Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's Me Radio.
Speaker 1: Oh thanks a lot, buddy, appreciate it. Exciting show here
Speaker 1: tonight ten o'clock, ten o'clock we do we break it
Speaker 1: down to Karen Read special on television. Right now, we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk to Bill Kickham and Robert George, a couple
Speaker 1: of attorneys that are watching it with you. Probably you're
Speaker 1: listening to me right and watching that yet, No you're not.
Speaker 1: What I just said was stupid. But anyways, they're watching
Speaker 1: what she has to say on ABC. And then we're
Speaker 1: gonna break it down at ten o'clock right here on WBZ.
Speaker 1: Also coming up later on this hour, the Boston Film
Speaker 1: Festival is underway. My good friend Robert Dawson is going
Speaker 1: to be joining us forty years for the Boston Film Festival.
Speaker 1: Good stuff, and the director of any Day Now, Erica Ronson,
Speaker 1: joins us at nine forty five. Very funny movie, very
Speaker 1: creative movie. You're gonna like this, you are, absolutely This
Speaker 1: movie is going to generate a lot of buzz. September
Speaker 1: nineteenth through the twenty third for the Boston Film festis
Speaker 1: right now. Joining me is Jackson Tolliver he's one of
Speaker 1: the up and coming, one of the rising stars of
Speaker 1: the Boston media scene from c LNS media covers the Patriots,
Speaker 1: covers the Celtics, and he's a former student of mine,
Speaker 1: so that's why he's here. What's going on, Jackson?
Speaker 2: Wow?
Speaker 3: You you really honor me, Gary, Thanks for thanks for
Speaker 3: having me. Not much just hanging out here. We got
Speaker 3: a Friday night football game on tonight, so that's something different.
Speaker 4: How weird is that, though? I mean, how it's very nice?
Speaker 3: Bizarre?
Speaker 4: It is bizarre. Yeah, it is bizarre. Let's talk about
Speaker 4: the Thursday night game real quick before I get to
Speaker 4: the Patriots.
Speaker 1: Did that say anything about the Chiefs?
Speaker 3: I don't know, it's it's it's hard to tell. I
Speaker 3: think the biggest thing that I got from that game
Speaker 3: was Travis Kelton's lack of production, and you know he's
Speaker 3: obviously getting up there in age, but also, I mean
Speaker 3: the speed that we saw from Xavier Worthy had two
Speaker 3: touchdowns last night the rookie take out of Texas. He
Speaker 3: obviously broke the record in the forty yard dash at
Speaker 3: the Combine this year, so we know the kids got wheels.
Speaker 3: But that first touchdown he scored when he just took
Speaker 3: it and just ran by everybody right to the end zone.
Speaker 3: He's got some tremendous speeds, so that'll be fun to
Speaker 3: see Patrick Mahomes using that weapon. But it was kind
Speaker 3: of to me just business as usual for both teams.
Speaker 3: It was interesting for the Ravens to see Derrick Henry
Speaker 3: and Lamar that sort of one two punch, even though
Speaker 3: I don't think they used Henry as much as they
Speaker 3: potentially could have. But same old story for the Ravens.
Speaker 3: You know, Lamar has a great game. They do well
Speaker 3: until the very last minute. Lamar Jackson, I don't think
Speaker 3: it's a very clutch quarterback at all. And we saw
Speaker 3: that at the end of last night's game.
Speaker 1: And what do you think about the attempt by the
Speaker 1: NFL to make it an international game. They've been trying this.
Speaker 1: They've certainly gone to the Far East, They've gone to London,
Speaker 1: and I remember when the Patriots played in London and
Speaker 1: Brady even said he could go outside and no one
Speaker 1: recognized him. So is this going to work.
Speaker 3: I don't know if it's gonna work, But you know,
Speaker 3: I think when you think about football, American football, that
Speaker 3: is I don't see why why it couldn't work because
Speaker 3: it does have so much international potential because of how
Speaker 3: entertaining it is. It's just a fun game to watch.
Speaker 3: But you know, obviously football outside of America is what
Speaker 3: we call soccer here. That's always going to be king
Speaker 3: and I think, you know, we've seen the NBA rise
Speaker 3: in international popularity because there's international players, right Jannis, Jokic, Jancic,
Speaker 3: those are maybe the top three guys in the league
Speaker 3: right now, and that makes you know, people from Greece
Speaker 3: want to watch Giannis, people from Slovenia want to watch Lucas,
Speaker 3: so on and so forth. So if there's an influx
Speaker 3: of international talent in the NFL, which there is just
Speaker 3: not right now. Right all the best guys are are
Speaker 3: American that could potentially help them, and they're trying to
Speaker 3: do that. I mean, you know, they have international player
Speaker 3: pathway programs and they're they're trying to bring people in
Speaker 3: from other countries who can really shine in this league.
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, down the road, that's definitely
Speaker 3: a possibility. But for now, yeah, having these games like
Speaker 3: the one tonight in South Polo, Brazil. They have the
Speaker 3: UK games, they got the Germany game, that's the way
Speaker 3: to start, right, bring the actual game in front of
Speaker 3: the people. So I think they're doing a pretty good
Speaker 3: job with it. And it's obviously, you know, a smart
Speaker 3: marketing strategy because you want your game to be as
Speaker 3: big as possible.
Speaker 1: Well, I know that the Patriots at one point in time,
Speaker 1: they're merchandise in the Far East and China and Japan
Speaker 1: and tookey, it was off the charts, I mean off
Speaker 1: the charts. They were crushing it. But the problem with
Speaker 1: the player development is the cost of the sport. No
Speaker 1: basketball is cheap, so in a lot of countries playing
Speaker 1: basketball is not a big deal.
Speaker 4: You get a ball, you got a hoop, that's it.
Speaker 1: Football's expensive, right, And some people also don't want their
Speaker 1: kids to play football because they have head injuries. Even
Speaker 1: if you look at rugby, you don't have the head
Speaker 1: injuries because people do use their head as a weapon.
Speaker 4: So I think that's the problem.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I don't know if we're ever
Speaker 1: going to have an international player base in the NFL,
Speaker 1: but you make a good point. I think you for
Speaker 1: it to truly become an international game, you have to
Speaker 1: have stars from other countries, and I don't know if that's.
