December 24, 2024 • 41 mins
Morgan White Fills in on NightSide with Dan Rea:
It’s common these days to witness poor sportsmanship at sporting events, but has it always been this way? Morgan spoke with award-winning journalist and broadcaster Jimmy Myers about how society has changed the modern sports fan.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
It’s common these days to witness poor sportsmanship at sporting events, but has it always been this way? Morgan spoke with award-winning journalist and broadcaster Jimmy Myers about how society has changed the modern sports fan.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's night side with Dany. I'm deel you.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Two hours down, two hours to go to the end
of nights side, the beginning of Christmas and Hanukkah. And
like I said, there are those of you. You have
the radio on in the background and you're assembling some
toy for your child or children, and I tip my
(00:28):
hat to you. I remember those days. Believe me, I do. Now.
When I use the word legend, I know it's meaning
and I mean it throughout every letter of the word.
This next gentleman is a legend. He has worked in
(00:51):
the sports arena, Good Grief for over five decades. We
first saw him at the anchor desk for sports on
Channel four back in the seventies, and that's taken him
literally around the world. He has been everywhere. He has
(01:12):
covered Olympiads, tennis tournaments, yes here in the United States,
football games, basketball games, baseball, and hockey. And there is
nothing he hasn't achieved, and I do mean achieve in
the world of athletics. He I am proud to say,
(01:36):
is not only a friend, he is a good friend
of mine. Welcome to the radio, Jimmy Myers, Jimmy, Happy holidays, very.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
All of the player Morgan and I also covered Botchyball.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Oh I didn't even say I didn't even say that one.
I should have thought of that one.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
I'm covered Bosekeyball, Model Jacks, Double Dutch.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Oh my goodness, there you go. The double Dutch, Bess
is all. I'm sorry, Okay, I thought of this after
we had spoken. Yeah, and I'm not going to dwell
on it because we have enough things to do between
now and midnight. But this happened in either seventy one
or seventy two. The longest game in football history was
(02:26):
on Christmas that year between the Dolphins and Kansas City.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
And the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yep, yep, tell me about that game.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Oh my gosh. This couple overtimes. But more importantly, they
just marched up and down the field. It was one
of those games where you felt that whoever had the
ball laugh was going to win. But it was a
remarkable game.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
It's definitely remarkable game. And this was the beginning of
Miami's ascent to that that level where they would be
Super Bowl champions for the next couple of years, including
the seventeen to zero run that they made the perfect
season last one, first one and last one in the
history of the league. But that game itself there, let
(03:14):
me see, I believe Jan Stenerude was one of the
key players in that game. And wow, I mean he
they were just a guy named Potolac ed polacking the
running backs off the top of my head is what
I could think of. At Polax was doing everything, blocking, throwing, kicking, running.
(03:35):
He was key with something. But John stener would have
believe while I'm kicking the game time field goal and
I think the game winning field goal we were talking
about fifty three years ago. So I remember, I was
just in the business. I just started at BZ during
that time, believe it or not. In fact, September ninth,
nineteen seventy one, so it was after that game i'd
(03:55):
started b Z. But yeah, that was the beginning of
what's considered one of the great games of all time.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I mean, it was you at home, driving or in
your living room or whatever. You're using to hear this
show night side. Did you see what I did? Now?
Jimmy did not have any concept I was going to
bring that up. I brought up something that was fifty
(04:23):
three years ago in his mental history yet and still
he's rattling off names and circumstances as if it happened
last week.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Well, I knew he could do it.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It felt like it as first when you asked me,
I said, where are we going with this? Then my
brain kicks in that that that autopilot or that that
automatic video in my brain starts playing and I limit,
I remember, I remember this, I remember this, and I
remember this.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Yeah, it was a great game. I mean and at
that time, very few people know anything about overtime because
remember when in nineteen fifty eight when the Giants and
the Baltimore Colts played the first overtime games. That's the
game that basically made the NFL to your orderance. And
if you don't understand it, please go back, go online,
(05:16):
find the video. Johnny United became a household name in
that game. Game was played in Giants Stadium and the
United States team down the field. Another no that was
Tolly Connolly before Tittle oh okay, and Kyle Wrote and
Frank Giffert, those diag were in that game. But more
importantly Morgan it was it was the coming out of
(05:39):
Johnny United to Raymond Berry. They had a combination that
day that Giants just could not stop. So by the
time the game was tied and they were going into overtime, Morgan.
The players didn't know because they never played an overtime,
they didn't know that there was an overtime rule. They
didn't know it was an overtime rule. Wark the referees
(05:59):
had to check with the league to do you have
an overtime rule? Women?
Speaker 6 (06:05):
You know there's the NFL championship game. You know it's
on television. You know there are millions of people out
there for Watche. We can't end up in a tie.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
A tie?
Speaker 7 (06:16):
Are you crazy?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
No, no, no, calm down, Calm down.
Speaker 6 (06:20):
Referees they went over and made a phone call to
the league office.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
We've got it down, what to do, We've got it
written down.
Speaker 5 (06:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Bert Bell, who is the father of Upton Bell from right,
Burt Bell was a commissioner from right. But they had
a rule in place, but nobody ever used it once.
So consequently something comes up and you say, gee, like
the baseball like in baseball, you know what it's about,
fourteen thousand rules in baseball, right, it's a rule to
coverage just about everything. But something will happen in a
(06:51):
baseball game that you've never seen before and you will
never probably see it again. But there's probably a rule
for every game. And that's why I probably loved baseball
more than any other sport because of the complexity of
the game. You know, a dot played on the diamond,
round ball, olong back, basically diamond run around a diamond.
(07:13):
So but the funny part was going back to that game,
no one knew anything. So when they finally figured it out,
I said, Okay, we're gonna play overtime. Okay, what does
that mean? Do we play overtime and keep playing till somebody?
We played till somebody scores, to which Johnny Uniteds took them,
took his team down the field, and I believe I'm
(07:36):
sure Alan and Mechi scored the game winning touchdown in
overtime when he when he dove across the goal line.
He ran across the goal line and just a goot, untouched.
But United had gotten them all the way down here.
Johnny Uniteds a reject player from the university I think Pittsburgh.
He came out of Pittsburgh, but Johnny United played in
Louis Though. Johnny Uniteds led them down the field and
(07:56):
became a household name that day, and football became what
we know it is today. No, Johnny United, is no
such game. Who knows where football would have gone. I'm
sure it would have got on, but not like that
because the whole nation didn't know Morgan White. No one
sitting in front of their televisions knew what.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
Was going on.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
They said, okay, live, what's this? Its side the old
where are we going out? Everybody?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
People? People listening, and that the radio.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Morgan trying to imagine people listening on the radio saying,
what the hell is going on there the stadium?
Speaker 6 (08:43):
But radio MutS to be broken.
Speaker 7 (08:45):
I'm not hearing it.
Speaker 6 (08:46):
No, no, no, they're calling the.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
League office to figure out where do we go here?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
To the night side audience, I hope you paid attention
to what you just witnessed, and we're going to be
doing more of that. Richie and Boston on the phone
line to get it to you. We've got another guest,
Jimmy is bringing along in about twenty minutes to join us.
We've got a lot planned for these next roughly hour
(09:11):
and forty four minutes of nightside time and temperature ten
sixteen thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Hi, I am Morgan Morgan White Junior, filling in for Dan.
I'll be here tomorrow, Christmas evening, Thursday, Friday, Saturday on
my show, and then I'll be here Monday and Tuesday
next week. So I've got a lot of time logged
in filling in for Dan Ray, who will be on
vacation until the first of January. Jimmy Myers is my guest,
(09:50):
and Jimmy, let's take a phone call. We got a
lot of things planned, so let me get the phones
out the way. Richie, welcome your next Happy holidays, Richie.
I'll try one more time, Richie. You're next, Richie in Boston. Welcome.
