April 18, 2024 • 39 mins
This NightSide News Update started with Jay Gonzalez, the new Curry College President who announces a new initiative focused on guaranteeing jobs to Curry students beginning with the current freshmen class!
And, Stephen Sayers, Author of 100 Things to Do in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Before You Die.
April is National Donate Life Month - Dr. Ben Oakes needs a kidney! Highlighting this local & his need for a kidney.
Plus, Nicole Yang, Boston Globe Sports Writer on the NFL Draft coming up next week.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on iHeart Radio!
And, Stephen Sayers, Author of 100 Things to Do in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Before You Die.
April is National Donate Life Month - Dr. Ben Oakes needs a kidney! Highlighting this local & his need for a kidney.
Plus, Nicole Yang, Boston Globe Sports Writer on the NFL Draft coming up next week.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on iHeart Radio!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It's nice eye, Dan Ray,I'm telling you easy Boston's news radio.
Hey, good evening everybody. Howabout that the Red Songs are in Lee
and Lee have a lead. That'sfabulous, fabulous. Let me tell you
it's been a rough start for theHometown nine. My name is Dan Ray.
I'm the host of Nightside Here,heard every Monday through Friday night right
(00:20):
here on WBZ ten thirty and AMDial from eight until midnight. Rob Brooks
is back in the control room,back in Broadcast Central. He takes care
of things all technical and otherwise andstarts taking your phone calls once we start
requesting phone calls after nine o'clock.We're going to talk tonight about the Biden
administration's efforts to cancel student loans.I'm going to talk with a very interesting
(00:46):
psychiatrist, doctor Claude Curran, whobasically says that drug addiction and alcohol basically
at the core virtually everyone who endsup in courts in America is just an
issue that that knows no end.During this hour, more specifically, we're
(01:06):
going to talk with a newly installedcollege president. We're going to basically introduce
you to one hundred things that youcan do in Plymouth before you die.
Also talk to a person in needof a kidney. This is April Kidney
month. That's the Well, there'sa lot of causes this month, but
certainly kidneys are one of them.It is April is National Donate Life Month,
(01:32):
twenty twenty three. And then wewill talk about apparently did Bob Kraft
submarine Bill Belichick's efforts to become thecoach of the Atlanta Falcons, but without
any further ado. Last time Italked to this gentleman, he was the
Democratic nominee for governor of Massachusetts.We were in studio a few years ago.
(01:52):
Welcome back. Now he didn't becomegovernor, but he's the president,
the newly installed president of Curry College. Jay Gonzalez, Jay, welcome back
to Nightside. How are you Dan? It's great to be back with you.
Thanks for having me. Yeah,you didn't get to become governor,
but you get to become the president. How's that? That's that's the deal.
It worked out pretty well for me. I'm not complaining. I love
(02:15):
I love my gig at Curry College. I totally get it. Yeah,
I know Cyrie College very well.There's a Duncan Donuts down in Walcott Square
in Reedville, and that was myThat's where I grew up. So I
highly recommend the Walcott Square area toyou. There's there's a lot of great
little stores in that neck of thewoods. I want to start off with
(02:38):
you have made a quite a promiseto freshmen. I believe it's your comment
freshman class at Curry College or isit the class that begins next September?
No, the current freshman class ineach class after that. Okay, so
you can kind of define this forus, but essentially Curry College, you
(03:01):
as the president of Curry College,is promising that they will get a job
upon graduation. Is that there mustbe some you know, some some specifics.
Actually the students must want to geta job and all of that.
But what what what is the schoolactually promising because this is something that I
(03:23):
think is unprecedented. Yeah, we'rethe first college in Massachusetts to do anything
like this and only one of ahandful across the country. And basically we're
saying we're making the Curry Commitment iswhat we're calling it. As long as
one of our undergraduate students meets certainminimum criteria minimum GPA, graduates in four
(03:49):
years and takes advantage of some careerreadiness supports that we're going to put in
place at Curry College. Then weare guaranteeing they will get a job within
six months of graduating, and ifthey don't, we will hold ourselves accountable
by either paying their student loan forup to a year or giving them a
(04:11):
paid internship for up to a year, giving them six credits at one of
our grad programs at Curry College.And we're leading the way by holding ourselves
accountable for delivering what students and familiesmost want right now out of a college
education. And that's a good job. You probably know, Dan, because
I know you've been following the newsand it's been in the news a lot
(04:33):
that families right now are really questioningthe value proposition of traditional four year college
education. It's a lot of money, no question about that, Jay,
Absolutely yeah. And it's and it'saffected the number of students who are going
to college, and there's been abig drop in enrollment. There are a
(04:53):
lot less high school students generally thanthere used to be, and that demographic
cliff is getting worse, and soa lot of college unless you're the Harvard's
or these very selective schools. Lotsof colleges like Curry College are seeing declines
and enrollment, and you know,in order to stay viable going forward and
(05:13):
to continue to deliver on our mission, we've got to meet the demands that
are out there and what students andfamilies are looking for. And so we're
really excited about this. We're confidentwe're going to be able to deliver on
it, and we're differentiating ourselves fromother colleges and universities in the state.
Across the country, there have beenrecent schools. Colleges for example, I
(05:38):
believe Godded College announced this year thatup in Vermont, that was a small
innovative college founded back well almost onehundred years ago. I didn't make one
hundred years, but it's going outof business. As I understand that this
academic year, and that's not theonly one that has to be concern of
(06:00):
concern. I think that this isvery innovative. How how many students do
you graduate every year at Curry?What's the grad senior class generally, Well,
we're graduating this year. I wasjust looking at the numbers. Next
month, about four hundred and eightystudents. Some of those are most of
those are traditional undergrads, but wedo have some grad students and some adult
(06:26):
learners who've gone back to school andare finishing their degree. But each starting
class is about six hundred. Rightnow, we have about two thousand students
total at Curry College, but fiveyears ago it used to be twenty five
hundred. And that's the dynamic thata lot of colleges like Curry are facing
with the declining enrollment and a lotmore students and families questioning whether it's worth
(06:49):
it for them to go to college. The poll what is the tuition?
What's the tuition? Room and board? Give you a chance to plug the
school a little bit here? Wheredo you got I stand on it?
You're not one of these hundred thousanddollars colleges or ninety thousand dollars colleges that
we learned about a couple of weeksago. What's what's what's the cost of
(07:10):
a year at Curry? Tuition isabout forty five thousand, and with room
and board it's about sixty four thousand, and so we're kind of middle of
the road. We're more expensive thana public university, and certainly more expensive
than a community college, but lessexpensive than a lot of the selective schools.
(07:30):
That's our sticker price. We endup providing a lot of aid to
our students and so the net costis ends up being a lot less than
that, but it's still a lotof money. And what we have percentage,
Jam, I'm just one. I'mtrying to make people better understand carry.
I've known Curry all my life.I worked there one summer before you
were born, cleaning kids, Yes, sir, nineteen sixty eight, my
(07:55):
gosh, three years before you atall. I was up there on a
summer crew cleaning toilets, and Iknow a lot about Currie College anyway.
Yeah, that was considered a goodjob back in the day. You know
when You probably also know Dan thatour communication program is one of our strongest
programs and we send lots of studentsto places like WBZ and other media outlets
(08:20):
across the time. Very much awarethat Jordan Rich is an alumnus. My
producer Marita McKinnon l Rosa is aCurry College graduate. So the class that
will graduate I don't know this Juneor May whatever it is, or the
class that graduated last year, whatpercentage of them within say six months,
(08:41):
actually have are in the workforce.Do you do you do you keep those
statistics or are you aware of them? Well, there's no great data on
that. There's self reported data,and the self reported data is pretty strong
in terms of the percentage of studentsthat are in jobs, but we don't
know what kind of jobs. Oneof the things we're committing to in this
commitment is that they will get ajob for which a college degree is required
(09:05):
within six months. So it's notjust any job. It's got to be
a good job. And you know, one of the things we're going to
do in building the infrastructure to helpdeliver on this commitment is make sure we've
got the systems in place to beable to track where our students are going.
