Moving to a new city can be scary, especially as an adult. Kathy Daneman decided that instead of worrying about her big move from Brooklyn, New York, she would do what she does best: plan an event.
A brand-new craft fair will take Manchester by storm on Saturday, Aug. 13, simply because Daneman, one of the co-founders, wanted to get to know her new home city better.
“It’s so hard as an adult to move and find your people,” said Daneman, who has only resided in the Queen City for five months.
Daneman said when she first moved from Kansas as a little girl, her mother said she used to go running up and down the street, knocking on doors of their new neighbors asking for kids to be her friends. Now, Daneman said she’s using this festival to accomplish the same goal.
Daneman worked in the publishing industry in New York City and Boston for 25 years, and worked planning events for the last five. She was one of the organizers for events like the literary festival in New York, a celebration of local writers and books published in the Big Apple.
The first thing Daneman did upon coming to Manchester was join the library board. There, she met her co-founder of the Manchester Craft Fair, Kim Doherty. Together they set to work, hunting down artists and working with city officials to make this fair a reality.
“[Doherty]’s lived here all her life,” Daneman said. “She wanted a craft fair, something downtown so older people could be part of downtown, too.”
In approximately three months, Daneman and Doherty signed up 20 booths and two food trucks. They got everything in place to have the inaugural craft fair. While it is the first, Daneman hopes that it won’t be the last.
“Come buy crafts from a lot of amazing people,” Daneman said. “This particular fair, I hope it grows so we can do more things in the future.”
Vendors will be selling everything from macrame and hand-crafted jewelry to specialty brined pickles and bowls made from wound cloth. Daneman said that it was important to her to find people selling unique and unusual things, items that fit her style of artistic expression.
While there won’t be live music at the fair, Daneman said that she’d encourage any busker or street musician to come and perform at the park. She said that the whole operation was done without a budget, and she didn’t feel comfortable asking musicians to play music for free.
Daneman said that it was fitting that someone with her recent history of living in New York should have a hotdog cart at the event. Jose’s Hot Dogs Cart will be serving up sausages and vegan eatery The Green Beautiful will have assorted plant-based goodies.
The highlight of the event, Daneman said, will be the puppy pen filled with adoptable pups, sponsored by the Friends of the Manchester Animal Shelter. The pen will be there from 9 a.m. until noon. It may close earlier if all the fur babies find forever homes.
Daneman, who joked that she’ll be spending most of her morning with the dogs, said that she is excited to get to know more people in the city and make more cool friends.
“It’s been a good way to learn the city,” Daneman said. “There’re so many exciting people here. Isn’t this great, to all meet in Veterans Memorial Park and see neighbors you don’t normally see?”
Manchester Craft Fair Where: Veterans Memorial Park, 723 Elm St., Manchester When: Saturday, Aug. 13, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission: Free Visit: manchesterartsandcraftsfair.com
Featured photo: Some of the items available at this year’s Manchester Craft Fair. Photos courtesy of Kathy Daneman.
Test your knowledge at trivia night, live out your rock star dreams and win prizes by listening to your favorite tunes.
New Hampshire’s nightlife scene has plenty to offer, with games and events happening at local bars, restaurants and pubs nearly every night of the week. Check out where you can go to test your knowledge with trivia nights, live out your rock star dreams with karaoke nights, or even win prizes by simply listening to your favorite tunes with musical bingo.
Musical bingo is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of letters and numbers like in a traditional game of bingo, you’re given a card filled with squares of song titles and recording artist names. The DJ or event host plays a clip of a song, and it’s your job to identify a match shown on your bingo card. In a normal game, the clips continue until the first player is able to match five squares in a row on their card, whether it be vertically, horizontally or diagonally.
Winners of a recent music bingo event at Backyard Brewery & Kitchen. Photo courtesy of Musical Bingo Nation.