Speaker 4: Going to happen.
Speaker 3: It might not. Yeah, but you know, like I said,
Speaker 3: in these international games, is definitely a good start.
Speaker 1: All right, let's get to the Patriots. Now, you've been
Speaker 1: covering the Patriots. You've seen Gerrod Mayo. I've just been honest.
Speaker 1: I love the guy, I worked with the guy. I
Speaker 1: consider him a friend, so I'm biased. I want him
Speaker 1: to succeed. What is your what is your experience been
Speaker 1: covering the Patriots so far? And we not listen if
Speaker 1: they win five games, it's a miracle. We know what
Speaker 1: the deal is with the season. How do you feel
Speaker 1: about the way they're trying to build forward?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean obviously you know the pass forward lies
Speaker 3: in Gerd Mayo, your buddy, and Drake may It's it's
Speaker 3: it's those two guys are going to determine, you know,
Speaker 3: not just the next few years, but ideally for this
Speaker 3: organization and for Robert Kraft and for all those guys
Speaker 3: the next decade plus. Right, you want these two guys
Speaker 3: to be the building blocks that you can build a
Speaker 3: successful franchise off of. So we can start with girod
Speaker 3: Mao since you brought him up first. It's just hard
Speaker 3: to evaluate him because we haven't seen a regular season
Speaker 3: game until Sunday, so asking if eight hours and we'll
Speaker 3: see how he does. But the differences from Belichick are
Speaker 3: are obvious. And you know, I've I've been to just
Speaker 3: about every day of training camp and there's music playing
Speaker 3: and the players, you know, are dancing and having fun.
Speaker 3: And you know, it's just that he's he's definitely a
Speaker 3: player's coach. And I don't mean that in a bad way.
Speaker 3: I think some people say that he's a player's coach
Speaker 3: and try to take that as a as a knock
Speaker 3: on him, like, you know, he's he should be harder
Speaker 3: on the guys and he lets them walk all over him.
Speaker 3: Well he doesn't, and you know he he faces real
Speaker 3: test with that with the whole Matthew Judon situation right right,
Speaker 3: because Judon had this whole explosion where uh he you know,
Speaker 3: stormed off the field, came back on him, flipflops whatever.
Speaker 3: It looked like he was having an argument with Elliott
Speaker 3: Wolf and matc Grow, who are the executives of the
Speaker 3: Patriots and you know who are in charge of his
Speaker 3: contract dispute which was going on, and they shipped him off.
Speaker 3: So I think that was a big test for him,
Speaker 3: like is he just gonna let Matt jude On walk
Speaker 3: all over him? And you know that was that was
Speaker 3: pretty disrespectful, I thought, and I think a lot of
Speaker 3: other people thought what happened during practice and he's not
Speaker 3: gonna stand for that. So, you know, there's obviously a line,
Speaker 3: and I think if they drew it there, But I
Speaker 3: don't see why he couldn't be a good coach. I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, obviously being around for Bill Belichick, being around
Speaker 3: him for so long, that helps you tremendously. Belichick is
Speaker 3: one of the greatest defensive coaches of all time. I
Speaker 3: mean one of the greatest coaches of all time period,
Speaker 3: probably the best defensive coaches of all time. So he
Speaker 3: knows those schemes. He knows how to scheme specifically four teams,
Speaker 3: and that'll definitely help him out. I think he's got
Speaker 3: a great staff with him. Alex van Pelt, I'm really
Speaker 3: high on the off.
Speaker 4: They don't elaborate on that. Why.
Speaker 3: I think that's the Browns. I mean, if you if
Speaker 3: you look at the Browns recently, uh, they've been good
Speaker 3: and they've made the I mean, you know, good is
Speaker 3: a subjective term. When I say that, I mean they
Speaker 3: made the playoffs with you know, and and they does
Speaker 3: a lot of injuries because Deshaun Watson uh was was
Speaker 3: suspended and last year he was injured. H and and
Speaker 3: they got to the playoffs with Joe Flacco, who nobody
Speaker 3: thought was going to be throwing a ball last year
Speaker 3: in the NFL. I think that what he works really
Speaker 3: well with the Patriots. He's big on screens and for
Speaker 3: a team that doesn't have a lot of super deep
Speaker 3: wide receivers in terms of guys who can just go
Speaker 3: deep and you know, make big plays. If you can
Speaker 3: bank on some screenplays for guys like Carmandra Stevenson, Antonio Gibson,
Speaker 3: who's a really good receiving back, I think that that's good.
Speaker 3: So I actually trust Alex van Pelt. The only thing
Speaker 3: that I think people have to have a hard time
Speaker 3: with is the way that they've handled this. Drake made decision,
Speaker 3: and I don't know how much of that was him
Speaker 3: and how much of it was Gerrod Mayo, but the
Speaker 3: way they handled the whole thing went about it, I
Speaker 3: think some people have some problems with that.
Speaker 4: All right, I want to I don't want to.
Speaker 1: I want to explore that and want you to elaborate
Speaker 1: on that. Coming up next right here on WBZ, Jackson
Speaker 1: Tolliver is with US covers the New England Patriots in
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics for CLNS Media or breaking down the patch.
Speaker 1: We will get into some celts too right here on WBC.
Speaker 4: Don't go away now, back to Dan ray Line from
Speaker 4: the Window World, Light Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 1: Okay, coming up at ten o'clock, we're gonna get serious here,
Speaker 1: folks and break down her side of the story. Karen Reid,
Speaker 1: of course, accused of killing police officer and boyfriend John O'Keefe,
Speaker 1: and she's speaking out tonight on ABC and we have
Speaker 1: top criminal defense attorneys Bill kick Him and Robi George
Speaker 1: it will join us to discuss her side of the story.
Speaker 1: That's all coming up at ten o'clock right here on WBZ.
Speaker 1: No right now, Jackson Tolliver's with us from Sealing US
Speaker 1: Medium covering the Patriots right now, and I want to
Speaker 1: get into you know, Jacoby Brssett in the offensive situation,
Speaker 1: how much long?