(10:12):
Goodbye Richie. Well he's gone and there's another person next.
Excuse me, but I can't. Oh, okay, never mind. So Jimmy,
it's you and I again tease what's coming up. In
about fifteen to twenty minutes, I.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Will talk to Dennis Wilson, the head basketball coach at
Madison Park High School. Dennis is from a very very
distinguished family. His brother Harry. His late brother, Harry Wilson,
was the man who started Pop Warner Football in Roxbury
and built it into what it is throughout Boston today.
(10:57):
Harry is a legendary figure, Vietnam veteran, a brilliant, brilliant
guy who lost along with his wife a little while back.
And Dennis is his younger brother. Dennis had picked up
the mantle to a degree and more or less share
that time with Harry, because Dennis was right there when
Harry started the Roxbury Raiders they were called, So Dennis
(11:18):
was right there with Harry, and they built an organization
that wound up sending Massachusetts children to the Pop war
and Football super Bowls down in Florida, and nothing like
this had ever come to this area. So it was
an incredible, incredible moment for Roxbury. And Dennis has been
coaching at Madison Pockets I mentioned for over thirty years.
(11:38):
I think it's thirty seven now, and he has you know,
there's a floor named after him at the school, which
is an honor. They probably could probably even do more,
but Dennis. I've known Dennis for wild since he was
a very young man, and Dennis, Dennis was part of
the show that I did it on another station, six
o'clock in the morning on Saturday. Dennis became the out
(12:02):
there reporter and it was well, it was an experience.
Dennis would go around the community and I remember, this
is a big station and they didn't know anything that
much about Roxbury and Dorchester. So Dennis would go around
and find stories and we would break them on the
air and dieing forever. And then it to Dennis, because
(12:22):
Dennis wound up not only going from there, he wound
up starting his own cable television show. There is a
movie I'm trying to think of, the movie put out
a couple of years ago, a great movie about his
high school team. That this movie went national. So Dennis,
Dennis Moore has more than fulfilled any qualification, that capability
(12:48):
that anyone would want to talk about, because he's a
remarkable human being. And again he's still coaching. And I
asked him a couple of days ago, when I asked
him to come on the show. Dennis, that's a question,
why are you still doing this? He's simple as this, Jimmy,
I love to teach, he said, I love these young men,
but I love to teach the game. And then it's
(13:09):
just sent a lot of young men on in this
life to very very successful careers on and off the
basketball court. So it'd be somebody that I thought would
be very interesting for your show, Morgan, because so many
people in Boston know very little about what goes on
in the black community. I am blessed now to be
able to write for the Base State Banner newspaper on
(13:32):
a week to week basis, and it's online, so if
you go to Baystate Banner dot com you can read
the columns. But more importantly, the two owners, two new owners.
Noil Miller was he was a longtime owner of the paper,
but the two new owners, Ron Mitchell and Andre Stark,
they have really stepped in to build a paper on
(13:55):
a concept of more than anything, of talking about vote issues,
particularly you know, young people in sports in the black community,
and that's what we're trying to do right now. But
you know, and I think of all the things that
have happened, even the things they had to write about
this week, we did the end of the year review,
(14:17):
and when I'm thinking about that end of the year review,
it's always long. I apologize at the beginning of every
every single one of these I know there may be
some issues or some people that I may leave out.
I apologize in advance for that, but we only have
enough space hit the paper to write the things that
we need to write. And we go back and we
(14:37):
look at the year, and I was thinking about the
people that we lost this year, you know, particularly me,
think of our local legends. Louis Tilla. Lose Louis, I mean,
he's gone. And I think of somebody Joe Fitzgerald, longtime
writer of the Boston Herald and one of the most
(15:00):
wonderful people that I've ever known in my life. I
spent a lot of time with Joe over the years,
and I miss him every day. And more importantly, you know,
I was able to spend some time with him before
his children more or less put him in a situation
whereas he was more or less put away to a
(15:20):
degree for his health reasons or whatever. Very painful situation.
But I did attend his funeral out of respect because
I knew Joe, his wife and his family. I watched
those kids grow up. But you know, young people make
decisions and they feel that they're right, and I felt
they were wrong. But it's not my business. It's a
family thing. So I ate that one. But more or
(15:43):
less I was there to tell Joe as he was
being put away. Joe, you were loved and for anybody
who ever read his column, you were blessed to read
Joe Fitzger because that guy.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
A true work.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
He knew how to put gosh could He writes right.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Words in the sentence and then the right sentences to follow.
Tell you what Richie is called back in. I don't
know what happened, but let's get him on before I
have to take a news hit. Richie, I hope you're
there this time.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Hi, thank you, Merry Christmas, and thanks for taking my call.
I'm Richie from Boston, no relation to Richie Powers. And
you talked about the greatest games. I was at the
triple overtime in seventy six, Game five at the Garden
triple overtime. Yeah, that was a great game. And the
(16:32):
thing that was interesting was it was and the interesting
thing was when Hamblechik had that off balance shot. Celtis
were leading and won the game. They were leaving the
court and Richie Powers said, there's two seconds left on
the clock and they had to come back out, and
some idiot came on the court and it started attacking
(16:54):
this pet referee Richie Powers, and a nice guy came
out there and try to help him, and it was
a very nice guy. Yeah, that's right guy.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Two or three guys grabbed Richie. And it was right
after gar heard hit a turnaround jump shot that sent
the game into the next overtime. Because Hamil Checker put
in my head they thought the game was over. Everybody
ran off the court. They came back on and then
you know, into between that time they attacked with the Powers,
which I you know, I was sitting underneath the basket.
(17:26):
I remembered, like it was yesterday. Tell me I just
ran on the floor. I just ran the floor and
dove in the middle of the pile, wound up getting
my knee blown in more or less swollen badly. I
thought I tore toward my knee. But the more the
most important thing with Richie Powers is safe. He would
later do a talk show with me and we talked
about that night. He said, I rolled over and I
(17:48):
looked up. It was Jimmy pulling me about the floor.
I said, yeah, well, I was dragging my leg at
the same time. But great man, great official Hall of
Fame official. But you know, the incidents like that they
should not happen, and unfortunately they did. But thank god
(18:08):
we were many people were there. The security was quick
enough to get there too, to pull those guys off
of them.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
And Richie, next hour, Jimmy and I, Richie, hold on,
Jimmy and I are going to be talking about poor
behavior by fans both during the game and after a game.
That'll be in the eleven o'clock hour.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
But but Richie, go ahead real quick because the Celtics.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
But you were talking overtime football. Wasn't there a game
in fifty seven the Colts and the Giants at Yankee
Stadium that Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
That's the whole game.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
Yeah, that was great, and no I remember that if
I'm right. Yeah, it was at fifty eight. That was
a great game. And I remember I was always watched that,
and you know, I was a Giants fan. But I
want to talk Celtics with you. I'm a little concerned
about the Celtics. They're my team, and I still remember
(19:13):
all those championship games. And I think we once talked
about Frank Selvy we missed that shot in sixty two.
But I was a little concerned because I'm a little
concerned about the Celtics per singis he seems like he's
having trouble on defense and rebounding. And I'm also you know,
some of the big guys like Xavier Tillman, he doesn't
(19:35):
seem to be playing much. Al Horford is getting older.
And also you know, you got big Al and I
you know, and then we got Holiday, who's thirty four.
Do you think the team might be in trouble as
far as ages.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
I don't know if trouble is the word, Richie, but
they are getting older. That's the point to be made here.
And at al a thirty eight. You can't expect Ali
be playing four forty minutes a night. You just can't
expect that. But if for Zingi's is out, a'l has
to play longer minutes, yes, I'm concerned about that. When
I was just discussing this with a buddy of mine
(20:10):
who was a huge Celtic fan, like you, I was
trying to tell him, do you realize how hard it
is to repeat in this league?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
You know?