It’s a weekly activity at area bars and restaurants that finds a happy medium between trivia and karaoke nights for its interactivity, said Gregory Nickerson, owner and founder of Musical Bingo Nation. Since launching in 2018, the entertainment company has grown to now host several public musical bingo events at venues across southern New Hampshire, as well as Massachusetts and Florida. Musical bingo is played every Wednesday night at Shopper’s Pub + Eatery in Manchester and at The Barnyard Venue in Candia, for instance, and on Thursday nights you can play at Backyard Brewery & Kitchen in the Queen City or at Main Street Grill and Bar in Pittsfield. All public musical bingo events are free to play, with the chance to win prizes. The company also offers private musical bingo events and even virtual events via Zoom.
Nickerson, a professional DJ for more than a decade playing in venues across New England, said he got the idea of launching Musical Bingo Nation after coming across the game online.
“I was really intrigued by the concept, because it created an engagement that I had never found at an event, other than playing the right music for a specific crowd that’s there for it,” he said.
Each game consists of different rounds, featuring songs that encompass a specific genre, decade or theme of music. You could be playing in a classic rock or reggae round, for instance, or a “one-hit wonders” theme — more than 50 different music rounds are featured across each event.
“We play enough of the song for the player to essentially try and figure it out, so songs like ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’ or ‘Crazy,’ by Gnarls Barkley, for instance … you can hear [the name] multiple times in the chorus,” Nickerson said. “There are a couple of cool things we do like that, to be able to help engage players that might not know the song off the top of their head. … It’s also a cool way to make new friends, because we encourage players at our events to ask the table next to them if they might not know the song, and one table could share a song with another.”
Musical Bingo Nation has a whole team of DJs and event hosts, and you’ll never know which themes will be featured at each public musical bingo event until you actually sit down and play.
“We like to make it a surprise, and that allows our hosts to be flexible too,” Nickerson said. “If we were planning on doing ‘top hits of the 2000s’ but it’s a classic rock crowd, then they can swap that. It allows us to … cater to whatever age, demographic or crowd is in front of us.”
Jennifer Mitchell of Good Vibes Music Bingo, which holds free public events at Salona Bar & Grill in Manchester on Monday nights and at Backyard Grill Burgers & Wings in Seabrook on Tuesday nights, said she got into hosting the game after trying it out as a player. Her games also randomly shuffle the theme of the songs played each night and, prior to the start of every game, players are given a free space that they can pick anywhere on their card.
“I give them anywhere from 20 to 30 seconds of the song, and typically in that amount of time will be the song title,” Mitchell said, adding that, depending on the venue, players sometimes may be allowed to use song recognition apps like Shazam or SoundHound to help them out.
Prizes normally include gift cards or certificates to whichever restaurant, bar or venue you’re playing in. Mitchell said she has also seen some venues give out scratch tickets, or various swag such as T-shirts, keychains and beer koozies. Salona Bar & Grill even has a cash coverall, or a jackpot cash prize that rolls over each week, for anyone who can mark every single square on their bingo card within a certain amount of songs played.
But while everyone loves winning prizes, Nickerson added that the game has also proven to be a fun way for players to broaden their musical knowledge and horizons.
“In my eyes, one of the reasons I started this company was because I felt like I was keeping music history alive … [and] all those songs that are essentially disappearing off the radio,” he said. “We’re keeping them in play on a regular basis to hundreds and sometimes thousands of people each week, so that was the beauty of it. … I feel like it’s the best music game out there.”
Where to play musical bingo
Here’s a list of local restaurants, bars and pubs where you can go every weeknight to try your luck at a game of musical bingo. Know of a spot not listed here? Let us know at [email protected] to include in our weekly Music This Week listings.