Speaker 4: How many games does he play?
Speaker 3: Well? Obviously you know a lot of that has to
Speaker 3: do with how well he plays, Right, if he goes
Speaker 3: in and you know, wins, well, yeah, because I think
Speaker 3: if he goes in, you know, starts off the season
Speaker 3: let's say three and one. I'm not saying that's going
Speaker 3: to happen. I think that's very far Fett. Well, you're
Speaker 3: not going to pull him then, I think a more
Speaker 3: realistic option when you look at their schedule, right you
Speaker 3: start in Cincinnati this weekend. I actually kind of think
Speaker 3: it's a toss up. They're losing some pieces. See Higgins
Speaker 3: looks like it can get a place. So I actually
Speaker 3: can see that one going either way. Seattle as well
Speaker 3: at home, that's the home opener. I can see that
Speaker 3: one going either way. But then you have the Jets
Speaker 3: and then you have the Niners. I think those are
Speaker 3: both losses. And Niners on the road could be a really, really,
Speaker 3: really rough game for Jacoby Brissett. I mean, they have
Speaker 3: one of the best defenses in the NFL, and you
Speaker 3: know on the road they're a really good team. They
Speaker 3: can lose that one badly. Then you come home in
Speaker 3: October where you have three home games. That could be
Speaker 3: when girod Mayo and company decides to pull the trigger.
Speaker 3: And let Drake May start. But like I said, a
Speaker 3: lot of it I think depends on how Jacoby present does.
Speaker 3: And also, you know we've seen this in the past
Speaker 3: as well. If they're getting blown out, Let's say, even
Speaker 3: as soon as Sunday, if they're losing twenty four zero
Speaker 3: in the third quarter or thirty zero or whatever it is,
Speaker 3: and the offense can't get anything going, they might just say, well,
Speaker 3: let's just put in Drake May and see what happens.
Speaker 3: So it's really hard to predict that kind of thing.
Speaker 3: I anticipate you'll see him in some like, you know,
Speaker 3: get get playing time before he's officially named the starter.
Speaker 3: But if you had to ask me right now, I
Speaker 3: would say sometime in October. November is kind of pushing
Speaker 3: it for me. But again, all that depends on how
Speaker 3: Jacoby Brisett does.
Speaker 4: So you're saying in November he could be named.
Speaker 3: Starter, yeah, I would, Like I said, my guess right
Speaker 3: now is week five because I think the first four
Speaker 3: games aren't gonna go well.
Speaker 1: So part of break you talked about how they mishandled
Speaker 1: Drake May. How did that How did they mishandle that
Speaker 1: situation in the preseason.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, you know, the whole time Gerrod Meyo
Speaker 3: is saying that it's a competition, he thinks that it's
Speaker 3: a you know, he wants a fair and accurate QB
Speaker 3: competition to see who is starting. But then in training
Speaker 3: camp and in preseason, almost all of the work that
Speaker 3: Drake May did was with the second string guy, the
Speaker 3: second string offense, second string wide receivers, and Jacoby Brissette
Speaker 3: basically got all the top reps with the wide receiver
Speaker 3: ones and the starting online. That doesn't sound to me
Speaker 3: like a fair competition, right, So, you know, I just
Speaker 3: think that the way that they went about it, I
Speaker 3: didn't agree with. I don't disagree necessarily with their decision.
Speaker 3: I think Drake May, you draft him knowing that he's
Speaker 3: a really raw talent, might not be a guy who's
Speaker 3: ready to go week one. He certainly looks the part
Speaker 3: in the preseason game's least. I thought he had a
Speaker 3: really good game in the second game, in the third
Speaker 3: game of preseason, and I think that really started to
Speaker 3: heat up the competition a little bit quote unquote. But
Speaker 3: even then, you know, after those games, he's coming in
Speaker 3: and playing maybe one or two reps at the starters
Speaker 3: compared to Jacoba Brissett, who is still playing the majority
Speaker 3: of the re the starting unit. So I don't know
Speaker 3: if it was ever a real competition. I don't know
Speaker 3: if there was ever a thought in their mind that
Speaker 3: they would start Drake May. But I just thought it
Speaker 3: was a little bit of a message situation, and I
Speaker 3: think they could have handled it a little bit better
Speaker 3: in terms of dealing with both the quarterbacks and dealing
Speaker 3: with their public public relations and how to handle it well.
Speaker 1: I think Drake May acceeded expectations in the preseason. That's
Speaker 1: fair to say, right, Yeah, So what do you think, Jackson?
Speaker 1: I mean, you've seen a ton of football. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know when you look at when you look at
Speaker 1: this guy, do you see him as being the future
Speaker 1: of the team or like even Mac Jones.
Speaker 4: I'll tell you.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you my opinion. When Mac Jones was playing well,
Speaker 1: I thought he was okay. I said, this guy's going
Speaker 1: to be a decent quarterback. He's not going to be great.
Speaker 1: He may be a placeholder until the Patriots find that
Speaker 1: great quarterback again. I never thought Mac Jones was a
Speaker 1: franchise quarterback. I thought he was a system quarterback, thought
Speaker 1: he could be Okay, do you have a feeling like
Speaker 1: that on Drake May? Either way?
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, say, Mac Jones had me cool
Speaker 3: that his rookie year. I thought his rookie year was
Speaker 3: something special. And they actually made the playoffs that year,
Speaker 3: and I thought, and you know, he looked really good.
Speaker 3: And then the second year they didn't hire it off
Speaker 3: as a coordinator.
Speaker 4: They screwed him over. I mean, yeah, they totally screwed
Speaker 4: the kid over.
Speaker 1: But did you ever like, I never thought he was
Speaker 1: going to be great, like making a player a fine
Speaker 1: you know. I thought that he'ld be a serviceable, very
Speaker 1: good quarterback. You make the playoffs, maybe you win a game.
Speaker 1: But I never thought he was a franchise quarterback. But
Speaker 1: I mean, do you could this guy be a franchise quarterback?
Speaker 2: May?