No hire ed institution does it particularlywell, but that's something we're going
(09:26):
to hold ourselves accountable to and studentswill be able to expect it and ensure
we're delivering on that. Well,that's great, you're off to a strong
stock. We'd love to keep intouch with you. Curry is an institution
that I'm very familiar with over theyears of who's your commencement speaker? This
year, our commencement speaker is AdrianHaslett, one of the twenty thirteen Boston
(09:48):
Marathon survivors. She's got an amazingstory. This is the woman who was
a former professional ballroom dancer, yes, and just overcome incredible adversity. And
I think, you know, she'sgoing to be uh, very motivational,
uh for for our graduating students andis going to do an amazing job.
(10:09):
I think that's a great choice fora commencement speaker. One of the things
that I have always concerns about,and you probably know me well enough to
know what that concern is that somany of the schools they recycle the same
speakers every year, uh, andor they they're always from one point of
view. Jay, And I knowthat you and I are on the opposite
side of the fence politically, butuh, you know, bring some conservative
(10:31):
speakers on cancer campus and get somegood debates going on that that campus.
I don't get an opportunity to talkto many college presidents, but you know,
sometimes it gets a little too tilted. And I think a lot of
people look at schools and they say, why do I want to why do
I want to send my kid tobe indoctrinated. I'd rather have him him
or her learn a trade, andwell, they'll never be without a job.
(10:54):
Well, colleges are about broadening people'sperspectives and you gotta you gotta hear
lots of different voices to do that. And so we need to be open
to everyone, and we are andwe'd welcome you anytime. Dan, and
I know, even though we don'tagree on everything, you've always been really
fair to me in the different contextsin which you've had me on your show,
(11:18):
and I really appreciate it. Wellappreciated. Congratulations again, you went
past being governor. Now it's PresidentJacin Zalez, President of the fifteenth President
of Kyrie College. We'll have youback, Jay, thank you very much.
This is an innovative program. Let'shope a lot of people take advantage
of it. Thanks again, Thanks, Dan, appreciate it. Very welcome.
We get back. We're going totalk about a bunch of things you
(11:39):
can do down on the south Shore, specifically one hundred things to do in
Plymouth before you die. We'll betalking with author Steven Sayers right after this
break here on nightside on a Wednesdaynight, and you're on night Side with
Dan Ray. I'm Boston's News Radio, delighted to welcome author Steven Sayers his
(12:01):
book one hundred Things to Do inPlymouth, Massachusetts Before You Die. I
love the title, I love thecover of the book. This is a
this is a very eye catching book. Welcome Stephen Sayers the Night Side.
Thanks thanks for having me, Dan. So is this your first book or
have you done other books like thiswhich encourage people to go visit this location
(12:26):
of that location. Is this inthe first of a series or is this
a standalone? So this, thisbook is actually part of a nationwide kind
of best selling one hundred Things series. And there's a book like the book's
like one hundred Things San Francisco,hundred Things to Do Before you Die in
New Orleans. And this publisher askedme to write a book about Plymouth,
(12:50):
knowing that I've lived here for overtwenty years, and I do some other
writing. I actually I actually writesupernatural thrillers and horror novels that are set
on a cod in the islands inPlymouth. So none of that in this
book, though, I'm sure,right, this is all positive, Yeah,
this is all positive, right,There's nothing scary in this but Yeah,
(13:11):
this is a great opportunity to tokind of pay homage to the town
that i've you know, loved foryou know, the last twenty years or
even more. Well, I lovePlymouth too. We've been involved in a
campaign with a group called See Plymouth, which we're very presagive websites associated with.
(13:31):
Yeah, but just to be clearso people know we're being honest with
him, this book is it isobviously pushing people and suggesting to people Plymouth
and the South Shore just play somany things to see and visit, and
so many of us live here inthis historical portion of the world, and
we go decades without visiting the BonkerHill Monument or seeing the USS Constitution,
(13:56):
or going to Plymouth and seeing PlymouthRock or put I said, oh,
whatever, so this is you're separateand apart from See Plymouth. That just
happens to be somewhat coincidental, asI understand that. Yes, okay,
yes, so you know this book. You know, when I wrote it,
I thought I'd be writing it morefor people coming to town and visitors,
(14:18):
but then I realized it was morefor people like myself who've been here
for twenty years and kind of forgotabout the really cool places that there are
here, the places you haven't visitedfor years, and so this was for
me. It was really great toand so I think this book is really
for not just the tourists coming totown, but the people who've lived here
(14:39):
for a long time that need toget in touch with all the cool things
that are to do here. It'salso for people who live here because when
your friends or your relatives come toNew England, what what a better way
to show off than to start inPlymouth where it all started in sixteen twenty
(15:00):
sixteen twenty. Apologies to James Tomfor Jerry, but we know, yeah
Plymouth. Now the book actually comesout on me first. So this book
isn't even out yet, right,No it isn't. It's not out yet,
but hopefully it'll be coming to youknow, a Plymouth gift shop near
you. We love dogs. Don'tlet that bother you. Okay, yeah,
(15:26):
yeah, not a problem, nota problem. Could he could be
someone breaking in the house. Thatguy sounds like he's ferocious. So he's
a great, great watchdog. That'sgood. You need that, Okay.
So this is going to be availableobviously in Amazon. You can go to
Amazon right now, I believe andpre order it so you can get it.
(15:48):
Yeah, you can pre order now. A hundred things to do in
Plymouth, Massachusetts before you die.Give me two or three things that nobody
would know about in Plymouth but arereally cool. Well, I think there's
there's a couple of secrets in Plymouththat people might get mad at me because
they want to keep these things secret. But but there is a book in
the book, right, They're inthe book, So yeah, they're gonna
(16:11):
get mad at me. So justgive us one. We'll just give us
one because I want people to buythe book. Go ahead, give us
give us a secret place in thePlymouth go ahead. So Brown's Bank is
definitely one of Plymouth's best kept secrets. It's a it's a sandbar that's located
about one hundred yards off of PlymouthLong Beach and you can only get there
by boat. In the summer,Brown's Bank is filled with people throwing frisbee,
(16:33):
sunbathing, and playing music. There'sa something called Captain Mike's Teaky Boat
that provides nourishment and adult beverages.It's this really fun atmosphere that's kind of
a little secret but it's it's agreat place to go and one of the
funnest places in Plymouth you'll ever see. So is the tiki boat? You
said it's a tiki boat? Isthe tiki bok out on? It's like
(16:57):
you ride out there. Now,it's like a it's like a food truck
as a boat and it comes out. Yeah, it's it just delivers a
lot of food out there. Soit's like a boat that comes in parks
there and people can eat and spendthe day there. Uh, and then
the tide comes in and kind ofcovers up the sandbar and then the next
So you got to know when toget there. You gotta know where you
(17:21):
can get stranded there. Yeah,there's a lot of uh, there's a
lot of things you got to know. Well, that's why they got to
buy the book, right, theygotta. You know, you just kind
of go out there and and andfall asleep sunbathing and realize that you're ten
feet under the water a few hourslater. I get that, all right,
Steven Sayers, you're a good sport. This looks like a fun book.
One hundred things to Do in Plymouth, Massachusetts before you die. And
(17:44):
there's a bucket of course. Yeah, the metaphor of one hundred things exactly.
The bucket on the cover is themetaphorical before you kick the bucket.
I get that. I got that. It's not not even subtle, but
it's a it's a great looking cover. Uh. I'll say one thing.
If people want to get the bookbefore it comes out on me first,
they can go to my website,which is Stephen Stephenpaulsayers dot com. You
(18:10):
just scroll down the homepage. Youcan buy it right there. I'll send
it out to you the next day. You'll get it before any of the
stores. And that's Steven with thepH paul all one word Sayers spelt like
Gael Sayers, right exactly. Yep. Okay, you know the running back,
the great running back. I remember, yeah, no, I remember.
I'm old enough to remember a littlebit. You know. Hey,
I never saw Jim Thorpe play,but I know I know Jim Thorpe.
