Speaker 1: It's night side with Ray.
Speaker 2: Wait a second, Nicole, what a holiday are we talking
Speaker 2: about here? You and I are both working today.
Speaker 3: Just because it's not a holiday for us doesn't mean
Speaker 3: it's not a holiday for somebody.
Speaker 2: But well, yeah, there's probably like holiday every day around
Speaker 2: the world.
Speaker 3: That's the case National Girl Cheese Day. I'm requesting that off.
Speaker 2: No, but this is probably like a holiday in Tanzania
Speaker 2: that we don't celebrate. But it's not a holiday for us,
Speaker 2: and it's I don't know. We're going to talk about
Speaker 2: that at nine o'clock. Okay, we're going to ask if
Speaker 2: people did celebrate today and what holiday did they celebrate
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, And then how about these pesky panthers, Nicole?
Speaker 2: I know, I mean, you know, this is ruining my
Speaker 2: winter and it's pretty early.
Speaker 3: I was gonna say, started you don't let this get
Speaker 3: you die.
Speaker 2: Early in that, but this is this is scary, This
Speaker 2: is scary. I was convinced this was the year.
Speaker 3: Well let's not, you know, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Speaker 3: We feel like I have to say that for every
Speaker 3: New England sport early in the first couple months, like,
Speaker 3: let's not get ahead of ourselves. Then it comes to playoffs.
Speaker 2: And then we can panic. Do me a faye. Well,
Speaker 2: when it's when it's time to panic, will you let me.
Speaker 3: Know as soon as I found as soon as I
Speaker 3: find out.
Speaker 2: As soon as you just let me know, because I
Speaker 2: don't want to like appeer to panic.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, we can enter panic all we want,
Speaker 3: it's just we don't want to scare everybody.
Speaker 2: Good good goods. Okay, that's a good that. That's a
Speaker 2: prudent position to take, thank you against these pesky panthers.
Speaker 2: Panthers very illiterative there the position. Yes, thanks Nicole, have
Speaker 2: a good show, right, Thanks, good evening everyone, And I
Speaker 2: hope you had a good holiday, whatever holiday you celebrated.
Speaker 2: We'll talk about that at nine o'clock tonight, and then
Speaker 2: later on tonight we're going to talk about the hotel
Speaker 2: workers strike here in the in the Greater Boston area.
Speaker 2: I think it's going to be very interesting to understand, uh,
Speaker 2: because all the stories I've read have not specified what
Speaker 2: is at stake. I mean, obviously the workers on and
Speaker 2: strike more pay and better pension and all of that,
Speaker 2: but I'd love to know what situations they find themselves
Speaker 2: in and let's get some of this out on the table,
Speaker 2: because I suspect that the more information we have, the
Speaker 2: better off we will be. But first, first, let me
Speaker 2: introduce myself. I'm Dan Ray. I'm the host of ninth
Speaker 2: Side right here on WBC entitled Nightside with Dan Ray,
Speaker 2: very appropriately entitled. And this is a program that is
Speaker 2: on a holiday, but it's not a holiday special, so
Speaker 2: let's make that clear. Rob Brooks is also not on holiday.
Speaker 2: Rob is working today, so Rob, my condolences that you
Speaker 2: have to work on a holiday, even though it's really
Speaker 2: not a holiday, it should be a holiday in some
Speaker 2: form of fashion. We'll talk about that at nine. We're
Speaker 2: going to start off with our first hour tonight, which
Speaker 2: there were no phone calls in the first hour. I
Speaker 2: remind you of that. I need not remind regular listeners
Speaker 2: of that. And we are going to go down south
Speaker 2: and we're going to talk with Sharon Hawa. She's the
Speaker 2: senior manager of the Emergency Response a Best Friends Animal Society.
Speaker 2: And there has been a two major hurricanes, Hurricane Helene
Speaker 2: and then Hurricane Milton, and not only a people impact,
Speaker 2: but people's pets are impacted. So Sharon, welcome to Night's
Speaker 2: side tell us Best Friends Animal Society, you folks are located.