Speaker 3: I mean, Drake May and Matt Jones are drastically different
Speaker 3: in terms of their in terms of their abilities, and
Speaker 3: when you look at what a franchise quarterback looks like
Speaker 3: right now, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert Josh Allen,
Speaker 3: Lamar Jackson is you know, sort of a case of
Speaker 3: his own. There's really no other quarterback who's like Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 3: But coming back to this other guys, I said, you know,
Speaker 3: look at what they do. Well, they've got a great arm.
Speaker 3: They can throw out of the pocket, they can make
Speaker 3: acrobatic throws off their back foot. Mahomess mastered the side arm.
Speaker 3: We've seen some of that from Drake May as well.
Speaker 3: Uh so he has all of the abilities to do it.
Speaker 3: But I think you know where his growth still has
Speaker 3: to come from is his mental is his you know,
Speaker 3: eliminating his his his mistake making and you know, just
Speaker 3: learning how to play the NFL is different from colleg
Speaker 3: you know, everyone said.
Speaker 4: It's so damn fast, you know. I mean that's the
Speaker 4: thing with Brady. Yeah, yeah, I mean Brady was a
Speaker 4: second ahead mentally of everybody.
Speaker 1: And that's one of the things that you just don't
Speaker 1: don't know if a guy's going to get it, Like
Speaker 1: that's that's the problem.
Speaker 4: Like you say, okay, well we'll they catch on mentally.
Speaker 4: Some guys never do.
Speaker 2: Some guys.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we've seen We've seen so much great talent uh
Speaker 3: come out of the NFL draft, and it just it
Speaker 3: just never clicks. And you know, from from what I've seen,
Speaker 3: he looks like a smart kid. If you watch the
Speaker 3: New York Giants hard knocks where they brought in all
Speaker 3: the quarterbacks to interview them, he he really impressed them.
Speaker 3: They were really hiring him a lot because of his memory,
Speaker 3: his ability to recall plays. And you know, I, I
Speaker 3: do really believe that he's a smart kid, and I
Speaker 3: think that he has a very bright future in this league.
Speaker 3: But again, you don't know until you know, until you
Speaker 3: get him out there in a regular season game against
Speaker 3: you know, top top seeded defenses. Like you said, he's
Speaker 3: seed expectations in preseason, well he was going against twos
Speaker 3: and three.
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, of course, absolutely.
Speaker 3: You just never know.
Speaker 4: You don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean it just if you see confidence. That's when
Speaker 1: I covered the team.
Speaker 4: If I saw confidence in a preseason game, it was just.
Speaker 1: Like how do you carry yourself? You know, you could
Speaker 1: tell is there deer in the headlights or does this
Speaker 1: guy you know, does he have some confidence? Does he
Speaker 1: have some squagger?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 1: Jackson Tulliver as with us some Sealantis media covering the
Speaker 1: Patriots and final question here and then I want to
Speaker 1: get to the Celtics. But you know, for the Pats,
Speaker 1: what do you think what do you think of the
Speaker 1: front office, because to me, that's really the key, you know.
Speaker 4: And that's and they don't think.
Speaker 1: I mean, they have nobody in the cupboard, man, I
Speaker 1: mean you can't. They have an offensive line that is terrible.
Speaker 1: And for the longest time when I covered the team,
Speaker 1: the offensive line was for twenty years and listened to
Speaker 1: Belichick was really good for twenty years.
Speaker 4: You know, whether it be Joe and drewsy or it
Speaker 4: doesn't matter. They Dan Copen Matt like. They had offensive
Speaker 4: lines that were money.
Speaker 1: And it's just that's why you I don't even want
Speaker 1: to play the kid because he's gonna get killed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's that I think. Has it has a lot
Speaker 3: to do with it. I will say for the offensive line,
Speaker 3: they have had some injury misfortune. Cole Strange, who is
Speaker 3: their first round pick in twenty twenty two, is starting
Speaker 3: the season on Pops, so we don't know, you know,
Speaker 3: when he's gonna come back or if you can come back.
Speaker 3: City So picked up an ankle injury in the last
Speaker 3: game of the preseason. So those are two presumed starters
Speaker 3: that you're now missing out on. And you know they
Speaker 3: have some guys they they haven't win. Who's their big
Speaker 3: offensive line and that you know, they obviously brought back
Speaker 3: on the big time extension this year. David Andrews is
Speaker 3: getting older and then you know, beyond that it gets tough.
Speaker 3: But they do have a couple of rookies who look
Speaker 3: a little promising and Cad Wallison lead Robinson. But to
Speaker 3: get to your front office question again, I just think
Speaker 3: it's too early. It's it's it's the same thing with
Speaker 3: evaluating Gerrod Mayo, where you just really can't do it.
Speaker 3: And Ellio Wolf was a guy who's been around the
Speaker 3: league for a long time. He's been the Patriots for
Speaker 3: a little while now, So like I you know, obviously,
Speaker 3: if you look at it right now, you'd say, well,
Speaker 3: he has done a great job. So Bill Belichick had
Speaker 3: the final call on everything, and I think the last
Speaker 3: few years that you know, the last few years that
Speaker 3: Bill was here, I think he made some pretty crucial
Speaker 3: mistakes that haunted the team. Basically swapping out Jacoby Myers
Speaker 3: for Juju Smith Schuster last year is when it comes
Speaker 3: to mind. He signed Juju for basically the same amount
Speaker 3: that Jacoby Myers would have wanted, and that ended up
Speaker 3: a disaster. He obviously was cut this offseason after just
Speaker 3: one season with the Patriots, and you know, some other
Speaker 3: issues like Cole Strange, a guy just mentioned. I think
Speaker 3: he was taken a little bit early. He was taken
Speaker 3: in the first round in twenty twenty two, with like
Speaker 3: the twenty something pick, like the early twenty like twenty
Speaker 3: one or twenty two, right, So, you know, some of
Speaker 3: those decisions that he made, I think really put the
Speaker 3: franchise where they are now. And that's not to diminish
Speaker 3: from his legacy. He obviously made some great choices as
Speaker 3: well throughout his tenure with the Patriots, but it's just
Speaker 3: hard to evaluate. But you know, I think next offseasons
Speaker 3: where you can really start to make some of those
Speaker 3: decisions because they're going to have some much cap space.
