Episode #162: Feeney Talks with Marcus Patton

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #162 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Marcus Patton.

It was great to talk with my #friend and college dorm neighbor, Marcus! 

Marcus is the Production Operations Supervisor at ESPN and the Chairperson of The Diversity Council in Bristol.

We talked about:
We have an Emmy! (minute 1)
Marcus is the Production Operations Supervisor at ESPN (minute 2)
Surprise Guest, Andrew Arboe from episode #57 (minute 3)
Marcus & Feeney were “Neffugees” on the 5th floor at SCSU (minute 4)
The 3 rules of Emmy Awards (minute 6)
ESPN in Bristol (minute 7)
Marcus always loved sports (minute 9)
Pizza story about Kenny Mayne - podcast guest #38 (minute 10)
John Fagan and Greg Jewell (minute 12)
ESPN Productions: FIrst, Last, Best, Worst (minute 14)
College Game Day (minute 23)
Herm Edwards (minute 25)
Technology of ESPN (minute 27)
Marcus is the Chairperson of The Diversity Council in Bristol (minute 31)
3 Keys to being a great chairperson (minute 34)
Advice from David Haberfield (minute 36)
#FriendsOfFeeney in the Bristol community (minute 38)
The Singing Principal, LaTanya Farrell (minute 39)
Marcus’ grandparents raised 11 children in Bristol (minute 42)
The Bristol Meet and Greet (minute 47)
The Cash Mob (minute 50)
Text from Jeff Craig about Neff Hall (minute 52)
Dorm photo of Marcus (minute 56)
Dayum Drops and Jay Maia (minute 58)
Cheers to SCSU (minute 1.02)
“Three Cousins, One Dream”  (minute 1.03)
Feeney the Producer (minute 1.08)

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PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com
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Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com
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Creators and Guests

Host

Eric Feeney

After teaching for nearly a decade at his alma mater in Waterbury, in 2014, Eric Feeney began teaching at Wolcott Elementary in West Hartford. Shortly following, Sam Sohn, the father of one of his students, passed away suddenly from a heart attack. He left behind four beautiful children and a loving wife, Nancy Wallace-Sohn. Eric saw first-hand the toll this took on the family as they navigated their way through this unthinkable tragedy. The following year, Rashad Collier Sr., another father of a student in Eric’s class, passed away in Hartford as a result of gun violence. Rashad left behind two fantastic children and a loving wife, Denise Villegas. The impact of these tragedies weighed on Eric and motivated him to build an organization that could provide assistance for similar situations. With that, Friends of Feeney was born. In 2019, Friends of Feeney Inc. became an official 501©(3) nonprofit organization, allowing more funds to be raised and expanding the range of services provided to children and families in need. Today, over a decade since Eric’s idea to build a community organization dedicated to supporting our friends in need, Friends of Feeney has burgeoned into a reputable and recognized organization capable of providing financial and resource support to numerous families and individuals across greater Hartford and beyond. Through this work, an incredible community of children and families has been recognized, who care for and appreciate each other’s kindness.

Producer

David Chmielewski

David started his video career in the early 1990s working on video crews as an independent contractor for such companies as Martha Stewart Living, IBM and Xerox. After graduating Southern Connecticut State University with the degree in Corporate Communications, David continued his video production career and accepted a position at WFSB in Hartford, CT. Within a few years the news and production studios became his charge and David designed, installed and maintained the televisions sets for the various programs at the station. At the end of 2013 David founded DirectLine Media, a video production company that specializes in creating memorable and compelling video content for businesses.

Editor

Stefania Sassano

Stefania's acting journey began as early as the fourth grade, where she took on the role of Scarlett O'Hara in a stage production of Gone With the Wind. This early experience sparked a lifelong passion for the arts. With a background in musical theater fueled by her love of music and singing, Stefania stepped into larger roles, such as Fraulein Kost in Cabaret during her sophomore year at the University of New Haven. This performance earned her a nomination for the prestigious Irene Ryan Acting Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival—an honor she would receive again in her junior year.

What is Feeney Talks With Friends?

Eric Feeney talks with #friends! Eric is the founder of the nonprofit organization Friends of Feeney. Their mission is to help children and families who need assistance after heartbreak and tragedy. www.friendsoffeeney.com

Pretty low.

You look at our cameras.

You know it was a good idea.

All right.

Ready.

This is an amazing

feeney talks with friends.

We won an Emmy.

It's been 157 podcast, but we did it.

I like to thank my mother, my father

and everyone that supported
Friends of Feeny.

Actually,
I'd like to thank my guests. Marcus.

What's up? Marcus? Marcus brought an Emmy.

This is Marcus Patton, everybody.

How you doing? Fantastic.

I'm excited to be here.

I thought they'd be.

I thought they'd be great
to bring us the set piece.

Yeah.

Usually just sit on my fireplace.

So now it gets to go outside for me.

Yeah. Well,
you know, I'm a third grade teacher.

This is show and tell right here.

That one specifically.

We won that one in for the 22, 23 year.

Confront me if I'm right.

2223 specifically is for sports Center.

Okay.

I have three.

So one of them, I got, shortly after
I got to ESPN.

That was for a

special production called
this is Sports Center.

It was a

somewhat of a reality show,
a behind the scenes look at Sports Center.

So Sports Center was live on ESPN.

This production is live on ESPN two.

Mikes everywhere, cameras everywhere.

Handhelds.

We've got talent running through the back
halls.

Production
assistants are working on highlights.

We're in the edit suites
for running out of the edit suites.

Director's produce. It was fantastic.

So we won an Emmy for that
on the technical side.

Yeah.

So I won that one as a camera operator.

I won that one as a producer.

And then my most recent one was last year.

On the management team
for studio operations for the NFL.

Wow. Are you currently the supervision
production operations

super supervisor on the management
team and production operations?

Yes. We oversee, all of our studios,

and we oversee the teams,
the technical teams that,

operate those studio pieces.

Audio operators are media
operators, technical directors,

studio hands.

It's a are

we call it PD, but it's it's a lot of our,

remote.

Kind of we like to call one man band.

Operations. Right.

That one person that's in there,
it's a lot of stuff for that.

And that one person would do audio

technical directing and some automation.

For media, you know. Is that a pass?

Excuse me? I'm sorry,
I pass. Podcast guest.

these Feeny talks with friends.

This is Andrew.

How's everything, buddy?
Nice to see you. Shake my hand.

Oh, man.

People can have so many questions.

Any questions?

Go back to see episode 57.

I came to do an update while on here.

Please do

man. To a lot of different, challenges,

one unit and it didn't work out the
the place I would usually host it with.

But now I'm working at several different,
different places.

I now have a brand of public
speaking contracting for

for like schools, providers, nonprofits
that focus on the autism scene.

That's so good to hear.

And I don't know how this came to be.

I will be perfectly honest.

Yeah, well,
you were a great guest, a coffee guy.

Just ignore anything else
that you see in the background.

Yeah, exactly.

He he drinks coffee.

Let's be clear.

He wants to be a coffee. Hot coffee.

Like I would go to any inclusive coffee
shop.

That's great.

well, wonderful seeing you.

Best of luck and thank you for the update.

Impromptu surprise guest.

Episode 57.

You're the man. He's a coffee guy.

Marcus, thank you for allowing me
to say hi to a friend.

That literally fit your brand.

Let's be a good friend.

You know, that's our motto.

Be a good friend.

Hold the door.

Give compliments. Pick up trash.
That's not yours.

Be charitable.
So it's so great that you're here.

My dude. You were my friend
a long time ago.

We will get into that.

But.