Speaker 4: Where yes, hi, thank you for having me. We are
Speaker 4: located in kannap Utah. But we've got Center's Pet resource
Speaker 4: centers across the country and our staff is widespread across
Speaker 4: the country. The work that we do is nationally focused
Speaker 4: or a national organization that focuses on getting this country
Speaker 4: to a no kill status with America Shelters by the
Speaker 4: end of twenty twenty five. So we've been doing a
Speaker 4: lot of work for the hurricanes right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that's the problem that is from and Center
Speaker 2: at this point. So what can people here in New
Speaker 2: England do? Obviously, in New England we do a lot
Speaker 2: of pet adoption from some of the southern states, and
Speaker 2: I think that you know, there have been vans coming
Speaker 2: up here in New England. A lot of my friends
Speaker 2: have adopted pets, animals, dogs, cats. What can we in
Speaker 2: New England do? I think I saw one story about
Speaker 2: a group in Rhode Island that actually sent a group
Speaker 2: of workers down to to I believe North Carolina to
Speaker 2: try to help out, just as we send electrical crews
Speaker 2: from different parts of the country. What can we do
Speaker 2: here in New England.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, that's a great question. I think. You know,
Speaker 4: one of the things that really does help with life
Speaker 4: saving four pets is to foster and adopt from your
Speaker 4: local shelters, because what that ends up doing is enabling
Speaker 4: that shelter to raise their hands and say, hey, we've
Speaker 4: got space. We can take some of those impacted animals
Speaker 4: from those hurricane ravaged states. And that's where you see
Speaker 4: the vans coming up with the animals because a group,
Speaker 4: a rescue organization or a shelter organization was able to
Speaker 4: make space. And that is largely in part due to
Speaker 4: the public raising their hand and saying I can foster
Speaker 4: or adopt to make that space. So when people foster
Speaker 4: and adopt, they really are saving two lives, the animal's
Speaker 4: life that they're bringing home, and they're also making space
Speaker 4: for a new animal to come in from an area
Speaker 4: where they may not be able to survive because of
Speaker 4: hurricanes and whatnot.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I'm very proud to say that my daughter a
Speaker 2: year ago adopted from an animal shelter here in the
Speaker 2: Greater Boston area Situate Animal Shelter, a beautiful, quirky dog
Speaker 2: named Mustard, and all of my closest personal friends. I mean,
Speaker 2: I count my five best friends on my right hand,
Speaker 2: and Mustard's right there along with Willi the dog, which
Speaker 2: is another family member. So we we love dogs and
Speaker 2: shelter dogs. And I suspect that there's going to be
Speaker 2: a lot of pets, you know, all sorts of pets
Speaker 2: coming up from the South, particularly after I mean, when
Speaker 2: this storm hit, it had to have tremendous impact not
Speaker 2: only on families, but also in the family pets, which
Speaker 2: is members of the family. Anyone who has a dog
Speaker 2: understands what I'm talking about. If you don't have a dog,
Speaker 2: get a dog, so you can understand that that canine
Speaker 2: becomes a member of your family. Not a member of
Speaker 2: your extended family, but a member of your family. Are
Speaker 2: there ways that folks can help out your organization or
Speaker 2: is there any sort of a fund that is intended
Speaker 2: to help out pets in North Carolina? We support here
Speaker 2: on Nightside of a program called Shadow the Shadow Fund, the
Speaker 2: Shadow Fund in even Northeast, which is an incredible program
Speaker 2: that provides veterinary care for peoples pets up here when
Speaker 2: the owner does not have sufficient funds to provide vetinary cures.
Speaker 2: A lot of people up here who have to make
Speaker 2: tough decisions between rent, food or or vegetan treatment for
Speaker 2: their pets. So you're you're in a pet friendly territory here.
Speaker 2: What more can we do to help? Let us know,
Speaker 2: share and tell us what can you do?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, we do have a fund set up
Speaker 4: and all the money that we raise goes to supporting
Speaker 4: this disaster and future disasters because we are in the
Speaker 4: height of hurricane season. So this certainly isn't going to
Speaker 4: be the only hurricane. I hope so, but this isn't
Speaker 4: going to be the only one left. But yeah, I mean,
Speaker 4: if you go to best Runds dot org, you can
Speaker 4: follow the work that we're doing with Hurricane Helene and
Speaker 4: Hurricane Milton on our web page and there's some links
Speaker 4: to go donate if you're interested. There are a lot
Speaker 4: of people that are displaced right now with their pets.
Speaker 4: They've been displaced since Selene, so Melton was just the
Speaker 4: double whammy that kept them displaced. And you know, right now,
Speaker 4: it's just about what kind of long term recovery it's
Speaker 4: a state going to make available to them, and is
Speaker 4: that recovery going to be inclusive of their pets? Because
Speaker 4: oftentimes it doesn't always include their pets, whatever housing they
Speaker 4: go to. So it's really about advocating as well for
Speaker 4: these individuals so they have somewhere to go with their
Speaker 4: animals and they aren't separated because they are family members.
Speaker 2: They absolutely are. Hopefully. The one good thing about these
Speaker 2: hurricanes is that as bad as it was in Florida,
Speaker 2: and it was really bad, the second hurricane was not
Speaker 2: as bad as had been predicted. I mean, the first
Speaker 2: hurricane was horrible, and they were suggesting it was going
Speaker 2: to be worse. And also I don't think North Carolina
Speaker 2: get hit with this. Well, Milton just went across the
Speaker 2: state of Florida and exited into the Atlantic Ocean, which
Speaker 2: was also you know, a blessing. So hopefully, well, I
Speaker 2: guess icond say it could have been worse and if
Speaker 2: Milton followed the path of Helene. But nonetheless, there was
Speaker 2: a lot of damage done to a lot of states, Georgia,
Speaker 2: South Carolina and Florida, obviously North Carolina and even Tennessee.
Speaker 2: So whatever people could do, Bestfriends dot Org, Sharon, I
Speaker 2: appreciate it. Thank you so much for joining us tonight
Speaker 2: to highlight the need and the program that will help
Speaker 2: satisfy that need.
Speaker 4: Okay, thank you so much, and thanks to everybody in
Speaker 4: New England for always stepping up for their animals.
Speaker 6: Appreciate it.