(18:33):
I mean, people say to me, I'm old enough. Hey, I
know. Washington was the first president. I wasn't around then. I covered
the weekend though I did his secondterm. Wasn't wasn't it was too all
too brief. Steven, thank youso much. I appreciate the time tonight
and best the luck of the book, we may have you back. Okay,
thank you much. You're a goodone. I appreciate it. Thank
you. I'm going to get alittle bit more serious and on the other
(18:56):
side of the eight thirty new isgoing to talk with a gentleman named Ben
Oakes, who is in need ofa kidney. He's a young man,
had a kidney transplant at the ageof nine. He needs another one.
This is important for a lot ofpeople. I have a good friend of
mine who's in need of a kidney. I think we talked. You might
remember we talked about Jeff Plimpton,the former Red Sox pitcher, who did
(19:18):
get a kidney in March. ButApril is National Donate Life Month, and
we would be talking with Ben Oakesright after the break. Later on,
we're going to talk with Nicole Yang, Boston Globe sportswriter. Pretty tough story
today in ESPN said that Patriots ownerBob Kraft may have cost Bill Belichick a
(19:38):
shot at coaching in Atlanta. Whydo you hear this story? You'll hear
it here first on Nightside. Comingback right after this, you're on Nightside
with Dan Ray on w BZ,Boston's news radio. Thanks very much to
Cole. April is a month inwhich a lot of us focus on organ
(20:03):
implants. And we have a youngman with us now whose name is Ben
Oakes. He just received his doctoratefrom Ohio State University in molecular biology,
so he is technically doctor Ben Oaks. He's not a medical doctor, but
he knows a lot about medicine.He's from Reading, Massachusetts, Doctor Oakes.
(20:29):
If I can call you Ben,that would be great. First of
all, welcome to Nightside. Howare you, sir? Good? Thank
you for having me Dan. You'revery welcome. You're very welcome. You
were what we call one in amillion, is I understand that? And
unfortunately you weren't one in a milliona winner of the lottery, but you're
one in a million who as alittle boy, doctors discovered that you had
(20:55):
a very rare kidney disease that onlyeffects about one in a million people,
and that necessitated a kidney transplant foryou at the age of I believe it
was nine years old. Tell usabout that procedure. That had to be
pretty scary for a young boy togo through. Yeah, I was quite
young when it happened. I wasdiagnosed with nephromathesis, which, as you
(21:17):
said, is a rare genetic kidneydisorder, around when I was in kindergarten
they're around five years old. Andthen my kidneys fell. Fortunately, my
dad was able to give me akidney, and I got a kidney transplant
when I was nine. Yeah,I remember being quite scared as a kid.
I was very young then, soa lot of the details I don't
remember, but I was just reallylucky to have a supportive family around me
(21:41):
to help me get through the processwhen I was young. So, your
dad donated a kidney, which meansyour dad lived a life with one kidney.
Is your dad still with us atthis point we're talking, this is
twenty years ago. Yep, mydad said with us. He turned sixty
four recently. He's living a greatand healthy life. Good, excellent.
(22:03):
I think that's very important. Yes, yeah, I think that's one thing
people a lot of people may notrealize, is that most of us are
born with two kidneys, but youcan live a totally normal and healthy life
with one kidney. Well. Irecently, last fall had a friend of
mine who used to pitch for theRed Sox Jeff Plimpton. Jeff was a
(22:23):
big, right handed pitcher, toughas nails, uh, and he had
a family history which indicated that hashe got a little older after his playing
career. Played pitched for the RedSox in the nineteen nineties before before you
were born. Actually, and Jeffgot a kidney in early March, and
(22:44):
he's doing really well. So youI don't have a website, and what's
what's your situation today? Are youon dialysis or are you obviously you're in
need of a kidney, there's noquestion about that, but just tell us
what's your status at this point.Yeah, so right now, I'm living
(23:07):
in Columbus, Ohio. I justdefended my dissertation back in December. I'm
going to be receiving my PhD diplomaup just in a few weeks in early
May, so I'll then officially bedoctor Ben Oakes. Looking forward to that.
But yeah, in terms of mykidney, my kidney failed a little
(23:29):
over a year ago, about fourteenmonths, and then they decided that it
was time for me to start dialysisbecause I needed it. Yeah, so
I've been on dialysis since then.So I've been on dialysis for about fourteen
months, and I mean I'm ableto live a life, but not the
(23:51):
same life I used to live.There are definitely things that complications with dialysis
that I have to deal with everyday. How if since you were dependent
upon dialysis now having had one kidneyand a kidney that's failing, how long
every day do you have to spenddealing with dialysis? Yeah, it takes
(24:15):
a ball out of my time.Yeah, it takes about an hour or
so to set up the whole machine. I attached to a machine every night,
and then I'm on the machine whileI sleep, but I'm on it
for about ten hours and then Iwake up and get off it. So
in total, I'm on at almosteleven hours every night, half half of
your day, half of your youryour twenty four hour day. Obviously,
(24:36):
Yeah, wonderful. They can doit, you know, while you're while
you're while you're while you're sleeping.So how how tough a match? Obviously
your dad provided you with a match. What what can people do if they
would like to, you know,perhaps see if they could be a match
(24:56):
for you. Do you have aI believe you have a website, called
kidney donor. The numeral for Bendot com. Correct, Yeah, that's
correct. It's a kiddie donor forBen. The number four, not the
word for Yeah. I have awebsite, yep dot com. Yep,
I have a website. If you'reinterested in learning more about me or the
(25:17):
donation process, or or actually interestedin donating to me, there are links
on that website. Basically, thereare links to a questionnaire, a hospital
questionnaire you can fill up. Thehospital will ask you a bunch of questions
and to see but if you're apotential candidate to be a donor. If
you are, they'll probably reach outto you and you potentially get some blood
(25:41):
tests run to see if you're amatch with me, and then it goes
on from there. It's it's adifficult gift to to donate, and it's
a difficult gift I'm sure to seek. Yeah, everyone understands what your dad
(26:03):
did, but I guess most gooddads, and your dad was a great
dad for a nine year old son. What should people look forward to other
than being just a wonderful person who'swilling to donate one of their two kidneys
to you. There's also a benefitas I understand you if you donate a
(26:23):
kidney to someone who's in need ofa kidney, and by the way,
at the age of twenty eight yearsold, you have a long life to
live, and that's that kidney ismore important to you than a lot of
folks who might be a little bitfurther along in life. But my understanding
is that then if that person hada family member who was in need of
(26:45):
a kidney, they get they getas I understand that, isn't there some
sort of a little bit of abreak there for people who donate a kidney.
Explain that to us. Yeah,So there's a couple things. I
believe if you have a family memberwho donated a kidney, and then for
some reason down the line in yourlife you need a kidney, I believe
(27:07):
that does bump you up the listfor a cadaver or kidney, so an
organ from a deceased person. There'salso something called paired donation. Paired donation
is where if you have a memberwho needs a kidney and you can't find
anyone who matches you, but there'sanother family, another stranger who is a
(27:29):
match to you, you compare withthat other person. So I guess What's
it's important that I say is althoughjust even if you're an older and you
may not think wuld be you're thebest candidate, or you may not think
you're a match with me, it'sstill a very I would still really appreciate
it if people filled out the questionnairebecause it's possible that there could be a
(27:52):
paired donation that happens, that Icould get a kidney from a total random
stranger. Still, that's great.Well, you know, the strength the
WZ signal at this art of thenight is pretty significant. We have called
us all over the country, sopeople all over the country are listening to
you. I think it's important toemphasize your age. You're twenty eight years
old. You've been through this oncebefore as a as a little boy at
(28:15):
nine, and you're going to getyour doctorate formerly from Ohio State University,
so you're formerly a buck eye.What'd you do your undergraduate work? Yeah,
I went to Loyal University, Chicagofor undergrad or I got my bachelor's
degree in biology. Yeah, wellas somebody with a degree in molecular biology,
(28:37):
what is your goal to be aresearch scientist or to teach? Yeah,
my goal is to go into thebiotechnology industry, hopefully still do some
research. I hope use the knowledgeand skills I gained during my you know,
my PhD work TEL Further Understanding Agreementof rited Diseases. Yeah, sounds
(28:57):
great, sounds great. Look Ben, I'm sure it's going to work out
for you. We' love to haveyou back once you're well on the road
to recovery. But again, yourwebsite is kidney donor for the number four
Ben all one word dot com,So if anyone's out there, feel free
to check out Ben's story at kidneydonor. The numeral for Ben dot com
(29:22):
all lowercase, but I'm not sureif it's case sensitive. Ben. Thank
you very much. Great to meetsomeone from reading Pennsylvania, reading Massachusetts all
the way out in Ohio. Andcongratulations and all your success. And let's
keep our fingers and we'll keep youand our thoughts and prayers as well in
the weeks ahead. Thank you somuch. Thank you very much. Dan,
(29:44):
have a good night. Welcome,very welcome. We get back.