Speaker 3: They're probably going to have another high pick, being realistic,
Speaker 3: and we'll see what happens with Drake May. You know,
Speaker 3: they had a chance to go for another guy, go
Speaker 3: for a wide receiver, and you know, this is the
Speaker 3: direction they went with Drake May. They handed the keys
Speaker 3: of the franchise, So we'll see how that turns out.
Speaker 3: And then that could in large part reflect on the
Speaker 3: front office as well.
Speaker 4: Jackson, did the Celtics repeat.
Speaker 3: Right now? I would say, yeah, I think they're so
Speaker 3: much ahead of the competition. Still bringing back everyone. You know,
Speaker 3: you have five guys who are handedly in the top
Speaker 3: fifty players in the NBA. I would say their bench
Speaker 3: I think got better. They brought back all the important
Speaker 3: guys and added Lonnie Walker this past week. I think
Speaker 3: is a really underrated pick up for them, assuming that
Speaker 3: he does make the team. They signed a new training
Speaker 3: camp deal. But yeah, I mean Brown and Tatum are
Speaker 3: just going to keep getting better. Yes, New York got better,
Speaker 3: Yes Philly got better, But I still just don't think
Speaker 3: they're where the Celtics are, and I still think that
Speaker 3: they are going to a hard time being caught the season.
Speaker 1: Jackson Tolliver with us was one of my prize students
Speaker 1: at Emerson and we had class this week.
Speaker 4: Jackson, do you miss being in college?
Speaker 3: Not at all?
Speaker 2: Not at all.
Speaker 3: Will I will much. I will definitely take the full
Speaker 3: time job, But you know, I am pretty fresh on
Speaker 3: the scene still, I've only been working for about three
Speaker 3: four months, So ask me again. Next year, You're.
Speaker 4: Gonna do great.
Speaker 1: I had thirty five kids in this class in sports
Speaker 1: communication and I had like the front row was like
Speaker 1: all freshman baseball players. Then I go, wow, I'm really
Speaker 1: gonna have to teach my ass off in this class,
Speaker 1: because yeah, did you give.
Speaker 3: Him a textbook or anything?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Level, I got a textbook because they told me
Speaker 1: I have to give them one. And I said, and
Speaker 1: I've read some of it, and I said to them,
Speaker 1: don't believe half of it. I know more than what's
Speaker 1: between these pages. You know that, and so do I.
Speaker 1: Jackson Tolliver, all right, man, keep up the good work
Speaker 1: at CLNS Media.
Speaker 4: Check them out. They do a great job. Of course
Speaker 4: on bias.
Speaker 1: I also have a podcast with Bob Bryan on CLS
Speaker 1: Media and Jeff Goode. But Jackson, good job covering the
Speaker 1: passing the celts and we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 4: You're the man Gary see later, all right, Jackson.
Speaker 1: TELLIVI was write the name down. This kid's good, kid's
Speaker 1: real good. It's gonna do something in this business, just
Speaker 1: like Robin Dawson. Robin Dawson my own friend. Here's Robin Dawson,
Speaker 1: and I worked on this very radio station wb Z
Speaker 1: back in the nineties, back in the nineties, and she's
Speaker 1: of course she has been.
Speaker 4: Well, the the.
Speaker 1: Straw that stirs the drink, if you will, of the
Speaker 1: Boston Film Festival. She's been very active in that very
Speaker 1: key and they're celebrating their fortieth anniversary and some terrific movies.
Speaker 1: And we know that we need movies, folks, because the
Speaker 1: strike hurt. Look, I'm a SAG member, I know the
Speaker 1: strike hat to happen. I'm all for it, but we
Speaker 1: need some good kind We need some movies. And there
Speaker 1: are some quality filmmakers out there that are going to
Speaker 1: festivals and that are putting up good product that you
Speaker 1: can see. And the Film Festival here in Boston is
Speaker 1: from some temperate nineteenth to the twenty third. We'll get
Speaker 1: the rundown from Robin Dawson, the executive director.
Speaker 4: Next on WBZ, You're on.
Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 4: Well, you guys know I love movies.
Speaker 1: Boston Film Festival celebrating its fortieth year, fortieth program and
Speaker 1: when I couldn't believe the list, Green Book, Jojo Rabbit,
Speaker 1: North Country, just to name a few of some of
Speaker 1: the movies that had premiered there. And I have to
Speaker 1: tell you, I'm going back to the time machine. Robin Dawson,
Speaker 1: can you believe we're on WBZ in twenty twenty four?
Speaker 5: I love it, And yes, I can believe it. You're
Speaker 5: doing wonderful work there, Gary, and I love hearing the
Speaker 5: sports talk.
Speaker 1: It's just like the old days with Normy and the
Speaker 1: Gang and Stephen calling all sports. And it was a
Speaker 1: great run. But congratulations forty years of the Boston Film Festival.
Speaker 1: First of all, Robin, that's an amazing feat because to
Speaker 1: keep these things running it's not easy.
Speaker 5: No, a lot of festivals, unfortunately have gone out of business,
Speaker 5: and as you know, we're going through a difficult time
Speaker 5: in the film industry and we will re emerge on
Speaker 5: the other side. But films are really important to society
Speaker 5: because they entertain, they inform, and they enlighten and they
Speaker 5: arm us with information so that we can create the
Speaker 5: world that we want.
Speaker 1: And I do think that the independent film arena is
Speaker 1: going to get us through now because what I see
Speaker 1: as far as movement, people recovering from the strike with
Speaker 1: the studios are going to be slow. There are some
Speaker 1: independent filmmakers out there that they're saying, you know what,
Speaker 1: we're going to make these movies anyway. We're going to
Speaker 1: go out, we're going to get the independent finance, and
Speaker 1: we're going to go to work. We're going to have
Speaker 1: a budget and we'll get it done. Do you see
Speaker 1: that happening?
Speaker 5: You know, you just hit on the reason that I
Speaker 5: have passion for doing. The film festival is a lot
Speaker 5: of work, but it's the independent filmmakers. They have a
Speaker 5: creative vision and it's so important to help support them
Speaker 5: get that, to get that out there. And that's what
Speaker 5: a film festival does. There's so much talent out there
Speaker 5: and gosh knows, we need some laughter and and some
Speaker 5: good storytelling, and that's what happens in a film festival.