Backyard Grill Burgers & Wings 5 Provident Way, Seabrook, 760-2581, backyardgrillnh.com When: Tuesdays, 7 to 9 p.m. Featuring: Good Vibes Music Bingo, jennifermitchellmusic.com
The Barnyard Venue 285 Old Candia Road, Candia, 483-4888, barnyardvenue.com When: Wednesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com
Fody’s Tavern 9 Clinton St., Nashua, 577-9015; 187 Rockingham Road, Derry, 404-6946; fodystavern.com When: Tuesdays, 8 to 10 p.m. (Nashua); Thursdays, 8 to 10 p.m. (Derry) Featuring: JB Entertainment, find them on Facebook
The Goat Bar and Grill 142 Congress St., Portsmouth, 590-4628, goatnh.com When: Mondays, 7 to 9 p.m. Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com
JB’s on the Boardwalk 187 Ocean Blvd., Hampton Beach, 926-1420, jbsnh.com When: Tuesdays, 8 to 11 p.m. Featuring: Music Bingo by Ironic, ironic.it/musicbingo
Logan’s Run Restaurant & Sports Bar 816 Lafayette Road, Hampton, 926-4343, logansrunrestaurant.com When: Tuesdays, 6 to 8 p.m. Featuring: Game of Tunes, gametimetrivia.com
Main Street Grill and Bar 32 Main St., Pittsfield, 435-0005, mainstreetgrillandbar.com When: Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com
McGarvey’s Saloon 1097 Elm St., Manchester, 627-2721, mcgarveysnh.com When: Wednesdays, 9 to 11 p.m. Featuring: Perfect Entertainment, perfectne.com
Saddle Up Saloon 92 Route 125, Kingston, 347-1313, saddleupsaloonnh.com When: Wednesdays, 7 to 9 p.m. Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com
Salona Bar & Grill 128 Maple St., Manchester, 624-4020, find them on Facebook @salona When: Mondays, 6 to 8 p.m. (no bingo on Sept. 5) Featuring: Good Vibes Music Bingo, jennifermitchellmusic.com
Shane’s Texas Pit 61 High St., Hampton, 601-7091, shanes-texas-pit.com When: Tuesdays, 6 to 9 p.m.
Karaoke is more than just singing along to some song on an old stereo system into a half-dead microphone and reading lyrics from a tiny monitor. Many DJs and venues in New Hampshire take it to the next level, featuring specialty equipment and live bands.
George Cox of Cox Karaoke, based in Manchester, said that karaoke should feel like you’re a rock star playing your own concert.
“I love the fact that people can get up and perform in front of an audience,” Cox said. “It brings a lot of people together.”
While almost all karaoke nights will have singers choose a song from a list, sign up for a designated time and sing away, Cox said he tries to make the experience much more special. From a hard drive with more than 100,000 songs to sound systems that add layered vocal effects to the singers, Cox said he is focused on giving the best experience possible to performers.
“When you come to one of my shows, it sounds like a professional show,” Cox said. “It’s like singing at your own concert.”
Photo courtesy of George Cox Karaoke.
Cox was the DJ for Manchester Idol, a local singing competition held at The Goat Bar and Grill in Manchester earlier this summer. It was so popular, he said, that people came from as far as Boston, Connecticut and Rhode Island for their shot at winning a $3,000 grand prize.
“I couldn’t believe the amazing talent [of] the people who came,” he said. “There was a line out the door.”
Erica Fleury, one of the co-owners of The Goat, said that she had known the competition would be popular since she had competed in one years ago with a much smaller prize.
“We just wanted to give … a huge prize away to get some real talent to come out,” Fleury said, adding that Cox’s fans coming to the competition made it even more popular than she had hoped for it to be. “I was surprised it did even better than I thought.”
While there’s no set date yet, Fleury said she is planning to host another Manchester Idol competition sometime later this winter. Right now, karaoke will continue at The Goat through the summer. Fleury said that she wants to see how it does with college students to see if it’ll continue being a weekly event — or if it will slow down to every other week or stop altogether until the next competition.
Cox, who has been working as a karaoke DJ for a decade in southern New Hampshire, said that he’s seen nothing but a boom in popularity for the activity over the years. Even with the pandemic causing most events to close, Cox said that he worked with South Side Tavern, across the Queen City on South Willow Street, to set up an outdoor karaoke night.
“It was the biggest gig of my karaoke career,” Cox said. “I didn’t think people would show but it was packed. There were about 50 singers and a lot of newcomers.”
Fleury said that karaoke will be around for a very long time. She and her husband also own Wally’s in Hampton, where they have a live band performing the karaoke set. The goal, she said, is for you to feel less like you’re just singing for a crowd of people and more like you’re the headliner at your own concert.
“You’re able to be your alter ego when you get up there on stage,” Fleury said. “People like to do things when they go out other than just sit at a bar. It just gets the energy going in the room and livens up the night.”