Neff Hall, were you a refugee? Yes, sir.

I'm 25.

Oh, you remember your room number one
number?

Was I though that I don't know,
you're 528.

Last one on the right,
last one on the right. And I took my.

I took the number
with me right off the road.

That's so great, though.

You were a good friend then,
and it's so great to catch up with you.

This is for you.

Thank you for your support
and your donation

to friends of Fini truly means the world.

And I'm really excited to talk with you.

This is my guy, Marcus.

He's at ESPN for 20 plus years.

He is on the board of the Diversity
Council of Bristol.

He's a girl, dad.

He went to Southern.

He three time Emmy.

And these things are heavy. Very heavy.

And like, the ones on the, I think
the ones when you're watching it on TV

and they're throwing that thing around.

I think that might be hollow.

Okay. Yeah, and it takes time.

It takes a while for us to get them.

So once they're done, they take them,
they print them.

They're all handmade.

Every single Emmy is handmade in a way.

Yeah. The three are yours.
Slightly different.

Can you see any, So there's only one.

The one that I got in the early 2000.

Kind of has a different gold to it.

But outside of that, they're all.

They're all the same.

So an Emmy, if you're wondering,
is the National Academy

of Television Arts and Science
and there's rules.

There's three rules.

You know, the three rules on the bottom.

And I rarely see the bottom.

I do know here's what I don't know what's
on there, but here's what I do know.

I believe that she always has to be facing
left.

Okay. Interesting.

Right. If you're a and,

Yeah.

And if for some
reason you ever need to get rid of it,

I believe you have to return it
to the academy.

Very good. That's rule number three.

If the recipient or their successor.

Any purpose to dispose of this Emmy
statuette,

the person shall be obligated
to return the statuette to the Academy,

which will retain in the storage
in the memory of the recipient.

So please do not throw this in the trash.

Marcus.

I'm so glad you brought this.

This is cool. So glad you're here.

And if you didn't know, this is Feeny.

Talks with friends.

My name is Eric Feeny, founder
and president of Friends of Feeny.

Our mission is to help

children and families that need assistance
after heartbreak or tragedy.

I use this podcast, Feeny talks
with friends, and I talk to wonderful

people that are doing great things
in the community.

Bristol community.

Oh, we moving on from ESPN.

How are we doing with ESPN?

So it's up to you.

Let's talk a little more ESPN.

Then we'll go to Bristol.

Well, ESPN is in Bristol.

Is your diversity council in Bristol?

Do you live in Bristol? I do.

You grew up in Bristol.

Bristol central.

Bristol central high school. Go rest.

Go, Rams.

And now, how many years now at ESPN?

I'm going on 25.

Going on 25 with ESPN
and the Walt Disney Company.

It is a huge, huge,

sense of pride for me.

I grew up, grew up a dreamer,
grew up wanting to work in pro sports.

So to be able to tell those stories,
really, I want to tell stories, right?

Whether they're stories
of the people. Right.

Which is a lot of my community work
that I do now just helps me,

allows me, to me to tell stories
about people that and also help people

tell their own stories,
which is really when stories get genuine

is when people
get to tell their own story.

But then,

we get to tell stories of athletes, right?

And those are a lot in many cases,
those are the

those are the pictures for us
that inspire us forward.

Right?

And we get to present
them to the general public.

And what they do.

And so I, I it's a kind of a full circle

moment of what I love and take pride in
and then what I'm good at.

Yeah. You always love sports.

I remember at southern, you new players.

Was it wrestling, women's
basketball, Florida Gators of course.

You're all Gator up.

Bills Mets.

And I think that was it.

But no, it was great.

Even, you know, sports at school right.

There wasn't
there wasn't a lot of what a lot of people

walking across the street
to southern women's soccer games.

Right? I was oh, nice. People were.

People were kicking balls, throwing
balls, shooting balls.

I was going I heard we had a hockey team,
a club hockey team at southern.

I couldn't find it, I couldn't
I wasn't driving for most of the time.

We were at southern.

And then I found out
that our facility was off campus.

So I was like, I guess, can't go there.

But yeah, well,
everyone was hanging out party,

and I was just trying to immerse myself
in more sports.

Very cool, very cool.

It's been a fitting career and literally
don't feel like I've worked a day.

I would do it for free.

That's right.

When you find a job that you love
and it feels like

you never worked a day in your life,
that's so cool.

Some some past podcast guest, Kenny Mayne.

Sure.

Episode 38.

Go back.

He was on Feeny talks with friends and he.

Kenny. Antidotes or tidbits or stories?

Great Kenny story for you
that I can go right off the dome.

And it wasn't, really all that long ago.

So we have a,

one of the most fun areas to work in at
ESPN is a room called screening.

It's a large room and kind of

looks like a sports version of of of,
the New York Stock Exchange.

Like big, big room, high ceilings,
noise TVs.

Someone scores a touchdown.

It kind of sounds like a sports bar.

Yeah, yeah, I think I've been there.

Berman, sit front and center.

Does he have a special. See?

Chris Berman's like, screening,
not screening,

but, But, you know, have you been there?

Okay. There.

And there's a ton of people in there
just consuming sports.

Okay.

It's got a big scoreboard
looking thing at the top.

Up on the ceiling.

Almost looks like the inside of an NBA.

Oh, right.

But I was,
I was supervising highlights in there.

Kenny's
walking by the outer, part of that.

So he walks in, just to see what's up.

It's a big horse racing day.

I can't remember
if it was Belmont or Churchill.

I can't remember.

Preakness. Kentucky. Derby.

But I love that stuff.

Okay. I was one of those days.

He walks by, walks in and sees
everyone just kind of having a good time.

He goes, hey,

if I give you $200 right now,

do you think you can buy pizza
for everybody in?

Yeah.

If that's what you want to do.
You want to.

You want to buy pizza?
There's 100 people in there.

You want to buy pizza
for everyone in here? Yep.

He goes, there's a hundred people.

Okay. Make it 300.

And here you go. Go to Savoy.

I love the pizza at Savoy.

Call them. Tell them Kenny sent you.

And, in West Hartford and,
that's exactly what we did.

He handed me $300 cash.

He wanted to treat everybody to pizza.

He literally just walked off after that.

He had a couple of shows,
but he wanted to do that

out of the kindness of his heart.

So. Cheers, Kenny.

Though, those are the things that
those are the little things

that really make talent stand out,
because we work pretty hard, right?

And it's not so much that we work hard
for them, but it's a team game.

Yeah, right.

So to have them do a little gestures
like that are fantastic.

Yeah.

That's one of the ones I always remember
Kenny Mayne.

That's great.

And then Seth Wickersham, episode six.

And he he wrote a book about quarterbacks
and Tom Brady.

I haven't met Seth.

Shane Spencer from the Yankees
episode 151.

And my and my guide, Greg
Jewel has some Emmys.

A West Hartford guy.

Yeah, yeah. Any stories about Greg?

No. No.

Did he buy everyone pizza, too?

Well, no, but I'm sure he would have.

I'm sure he would.

Well. Well respected, professional.

And someone who allows us to.

Who really kind of paves the way for a lot
of us to do the things that we do. So.

Very cool. Yeah, he very much.

He was a producer of Sunday Night
Football, right?

Sunday. Sunday.

What's the show before Berman.

Ray. Lewis.

Hasselbeck. Calm down.

Excuse me. Countdown. Countdown.

Still runs to this day.

And he still.
Is he still the producer? Great.

I know because
because I'm not on it anymore.

So I'm not sure a lot of times of that
that happens there.

Literally a less than a week ago,
I'm walking through the hallway

and saw four people
that I hadn't seen in years.

