Speaker 1: It's nice with Dan Ray. I'm telling you easy Boston's Radio.
Speaker 2: So I heard this article over the weekend and heard
Speaker 2: the story and decided to check it out, and sure
Speaker 2: enough found out that this was an actual story. So
Speaker 2: the class of two thousand and this out of the
Speaker 2: New York Times, the class of twenty and twenty five
Speaker 2: at the University of Maryland. This is not, you know,
Speaker 2: one of the University of Maryland's that you know, like
Speaker 2: the small This is the major university, the flagship of
Speaker 2: the university, big graduation speaker with none other than the
Speaker 2: cartoon character Kermit the Frog. This is, I think, really interesting.
Speaker 2: So my question is this again, it's not the Frog,
Speaker 2: but it's someone playing Kermit the Frog. The creator of
Speaker 2: the Muppets, Jim Henson, graduated from the University of Maryland
Speaker 2: back in nineteen sixty and so the school is saying
Speaker 2: that it had chosen, according to New York Times, Kermit
Speaker 2: to deliver its commencement address to honor the legacy of
Speaker 2: mister Henson, who died in nineteen ninety. So he died
Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety and graduated from there in nineteen sixty
Speaker 2: and well, I want to play a little bit of it.
Speaker 2: But here's the question I have. And if there are
Speaker 2: high school students or college students who are listening tonight,
Speaker 2: I'm particularly interested in your perspective. I'm also interested in
Speaker 2: the perspective of parents. Now, can you imagine if you
Speaker 2: were the parent of someone who paid whatever it costs
Speaker 2: to go to a four year college the es date. Now, again,
Speaker 2: i assume the University of Maryland is not as expensive
Speaker 2: as say Harvard or an Ivy League college, but I'm
Speaker 2: sure it runs into the tens of thousands, indeed, hundreds
Speaker 2: of thousands of dollars. I'm sure that to be a
Speaker 2: full time student at the University of Maryland has to
Speaker 2: be upwards of fifty or sixty thousand dollars. So you're
Speaker 2: talking about a substantial amount of money to educate a child.
Speaker 2: And the graduation ceremony, the commencement speech is always, of course,
Speaker 2: the capstone of this four year college career. And you're
Speaker 2: a parent sitting there, or you're a graduate sitting there
Speaker 2: and realizing that you're listening to a frog, or you're
Speaker 2: listening to a cartoon character who's playing a frog, however
Speaker 2: you want to describe it. Now, people who have I
Speaker 2: don't know who your college commencement spe was, if you
Speaker 2: went to college, or your high school commencement speaker. Love
Speaker 2: to know if you recall that, but I'm interested. Would
Speaker 2: you feel ripped off short changed if they announced that
Speaker 2: your commencement speaker was going to be a cartoon character.
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess you could have burder Ernie there,
Speaker 2: maybe Elmo could speak Miss Piggy, or maybe next year
Speaker 2: one of the Power Rangers, or whoever it is these days. Again,
Speaker 2: it seems to me, well, first of all, let's play
Speaker 2: a little bit now again. According to the New York Times,
Speaker 2: article says news that the famously cheery Frog puppet would
Speaker 2: be the puppet would be delivering the commencement, as some
Speaker 2: students called it, that was mixed met with mixed reviews
Speaker 2: on campus. Some wondered if the speech, penned by a
Speaker 2: Muppets writer and voiced by the puppeteer Matt Vogel, was
Speaker 2: an effort by the university to sidestep the difficult issues
Speaker 2: confronting American higher education, like the Trump administration's cracked down
Speaker 2: on federal funding and cancelation of some international student visus.
Speaker 2: I don't know now, obviously, Kermit pretty much stuck to
Speaker 2: the script as you would expect. Let's just listen to
Speaker 2: a couple of the sound bites. This was the Again,
Speaker 2: whenever I do a story like this, I'm fearful that
Speaker 2: my audience is going to say, oh, Dan is trying
Speaker 2: to put us. No, I'm not. I would never put
Speaker 2: you on on something like this. I consider it to
Speaker 2: be a serious topic because some people probably will say
Speaker 2: I will always remember my commencement speaker because it wasn't
Speaker 2: a human being. It was Kermit the Frog. I get that, Okay,
Speaker 2: I get that, And a lot of kids today, young
Speaker 2: people graduating from colleges, their first teachers might have been
Speaker 2: the Muppets. Think about it, they were sitting in front
Speaker 2: of television sets. Maybe maybe students today are a little
Speaker 2: a little older than that. Maybe they were watching other
Speaker 2: cartoonish type characters. I remember Barney the Purple Dinosaur. My
Speaker 2: daughter left Barney the Purple Dinosaur, okay, but my son,
Speaker 2: he grew up with the Muppets, bart Ernie, all that,
Speaker 2: all the crews. So let's let's play a couple of
Speaker 2: cuts here so you get a sense of what it
Speaker 2: was like and if you were a parent or a student.
Speaker 2: What have you been insulted or what have you just thought?
Speaker 2: This is great because whenever there's a conversation with my
Speaker 2: friends about they will remember who there, keep their commencement
Speaker 2: speakers were, but I will always remember mine. Let's go
Speaker 2: to cut one here.