We're going to talk about Bill Belichiackand maybe Bob kraft head the final word.
That's what ESPN is saying. We'llbe back. We're gonna be talking
with Nicole Fang on the Boston Globe. She's a sportswriter at the Globe,
coming back on Nightside, Night Side, Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
(30:07):
Well, it's that great time ofyear to be a sports fan in New
England. Got the the Red Soxplaying leading the Guardians tonight after seven and
a half innings. Tannahuk is throwinga shout out, don't want to jinx
him but to nothing Red Sox.And of course the playoffs about to start
for the Celtics and the Bruins,so we got a lot of that activity
(30:30):
and even at this time of yearfootball is up. Joining us is Nicole
Yang. She is a sports writerat the Boston Globe and Nicole, welcome
to Nightside. Big story in ESPNtoday that would suggest that it was pretty
shakespearean out at Gillette Stadium as BillBelichick was moving on. It maybe wasn't
(30:55):
quite as as friendly as we wereled to believe. Tell us about this.
Yeah, So ESPN published this reporttoday that sort of details Bill's off
season and his failed attempt to landthe Falcons. Land the Falcons job specifically,
but sort of land any job acrossthe NFL. And how does the
(31:19):
one of arguably a lot of peopleview him as the greatest coach of all
time? How does he end upwithout a job when there are seven openings
across the league? And according toESPN, Robert Kraft may have played a
role in Bill not getting the Falconsjob. Specifically, Yeah, it's kind
(31:40):
of like one of those at twoprote moments. So little Shakespearean here specifically.
I read the piece quickly, andI'm sure you've read it more detail.
But Belichick meets with Arthur Blank,the owner of the Falcons, and
we must remember that the Patriots cameback from twenty eight to three against that
(32:04):
team in a Super Bowl a fewyears ago, and they met on a
yacht off the coast at Antiqua.Yeah, it sounded like a James Bond
Spy versus Spy thriller. And everythinglooked, according to at least my right
reading of the ESPN story was everythinglooked like it was going in the right
(32:29):
direction. But something happened. Whatis ESPN suggesting? So ESPN is suggesting
what happened is Robert Kraft spoke withArthur Blank and gave a pretty unfavorable review
of Bill, saying that he's notsomebody who you can trust and you'll never
(32:51):
have a warm conversation with him,and just pretty much advising Arthur Blank,
who ESPN calls one of Roberts Craft'sclosest friends, advising him against hiring Belichick.
Now, the Patriots have denied thatthat has happened, So it's sort
of who you choose to believe inthis situation. Patriots acknowledged that Arthur Blank
(33:15):
and Robert Craft spoke, but theysay that Robert advocated for Bill to get
the job. Not. I assumethat Stacey James did not provide a transcript
or a tape recorded copy of thatconversation, right, so you have to,
I guess, decide which side youbelieve. But ESPN is alleging that
(33:40):
that conversation played a pretty significant rolein their decision. Yeah, well,
obviously, Bob Craft. We don'tknow what Craft statters didn't say, but
what we do know is that Belichickdid not get the Atlanta Falcons job and
everything. And I'm not a sportsreporter, but I followed this pretty closely.
(34:02):
It appeared to me that that hemight have liked to have gone to
Atlanta and uh and helped That's that'sa division that's not the strongest in the
league, and maybe he could havemade quite a difference as a coach down
there. And you got to knowthat Arthur Blank is just hoping to avenge
the Super Bowl loss to the tothe Patriots, I mean, And it
(34:23):
would seem to me that if therewas a conversation, which now the Patriots
say occurred that I mean, itwould see me that if Bill Belichick said
something nice about rather if Bob Kraftsaid anything nice about Bill, it would
have been a done deal. AndBelichick's not talking as as we, of
(34:44):
course have come to expect, sowe're not going to get anything out of
him. And this will this wouldjust be one of those legendary sports references
that Dan shawness who would be droppingevery once in a while in his column
in the Globe, who's your pick? Who they going to pick? Who's
who's going to be the Patriots numberthree pick this year? I know you've
(35:04):
taken a look at all the draftchoices. We know that Caleb Williams is
going to go number one. Sowho you betting on the kids from North
Carolina? Yeah, that would bemy best guess as of right now,
and I think he would be areally strong fit for them just given his
size, given his arm strength.I think Josh Allen is a really good
comp for Drake May. So Icould see that being who falls to them
(35:30):
at three, just given how muchbuzz there is. I think even the
betting odds favor Jaden Daniels at two. So if I had the guest today,
I would say Drake May for sure. So they need more than just
a quarterback. You know, fromfrom where I'm sitting, I don't see
(35:52):
them necessarily with just the selection ofone quarterback. I mean they got problems
in there offensive line, and Imean as disappointing as Mac Jones was and
as inconsistent as the backups that Jones'sbackups were. The problem I think is
(36:13):
in the offensive line. Or amI reading that wrong? From your perspective,
if you cover this more than Ido, I'm simply a fan looking
at the television set and yelling atthe television set on a Sunday afternoons.
No, I would agree that theredefinitely are still some glaring holes on offense,
especially at tackle. They resigned Michaeland Wenu, which is a really
important piece of the offensive line whowill probably start at right tackle, but
(36:37):
they don't have a starting left tackleright now. They have a couple of
guys who will compete, but theydidn't make a big splash and free agency
in that regard, so I wouldexpect them to also address that through the
draft. And then they need anumber one wide receiver. They re signed
Kendrick Bourne, they signed kJ Osborne. Those are good additions. They parted
(37:00):
ways with DeVante Parker, so theyneed some move to try and solidify that
room, but they still lack thatlike traditional elite number one ride receiver that's
like a coverage dictating weapon. ElliottWolf said that they really need to weaponize
the offense, and I don't thinkthe team has done that yet. Yeah,
I don't think harrison Son is goingto Marvin harrison Son is going to
(37:22):
stick around to the second round.Oh, absolutely not. I don't know.
I still am hoping that Leon Grayand John Hannah can make a comeback.
They were probably the best offensive linemanthat I've ever seen play for the
for the Patriots. That's that isat least that's but I think they're a
little old at this point. Nicole, thank you so much for joining us
(37:45):
on real quickly. What's your prediction? How many wins did the Patriots get?
Next? Stuff fall? What doyou? What number you want over
under? What you're over under?Oh man, I got to put you
on the spot on one question.I would set the over under at five
and a half and I'll take theunder tough. I was going to say
(38:10):
seven. That was okay, Wellyou were realistic. Good for you.
Good for you. That takes somecoverage. That's a good one. They
do have the second hardest schedule inthe league next year, which is kind
of crazy, given that they finishedthe twenty twenty three season with a four
and thirteen record. Well that's becausethey got to play They got to play
(38:34):
Buffalo in Miami two game for thosefour games right there. I think even
though they have a last place schedule, that means they're playing the Cincinnati Bengals,
who will have Jo Burrow back,so they didn't really look out from
a scheduling regard. So I wouldset at five point five and I would
predict five games. All right,all right, brave, brave, brave
(38:55):
prediction. Nicole, Thanks very much. Enjoyed the conversation. We'll talk again,
I hope. Thank you very muchfor joining us. Sounds good.