I assumed
they were still with the company.

But that's a lot of the it's so big
that sometimes

you just you're passing by
and it's a it's a reunion.

I haven't seen you in a year.
I usually work days.

I usually work
nights. I'm just here working on some.

So those parts are in
and then sometimes out in the field.

Right. I'm remote on location.

You'll pass by people sometimes.

They're still with you. Sometimes,
with another network.

But that that makes it really cool is, is
that little kind of reunion that we get?

Yeah.

Very cool.

And to all your employees and friends.

Friends of Feeney is on your list

where ESPN or Disney
matches donations to friends of Feeney.

So tell your friends you get money.

John Fagin put put me on to that.

So thank you John Fagan.

He's a good friend.

Jeremy Frankel's made a donation.

This guy
I just played hoop with at the JCC.

Romney.

Romney, Romney, Romney made a donation.

So, please,
like and share that information.

I will, I've made my donation.

I'll be sure to match and try to get it.

Some some more. Some more cash.

Thank you, thank you.

If you still didn't know,
you still giving out Disney tickets,

you still got the hook up.

I mean, you know, they they
they help us out,

and they and they help us out in a way
that at times

allows us to help other people.

Okay. Okay.

That's a big shout out to the company
because they don't have to do that.

And they do.

Yeah. It was really nice.

So it is it's really cool.

They don't last long.
Oh, they don't laugh.

We get them, they're gone.

But again the company doesn't
have to do that at all.

So the fact that they do. Yeah.

Is is much appreciated.

So we have a game.

It's called first, last, best, worst.

Your ESPN moments.

You're producing your first production,
your last production,

your best production
and your worst production

or event,
or some sort of ESPN related activity.

Your first one, last one, best one.

Worst one. Any order?

We'll go with the first,

A very surreal moment

that, I bring up often.

My first day at ESPN,

within an hour.

And a half time, I went from watching
Sports Center in my living room,

having never really stepped foot
on that campus

to an hour and a half later,

standing behind a camera,

pointing at that exact same set
and those exact same talent.

Only now it was my job.

Within an hour and a half,
I had to report.

I had to report to work at around
five, around 5:00.

I was watching afternoon repairs
from earlier that day.

It was time to go.

I had in, my first job,
there was camera operator in studio.

So I meet with the person
I'm supposed to meet with,

and they're like, great, we'll take you
where you're supposed to go.

Which was the sports studio a,

they turn me, I turned the corner
and boom, there's a sports.

And I said I was just watching it
on television an hour and some change ago.

So later on that night, I'm learning
how to hold cameras.

I'm learning how to zoom.

I'm getting my my shots
of framing up my shots

of Rich Eisen and Steve Scott.

And again, earlier that day

hadn't stepped foot much on the game.

I know, talking with Kenny Mayne,
I was looking at this guy like, dude,

I went to bed and woke up to this guy
my whole life and I'm sitting across from.

So that was a surreal moment for me.

So I couldn't imagine being in the actual
studio because, again, I love sports.

I don't know as much as you maybe,
but no one loves sports as much as you.

But but it was so cool to to be with him,
so I could only imagine.

And I'll tell you what,
it hasn't gotten it.

It hasn't.

I made a an Instagram post
that literally said that I think

it was the night of the Super Bowl, 25
plus years, and it hasn't gone.

It still feels like that first day.

All right.

And I would say last, thus far,

I'm going to go with really that
because my last day at work,

thus far was Sunday, Sunday night,
Super Bowl night.

And I was in our control rooms
as we were broadcasting.

Not only our Super Bowl, so we don't
we previously

haven't had rights to the game here
domestically,

but we broadcast the game,

internationally.

So, okay, some of our control rooms where
we were actually broadcasting the game.

Our talent,

were so.

That was so that was Sunday, right?

And being able to be there

for that as a part of that.

Right.

And then later on, once the game was over.

So I don't know if you know this,
but the, Super Bowl will be on ESPN,

this upcoming
year, the first time and very excited.

Oh, wow.

So we did something really
cool called, the handoff.

Which was

a piece of production
that we worked up, as a company.

Really just.

Okay, it's the handoff to ESPN.

We're going to start
our Super Bowl coverage right now.

We so we started our Super Bowl coverage
that night.

We had sets in front of SoFi Stadium,
which is where the Super Bowl will be.

We did NFL live from there.

We did a show called
how we just got up from there.

We did a show called Super Bowl
Live from there.

And we'll, we'll sprinkle some of that,
you know, to, to throughout that

that won't be the last time
people will see it.

But again,
I just talk to you about that first time.

Now I'm talking to you about the
the last time I was on ESPN's campus

doing all that.

Pinch me.

I get to be part of that.

Just a regular dude from Bristol
that watched it growing up

like everyone else of the kids
that are still watching it now, going.

I would love to be a part of that. Yeah.

And I tell people, I'll tell you this,
I tell people

this all the time,
and it's really important to me.

In my 25 years plus years there, certainly

a lot of people have come and gone
willingly.

In, in terms of,

the, the thing
that's one of the things that's kept me

there has been our youth has been the

the young bees of bees.

Since I was that kid.

I have, I have a younger cousin,

named Peyton Trust,
who's at the University of Alabama.

She's

since the time she's been eight years old.

She's a huge LeBron fan. Huge sports fan.

She would always go,
I want to work at ESPN one with ESPN.

She's. That was literally me.

And she has said that for years,
so I've always had in my mind.

I have an opportunity to make

to help make this place

what the youth thinks
it is, wants it to be.

Can't imagine where it's going.

I want to be a part of making it
that whatever that is.

Right.

So, sure,
I could move on, or I could be a part of

what I've already helped to build
and have that go forward.

Right?

So that's always been a big,
a big driving force for me to keep giving.

Yeah.

You're teaching everything that I have.

I'm hoping to leave a lasting.

Yeah. Right. Yeah.

And that was first.

Last.

Best. Worst.

Best, worst.

Oh, best is going to be easy.

I was asked to,

to head out to Jacksonville for
the Florida Georgia game a few years back.

Right.
As you mentioned. And big Gators fan.

I grew up with a poster on my wall.

It was it was it was an image
right before the snap of the ball.

So it's a Gator helmet

and a Georgia Bulldogs helmet lined up
right before the snap of the ball.

Literally hung over my bed.

And, you know, from childhood
to adulthood.

Standing on the sidelines inches

feet away from a game that I grew up with.

Right. I ended up on TV. Right.

Not on purpose.

Gator scored
a touchdown there, panning the end zone.

And I'm standing there with my phone out,
and people are sending text left

and right with me on there.

I'm like, wow, okay, I guess I made TV.

That's awesome.

Is that the greatest cocktail game
or something?

What game is that?

So it was called the world's
largest outdoor cocktail party.

It's not called that anymore. Dude.

Students.

Kids were being kids.

They took that as a license to maybe
go a little overboard.

Gotcha.

They've stopped calling it that.

I'm not sure that that tailgate has,

has ceased that type of behavior.

Oh no, I've been there.

It's still.

But yes, that's that's the nickname.

And then back to Super Bowls.

How many have you been to Super Bowls?

I'm usually
so I've always worked in studio.

I've largely worked in studio.

Gotcha. I'm here in Bristol.

In that case,
I spent a time with the social media team.

Doing social content.

So I was there, with the social team.

The social.

Our social team is always, live, on site.

Those those images
you're seeing from our social,

the, from our social handles.

Those are. Those are us on camera.

I'm following where they're at
from a person that's shooting those.

We're not stealing those from.

A lot of times
you can steal them from the broadcast.