Speaker 3: Noah, Hi, everybody, Hello, I mean wow, look at this crowd.
Speaker 3: Look at all these graduation caps with their decorations. Wow,
Speaker 3: what a thrill it is to be back here at
Speaker 3: the University of Maryland and.
Speaker 2: Celebrate the class of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3: And don't forget the summer class of twenty twenty four
Speaker 3: and the Winter class of twenty twenty four. Yeah. Uh,
Speaker 3: did I leave anybody out?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 3: Great, good, you are all here. You're all here to
Speaker 3: listen to a frog in a very tiny cap and
Speaker 3: gown give a commencement speech on well what's actually turned
Speaker 3: out to be a pretty beautiful evening. Yeah, either way,
Speaker 3: I can guarantee you the forecast calls for a one
Speaker 3: hundred chance of frog.
Speaker 2: Pretty lame so far. I'm just listening to it for
Speaker 2: the first time. Karen Semi, Our producer dzore I, asked
Speaker 2: her late today to pull some sound bites so Well,
Speaker 2: that wasn't the strongest start of a commencement speaker that
Speaker 2: I've ever listened to. But let's let's keep rolling here.
Speaker 2: Let's let's listen to cut number two.
Speaker 3: Noah, Now, I realize that today is one of the
Speaker 3: most important themes of your life. So I am honored
Speaker 3: to share some words of wisdom about three things that
Speaker 3: are close to my heart. Finding your people, taking the leap,
Speaker 3: and making connections. Now you and I share someone very
Speaker 3: special University of Maryland, and I am talking, of course
Speaker 3: about my friend Jim Henson.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Jim.
Speaker 3: In the early days, he had a hand in literally
Speaker 3: everything I did. Yeah, Jim and his wife Jane were
Speaker 3: proud students right here at UMD. When the food at
Speaker 3: the stamp was good. Yeah, back then they even had
Speaker 3: mosquito sprinkles for your ice cream.
Speaker 2: I miss that.
Speaker 3: And as I'm sure you know, there's a statue of
Speaker 3: Jim and me on campus, and it is not far
Speaker 3: from another campus legend, Testudo the turtle. I hear, by
Speaker 3: the way that we are distant cousins. And although I
Speaker 3: know you rub his nose for good luck, please do
Speaker 3: not rub my nose unless you're a fly, in which case,
Speaker 3: i'd say lunch is served.
Speaker 2: Okay, those lines are kind of falling flat. Now, maybe
Speaker 2: there's some inside jokes that I'm missing here. I'm not
Speaker 2: a terp University of Maryland terp. But wow, so I
Speaker 2: want to know this is a legitimate commencement address here
Speaker 2: in America, at the University of Maryland. I don't get it.
Speaker 2: I'm going to be honest with you. I was kind
Speaker 2: of open minded until I listened to it. I mean,
Speaker 2: it was There's nothing that's to me particularly memorable here.
Speaker 2: I don't know. We got a couple more soundbites we
Speaker 2: can listen to, But in the meantime, we're going to
Speaker 2: take a break, and I'm going to ask you to
Speaker 2: give me a call. If you are happy to be
Speaker 2: someone who has graduated this year has recently attended a
Speaker 2: commencement address, I'm sure that there are some that are
Speaker 2: pretty boring, and when they they introduced some sociology professor
Speaker 2: from somewhere in the distance you have never heard of,
Speaker 2: or some philosopher king six one seven, two, five, four
Speaker 2: ten thirty six one seven nine three one ten thirty.
Speaker 2: If you want to defend the choice of the University
Speaker 2: of Maryland of Kermit the Frog as a commencement speaker,
Speaker 2: and tell me why I am all wet. Let me know,
Speaker 2: I think it's insulting. I really do. I would think
Speaker 2: that the University of Maryland would be a little more
Speaker 2: thoughtful than to come up with a cartoon character. Now
Speaker 2: I realize Jim Henson is probably a very distinguished graduate.
Speaker 2: I guess his wife as well, very distinguished graduate, and
Speaker 2: their legacy are the Muppets. But do you really want
Speaker 2: to use a muppet? Who are you gonna have next year?
Speaker 2: I don't know. Maybe I'm all wet, but I don't
Speaker 2: think so on this one. I happen to think my
Speaker 2: audience is going to agree with me, and I'm looking
Speaker 2: for people who have recently either graduated. How would you
Speaker 2: compare this with your commencement speaker? Six ten thirty six
Speaker 2: seven nine ten thirty let's light him up? Coming back right.
Speaker 1: After this, It's Night Side with Dan Ray. Hey, damn dog,
Speaker 1: you Bezy Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2: Har We one more. We got a couple more advice you,
Speaker 2: but just to give you a sense of what people
Speaker 2: listened to. Okay, let's go too. Cut number three please
Speaker 2: Noah hit it.
Speaker 3: But it was Jim who taught me about finding your people.
Speaker 3: Jim was a collector. He loved collecting actors and artists
Speaker 3: and musicians, anyone with talent.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: Jim shared with me that when he was first coming
Speaker 3: up with the idea for the Muppet Show, nobody knew
Speaker 3: what they had, but Jim knew who he had.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he knew that.
