Maybe NFL Commish Roger Goodell’s endorsement clinched it for RALPH WILSON but FINALLY the only BILLS Owner is elected to the Hall Of Fame! Bills long-time Superstar #78 BRUCE SMITH also elected in his first year of eligibility, Ralph was asked about going into the HALL in the same class as Bruce he said “to be inducted with Bruce Smith, I knew after I saw him play for 15 years he won so many games for us making that tackle in the last minute…to be sitting up here with him, let me shake your hand.”

ANDRE REED, sadly didn’t make the cut…maybe next year #83 (we’re all pulling for you)!

You’ll be hearing a lot about Jada over the next year. Imagine the Spice Girls without all the goofy nicknames and other gimmicks. Just pure singing talent here.

Their new single “American Cowboy” will be released February 17th, with the full album coming out in June.

If Amazing Race should ever go away, this will become my favorite reality show.

I found out about it after the first season had aired. I became instantly obsessed and watched the entire season over a weekend. Same with the second season.

I won’t do that with season 3 though as it’s airing now on both the Fox Reality Channel and online for free at Hulu.com! (You can also watch seasons 1 & 2 free on Hulu.)

Go see the only reality show where a virtual host (VAL) is the player’s only companion and the players are pretty much playing against themselves, as it’s all just mind games on Solitary!

A big twist this season has been all over the promos for the show. Someone from each tribe will be voted off almost immediately. First impressions is all that’ll be based on.

What’s your first impressions of the contestants? There’s a middle school principal, a soccer coach, a hairstylist, a cattle rancher, a former pop star (from SWV), two models, and nine others. Meet them all here.

And get ready for the 18th season of Survivor starting Thursday, February 12th on CBS.

My son’s haircutting skills leave much to be desired.

Apparently Darcy asked Connor to cut her hair, so he did, with kids safety scissors.

Her bangs look marvelous, don’t they? And the one pigtail being 2-3 inches shorter than the other will be a trend, I am sure.

I think every sibling is victimized like this at one time or another in their young lives. Ask my younger brother sometime about the hair style I gave him when he was 5. (Still sorry about that, Pete…)

I guess, pardon the pun, we Demay boys are just not cut out for this line of work.

–Brian

I can’t wait until the return of my favorite reality show on-air!

If you didn’t hear…UB MEN’S BASKETBALL (on a Tear in the MAC recently) will take on TOLEDO in Alumni Arena Saturday at NOON and will be broadcast on ESPN2! The second part of the Doubleheader will pit Western Michigan vs. The UB Women at 2pm.

Piers Morgan was the first Celebrity Apprentice last season. Who will be the second?

Maybe Andrew Dice Clay (although I really doubt that). Possibly Joan or Melissa Rivers (if they can manage to not offend one or all of the Trump clan). Dennis Rodman I’m thinking might have a good shot at winning the whole thing. We’ll see soon.

Meet all the celebrities for the upcoming season here and then get set for Celebrity Apprentice 2, coming Sunday, March 1st at 9pm on NBC!

If you ever get the chance to experience the Niagara Icewine Festival at Niagara-On-The-Lake, you really should do it. My wife and I had a fantastic weekend, touring the wineries, finding out more about the history of icewine – and most importantly, having some amazing food.

Saturday we enjoyed a gourmet luncheon, which featured chefs from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Anna Olson from the Food Network, and several world famous winemakers. For dinner I sat with Amy Bond from Jackson-Triggs, and we talked about the techniques and hard science that go into growing and tending the grapes, before they even come off the vine, not to mention the unique blending and barrel aging that gives each varietal its unique taste.

While we chatted, chefs came out and described each meal, and what motivated them to put together the ingredients. The setting was the wonderful Inniskillin, with architecture inspired (and possibly designed) by Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as Edgewaters overlooking the frozen wonder of Niagara Falls.

Have you ever tasted something so good, words escape you? That was, in a nutshell, how our entire weekend went.

And just to bring home the whole Icewine theme, downtown we drank from ice glasses, sat on ice chairs, and were served from several actual ice bars.

What an amazing experience, which always seems to be the descriptor we use following our Ontario trips.

Let me close with this funny example of how uniquely Ontario our weekend was. We checked into the Pillar and Post, a historic hotel a block or two from downtown. Our doorman showed us to our room, looking very distinguished and sophisticated. He explained our amenities in a deeply respectful tone, talked about the history of the hotel, and then asked us what we had planned for the night.

“We’re going to the formal gala upstairs.”

“Well, have a good time, eh?” He said.

Indeed we did. If you want to see more, here’s a slideshow.

–Brian

Perfect Travel Mug

When we mention something on the air, we often wonder how many people are interested in the topic. The object is to cover topics many will be fascinated/amused/interested in. Yesterday, we hit up travel coffee mugs. I’ve gone through many, trying to find one that works properly and won’t leak. Air Gordon mentioned his whole day was shot as his leaked and he had stains on his pants right where a guy doesn’t want them. Which inspired a note from listener Cindy, who has found the perfect mug:

Hi Rob,
If you want to purchase a travel mug that does not leak……this one is fantastic and I purchased one for every person on my Christmas list.