Where to sing karaoke
Check out this list of venues in southern New Hampshire that offer karaoke. In most cases, singers can choose a song from a pre-selected list and sign up to sing at a designated time. Know of a spot not listed here? Let us know at [email protected] to include in our weekly Music This Week listings.
American Legion Post 31 11 Charles St., Penacook, 753-9372, nhalpost31.org When: Fridays, 7 p.m. Featuring: JMitch Karaoke
Angel City Music Hall 179 Elm St., Unit B, Manchester, 931-3654, angelcitymusichall.com When: Sundays and Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Featuring: DJ Clashious Clay
The Bar 2B Burnham Road, Hudson, 943-5250 When: Mondays, 7 p.m.
Boonedoxz Pub 95 Park St., Northfield, 455-3755, find them on Facebook When: Fridays, 7 p.m. Featuring: DJ Oz
Fody’s Tavern 9 Clinton St., Nashua, 577-9015; 187 Rockingham Road, Derry, 404-6946; fodystavern.com When: Mondays and Thursdays, 9:30 p.m. (Nashua); Wednesdays, 7 p.m. (Derry) Featuring: DJ Rick (Nashua); DJ Jay (Derry)
The Goat Bar and Grill 50 Old Granite St., Manchester, 844-603-4628, goatnh.com When: Thursdays, 8 p.m. Featuring: Cox Karaoke
L Street Tavern 17 L St., Hampton, 967-4777, lstreettavern.com When: Wednesdays, 9 p.m. Featuring: DJ Jeff
Lynn’s 102 Tavern 76 Derry Road, Hudson, 943-7832, lynns102.com When: Thursdays and Fridays, 8 p.m. Featuring: DJ George Bisson
Millyard Brewery 25 E. Otterson St., Nashua, 722-0104, millyardbrewery.com When: Every other Thursday, 6 p.m. Featuring: Bobby Lane
Raga Contemporary Kitchen 138 Main St., Nashua, 459-8566, find them on Facebook @raganashua When: Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m.
Saddle Up Saloon 92 Route 125, Kingston, 347-1313, saddleupsaloonnh.com When: Thursdays, 7 p.m. Featuring: DJ Jason
South Side Tavern 1279 S. Willow St., Manchester, 935-9947, southsidetavernnh.com When: Thursdays, 9 p.m. Featuring: Cox Karaoke
Stark Brewing Co. 500 N. Commercial St., Manchester, 625-4444, starkbrewingcompany.com When: Mondays, 8 p.m. Featuring: Cox Karaoke
Stonecutters Pub 63 Union Square, Milford, 213-5979, find them on Facebook @stonecutterspubmilfordnh When: Fridays, 9 p.m. Featuring: KJ-Dave O.
Tower Hill Tavern 264 Lakeside Ave., Laconia, 366-9100, towerhilltavern.com When: Thursdays and Sundays, 8 p.m.; and Saturdays, 9 p.m. Featuring: DJ Tim and guest hosts
Bill Seney, local host of the trivia event named “Best Weekly Bar Event” in Hippo’s readers’ poll this year, believes a good trivia contest comes down to two things.
“One: It’s interactive, there’s some competition, and people like that. Two: It’s kind of like dinner theater. It’s entertaining,” Seney said.
Trivia is easy to jump into. Everyone can participate because everyone knows something, but nobody knows everything. Typically, bar trivia is free to attend, the only price being that of the drinks and food offered by the bar. A typical bar trivia event lasts about two hours.
For Marc Chamberland of Game Time Trivia, the special ingredient to a successful trivia night comes down to the host. Game Time Trivia is a regular at several local spots, including The Thirsty Moose Taphouse in Merrimack (on Mondays) and in Manchester (on Wednesdays).
Photo courtesy of Marc Chamberland.
“They’ve got to be personable. They can’t be a robot reading questions, [and] they have to make it entertaining for everyone,” Chamberland said.
Chamberland’s trivia events, like many, consist of themed rounds. Teams answer a set of questions, turn in their answers, see how their scores rank in the group, and move to the next round, with scores accumulating. It’s a system that allows players with different skill sets all to show their stuff.
