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| - On July 30, 1960, Van Miller debuted on the air at War Memorial Stadium to call play-by-play for the Bills' inaugural contest against the Boston Patriots. In his 55 years in the business, Miller has earned legend status in Buffalo by doing everything imaginable behind the microphone. Besides his status as the "Voice of the Bills," Miller was the sports director for WBEN-TV/WIVB-TV for many years. During that time, he served as a sportscaster, weather reporter, and as host of the local version of It's Academic and Beat the Champ (a ten-pin bowling show), among other shows. He also hosted a popular afternoon program for many years on WBEN radio.
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abstract
| - On July 30, 1960, Van Miller debuted on the air at War Memorial Stadium to call play-by-play for the Bills' inaugural contest against the Boston Patriots. In his 55 years in the business, Miller has earned legend status in Buffalo by doing everything imaginable behind the microphone. Besides his status as the "Voice of the Bills," Miller was the sports director for WBEN-TV/WIVB-TV for many years. During that time, he served as a sportscaster, weather reporter, and as host of the local version of It's Academic and Beat the Champ (a ten-pin bowling show), among other shows. He also hosted a popular afternoon program for many years on WBEN radio. Miller has also called Buffalo Braves and Niagara University basketball, Buffalo Bisons baseball, Buffalo Stallions soccer, University at Buffalo football and, in his early years, high school sports. With the exception of a seven-season hiatus from 1971 through 1977, when the Bills were being carried on rival station WKBW-AM (and Miller was covering the Buffalo Braves), Miller covered the Bills for most of the team's existence, including the AFL championship in 1964 and 1965, and the Super Bowl run of the early 1990s. He shared the booth with color men Stan Barron and (after Barron's passing in the early 1980s) John Murphy, who succeeded Miller as play-by-play voice in 2004 following Miller's retirement. After 43 years and almost 700 games, a now-harsher-voiced but still sharp 76-year-old Van Miller called his final broadcast for the Bills against the New England Patriots (the same franchise Buffalo had faced for Miller's first broadcast in 1960). The Bills lost 31-0 after having beaten the Patriots in the season opener by the same score.
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