Speaker 5: So we're you know, I'm delighted to be able to
Speaker 5: be a part of it and support these filmmakers and actors.
Speaker 5: And you know, this is a time where a lot
Speaker 5: of people are struggling to stay alive and work. So
Speaker 5: it's all aspects of the industry, even for the actors
Speaker 5: and producers. So this is a wonderful opportunity to support
Speaker 5: that and to see some good films, and it brings
Speaker 5: that filmmaking experience to the audience firsthand. They can talk
Speaker 5: to the actors and the directors and the I love that.
Speaker 4: Oh, there's no question. So give us an idea.
Speaker 1: What are we going to see coming up on the
Speaker 1: nineteenth through the twenty third.
Speaker 5: Well, the nineteenth, we open with an outstanding film called
Speaker 5: Sheep Dog, and we have quite a cast coming in.
Speaker 5: It tells the story of a returning veteran who is
Speaker 5: faced with re entering society, you know, reconnecting with his family,
Speaker 5: and then the post traumatic stress that impacts him and
Speaker 5: he's eventually forced into some counseling. Virginia Mattson plays the counselor.
Speaker 5: She does an outstanding job. Some other people in his
Speaker 5: life come back around Bondy Curtis Hall is his father
Speaker 5: in law and help him through this traumatic time. But
Speaker 5: there's a message here about post traumatic growth. It doesn't
Speaker 5: have to end in suicide. And I love this story
Speaker 5: too because because it not only imparts important information for
Speaker 5: people who are facing that the people in general life,
Speaker 5: but also it's an uplifting story. So I really urge
Speaker 5: people to see this world for me or right here
Speaker 5: in Boston at the Imax, and you have Grant Stephen
Speaker 5: Graham who's the director here, Vonnie Curtis Hall, Lily Cooper
Speaker 5: Tony nominated actress, and Matt Dallas and Dominic Formosa. It's
Speaker 5: it's really quite a film. So that's what we start
Speaker 5: off with, and we have so many others. I think
Speaker 5: you're going to be talking with one of our filmmakers
Speaker 5: for any day now. Wonderful film about Isabelle Stewart Gardner
Speaker 5: Museum heist. So it brings it right home. Both of
Speaker 5: those films shot here their world premieres. We have some
Speaker 5: documentaries that are outstanding. Capturing Kennedy.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 5: This film is about a young immigrant who was a
Speaker 5: Holocaust survivor. He came to America and met Joseph Kennedy
Speaker 5: and Joseph Kennedy hired him to be his son's photographer
Speaker 5: and the images are iconic. The story is amazing. It
Speaker 5: takes you through the presidency with untold stories and perspectives
Speaker 5: that are fascinating. So we're excited about that world premiere.
Speaker 5: Democracy Noirs of the Boston Public Library a top director
Speaker 5: award winning again Emmy director Connie Field. She talks about
Speaker 5: this particular film takes a look at President Victor Organ
Speaker 5: in Hungary and is a little scary to see the
Speaker 5: similarities of what happened over there with their democracy and
Speaker 5: what's going on in our own country is illuminating. And
Speaker 5: I really think that's an important film for us to
Speaker 5: see right now. And another film that I'm quite excited
Speaker 5: about is Sweetwater and Yes the Celtics are going to
Speaker 5: repeat there you go.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So this is the story of the first black players
Speaker 5: ever allowed to play in the NBA, and it goes
Speaker 5: back to nineteen fifty. The filmmaker's fascinating. This takes place
Speaker 5: at MIT on Sunday night of the festival for twenty
Speaker 5: second and it has quite a cast, Jeremy Pittens in it,
Speaker 5: Everett Osbourne, carry El Wise, Jimvizel. But it's it's quite
Speaker 5: a story. And Walter Brown is actually part of this
Speaker 5: whole story because he gets into the arena of finally
Speaker 5: drafting black players. Is Chuck Cooper. I don't know if you,
Speaker 5: of course you know the history of Yes, but he
Speaker 5: the director said that he was driving through fields and
Speaker 5: this goes back twenty five or more years ago and
Speaker 5: he saw the sign for the museum. Doctor went in said,
Speaker 5: you know, who's the person who's the Jackie Robinson of basketball.
Speaker 5: They didn't know, they didn't have any information. He went
Speaker 5: back to New York before Google, went over to Columbia
Speaker 5: University Library did the research. Ended up interviewing read Aurbak
Speaker 5: got all of the information about this. This has been
Speaker 5: twenty six years in the making. Clint Eastwood saw the script,
Speaker 5: loved it, saw it just before COVID took a couple
Speaker 5: of years, but he lent his support. The NBA got involved,
Speaker 5: and it is really a wonderful story about how this
Speaker 5: all took place. And you know, it's it's not only
Speaker 5: for people who love sports. It's a great story.
Speaker 1: Oh no, it's about the growth of in the country.
Speaker 1: And that's what sports has been able to do, you know.
Speaker 1: And and there's no question sports is a venue. Sports
Speaker 1: is an opportunity. That's and it's a vehicle to open
Speaker 1: our minds and to give people opportunity. That's and that
Speaker 1: sounds like what this film is all about.
Speaker 4: Robin, What do you think of.
Speaker 1: The documentary arena right now, because let me tell you,
Speaker 1: there are some great docs out there that are just
Speaker 1: taking to the point now where I'm wondering if the
Speaker 1: documentary angle or business is more appealing to some finanswers.
Speaker 5: Well, it is. It is a growing industry. And I
Speaker 5: will tell you what conversation. It's interesting you say this.
Speaker 5: I was having a conversation with a successful producer who
Speaker 5: has now gone into documentary filmmaking because of what we're
Speaker 5: going through. And I love documentaries always have.
Speaker 3: What a great place to be able to.
Speaker 2: Tell a story.
Speaker 5: And it's it is going to grow, I believe in
Speaker 5: the future, and there's short documentaries and full length documentaries.
Speaker 3: So it's an.