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I wanted I wanted to talk Yeah, well not only
that I wanted to talk about I wanted to talk
about the last team, the Golden State with Kevin Durant
that won back to back titles. That's seven years ago now,
and it's going to be tough for the Celtics to
pull this off. One. You got to have health, you
gotta have You got to be blessed with good health.
(20:40):
And I don't know if for Zinga's legs are strong enough.
I've talked about this before. He said, multiple ankle surgery,
has knee problems. He's not going to be able. If
he can play fifty five games fairly healthy, you should
be happy. That's seventeen he's going to possibly miss. And
if he's coming back, trying to come back too fast,
going to just put more wear and tear on a
(21:02):
surgically repaired tankle.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
So, Jimmy, I gotta I gotta stop you there, Richie.
You gotta take a break.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
We listen, I listen. Thank you very much for taking
a call.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
You're very welcome.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
We'll have lunch sometime and take care. God bless you,
and Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Merry Christmas to you too. Thank you, Richie. We're going
to take our break and when we come back, we'll
be joined by Dennis Wilson. Time and temperature here on
night side ten thirty one thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on wb Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
I'm Morgan. I'm here until midnight. I'll be here until
December thirty first, including December thirty first, But that's too
far ahead. Let's talk about tonight. I've got Jimmy Myers here,
and through Jimmy, he has brought and a gentleman for
over three decades it has dedicated his life to impacting
(22:03):
youth through football and how to carry themselves as young men.
Mister Dennis Wilson, welcome tonight's side.
Speaker 5 (22:16):
Welcome, welcome Apoli to you gentlemen and all your listeners.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Well, thank you, and tell me what it is. Jimmy
already told us, but I want to hear from your
mouth what it is to do and what drives you
to do it.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
Well, I think I got a lot of it from
my mom. My mom was always wondered was about helping
people and caring about people. And I started back when
I was eighteen, so four decades that not to date myself,
you know, even though I was a spirit of young guy,
but just enjoy not teaching and developing and communicating and
(22:56):
inspiring young people, trying to make a positive impact in
it life and and just trying to do my share.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
I've got a silly question because I've seen them both ways.
In both ways translate respect. Do your players call you
coach Wilson or coach?
Speaker 5 (23:18):
They called me coach. I'm old school, so uh it's coach.
I'm sure they'd like to call me other things, but
they all.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Right now, Jimmy, do you have any questions?
Speaker 3 (23:32):
No, Basically, you know, I've known this man for the
majority of his adult life. But uh, you know his brother.
He and his brother I had mentioned talked about the
Pop Warner program. But then it's also worked with young
women too. Then it is that not just young guys.
Dennis has done a lot for the use of Boston.
I'm talking about teaching him basketball, teaching him other sports
(23:53):
sports other than football. But when I asked him, as
I mentioned when I talked to that a couple of
days ago, I had mentioned asked him why why does
he do it? Because, like you said, I still love
to teach. And part of that teaching factor is the
communication that you have to have with young people today.
You speak a different language than we spoke when we
(24:14):
were growing up, and I think Dennis should address that,
as he talked to when you talk about how do
he reaches these young people today, because that was one
of the things we talked about, Dennis.
Speaker 5 (24:26):
Sure, nowadays you're so right, Jimmy. You now have the
social media. So all these negative traps and these negative
forces just really tearing at these kids. And I feel
sorry for them, you know, some of them being raised
in dystrunction families without a male role model, you know,
to give me that stuff love. There's so many of
(24:47):
them need. But you got to all these as I mentioned,
social media, tiktoks and you know, the challenges and YouTube
and all this. You know it, you know it, she knows.
We back in the day from a sports perspective, we
watched a game, a whole game, and really critique the
(25:07):
different players and the styles and all the different nuances
of the game. Nowadays, they're just looking at clips of
highlights of guys dunker and breaking ankles, as they say,
you know, and seeing all that craziness. That's just negativity,
just dividing our country and just making these young folks
just make bad decisions in their lives through that garbage
(25:31):
that they see. So it's just a sad state of affairs.
But things, like you said to me have changed drastically.
So you just try to just try to have them
sort out right from wrong and making positive decisions in
life that are going to help you know, them go
on the right channels in the right direction and hopefully
not you know, fall into those traps as I mentioned earlier,
(25:54):
that are out there.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
What in newball? What NFL players are the favorites of
your kids? They've got posters of this man on the
back of their closet door. Who are as best you
can guesstimate, who are their favorites?
Speaker 5 (26:17):
Well, of course, you know, I'm sure they probably got
Lamar Jackson, you know, and yeah, and Patrick Mahomes but
they better get him to that boy Jaalen Hunter, Okay,
he's amazing.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Daniels and Washington, Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
Jade and Daniels. I'm sorry, j Daniels, Yeah, he is special.
Oh my goodness. So you know you got guys like that,
you know, uh, that the local kid that they were
that VC favous, they favorus and and uh, but I
would say right now, you know kids love that, say
(26:53):
Kwon Barckley again, Uh, great exciting runner backs great receivers
justin Jefferson, uh, you know, with the electric fying catches.
But I would say that the white the quarterbacks, the
receivers and the running backs.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Do you think is gonna break Eric Dickerson's record. He's
only get two weeks left. You know.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
He means the question of go ahead, take down done
for you?
Speaker 5 (27:24):
Okay, you know, I think he's gonna run the time. Unfortunately,
when you have two great players, you know that you're
trying to share you know, the ball with and uh
and it seems like the big baby Brown he you know,
so upset with not getting the ball, and that takes
(27:46):
away from sa Quon and so now instead of you
post speed and ta Kuan whish you should. I mean
he's special. Oh my goodness, you know you and I
remember the great Barry and and and sweetness find moves.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
But this guy, he is not in their category. Believe
he is no Baron Sanders. But I will say he
can go into that area because that area is a
very very select area, Dennis. Basically basketball. When you talk
to your young people today, who the people they look
at that I know John Moran is one of them. Please,
(28:21):
he really needs a mental adjustment. But besides him, who
is just some of the other players they like. I'm
hoping Jay Gilders Alexander's one of them.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
But well, he now has become one of my favorite players,
and I really push got him as far as just
silent Assassin Jimmy. You knows, he just kills you in
so many ways and just reminds me of one of
my former players, Lloyd Industries. You remember Lloyd Automatic Industrious.
He just kills you with his jump shot, his moves, selected,
(28:51):
you know, his athleticism. Garon Fox is one that they
like a great deal. Of course, everybody loves a I
A U. Anthony Edwards. Uh, He's he's just you know, uh,
women Yama is taking over. You know that that league
by Storm. You know, somebody that tall, that athletic, to
(29:12):
be able to do what he does is amazing. So
you know, like you said, you you you stare them
away from the cud gifted the ability to be doing
dumb the dumb things and making some a bad decisions
that he's made. And then you stay on to guys,
you know, our guys, you know the Jaden Jason Datums,
(29:35):
Jalen Brown's you know, and like I said, Jake Gilders,
you know, these guys, they're they're doing the right things
that they're involved in the community. They're setting good examples,
you know, for for these young guys. It's not easy, man,
all that money and all this endorsements. Now you know that,
you know, of course, and I and I l and
I mean it's it's man, you and I. Jimmy played
(29:55):
at the wrong time. Jim we played at the wrong time.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Then us keep this go to home. Tell me about
the upcoming basketball tournament that's so important now that you
brought it back to Madison.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (30:07):
Yeah, I'm doing the Madison Baccer Holiday Classic, and I'm
bringing up some real talented teams with some talented young
men on it. It'll be the twenty seven twenty eight.
This is Friday and Saturday. First game at four, a
second game at six. So I got fitted local team
Latin Academy that gots Jay and this claim that jumps
(30:28):
out to gym six six ' four leaper. They're going
against Whiston Tech, who Jimmy knocked them out at Latin
Academy last year in the States. So Danny Bunker, great
coach Danny Bunker, he asked, could I make that happen.