Speaker 3: There was a show there, and he wanted to show
Speaker 3: the world.
Speaker 5: And that was Jim.
Speaker 3: He can always see the spark in someone, He saw
Speaker 3: the potential, and he saw what was unique in each person.
Speaker 3: And he taught me what's unique about you should always
Speaker 3: be shared. And that really stuck with me, which is
Speaker 3: why you'll see me hanging out with a bear and
Speaker 3: a pig and a penguin and a prawn and whatever
Speaker 3: gonzo is. Seriously, if anybody knows, please see me after
Speaker 3: the ceremony. But Jim believed that everyone had a place.
Speaker 3: Jim thought of that and he made us believe it.
Speaker 3: And so my whole life, I'd tried to appreciate people
Speaker 3: for exactly who they are, even if they are a
Speaker 3: pig who hogs the spotlight. Oh, I'm probably gonna get
Speaker 3: in trouble for that. One, But truly, there's a spot
Speaker 3: for everyone in the show.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm lost on it. I'm lost. Let me go
Speaker 2: to Gina from Bridgewater. Gina, I'm not digging the German
Speaker 2: as a commencement speaker. Tell me I'm right, Tell me
Speaker 2: I'm wrong.
Speaker 6: No, I think it's great, but everything else going on.
Speaker 6: We should have more Kermits.
Speaker 2: Okay, So do you remember who your commencement speakers were?
Speaker 6: I only had one.
Speaker 7: No, I guess I remember who it was. Her name
Speaker 7: is Maryland?
Speaker 6: Three years ago. But anyhow, what did what did?
Speaker 2: Whoever Maryland was? What did she do? Was she a
Speaker 2: famous Maryland? Or?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 6: In my eyes she was Joe?
Speaker 2: Well? Who was she?
Speaker 5: Very much?
Speaker 6: She was a teacher, that's all. She was a great
Speaker 6: person and she was one of the best I ever knew.
Speaker 2: And was a teacher? Was she a teacher? You're at
Speaker 2: the school from which you graduated?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Okay, that's great.
Speaker 6: Yeah, okay, yeah. So what I'm saying is there should
Speaker 6: be more Kermits. You know, I'm just waiting for it
Speaker 6: to become a prince, it's all. Did he like kiss somebody?
Speaker 5: After?
Speaker 2: I missed your question? There? What was it?
Speaker 7: I said?
Speaker 6: Does anybody get to kiss him after.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'll bet some people kissed him. Sure, why not?
Speaker 2: I mean so if your son or daughter had gone
Speaker 2: to the University of Maryland, you'd be okay with that.
Speaker 6: I think it's great. I think there should be more Kermits.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, anyone else you want to say that, anyone
Speaker 2: else you want to suggest as a speaker you, I'm
Speaker 2: not a Kermit. I've done a couple of commencement addresses myself. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and I take him pretty seriously. I did a commencement
Speaker 2: address at the at Boston State College in nineteen seventy eight,
Speaker 2: a few scant years after I had graduated from that
Speaker 2: fine institution and was morphed into you, Mass Boston, merged
Speaker 2: with you, Mass Boston. I did a commencement addressed at
Speaker 2: Endicott College and at the Massachusetts School of Law, and
Speaker 2: in both of those I did research on who was
Speaker 2: in the graduating class and some of the more distinctive graduates,
Speaker 2: not necessarily the valedictorian, but I focused on my audience.
Speaker 2: And I think it's a device that's important to use because, uh,
Speaker 2: it sort of brings the audience they sit there and
Speaker 2: want if you if they're going to be mentioned next actually,
Speaker 2: but uh talked about them and talked about uh, you know,
Speaker 2: there are themes that I think college graduates need to
Speaker 2: hear or high school graduates need to hear that, you know,
Speaker 2: never never limit your horizons. Always realize that there's another
Speaker 2: goal and there's another challenge, and keep you know, keep working.
Speaker 2: But as I say, I was listening to the Kermit
Speaker 2: speech here in it so far, I'm not impressed. But
Speaker 2: that's okay. You know, different strokes with different folks.
Speaker 6: Well, you know, let me tell you something. I was
Speaker 6: taking a walk a week ago, and on the way back,
Speaker 6: before I got into the door, I had to use
Speaker 6: the light on the phone, and I did, and I
Speaker 6: looked to my right, and I'm lucky I did. There
Speaker 6: was a frog right there on the top step.
Speaker 2: Well maybe it was a relative of Kermits.
Speaker 6: You never know a relative.
Speaker 8: You know.
Speaker 6: They didn't show their face obviously, and I'm sure they're
Speaker 6: not a print, so it isn't going to happen.
Speaker 2: All right, Jeane, I appreciate, appreciate you call. Thank you much, Okay,
Speaker 2: talk soon, good night, all right, good night, six one, seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: eight thirty. Uh, let me go to Laurie in Ohio
Speaker 2: and Idaho, Laurie, I'll be interested in what your thought
Speaker 2: is in this. Normally we're kind of on the same page.
