my assistance. Not wanting to seem too eager and shamefully available, I waited a few hours before icily replying that, yes, despite my busy schedule, I would be willing to help.

And then I called my mom…..to squeal into the phone that the NEW YORK TIMES just gave me an assignment.

The fine people at Slap Shot, the NYT’s hockey blog, have asked a blogger representative from each NHL team to answer a short questionnaire. Apparently, the project is being run by someone’s ten-year-old nephew, because against all reason, I have been chosen as the Sabres blogger. I know. It makes no sense. But, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth (whatever that means), so rather than argue with this rogue NYT agent, I quickly accepted his assignment and a giant suitcase of cash in payment. (By “giant suitcase of cash,” what I really mean is, “bragging rights”.)

You can read my post on the Slap Shot blog on the New York Times website, here.

You can nominate me for the Pulitzer Prize, here.

In all seriousness, participating in a project for The New York Times has been a hoot. Thank you so much to Jeff Z. Klein for putting this together, and for giving me the opportunity to enjoy years of seeing “The New York Times” come up when I google my own name.

*******

Now, Sabres fans, please continue binge drinking. Last night never happened. IT NEVER HAPPENED IF WE CAN’T REMEMBER.

Go Forth and Boo (If That’s Your Style)

I am pro booing. Every time I write the sentence “I am pro booing,” I feel like I need to follow it up with an explanation of all the different ways that I’m a good person, and why I like booing, and why I don’t think it’s that big a deal, and why I truly think booing can be joyful and fun, but honestly, I should stop trying to justify my position on this issue. My name is Katebits, and I’m a booer. You can think I’m a “classless” beeyotch if you want. I don’t mind. It doesn’t really matter what I think, or what you think, Drury is going to get booed tonight. (Not by me. I’ll be playing Mendelssohn tonight. Pretty “classy”, no?) I’m sure Chris Drury can handle the boos, but it looks like Jerry Sullivan is going to be very, very disappointed in all of us after the game. Whatevs, Sully. Whatevs.

Buffalo, I’m Proud Of Us.

For some reason, against my better judgment, about an hour and a half ago, I turned on WGR. For those of you outside of Buffalo, WGR is our sports talk radio station. Usually, WGR makes me want to kill myself because it’s incredibly angry and insane. I have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea to listen to the radio during the peak of the Brian Campbell intrigue. You’d think that the hours upon hours I spent listening to people freak out about the Briere and Drury last summer would have taught me to JUST SAY NO when it comes to WGR, but apparently not.

I just listened to caller after caller express concern about signing Brian Campbell at the expense of the upcoming free agents. A very high percentage of people who called in seem to believe that Soupy’s value to the Sabres is highest as trade bait. People are keeping their heads! They are listening to reason! Schopp and the Bulldog are NOT having temper tantrums. They are calmly adding up the numbers and deducing that if we sign Soupy to what he wants, the team will be committing too much money to too few players. Even Schoop was amazed at the tone of the calls.

I….don’t understand. Buffalo, where is the loony-tunes outrage? Where are the over-the-top accusations of management skin-flintery and incompetence?

Where’s the craaaaazy, Buffalo?

Weary

I’m feeling a little wobbly these days, not just because of my SARS, but also because of the stench of despair emanating from the Buffalo sports scene. I don’t know what is going to happen with the Bills, but I do know it’s depressing to think about from almost every angle. I didn’t see the Bruins game, but after reading about it, I had to revisit the Sabres Meditation. I don’t care what happens with Brian Campbell. At all. Please Darcy, get Soupy to sign on the dotted line or send him away. And do it soon. (And Darcy, from a public relations standpoint, now would be a good time to announce new RFA contracts for Goose and Paille. Just saying.)

I think I’m ready for summer.

*lies down on floor*

*coughs*

*************

UPDATE: Hey, guess what? I wrote this post right before I performed a lively and funny Family Concert down at old Kleinhans Music Hall. I feel so much happier after a nice, wholesome musical afternoon. I would like to offer some advice to my fellow weary Buffalonians. If you are feeling low about the Bills or the Sabres, you should try a concert because it might make you happy. It’s worth a shot. Support your local arts organizations, people!

Bucky Gleason Appreciation Day!

I bet you didn’t see this one coming!

It’s Bucky Gleason Appreciation Day!

Bucky has got it rough, guys. It’s hard to be so pissy all the time. How would you like it if your job was to be a total downer, day in and day out? Everybody hates him! It’s not his fault that outrageous negativity sells papers. Look at that pleasingly round face. Does that look like the face of a bitter crankpot to you? Heck, no!

It’s hard to be Bucky, which is why today is Bucky Gleason Appreciation Day.

In honor of Bucky Gleason Appreciation Day I would like to present Bucky with this book…..

If we all expected as much as Bucky maybe the Sabres would have won the Stanley Cup by now.

 

…….and this Gateway 960 internal fan:

Bucky’s internal fan has been on the fritz since 1983.

Blog on Blog Violence

The hockey blogosphere is in a mighty tizzy today because fancypants blogger Eric McErlain wrote a piece about the New York Islanders “Blog Box” that was all, “The unprofessional bloggers wore JERSEYS, they are LAME and they are damaging the GOOD NAME of sports blogging”, and then even fancierpants blogger/journalist/folk hero, James Mirtle, wrote a piece that was all, “Loosen up, spaz! The internet is a big place.” (There might be a little creative paraphrasing, here.)

And then I was tooootally like, “I heart James Mirtle.”

I’ve been thinking about this issue all day, but you know what? Rather than expound on blogging, the nature of the media, snobbery, and the boneheads running the NHL, I’m instead going to post this picture of a monkey hugging a bird:

When I get my press pass, I’ll ask Pommers to autograph this picture.
That’s just the kind of blogger I am.

 

 

Goodbye, Cruel World

One thing I really don’t enjoy about the discourse surrounding the Sabres (and all sports, really) is the constant yammering of people trying to prove a point. Like all human beings I am prey to the instinct to argue, and I have certainly engaged in some arguing over the last few weeks (Teppo’s suspension got me seriously revved up). I like being “right”, and I’m irritated when someone else is loudly proclaiming something I perceive as “wrong”, but at the very core of my personality I don’t enjoy arguing. I never have. I am a Minnesotan, after all. For me, arguing is a lot like eating at McDonald’s: pretty enjoyable while it’s happening, but totally heinous thirty minutes later.

Call me crazy, call me a fair weather fan, call me a girly-girl, but I don’t want to argue about the Sabres. I want to experience the season at face value. Of course I want them to win the Stanley Cup, but I think I can enjoy the season even if they don’t. I want to love the team (even when they suck), and I don’t want to defend, or even discuss my decision to to do so.

I have come to realize that the only way to stay inside of my happy bubble is to avoid the big, cruel world. So, goodbye Buffalo News, goodbye WGR, goodbye Sabres message boards, goodbye to many of the blogs I read. You are like crack, and you know what? Crack is whack.

Hello, Brain of Katebits!

The nice thing about the Brain of Katebits is that even if the Sabres go 0-82, I can still happily entertain myself by analyzing the hair-dos on the bench. I’m still in the phase of my hockey fandom where hockey is a happy thing, and I’d like to prolong this honeymoon for as long as possible. Those who enjoy such things can go right ahead and argue about the next 80 games. I’ll be here, writing fake letters to Toni Lydman (Dear Toni, don’t change a thing), and organizing my fantasy team according to age, height, and “locker room” presence. (The Fancy Bits are going to win it all this year, even if the Sabres don’t.)