You can shape them
into, into the into a tall format.

Yep. We're there.

So we're sending them out.

We're
getting all the good stuff ourselves.

Have you been to a game day?

Yes. Yep.

Yep. That that same.

That was another great game day.

Was that same one. Right.

Just because again you've got Georgia.

Well that was definitely a game day
that we picked the game.

Yeah.

Game day is the game day selection
that we need from.

So game game day selections.

Where as a, as a, as a nation, we're
almost

finding we're all finding out
at the same time where game day is going.

Right?
You know, it's, that's part of the draw.

No. Yeah. Game day is going.

So. And it's it's real.

Load up the truck, we figure out where
we're going, and we're off.

We're coming to the city.

That's awesome.

So again, the production team

where we're on ice, just waiting to
find out where we're going.

When you.

So the games are out every Saturday
when you find out.

Wednesday. Wednesday. Thursday.
Know a little bit before that.

We gotta let we have to let the,
the weekend games play out.

Yeah.

We we've got a good idea.

We've got maybe a handful of options.

Right. Hey,
if this happens, this could be good.

If this happens, this could be good.

And then we let the weekend play out,
and it would be I.

I'd be lying if I said that it was,
always the same time, same day.

Right? We know when we know.

But it's pretty much
the beginning of that week.

We got to go.

We got to get flights.
We got to get. Yeah.

Need to go right there. Schedule.

And then what about

your where
something goes wrong or missing or,

oh I you know what I love
I'll give you my worst.

And it's, it's amazing right?

I, I love, I love the dressing
my own issues and errors.

Right.

When I was with Social team,
it was probably.

It might have been my first weekend
with them.

That was right when Herm

Edwards left ESPN to go coach
Arizona State.

Okay.

First weekend for opening Saturday.

So they also have, like a screening room
where they can all sit and watch games.

So I sit in that one.

I'm a I'm a bit nervous, right?

Against my first day with a new team.

Right? Yes.

I've been there for
15, 20 years, but new team?

New responsibility.

So all the games are starting. I sit down.

Look up.

There's a wall full of games going on.

And as I'm scoping all the games out,

everyone's
hugging and cheering Herm Edwards.

And this is great.

And I'm just getting accustomed
to the day.

Right.

The date

already been going on for a little while,
but it's I'm just getting started.

So I look up I'm
like oh wow, this is great.

Herm Edwards
finally won his first game, right?

Arizona State that's awesome.

That's our guy.

That's our colleague. Right.

Let's make a post for him.

So we go ahead, work
it up, make that post,

on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and,

Start reading through the comments.

And they're like, is ESPN know that
the Arizona State game hasn't started yet?

And I'm like, hey, everybody,

I think I made a mistake.

And they're like, oh, okay.

Normally we don't take stuff down.

We're taking this. Let's
go ahead and take that down.

Oh, please.

What what would you see that made
you think he won?

Celebration.

But they were they were giving him love.

It was, Yeah.

So they were on the field
that were no players around them.

It was in the pre game.

Right.

To me

it was very similar visually to what
it looks like when a victory or something.

Yeah. Okay.

That's great.

The the coolest slash.

Worst part about
it was now I'm covering post game.

And one of the reporters asked me about
hey friends at ESPN.

Actually congratulated you.

And I was like, oh, I made the post game.

There you go, there you go.

And he's like, hey,
those are my guys over there, right there.

They're always going to champion me right?

And and he's back now with us.

I don't know that
I've told them yet that that was me.

If I haven't told them yet, I have to.

Is he you play to win the game? Yes.

But I, I do. That was.

I like bringing that one up again.

It's it's

it always brings you back down when you do
loads and loads of live television.

Hey, your mistakes are your mistakes
are out there for everyone to see.

All right, one last question.

And we're moving on in the 25 years.

You must have seen a change
in the technology, right?

Oh, yeah.

Can you give us an example
or I can, I and I bring this up

to a lot of the young people
because we're moving

we're moving forward in technology.

Yeah. Never stopped.

But for everyone else, that's
really getting used to the newer people

that are really getting used to

embracing change,
not only in life but in their jobs.

Right. A lot of people that work at ESPN
are from Connecticut, right?

They're from Oklahoma, California, Texas,
and trying to get used to a new place,

a new weather pattern,
and then all of a sudden,

this piece of equipment
that they've always learned to use,

we're up here, right?

So a lot of times
that happens a lot of times.

So it always gives me an opportunity to
go, hey, look, here's what I walked into.

And we're three stages after that.

Not right I'm going.

You did maybe my fifth technology, but

yes, being
there from going into HD, right?

Oh yes, HD 720p 1080 I

that took a lot of we're rebuilding sets
where we designing sets

just for resolution purposes.

Then here comes 3D, right?

Everyone thought 3D
television was going to be the thing.

I was broadcasting

aspects of live sports in 3D
because that's going to be the new thing.

Then comes ESPN the phone, right?

ESPN we had our own phone.

Literally our own phone.

You remember that?

No way.

You you did the plan through ESPN, right?

It was it wasn't like a version
of one of the other places.

It was through ESPN.

That phone was actually the first device
that I ever watched live content.

So we were showing
I was at the UConn game in East Hartford

watching a Virginia Tech
game on a 1.5in flip phone, ESPN.

And so then we built the digital center,

as we were going into a deeper form of HD.

Right.

We're switching cameras.

We're switching over to robotics.

Right.

And then we we built Dk2. Right.

And then we're going into 4K, right.

And 4K has got to be

it's got to be upgradable to eight K.

Right. So the technology has changed.

Wow. Incredibly it hasn't stopped.

It's now we're doing things now
with VR a lot.

So and just on the innovative side
of that part right.

We're just we're exploring
in that setting.

So a lot of, a lot of cool things, a
lot of cool toys that we get to play with.

And I was just saying to, our, our,
our friend that owns this place,

that's, that's the fun part that I do.

We just get to play with that stuff.
Right?

Figure out the best way to make it work
and then present that.

Present those stories to our audience
with with those pieces of the technology.

It's very cool, very cool.

Maybe we'll have time to get back to ESPN.

But we have so much to talk about.

You are also the director.

This is very cool.

So 20, 25 years at ESPN, but

recently as last year,
you were appointed last February, right?

It's going to be a full year in February.

Yeah.

I think we're just
over. I would say maybe.

A year, I would say where we are going
into,

I would call this our second nice and year
that into our second full year. Yes.

Director of the Diversity
Council of chairperson.

Chairperson, chairperson.

Yep. I'm the chair of the Bristol
Diversity Council.

So as being a third grader,
can you explain that role?

I'm actually teaching third grade.

I'm not a third grader,
I think. Yeah. Oh, boy.

Time out.

Can you explain to say
I was a third grader?

Okay.

What does that mean?

We'll play,

As the.

So the Bristol Diversity Council is a
is a is a city run official city run or,

under under the mayor,

our current mayor, was asked to,

created the diversity
council back, 2018 ish.

And she left.

She was another mayor.

Jeff Caggiano was brought in,

served a couple of terms, and

now Ellen was just reelected, back
into that seat.

Ellen invited me
to serve on the diversity council.

So I was a member of it, from 2018 until.

And then in

2024,

I was asked to be to, to be chairperson.

So I served 2025
as chairperson of the 2026.

I ultimately simply oversee the meetings.

Being an official city run
or drive with God,

we have rules, that
we need to abide by Robert's rules.

So, so, like a board of Ed meeting?

Almost. Yeah.

So the chairperson is there to keep order.

We have an a, an official record keeper,

to help us keep our notes,
to help us keep time minutes.