Speaker 2: You do not have to be on the same page here.
Speaker 2: What's your thought?
Speaker 7: Well, we're sort of divided. I heard the announcement sometime
Speaker 7: in the middle of the week last week. I had
Speaker 7: not heard any of the speech, and that is where
Speaker 7: I'm with you. I think they blew it because I mean,
Speaker 7: I grew up with Sessin Street because my youngest sister
Speaker 7: is six years younger than I am, and so we
Speaker 7: watched it because it was Channelton and we were allowed
Speaker 7: to watch it, and what else was there to watch?
Speaker 7: So my younger sister and Kermit, I mean, okay, they're
Speaker 7: all technically cartoon characters, but he was iconic. He was
Speaker 7: the little guy. He was the smartest little muppet. He
Speaker 7: was the one who, you know, would broke a peace
Speaker 7: if you will, if muppets were arguing to the extent
Speaker 7: that they did, and he had you know, his attitude
Speaker 7: was inclusion. And I mean that song He's It's not
Speaker 7: easy being Green. I mean, look at the social metaphors at.
Speaker 2: That song called yeah Yeah.
Speaker 7: So if they had stuck to Kermit's actual character as
Speaker 7: written by Hinson or whatever, and embraced that in a
Speaker 7: better way, it would have been fantastic. But they blew it.
Speaker 7: I mean, you don't know who's speaking. Is it that?
Speaker 7: It shouldn't have been a joke show. It should have
Speaker 7: been being Kermit the way he was years ago, and
Speaker 7: you know, being encouraging, inclusive and whatever. And I would
Speaker 7: have absolutely remembered that I have no idea who my
Speaker 7: commencement seekers were, and they were so boring. I just
Speaker 7: couldn't wait them to be done.
Speaker 2: So well he did. He did, and again we have
Speaker 2: several soundbites here. He he did say a couple of
Speaker 2: things which I think were important. Life is not a
Speaker 2: solo act. No it's not. It's a big, messy, delightful
Speaker 2: ensemble piece, especially when you were with your people. He
Speaker 2: called the graduates to help each other whenever possible, and
Speaker 2: his line, the line that was the most memorable, is
Speaker 2: life is better when we leap together. I guess he
Speaker 2: delivered a commencement speech. I guess this is his second
Speaker 2: or third one. He delivered a commencement speech in nineteen
Speaker 2: ninety six at Southampton College, then part of Long Island University.
Speaker 2: And also I guess his friends at Sesame Street from
Speaker 2: Grover to Cookie Monster have also delivered their own addresses
Speaker 2: to graduating classes.
Speaker 7: I want to see Cookie Monsters, but but I just
Speaker 7: what I didn't like to was his Well, Jim told me,
Speaker 7: and he was he should have just been portrayed as
Speaker 7: the Permit the way Kermit was. It's all back and forth.
Speaker 7: Jim told me and a little the stick that it
Speaker 7: didn't work for me. He just he could they could
Speaker 7: have picked a much better speech writer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was well, it was funny. The Times out
Speaker 2: of the speech writer basically said it was pinned by
Speaker 2: by a Muffets writer didn't mention the Muffets writer, but
Speaker 2: voiced by the puppeteer Matt Bogel.
Speaker 7: I don't know reason the word you've given, you know.
Speaker 2: I just think that, uh, you know, Maryland is a
Speaker 2: state that they've just elected a black governor, first industry
Speaker 2: of Maryland, and you would think that now maybe he's addressed,
Speaker 2: but they've addressed the college graduates before. They just elected
Speaker 2: a woman senator from not the first, Barbara mcclsky I
Speaker 2: think was the first in Maryland. But I don't know
Speaker 2: it just it just seems to me that there are
Speaker 2: enough interesting people. I was watching television here today and
Speaker 2: Sonny Williams, the astronaut from Massachusetts who circled the globe
Speaker 2: for whatever it was, nine months, nine months, and she
Speaker 2: I think gave a commencement addressed recently. But then today
Speaker 2: there was a story about her just taking a swim
Speaker 2: in in in the waters off of Cape Cod.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: It made the It made the point that she every
Speaker 2: time she circled the globe, many times when she circled
Speaker 2: the globe, she would look down on Cape Cod and
Speaker 2: that's one of the things she always loved to do
Speaker 2: with life.
Speaker 7: So I don't know, it just I would rather see
Speaker 7: his stuff frog than of stuff shirt.
Speaker 2: Yeah, stuff frog. That okay, that's a good line. That's
Speaker 2: a good line. And we've all had our shares of
Speaker 2: I guess there's been a lot of stuff shirt speakers,
Speaker 2: Oh a.
Speaker 7: Ton of them.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 7: When they dropped the ball was whatever, whoever wrote the speech,
Speaker 7: they could have done a much better job researching Kermit's
Speaker 7: actual iconic situation way back and street, way back when
Speaker 7: I mean, you know, yeah, long before I even graduated.
Speaker 7: But they dropped the ball on the speech otherwise I
Speaker 7: thought it was a cute idea.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, we get Laurie down. Is a cute idea,
Speaker 2: and uh I think Gina liked it as well. So
Speaker 2: that's that's two callers who pretty much they're down with Kermit.