Have a good night, good night. Yes. Nicole writes for the Boston
Globe. And it's great when youcan have Nicole Yang on here and get
a little sense of who she is. We've got a great personality and she
knows her football. Coming back onthe nightside right after this
It's nice eye, Dan Ray,I'm telling you easy Boston's news radio.
Hey, good evening everybody. Howabout that the Red Songs are in Lee
and Lee have a lead. That'sfabulous, fabulous. Let me tell you
it's been a rough start for theHometown nine. My name is Dan Ray.
I'm the host of Nightside Here,heard every Monday through Friday night right
(00:20):
here on WBZ ten thirty and AMDial from eight until midnight. Rob Brooks
is back in the control room,back in Broadcast Central. He takes care
of things all technical and otherwise andstarts taking your phone calls once we start
requesting phone calls after nine o'clock.We're going to talk tonight about the Biden
administration's efforts to cancel student loans.I'm going to talk with a very interesting
(00:46):
psychiatrist, doctor Claude Curran, whobasically says that drug addiction and alcohol basically
at the core virtually everyone who endsup in courts in America is just an
issue that that knows no end.During this hour, more specifically, we're
(01:06):
going to talk with a newly installedcollege president. We're going to basically introduce
you to one hundred things that youcan do in Plymouth before you die.
Also talk to a person in needof a kidney. This is April Kidney
month. That's the Well, there'sa lot of causes this month, but
certainly kidneys are one of them.It is April is National Donate Life Month,
(01:32):
twenty twenty three. And then wewill talk about apparently did Bob Kraft
submarine Bill Belichick's efforts to become thecoach of the Atlanta Falcons, but without
any further ado. Last time Italked to this gentleman, he was the
Democratic nominee for governor of Massachusetts.We were in studio a few years ago.
(01:52):
Welcome back. Now he didn't becomegovernor, but he's the president,
the newly installed president of Curry College. Jay Gonzalez, Jay, welcome back
to Nightside. How are you Dan? It's great to be back with you.
Thanks for having me. Yeah,you didn't get to become governor,
but you get to become the president. How's that? That's that's the deal.
It worked out pretty well for me. I'm not complaining. I love
(02:15):
I love my gig at Curry College. I totally get it. Yeah,
I know Cyrie College very well.There's a Duncan Donuts down in Walcott Square
in Reedville, and that was myThat's where I grew up. So I
highly recommend the Walcott Square area toyou. There's there's a lot of great
little stores in that neck of thewoods. I want to start off with
(02:38):
you have made a quite a promiseto freshmen. I believe it's your comment
freshman class at Curry College or isit the class that begins next September?
No, the current freshman class ineach class after that. Okay, so
you can kind of define this forus, but essentially Curry College, you
(03:01):
as the president of Curry College,is promising that they will get a job
upon graduation. Is that there mustbe some you know, some some specifics.
Actually the students must want to geta job and all of that.
But what what what is the schoolactually promising because this is something that I
(03:23):
think is unprecedented. Yeah, we'rethe first college in Massachusetts to do anything
like this and only one of ahandful across the country. And basically we're
saying we're making the Curry Commitment iswhat we're calling it. As long as
one of our undergraduate students meets certainminimum criteria minimum GPA, graduates in four
(03:49):
years and takes advantage of some careerreadiness supports that we're going to put in
place at Curry College. Then weare guaranteeing they will get a job within
six months of graduating, and ifthey don't, we will hold ourselves accountable
by either paying their student loan forup to a year or giving them a
(04:11):
paid internship for up to a year, giving them six credits at one of
our grad programs at Curry College.And we're leading the way by holding ourselves
accountable for delivering what students and familiesmost want right now out of a college
education. And that's a good job. You probably know, Dan, because
I know you've been following the newsand it's been in the news a lot
(04:33):
that families right now are really questioningthe value proposition of traditional four year college
education. It's a lot of money, no question about that, Jay,
Absolutely yeah. And it's and it'saffected the number of students who are going
to college, and there's been abig drop in enrollment. There are a
(04:53):
lot less high school students generally thanthere used to be, and that demographic
cliff is getting worse, and soa lot of college unless you're the Harvard's
or these very selective schools. Lotsof colleges like Curry College are seeing declines
and enrollment, and you know,in order to stay viable going forward and
(05:13):
to continue to deliver on our mission, we've got to meet the demands that
are out there and what students andfamilies are looking for. And so we're
really excited about this. We're confidentwe're going to be able to deliver on
it, and we're differentiating ourselves fromother colleges and universities in the state.
Across the country, there have beenrecent schools. Colleges for example, I
(05:38):
believe Godded College announced this year thatup in Vermont, that was a small
innovative college founded back well almost onehundred years ago. I didn't make one
hundred years, but it's going outof business. As I understand that this
academic year, and that's not theonly one that has to be concern of
(06:00):
concern. I think that this isvery innovative. How how many students do
you graduate every year at Curry?What's the grad senior class generally, Well,
we're graduating this year. I wasjust looking at the numbers. Next
month, about four hundred and eightystudents. Some of those are most of
those are traditional undergrads, but wedo have some grad students and some adult
(06:26):
learners who've gone back to school andare finishing their degree. But each starting
class is about six hundred. Rightnow, we have about two thousand students
total at Curry College, but fiveyears ago it used to be twenty five
hundred. And that's the dynamic thata lot of colleges like Curry are facing
with the declining enrollment and a lotmore students and families questioning whether it's worth
(06:49):
it for them to go to college. The poll what is the tuition?
What's the tuition? Room and board? Give you a chance to plug the
school a little bit here? Wheredo you got I stand on it?
You're not one of these hundred thousanddollars colleges or ninety thousand dollars colleges that
we learned about a couple of weeksago. What's what's what's the cost of
(07:10):
a year at Curry? Tuition isabout forty five thousand, and with room
and board it's about sixty four thousand, and so we're kind of middle of
the road. We're more expensive thana public university, and certainly more expensive
than a community college, but lessexpensive than a lot of the selective schools.
(07:30):
That's our sticker price. We endup providing a lot of aid to
our students and so the net costis ends up being a lot less than
that, but it's still a lotof money. And what we have percentage,
Jam, I'm just one. I'mtrying to make people better understand carry.
I've known Curry all my life.I worked there one summer before you
were born, cleaning kids, Yes, sir, nineteen sixty eight, my
(07:55):
gosh, three years before you atall. I was up there on a
summer crew cleaning toilets, and Iknow a lot about Currie College anyway.
Yeah, that was considered a goodjob back in the day. You know
when You probably also know Dan thatour communication program is one of our strongest
programs and we send lots of studentsto places like WBZ and other media outlets
(08:20):
across the time. Very much awarethat Jordan Rich is an alumnus. My
producer Marita McKinnon l Rosa is aCurry College graduate. So the class that
will graduate I don't know this Juneor May whatever it is, or the
class that graduated last year, whatpercentage of them within say six months,
(08:41):
actually have are in the workforce.Do you do you do you keep those
statistics or are you aware of them? Well, there's no great data on
that. There's self reported data,and the self reported data is pretty strong
in terms of the percentage of studentsthat are in jobs, but we don't
know what kind of jobs. Oneof the things we're committing to in this
commitment is that they will get ajob for which a college degree is required
(09:05):
within six months. So it's notjust any job. It's got to be
a good job. And you know, one of the things we're going to
do in building the infrastructure to helpdeliver on this commitment is make sure we've
got the systems in place to beable to track where our students are going.
No hire ed institution does it particularlywell, but that's something we're going
(09:26):
to hold ourselves accountable to and studentswill be able to expect it and ensure
we're delivering on that. Well,that's great, you're off to a strong
stock. We'd love to keep intouch with you. Curry is an institution
that I'm very familiar with over theyears of who's your commencement speaker? This
year, our commencement speaker is AdrianHaslett, one of the twenty thirteen Boston
(09:48):
Marathon survivors. She's got an amazingstory. This is the woman who was
a former professional ballroom dancer, yes, and just overcome incredible adversity. And
I think, you know, she'sgoing to be uh, very motivational,
uh for for our graduating students andis going to do an amazing job.
