00:07This video is brought to you by S.T.A.L.A.
01:31Now, here's what's in our feed.
02:00Ted Johnson and thousands of others have done.
02:02Eliminate your joint pain with Boston Prolotherapy online at bostonprolotherapy.com.
02:07I'm Stitts, and that's what's in our feed at WEI and WEI.com.
02:11This is a WEI special broadcast.
02:15It's the 24th annual WEI Nessun Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon, presented by Arbella Insurance.
02:23Here for the Jimmy Fund.
02:24Here for good.
02:26Now, live from Fenway Park.
02:28It's Rich, Ken, and Ted.
02:32And a special broadcast it is, because right now, a simulcast amongst the two powerhouses, WEI and Nessun.
02:40And it is the WEI Nessun Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon, in which we have already raised $691,000.
02:46We got that million-dollar match.
02:47So if by the end of the day we raise a million, boom, you stack another million right on top
02:51of it.
02:52And what a day it's been.
02:53You can give us a call at 877-738-1234.
02:56Also, jimmyfund.org.
02:58You can donate as well.
03:00And classing up the joint, sitting to my left, a gentleman who is not only one of the best talents
03:07over there at Nessun,
03:08but also the co-chair, the face of the Jimmy Fund, my good buddy Tom Caron.
03:14Tom, how's it going?
03:15Good.
03:15Thanks, Rich.
03:16That might say more about your joint than anything about me if I'm classing it up.
03:19I want to get right to it.
03:20Kind of a Boston sports leadership roundtable we're having.
03:23So cool to have you all sitting here together with us.
03:25We'll introduce everyone going through it.
03:27Danielle Marmer from the Boston Fleet, of course.
03:31Donna Gwask, I think I said that right, general manager of the Boston Legacy.
03:35Craig Breslow from the Boston Red Sox.
03:37Cam Neely, the Boston Bruins.
03:39And Kurt Analfo from the New England Revolution.
03:41Thank you all for coming on.
03:42And, you know, this whole Jimmy Fund thing is built on the relationship between the Boston sports teams and the
03:49fans to try to get something done.
03:51And I thought it was really cool to have you guys all together to talk about that.
03:55Just building a team, right?
03:57That's what you all do.
03:58And you build a front office to try to put that team together.
04:01And the teamwork behind the team.
04:04Does that all make sense?
04:06Craig, talk a little about it.
04:07As a guy who pitched here, won a World Series here.
04:09We'll let you start, and we'd like you all to just jump in about understanding what this market expects
04:15and how that helps you put together a team that can achieve what you hope to achieve.
04:21Yeah, I think first, I just want to say what an honor it is to be here and to support
04:24the Jimmy Fund.
04:25I can remember, as a player, this being a highlight of the season.
04:29And, you know, often people approach us and ask if, you know, we would take time out of our schedules
04:33to support this cause,
04:35not realizing what an honor and privilege it is to be able to do that.
04:39So I just wanted to say that.
04:41But putting that aside, the expectations in this market are unique.
04:44They are rightfully sky high.
04:47And I think every one of us would probably share the feeling that we want to uphold that standard for
04:53our fans.
04:54And so when we think about building a team, you know, at least personally in the front office,
04:59I think about making sure that we are celebrating and we're attracting diverse perspectives, thoughts, experiences,
05:07because that's how we're going to get the most out of our group.
05:10Cam, again, you played here.
05:13You certainly understood what these fans expected.
05:16How has that sort of carried into your running the team from the front office side?
05:20Well, it's so true.
05:22They are high expectations.
05:23And I think that's great for an athlete, to be honest with you.
05:26It's great for management.
05:28You know, you want to provide the best you can for your fan base.
05:32You want them to leave happy at the end of the night.
05:35For me, being a former player and knowing what a team was inside the locker room,
05:40I kind of took that philosophy outside the locker room to the rest of the associates
05:45because sometimes they don't really feel like they're part of the team.
05:47I want them to feel like they're part of the team because it does have a big impact.
05:52They love working for the organization for a reason.
05:54And for me, it's about collaboration.
05:56I don't like silos.
05:58I like everybody to have a voice and an opinion.
06:01Do any of you ever reach it?
06:03Because it's a special club you guys are in right now.
06:05It's a very rare position, especially in this town of Boston that's so sports crazy.
06:09Do any of you ever reach out to each other for advice
06:12or maybe even just to commiserate sometimes
06:14because it's such a specialized position that you are in?
06:18Yeah, I mean, for me, I had the opportunity to work with the Bruins.
06:21And so I have a whole bunch of colleagues over there that I get to pick their brains.
06:25I mean, I meet with their director of amateur scouting once a week still
06:31and talk about all things identifying talent, how they're running their draft.
06:37And so just to have those relationships is amazing.
06:40I certainly want to be more intentional about that network
06:44and this opportunity to be connecting with this group of front office staff
06:48and these major sports teams.
06:51But I think it's easy to get kind of stuck, to your point, in our own silos and in our
06:57seasons.
06:57And that's something I'd love to be more intentional about.
07:00Yeah, and for us, you know, the crafts are the owner of obviously the Patriots as well.
07:05So there's that synergy there just naturally because of the crafts.
07:09And all of our departments, you know, they look, you know, if they need some guidance,
07:14it can go both ways.
07:15So that's natural.
07:17And then our head coach, actually, the head chef of the Celtics is a really good friend.