So it's really
is it live stream on YouTube?

It's live stream, but,
through a city link, so.

Gotcha.

Folks can find it, on the city website,

with agendas, with every other agenda
that a city run org has and with

that has a link that people can go to
and they can watch it.

Yeah.

I think I met Ellen at a Bristol Blues
game.

Okay.

And then the previous mayor,
I saw you eating,

you were in a restaurant where you doing
chicken wing tasting or something?

Yeah. I can only imagine you.

You saw us at rock and roll?

Possibly. Yeah.

Which is, one of our newer,
Mexican restaurants in Bristol.

Gotcha. Yeah. Yep. There.

And Mayor Casiano came in because that's
when I knew to reach out to you.

We had our board of director,
Rob Parente at Green Hill School.

Had had 500 kids yelling,
be a good friend, be a good friend!

The mayor reshared it, got 5000 likes.

And then the next post was my guy Marcus.

So I was like,
that is what that was. That okay?

That's where you were.
You were sitting in like a booth. Yeah.

Very cool, very cool.

Shortly we can get into a little bit
about why that happened,

because that was fully, related to what?

The Diversity Council experience. Nice.

All right. Cool.

Let me shout out some sponsors.

I'll come back for a quick question
with that regarding.

So we're here
at Maximum Beverage in Farmington.

Thank you Matt
and everyone at Maximum Beverage.

Thank you
Stephanie and Dave from Direct Line Media.

Thank you to Brooke golf
lore Keating agency insurance Keating

agency will they just sponsored our beer
for the golf tournament.

September 12th.

I got the check. So thank you. Keating.

Sally and Bob's peoples
bank, Parkville management.

The fix Ivy float, 41
and New England dawn security.

So with New England Dawn security,

what are three keys that make you great?

As the chairperson
for the Diversity Council of Bristol?

But I, I wonder who said I.

I'm, I'm doing the best that I can.

I got, I've got a handful of folks
that I work with

that I'd love to to hear from them
if they would agree with that.

But, the,

the three keys that I,

that I try to go into this role

with every day,

is to remember that.

We are doing this for people,

and people deserve to be

heard and people deserve to be celebrated.

Hard. Stop.

This life is tough,
and it's tough for everybody.

Bigger than that. When life's great.

Oh, man.

It's so much better
than those tough times.

It's so much better.

Five tough times and one really good time

that gets you through those next
five tough times.

Waiting for that. That good.

So to remember that, to celebrate, to

to celebrate people and their perspectives
and their backgrounds

and who they are.

To remember, to be imaginative,

to imaginative,

Again, life can get pretty
run of the mill, right?

It's it's it can get pretty boring. Right.

And the status quo is easy.

That's the easy part of the game.

But effectiveness usually

usually lives
in that curiosity place, right.

So when you're doing something new
and innovative,

people that have been a part of that thing
the whole time,

all of a sudden
can find a new burst of energy,

to maybe contribute with their own time
or contribute finances or contribute ideas

because you just came up with something,
right?

That they were interested.

And, and then lastly, to.

You know, one of the

someone asked on, Facebook, a while
back, what

what's the best piece of advice
that anyone's ever given you?

And it was a general post.

They weren't talking to me.

That this person,
his name is Dave. Heather.

So, he he he's a Bristol guy.

Bristol businessman. But,

usually tries to get people involved

with his post as a community.

Right?

So a lot of times he'll ask questions
that people can dig into.

And then if you find it,

you can kind of scroll down
and maybe there's something here for you.

And one of his questions was,
what's the best piece of advice?

Anyone that will ever give you?

And that thing is probably my number
three thing.

What I said was someone once told me

that you're not that important.

Remember? You're not.

Then, and on the surface,
that can sound horrible.

With context.

I knew where he was going with it, and.

Oh, I felt that, 100%.

It really had a great part
of changing how I see

what they were going for was

it doesn't always matter how you feel.

It doesn't always matter
what you think about things.

You're not that important. It's.

It's yes, you're you and you're
completely entitled to how you feel.

And it has solidity.

It's serious.

And that should live within you.

And maybe some of that outer perimeter.

And you should really take those things
forward with you.

But to project those things on to others,

to assume
that others need to feel that way.

Right.

Well,
that that's maybe gone too far. Right.

So for someone who hears a lot
and I take in a lot from others, right.

Intentionally I welcome.

Hey, tell me your story.

It's important

for me to keep that open minded ness.

And I'm usually able to do that by
remembering that I'm not that important.

I like it, put you in perspective.

Not that important.

Three keys of the chairperson.

Thank you. Marcus.

We have friends of is really starting to

grow and expand, and we're really welcomed
from the Bristol community.

So again, this will be our third
annual Bristol Blues game.

Like I said, it interacted with the mayor.

The superintendent has sent out
a very nice email

to every school,
school staff and principal.

I have a quick share of it.

If I could find it.

Yeah. Right here.

Boom.

It's a beautiful email.

I won't read it, but we're going to boom.
Put that on there.

That says on behalf of the community,
I guess I'm going to read it.

Heartfelt
thank you to the friends of Feeney

for their immediate
and compassionate response in supporting

one of our families who recently suffered
a devastating house fire.

He goes into our mission, shares our our.

And then
I get the text from the singing principal.

Do you know who the singing principal is?

She was one of our principals
as a family. Yes.

We went to her.

Come on, episode 99, where she.

Oh, yeah.

LaTanya Farrell Farrell love her.

And then podcast 100.

When we celebrated,
I had Javier Colon and Frank Whaley,

her band, and she was the band
to back to back with LaTanya.

So she sent me a very nice email
after receiving that,

text or excuse me
email from the superintendent.

It's LaTonya.

My heart smile when I saw this
come through a little while

on our weekly memo
from the superintendent.

I'm so glad to be your friend.

Peace, joy, light and ladybugs.

She always loved ladybugs.

We had Rob parentis, our board member.

He's episode 117 Insight Technology.

Do you know them?

Tom Holtz and Ryan McKenna.

Any chance Ryan McKenna
I know personally.

Very. Okay, not so much for your position.

Yep. 146

I even called the game
during the Bristol Blues.

So that's on the podcast that's out there.

It was August 21st, 2024.

I said there was an easy pop up.

I go, that's a can of corn.

Can can of corn.

So the Bristol community,
we're going to try

to bring our float in the parade,
the mom fest.

We're really excited to be a part of that.

We've helped many families.

I was one of the families
that we have helped in Bristol.

There's, recently a person, a

father and son crash, person

just recently died.

Shoveling, was heartbreaking.

That is, that is. And we've helped
all these different families.

We hope heartbreak and tragedy,
like loss of a loved one.

Displacement of your home

from a catastrophe like a fire
or like a chronic illness or disease.

So those are our three categories.

And we've been helping
we've just helped our 140th family.

And a lot of them are coming from
Bristol now.

So I think you and your team, thank you.

Thank you. Yeah.
I can't do it without the team.

Anything else you'd like to share
about the Bristol Diversity Council?

What initiatives are you doing?

And you know, I love that
that you really kind of went through that.

I'm, I'm

it's an understatement to talk about
how prideful I am in Bristol.

Right. That's that's that's home.

But it's so much deeper than that.

Right.

My grandparents, were

one of the early, early African-American,

members of the Bristol community from they
they came up here from the South.

They came up independently,
met on the train.

Right. Which is really cool.

So here there was work up here, right?

One grandparent from Mississippi, one

coming up here. There's work.

They need a relationship built.

They settled in Bristol.

Bristol was selling, you know,
getting houses to to African Americans.