(10:09):
I think that's a great choice fora commencement speaker. One of the things
that I have always concerns about,and you probably know me well enough to
know what that concern is that somany of the schools they recycle the same
speakers every year, uh, andor they they're always from one point of
view. Jay, And I knowthat you and I are on the opposite
side of the fence politically, butuh, you know, bring some conservative
(10:31):
speakers on cancer campus and get somegood debates going on that that campus.
I don't get an opportunity to talkto many college presidents, but you know,
sometimes it gets a little too tilted. And I think a lot of
people look at schools and they say, why do I want to why do
I want to send my kid tobe indoctrinated. I'd rather have him him
or her learn a trade, andwell, they'll never be without a job.
(10:54):
Well, colleges are about broadening people'sperspectives and you gotta you gotta hear
lots of different voices to do that. And so we need to be open
to everyone, and we are andwe'd welcome you anytime. Dan, and
I know, even though we don'tagree on everything, you've always been really
fair to me in the different contextsin which you've had me on your show,
(11:18):
and I really appreciate it. Wellappreciated. Congratulations again, you went
past being governor. Now it's PresidentJacin Zalez, President of the fifteenth President
of Kyrie College. We'll have youback, Jay, thank you very much.
This is an innovative program. Let'shope a lot of people take advantage
of it. Thanks again, Thanks, Dan, appreciate it. Very welcome.
We get back. We're going totalk about a bunch of things you
(11:39):
can do down on the south Shore, specifically one hundred things to do in
Plymouth before you die. We'll betalking with author Steven Sayers right after this
break here on nightside on a Wednesdaynight, and you're on night Side with
Dan Ray. I'm Boston's News Radio, delighted to welcome author Steven Sayers his
(12:01):
book one hundred Things to Do inPlymouth, Massachusetts Before You Die. I
love the title, I love thecover of the book. This is a
this is a very eye catching book. Welcome Stephen Sayers the Night Side.
Thanks thanks for having me, Dan. So is this your first book or
have you done other books like thiswhich encourage people to go visit this location
(12:26):
of that location. Is this inthe first of a series or is this
a standalone? So this, thisbook is actually part of a nationwide kind
of best selling one hundred Things series. And there's a book like the book's
like one hundred Things San Francisco,hundred Things to Do Before you Die in
New Orleans. And this publisher askedme to write a book about Plymouth,
(12:50):
knowing that I've lived here for overtwenty years, and I do some other
writing. I actually I actually writesupernatural thrillers and horror novels that are set
on a cod in the islands inPlymouth. So none of that in this
book, though, I'm sure,right, this is all positive, Yeah,
this is all positive, right,There's nothing scary in this but Yeah,
(13:11):
this is a great opportunity to tokind of pay homage to the town
that i've you know, loved foryou know, the last twenty years or
even more. Well, I lovePlymouth too. We've been involved in a
campaign with a group called See Plymouth, which we're very presagive websites associated with.
(13:31):
Yeah, but just to be clearso people know we're being honest with
him, this book is it isobviously pushing people and suggesting to people Plymouth
and the South Shore just play somany things to see and visit, and
so many of us live here inthis historical portion of the world, and
we go decades without visiting the BonkerHill Monument or seeing the USS Constitution,
(13:56):
or going to Plymouth and seeing PlymouthRock or put I said, oh,
whatever, so this is you're separateand apart from See Plymouth. That just
happens to be somewhat coincidental, asI understand that. Yes, okay,
yes, so you know this book. You know, when I wrote it,
I thought I'd be writing it morefor people coming to town and visitors,
(14:18):
but then I realized it was morefor people like myself who've been here
for twenty years and kind of forgotabout the really cool places that there are
here, the places you haven't visitedfor years, and so this was for
me. It was really great toand so I think this book is really
for not just the tourists coming totown, but the people who've lived here
(14:39):
for a long time that need toget in touch with all the cool things
that are to do here. It'salso for people who live here because when
your friends or your relatives come toNew England, what what a better way
to show off than to start inPlymouth where it all started in sixteen twenty
(15:00):
sixteen twenty. Apologies to James Tomfor Jerry, but we know, yeah
Plymouth. Now the book actually comesout on me first. So this book
isn't even out yet, right,No it isn't. It's not out yet,
but hopefully it'll be coming to youknow, a Plymouth gift shop near
you. We love dogs. Don'tlet that bother you. Okay, yeah,
(15:26):
yeah, not a problem, nota problem. Could he could be
someone breaking in the house. Thatguy sounds like he's ferocious. So he's
a great, great watchdog. That'sgood. You need that, Okay.
So this is going to be availableobviously in Amazon. You can go to
Amazon right now, I believe andpre order it so you can get it.
(15:48):
Yeah, you can pre order now. A hundred things to do in
Plymouth, Massachusetts before you die.Give me two or three things that nobody
would know about in Plymouth but arereally cool. Well, I think there's
there's a couple of secrets in Plymouththat people might get mad at me because
they want to keep these things secret. But but there is a book in
the book, right, They're inthe book, So yeah, they're gonna
(16:11):
get mad at me. So justgive us one. We'll just give us
one because I want people to buythe book. Go ahead, give us
give us a secret place in thePlymouth go ahead. So Brown's Bank is
definitely one of Plymouth's best kept secrets. It's a it's a sandbar that's located
about one hundred yards off of PlymouthLong Beach and you can only get there
by boat. In the summer,Brown's Bank is filled with people throwing frisbee,
(16:33):
sunbathing, and playing music. There'sa something called Captain Mike's Teaky Boat
that provides nourishment and adult beverages.It's this really fun atmosphere that's kind of
a little secret but it's it's agreat place to go and one of the
funnest places in Plymouth you'll ever see. So is the tiki boat? You
said it's a tiki boat? Isthe tiki bok out on? It's like
(16:57):
you ride out there. Now,it's like a it's like a food truck
as a boat and it comes out. Yeah, it's it just delivers a
lot of food out there. Soit's like a boat that comes in parks
there and people can eat and spendthe day there. Uh, and then
the tide comes in and kind ofcovers up the sandbar and then the next
So you got to know when toget there. You gotta know where you
(17:21):
can get stranded there. Yeah,there's a lot of uh, there's a
lot of things you got to know. Well, that's why they got to
buy the book, right, theygotta. You know, you just kind
of go out there and and andfall asleep sunbathing and realize that you're ten
feet under the water a few hourslater. I get that, all right,
Steven Sayers, you're a good sport. This looks like a fun book.
One hundred things to Do in Plymouth, Massachusetts before you die. And
(17:44):
there's a bucket of course. Yeah, the metaphor of one hundred things exactly.
The bucket on the cover is themetaphorical before you kick the bucket.
I get that. I got that. It's not not even subtle, but
it's a it's a great looking cover. Uh. I'll say one thing.
If people want to get the bookbefore it comes out on me first,
they can go to my website,which is Stephen Stephenpaulsayers dot com. You
(18:10):
just scroll down the homepage. Youcan buy it right there. I'll send
it out to you the next day. You'll get it before any of the
stores. And that's Steven with thepH paul all one word Sayers spelt like
Gael Sayers, right exactly. Yep. Okay, you know the running back,
the great running back. I remember, yeah, no, I remember.
I'm old enough to remember a littlebit. You know. Hey,
I never saw Jim Thorpe play,but I know I know Jim Thorpe.
(18:33):
I mean, people say to me, I'm old enough. Hey, I
know. Washington was the first president. I wasn't around then. I covered
the weekend though I did his secondterm. Wasn't wasn't it was too all
too brief. Steven, thank youso much. I appreciate the time tonight
and best the luck of the book, we may have you back. Okay,
thank you much. You're a goodone. I appreciate it. Thank
you. I'm going to get alittle bit more serious and on the other
(18:56):
side of the eight thirty new isgoing to talk with a gentleman named Ben
Oakes, who is in need ofa kidney. He's a young man,
had a kidney transplant at the ageof nine. He needs another one.