Seney, who hosts weekly trivia nights at The Hop Knot, Shopper’s Pub + Eatery and Backyard Brewery & Kitchen in Manchester, points to the art of writing the questions as the most important facet of a successful trivia night.
“What I’ve learned from hosting is that nobody is really there to get stumped,” he said. “You have to have good questions. Not too hard, [but] not too easy either. My criteria is this: People should have at least heard of the answer.”
He gave an example of how he goes about writing a question.
“If I ask, ‘College Dropout and Late Registration are two albums by what famous rapper?’ And the answer is Kanye West, you might not have known that, but at least you know who Kanye West is,” Seney said. “If I ask the question in the reverse order, ‘What are the names of Kanye West’s first two albums?’ You might think, ‘Well, I never would have gotten that.’”
Seney uses an online scoring system, allowing guests to submit answers through their phones.
With the formula perfected, it’s up to trivia-goers to create their teams and try their hand at bar glory. Seney’s Instagram page, @trivianightwithbillseney,shows the names of some teams celebrating their hard-fought wins. Champions include “Quiz Free or Die,” “The Boothday Truthers,” “Have Kids They Said – It’ll Be Fun They Said,” “Boys’n Berries,” and “Only Here for the Beer.”
Where to check out local trivia nights
Here are some of the local trivia offerings. Some trivia nights happen many but not all weeks; contact the venue before gathering your team for the evening. Know of a regular game night not mentioned here? Let us know at [email protected].
Area 23 254 N. State St., Concord, 760-7944, thearea23.com When: Tuesdays, 7 p.m.
The Bar 2B Burnham Road, Hudson, 943-5250 When: Wednesdays, 7 p.m.
Battle of the Breweries Trivia When: Third Thursday of every month, 7 p.m. Where: Join from Great North Aleworks (1050 Holt Ave., Manchester), To Share Brewing Co. (720 Union St., Manchester), Rockingham Brewing Co. (1 Corporate Park Drive, No. 1, Derry), From The Barrel Brewing Co. (1 Corporate Park Drive, No. 16, Derry), or Daydreaming Brewing Co. (1½ E. Broadway, Derry).
The 65th annual New Hampshire Antiques Show begins today at 10 a.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown (700 Elm St.). The show will feature more than 50 antique dealers from all over the region, taking place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 11, and Friday, Aug. 12, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13. Tickets are $15 on Thursday and $10 on Friday and Saturday. Visitors ages 30 and under — with proper identification — are admitted for free. Visit nhada.org.
Thursday, Aug. 11
Hudson’s Old Home Days return to the grounds outside the Hills House (211 Derry Road, Hudson) today through Sunday, Aug. 14. The hours are from 5 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, from 5 to 11 p.m. on Friday, from noon to 11 p.m. on Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. There will be games for kids, live music, carnival games, a fireworks display, fair food and more. Visit hudsonoldhomedays.com.
Friday, Aug. 12
The Majestic Theatre (880 Page St., Manchester) is putting on Nunsense, starting today at 7 p.m. The musical comedy follows the Sisters of Hoboken as they put on a variety show to raise money after the cook, Sister Julia, accidentally poisons 52 members of their convent. The show will run Fridays, Aug. 12 and Aug. 19, at 7 p.m.; Saturdays, Aug. 13 and Aug. 20, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 21, at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $15 to $20 and can be purchased at majestictheatre.net.
Friday, Aug. 12
This is the last week to catch Bubble Boy the Musical at the Hatbox Theatre (270 Loudon Road, Concord). Bubble Boy follows the story of Jimmy Livingston, a teen with immune deficiencies that force him to be trapped inside a plastic bubble with his mother. The final dates of the show’s run are tonight at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 13, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 14, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for students, seniors and members, and $19 for senior members. Visit hatboxnh.com.
Saturday, Aug. 13
The final weekend dates of the 89th annual League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair are today and tomorrow, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Mount Sunapee Resort (1398 Route 103, Newbury). Read more about the event on page 19 of the Hippo’s Aug. 4 issue — visit issuu.com/hippopress to read the e-edition for free.