QVC.com Item Number #K8727 $18.59. It keep you hot drinks hot/warm for 4 hours and your cold drinks cold for about 12 hours.

On behalf of leaked on listeners all over Buffalo, thanks Cindy!

The Biggest 80’s Party was last night at Club Infinity. And if you were scared to go out in the cold and ended up missing it, well too bad for you. We had a great time!

Roar 84 was incredible. The outfits were totally bodacious and the music was awesome! My personal favorite last night – I Want Candy. Wow! Check out their video.

Excuria Salon & Spa was also there to help turn everyone’s hair into 80’s hair and they offered up some cool prizes for the outfit and big hair contests.

Bill Parker, a dyno photographer from Buffalo.com’s Spotted, was also there and took over 200 pictures! See one of them below (that’s me with the totally 80’s Excuria Salon & Spa experts as we figure out who’s winning the big hair contest). Click on the picture to see all the rest of Bill’s excellent pictures…

Back in July, I posted about some of my favorite game shows from the 80’s (Pitfall, All Star Blitz, and Press Your Luck). Here’s a few more that I miss. Click on the name of the show to see an episode on YouTube. And e-mail me if you think of any I missed…

Scrabble: Ran on NBC from 1984 – 1990 and then again briefly in 1993. I liked Merv Griffin’s Crosswords last year, but Scrabble was far better. And a lot funnier thanks to its host Chuck Woolery and some of the crazy contestants (like Sang in this clip).

Yahtzee: It was kind of a rip off of Hollywood Squares complete with Peter Marshall as the host. The show didn’t do well though and disappeared quickly, lasting about 8 months in 1988. The rules for certain situations were unbelievably confusing and in the beginning, the host and the celebrities had no idea what to do at times! And there’s rumors that some contestants never received their winnings thanks to some financial troubles. But it sure was fun to watch during its short run.

Truth Or Consequences: I loved every single one of the 60 episodes. It ran in syndication during the 1987 season and featured contestants who had practical jokes played on them. Many had no idea the real reason they were even on the show, playing one game while another went on behind them. The host’s goofy sidekick was The Unknown Comic unmasked, making the show that much funnier!

Classic Concentration: The game show based on rebus puzzles with Alex Trebek as the host. Original episodes ran on NBC from 1987 – 1991. Even though all the episodes of the show still exist, it’s never seen in reruns. For some reason, NBC hasn’t made them available yet. Hopefully, they’ll sell them soon so a cable network can pick it up. In the meantime, below is one of the Classic Concentration rebus puzzles. If you can’t figure it out, click on the picture and the answer will be revealed.

I’m not a big Broadway fan. But I think it would have been fun to see this show.

Patti LuPone went nuclear the other night during her Broadway production of “Gypsy”. An audience member was taking pictures during the show. Patti noticed and stopped the show to let them have it.

Unknown to her, someone else was recording the audio of all this on their cell phone. Which of course is also wrong. But that’s far better than a camera flash.

Here’s the audio of the whole thing. The volume’s low, but it’s better than nothing.

Now I hate to make fun of this, because Patti LuPone was so right calling that audience member out and then getting them thrown out of the theatre. But here’s another video on YouTube that’s so clever, I had to share it with you. It’s a “remix” of the incident called “LuPWNed!“.

When the first snow hits, it’s easy to get out there and shovel the driveway and sidewalk down to the bare pavement. It gives you an early sense of accomplishment.

“I’ve beaten the elements! Winter? Bring it on!”

This foolish enthusiasm lasts for the next few snows.

Then the hump of packed snow and ice at the end of the driveway starts to grow, deposited there lovingly by the snow plow guy every couple of days.

Before long, the driveway pavement disappears, and you’re just skimming the loose snow off the surface.

By February, snow weariness sets in, and a set of tire tracks in the driveway are sufficient, just so you can pick up enough speed to get the car over the snow mountain at the end of the driveway. The rationalizations begin:

“Keeping the porch and sidewalk shoveled is the important thing.”

By March, the hard-set yellow stains of ice everywhere (thank you Rocky – pictured) begin to melt away, and the pavement returns.

The shorts come out when it hits 40 degrees, and to quote Carl Sanburg, “The Wind Sings Welcome in Early Spring.”

As I write this in the dead of winter, here’s to renewing our spirits sooner, rather than later.

–Brian

Letter from Bush Kids To Obama Kids

I’ve had a lot of requests for the link to the note that Jenna and Barbra Bush wrote to Sasha and Malia Obama about being The President’s Daughters, and still having a great childhood in The White House. Click here to read the letter.

It will give you a great feeling.