Speaker 2: We love animals. We love pets here in New England
Speaker 2: family pets. Thanks Sharon, appreciate it. When we return, we're
Speaker 2: going to talk ask the question, the age old question,
Speaker 2: is it healthy to quit social media? Well, since social
Speaker 2: media has only been around about thirty years or whatever
Speaker 2: it is is, it's a thirty year question. We have
Speaker 2: a doctor who says that if you limit your social
Speaker 2: media you're quickly going to see some health benefits. That doctor,
Speaker 2: doctor Tricia pas Richa, will join us. Pas Richa will
Speaker 2: join us right after this break.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan ray Line from The Window World
Speaker 1: Night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: So how much social media are you on? I'm on
Speaker 2: way too much, But I use as an excuse and
Speaker 2: it's actually a legitimate excuse. My job. That's what I do.
Speaker 2: I have to know what people want to talk about
Speaker 2: with me, is doctor Tricia pas Richa. She is the
Speaker 2: Ask a Doctor columnist for the Washington Post, but she's
Speaker 2: Boston based. You have the best of all worlds here
Speaker 2: good afternoon or good evening. I should say, doctor pas Richa, how.
Speaker 4: Are you, hi, Dan, It's great to be back, great
Speaker 4: to be.
Speaker 2: Back on the show again, and I thank you very much.
Speaker 2: So I can't understand why I spend so much time
Speaker 2: on social media, part of which is my job. But
Speaker 2: I can't wait when I retire, I'm getting off social
Speaker 2: media completely. How how healthy is it to get off
Speaker 2: social media, or to put it in another way, how
Speaker 2: unhealthy is it to spend half your life on social media?
Speaker 6: Well it's a great question, you know, there's not a
Speaker 6: straightforward answer, and I think the data, you know, in
Speaker 6: a global sense is a little bit mixed, and part
Speaker 6: of that is just because of how the studies they're done.
Speaker 6: But I think intuitive where we all, all of us
Speaker 6: feel like we're on social media too often. And there
Speaker 6: have been some studies, one that came out of the
Speaker 6: University of Pennsylvania that looked at what happens if we
Speaker 6: randomize people to just using social media as often as
Speaker 6: they like, which which as we all know, can drag
Speaker 6: on into hours and hours of our day, versus limiting
Speaker 6: social media, for example, to ten minutes per day on
Speaker 6: any given platform and in that study, for example, people sound.
Speaker 6: The researchers found that within three weeks of limiting your
Speaker 6: social media use, people's depression and loneliness core is dramatically improved.
Speaker 6: And that's you know what. One example of a small
Speaker 6: study that I think really gets to the heart of
Speaker 6: the problem of social media is that it's supposed to
Speaker 6: be social. It's supposed to provide as this connection to
Speaker 6: other people, and yet it can play a huge role
Speaker 6: in just aggravating our own sense of loneliness. And so
Speaker 6: when people say should I get off social media? I
Speaker 6: really tell them, well, how does social media make you feel?
Speaker 6: And if it doesn't make you feel better, so you
Speaker 6: feel that you're not using your time the way you
Speaker 6: want to, then yes you should get off and see
Speaker 6: what happens if you do.
Speaker 2: I believe that social media is really the equivalent of
Speaker 2: douging yourself, gouging your body with junk food. There's very
Speaker 2: little on social media that is has any social redeeming value.
Speaker 2: How far off do you think I am on that? Well?
Speaker 6: I think this is why it's a little bit hard
Speaker 6: for doctors like myself to say on social media it's
Speaker 6: totally bad. Everybody should absolutely get off. I think there
Speaker 6: are some areas, and there have been some studies to
Speaker 6: support this. Certainly some areas and some groups of people
Speaker 6: that really do find a benefit in social media. So
Speaker 6: that would be people who find forgeable social support groups
Speaker 6: that you can really only get on social media, where
Speaker 6: they might have difficulty finding those kinds of communities in
Speaker 6: real life. So here have been some studies about support
Speaker 6: groups that you can find on social media for breastfeeding women,
Speaker 6: for example, and how kind of affirming that can be
Speaker 6: to talk to other women who are going through the
Speaker 6: same kind of struggles that you are, and or for example,
Speaker 6: for LGBTQ plus youth who may have trouble connecting to
Speaker 6: people in their immedia community, but they really find a
Speaker 6: sense of validation and community online And so in those scenarios,
Speaker 6: I think there can be a lot of benefit to it.
Speaker 6: But sometimes it can be hard to know are the
Speaker 6: benefits that you're getting outweighing the risks and the potential
Speaker 6: damages to your health. And if it's hard to tell,
Speaker 6: I usually tell my patients this is something I've done myself.
Speaker 6: Just do an experiment where you take a break, you
Speaker 6: pretend to quit for two weeks, set that at the
Speaker 6: beginning the bullet the beginnings is just going to be
Speaker 6: two weeks, go off entirely, and at the end of
Speaker 6: the two weeks, just pause and say how do I feel?
Speaker 6: Do I feel better? Do I feel worse? Do I
Speaker 6: feel the same. And I think you'd be surprised how
Speaker 6: many people I've told this too, and once again I've
Speaker 6: done it to myself, that you actually just feel so
Speaker 6: much better after two weeks that you don't want to
Speaker 6: go back on afterwards.
Speaker 2: I sort of analogize it. And I'm not a doctor,
Speaker 2: nor do I play one of the radio. But you
Speaker 2: have to see those concials. People who are walking around
Speaker 2: on the beach and they have these, I don't know,
Speaker 2: magnet finders or whatever, and they're looking for diamond rings
Speaker 2: and rare coins and they're walking up and down the beach.