Saturday, Aug. 13
The Alton Bay Boat Show returns today for its 45th year at the Alton Town Docks from 9 a.m. to noon. The show is sponsored by the New Hampshire Boat Museum and features a variety of vintage boats on display. Admission is free. Visit nhbm.org.
Wednesday, Aug. 17
Londonderry’s Old Home Days, which kick off today and run through Sunday, Aug. 21, will also celebrate the town’s 300th anniversary this year. Vendors, games, food and a parade are just some of the events planned for the town’s tricentennial celebration. Follow the Facebook page @townoflondonderryoldhomeday for details and updates.
Save the Date! Thursday, Aug. 18 Maple Hill Farm (117 Ridge Road, Hollis) is bringing back Music in the Gardens with a brass quintet from Symphony New Hampshire. The gardens open at 4:30 p.m., with music beginning at 5:30 p.m. On the Rocks New Hampshire will be there serving drinks out of its horse trailer bar. Tickets are $30 and children 12 and under are free. Visit beaverbrook.org.
Featured photo. Music in the Gardens at Maple Hill Farm. Courtesy photo.
New Hampshire Teacher of the Year Sara Casassa received the trophy and bragging rights as the winner of the sixth annual New Hampshire LotteryEducational Cup Challenge at New England Dragway in Epping on July 30. According to a press release, the language arts teacher at Barnard School in South Hampton raced against Vermont’s Teacher of the Year Karen McCalla behind the wheel of a mini school bus on a quarter-mile drag strip. The event raises awareness for the more than $2.3 billion and counting that the New Hampshire Lottery has generated for New Hampshire education since its inception in 1964.
QOL score: +1
Comment: Casassa said in a statement that she was “a little nervous” and “relieved when it was done,” but that it was a fun and unforgettable experience. “Many of my students were there lined up along the fence holding signs and cheering me on,” she said. “It was fantastic.”
All business
Amy LaBelle, founder and co-owner of LaBelle Winery, teamed up with Girls Inc. of New Hampshire to lead a free one-day entrepreneurship workshop for girls ages 11 through 13 on July 30 at LaBelle Winery’s Amherst location. According to a press release, the workshop, titled “Empowering Angels: Empowerment through Entrepreneurship,” is designed to inspire young people to pursue entrepreneurship through training in basic business skills and strategies and by providing entrepreneur role models. Each girl developed her own business idea and plan, then pitched her idea to the group. “We were blown away by the pitches the girls put together in such a short time frame,” LaBelle said in the release. “They were terrific.”
QOL score: +1
Comment: The girls also got to take a tour of the winery, which focused on the STEM aspects of winemaking.
Youth mental health pandemic
The annual Kids Count Data Book released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation on Aug. 8, which for the first time included data on mental health among youth ages 3 through 17 in all 50 states, revealed that there was a 26 percent increase in anxiety and depression through the first year of the Covid pandemic, creating what the U.S. surgeon general has called a “mental health pandemic.” According to a press release, that number was even higher among youth in New Hampshire, with mental challenges increasing by 27.8 percent from 2016 to 2020.
QOL score: -3
Comment: Another finding in the report was that nine percent of New Hampshire children are living in poverty, with 25 percent of households with children having high housing costs, and that 3 percent of New Hampshire children aren’t covered under a health insurance plan.
Whoa, baby
A recent WalletHub study ranked New Hampshire at No. 8 out of the 50 U.S. states and District of Columbia for Best States to Have a Baby. The study looked at a number of criteria, including hospital delivery costs, access to prenatal care, postpartum depression rates, the number of fertility clinics, infant mortality rates, the rate of preterm births, child care centers per capita, parental leave policies and more.
QOL score: +1
Comment: New Hampshire had an especially strong showing in the criteria of hospital Cesarean delivery charges (2nd), hospital conventional delivery charges (2nd) and pediatricians and family doctors per capita (3rd).
QOL score: 83
Net change: 0
QOL this week: 83
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].