I made it happen. So they're tipping off on Friday
four o'clock and then we got a real tough opponent,
(30:49):
Mount Pleasant High School, some rough and tough talented kids
from province Rhode Island. So Charlie Holiday talented. Charlie you
may him back in the day. He's coming up with
his rutus that that's gonna be, you know, tough to
handle for our guys. But hey, we're gonna come to play,
and then it'll be at the Matter Dome Saturday will
(31:12):
be the consolation game at four for the two losers
and then the winners championship game at six and a wardsone.
How did you get it back, Dennis, after all this
time that it was gone. Well, you know, it's something
that I had always always thought about. I went to
Wister's Christmas Classic last year Christmas tournament and lost in
the championship to Wilster. So I said, hey, rather than
(31:33):
travel and in Boston, Jimmy, I mean, we need more
things for our community, for our youth and for our city.
And you know, we got so much talent here that's
not being showcase. And if it is it's out of town,
you know, in the suburbs, and I am not gonna
knock them, but so we need to have more more
events in the city and showcase our talent and bring
(31:55):
talent from without and in showcase of talent from with tennant.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Devis. I want to wish you luck in all that
you do, because you and I both know it's not
what happens on the field. It's not what happens on
the court, it's what happens in the minds of your players.
And something tells me your strongest job is getting your
(32:21):
players to understand that. And I wish you luck.
Speaker 5 (32:27):
So true, so true. I just want to say, and
I really sincerely mean this. You're talking to a legend yourself,
Jimmy Myers.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Who's who's tell the many.
Speaker 5 (32:36):
Lives through the radio and as well as now through
through paper. He's writing some fabulous articles in the base
Dave Banner, and people need to really take the opportunity
to to just take advantage of the mind that this
man has, the information he has to offer, and the
challenge that he possesses. So I mean, I I just
(32:58):
want to give him a plug.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
When I first introduced him, I used the words legend,
which he truly is. Dennis, I want to thank you.
I wish you are Merry Christmas for you and your family,
and I'll be checking the papers to see how well
you did.
Speaker 5 (33:14):
Alrighty, thanks so much and have a great Holliday. Take
you all right, God blessed in it.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Everybody, and I'm going to go back to taking phone calls.
We have a gym from Taunton. It's held for a
half hour, so we'll get to you after we take
our break a little late, but bear with me. Time
and temperature ten forty seven thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Now back to Dan Way live from the window World
Life Sight Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
I'm going to go right to the phone. This poor
gentleman has held for a half hour, so Jim and
Taunton I apologize for the length of time he held.
Happy Holidays, welcome tonight's side.
Speaker 7 (33:59):
Thank you again. I appreciate you taking my call, and
you know it's worth the wait. When I get to
talk to I believe you call Jimmy Meyers a legend,
which I would agree with one thousand percent, so it's
well worth the weight. So thank you for that. Merry Christmas.
To you gentlemen. By the way, Morgan, you had mentioned
(34:20):
the word legend, and I will tell you that the
gentleman that was in your last segment, Dennis Wilson, also
has to have that title of legend because he is
one of the best coaches we've had in the city
of Boston, especially when it comes to dealing with the
(34:42):
youth of Boston. So if anybody had that title to put,
it would be Dennis Wilson. He's one of the best.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
I will how do you know, how do you know
of Dennis Wilson.
Speaker 7 (34:55):
I've had the pleasure of actually seeing him coach, even
though I went to a different high school. I actually
went to some of the games when my high school
was playing his high school, and I actually got a
chance to see him coach, and he is one of
(35:18):
the best. I got to tell you. I was very
impressed by the way he carried himself and how he
dealt with his players, and it's it's really a credit
to the coaches that we have in the Boston school system.
So I was fortunate to get to see that gentleman
(35:42):
do what he's what he's best at. I will tell
you he's one of the greatest I've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
And Jimmy, you don't have to go any further than there,
because Dennis has done this for a long long time.
Whatever detractors he may have, because they'll say, you know,
he's boisterous, and please Dennis, you don't survive thirty seven
years at doing something without knowing what you're doing. And
the most important thing is I always tell those same
(36:14):
people look at the success. I mean, I don't think
anybody agonizes more over losing a ballplayer or a student
or someone that didn't fulfill what they were supposed to fulfill.
The Dennis Dennis hurts when one of his charges young
men or women don't do what they're supposed to do.
That's what you carry with you as a coach. And
(36:36):
most people, you know, you look at the great coaches,
and there's so many of them. They agonize over the
ones they lost, the ones that go on and do great, Yeah, good, wonderful.
They're supposed to do that because that's what we train
them to do. And you never see Dennis jumping out
there to say, well, you know, we did this. He
(36:57):
will always say they did this, and that's you know,
that's the testament to the.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Guy right and Jimmy, I don't know. I should have
asked him while I had him. Has he been fortunate
to have any of his players He's done this for
over thirty years go on to the pros.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Well, you know, said a couple of guys play poll
ball overseas. I think Greg Simpson is one of his
greatest players, went on to play at Northeastern and did
have did have a run in some NBA camps and
so forth. That Dennis goes a lot of guys. I mean,
I'm sure that some of the names that if we
want to start to roll them off while we could
be sitting here for half the night. But no, he's
(37:37):
he's done that job. He's got them there. But I
don't look at I don't look at coaching that way
because very few people. I always tell people one in
twelve million people have a chance to play in the NBA.
Those are very large numbers, Morgan, and those numbers get
greater every day, particularly when you consider all the people
that are playing ball in this country, basketball, football, baseball, whatever, hockey.
(37:58):
Your chance is like one in twelve Minutellion. And I
always give this test when I go to just speak
at high schools and places of that nature, even colleges.
I'll say, does anyone in this audience know how long
it would take you to count from one to one million?
I didn't say twelve million, one to one million, thirty
(38:19):
three hours. That's around the world record, that's over day.
That's a day in nine hours to count from one
to one million, and pray to God you don't lose
your place, and so you'd have to have somebody there recording. Okay,
you lost your place at at one hundred and thirty
seven thousand, two hundred and forty one. We got to
go back to that and start about thirty three hours.
(38:39):
So I'm saying twelve times that you're talking about you're
talking about chances that are minuscule at best. The few
people that do make it, the four hundred plus players
I think four seventy five or something like that. Because
the league is getting ready to expand again, they'll have
two more teams, so maybe five hundred players. That's five
(39:01):
hundred players out of a country of two hundred and
no three hundred million people, and that's those numbers are
just astronomical. So as I've coached over the years, and
I know Dennis has done the same thing. Because we've
had these conversations. I always try to tell people listen.
So I try to tell young players, listen, if you
wind up getting a college education out of this experience,
(39:24):
something your parents don't have to pay for. You won
the game. They're paying you to go to college to
play basketball. That's a job, that's being a professional. You're
getting paid for your services. Now you get to go
on further to play overseas or playing the NBA.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
God bless you.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
And remember we've had, we have had, we have had
ball players from this town. One of my just wrote
about in the base the banner a couple of weeks ago.
It is your bass Napier who went from Boston to
Connecticut and he won two national Champsmpionships, not one. As
a freshman, he played with Kimba Walker on the Connecticut
(40:04):
team that won the national title. Then as a senior
he played with the guy I believe Ryan Boat Oak
Knight or whatever his name is, a nothing little guard.
But these two were the principal players when Connecticut went
to the final four, and he was almost outstanding player
of the final forty year they won his senior year
(40:24):
Lebron James endorsed him to be drafted by the Miami Heat.
They drafted him at twenty four, and then Lebron left
and went back to Cleveland, so more or less left
in there. But Chabaz survived for eight years in the NBA.
He Choku about eight years of experience in the NBA.