My grandparents grabbed one,

11 children later,

and nearly 100 grandchildren later,

which on the 15th of,

we were here,

half of my aunts and uncles went to

I think most of my aunts and uncles
left Bristol Eastern,

grandkids.

Me we all a lot of us went to business
central. Right.

So there's this, this this lineage.

Right? Yeah. That's great.

My grandfather was a, preacher
at a church in Bristol.

And with that.

Right, it's,
it's a lot of African-American pastors,

really helping to build the community.

Right? All they had was each other,

spotted between a few different churches.

So all of those families became

friends
whose families then became friends.

Right.

And all those things are still ongoing
to this day.

Last February,

a, a local, contributor
named Melina Floyd,

someone I'd certainly recommend, that
that you speak to.

She ran a program at the Bristol
Historical Museum,

I believe, for African,
African-American History Month.

And she did a panel discussion of,

a few African-American folks
who are younger,

but we're still a part
of that earlier generation as children.

And to hear my, like,

to hear them talk, all three of which
knew my grandparents, and to hear them

talk about not because I was there,
but because of their history in Bristol.

It I got emotional
about it just sitting in the stands

when you when you hear
people talk about your family

in ways that you don't even know,
that you never got a chance to know that.

That's powerful. Right? Yeah.

In a in a community where I'm serving,

the diversity Council, my brother,

Vickie Patton, has served on countless,

city run organizations.

Who's the chairperson of the DTC
for quite a while.

He currently just opened up a nonprofit
in Bristol called Dads Up Front.

So here we are, just

all we're doing is trying to make our town
to make our city

the best that it can be.

Only because.

Why not? Right.

So with the Diversity Council,
that was that

is that's my that's
a, that's an initiative.

You know, I,
I was serving on some of the political,

town committees early on and realized,

for me,

I'm, I'm too positive in person for this.

What else is that?

Where where can I be positive?

And I found the diversity Council
since then.

And thank you to everyone that's asked me.

I've been invited to run for things again.

The diversity
the Diversity Council is where

I find my place to help create platforms.

For diversity.

Right.

Of all kinds.

So that's that's really
what we've been working on.

We over the years, we have

we've had some trouble,

of of of,

we'll call it
we've had some mass exodus of leaders.

Okay.

Not on purpose at life.

Life starts life, right.

And then it's time for half of the people
in the org to go, hey, I gotta move on.

And then in the middle of whatever
projects we're on, we've got to start

over again. Right?

So that recently happened.

The mayor says, hey, look,

is this going to continue?

There's only a couple.

There's only five of you.

This is going to continue.

I want it to continue.
This was Mayor Caggiano said.

I want it to continue.
I feel like there's a place for you here.

I know there's a place for you here,
but do you guys feel that way?

And if so, what does that look like?

So I gathered everyone together.

I gathered everyone together.

We determined.

We want to be here.

We remodeled.

We figured out who we were going to be

and what we decided we were going to be
was we were going to be

a unit of people that created platforms
for people to celebrate themselves

point blank.

So we
introduced ourselves to the community

with a community event last year called,

the Bristol Meet and Greet.

It was an open forum, open
mic opportunity for anyone in the city

to stand up in front of the mic and go,
this is who I am, this is where I'm from.

Here's how I landed in Bristol.

Here's a little bit about me right?

That when you meet people,
when you meet a good friend,

it starts with an introduction.

We wanted to create that platform
for people.

People loved it.

And you find a common interest in a bond
and then you go from there.

Was the afterwards party? Yeah.

Hey, I know, you bum bum.

So then we we took over the cash mob
from Dave Hypervolt.

And that was what
you saw with rock and roll.

What that is, is it's

an opportunity
for us to allow people of Bristol

to vote on a business
that they would like to

shower with cash for a day.

Oh, yeah, the Bristol cash.

Oh, wow.

So people vote, go back and roll one.

We did their event that day.

So that was the day that the mayor had
come in.

Everyone comes in, preferably pay cash,
but the store takes

whatever they take, right?

It helps with all those fees,
those little micro things that come

from swiping the card. Yep.

And we are getting ready
to plant our second cash mob, as we speak.

And we are also planning our second,

event as we speak, an event called Words
Matter.

Okay.

And that event, is leaning
on being somewhat

of a panel
discussion about words and their impact.

And then that will finish off

with an opportunity for people to,

to stand up and talk about your words.

And what's the sports bar in Bristol?

I watched Donovan Klingon.

You can win the championship there.

It was cool to be in Bristol
when that happened. Sports bar.

So can you name a few bleachers?

Where you at?

Sporty's. And, I think it was.

I think it was bleachers. Okay.

That's on Middle Street.

That's my vote for cash cow.

Bring it to bleachers.

Cash mob, cash mob.

That's that.

So that's a good one.

Bars are going to be involved,
right? Bars.

Oh, you're doing restaurants.
Okay, well, we do, we do go free.

We do all of them.

But that's that's a good one.
We'll put it on the list.

All right. Thanks. Thanks, thanks.

Anything that our listeners

can do to support that diversity council,
after hearing us chat,

where can they reach you?

Websites, emails, phone numbers.

We are we are on the,

we are on the city website.

Right as you go on there and look at all
the city or the Bristol Diversity Council.

Our email is,

Diversity Council, that Bristol City that

are the two easiest ways to reach us.

We are on Facebook,
so they can reach us on

Facebook, in the DMs are always open.

Or probably the easiest case.

Yeah.

No, you're doing great things.

I love I love that you,

put yourself out there to to,
improve the town and, open discussion.

And I love that everyone deserves
an opportunity to share and be themselves.

And best of luck with that friendship
and that cash mob.

I like that idea.

Thank you.

I might steal.

Then suggested to West Hartford,
please do.

I'll tell you what. One one quick thing.
One of the.

And here's
where the impact comes as I was.

So when we had our candidates,
I reached out to each of them

and said,
hey, you're candidate for cash mob.

I, I want to
let you know I'm putting you on the list.

Most of the businesses
were a little nervous.

Hey. Whoa, whoa.
What are you putting me on the list for?

What is this?

And the the place that won.

I had a hard time explaining to them

and getting
and getting the mind around to them.

And the other candidates.

This is a free service. All we're going.

No, no, no, no, no,
you don't owe us anything.

It's not a membership.

It's not a yearly membership.

Oh, yeah.

We are just going to promote
your business.

We want everyone to know that you're here.

We're going to talk about you
for weeks and after,

and we're going to do it at no cost.

That's cool.

Right.

So it's rare to find people nowadays
that are just doing cool things

out of the kindness. Yeah.

Without any thing to gain from it.

We want
we want to make that popular again.

Cool.

But being good friends,
you're a good friend.

And speaking of which,
we're going to talk right where we met

southern Connecticut state.

I'm going to read you
a couple of text messages here at CSU.

Text messages.

Oh, here we go.

We got text messages.

You got to guess who this is from.

Marcus was the chillest guy
enough friends with everyone.

Never had a beef, never cause trouble.

Man was a role model.

He was the biggest sports fan I knew.

Not just NBA, NFL.

He knew him. All women's tennis? Check.

Track and field?
Check. Pro wrestling? Check.

I remember I brought my electric guitar
to Neff, cranked it up real loud.

It started playing 80s and 90s metal.

Marcus and his cousin Adam came in
and I felt bad

because they thought I was bugging them.

They were like, nah, man,
play some guns N roses. We love this.

He and Adam played PlayStation.

I had a, Nintendo 64, we'd argue.

Which was better. I'd be like James Bond.

He'd be like, please,

I'll see your bond and raise you Tomb
Raider, GranTurismo and Resident Evil.