Speaker 2: They're getting a little bit of exercise, but it's not
Speaker 2: too often that they come up with a really big find.
Speaker 2: You know, they'll find like a beer can buried under
Speaker 2: the sand or something like that. I would think that
Speaker 2: with all the social media that exists, that if there
Speaker 2: were people who were looking just for the good stuff,
Speaker 2: you know, groups, if you're an LGBTQ teenager, or if
Speaker 2: you're a mom, as you said, you know, breastfeeding, looking
Speaker 2: for a support group. But it's the other stuff. I
Speaker 2: just don't know. I don't know how you separate the
Speaker 2: wheat from the chaff, because once you get sucked in.
Speaker 2: I'm you know, I'm a big sports guy. So if
Speaker 2: I see something, you know, some I don't know, some
Speaker 2: funny baseball play, you know, with the guy's running the
Speaker 2: bases the wrong way or whatever, or someone hit a
Speaker 2: home run and the guy caught it in his beer
Speaker 2: and his beer a mug, whatever, then you just you
Speaker 2: get seduced. What's the next one? Oh, the next one
Speaker 2: is the guy who caught a ball and fell over
Speaker 2: the fence, you know, and all of a sudden you say,
Speaker 2: what have I been doing for an hour and a half.
Speaker 6: I think you're exactly right. I had a conversation with
Speaker 6: the US Surgeon General, doctor Vivic Morphy about this because,
Speaker 6: as you might know, what, this is something that he
Speaker 6: feels very passionate about and is one of his big
Speaker 6: initiatives to try to add burning and Beck and.
Speaker 2: I chat about that all the time, only kidding the
Speaker 2: search in General's name on me go ahead, I'm ahead.
Speaker 6: But he and he, yeah, he's wonderful, he and he
Speaker 6: feels very rightfully passionate about this. And and you know,
Speaker 6: one of the things he said to your point is
Speaker 6: that he made this comparison which I thought was was
Speaker 6: really appropriate, which was that social media can be like
Speaker 6: trying to separate mold out of yogurt. Like you might
Speaker 6: just want to eat a bold of yogurt, but if
Speaker 6: it's covered in mold, you might say, let me just
Speaker 6: get the mold out and I'll eat with the underneath there.
Speaker 7: But the problem is, I'm going to go find a
Speaker 7: new new uh yogurt my refrigerator in the store.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
Speaker 6: If you find out I had molded it, you would
Speaker 6: just throw it out. You wouldn't just try to eat
Speaker 6: the good stuff. And I think it's the same with
Speaker 6: social media. And that's it, and that's his analogy, not mine,
Speaker 6: but I think it's it's totally appropriate that it's it's hard.
Speaker 6: A lot of people leave social media feeling more upset
Speaker 6: and affirmed, and that's the problem. And you know, not
Speaker 6: only that it takes away from people's sleep, it takes
Speaker 6: away from meaningful in person interaction or your work or
Speaker 6: your learning time, and so all of those things that
Speaker 6: up and you're doing it for hours and hours every day.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure that when every new invention came along,
Speaker 2: people said all the cards and that automobile thing's never
Speaker 2: gonna last. I'm sticking with my horse and buggy, you know,
Speaker 2: by good old Steed. Get to talk to him in
Speaker 2: the morning before we roll into town. But I just
Speaker 2: don't see the value. You talk about all the sex
Speaker 2: trafficking that now goes on there. You know, whatever you
Speaker 2: want to find, whether it's good, bad, or indifferent. You know,
Speaker 2: I have a dictionary here. It's actually a dictionary, and
Speaker 2: it's amazing and has all these words in it that
Speaker 2: you can look up. I don't have to go to
Speaker 2: social media to look up words in a dictionary. Seriously.
Speaker 2: This is the book. It's called Webster's Dictionary. And I,
Speaker 2: you know, I don't it's it's a losing battle. I
Speaker 2: think it's just a losing battle, and I think a
Speaker 2: lot of people get lost in it. It's like it's
Speaker 2: a morass. I guess it's it's like a it's like
Speaker 2: a real life it's like what a corn maze is
Speaker 2: can get in a corn maze. Even if you get
Speaker 2: lost in the corn maze, you can call the main
Speaker 2: number and they'll come and find you. We have calling
Speaker 2: con mazes in New England, you know what I mean
Speaker 2: by that. But if you get lost in social media,
Speaker 2: who do you call? Well?
Speaker 6: You know, I think we're all living this big if
Speaker 6: you will, social experiment right now as we are gathering
Speaker 6: more data and with data, and we're learning as we go.
Speaker 6: I think we don't know yet exactly what is the
Speaker 6: best way to use social media. Who are the people
Speaker 6: who will benefit the most? And I think you're right that,
Speaker 6: you know, like, we're probably never going back as a country,
Speaker 6: as a world to what it was like before social media.
Speaker 6: But I don't think that means that we won't reach
Speaker 6: a place where we do harness the ways to really
Speaker 6: extract more of that benefit and less as a harm.
Speaker 6: But we're just not there yet because we haven't studied
Speaker 6: it long enough. And you might say, okay, well, social media,
Speaker 6: it's been around, you know, Nick, you mentioned thirty years.
