Buffalo Archives - Page 7 of 8

Surprise! Buffalo Bills Score in Nielsen’s New NFL Ratings

By Chris Carosa on September 14, 2010

When you look for smart business reporting, you look to the Wall Street Journal. Likely to have been Sergeant Friday’s (“just the facts, ma’am”) favorite newspaper, the WSJ sets aside all numbers and focuses squarely on cold, hard numbers. So, when this truly national paper of record offers a story (“Dallas Cowboys Are NFL’s Most Popular Team,” Wall Street Journal, September 9, 2010) spelling out how all 32 NFL teams rank in terms of popularity, you can be sure of one thing – no one gets extra points for rabid enthusiasm. It’s all about the bottom-line. And, unlike Forbes, this bottom-line is more than just money, it’s eyeballs. For the first time ever, Neilsen – of the famous TV ratings – ranks the NFL teams by incorporating both TV coverage and internet buzz.

So, where do you figure the Buffalo Bills – perhaps currently the worst team in the NFL – fall in this survey? It shouldn’t shock you Ralph Wilson’s team doesn’t find itself in the Continue Reading “Surprise! Buffalo Bills Score in Nielsen’s New NFL Ratings”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged Bills, Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Greater Western New York, NFL, Western New York

Has the NFL Provided the Answer to Promoting the Greater Western New York Region?

By Chris Carosa on September 4, 2010

I had lunch with a marketing and advertising professional in Buffalo the other day. When I told him about my crazy idea to promote the greater Western New York region, he told me it was crazy. I expected that. What he told me next I didn’t expect. Yet, I can see why it happened.

A couple of decades or so ago, some members of the Buffalo-Niagara community decided to join forces to promote their two communities. They initial suggested to do so under the banner “Western New York” since the local media commonly used that term to describe the area of Erie and Niagara counties (and sometimes even Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties). The grand poobahs of marketing gathered together and rejected the notion. “Everyone knows Continue Reading “Has the NFL Provided the Answer to Promoting the Greater Western New York Region?”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, NFL, Niagara, Western New York

The Search for the Slice

By Chris Carosa on July 8, 2010

[This Commentary originally appeared in the July 6, 1989 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

It rains an awful lot in New Haven. It even rains in the winter. Of course, any amount of snow makes it worse. They don’t use salt in New Haven. They use sand. The snow melts (with the help of rain), leaving the sidewalks a puddle of a gritty mud. Over the years, though, one builds an immunity of sorts and learns to cope with the constant precipitation. (Maybe that’s why I rarely Continue Reading “The Search for the Slice”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Buffalo, erie county fair, hamburg, New Have, pizza, Rochester, Western New York

Chasing the Iron Ghosts of Blasdell Junction

By Chris Carosa on April 27, 2010

A different year. A different time. A different era. A different culture.

Dry cinder and billowy steam painted the surroundings. The clanking and grinding of metal against metal pierced the air. The steady distant drone of heavy industry provided background color for the audio pallet.

Within less than one square mile of reshaped earth lay more than twenty-two linear miles of railroad. Stacked one above another, the tracks featured motive power from five Class 1 railroads and one industrial switcher.

Squeezed within a quarter mile wide swath of land included: two junction tracks (formerly the Terminal Railroad that bypassed the busy railroad yards of the City of Continue Reading “Chasing the Iron Ghosts of Blasdell Junction”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged Bethlehem Steel, Blasdell, Buffalo, Growing Up, Lackawanna, Railroad, trains, Western New York

D&C Writer Disses Western New Yorkers

By Chris Carosa on January 31, 2010

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. — Teddy Roosevelt

A few weeks ago, a columnist from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle wrote a piece titled “Winter as Metaphor for Community’s Woes.” If you’ve read the column and you’re a true-blue Western New Yorker, you’ll immediately see the column itself as a metaphor for our community’s woes.

The writer, while acknowledging the obvious diminution in our region’s stature, meekly states “The decline we’ve seen is not a character flaw; it’s the result of economic forces beyond our control.”

