What can we do to get rid of Ray?

[SabreBlood]

I completely disagree with this. Far too often, it's exactly the opposite IMO.

Please point out some examples when he does it this year. I'm curious as to what a former NHL player at ice level could be missing.

Sometimes I notice him covering for certain players, towing the company line. That's obvious, but it's also pretty common for the homer commentators to do that.

 

[Bobby Bottle Service]

Duffer and Ray should switch jobs. Duffer asks questions that are too complicated for a player to answer during quick interviews, Rayzor does not have that issue. Rayzer asks the typical hockey question and then lets the player speak. Duffer asks questions that have 5-6 sub-clauses and you can see the players wondering... just what was his question again?

Rayzor doing colour... he struggles getting his point acrosst.

 

[MayDay]

Biron should be the Sabres' analyst.

I've felt very strongly since way back in his playing days, that I hoped for a Marty Biron post-retirement career as Buffalo Sabres color commentator.

The guy can talk and talk, he knows the game, he knows the team, he's full of anecdotes, and he's always interesting to listen to.

And he already lives in WNY. Why not?

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

rayzor doing colour... He struggles with english.

ftfy

 

[Djp]

I have "family".....

 

[GameMisconduct]

Please point out some examples when he does it this year. I'm curious as to what a former NHL player at ice level could be missing.

There are numerous examples in last season's GDTs. In Rayspeak that would be "I seen lots of examples in GDTs that do a real nice job to get the point acrosst."

He also earned a dedicated thread for his most 'memorable' observations.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but IMO he's awful and demonstrably downgrades the TV viewing experience.

 

[Chad Thundercock]

I've felt very strongly since way back in his playing days, that I hoped for a Marty Biron post-retirement career as Buffalo Sabres color commentator.

The guy can talk and talk, he knows the game, he knows the team, he's full of anecdotes, and he's always interesting to listen to.

And he already lives in WNY. Why not?

Marty's great, but you don't want a guy who can talk and talk to do color. He's more suited for a studio gig. Plus, he can be hard to understand at times with his accent.

 

[Man of Principles]

I really like Rob Ray. He's an icon in Buffalo Sabres history, but he has the mental capacity of a 3rd grader.

It's really sad, though. It all can be attributed to his concussion-laden career.

 

[EichHart]

I have no idea how we can rid of him, but he is so annoying I find it hard to listen to games sometimes. The combination of the Sabres being so bad and Ray talking...

 

[joshjull]

I actually liked him when he was part of a 3 man broadcast team. It allowed him the time to process things and actually make some good commentary But as the only color analyst he can't process things fast enough and sounds terrible.

 

[Batch]

I believe it was when Ray was discussing Zadorov, he said something along the lines of 'When he's in the corners, he's everywhere...' It was pretty cringe inducing. That and him going out of his way to rip on Grigorenko all night was as much as I could handle.

 

[ZZamboni]

I actually liked him when he was part of a 3 man broadcast team. It allowed him the time to process things and actually make some good commentary But as the only color analyst he can't process things fast enough and sounds terrible.

Yea, when we heard from him 12-15 times a game with little tidbits of info or breaking down a play real quick, he wasn't terrible. In current capacity, he isn't very good.

 

[dire wolf]

lots of over-reaction in this thread. Rayzor isn't great, but he mostly stays out of RJ's way, which is what you want. Too many other color commentators talk over the action when you're trying to watch the game. Besides, with the exception of last night, I think Rob has improved a lot over the last year.

 

[Dex]

I disagree with most of the negative comments on this thread. Like others have mentioned - I think his forte is the between bench guy with occasional commentary. That role is perfect for his background and presentation, IMO.

I agree that he is not the most polished guy and his use of the English language could use some improvement. But he is what he is - a Sabres icon, blue collar guy with an everyman vocabulary that has its charm in small doses.

Brian Duff is fantastic - but I like him in his current role. I like Dunleavy too. The one thing that bugs me a little is his overuse of the term "keeper" for the goalie. I could be wrong, but I think of that as more of a soccer term. I like soccer, btw and I know Dunleavy did or does TFC games. Like I said, I could be wrong about the soccer connection. Mybe if someone corrects my impression, I'll not be as annoyed. Overall though - I think Dunleavy does a nice job.

I think the Sabres could use an upgrade at the color commentary spot with Ray as the third guy. I'd also like to see a split between the TV and radio broadcast at some point after RJ is gone. I miss the radio only play by play.