Speaker 6: Facebook came out in two thousand and four. But the
Speaker 6: fact of the matter is we haven't been collecting data
Speaker 6: as long as we should If you look at the
Speaker 6: studies out there, they're small. Most of the social media
Speaker 6: companies Meta x, onmly, Twitter, they haven't released all of
Speaker 6: the health outcomes and data that they actually have and
Speaker 6: they've been keeping over the years. That's one of the
Speaker 6: things that the Surgeon General has been really calling for
Speaker 6: is to try to use that data to understand how
Speaker 6: we can make it better. And once we know that,
Speaker 6: we can kind of enforce the right kinds of regulations.
Speaker 6: But that's going to take time, and it's going to
Speaker 6: take a little bit of lobbying of the companies in
Speaker 6: order to get some access to that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then then gets it into another dangerous area
Speaker 2: where all of a sudden, the government is regulating social media.
Speaker 2: I don't want them regulating radio stations they are regularly,
Speaker 2: but newspapers. I mean, I think of social media sort
Speaker 2: of as a newspaper. I think they should take that
Speaker 2: protection that social media has gotten from Congress as a gift,
Speaker 2: so they can't be they can't be sued for imperfect
Speaker 2: information or bad information that they circulate. They have that exemption.
Speaker 2: It's almost like an anti trust exemption. I think that
Speaker 2: should be taken away, and I think maybe a lot,
Speaker 2: then the junk that's on social media would disappear. Doctor.
Speaker 2: I very much appreciate you taking the time, and I
Speaker 2: didn't realize you were based here in Boston. By congratulations
Speaker 2: on that, and we'll talk with you soon. I really
Speaker 2: enjoy our conversation, doctor Tricia hush Richa, thanks.
Speaker 6: Again, thanks so much for having me. Take care of me.
Speaker 2: When we get back. When we talk about the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four Special Olympics New Hampshire State Golf Tournament coming up,
Speaker 2: I guess tomorrow at the Owls Nest Resort in Thornton,
Speaker 2: New Hampshire. We're going to talk with Mark Eric right
Speaker 2: after this. This will be a great one coming up.
Speaker 1: You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's
Speaker 1: news radio.
Speaker 2: Well, I think everyone who listens to this program is
Speaker 2: a big fan of Special Olympics, and I believe it's tomorrow.
Speaker 2: The twenty twenty four Special Olympics New Hampshire State Golf
Speaker 2: Tournament takes place at Owl's Nest Resort in Thornton, New Hampshire,
Speaker 2: with us Mark Erickson, he's the multi media manager for
Speaker 2: Special Olympics New Hampshire. Tell us about this event. This
Speaker 2: is not the first year. As I understand that you've
Speaker 2: done this golf tournament, tell us about it, Mark, who's eligible?
Speaker 2: Who plays? And I hope the weather forecast is good
Speaker 2: for you up there tomorrow.
Speaker 5: Good evening, Dan, thanks for having us on. And right
Speaker 5: now the weather forecast is looking to be pretty pretty
Speaker 5: decent for Thornton for tomorrow. It is our state golf
Speaker 5: tournament the Owls Nest Resort. And I'll I'll clarify this
Speaker 5: upfront and tell you I'm not a golfer, but I
Speaker 5: am the guy that goes and takes a video and
Speaker 5: pictures and things. It is just an absolute beautiful, beautiful
Speaker 5: golf facility in Thornton, New Hampshire. And we will have
Speaker 5: one hundred and eighteen golfers on the links there tomorrow
Speaker 5: all day long. And these are Special Olympics athletes and
Speaker 5: in some cases unified partners. We pair up individuals with
Speaker 5: and without intellectual disabilities in the school systems and they
Speaker 5: partner up and they compete and play and hang out
Speaker 5: and enjoy each other's company. So we'll have one hundred
Speaker 5: and eighteen golfers at the state golf Tournament at Owl's
Speaker 5: Nest tomorrow Harlan Electric is our is our big presenting sponsor,
Speaker 5: and we thank them so much for that, and we're
Speaker 5: hoping for an absolute great day of golf.
Speaker 2: That's like thirty foursomes. If I'm not mistaken, I'm doing
Speaker 2: the math there. I think it would be thirty foursomes.
Speaker 2: If you that's a lot of golfers. That's a lot
Speaker 2: of golfers.
Speaker 6: Get all through.
Speaker 2: What time do you start, how early do you start
Speaker 2: and when do you finish out?
Speaker 5: Well, we'll start to write it around eight am. And
Speaker 5: the way that the day is going to be set
Speaker 5: up is we've got unified alternate shot team play in
Speaker 5: five hole, nine hole, and eighteen holes, and then we
Speaker 5: have some eighteen hole games as well. Part of what
Speaker 5: makes this go, the biggest part of what makes this go, honestly,
Speaker 5: is our wonderful group of volunteers. They come from all
Speaker 5: corners of the state and they organize all the chaos
Speaker 5: and into something that is cohesive and competitive and the
Speaker 5: level of competition that our athletes really deserve.
Speaker 2: Now refresh my recollection. I think I know where Thornton,
Speaker 2: New Hampshire is, but I'm not exactly sure. Can you
Speaker 2: locate it for me precisely for our audience in case
Speaker 2: someone wants to come and I assume you can't just
Speaker 2: show up and participate by the people who come and
Speaker 2: support it and maybe make a contribution right there or
Speaker 2: of the watch some of the golf.