The Patriots are back at work getting ready for the 2022 opener. They do so with a host of big question marks brought on by (a) a disastrous final month of 2021, which included getting annihilated twice by JoshAllen and Buffalo, (b) a number of high-profile defensive departures, (c) losing offensive coordinator JoshMcDaniels, coupled with the curious “Bill being Bill” decision to not name a replacement, and (d) low expectations for not much more than a one done in the wildcard playoff round.
So with that as the backdrop, here’s what to keep an eye on this month.
Biggest Strength
Running Game: Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson give them thump on the inside and burst to run outside. That will help the play action passing and let them get it more often on third and short, which is the key to having long drives.
Biggest Questions
Who’s Calling The Plays: Since I was no fan of MattPatricia during his overly cautions, strategy-deficient reign as defensive coordinator, and he was a disaster as HC in Detroit, it’s distressing to hear Matty P will be calling the plays on offense. Made worse by an apparent scrapping of a big part of the playbook to create unnecessary confusion for QB MacJones.
Enough at Wideout: With the damage RandyMoss caused 2007 opponents in mind, I wanted Coach B to use his top pick and whatever else was needed to trade for a speed burning No. 1 receiver (and pay him) the way Philly did with AJBrown. Instead he used that pick on an OL most thought he could get in Round 3 and spent the No. 2 on outside burner TyquanThornton of Baylor. Like the sentiment, but given the drafting record at the position he’s already in prove it mode.
So what do they have? DeVanteParker is a nice addition, but he’s a No. 2 and has been injury-prone in a seven-year career with just one 1,000-receiving-yards season. After that are JakobiMeyers and KendrickBourne. Both solid, but they’re third-line guys who would be much more dangerous if they had a true No. 1. Finally there’s the speed guy NelsonAgholor, who I’ll get to later. If Parker can stay healthy they’re better, but they’re in a division with TyreekHill and StefonDiggs, so they should have traded for the burner.
The Secondary: They’ve gone from the best secondary in football two years ago to a giant question mark thanks to Coach B fiddling while Rome burned. Instead of trading StephonGilmore for value ahead of 2021 (rather than the bag of beans he got doing it at mid-season) and spending the money to give JCJackson an early extension, he walked when it got too expensive for Bill. So now it’s mix and match with retreads and rookies at the corners. Not sure who it could be, but someone has to come through or Mac will need to score 40 a game to win.
The Young Linebackers: With Dont’aHightower, KyleVanNoy and JamieCollins gone, opportunity abounds for all the linebackers they’ve drafted in the last three years. And the question is, can those guys do the job?
Big Years Needed
Matthew Judon: He had 12.5 sacks in his first 13 games. But he got Covid in Week 14 and was MIA after that as the D fell apart. They need a full season this year.
Mac Jones: The numbers show he was better in his rookie year than TomBrady was in 2019. That was good enough for me. Now he needs to be more in command and take the next step up. Plus with Matty P calling the plays, I’m hoping for a lot more audibles.
Guys to Watch
Kyle Dugger: With DevinMcCourty nearing the end, the defense needs the next leader. After a solid Year 2 he’s the guy the brass wants that to be that guy.
Josh Uche: We’ve been hearing about his pass rush potential for two years. So in the put-up-or-shut-up year it’s time to find out if he can be the second edge rusher they need
Rhamondre Stevenson: I thought by the end of the year he was even better than Harris, as his acceleration through the hole and elusiveness in the open made big gains more likely. Plus he can catch, so I’m expecting a jump up in production.
Cole Strange: He can’t be a whiff. Because their top draft pick is stepping into a big hole at left guard and with an offense built on a solid running game and led by a young QB who needs to be protected, he needs to be as good asLoganMankins and JoeThuney were from the jump.
Marcus Jones: Except for a four-game stretch in 2020 byGunner Olszewski, who seemed more interested in running to contact than away from it, the return game has been awful since CordarrellePatterson left town. We’ve been burned (CyrusJones) by expectations from big college stats. But the No. 3 pick had four return TD’s last year. So it will be very helpful if he can be as dangerous here.
Improvement Needed
Jonnu Smith: Let’s just say he was an expensive bust a year ago. Thus while HunterHenry was fine, the two tight end games never materialized. That needs to change and he needs to be much better.