Speaker 2: Love to know what you think.
Speaker 7: Laurie will tell it not as speech water.
Speaker 2: No, I get it, I get it. We'll play a
Speaker 2: little bit more on the other side. Thanks Laurie, talk
Speaker 2: to you.
Speaker 6: Soon more pain.
Speaker 2: No no, no, no, no, talk about pain. How about
Speaker 2: the Red Sox today?
Speaker 9: Uh?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, why can't they get nineteen for Crchet?
Speaker 5: What the heck?
Speaker 2: I know they haven't nine. They haven't gotten him nineteen
Speaker 2: runs in all of his eight starts. I think he's
Speaker 2: a I unbelievable. Well whatever, they could have used some
Speaker 2: of those the other night. Thanks Laurie, we'll talk its.
Speaker 2: Thanks for calling in, all right, we'll keep rolling here.
Speaker 2: Six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty six months,
Speaker 2: seven nine three, one ten thirty. I'm I am a
Speaker 2: little tougher on this than Laurie. My idea is that
Speaker 2: I don't know that I want Kermit the Frog as
Speaker 2: my graduation speaker, and I don't want Kermit the Frog
Speaker 2: as my kids graduation speaker. There's enough people out there
Speaker 2: of great accomplishment, not only in the political theater, the
Speaker 2: political world, but also in the in the arts community,
Speaker 2: uh for that matter, in the sports world. I mean,
Speaker 2: I would think that I would rather hear if I
Speaker 2: was a college graduate or the parent of a college graduate.
Speaker 2: I'd rather hear from an athlete who either wasn't particularly
Speaker 2: well known but went to a smaller college and made
Speaker 2: it in the NFL. I mean, someone like a Julian
Speaker 2: Edelman would be one of you know, those of us
Speaker 2: in Boston. He went to Kent State and never really
Speaker 2: expected to do much in the NFL, but he did.
Speaker 2: Or from a Tom Brady or for I just think
Speaker 2: there's a lot of different people there there. I watched
Speaker 2: a commencement speech that Conan O'Brien delivered to Dartmouth College
Speaker 2: in twenty eleven, and it was clever. I'm not a
Speaker 2: huge fan of Conan O'Brien. I think his humor is
Speaker 2: a little dour. From my personal taste. I'm more of
Speaker 2: a slapstick type guy, somebody who enjoys I just think
Speaker 2: that I just think it was imaginative but unimaginative. If
Speaker 2: you get my drift back of nights, I will have
Speaker 2: more of Kermit the Frog and more of your response
Speaker 2: coming back on.
Speaker 1: Nightside, Night Side with Dan ray On Dell youbz Boston's
Speaker 1: News Radio. You're on night Side with Dan ray onell
Speaker 1: you bz Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2: All right, we're getting a little bit more Kermit the Frog.
Speaker 2: Here his commencement speech. I think it's important so people
Speaker 2: can hear it. Let me go to cut number four.
Speaker 3: Please, Noah, Now, there is no guarantee that the show
Speaker 3: is always good, or that'll go off without a hitch,
Speaker 3: or it doesn't have it's uh Heckler's yeah, But the
Speaker 3: show must go on, and if you're with your people,
Speaker 3: and you won't have to do it alone, because life
Speaker 3: is not a solo act.
Speaker 2: No it's not.
Speaker 3: It's a big, messy, delightful ensemble piece, especially when you're
Speaker 3: with your people.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: In fact, I'll look around, seriously, her ahead, look around.
Speaker 3: You're probably sitting next to some of your people right now.
Speaker 3: These are friends that you might have for your whole life,
Speaker 3: and there will be many others to collect along the way.
Speaker 3: So always keep your eyes open like I do. Actually
Speaker 3: I can't really close my eyes. But always be on
Speaker 3: the lookout for old friends you've just met. Also, can
Speaker 3: you be on the lookout for animal. I hear he
Speaker 3: hit a few graduation parties last night and we haven't
Speaker 3: seen him since.
Speaker 2: I think Kermit kind of fell flat here. Now, maybe
Speaker 2: I'm missing something. And if I'm missing something, please call
Speaker 2: me up short. Let me go to LeeAnne in Attleborough. LeeAnne,
Speaker 2: do you think Kermit's killing it here?
Speaker 5: Ah?
Speaker 10: Well, I will be the first one to differ.
Speaker 2: Sure, well, will Laurie different a little bit? So go
Speaker 2: right ahead now.
Speaker 10: When I turned the radio on this morning and I
Speaker 10: was just getting a partial clip of Kermit's speech, yeah,
Speaker 10: I just automatically assumed that it was a speech at
Speaker 10: a local elementary school. And then when I found out
Speaker 10: that it was a commencement speech of a university of
Speaker 10: higher learning, the.
Speaker 2: University of Maryland, the flagship you know, this is not
Speaker 2: like University of Maryland at PO Doug. This is the flagship.
Speaker 5: School, big, big stuff, you know.
Speaker 10: And I just kind of cocked my head to one side,
Speaker 10: you know, the way a dog does.