Just came back from Italy, winning two national titles there.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
Jimmy got to stop you there, jim and tauntin thank
you for your call, but i gotta say goodbye to you.
I've got news and I'm late for it. So let
me quickly just say time and temperature ten fifty eight
and twenty seven greese
It's night side with Dany. I'm deel you.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Two hours down, two hours to go to the end
of nights side, the beginning of Christmas and Hanukkah. And
like I said, there are those of you. You have
the radio on in the background and you're assembling some
toy for your child or children, and I tip my
(00:28):
hat to you. I remember those days. Believe me, I do. Now.
When I use the word legend, I know it's meaning
and I mean it throughout every letter of the word.
This next gentleman is a legend. He has worked in
(00:51):
the sports arena, Good Grief for over five decades. We
first saw him at the anchor desk for sports on
Channel four back in the seventies, and that's taken him
literally around the world. He has been everywhere. He has
(01:12):
covered Olympiads, tennis tournaments, yes here in the United States,
football games, basketball games, baseball, and hockey. And there is
nothing he hasn't achieved, and I do mean achieve in
the world of athletics. He I am proud to say,
(01:36):
is not only a friend, he is a good friend
of mine. Welcome to the radio, Jimmy Myers, Jimmy, Happy holidays, very.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
All of the player Morgan and I also covered Botchyball.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Oh I didn't even say I didn't even say that one.
I should have thought of that one.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
I'm covered Bosekeyball, Model Jacks, Double Dutch.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Oh my goodness, there you go. The double Dutch, Bess
is all. I'm sorry, Okay, I thought of this after
we had spoken. Yeah, and I'm not going to dwell
on it because we have enough things to do between
now and midnight. But this happened in either seventy one
or seventy two. The longest game in football history was
(02:26):
on Christmas that year between the Dolphins and Kansas City.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
And the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yep, yep, tell me about that game.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Oh my gosh. This couple overtimes. But more importantly, they
just marched up and down the field. It was one
of those games where you felt that whoever had the
ball laugh was going to win. But it was a
remarkable game.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
It's definitely remarkable game. And this was the beginning of
Miami's ascent to that that level where they would be
Super Bowl champions for the next couple of years, including
the seventeen to zero run that they made the perfect
season last one, first one and last one in the
history of the league. But that game itself there, let
(03:14):
me see, I believe Jan Stenerude was one of the
key players in that game. And wow, I mean he
they were just a guy named Potolac ed polacking the
running backs off the top of my head is what
I could think of. At Polax was doing everything, blocking, throwing, kicking, running.
(03:35):
He was key with something. But John stener would have
believe while I'm kicking the game time field goal and
I think the game winning field goal we were talking
about fifty three years ago. So I remember, I was
just in the business. I just started at BZ during
that time, believe it or not. In fact, September ninth,
nineteen seventy one, so it was after that game i'd
(03:55):
started b Z. But yeah, that was the beginning of
what's considered one of the great games of all time.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I mean, it was you at home, driving or in
your living room or whatever. You're using to hear this
show night side. Did you see what I did? Now?
Jimmy did not have any concept I was going to
bring that up. I brought up something that was fifty
(04:23):
three years ago in his mental history yet and still
he's rattling off names and circumstances as if it happened
last week.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Well, I knew he could do it.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It felt like it as first when you asked me,
I said, where are we going with this? Then my
brain kicks in that that that autopilot or that that
automatic video in my brain starts playing and I limit,
I remember, I remember this, I remember this, and I
remember this.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Yeah, it was a great game. I mean and at
that time, very few people know anything about overtime because
remember when in nineteen fifty eight when the Giants and
the Baltimore Colts played the first overtime games. That's the
game that basically made the NFL to your orderance. And
if you don't understand it, please go back, go online,
(05:16):
find the video. Johnny United became a household name in
that game. Game was played in Giants Stadium and the
United States team down the field. Another no that was
Tolly Connolly before Tittle oh okay, and Kyle Wrote and
Frank Giffert, those diag were in that game. But more
importantly Morgan it was it was the coming out of
(05:39):
Johnny United to Raymond Berry. They had a combination that
day that Giants just could not stop. So by the
time the game was tied and they were going into overtime, Morgan.
The players didn't know because they never played an overtime,
they didn't know that there was an overtime rule. They
didn't know it was an overtime rule. Wark the referees
(05:59):
had to check with the league to do you have
an overtime rule? Women?
Speaker 6 (06:05):
You know there's the NFL championship game. You know it's
on television. You know there are millions of people out
there for Watche. We can't end up in a tie.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
A tie?
Speaker 7 (06:16):
Are you crazy?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
No, no, no, calm down, Calm down.
Speaker 6 (06:20):
Referees they went over and made a phone call to
the league office.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
We've got it down, what to do, We've got it
written down.
Speaker 5 (06:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Bert Bell, who is the father of Upton Bell from right,
Burt Bell was a commissioner from right. But they had
a rule in place, but nobody ever used it once.
So consequently something comes up and you say, gee, like
the baseball like in baseball, you know what it's about,
fourteen thousand rules in baseball, right, it's a rule to
coverage just about everything. But something will happen in a
(06:51):
baseball game that you've never seen before and you will
never probably see it again. But there's probably a rule
for every game. And that's why I probably loved baseball
more than any other sport because of the complexity of
the game. You know, a dot played on the diamond,
round ball, olong back, basically diamond run around a diamond.
(07:13):
So but the funny part was going back to that game,
no one knew anything. So when they finally figured it out,
I said, Okay, we're gonna play overtime. Okay, what does
that mean? Do we play overtime and keep playing till somebody?
We played till somebody scores, to which Johnny Uniteds took them,
took his team down the field, and I believe I'm
(07:36):
sure Alan and Mechi scored the game winning touchdown in
overtime when he when he dove across the goal line.
He ran across the goal line and just a goot, untouched.
But United had gotten them all the way down here.
Johnny Uniteds a reject player from the university I think Pittsburgh.
He came out of Pittsburgh, but Johnny United played in
Louis Though. Johnny Uniteds led them down the field and
(07:56):
became a household name that day, and football became what
we know it is today. No, Johnny United, is no
such game. Who knows where football would have gone. I'm
sure it would have got on, but not like that
because the whole nation didn't know Morgan White. No one
sitting in front of their televisions knew what.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
Was going on.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
They said, okay, live, what's this? Its side the old
where are we going out? Everybody?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
People? People listening, and that the radio.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Morgan trying to imagine people listening on the radio saying,
what the hell is going on there the stadium?
Speaker 6 (08:43):
But radio MutS to be broken.
Speaker 7 (08:45):
I'm not hearing it.
Speaker 6 (08:46):
No, no, no, they're calling the.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
League office to figure out where do we go here?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
To the night side audience, I hope you paid attention
to what you just witnessed, and we're going to be
doing more of that. Richie and Boston on the phone
line to get it to you. We've got another guest,
Jimmy is bringing along in about twenty minutes to join us.
We've got a lot planned for these next roughly hour
(09:11):
and forty four minutes of nightside time and temperature ten
sixteen thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Hi, I am Morgan Morgan White Junior, filling in for Dan.
I'll be here tomorrow, Christmas evening, Thursday, Friday, Saturday on
my show, and then I'll be here Monday and Tuesday
next week. So I've got a lot of time logged
in filling in for Dan Ray, who will be on
vacation until the first of January. Jimmy Myers is my guest,
(09:50):
and Jimmy, let's take a phone call. We got a
lot of things planned, so let me get the phones
out the way. Richie, welcome your next Happy holidays, Richie.
I'll try one more time, Richie. You're next, Richie in Boston. Welcome.
(10:12):
Goodbye Richie. Well he's gone and there's another person next.