It was him and his cousin
Adam were dangerous in chess, too.

The nails
we used to kill in the fifth floor lounge.

You know, this is

but one of my favorite memories.

This is hilarious.

This brings me back.

Was in the first floor
lounge when every single afternoon,

everyone was chanting, you know, TV show.

Everyone was watching.

We were chanting,
Jerry, Jerry, Jerry and I had a wish.

I had a front row seat for.

I'm sitting at the front desk.

Oh, yeah, you did it.

You let us in here.

I was just sitting there
while everyone was there making noise.

So good.

To answer your question,
every single note in there,

I remember every single one.

I could even walk to his room.

He was directly across the hall from you.

The part that is the part that is the part
that, bears his name with this game.

All right, let me out there. And then I.

Jeff. Craig.

Jeff. Oh.

Oh. Jeff.

I'm in Texas again.

Ten years, five years, but. And he's.

And I just, doc has been on the podcast.

He locks number 58.

Oh, this is great.
I get to go back, go watch that one.

And he's like, I'm watching that one now.

He goes, I love this man.

He's like,
you're going to cut that. Don't cut that.

Feeny Cam Park I open up the podcast
about not being able to park.

Jeff Ben goes on to put together
the whole roster

from 9798.

Feeny and Locke,
Marcus and Adam, Johnny Blaze and Mark,

Andre, Ethan, Joaquin the drain
and Mike West, Jackson, Anthony G.

Brian Brown, Calvin Harris, Jermaine Money
Wells, my barber.

DeShawn. Sean.

Jeremy, Sarah.

Titus, Isaac.

Warren, Andy.

Lisa.

Souza, Erica. Nikki.

Robin. Rob.

The rays. Marvin.

Lewis. The. Rays.

Jamie. Julia. Christina and and the rays.

This guy good.

Jeff. Craig. Right? He's cheap. Somehow.

Some way. There's no.

It was so good that he did that dome.

That's unbelievable that he remember.

Wow. Did he get snacks in there
was, snacks.

The snacks in there. Snacks.

Another. He cut my hair to cut my hair.

Yeah, that was that was my main barber.

The snacks, I loved him.

What did he get Tiger woods in there?

Mike? Great.

No. Mike. Ray.

Yeah, I don't remember him.

I don't remember him.

Kelvin I still I'm still cool. Kelvin.

Are you still see him?

Give him my best black.

I still see Brian Brown. Oh, yeah.

I don't know Brown. Brown.

I don't remember Brian Brown.

I thought you mentioned that. Did.
Oh, yeah.

I don't remember who he was.

Yeah. Real time, probably six four.

High jumper, darker. Dude.

Okay, okay.
How about this guy? Who's this?

I remember these

of you guys were mourning
folks more than us.

I remember waking up to Rakim, the 18th
letter, and biggie life after death

letter.

I was addicted,

and then we're going to show
a picture of Marcus.

You got I got pics.

What's in my.

I'm going to get part of the agreement.

Yeah, I going back into the archives.

Look at this.

He took, I had the,
Zink Zink disposable camera that

and you took it obviously faced it.

Boom.

Yep. That's me. You're in my room.

That's me.

That's unbelievable.

I had the TV VCR combo.

They only played Friday and Dumb
and Dumber.

The closet to the left,
the closet to the right.

Marcus. Adam, I need
I need these for Adam.

Oh, yeah. Adi,

he's going to go sick over these.

Who else?

Rocking the dream.

He didn't write me back.
He wrote something.

Maybe I don't want to read on a text over.

I said, oh, those guys were massive.

Like. Like twins.

Twins, twins.

I remember he picked me up over my head,

over his head and carried me down the hall
like I was nothing.

I think what I think, was one of them.

One of them was Waterbury.

No, they were both Boston,
mass. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. Okay.

Yeah,
they were, And they lived with Calvin.

They had a they had a they had a,

three they had bunk beds.

And I remember DeShawn
they were so big and Kell was so skinny.

They gave him a drawer
to fit all his clothes.

And Hassan had a closet.

DeShawn had a closet.

They gave Calvin a drawer because like
come on guys, I was it.

When I said Waterbury,
I was thinking of, trimming.

Oh, yeah.

Boohoo.

Yeah, that's my guy.

Jermaine and his sister was there too.

Yeah. And,

Oh, Newark Tremaine was Newark.

His brothers. Boo.

I just saw Paul
grabbing his little brother.

Yeah, he's Newark, Kenyan smalls.
They were.

They were also Waterbury.

Oh, Damien.

Damien. Yeah, they were they were cousins.

Kenyan was in the Army National Guard.

Damien was in the Army National Guard.

I yeah, he hit me up on LinkedIn.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Kenyan.

He's in up there. Yeah.

Let me touch his turntables.

Oh, yeah. Kenyan was great.

I remember Kenyan,

man, we could talk.

Nephew, nephew. Jeez.

And see if they built that other dorm
right in front of it.

So you used to be able to see it from
the street, and now they built a dorm.

I think it's called West.
Something that's right in front of it.

It dwarfs never sit behind it.

You never see it unless you drive in the
parking. Oh come on. Yeah.

No, that was the good old days, nephew.

Jeez.

The fifth floor.

So my brother.

Yeah, he was on the first floor.

Yeah.

Kelvin
and those guys were third floor trainer,

and they would high five, three times.

Trainer, trainer.

We couldn't do trainer, but Jerry in the
I remember

Richard Hamilton
hit the shot against Washington Snacks.

I thought he was going
to throw me out the window.

We we like bumped

and I
he I bounced off and he just crushed me.

We flipped me over this couch.

Now his brother does,
I never get to see snacks much anymore,

but I see his brother in law.

His brother, works in the business.

He does a lot of work with Andre Drummond.

And his charity, Andre Drummond,
Connecticut based charity.

Can you get him
on the part? Andre Drummond?

Maybe.

Maybe my brother can't,
but he's got the connect, right?

So so maybe I'm talking about that.

The bigger picture is I also saw him.

He spends a lot of time with, danger.

Oh, yeah.

So he's,

I'm not sure if you shoot video for him
sometimes, but I've seen them together.

I try to, I reach out to him,
I DM dame drops.

I saw him once at sliders 20 years ago.

Before he was like famous. Famous.

And, you know,
he thought he forgot about me.

I sent the picture and everything.

Donovan Kling
and I'm trying to get on the pod.

Okay.

Jamia.

Great guy.

Waterbury
connect. Bristol could definitely help.

You can get me Jay.

I would say that could definitely help
you. Jay.

Jay, you're coming
on. Mark is going to make it happen.

All right.

Any closing mark?

Sun southern. And we're quickly
got one more thing.

And then, No.
It was so good talking with you.

Thank you. And southern Connecticut state.

Yeah.

No, it's, I appreciate, you know,

we'll reach into that about the
the school elastic part of things, right.

Just because, you know, southern southern
created that opportunity for me.

Low key.

I didn't even originally get
into something. Right?

I didn't really get in initially.
Get into anything.

I, I

at the time
when we were coming into school, right.

I, I have ADHD.

It's that that wasn't something
that was my back

then they called it A.D.D.,
but it wasn't even something that

if you got tested for it, right,
it puts you in a different category.

Diversity wasn't even really celebrated.

Like, it was just, you know,

so my grades struggled.

I did my best to keep up with,
things were going over my head.

Under my head.
I was just doing my best to keep up.

And honestly, I did enough to stay afloat,

but not enough to really get me in
anywhere.

Southern had a program called ASCAP.

It was a program for under under

privileged, minorities.

To, to really get a second shot.