Speaker 9: When it's kind of saying that.
Speaker 10: You know, and and you know, any graduation ceremony is serious,
Speaker 10: and there's been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears
Speaker 10: and money behind everyone who's graduating. And it should be
Speaker 10: a speech of substance, and a speech that applauds such
Speaker 10: achievement and encourages it to continue. And this kermit thing
Speaker 10: no substance. If they were supposed to be jokes, boy
Speaker 10: they were, they would get it at you know.
Speaker 2: They kind of fell flat. Guess what, You and I
Speaker 2: are right on the same page.
Speaker 7: Lean, Yeah, you're like collar of the night, I.
Speaker 10: Thought, so you started talking about and said, oh, well,
Speaker 10: it sounds like Dan and I are on the same
Speaker 10: page of this.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Are we normally on the same page? Lee In?
Speaker 10: Or no, yes, what you are? There a few times
Speaker 10: when I've differed slightly, but we're generally on the same page.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I just think. I just think that if I
Speaker 2: were a parent who had spent two hundred and one
Speaker 2: thousand dollars or whatever, you know, four year major university
Speaker 2: like the University of Maryland, it's not going to be
Speaker 2: in the stratosphere of Harvard one hundred thousand a year,
Speaker 2: but you know, fifty great in the year. That's that's
Speaker 2: very doable with room and board two hundred thousand, and
Speaker 2: you're going to get Kermit the Frog, you know.
Speaker 10: Yeah, with a parent or a student, I would have
Speaker 10: been insulted that it was so dumbed down, just so
Speaker 10: dumbed down.
Speaker 2: I've also done some high school graduation speeches Saint Bernard's
Speaker 2: Catholic High School, and then I did Mystic Valley Regional
Speaker 2: High School was just a charter school, and my producer
Speaker 2: Noah told me that he was there for that because
Speaker 2: his brother was in the graduating class. So yeah, I
Speaker 2: just think you have to give people a message of hey,
Speaker 2: you've really achieved something here you have a call something,
Speaker 2: and you know, now you move on to the next level.
Speaker 2: And whether it's your first job whatever, or maybe it's
Speaker 2: your your first real full time job, give him some
Speaker 2: advice or something. So well, okay, where are the same page? Leanne?
Speaker 2: I love it. I love you as a caller. You
Speaker 2: know that I'll always associate with you with Kermit the Frog.
Speaker 9: Now, just don't do that.
Speaker 2: With our shared I would I would say disappointment.
Speaker 10: With yeah, like I said when it hit me, like
Speaker 10: and I just went the old dogs, huh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it just didn't work for me. Hey, Leanne,
Speaker 2: thank you so much. I love you, Carl, I really do,
Speaker 2: thank you so much. Okay, let me go. Let me
Speaker 2: go next to Florence and Groveland. Florence, You're next on nice.
Speaker 8: I go ahead, okay, Dan. When I heard that this
Speaker 8: was coming up, I thought, how delightful, all right, okay,
Speaker 8: because I'm sure some of it the graduates grew up
Speaker 8: with this show with the Street. Yeah, and Kermit was
Speaker 8: one of the most loved characters, right, and I'm inclined
Speaker 8: to say what your first caller said, and Laurie said,
Speaker 8: with all it's going on in the world today, the
Speaker 8: concept was kind of delightful to hear that, all right,
Speaker 8: But in hearing some of the speeches, I gotta say
Speaker 8: they fell flat.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's my thought too. Let me play, let me
Speaker 2: let me play one more, and I want to get
Speaker 2: your reaction. We're going to play one more and I
Speaker 2: want to get your quick reaction to it. Let's go
Speaker 2: to cut number five here. Please know, I want to
Speaker 2: get Florence's reaction.
Speaker 3: You know, when I was just a little bit younger
Speaker 3: than all of you, why I used to have a
Speaker 3: fun in the swamp playing leap frog. It was our
Speaker 3: favorite game, kind of our only game, but we loved it.
Speaker 3: Except for my cousin Albert. He never actually left. He
Speaker 3: just stepped on your back and used your head like
Speaker 3: a lily pad. Sure he got ahead, but it was
Speaker 3: only by stepping on you. We've been told that that's
Speaker 3: how you succeed, and some choose to believe in it,
Speaker 3: but I know they're wrong. So as you prepare to
Speaker 3: take this big leap into real life, here's a little advice.
Speaker 3: If you're willing to listen to a frog, rather than
Speaker 3: jumping over someone to get what you want, consider reaching
Speaker 3: out your hand and taking the leap side by side,
Speaker 3: because life is better when we leap together.
Speaker 2: Okay, Floris, does that do it for you?
Speaker 8: You know you want? Can't relate to that whole speech,
Speaker 8: Yeah what he would say. I would have loved to
Speaker 8: hear comments from the actual students.
Speaker 2: Yeah, unfortunately I don't have those. I'd love to hear
Speaker 2: from the parents, Florence, because in many cases it's the
Speaker 2: parents who put up the money, right.
Speaker 8: But especially to the students. You know how it you
Speaker 8: know hit them? Was it good bad? Or you know?