Excuse me, but I can't. Oh, okay, never mind. So Jimmy,
it's you and I again tease what's coming up. In
about fifteen to twenty minutes, I.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Will talk to Dennis Wilson, the head basketball coach at
Madison Park High School. Dennis is from a very very
distinguished family. His brother Harry. His late brother, Harry Wilson,
was the man who started Pop Warner Football in Roxbury
and built it into what it is throughout Boston today.
(10:57):
Harry is a legendary figure, Vietnam veteran, a brilliant, brilliant
guy who lost along with his wife a little while back.
And Dennis is his younger brother. Dennis had picked up
the mantle to a degree and more or less share
that time with Harry, because Dennis was right there when
Harry started the Roxbury Raiders they were called, So Dennis
(11:18):
was right there with Harry, and they built an organization
that wound up sending Massachusetts children to the Pop war
and Football super Bowls down in Florida, and nothing like
this had ever come to this area. So it was
an incredible, incredible moment for Roxbury. And Dennis has been
coaching at Madison Pockets I mentioned for over thirty years.
(11:38):
I think it's thirty seven now, and he has you know,
there's a floor named after him at the school, which
is an honor. They probably could probably even do more,
but Dennis. I've known Dennis for wild since he was
a very young man, and Dennis, Dennis was part of
the show that I did it on another station, six
o'clock in the morning on Saturday. Dennis became the out
(12:02):
there reporter and it was well, it was an experience.
Dennis would go around the community and I remember, this
is a big station and they didn't know anything that
much about Roxbury and Dorchester. So Dennis would go around
and find stories and we would break them on the
air and dieing forever. And then it to Dennis, because
(12:22):
Dennis wound up not only going from there, he wound
up starting his own cable television show. There is a
movie I'm trying to think of, the movie put out
a couple of years ago, a great movie about his
high school team. That this movie went national. So Dennis,
Dennis Moore has more than fulfilled any qualification, that capability
(12:48):
that anyone would want to talk about, because he's a
remarkable human being. And again he's still coaching. And I
asked him a couple of days ago, when I asked
him to come on the show. Dennis, that's a question,
why are you still doing this? He's simple as this, Jimmy,
I love to teach, he said, I love these young men,
but I love to teach the game. And then it's
(13:09):
just sent a lot of young men on in this
life to very very successful careers on and off the
basketball court. So it'd be somebody that I thought would
be very interesting for your show, Morgan, because so many
people in Boston know very little about what goes on
in the black community. I am blessed now to be
able to write for the Base State Banner newspaper on
(13:32):
a week to week basis, and it's online, so if
you go to Baystate Banner dot com you can read
the columns. But more importantly, the two owners, two new owners.
Noil Miller was he was a longtime owner of the paper,
but the two new owners, Ron Mitchell and Andre Stark,
they have really stepped in to build a paper on
(13:55):
a concept of more than anything, of talking about vote issues,
particularly you know, young people in sports in the black community,
and that's what we're trying to do right now. But
you know, and I think of all the things that
have happened, even the things they had to write about
this week, we did the end of the year review,
(14:17):
and when I'm thinking about that end of the year review,
it's always long. I apologize at the beginning of every
every single one of these I know there may be
some issues or some people that I may leave out.
I apologize in advance for that, but we only have
enough space hit the paper to write the things that
we need to write. And we go back and we
(14:37):
look at the year, and I was thinking about the
people that we lost this year, you know, particularly me,
think of our local legends. Louis Tilla. Lose Louis, I mean,
he's gone. And I think of somebody Joe Fitzgerald, longtime
writer of the Boston Herald and one of the most
(15:00):
wonderful people that I've ever known in my life. I
spent a lot of time with Joe over the years,
and I miss him every day. And more importantly, you know,
I was able to spend some time with him before
his children more or less put him in a situation
whereas he was more or less put away to a
(15:20):
degree for his health reasons or whatever. Very painful situation.
But I did attend his funeral out of respect because
I knew Joe, his wife and his family. I watched
those kids grow up. But you know, young people make
decisions and they feel that they're right, and I felt
they were wrong. But it's not my business. It's a
family thing. So I ate that one. But more or
(15:43):
less I was there to tell Joe as he was
being put away. Joe, you were loved and for anybody
who ever read his column, you were blessed to read
Joe Fitzger because that guy.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
A true work.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
He knew how to put gosh could He writes right.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Words in the sentence and then the right sentences to follow.
Tell you what Richie is called back in. I don't
know what happened, but let's get him on before I
have to take a news hit. Richie, I hope you're
there this time.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Hi, thank you, Merry Christmas, and thanks for taking my call.
I'm Richie from Boston, no relation to Richie Powers. And
you talked about the greatest games. I was at the
triple overtime in seventy six, Game five at the Garden
triple overtime. Yeah, that was a great game. And the
(16:32):
thing that was interesting was it was and the interesting
thing was when Hamblechik had that off balance shot. Celtis
were leading and won the game. They were leaving the
court and Richie Powers said, there's two seconds left on
the clock and they had to come back out, and
some idiot came on the court and it started attacking
(16:54):
this pet referee Richie Powers, and a nice guy came
out there and try to help him, and it was
a very nice guy. Yeah, that's right guy.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Two or three guys grabbed Richie. And it was right
after gar heard hit a turnaround jump shot that sent
the game into the next overtime. Because Hamil Checker put
in my head they thought the game was over. Everybody
ran off the court. They came back on and then
you know, into between that time they attacked with the Powers,
which I you know, I was sitting underneath the basket.
(17:26):
I remembered, like it was yesterday. Tell me I just
ran on the floor. I just ran the floor and
dove in the middle of the pile, wound up getting
my knee blown in more or less swollen badly. I
thought I tore toward my knee. But the more the
most important thing with Richie Powers is safe. He would
later do a talk show with me and we talked
about that night. He said, I rolled over and I
(17:48):
looked up. It was Jimmy pulling me about the floor.
I said, yeah, well, I was dragging my leg at
the same time. But great man, great official Hall of
Fame official. But you know, the incidents like that they
should not happen, and unfortunately they did. But thank god
(18:08):
we were many people were there. The security was quick
enough to get there too, to pull those guys off
of them.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
And Richie, next hour, Jimmy and I, Richie, hold on,
Jimmy and I are going to be talking about poor
behavior by fans both during the game and after a game.
That'll be in the eleven o'clock hour.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
But but Richie, go ahead real quick because the Celtics.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
But you were talking overtime football. Wasn't there a game
in fifty seven the Colts and the Giants at Yankee
Stadium that Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
That's the whole game.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
Yeah, that was great, and no I remember that if
I'm right. Yeah, it was at fifty eight. That was
a great game. And I remember I was always watched that,
and you know, I was a Giants fan. But I
want to talk Celtics with you. I'm a little concerned
about the Celtics. They're my team, and I still remember
(19:13):
all those championship games. And I think we once talked
about Frank Selvy we missed that shot in sixty two.
But I was a little concerned because I'm a little
concerned about the Celtics per singis he seems like he's
having trouble on defense and rebounding. And I'm also you know,
some of the big guys like Xavier Tillman, he doesn't
(19:35):
seem to be playing much. Al Horford is getting older.
And also you know, you got big Al and I
you know, and then we got Holiday, who's thirty four.
Do you think the team might be in trouble as
far as ages.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
I don't know if trouble is the word, Richie, but
they are getting older. That's the point to be made here.
And at al a thirty eight. You can't expect Ali
be playing four forty minutes a night. You just can't
expect that. But if for Zingi's is out, a'l has
to play longer minutes, yes, I'm concerned about that. When
I was just discussing this with a buddy of mine
(20:10):
who was a huge Celtic fan, like you, I was
trying to tell him, do you realize how hard it
is to repeat in this league?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
You know?
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I wanted I wanted to talk Yeah, well not only
that I wanted to talk about I wanted to talk
about the last team, the Golden State with Kevin Durant
that won back to back titles. That's seven years ago now,
and it's going to be tough for the Celtics to
pull this off. One. You got to have health, you
gotta have You got to be blessed with good health.