Speaker 5: Arena that I think is outstanding. And now you see
Speaker 5: it on streaming, and as this whole industry evolves, it'll
Speaker 5: be interesting to see how that goes as well. And
Speaker 5: many times, Gary, a story will start out even as
Speaker 5: a short or you'll start out as a documentary and
Speaker 5: then it evolves into either a limited series or a
Speaker 5: feature film.
Speaker 4: Well, Robin, it's great to catch up with you. It's
Speaker 4: been too long. Congratulations again.
Speaker 1: On the fortieth the fortieth Folks Boston Film Festival September
Speaker 1: nineteenth through the twenty third. You can go online and
Speaker 1: you can find out where all the venues are. I
Speaker 1: assume and get tickets and see the movies that you
Speaker 1: want to see. And we are going to be talking
Speaker 1: to one of your filmmakers Erica Ronson any Day Now,
Speaker 1: which this movie's this movie's gonna be great. I mean,
Speaker 1: this movie's gonna be fan fantastic. What a great idea
Speaker 1: about the Gardener Museum heist. And he has his own
Speaker 1: little take on it, as you know, Robin, Robin, we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk to him next. Thanks for coming on, buddy.
Speaker 1: It's good to talk to you.
Speaker 5: Right to talk to you, Gary. Thanks for having us on.
Speaker 5: And I hope you join us.
Speaker 4: Okay, I hope I can make it too.
Speaker 1: Robin Dawson with us forty years with the Boston Film Festival.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you something that is that is quite
Speaker 1: an achievement with this business right now. Quite an achievement
Speaker 1: done by Eric Ronson with any Day Now. We'll talk
Speaker 1: to him about his new movie. That this You got
Speaker 1: to keep an eye out for this one. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be good. It's next on WBZ. Now back to Dan
Speaker 1: Ray Live from the Window World Nightside Studios on WBZ
Speaker 1: News Radio. Today's You Like to Day have Matt, you
Speaker 1: do me a favor, I'll take care of your death.
Speaker 4: I don't know where you're working. We're gonna rob the museum.
Speaker 4: We're gonna need your help. So are you like Gainston?
Speaker 4: Guys just are like sheep. They have to answer up
Speaker 4: for everything they do. I want to do something, I
Speaker 4: do it.
Speaker 5: There's not someone in the trunk, is there?
Speaker 4: Don't worry about that.
Speaker 1: I love that Erica Ronson is with us. He is
Speaker 1: the director and the writer of any Data. It's a
Speaker 1: terrific movie starring Paul gilfol of Boston Guy. Everybody knows
Speaker 1: them from CSI and also don't look up where he
Speaker 1: played the Air Force colonel that was charging visitors for
Speaker 1: Snatch at the White House, which was hilarious, and Taylor
Speaker 1: Gray also in that scene. So Eric, I'm gonna let
Speaker 1: you explain the movie. It's about the Gardener Museum, heust,
Speaker 1: but it's got a different twist you've put on this thing.
Speaker 2: Hi, I'm doing great.
Speaker 4: Long time no see.
Speaker 2: Yeah, longtime caller, first time listener. So the Gardener Museum
Speaker 2: is coming up on the thirty fifth anniversary of the
Speaker 2: robbery in March of next year, so I thought this
Speaker 2: would be a great time to tell one of the
Speaker 2: great myths of Boston, at least in my lifetime. There's
Speaker 2: the Whitey Bulger myth, right, and then there's the myth
Speaker 2: of the Gardener, and I just thought, you know, this
Speaker 2: is my first chance to make a movie in this town.
Speaker 2: I made it locally. I made it with local actors,
Speaker 2: and we shot every minute of it here in Boston,
Speaker 2: all over in Chelsea, Cambridge, and we were in Medford
Speaker 2: and Malden like we went to all the places that
Speaker 2: the location scouts don't know about, and we made a
Speaker 2: truly Boston film. So I couldn't be any happier. I
Speaker 2: don't think it was any better fit for this movie
Speaker 2: to begin its move into the world by starting to
Speaker 2: the Boston Film Testival. So we're really excited about that.
Speaker 1: And tell us about the roles of Paul and also
Speaker 1: Taylor Gray. So you have Paul, as you could hear
Speaker 1: in the trailer that he's the the old veteran criminal.
Speaker 1: He's terrific, by the way, and you have Taylor who's
Speaker 1: caught of this young, naive type of guy that falls
Speaker 1: into this web of crime.
Speaker 4: But what because we do know about the.
Speaker 1: Garden Museum's story and we've heard about it, but just
Speaker 1: give us a tease of what we'll see in your film.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, there's things that we know and there's
Speaker 2: things that we don't know. So the good news is
Speaker 2: you can do anything with that story because no one
Speaker 2: knows what really happened. The bad news is the paintings
Speaker 2: are still missing and nobody knows what happened. So Taylor
Speaker 2: plays a young guard at the museum and Paul plays
Speaker 2: an art thief right and they find a way to
Speaker 2: maybe or maybe not work together on this faithful night, and.
Speaker 4: You take you fill in some blanks. The reason I
Speaker 4: think so, the reason I think that this is.
Speaker 1: So entertaining, and I want people to understand that that
Speaker 1: when you watch this movie, you're going to be entertained.
Speaker 1: There's fiction. You're fill in some blanks here, there's a
Speaker 1: comedic story. There's a great relationship between these guys. This
Speaker 1: is not just, you know, another story about the Gardener
Speaker 1: Gardner heist. This has got a twist to it. And
Speaker 1: I think one of the lines at the beginning says
Speaker 1: this didn't really happen. Or what is that opening line
Speaker 1: that says some of these things did not happen.
Speaker 2: No, I think it says on the trailer. I think
Speaker 2: it says on you know, on March eighteenth, nineteen ninety
Speaker 2: five hundred million dollars with the bar. We're stolen from
Speaker 2: Boston's Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum. This is not what happened, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: because of that's right, that's right, Yeah, this is happened.
Speaker 2: I wanted to make a fiction. You know, there's a
Speaker 2: Hollywood version of this. There's an Ocean's eleven version of
Speaker 2: this movie with you know, lasers and you know, people
Speaker 2: talking really cool and all of that. I've been in
Speaker 2: that world.