This is important for a lot ofpeople. I have a good friend of
mine who's in need of a kidney. I think we talked. You might
remember we talked about Jeff Plimpton,the former Red Sox pitcher, who did
(19:18):
get a kidney in March. ButApril is National Donate Life Month, and
we would be talking with Ben Oakesright after the break. Later on,
we're going to talk with Nicole Yang, Boston Globe sportswriter. Pretty tough story
today in ESPN said that Patriots ownerBob Kraft may have cost Bill Belichick a
(19:38):
shot at coaching in Atlanta. Whydo you hear this story? You'll hear
it here first on Nightside. Comingback right after this, you're on Nightside
with Dan Ray on w BZ,Boston's news radio. Thanks very much to
Cole. April is a month inwhich a lot of us focus on organ
(20:03):
implants. And we have a youngman with us now whose name is Ben
Oakes. He just received his doctoratefrom Ohio State University in molecular biology,
so he is technically doctor Ben Oaks. He's not a medical doctor, but
he knows a lot about medicine.He's from Reading, Massachusetts, Doctor Oakes.
(20:29):
If I can call you Ben,that would be great. First of
all, welcome to Nightside. Howare you, sir? Good? Thank
you for having me Dan. You'revery welcome. You're very welcome. You
were what we call one in amillion, is I understand that? And
unfortunately you weren't one in a milliona winner of the lottery, but you're
one in a million who as alittle boy, doctors discovered that you had
(20:55):
a very rare kidney disease that onlyeffects about one in a million people,
and that necessitated a kidney transplant foryou at the age of I believe it
was nine years old. Tell usabout that procedure. That had to be
pretty scary for a young boy togo through. Yeah, I was quite
young when it happened. I wasdiagnosed with nephromathesis, which, as you
(21:17):
said, is a rare genetic kidneydisorder, around when I was in kindergarten
they're around five years old. Andthen my kidneys fell. Fortunately, my
dad was able to give me akidney, and I got a kidney transplant
when I was nine. Yeah,I remember being quite scared as a kid.
I was very young then, soa lot of the details I don't
remember, but I was just reallylucky to have a supportive family around me
(21:41):
to help me get through the processwhen I was young. So, your
dad donated a kidney, which meansyour dad lived a life with one kidney.
Is your dad still with us atthis point we're talking, this is
twenty years ago. Yep, mydad said with us. He turned sixty
four recently. He's living a greatand healthy life. Good, excellent.
(22:03):
I think that's very important. Yes, yeah, I think that's one thing
people a lot of people may notrealize, is that most of us are
born with two kidneys, but youcan live a totally normal and healthy life
with one kidney. Well. Irecently, last fall had a friend of
mine who used to pitch for theRed Sox Jeff Plimpton. Jeff was a
(22:23):
big, right handed pitcher, toughas nails, uh, and he had
a family history which indicated that hashe got a little older after his playing
career. Played pitched for the RedSox in the nineteen nineties before before you
were born. Actually, and Jeffgot a kidney in early March, and
(22:44):
he's doing really well. So youI don't have a website, and what's
what's your situation today? Are youon dialysis or are you obviously you're in
need of a kidney, there's noquestion about that, but just tell us
what's your status at this point.Yeah, so right now, I'm living
(23:07):
in Columbus, Ohio. I justdefended my dissertation back in December. I'm
going to be receiving my PhD diplomaup just in a few weeks in early
May, so I'll then officially bedoctor Ben Oakes. Looking forward to that.
But yeah, in terms of mykidney, my kidney failed a little
(23:29):
over a year ago, about fourteenmonths, and then they decided that it
was time for me to start dialysisbecause I needed it. Yeah, so
I've been on dialysis since then.So I've been on dialysis for about fourteen
months, and I mean I'm ableto live a life, but not the
(23:51):
same life I used to live.There are definitely things that complications with dialysis
that I have to deal with everyday. How if since you were dependent
upon dialysis now having had one kidneyand a kidney that's failing, how long
every day do you have to spenddealing with dialysis? Yeah, it takes
(24:15):
a ball out of my time.Yeah, it takes about an hour or
so to set up the whole machine. I attached to a machine every night,
and then I'm on the machine whileI sleep, but I'm on it
for about ten hours and then Iwake up and get off it. So
in total, I'm on at almosteleven hours every night, half half of
your day, half of your youryour twenty four hour day. Obviously,
(24:36):
Yeah, wonderful. They can doit, you know, while you're while
you're while you're while you're sleeping.So how how tough a match? Obviously
your dad provided you with a match. What what can people do if they
would like to, you know,perhaps see if they could be a match
(24:56):
for you. Do you have aI believe you have a website, called
kidney donor. The numeral for Bendot com. Correct, Yeah, that's
correct. It's a kiddie donor forBen. The number four, not the
word for Yeah. I have awebsite, yep dot com. Yep,
I have a website. If you'reinterested in learning more about me or the
(25:17):
donation process, or or actually interestedin donating to me, there are links
on that website. Basically, thereare links to a questionnaire, a hospital
questionnaire you can fill up. Thehospital will ask you a bunch of questions
and to see but if you're apotential candidate to be a donor. If
you are, they'll probably reach outto you and you potentially get some blood
(25:41):
tests run to see if you're amatch with me, and then it goes
on from there. It's it's adifficult gift to to donate, and it's
a difficult gift I'm sure to seek. Yeah, everyone understands what your dad
(26:03):
did, but I guess most gooddads, and your dad was a great
dad for a nine year old son. What should people look forward to other
than being just a wonderful person who'swilling to donate one of their two kidneys
to you. There's also a benefitas I understand you if you donate a
(26:23):
kidney to someone who's in need ofa kidney, and by the way,
at the age of twenty eight yearsold, you have a long life to
live, and that's that kidney ismore important to you than a lot of
folks who might be a little bitfurther along in life. But my understanding
is that then if that person hada family member who was in need of
(26:45):
a kidney, they get they getas I understand that, isn't there some
sort of a little bit of abreak there for people who donate a kidney.
Explain that to us. Yeah,So there's a couple things. I
believe if you have a family memberwho donated a kidney, and then for
some reason down the line in yourlife you need a kidney, I believe
(27:07):
that does bump you up the listfor a cadaver or kidney, so an
organ from a deceased person. There'salso something called paired donation. Paired donation
is where if you have a memberwho needs a kidney and you can't find
anyone who matches you, but there'sanother family, another stranger who is a
(27:29):
match to you, you compare withthat other person. So I guess What's
it's important that I say is althoughjust even if you're an older and you
may not think wuld be you're thebest candidate, or you may not think
you're a match with me, it'sstill a very I would still really appreciate
it if people filled out the questionnairebecause it's possible that there could be a
(27:52):
paired donation that happens, that Icould get a kidney from a total random
stranger. Still, that's great.Well, you know, the strength the
WZ signal at this art of thenight is pretty significant. We have called
us all over the country, sopeople all over the country are listening to
you. I think it's important toemphasize your age. You're twenty eight years
old. You've been through this oncebefore as a as a little boy at
(28:15):
nine, and you're going to getyour doctorate formerly from Ohio State University,
so you're formerly a buck eye.What'd you do your undergraduate work? Yeah,
I went to Loyal University, Chicagofor undergrad or I got my bachelor's
degree in biology. Yeah, wellas somebody with a degree in molecular biology,
(28:37):
what is your goal to be aresearch scientist or to teach? Yeah,
my goal is to go into thebiotechnology industry, hopefully still do some
research. I hope use the knowledgeand skills I gained during my you know,
my PhD work TEL Further Understanding Agreementof rited Diseases. Yeah, sounds
(28:57):
great, sounds great. Look Ben, I'm sure it's going to work out
for you. We' love to haveyou back once you're well on the road
to recovery. But again, yourwebsite is kidney donor for the number four
Ben all one word dot com,So if anyone's out there, feel free
to check out Ben's story at kidneydonor. The numeral for Ben dot com
(29:22):
all lowercase, but I'm not sureif it's case sensitive. Ben. Thank
you very much. Great to meetsomeone from reading Pennsylvania, reading Massachusetts all
the way out in Ohio. Andcongratulations and all your success. And let's
keep our fingers and we'll keep youand our thoughts and prayers as well in
the weeks ahead. Thank you somuch. Thank you very much. Dan,
(29:44):
have a good night. Welcome,very welcome. We get back.