Actually, the statement reflects the major character flaw many die-hard residents of the western frontier of New York State see in our neighborhood – too many people, especially those floating merrily in the ether of high profile, fail by wallowing in self-pity rather than seizing the reins of self-improvement.

Continue Reading “D&C Writer Disses Western New Yorkers”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, circle the wagons, D&C, Democrat & Chronicle, Democrat and Chronicle, ESPN, Kobayashi Maru, MacGyver, Mark Hare, Rochester, Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Western New York, Winter

Western New York Media Market: Whole Greater than Sum?

By Chris Carosa on January 18, 2010

A decade ago, before the financial crisis that opened the first decade of the new millennium, Adelphia Communications, in addition to a cable channel called the Empire Sports Network, owned a radio station with the call letters WNSA. The two worked in tandem and, at least until the falling stock market exposed the Regis family, this modest media juggernaut gained a respectful audience.

On the cusp of a content driven era, the small cable company had, together with the Buffalo Bills, successfully begun to build connections within a broader Western New York Region. This bigger footprint would include not only Buffalo and Niagara Falls, but also Rochester, Jamestown and several other cities within the roughly seventeen western-most counties of New York State. With a growing national market, Adelphia offered the allure of becoming the new century’s CNN (or at least ESPN). And with its intention to build an impressive headquarters in the state’s Queen City, Buffalo finally had a new hope – one that might bring it to rival Atlanta in cable communications.

But, as it seems to have happened to our region ever since Canada left us no choice but to build the Saint Lawrence Seaway, fate once again dealt a bad hand. Continue Reading “Western New York Media Market: Whole Greater than Sum?”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged 107.7, Adelphia, Bills, Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Channel 2, CNN, D&C, Democrat & Chronicle, Democrat and Chronicle, Empire Sports Network, Enron, Entercom, ESPN, Jamestown, New York, New York State, Niagara Falls, Queen City, Regis, Rochester, Sabres, Saint Lawrence Seaway, Southern Tier, The Lake, Western New York, Western NY, Wethersfield, WGRZ, WGRZ-AM, WGRZ-TV, WLKK, WNSA, WNSA-FM, WROC-AM, Wyoming County

The Snow Monster Returns: Buffalo Bills, Undefeated for the Decade!

By Chris Carosa on January 4, 2010

Should I stay home or should I go?

With red letter snow warnings, ominous travel advisories and a plethora of church service cancellations, the question wavered annoyingly in my own mind and unspoken on my worried wife’s barely wakened lips.

Should I stay or should I go?

The last game of the season. A meaningless game. Against a team that expects to bench most of its starting players. The beleaguered Buffalo Bills, banished for the past decade to the Siberia of no-playoffs, have done little to earn back the loyalty of staunch fans since the heresy of hiring Tom Donahoe. Why should any humble fan place their body in harm’s way, especially when the kind Gods of Time-Warner decided to sell-out the game (the only way they could then broadcast it to local viewers).

Should I stay or should I go?

Continue Reading “The Snow Monster Returns: Buffalo Bills, Undefeated for the Decade!”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged Batavia, Bills, blizzard, bomb, Bruce Smith, Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Charlie Brown, Days Inn, DiPaolo, Dipaolo's, HSBC Arena, Ilio, Ilio DiPaolo, Ilio DiPaolo's, Ilio's, Jim Kelly, Kodiak, Lake Erie, Lake-effect Snow, Marine Midland Arena, New York State Thruway, Ralph Wilson Stadium, ravioli, Rochester, Sabres, snow, Snow storm, Terrel Owens, Thruway, TO, Tom Donahoe, touchdown, Twitter, Victor, Western New York, Western New Yorker, Western NY

It’s a Wonderful Western New York Life

By Chris Carosa on December 23, 2009

For the umpteenth time I find myself watching Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. Yet, in all the years those reels have run through my retinal receptors, for the first time I really see the poignant – if unintended – metaphor.

We – Western New York – are Bedford Falls.