07:22So we've had some collaboration with them as well in terms of just, you know,
07:28sharing ideas and just, you know, talking through things.
07:31Tom, as a relatively new team putting it all together,
07:33how much have you sort of leaned on the experience in Boston?
07:36Yeah, we're the newest in town and we try to learn from all of them, right,
07:40in coming in last year and especially like, hey, what is it that makes all these teams special?
07:45So what is it that makes people love them, right?
07:47And that ambition is part of it.
07:50Right now we're training out of the New England Revolution training facility.
07:54So obviously there's a lot of exchange there.
07:56But then last year, I remember speaking to Daniel at Tom because prior to us coming in town,
08:01they were the newest team, right?
08:03And, hey, what is it that you do when you're trying to put a team together?
08:07How do you prioritize?
08:09How do you also build that fan base and ensure that, hey, that team is reflective of this city?
08:14So, yeah, we're still trying to learn from everybody here.
08:20But so far, we've had a great reception and we feel like very welcoming in this town.
08:26Craig, you have seen in one season how fans can act one way towards a team
08:30and act another way towards a team.
08:32It's all encapsulated just in this year so far.
08:37There's got to be some athletes that you can tell are cut out for a city like Boston
08:42and some that aren't.
08:44Is there something that stands out where you meet a player and you go, you know,
08:48this person will relish in a city where the fans are smart, they know their sports,
08:55and they expect greatness?
08:57I think that is true.
08:59I don't know that anybody has completely figured out how you can tell before that happens,
09:04unless maybe you're pulling someone from a very similar market.
09:07But I would say that Boston does kind of stand alone in terms of demands and expectations,
09:12but also in the way that our fans celebrate winning.
09:16But I think one key thing that players who really thrive in this environment have is some level of relatability,
09:24right?
09:25You know, when we think about someone like Caleb Durbin as an example,
09:28didn't get off to the strongest start here but turned his season around.
09:32I think he's relatable because he shows up for work every single day.
09:36You know, he doesn't let a pinky injury stand in the way of performance when he's performing really well
09:41or performing really poorly.
09:43Look at Cam.
09:45Cam's like, your pinky injury.
09:48I'm thinking of Patrice with, like, the rib piercing his lung playing in the game.
09:54Sure.
09:55But it offers something that people can relate to, right?
10:01And so, you know, I think that relatability is something that's really important.
10:04But I think we all try to do as much work as possible in terms of checking references
10:09and getting background and asking ourselves, you know, when the lights are shining the brightest,
10:12when demands are the highest, is this a player who's going to be able to thrive?
10:15They need to be Boston tough.
10:16You know, and we have a, you know, we have a developmental system, you know, in soccer
10:20and how we develop players from the academy all the way through to the first team.
10:24And that's the biggest thing we talk about in our pro pathway is being Boston tough.
10:30If you're going to make it in this city, you need to be Boston tough.
10:33What does that mean?
10:33Like, I mean, does that mean just letting, like, telling these guys, you got to let this
10:37stuff roll off your back, stay off social media?
10:39What does that mean?
10:39It just, you know, it means that you just need to have a mental toughness that, you know,
10:44that all athletes have to have to strive at the highest level.
10:47And so a lot of it's just fighting through things and, you know, not backing down.
10:53Cam, who didn't let a knee or a knee or a hip or any of those things stand in his
10:57way.
10:58But when you talk, your experience as players, like, you know, you all played at a very high level,
11:03but you guys played here and you've seen the ups and downs of what it is to play in Boston.
11:06Does that help you maybe relate?
11:08Does that, Marco Storm played here.
11:10Does that help translate that to a new guy coming into Boston?
11:13Well, I think it does help.
11:15There's no question.
11:16I think a lot of players that have played in the National Hockey League,
11:19they know what this market's all about because players do talk.
11:23But for me, I tell our players, like, you may not play well every game,
11:27but you can work hard every game.
11:28It's really kind of a blue-collar fan base.
11:31They expect their athletes to work hard.
11:33They go work hard.
11:33They want to come and watch their athletes work hard.
11:36And I think that's, you know, that's kind of what I try to preach to them is, like,
11:39you better bring it every night.
11:41You may not play well, but bring it.
11:43And, yeah, they're knowledgeable.
11:45I mean, we're, you know, the oldest American hockey team in the National Hockey League,
11:49so they know their sport.
11:51The same with baseball.
11:52And, you know, obviously soccer's getting bigger and bigger.
11:55These are things that, you know, our fans are smart.
11:58They have a really good understanding of the sports,
12:01but they want their athletes to work hard.
12:03Yeah.
12:03And you know what the other thing, just being on the other side of it,
12:05when people call in and complain or they call in to praise,
12:08accountability is a big one, too.
12:10Like, when someone doesn't play well, nobody loves a player better than when they get there
12:15and go, I stunk tonight, instead of making excuses.
12:18Have you guys noticed that as well?
12:19Like, when you, like, things just seem to work out better.
12:22And I don't know if that's something you tell the player,
12:24but if you're accountable, I think the fans respect that.
12:27Oh, absolutely.
12:27I mean, you know, you don't want guys disappearing in the locker room after a crappy game.
12:32You know, they've got to stand up there and say, okay, listen, this is what we did poorly.
12:37This is what I did poorly.
12:39And, you know, to your point, the fans will respect that.
12:41There's no question.
12:42Absolutely.
Comments