Speaker 2: There wasn't much reaction as they say. I went back
Speaker 2: and happened to watch Conan O'Brien's and again it just
Speaker 2: happened to be I was on the internet, and it
Speaker 2: was a long speech, was twenty four minutes, but I
Speaker 2: listened to it, and he made a lot of really
Speaker 2: interesting points about success and failure, which all of us,
Speaker 2: I think need to be reminded off periodically. Florence, I
Speaker 2: got you in here, but I got a break. You
Speaker 2: find a word, Go ahead, find a word.
Speaker 8: I would say. Really, they sounded like they weren't completely
Speaker 8: directed or even directed to their future, you know, for
Speaker 8: the students.
Speaker 2: All right, I got your thanks, Lawrence. We'll talk soon, Okay,
Speaker 2: thanks very much. By night. We'll take a quick break here.
Speaker 2: I got a couple of lines we can finish strong.
Speaker 2: Six one seven, two, five, four to ten thirty, six
Speaker 2: one seven, nine, three one ten thirty. I got lines
Speaker 2: at both six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty
Speaker 2: and six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. I
Speaker 2: got tim. I got Alice coming up, and I do
Speaker 2: have some room for you. We're talking about Kermit the
Speaker 2: Frog's actual college commencement speech to the University of Maryland,
Speaker 2: the flagship university in that state. I think it fell flat.
Speaker 2: I understand that people that administrators are always reaching to
Speaker 2: do something different, but I'm not sure that it worked.
Speaker 2: And if there's anyone out there who would as as
Speaker 2: a recent college graduate or high school graduate, I'd love
Speaker 2: to get your reaction. How would have you felt? Or
Speaker 2: its a parent, how would have you felt if you
Speaker 2: sat there and said, Okay, this is my kid has
Speaker 2: just finished. This is an important day for my son
Speaker 2: or daughter they become a college graduate. And they're listening
Speaker 2: to Kermit the Frog, And I'm not hearing much that
Speaker 2: uh that really works here. I just I think it's
Speaker 2: I think it fell flat. The Morey listened six one seven,
Speaker 2: four ten thirty six one seven, nine, three thirty. It
Speaker 2: is a Monday night, Memorial Day weekend. If you're in
Speaker 2: a car, give us a call. If you're still at home,
Speaker 2: if you're home safely, give us a call. It is
Speaker 2: a night like tonight that is always tough to come
Speaker 2: up with topics and ideas for people to respond to.
Speaker 2: And I really appreciate everyone who's taken the time to
Speaker 2: call in tonight back on night Side right.
Speaker 1: After this Night Side with Dan ray Bost News Radio
Speaker 1: Night side with Dan Ray. I'm Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Let's say, if we could run the table. We got
Speaker 2: Alice in Beverly up next, Alice, how are you?
Speaker 9: I'm okay, Dan, I wish I feel bad that I
Speaker 9: that I I really thought it was a good idea,
Speaker 9: only because I think, I say to myself, is the
Speaker 9: is this graduation speech for the parents? I know they
Speaker 9: paid a lot of money, but you know it's if
Speaker 9: they're supposed to be giving them some words of wisdom,
Speaker 9: the parents might have a different idea of what they
Speaker 9: think the kids need. Sure at that point, some of them.
Speaker 9: I mean, then maybe maybe they're not that deep. I
Speaker 9: mean I think maybe you're smarter than the average frog.
Speaker 2: And so well that's high phraise.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 9: So I'm just saying, but see the other thing too,
Speaker 9: and I say it's it's uh. I mean, I graduated
Speaker 9: from Emmanuel College in nineteen seventy six, and I still
Speaker 9: remember my graduation. It was Ella Grasso, the governor of
Speaker 9: Coney and I can tell you that I don't remember
Speaker 9: what she said, but okay, I knew it was because
Speaker 9: sometimes it's like goes over your head. You're really if
Speaker 9: you are waiting for advice about your future till the
Speaker 9: day that you're getting a diploma. It's a little bit late.
Speaker 9: I mean, no, I get that, no one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I also think it's general advice. But look
Speaker 2: the fact that the Governor of Connecticut was there kind
Speaker 2: of made the day bigger than it might have been
Speaker 2: if it was just Kurbit the frog.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 9: But you know what made it bigger that I'll never
Speaker 9: forget because it was the Vice centennial.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 9: So they had they said they a group of uh,
Speaker 9: they were called outstanding Bostonians. One of them was Off
Speaker 9: the Fiedler and he was seemed to be late, and
Speaker 9: of course you know he came on a fire truck. Yes,
Speaker 9: And then there was and then there was what's his
Speaker 9: name McCormick. Why can't I think.
Speaker 2: It is John Speaker mccormicks.
Speaker 9: That's John McCormick. Then there was a guy from the
Speaker 9: from the Celtics that had ten people, and and that
Speaker 9: meant a lot to me.
Speaker 2: Who was from the Celtics if you.
Speaker 9: Recall it was I'm trying to think because I used
Speaker 9: to have tickets. See I'm getting old. It's like he
Speaker 9: would have he would have been playing.
Speaker 5: Then that would have been.
Speaker 2: Well, that was Dave Cowins Arab.