(20:40):
And I don't know if for Zinga's legs are strong enough.
I've talked about this before. He said, multiple ankle surgery,
has knee problems. He's not going to be able. If
he can play fifty five games fairly healthy, you should
be happy. That's seventeen he's going to possibly miss. And
if he's coming back, trying to come back too fast,
going to just put more wear and tear on a
(21:02):
surgically repaired tankle.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
So, Jimmy, I gotta I gotta stop you there, Richie.
You gotta take a break.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
We listen, I listen. Thank you very much for taking
a call.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
You're very welcome.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
We'll have lunch sometime and take care. God bless you,
and Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Merry Christmas to you too. Thank you, Richie. We're going
to take our break and when we come back, we'll
be joined by Dennis Wilson. Time and temperature here on
night side ten thirty one thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on wb Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
I'm Morgan. I'm here until midnight. I'll be here until
December thirty first, including December thirty first, But that's too
far ahead. Let's talk about tonight. I've got Jimmy Myers here,
and through Jimmy, he has brought and a gentleman for
over three decades it has dedicated his life to impacting
(22:03):
youth through football and how to carry themselves as young men.
Mister Dennis Wilson, welcome tonight's side.
Speaker 5 (22:16):
Welcome, welcome Apoli to you gentlemen and all your listeners.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Well, thank you, and tell me what it is. Jimmy
already told us, but I want to hear from your
mouth what it is to do and what drives you
to do it.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
Well, I think I got a lot of it from
my mom. My mom was always wondered was about helping
people and caring about people. And I started back when
I was eighteen, so four decades that not to date myself,
you know, even though I was a spirit of young guy,
but just enjoy not teaching and developing and communicating and
(22:56):
inspiring young people, trying to make a positive impact in
it life and and just trying to do my share.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
I've got a silly question because I've seen them both ways.
In both ways translate respect. Do your players call you
coach Wilson or coach?
Speaker 5 (23:18):
They called me coach. I'm old school, so uh it's coach.
I'm sure they'd like to call me other things, but
they all.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Right now, Jimmy, do you have any questions?
Speaker 3 (23:32):
No, Basically, you know, I've known this man for the
majority of his adult life. But uh, you know his brother.
He and his brother I had mentioned talked about the
Pop Warner program. But then it's also worked with young
women too. Then it is that not just young guys.
Dennis has done a lot for the use of Boston.
I'm talking about teaching him basketball, teaching him other sports
(23:53):
sports other than football. But when I asked him, as
I mentioned when I talked to that a couple of
days ago, I had mentioned asked him why why does
he do it? Because, like you said, I still love
to teach. And part of that teaching factor is the
communication that you have to have with young people today.
You speak a different language than we spoke when we
(24:14):
were growing up, and I think Dennis should address that,
as he talked to when you talk about how do
he reaches these young people today, because that was one
of the things we talked about, Dennis.
Speaker 5 (24:26):
Sure, nowadays you're so right, Jimmy. You now have the
social media. So all these negative traps and these negative
forces just really tearing at these kids. And I feel
sorry for them, you know, some of them being raised
in dystrunction families without a male role model, you know,
to give me that stuff love. There's so many of
(24:47):
them need. But you got to all these as I mentioned,
social media, tiktoks and you know, the challenges and YouTube
and all this. You know it, you know it, she knows.
We back in the day from a sports perspective, we
watched a game, a whole game, and really critique the
(25:07):
different players and the styles and all the different nuances
of the game. Nowadays, they're just looking at clips of
highlights of guys dunker and breaking ankles, as they say,
you know, and seeing all that craziness. That's just negativity,
just dividing our country and just making these young folks
just make bad decisions in their lives through that garbage
(25:31):
that they see. So it's just a sad state of affairs.
But things, like you said to me have changed drastically.
So you just try to just try to have them
sort out right from wrong and making positive decisions in
life that are going to help you know, them go
on the right channels in the right direction and hopefully
not you know, fall into those traps as I mentioned earlier,
(25:54):
that are out there.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
What in newball? What NFL players are the favorites of
your kids? They've got posters of this man on the
back of their closet door. Who are as best you
can guesstimate, who are their favorites?
Speaker 5 (26:17):
Well, of course, you know, I'm sure they probably got
Lamar Jackson, you know, and yeah, and Patrick Mahomes but
they better get him to that boy Jaalen Hunter, Okay,
he's amazing.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Daniels and Washington, Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
Jade and Daniels. I'm sorry, j Daniels, Yeah, he is special.
Oh my goodness. So you know you got guys like that,
you know, uh, that the local kid that they were
that VC favous, they favorus and and uh, but I
would say right now, you know kids love that, say
(26:53):
Kwon Barckley again, Uh, great exciting runner backs great receivers
justin Jefferson, uh, you know, with the electric fying catches.
But I would say that the white the quarterbacks, the
receivers and the running backs.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Do you think is gonna break Eric Dickerson's record. He's
only get two weeks left. You know.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
He means the question of go ahead, take down done
for you?
Speaker 5 (27:24):
Okay, you know, I think he's gonna run the time. Unfortunately,
when you have two great players, you know that you're
trying to share you know, the ball with and uh
and it seems like the big baby Brown he you know,
so upset with not getting the ball, and that takes
(27:46):
away from sa Quon and so now instead of you
post speed and ta Kuan whish you should. I mean
he's special. Oh my goodness, you know you and I
remember the great Barry and and and sweetness find moves.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
But this guy, he is not in their category. Believe
he is no Baron Sanders. But I will say he
can go into that area because that area is a
very very select area, Dennis. Basically basketball. When you talk
to your young people today, who the people they look
at that I know John Moran is one of them. Please,
(28:21):
he really needs a mental adjustment. But besides him, who
is just some of the other players they like. I'm
hoping Jay Gilders Alexander's one of them.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
But well, he now has become one of my favorite players,
and I really push got him as far as just
silent Assassin Jimmy. You knows, he just kills you in
so many ways and just reminds me of one of
my former players, Lloyd Industries. You remember Lloyd Automatic Industrious.
He just kills you with his jump shot, his moves, selected,
(28:51):
you know, his athleticism. Garon Fox is one that they
like a great deal. Of course, everybody loves a I
A U. Anthony Edwards. Uh, He's he's just you know, uh,
women Yama is taking over. You know that that league
by Storm. You know, somebody that tall, that athletic, to
(29:12):
be able to do what he does is amazing. So
you know, like you said, you you you stare them
away from the cud gifted the ability to be doing
dumb the dumb things and making some a bad decisions
that he's made. And then you stay on to guys,
you know, our guys, you know the Jaden Jason Datums,
(29:35):
Jalen Brown's you know, and like I said, Jake Gilders,
you know, these guys, they're they're doing the right things
that they're involved in the community. They're setting good examples,
you know, for for these young guys. It's not easy, man,
all that money and all this endorsements. Now you know that,
you know, of course, and I and I l and
I mean it's it's man, you and I. Jimmy played
(29:55):
at the wrong time. Jim we played at the wrong time.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Then us keep this go to home. Tell me about
the upcoming basketball tournament that's so important now that you
brought it back to Madison.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (30:07):
Yeah, I'm doing the Madison Baccer Holiday Classic, and I'm
bringing up some real talented teams with some talented young
men on it. It'll be the twenty seven twenty eight.
This is Friday and Saturday. First game at four, a
second game at six. So I got fitted local team
Latin Academy that gots Jay and this claim that jumps
(30:28):
out to gym six six ' four leaper. They're going
against Whiston Tech, who Jimmy knocked them out at Latin
Academy last year in the States. So Danny Bunker, great
coach Danny Bunker, he asked, could I make that happen.