Speaker 5: I assume, well, sure, we would love to have you
Speaker 5: cheering our athletes on. Uh Forrton is it's north? It's
Speaker 5: a it's a bit of a hike. Uh, it's in
Speaker 5: It's in Grafton County, New Hampshire, if that if that
Speaker 5: helps you out, Uh sort of is.
Speaker 2: It a let me ask you? This is my Is
Speaker 2: it above the Mount Washington Hotel going north?
Speaker 5: Uh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, would be how far from the Canadian border?
Speaker 5: It's you know what it's Uh, it's uh, it's ahead
Speaker 5: of the Woodstock and Lincoln however, so it's between Plymouth
Speaker 5: and Woodstock.
Speaker 2: Okay, Plymouth, you're and it's.
Speaker 5: Ninety three you get you there?
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, that's well, that's exactly what I was using
Speaker 2: to get over to Mount Washington. Got hook a right
Speaker 2: at some point and that swing over what's the age
Speaker 2: range tomorrow? How young and how old?
Speaker 5: Is?
Speaker 2: This is obviously uh a tournament that's going to involve
Speaker 2: a wide variety of people. I assume, I assume with
Speaker 2: the various talents and and abilities.
Speaker 5: Well, Special Olympics athletes start with the regular Special Olympics
Speaker 5: program at age eight, and then there is no upper
Speaker 5: age limit. We have athletes that are in their forties
Speaker 5: and fifties and even a couple in their sixties that
Speaker 5: have been with this program for years and years and
Speaker 5: years prior to age eight. We have what's called a
Speaker 5: Young Athlete program, and that's for youngsters between the ages
Speaker 5: of two and seven, and that sort of gets them
Speaker 5: prepared for Special Olympics at age eight with just some
Speaker 5: life skills and people's skills and having fun and getting
Speaker 5: to know one another.
Speaker 2: And how many years have you been running this event?
Speaker 2: This is not your first rodeo? Isome? Right?
Speaker 5: Oh no, no, no, the State Golf Tournament's been around,
Speaker 5: you know, the history of it predates me, but I've
Speaker 5: got to believe it's been twelve or fifteen years.
Speaker 2: Well that's great. And what does the day include? Obviously
Speaker 2: all the golf activity, and is there some sort of
Speaker 2: an awards event at the cost?
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, well we'll have awards. Well, we'll have lunch
Speaker 5: for everyone, and in between and for down times, we'll
Speaker 5: we'll have a few other activities going on. But yeah,
Speaker 5: before we wrap up the day, there'll be many gold
Speaker 5: and silver and bronze medals handed out to our athletes
Speaker 5: and their unified partners, and we're looking forward to a great,
Speaker 5: great day tomorrow.
Speaker 2: So you see, they go for the gold eighteen holes,
Speaker 2: nine holes, five holes, and then individual skills competition. I'm
Speaker 2: sorry you must have this sounds like always a great
Speaker 2: day for anyone who's a golfer. But I assume you
Speaker 2: got some putting competitions and things like that where everybody
Speaker 2: can participate. They don't have to be hitting the ball
Speaker 2: three hundred and ten yards off the first tee.
Speaker 5: No, no, no, nothing, nothing like that. We are all
Speaker 5: about being inclusive all the way around, and we make
Speaker 5: sure that everyone has, as we like to say, the
Speaker 5: competition and the day that our athletes deserve. And again
Speaker 5: we have our wonderful volunteers to thank for that.
Speaker 2: That's great. Well, look, Mark, I really appreciate you joining
Speaker 2: us tonight. I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow
Speaker 2: and they fulfill the dreams. This has to be a
Speaker 2: special day for a very special program, special Olympics of
Speaker 2: New Hampshire in Thoughton, New Hampshire at the Owls Nest Resort.
Speaker 2: Wish you all the best of luck tomorrow and I
Speaker 2: hope everyone has a memorable day. I'm sure there'll be
Speaker 2: plenty of camaraderie and a lot of fun for everyone,
Speaker 2: the participants and also I'm sure family members will be
Speaker 2: there to cheer them on, and oh yeah, a few
Speaker 2: speculators as well. It's going to be just a great day.
Speaker 2: Thanks very much. Is there a way people can get
Speaker 2: more information on Special Olympics New Hampshire. I see you
Speaker 2: have a pretty simple website special so for Special Olympics
Speaker 2: NH dot org. Is that the best way?
Speaker 5: So O nh dot org has all things Special Olympics
Speaker 5: New Hampshire. And we'll also let everyone know that we've
Speaker 5: just unleashed a new fundraiser online and say pick your prize,
Speaker 5: rapple the grand prize and that is a three passenger
Speaker 5: c do jet ski. So if you want an information
Speaker 5: about fundraisers or the state golf tournament or anything else,
Speaker 5: it's so O n H dot org.
Speaker 2: Perfect, just perfect. You hit it perfectly for us. Hit
Speaker 2: him straight tomorrow too, Mark, Thanks very much. I appreciate
Speaker 2: your time tonight. Thanks thanks so much.
Speaker 5: Thanks Dan, have a great night.