Speaker 9: That's that's who it was.
Speaker 2: It was okay, well that's good. Dave Cowens is an
Speaker 2: interesting guy. He's been on my show. Great guy, right.
Speaker 9: Oh yeah, I actually gave him some AF legitimates one
Speaker 9: time after a game. No, but I'm just saying so,
Speaker 9: so I also think it maybe Okay, I'm thinking to
Speaker 9: myself that that we talk about. I mean I actually
Speaker 9: have like taken care of or you know, work with
Speaker 9: kids from pre k all the way through college. I
Speaker 9: was the you know, help nurse at Emmanual College. I
Speaker 9: also worked in a boarding school in Middlesex and Conquerord.
Speaker 9: So so like I I dealt with and and you
Speaker 9: know with and used to talk to the kids all
Speaker 9: the time. I'd say to them, you know where are you?
Speaker 9: You know where your planning to go to college? Or
Speaker 9: what would you like to do? And and I remember
Speaker 9: I would talk back. I would say something to them,
Speaker 9: they go, I don't know, I don't care what what
Speaker 9: I what I become. I just want to do something
Speaker 9: that makes a lot of money.
Speaker 2: Okay, all Alice on that point, and I know that's
Speaker 2: a down. I got three other callers I'd like to
Speaker 2: try to give everybody just a few seconds here. But
Speaker 2: I think we're on the same page on this one,
Speaker 2: and I thank you.
Speaker 5: Okay, bye bye, bye bye.
Speaker 2: Talk to you soon. Okay, let me try to get
Speaker 2: I got to try to get three people in here quickly. Tim,
Speaker 2: help me out here, buddy. What's your take on this.
Speaker 4: I don't know much about Kermit the Fog, but he
Speaker 4: gave the conventional address of the University of Maryland.
Speaker 7: Yes, Holy Mackael.
Speaker 4: Anyhow, I'm sitting here with my night side having a
Speaker 4: cup of coffee. All right, hold it the funniest show.
Speaker 4: You remember around Easter time? You did this thing on
Speaker 4: the Easter Buddy. You're going to be at the Billington mall. Yes, anyhow,
Speaker 4: I was. I wanted to me get my picture taken right,
Speaker 4: and then I was working. I never got there, but oh,
Speaker 4: and you were going to be there. I wanted to
Speaker 4: go up there and see you in the Easter buddy.
Speaker 2: No, I wasn't there. It was just going to be
Speaker 2: the Easter buddy.
Speaker 4: Maybe next year, Tim bun So, I remember you bid
Speaker 4: the Easter buddy.
Speaker 2: All right, man, I'll talk to you soon. Okay, let
Speaker 2: me get a couple more in here real quick. Thanks
Speaker 2: to him. Talk to you soon, and Pal, thanks have
Speaker 2: a great one. Next up Paul in Pennsylvania. Paul, we
Speaker 2: got probably what a minute here? What do I got? No?
Speaker 2: Helped me out one minute, Paul.
Speaker 5: Thanks for thinking my call. I think it's you know,
Speaker 5: I can't believe I have seen the transcript of the speech.
Speaker 5: But like you said, these young men and women, their
Speaker 5: parents or whoever pay quick money for them to go
Speaker 5: to school, and I would have treated you know, they're
Speaker 5: trying to make simpletons on them out of them. I
Speaker 5: can't believe that. I, like I tell you this transcripted
Speaker 5: the speech, but they would have brought There's a lot
Speaker 5: of qualified people, men and women. They could have gave
Speaker 5: it a great speech.
Speaker 2: I'm with you totally. Hey, look, Paul, appreciate you called in.
Speaker 2: I know it. I had to short change you here
Speaker 2: on time calling a little earlier. You You've made a
Speaker 2: lot of sense, and I happened to we're about in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2: You calling from Olksparre, wilkes Bury. Okay, absolutely, I scrint
Speaker 2: wilkes Bury. Thanks Paul, talk to you soon. All right.
Speaker 2: To the callers in the line, I'm sorry, we're flat
Speaker 2: out of time. Give me a countdown please, if you
Speaker 2: would know real quick, what have I got forty seconds left? Okay,
Speaker 2: we're done for the night. To the callers in the line,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. I don't want to sure change you that much.
Speaker 2: You got to call earlier. We will be back tomorrow night.
Speaker 2: I want to thank everyone who called in tonight. I
Speaker 2: want to thank Noah did a great job. Karen did
Speaker 2: a great job setting it up. Thanks very much Karen
Speaker 2: for the sound bites from our friend Kermit. The frog
Speaker 2: didn't quite work for me. Hey, I'm just my thoughts.
Speaker 2: All dogs, all cats, all pets go to heaven. That's
Speaker 2: my pal Charlie Raids, who passed fifteen years ago in February.
Speaker 2: That's where your pets are past. They loved you when
Speaker 2: you love them. I do believe you'll see them again.
Speaker 2: Hope to see getymore. Night on Nightside. I will be
Speaker 2: on Facebook on Nightside with Dan Ray in about two
Speaker 2: minutes and I'll see you there. To have a great Tuesday, everyone,