I made it happen. So they're tipping off on Friday
four o'clock and then we got a real tough opponent,
(30:49):
Mount Pleasant High School, some rough and tough talented kids
from province Rhode Island. So Charlie Holiday talented. Charlie you
may him back in the day. He's coming up with
his rutus that that's gonna be, you know, tough to
handle for our guys. But hey, we're gonna come to play,
and then it'll be at the Matter Dome Saturday will
(31:12):
be the consolation game at four for the two losers
and then the winners championship game at six and a wardsone.
How did you get it back, Dennis, after all this
time that it was gone. Well, you know, it's something
that I had always always thought about. I went to
Wister's Christmas Classic last year Christmas tournament and lost in
the championship to Wilster. So I said, hey, rather than
(31:33):
travel and in Boston, Jimmy, I mean, we need more
things for our community, for our youth and for our city.
And you know, we got so much talent here that's
not being showcase. And if it is it's out of town,
you know, in the suburbs, and I am not gonna
knock them, but so we need to have more more
events in the city and showcase our talent and bring
(31:55):
talent from without and in showcase of talent from with tennant.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Devis. I want to wish you luck in all that
you do, because you and I both know it's not
what happens on the field. It's not what happens on
the court, it's what happens in the minds of your players.
And something tells me your strongest job is getting your
(32:21):
players to understand that. And I wish you luck.
Speaker 5 (32:27):
So true, so true. I just want to say, and
I really sincerely mean this. You're talking to a legend yourself,
Jimmy Myers.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Who's who's tell the many.
Speaker 5 (32:36):
Lives through the radio and as well as now through
through paper. He's writing some fabulous articles in the base
Dave Banner, and people need to really take the opportunity
to to just take advantage of the mind that this
man has, the information he has to offer, and the
challenge that he possesses. So I mean, I I just
(32:58):
want to give him a plug.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
When I first introduced him, I used the words legend,
which he truly is. Dennis, I want to thank you.
I wish you are Merry Christmas for you and your family,
and I'll be checking the papers to see how well
you did.
Speaker 5 (33:14):
Alrighty, thanks so much and have a great Holliday. Take
you all right, God blessed in it.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Everybody, and I'm going to go back to taking phone calls.
We have a gym from Taunton. It's held for a
half hour, so we'll get to you after we take
our break a little late, but bear with me. Time
and temperature ten forty seven thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Now back to Dan Way live from the window World
Life Sight Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
I'm going to go right to the phone. This poor
gentleman has held for a half hour, so Jim and
Taunton I apologize for the length of time he held.
Happy Holidays, welcome tonight's side.
Speaker 7 (33:59):
Thank you again. I appreciate you taking my call, and
you know it's worth the wait. When I get to
talk to I believe you call Jimmy Meyers a legend,
which I would agree with one thousand percent, so it's
well worth the weight. So thank you for that. Merry Christmas.
To you gentlemen. By the way, Morgan, you had mentioned
(34:20):
the word legend, and I will tell you that the
gentleman that was in your last segment, Dennis Wilson, also
has to have that title of legend because he is
one of the best coaches we've had in the city
of Boston, especially when it comes to dealing with the
(34:42):
youth of Boston. So if anybody had that title to put,
it would be Dennis Wilson. He's one of the best.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
I will how do you know, how do you know
of Dennis Wilson.
Speaker 7 (34:55):
I've had the pleasure of actually seeing him coach, even
though I went to a different high school. I actually
went to some of the games when my high school
was playing his high school, and I actually got a
chance to see him coach, and he is one of
(35:18):
the best. I got to tell you. I was very
impressed by the way he carried himself and how he
dealt with his players, and it's it's really a credit
to the coaches that we have in the Boston school system.
So I was fortunate to get to see that gentleman
(35:42):
do what he's what he's best at. I will tell
you he's one of the greatest I've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
And Jimmy, you don't have to go any further than there,
because Dennis has done this for a long long time.
Whatever detractors he may have, because they'll say, you know,
he's boisterous, and please Dennis, you don't survive thirty seven
years at doing something without knowing what you're doing. And
the most important thing is I always tell those same
(36:14):
people look at the success. I mean, I don't think
anybody agonizes more over losing a ballplayer or a student
or someone that didn't fulfill what they were supposed to fulfill.
The Dennis Dennis hurts when one of his charges young
men or women don't do what they're supposed to do.
That's what you carry with you as a coach. And
(36:36):
most people, you know, you look at the great coaches,
and there's so many of them. They agonize over the
ones they lost, the ones that go on and do great, Yeah, good, wonderful.
They're supposed to do that because that's what we train
them to do. And you never see Dennis jumping out
there to say, well, you know, we did this. He
(36:57):
will always say they did this, and that's you know,
that's the testament to the.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Guy right and Jimmy, I don't know. I should have
asked him while I had him. Has he been fortunate
to have any of his players He's done this for
over thirty years go on to the pros.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Well, you know, said a couple of guys play poll
ball overseas. I think Greg Simpson is one of his
greatest players, went on to play at Northeastern and did
have did have a run in some NBA camps and
so forth. That Dennis goes a lot of guys. I mean,
I'm sure that some of the names that if we
want to start to roll them off while we could
be sitting here for half the night. But no, he's
(37:37):
he's done that job. He's got them there. But I
don't look at I don't look at coaching that way
because very few people. I always tell people one in
twelve million people have a chance to play in the NBA.
Those are very large numbers, Morgan, and those numbers get
greater every day, particularly when you consider all the people
that are playing ball in this country, basketball, football, baseball, whatever, hockey.
(37:58):
Your chance is like one in twelve Minutellion. And I
always give this test when I go to just speak
at high schools and places of that nature, even colleges.
I'll say, does anyone in this audience know how long
it would take you to count from one to one million?
I didn't say twelve million, one to one million, thirty
(38:19):
three hours. That's around the world record, that's over day.
That's a day in nine hours to count from one
to one million, and pray to God you don't lose
your place, and so you'd have to have somebody there recording. Okay,
you lost your place at at one hundred and thirty
seven thousand, two hundred and forty one. We got to
go back to that and start about thirty three hours.
(38:39):
So I'm saying twelve times that you're talking about you're
talking about chances that are minuscule at best. The few
people that do make it, the four hundred plus players
I think four seventy five or something like that. Because
the league is getting ready to expand again, they'll have
two more teams, so maybe five hundred players. That's five
(39:01):
hundred players out of a country of two hundred and
no three hundred million people, and that's those numbers are
just astronomical. So as I've coached over the years, and
I know Dennis has done the same thing. Because we've
had these conversations. I always try to tell people listen.
So I try to tell young players, listen, if you
wind up getting a college education out of this experience,
(39:24):
something your parents don't have to pay for. You won
the game. They're paying you to go to college to
play basketball. That's a job, that's being a professional. You're
getting paid for your services. Now you get to go
on further to play overseas or playing the NBA.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
God bless you.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
And remember we've had, we have had, we have had
ball players from this town. One of my just wrote
about in the base the banner a couple of weeks ago.
It is your bass Napier who went from Boston to
Connecticut and he won two national Champsmpionships, not one. As
a freshman, he played with Kimba Walker on the Connecticut
(40:04):
team that won the national title. Then as a senior
he played with the guy I believe Ryan Boat Oak
Knight or whatever his name is, a nothing little guard.
But these two were the principal players when Connecticut went
to the final four, and he was almost outstanding player
of the final forty year they won his senior year
(40:24):
Lebron James endorsed him to be drafted by the Miami Heat.
They drafted him at twenty four, and then Lebron left
and went back to Cleveland, so more or less left
in there. But Chabaz survived for eight years in the NBA.
He Choku about eight years of experience in the NBA.
Just came back from Italy, winning two national titles there.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
Jimmy got to stop you there, jim and tauntin thank
you for your call, but i gotta say goodbye to you.
I've got news and I'm late for it. So let
me quickly just say time and temperature ten fifty eight
and twenty seven greese
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