Speaker 2: You bet your best. I look to all the participants
Speaker 2: in these New Hampshire Special Olympics twenty twenty four State
Speaker 2: golf tournament. We get back. We're going to talk about
Speaker 2: another athlete new to Boston, but he made quite a debut,
Speaker 2: well really a starting debut yesterday. Drake May the new
Speaker 2: star quarterback for the New England Patriots. They were dressed
Speaker 2: out in their throwback garb. Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe sports writer,
Speaker 2: will weigh in with us right after this break on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: With us now Boston Globe sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy, great friend
Speaker 2: and certainly a participant in this program periodically. Hey Dan,
Speaker 2: thanks very much for joining us tonight. You had a
Speaker 2: a one story that began in the Boston Globe today
Speaker 2: thanks to Drake May, there's finally a reason to watch
Speaker 2: these Patriots. Not a bad performance by the quarterback yesterday.
Speaker 2: The defense left a little bit little to be desired,
Speaker 2: a little bit to be desired. How are you tonight?
Speaker 8: I'm Okay, Dan, how are you.
Speaker 2: Doing it well? As always? You know, his numbers last
Speaker 2: night were yesterday afternoon, we're pretty good. I mean, he
Speaker 2: got sacked four times, which unfortunately is a problem any
Speaker 2: Patriots quarterback would face. Give mcgrade for his first time out.
Speaker 2: You've seen more than a few of these Patriots games,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure that you were there for Mac Jones'
Speaker 2: opening performance and maybe Tom Brady's opening performance back in
Speaker 2: the day.
Speaker 8: He I mean, you know, he put twenty one points
Speaker 8: on the board, the most they've had all season. He
Speaker 8: had three touchdown passes. They only had two in the
Speaker 8: first five games, so those things are certainly in his favor.
Speaker 8: But you know, on the other side, he turned the
Speaker 8: ball over the team did four times, three of them
Speaker 8: were on him, two interceptions and a fumble of his.
Speaker 8: You know, one of the picks was deflected. The first
Speaker 8: one was a bad throw high over the middle, which
Speaker 8: you can't do in the NFL. So it was uneven.
Speaker 8: But again for the first start in the NFL against
Speaker 8: a pretty good defensive team and you know, five and
Speaker 8: one team Houston Texans, I thought it was it was good.
Speaker 8: It's weird to come out of a twenty point loss.
Speaker 8: Feeling good, But the way the Patriots are at this
Speaker 8: juncture of their situation, I think you have to say
Speaker 8: that they're not going to be competitive, they're not going
Speaker 8: to be a contender, they're not going to be in
Speaker 8: a playoff hunt. So you look for what you can
Speaker 8: and yesterday's game was far more entertaining, more fun to watch,
Speaker 8: and it indicated that they might have found a guy
Speaker 8: who can lead them into the future. So I thought
Speaker 8: those were all pluses.
Speaker 2: I think he looked better to me yesterday as a quarterback.
Speaker 2: And you're a closer observer. I've watched a lot of
Speaker 2: quarterbacks for the Patriots, going back to Budsong and Babe
Speaker 2: Perilli back in the day, all the way all the
Speaker 2: way up through you know Mac Jones. Mac Jones, he
Speaker 2: looked much more comfortable than any quarterback recently. A lot
Speaker 2: of the other guys have kind of that happy feet
Speaker 2: thing going on. I didn't feel he had that at all.
Speaker 2: I thought he'd looked like a veteran quarterback for his
Speaker 2: pois again not necessarily a Hall of Fame rating, as
Speaker 2: your article points out today, How did he look compared
Speaker 2: to other folks who you saw.
Speaker 8: There first time, Well yeah, I think, you know, he's
Speaker 8: twenty two years old. And then you know, going back
Speaker 8: over the time, I mean I was in high school
Speaker 8: and Jim Plunkett came in from Stanford, a Brose Bowl
Speaker 8: winner and number one overall pick in the draft. And
Speaker 8: Pluckett won his first game twenty to six over the Raiders.
Speaker 8: But he had a very tough four years here. He
Speaker 8: took a beating and it got worse and worse, and
Speaker 8: they eventually traded them and he went on to Okland
Speaker 8: and won two Super Bowls with the Raiders and was
Speaker 8: MVP the Super Bowl with the Raiders. So that was,
Speaker 8: you know, a long time ago. It's fifty years ago.
Speaker 8: More recent, well not really recent, Drew, but so I
Speaker 8: was at his first game. He was in Buffalo in
Speaker 8: nineteen ninety three. Parcels was the new coach and he
Speaker 8: was the number one overall pick. He was only twenty one,
Speaker 8: and he was clearly ready to start playing in the NFL.
Speaker 8: But that team went one and eleven out of the gate,
Speaker 8: so he lost his open in Buffalo. But he was
Speaker 8: clearly a Pro Bowl bound passer, and he had him
Speaker 8: in the Super Bowl in four years, so that's pretty good,
Speaker 8: and that was Drew Budsoe. So Mac Jones the most
Speaker 8: recent he was first round pick number fifteen.
Speaker 5: Overall, had a.
Speaker 8: Pretty good first game and probably a little better than
Speaker 8: what our guy had yesterday. But I think that I
Speaker 8: don't feel he showed quite as much pocket presence, ability
Speaker 8: to do things with his feet, you know, kind of
Speaker 8: avoid the rush. I thought that that may kind of
Speaker 8: really showed those things that you look forward to down
Speaker 8: the road. I thought it was a good showing overall.
Speaker 8: Like I say, unusual to come away from a twenty
Speaker 8: point loss feeling okay, but I kind of did yesterday.