Right.

And this program, I think only has like
a 15 had a 15, 20% graduation rate.

Right.

We're going to we're going to bring in 50
kids, give them a shot.

Not even grades circumstances.

But circumstances
don't usually allow them to finish.

I, I got in the EOP program,
so I was at southern that summer.

It was basically summer school
for college.

Yeah. When I got there,
your room was already set up

and I'm like, who's this guy? Looks.

I was kind of comfortable,
I was comfortable.

Oh, but that's why,
I was determined to make it through.

Right.

So southern created that opportunity
for me when others hadn't,

from a diversity standpoint.

And three years later. Right.

I'm, I'm married to the the woman
that I was dating in high school,

and the woman that I.

The same woman you met at.

Yep. That is my wife now. Wow.

And I'm, I'm the dad of two, right.

And it's allowed me the opportunity

to further my education
and make a career for myself.

All from, all from a situation
where others said, no, you know.

So shout out to southern.
Let's cheers to southern.

This is where Matt Whitney comes
in. Hey, hey.

Cheers. You got here. Great.

Is the maximum beverage Here's the max.

Okay, guys,
going to have Yeah. Cheers, guys.

And I saw the whiskey

smokiness off the nose there. Yep.

This guy
Marcus knows his stuff. The sweetness.

Toasted on.

What your top 5502.

Your top five.

That's really nice.

And send him the sizzle
there on the back end.

That's right.

Turning this into a bourbon podcast
telling him yeah.

Or whiskey. Excuse me. Whiskey.
Now in bourbon is whiskey.

Oh yes. Straight bourbon whiskey.

My men say they say,

all bourbon is whiskey.

Not all whiskeys. Bourbon,

Jack.

Just like cheese or Oreos or cookies.

But not all
cookies are Oreos. Correct? Right.

You got Irish?

All squares are rectangles,
but not all rectangles or squares

or the other way around.

I missed

all squares are.

Yeah,

because you only need two sides
to be the same and squares have that.

We're rectangle. We're in for a square
you need four sides. So a rectangle.

That's how we teach the kids
square and rectangle right.

Go back in the video.

Whatever I said is right

okay. This is fantastic. Thank you.

Cheers, girl. Dad, it's our next topic.

Girl dad.

And we're closing out.

He's a girl, dad. He's a girl. Dad.

I'm a girl. Dad.

Yeah.

You have some wonderful kids
doing some wonderful things in Bristol.

We'll share that.

And my girls are trying to share that.

We got to close out,

but I would like to share and congratulate
your children and the entire family.

It's it's a great story.

We'll pull up a photo
with a three, three out of four.

You know, mine does take a village. Yes.

So I have two daughters, Haley and Harper.

I'm going to do right here.

Three cousins, one dream.

Oh, look at that beautiful pic right here.

Boom. Yes, yes. Elaborate.

Three cousins.

So in that situation, right where it is a

Peyton trough.

Cameron. Peyton. Haley. Ben.

Those are the three cousins.

One dream.

They all had a dream to compete
at Miss America.

Over the last four years,
all three have done that,

with the most recent being my daughter
Haley,

then, competed at the doctor, at the Walt
Disney Theater and doctor Phillips.

Orlando.

In September,

we didn't walk away with the Crown.

But, what what?

She walked away

with was, the presidential scholarship
to the University of Alabama.

Well, a full scholarship
to Mississippi State University

and, a handful, general scholarship.

The Miss America organization
is the number one

scholarship, organization
for young women here in America.

We are a pageant family for sure.

I think I walked across the pageant stage
for the first time in years old, walking

with my cousin Nakia down in the Miss
Southern New England stage as an escort.

Nakia then went to,

to compete, to, and Miss Bristol.

Right.

My wife, Tracy, Baton and Nakia,
both competed at the state level.

They both ran their own local pageants.

Miss Harford County, Miss Rocky Hill.

All right, so this is
this is our thing. Wow.

So for my daughter, my niece and cousin

to all have their
their spot in there is fantastic.

Now, when we talk about
friends is from the transitioning

and being models of the community.

One of the things about the pageant world
is they used to call it Issue of Concern.

It was called the Community Service
Initiative.

Every contestant in the entire country
needs

a community service initiative.

Peyton's was Peyton from Peyton's promise.

That is an official nonprofit.

Yup. Very good.

So Peyton's promise provides,

school goods,

to, to students
who can't get them themselves right.

Books, pens, pads, backpacks,

cameras,

is, centered

around, anxiety
within the performing arts.

Right.

You'd be surprised
how many people love the performing arts.

They get on stage and they do their thing.

You have no idea what they're dealing
with.

Once the bright lights and camera and,

you have to serve that community.

My daughter's,
there's the ladybug outreach program.

And I got to talk to Miss Farrell
about the laser.

Yeah. Outreach program.

Haley works to provide, goods

for the, food insecure and unhoused.

So we're working on getting that
to be an official site of one C3.

But those are the three community
service initiatives that all three of them

brought to us. That's amazing. My other,

shout out to her, she had just.

Oh, I guess.

Yeah, just 14 years old.

She hit the Broadway stage,

on the stage of, The Great Gatsby.

Just a few months ago, in October,

she was selected by The Great Gatsby
choreographer

and a couple of their talent,

to perform the new money dance,

the viral new money
dance that takes place in the in the show.

Gotcha. As a bit of a fan engagement.

So if you go to The Great Gatsby website,
you can see it.

Harper and her friend Evelyn from Bristol
Central High School.

Theater programs,
and games theater program.

Graduates of games theater program.

Had hit the Great Gatsby stage.

They're doing incredible things.

I'm proud of their both on students.

Good kids at Bristol Central High School.

They're doing they're doing it.
They're doing it.

I don't know what to say.
Me and their mom are over there.

Congrats, man. Cheers again.

It was so good to talk with you.

We could talk forever, but unfortunately,
we shoot for 50 minutes of Feeny.

But we did. Over an hour.

I can't thank you enough.

You brought brought his Emmy.

I'm taking his home.

Thank you.

Marcus, you appreciate this.

Thank you.

Throw it away. And sure,

this podcast won an Emmy.

Talked southern.

We talked diversity council.

We talked to ESPN. Can't
thank you enough.

Actually, I did a Broadway thing.

We're going to throw that at stick around
to the end.

There's a Broadway video.
I was a producer.

I was in

Gutenberg the musical.

Okay.

Came out and said, dreams.

I eat them, too.

All right.

We'll get a close up fan to,
Phantom of the opera.

I know almost every word of it
from start to finish.

Very nice, very nice. Fun fact about it.

And we had trivia we'd even get to.

I'm glad we didn't get to the trip.

I know we got an athletic game on
July 11th, Yard Goats game on

August 14th, and our fifth annual golf
tournament September 12th.

Please be there!

Shout us out on ESPN

and we'll say be a good friend
on three, one, two, three.

Be a good friend every day.

Sometimes he dreams.

We can show everyone we dream.

We them. Not just the Broadway producer.

We dream.

I need them to.

We each dreams.

I need them to I want.

It's every meeting up with every teacher
and my family

and friends. Oh.

And $280,000 in charity
for the local community.

What are you doing here? My industry.

But I also my Broadway producer. The

one who does your surgery

will be the primary medical.

The way together under way.

What's wrong? Wait. What?

That's right.

What's wrong with that? What?

What's wrong?

Fantastic.

Didn't
you ever see another doctor right here?

And Broadway contract.

I mean, I'm so proud of you.

You show so let me.

Get. Your.

Hair.

Thank you so much. Let.

Have the friends.

A free

day. Hey!