Legendary Buffalo Broadcaster Passes Away

If you lived in Western New York during the 1970s and 80s you know the name Rick Azar.

Rick was the sports anchor of the WKBW 11 O'clock news team with Irv Weinstein and Ton Jolls and was part of Buffalo TV history since 1958 when his voice was first heard during the sign-on of WKBW on November 30th.

Yesterday his family announced that Rick passed away at the age of 91.

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Azar played a big role in Buffalo broadcasting where he was part of some of the most historic sports moments in Western New York history.

According to WKBW, Rick was there for the first-ever Sabers game and more.

He was there for the very first Sabres game at The Aud. He was in the booth the day now-infamous former Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson broke the 2,000-yard mark against the New York Jets in 1973.

The team of Irv Weinstein, Tom Jolls, and Rick were part of Buffalo's broadcasting history for 30 years. Rick would go on to retire in 1989 at the age of 60.

10 years later Rick would be inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Rick was a Western New York guy through and through. He went to High School at St. Joe's, attended college at Canisius, and began his broadcasting career in radio in Niagara Falls at WHLD. He would jump over to TV in the 1950s becoming the first sports director for WKBW.

Outside of being a sports anchor for WKBW, Rick also served as a color analyst on of the Buffalo Bills games, and an intermission host on Buffalo Sabres hockey games televised on Channel 7 in the 1970s.