We're going to talk about Bill Belichiackand maybe Bob kraft head the final word.
That's what ESPN is saying. We'llbe back. We're gonna be talking
with Nicole Fang on the Boston Globe. She's a sportswriter at the Globe,
coming back on Nightside, Night Side, Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
(30:07):
Well, it's that great time ofyear to be a sports fan in New
England. Got the the Red Soxplaying leading the Guardians tonight after seven and
a half innings. Tannahuk is throwinga shout out, don't want to jinx
him but to nothing Red Sox.And of course the playoffs about to start
for the Celtics and the Bruins,so we got a lot of that activity
(30:30):
and even at this time of yearfootball is up. Joining us is Nicole
Yang. She is a sports writerat the Boston Globe and Nicole, welcome
to Nightside. Big story in ESPNtoday that would suggest that it was pretty
shakespearean out at Gillette Stadium as BillBelichick was moving on. It maybe wasn't
(30:55):
quite as as friendly as we wereled to believe. Tell us about this.
Yeah, So ESPN published this reporttoday that sort of details Bill's off
season and his failed attempt to landthe Falcons. Land the Falcons job specifically,
but sort of land any job acrossthe NFL. And how does the
(31:19):
one of arguably a lot of peopleview him as the greatest coach of all
time? How does he end upwithout a job when there are seven openings
across the league? And according toESPN, Robert Kraft may have played a
role in Bill not getting the Falconsjob. Specifically, Yeah, it's kind
(31:40):
of like one of those at twoprote moments. So little Shakespearean here specifically.
I read the piece quickly, andI'm sure you've read it more detail.
But Belichick meets with Arthur Blank,the owner of the Falcons, and
we must remember that the Patriots cameback from twenty eight to three against that
(32:04):
team in a Super Bowl a fewyears ago, and they met on a
yacht off the coast at Antiqua.Yeah, it sounded like a James Bond
Spy versus Spy thriller. And everythinglooked, according to at least my right
reading of the ESPN story was everythinglooked like it was going in the right
(32:29):
direction. But something happened. Whatis ESPN suggesting? So ESPN is suggesting
what happened is Robert Kraft spoke withArthur Blank and gave a pretty unfavorable review
of Bill, saying that he's notsomebody who you can trust and you'll never
(32:51):
have a warm conversation with him,and just pretty much advising Arthur Blank,
who ESPN calls one of Roberts Craft'sclosest friends, advising him against hiring Belichick.
Now, the Patriots have denied thatthat has happened, So it's sort
of who you choose to believe inthis situation. Patriots acknowledged that Arthur Blank
(33:15):
and Robert Craft spoke, but theysay that Robert advocated for Bill to get
the job. Not. I assumethat Stacey James did not provide a transcript
or a tape recorded copy of thatconversation, right, so you have to,
I guess, decide which side youbelieve. But ESPN is alleging that
(33:40):
that conversation played a pretty significant rolein their decision. Yeah, well,
obviously, Bob Craft. We don'tknow what Craft statters didn't say, but
what we do know is that Belichickdid not get the Atlanta Falcons job and
everything. And I'm not a sportsreporter, but I followed this pretty closely.
(34:02):
It appeared to me that that hemight have liked to have gone to
Atlanta and uh and helped That's that'sa division that's not the strongest in the
league, and maybe he could havemade quite a difference as a coach down
there. And you got to knowthat Arthur Blank is just hoping to avenge
the Super Bowl loss to the tothe Patriots, I mean, And it
(34:23):
would seem to me that if therewas a conversation, which now the Patriots
say occurred that I mean, itwould see me that if Bill Belichick said
something nice about rather if Bob Kraftsaid anything nice about Bill, it would
have been a done deal. AndBelichick's not talking as as we, of
(34:44):
course have come to expect, sowe're not going to get anything out of
him. And this will this wouldjust be one of those legendary sports references
that Dan shawness who would be droppingevery once in a while in his column
in the Globe, who's your pick? Who they going to pick? Who's
who's going to be the Patriots numberthree pick this year? I know you've
(35:04):
taken a look at all the draftchoices. We know that Caleb Williams is
going to go number one. Sowho you betting on the kids from North
Carolina? Yeah, that would bemy best guess as of right now,
and I think he would be areally strong fit for them just given his
size, given his arm strength.I think Josh Allen is a really good
comp for Drake May. So Icould see that being who falls to them
(35:30):
at three, just given how muchbuzz there is. I think even the
betting odds favor Jaden Daniels at two. So if I had the guest today,
I would say Drake May for sure. So they need more than just
a quarterback. You know, fromfrom where I'm sitting, I don't see
(35:52):
them necessarily with just the selection ofone quarterback. I mean they got problems
in there offensive line, and Imean as disappointing as Mac Jones was and
as inconsistent as the backups that Jones'sbackups were. The problem I think is
(36:13):
in the offensive line. Or amI reading that wrong? From your perspective,
if you cover this more than Ido, I'm simply a fan looking
at the television set and yelling atthe television set on a Sunday afternoons.
No, I would agree that theredefinitely are still some glaring holes on offense,
especially at tackle. They resigned Michaeland Wenu, which is a really
important piece of the offensive line whowill probably start at right tackle, but
(36:37):
they don't have a starting left tackleright now. They have a couple of
guys who will compete, but theydidn't make a big splash and free agency
in that regard, so I wouldexpect them to also address that through the
draft. And then they need anumber one wide receiver. They re signed
Kendrick Bourne, they signed kJ Osborne. Those are good additions. They parted
(37:00):
ways with DeVante Parker, so theyneed some move to try and solidify that
room, but they still lack thatlike traditional elite number one ride receiver that's
like a coverage dictating weapon. ElliottWolf said that they really need to weaponize
the offense, and I don't thinkthe team has done that yet. Yeah,
I don't think harrison Son is goingto Marvin harrison Son is going to
(37:22):
stick around to the second round.Oh, absolutely not. I don't know.
I still am hoping that Leon Grayand John Hannah can make a comeback.
They were probably the best offensive linemanthat I've ever seen play for the
for the Patriots. That's that isat least that's but I think they're a
little old at this point. Nicole, thank you so much for joining us
(37:45):
on real quickly. What's your prediction? How many wins did the Patriots get?
Next? Stuff fall? What doyou? What number you want over
under? What you're over under?Oh man, I got to put you
on the spot on one question.I would set the over under at five
and a half and I'll take theunder tough. I was going to say
(38:10):
seven. That was okay, Wellyou were realistic. Good for you.
Good for you. That takes somecoverage. That's a good one. They
do have the second hardest schedule inthe league next year, which is kind
of crazy, given that they finishedthe twenty twenty three season with a four
and thirteen record. Well that's becausethey got to play They got to play
(38:34):
Buffalo in Miami two game for thosefour games right there. I think even
though they have a last place schedule, that means they're playing the Cincinnati Bengals,
who will have Jo Burrow back,so they didn't really look out from
a scheduling regard. So I wouldset at five point five and I would
predict five games. All right,all right, brave, brave, brave
(38:55):
prediction. Nicole, Thanks very much. Enjoyed the conversation. We'll talk again,
I hope. Thank you very muchfor joining us. Sounds good.
Have a good night, good night. Yes. Nicole writes for the Boston
Globe. And it's great when youcan have Nicole Yang on here and get
a little sense of who she is. We've got a great personality and she
knows her football. Coming back onthe nightside right after this
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