Speaker 4: I've been in that.
Speaker 2: World for like twenty five years, right. I want to
Speaker 2: tell a story of the unique characters and the crazy
Speaker 2: wisdom of some of the crazy people that I know
Speaker 2: growing up and living in Boston.
Speaker 4: Thank you, because the characters.
Speaker 1: Characters are the key you start to catch up with.
Speaker 1: The characters are the key. And where we see character
Speaker 1: driven stories now generally are in series on streaming. We
Speaker 1: don't say it in film a lot because it's superheroes
Speaker 1: and so forth, and you know, we could talk about
Speaker 1: the industry for a couple of hours. But I'm happy
Speaker 1: to see these type of characters. I want to see
Speaker 1: character driven films, which is this is a character. Guilfoy
Speaker 1: is great. I mean he's and I've only seen the trailer.
Speaker 1: I mean, this guy is I think you're going to
Speaker 1: do really well.
Speaker 2: Eric.
Speaker 1: I think this movie's gonna I think it's going to
Speaker 1: catch fire. I think that people are going to really
Speaker 1: enjoy it, and it's going to be a great ride.
Speaker 1: And you know the fact that you made it here
Speaker 1: and you're a Boston guy and I know you're in Hollywood,
Speaker 1: you know, hanging out with the Johnny depths of the
Speaker 1: world and all that stuff, but you came back, you
Speaker 1: get your fingernails dirty, and he made something here.
Speaker 4: So I'm happy for you. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I knew from the beginning the idea was we
Speaker 2: don't make this movie without Paul like he you know,
Speaker 2: he was the target. He was the perfect guy for this.
Speaker 2: And in fact, we delayed it because of COVID. Chris
Speaker 2: Paul said, you know, you can't make a movie unless
Speaker 2: we can all sit around a table and talk and play, right,
Speaker 2: So we actually waited a little bit to make this movie.
Speaker 2: But Yeah, it's really exciting and I'm excited to show it,
Speaker 2: and I'm so glad that this is the first Uh,
Speaker 2: this town is gonna be the first place to see it. It
Speaker 2: makes perfect sense.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it totally does.
Speaker 1: And Taylor gray Is who plays Steve, who plays the
Speaker 1: young man in it that that that Marty Paul Gilfoil
Speaker 1: is kind of bringing along for the ride. He's the
Speaker 1: guard at the museum. He's also playing Al Franken in
Speaker 1: the Saturday Night movie. So this kid's get some chops,
Speaker 1: that's right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's got shots. People love him. That's that's. Everybody
Speaker 2: who sees the movie always asks about Tell. They said,
Speaker 2: who is that kid? And they play off each other
Speaker 2: really well. They have two totally different acting styles, and
Speaker 2: you know one is one is super prepared and one
Speaker 2: is seat of the pants. And that's the electricity that
Speaker 2: you get to watch between the two of them because
Speaker 2: you're watching two different after styles as well.
Speaker 1: Can you share witches which or do we have to
Speaker 1: figure that out when we watch the movie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can figure out. You can make your own determination.
Speaker 1: Okay, we'll figure it out. Well, listen, do you what's
Speaker 1: what's on the docket after this? Anything coming up in Boston?
Speaker 1: Anything you're looking to do?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I'm looking. I'm looking to make a
Speaker 2: movie with you, Gary, you know, because you know, speaking
Speaker 2: of Boston actors, I gotta say that you're in the movie,
Speaker 2: so we can't. Let's not leave that off the table.
Speaker 2: I know you're being humble about it, but of the
Speaker 2: of the numerous Boston actors, you're in it too. Yeah, well,
Speaker 2: show up at this premiere.
Speaker 1: Oh oh dude, don't worry. I'll be there. I will
Speaker 1: absolutely you there. Well, the news cast a role. I've
Speaker 1: kind of got that one down. I'm waiting for somebody
Speaker 1: to give me an opportunity to play a psychopath or
Speaker 1: something like that. But I don't know if that's going
Speaker 1: to happen. But I'll take what I can get. I'll
Speaker 1: take what I get.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know. I don't know if I don't
Speaker 2: know if the radio viewers know. But you you're you
Speaker 2: have a lovely way with words. That is a particular
Speaker 2: when you get angry. It's a very floral language that
Speaker 2: you that you display that that. I don't think people
Speaker 2: know that side of you. So let's I want to
Speaker 2: explore that side.
Speaker 4: Oh believe me.
Speaker 1: I remember the first time I said the F word
Speaker 1: in front of Jonathan Kraft and his head spun around.
Speaker 1: He said, I didn't know you swore. I said, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, we get there. Listen, it's a great movie,
Speaker 1: Erica Ronson, And the actual date that it's premiering, what
Speaker 1: is the actual date it is?
Speaker 2: The first night is going to be Saturday, September twenty first,
Speaker 2: and then we're gonna have a second showing on Sunday
Speaker 2: the twenty second.
Speaker 1: All right, and September and check it out Boston Film Festival,
Speaker 1: go online.
Speaker 4: Do you have the location? Do you know for sure?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's at the Paramount Theater, which is like it's
Speaker 2: like that, it's like downtown crossing.
Speaker 4: No, I know exactly where it is. What a great
Speaker 4: spot to have a premiere, Eric, Thanks for coming on, buddy.
Speaker 1: I'll see you at the premiere. And it's been great.
Speaker 1: It's great to work with you, my friend.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Gary. I'll see you down there.
Speaker 1: Okay, folks, keep an eye Eric Ronson with us is
Speaker 1: the writing director of this film. Keep an eye out
Speaker 1: for this movie, not just because I'm in it. Well,
Speaker 1: you know it's good. It's just it's gonna be one
Speaker 1: of those movies that you sit and you watch and
Speaker 1: you're gonna laugh, and you're gonna enjoy the ride and
Speaker 1: you're gonna go.
Speaker 4: How come they don't make more movies like that?
Speaker 1: Okay any day Now, Saturday twenty first at the Paramount
Speaker 1: Theater Theater Boston Film Festival. Coming up next, we take
Speaker 1: a look at what's going on on ABC and the
Speaker 1: Read trial on WBZ.