Nelson Agholor: After a disappointing 37-catch three-TD season he needs to do a lot more to justify the expense. And that would have a bigger impact downhill, because if his speed can be a regular factor, it helps everyone else be better.
The X-Factor: The health of the re-shuffled offensive line where flip-flopped tackles TrentWilliams and IsaiahWynn both have injury histories. With not much depth they need them to stay healthy.
General counsel returns from public leadership program
Mary Ann Dempsey, general counsel for New Hampshire’s Judicial Branch, was named the 2022 recipient of the Caroline and Martin Gross Fellowship, awarded by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Dempsey talked about the experience in which she spent three weeks in July participating in the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
What is your background and current role in public service?
After law school, I started my legal career as a law clerk with the New Hampshire Judicial Branch, which is where I am now. I did a two-year clerkship. I went into private practice for 12 years. Then, Attorney General Mike Delaney, in 2011, asked if I’d join the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office to head the civil bureau. That was my return to the public sector and working in state government. The civil bureau team would represent all of the state government, including the state agency, in litigation, helping them with client counseling and things of that nature. I was at the AG’s office for approximately three and a half years when Gov. Hassan asked if I’d serve as her legal counsel for the second term of her gubernatorial administration, so I moved over to the governor’s office for two years. … When Gov. Hassan was elected a U.S. senator, that’s when I came back to the judicial branch, in 2016, to be in the role I’m in now, which is as the general counsel.
What is the history of the fellowship?
It’s a three-week intensive program for state and local government leaders throughout the country. … The group consists of elected officials, law enforcement, city and county folks and then some state people who work in state governments, such as myself. … Martin Gross and Caroline Gross were both very active in public service in New Hampshire, so they created this fellowship to provide the funding for one person from state or local government in New Hampshire to attend the Harvard Kennedy School executive education program.
What led you to apply for it?
Judge Tina Nadeau, who is the Chief Justice of the Superior Court, was selected by the Charitable Foundation approximately 10 years ago to participate in the Harvard Kennedy program. I work closely with her, and she has been such a proponent of the program and the skills that it helps to develop, so she had encouraged me for a few years to apply. It wasn’t until this year that it was a good year for me to do so, and I was lucky enough to be selected.
What exactly did you do during those three weeks?
The program [runs] Monday through Friday, all day, with lectures from Harvard Kennedy professors in specialized areas. Then, you work in groups, and you work on projects. The whole goal is to teach individuals new skills and how to address policies, how to move programs forward and how to engage in dialogue with folks who may have a different view of a policy or a program from you. It’s an executive leadership program that’s designed to help individuals engage in tough discussions to either have a more comprehensive program or to be able to have opposing viewpoints in a respectful and professional way.
What were some educational highlights from the program?
One of the classes that was really impactful for me was a crisis management program which teaches skills to mitigate against a crisis, whatever that crisis might be — any unexpected issue that disrupts the flow of business — and how to essentially be prepared for the unknown. It’s a difficult concept for most of us to think about, but after Covid, every single business, public and private, has had to live through a situation like that, so it’s so relevant in terms of how to make sure your organization is able to continue operations, projects and necessary work. That was incredibly interesting to me. There was another class on how to engage in informed communication, both with constituents and with members of your team. … One program was about power dynamics in the sense of understanding the different groups that you may work with in your role in government and how to interact with each [in order to] make a successful team engaging in that type of work.
How are you planning to apply these new skills to your work in New Hampshire?
One example I can give is [that] the judicial branch is working on the centralization of our mental health docket, specifically our involuntary emergency admissions. It requires interaction with other members of the state government, with hospitals and with advocacy groups. That’s a perfect project to use these skills to help make sure that we’re all talking the same language, that we have common goals and that we can make productive steps throughout a complex process to bring it across the finish line.
Is there anything else you took away from this experience?
It was, without a doubt, the most diverse group of individuals that I’ve probably been in a classroom setting with since college. The conversations were so enlightening and enriched by having folks with different experiences, different backgrounds, diversity in jobs, diversity in race, diversity in geography.
Featured photo: Mary Ann Dempsey. Photo by Cheryl Senter.