I don’t mean in the literal sense like Seneca Falls. I don’t mean in the physical-proximity sense because the movie mentions Buffalo and Rochester. And I don’t mean in the meteorological sense because those are definitely lake-effect snowflakes in the film. Rather, I speak of a much more mysterious philosophical aura that borders on the eerie similarities of tragic prognostication laced with a fringe of hope.

Continue Reading “It’s a Wonderful Western New York Life”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged Bedford Falls, Berman, Bills, Binghamton, Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Capra, Chris Berman, Clarence, Elmira, Finger Lakes, Frank Capra, George Bailey, It's a Wonderful Life, Lake-effect Snow, Rochester, Seneca Falls, Tom Sawyer, Western New York

Day 18 – December 1, 2009 (Tue): Start Putting Your Tweets Together

By Chris Carosa on December 2, 2009

Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 108 Followers: 94 Listed: 5

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 17 – November 30, 2009 (Mon): Post an Action Tweet

This Twitter Churn and Burn Hypothesis seems to have some legs. It makes me think a lot of folks waste a lot of time on Twitter. Why else would they follow and unfollow in less than 24 hours? I can almost understand the marketers doing this with all their fancy machines. But regular folks? And, especially, non-profits? @BPOrchestra, out of the blue, followed me. Since I feel I belong in their target market, I followed back. Then they unfollowed me. Go figure. So I asked them why with an “@” question. They haven’t updated their tweets in a while so I might not hear from them until tomorrow. But, instead of worrying about my followers – or unfollowers as the case may be – on this day I learn I should worry about my own motives.

Continue Reading “Day 18 – December 1, 2009 (Tue): Start Putting Your Tweets Together”

Posted in 30-Days to Dominate Twitter Experiment Tagged astronomy, astronomytop100, Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Churn and Burn, ERISA, fiduciarynews, Google Analytics, International Year of Astronomy, IYA, IYA 2009, IYA2009, Rochester, social media, Twitter, Western New York, Western NY

Day 12 – November 25, 2009 (Wed): Look for Your Evangelists

By Chris Carosa on November 26, 2009

Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 81 Followers: 57 Listed: 5

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 11 – November 24, 2009 (Tue): Have Fun!

Well, let’s just say I woke up to a pleasant surprise this morning. Not only had my following paid off in new followers, but I discovered some of those new followers had added me to their lists. However, an “@” response from Democrat & Chronicle sports writer Sal Maiorana. Now, those who know me have full knowledge of my familiarity with the media, but, other than the fact Mike Catalana used to live next to my brother, most of my contacts reside on the business page. In fact, this morning I spoke to D&C reporter Matt Daneman about credit default swaps.

Sal had some interested comments on the disposition of the Buffalo Bills coach. He seems to feel a top-tier won’t desire coming to the Bills due to lack of talent.

Although Joel Comm had his own ideas for the next two days, I realized that, with today being the day before Thanksgiving and tomorrow being Thanksgiving, I figure there won’t be much action on Twitter. I continued to experiment with the “@” and DM functions and found out I accidentally @’d the wrong person. The whole knew. Oops! In the end, it probably came across as more of a non sequitur and less of a “your slip is showing” kind of event.

For the most part, the rest of the evening I spent cleaning off our dining room table in anticipation of tomorrow’s big family feast. It’s the least I can do for my lovely wife.

How many followers do you think I’ll have after 30 days? Click here to enter your guess on my Survey Monkey survey “Chris Carosa’s 30-Day Plan to Dominate Twitter Experiment.” There’s no prize, but the fan who guesses the closest correct number the earliest will “win” and I’ll mention you if you want me to.

Find out today’s results on Day 13 – November 26, 2009 (Thu): Reel In Your Evangelists

Posted in 30-Days to Dominate Twitter Experiment Tagged Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Catalana, Daneman, Democrat & Chronicle, Democrat and Chronicle, DM, Maiorana, Matt Daneman, Mike Catalana, Sal Maiorana, social media, Thanksgiving