Speaker 2: Well, I was watching earlier in the morning. I'm sure
Speaker 2: you probably were as well, the Jacksonville Bears game and
Speaker 2: the Bears and Caleb Williams just running away with Jacksonville.
Speaker 2: You know, Jacksonville looks like a team the Patriots might
Speaker 2: be able to beat. But Matt Jones came in to
Speaker 2: to clean up after Trevor Lawrence was done for the day,
Speaker 2: and I just thought, I think the last pass that
Speaker 2: I had seen Jones throw on television was that that
Speaker 2: horrible interception in Germany, and you know, he came out
Speaker 2: through one pass was got a completion. I think he
Speaker 2: got sacked or you know it just obviously the Patriots are,
Speaker 2: I think, are much better shape with Drake May than
Speaker 2: they would have been if they hung on another year
Speaker 2: with Mac Jones.
Speaker 5: I think so.
Speaker 8: I mean, things are a lot of issues with the
Speaker 8: offensive line. They didn't have stevenson Esay running the ball
Speaker 8: out of the backfield, and you know, turned though over
Speaker 8: four times, You're not going to win that game. You're
Speaker 8: playing a really good team, a team that it's very
Speaker 8: very staunched defensively. So that was a lot to ask,
Speaker 8: But I thought overall it was it was a good showing.
Speaker 8: And I think Jones, I don't know, he did take
Speaker 8: them to the playoffs. I mean, it wasn't a disaster,
Speaker 8: but it got a little bit worse each year, and
Speaker 8: a lot of that was on them and the coaching
Speaker 8: that he had over him and the chaos that was
Speaker 8: going on in those final years under Belichick, and he
Speaker 8: didn't have a lot of weapons to deal with and
Speaker 8: needed as this guy. So you got issues all over
Speaker 8: the place. But I think that in a excuse me,
Speaker 8: a NFL of twenty twenty four with the rebuild and
Speaker 8: you know, their position to do that now, and I
Speaker 8: mean I kind of you put them up against Jacksonville.
Speaker 8: They're playing them London nine thirty on Sunday morning. I
Speaker 8: like them a little bit more than Jacksonville that that's
Speaker 8: a winnable game, as I think last week at home
Speaker 8: with Miami would have been a winnable game if they
Speaker 8: if they had had Drake may plan.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the schedule only gets tougher from here.
Speaker 2: I think I read the opening of the early line
Speaker 2: on the London game as Jacksonville I think was a
Speaker 2: six point favorite, which seemed to me to be a
Speaker 2: little generous, but maybe.
Speaker 8: Pretty good for one in five.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I think they're thinking that Lawrence has to
Speaker 2: come up with a big game pretty quickly. Yeah, a
Speaker 2: lot of pressure I think on the coach Peterson. I
Speaker 2: think might have to fly home alone if they don't
Speaker 2: win at Webley Stadium next Saturday, next Sunday morning. But
Speaker 2: it's going to be an interesting game to watch, that's
Speaker 2: the one thing. Yesterday was interesting, and as long as
Speaker 2: the Patriots keep it interesting, they'll keep our attention for
Speaker 2: the ballast of this season. I just don't want to
Speaker 2: see him get blown out by some of the really
Speaker 2: good teams. That's what yeah.
Speaker 8: I mean, it's been a tough watch. And like you said,
Speaker 8: the interesting part of it to me is even in
Speaker 8: the twenty point loss, it was more fun to watch.
Speaker 8: He just saw some stuff. I mean the first half,
Speaker 8: you know, the end of the first half and he
Speaker 8: throws the forty yarder into the bucket and that was
Speaker 8: the best play they've had all year, and it was
Speaker 8: just electric. Cut the lead to fourteen to seven. At
Speaker 8: the half, they're getting the ball. Second half, you're thinking, hey,
Speaker 8: they could win this game. So those were good signs.
Speaker 8: And that was a good moment in the game. And
Speaker 8: he was able to do things with his legs and
Speaker 8: throwing the run, throw across his body, and you know,
Speaker 8: there was some unfortunate things. It was uneven, but I
Speaker 8: think overall it's a win in terms of looking at
Speaker 8: the big picture, which is what they're doing right now
Speaker 8: down there.
Speaker 2: Okay, so here's the big question. Do you get to
Speaker 2: go to London next week for the game? Are you
Speaker 2: gonna be watching?
Speaker 8: I opted not to. I would get to go if
Speaker 8: I chose to it. No, thank you very much.
Speaker 2: A wise decision, trust me, A wise decision. Dan Shaughnessy
Speaker 2: is always thank you, my friend. Always great to have
Speaker 2: you on Nightside.
Speaker 8: Thanks so much, Dan, Thanks Dan, take care all right.
Speaker 2: When we get back today. It was a holiday, it
Speaker 2: was a federal holiday, it was a state holiday. But
Speaker 2: I'm working. Rob is working. We're going to find out
Speaker 2: if you celebrated a holiday today and which one did
Speaker 2: you celebrate. We're going to be talking with the state
Speaker 2: representative from Winthrop, our state representative, Jeff Turco, and we'll
Speaker 2: open those phone lines up right after the nine o'clock news.
Speaker 2: My name's Dan Ray. This is Night Side on a
Speaker 2: Monday night, a holiday, Monday night.