Bottom line - I would not fire Ray - but I'd return him to a the more appropriate third/between the benches guy.

 

[Namejs]

I think Ray is a terrible commentator. He's probably one of the worst sports announcers I've ever heard in my life. And I watch a truckload of different sports on a regular basis.

Duff is probably at the other extreme - he's just great at what he does. 10/10, would invite him to broadcast the Latvian scything festival.

RJ sounds like an old, grumpy man and he probably should've retired a couple of years ago, although most of the time you know you're listening to a pro play-by-play announcer with loads of experience.

Dunleavy is good, but he could be more animated and emotional. Also, he looks like he's about to cry whenever he's shown on video.

I love Robitaille's insight and his snappy comments. They've got a really good thing going with Duff and at times watching the studio was more exciting than watching the trainwreck on ice this past season.

Brad May emits a major ****** vibe and he's pretty unimaginative as well. Often what you hear from him is just a bunch of stereotyped phrases stringed together. Still a mile better than Rayzor, though.

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

Sell tickets.

I would pay over face value

 

[NEcoli]

I miss Jim Lorentz.

Ray reminds me of that SNL character Will Ferrell used to play who couldn't modulate the volume of his voice.

 

[JThorne]

Rayzor would be fine as the 3rd guy you throw down to occasionally or maybe postgame guy spewing his stuff, but as an announcer he's clearly bad.

And as always, complaining and sending letter doesn't help, it actually hurts. You have to just wait until people realize he's bad at his job.

There is zero way you can possibly know this. None.

 

[Paxon]

There is zero way you can possibly know this. None.

That's because it's utter bull****. There's no way it "hurts", but it is usually in vain.

 

[Paxon]

I think Ray is a terrible commentator. He's probably one of the worst sports announcers I've ever heard in my life. And I watch a truckload of different sports on a regular basis.

Duff is probably at the other extreme - he's just great at what he does. 10/10, would invite him to broadcast the Latvian scything festival.

RJ sounds like an old, grumpy man and he probably should've retired a couple of years ago, although most of the time you know you're listening to a pro play-by-play announcer with loads of experience.

Dunleavy is good, but he could be more animated and emotional. Also, he looks like he's about to cry whenever he's shown on video.

I love Robitaille's insight and his snappy comments. They've got a really good thing going with Duff and at times watching the studio was more exciting than watching the trainwreck on ice this past season.

Brad May emits a major ****** vibe and he's pretty unimaginative as well. Often what you hear from him is just a bunch of stereotyped phrases stringed together. Still a mile better than Rayzor, though.

Just fyi if you didn't know, Roby unfortunately retired after this past season. I hope they get him to be a semi-regular on Hockey Hotline, which is actually named after his old post-game show back when the Sabres owned their own TV and radio stations.

 

[sba]

Throw Pegula money at Drew Remenda

 

[enthusiast]

pray away the ray

 

[ZZamboni]

That's because it's utter bull****. There's no way it "hurts", but it is usually in vain.

Agree.

It doesn't take much effort to throw an e-mail out to Black.

 

[JThorne]

Hi Josh-
Thx for the email, comment and link. I do appreciate the message board fanbase that stretches around the city and the world - so say hi to the HFBoards folks and tell them we appreciate the passion. As for Rob, he would be the first to admit that he doesn't always speak the King's English. (Nor do I- don't forget, I come from a place where "yinz want some eggs 'n at" is an acceptable way to take a breakfast order!). I do know that rob works very hard off camera to prepare and improve and I have seen improvement even in a year like last that was really tough on a broadcast team. Additionally, doing a simulcast radio/TV production is inherently difficult for listeners especially when someone in a car hears "look at what Stafford did right there." Nonetheless, I will pass along the input and comments (and there were some positives in there too) to the broadcast team since all of us are interested in getting better as an organization.
Best regards, TNB


Well Uncle Teddy responded to my email that pointed him to this thread.

 

[dasaybz]

Serious question and topic here.

It is well past time for Rob Ray to go. We have to let management know that he's just not right for the job he's doing. So what can we do? Post to the Sabres facebook page? Flood the recommendation box? Put a sign up on the 90? I'd love to get a quality guy in the booth to replace him. None of this between the benches crap either. Just fire him outright or shuffle him to the desk to replace Robitaille.

Totally disagree with this. I think Rob is entertaining and I have no problem with him at all. Don't you have better things to do with your time?