Tag: 241017

Maye day hits home

The Big Story – Drake Maye’s Debut: With two picks and a strip sack fumble, Maye’s first start wasn’t perfect. But it’s hard not to be encouraged by what the rookie showed in the 41-21 loss to Houston.

His 243 passing yards (20-33) was the first time the Patriots had over 200 all year, and the previously non-existent outside passing game appeared as the wideouts caught a season-high 10 balls. That can’t be a coincidence. And finally Maye’s three TD passes are more than Jacoby Brissett had in all five of his starts combined. So while you don’t want to go overboard since they still lost by 20 points, the debut left Patriot Nation dying to see more.

Sports 101: Washington’s Jayden Daniels’ spectacular start has him in the early MVP conversation. So who was the last NFL rookie to be MVP?

News Item – Drake Maye Observations: (1) His perfectly thrown 40-yard TD pass to Kayshon Boutte right before halftime was a thing of beauty. (2) He showed an ability to escape the rush while running out of trouble for three first downs and again on his outside-the-pocket 30-yard hook-up to Hunter Henry. (3) Liked his rhythm with Demario Douglas leading DD to six catches for 92 yards and a TD.

News Item – Baseball Playoffs a Winner: The baseball playoffs are delivering in a big way, with titanic signature moments, like Francisco Lindor’s epic series-winning grand slam vs. Philly; the injury-riddled Dodgers surviving from down 1-2; out-of-nowhere upstarts in Detroit and KC showing quite well, and rivalries ignited between LA and SD and reignited between ’70s rivals KC and NY.

News Item – Sickening Trend: I personally hate it. But with both the Dodgers and Cleveland closing out their playoff series while using openers to start their games and eight pitchers each in their deciding games, get ready to see that strategy employed more going forward.

The Numbers:

2:36 – average time of games in the major leagues this year, which according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe is the lowest average since 1979. Thank you, pitch clock.

7 – receptions by JuJu Smith-Schuster for 130 yards on MNF makes you wonder why that didn’t happen in NE.

26 – times Patriot QBs have targeted second-round pick Ja’Lynn Polk when per the CBS broadcast he’s only caught 10.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Jeff Ulbrich: The interim Jets coach gets thumbs up for demoting Aaron Rodgers binky/OC Nathaniel Hackett from his play calling three days after the rumor mill had Rodgers placing a knife in Ulbrich’s ex-boss Robert Saleh’s back right before he got fired. That lets Rodgers knows who’s boss. About time somebody stood up to Rodgers. Bravo.

Deja Vu All Over Again Award: Given that it hasn’t happened in 64 years it’s been a long time between the Deja and the Vu. But for the first time since 1960 Army and Navy are both ranked in college football’s Top 25 teams this week.

Blow Your Top Award: Hurricane Milton did more than anything even the best D-Ray teams were able to do, which was to blow the roof clean off the Tropicana Dome as it roared through Tampa last week.

Random Thoughts: In baseball a starting pitcher can’t be credited with a win unless he goes five full innings. So how does it make sense that Detroit hurler Brant Hurter entered Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Cleveland in the second inning and didn’t last to the end of the fifth inning during a 3.1-inning stint, yet somehow he gets a win he wouldn’t have if he were the starter?

Sports 101 Answer: The great Jim Brown went straight from Syracuse to be NFL’s last rookie named MVP in 1957.

A Little History – Jim Brown: He was MVP as a rookie after winning the first of his eight rushing crowns (in nine seasons) by running for 962 yards and nine TDs in the then 12-game regular season. He won it again in 1958 when the numbers ballooned to 1,527 and 17 in just those 12 games again.

Final Thought – Luis Tiant: There is nothing I hate more than voters suddenly deciding a guy should go into a Hall of Fame just after they die. They did it with Dennis Johnson in basketball and Ron Santo in baseball. And mark my words they’re going to do it with Sox great Luis Tiant, who passed last week. He should have gotten in long ago given that his stats line up to Catfish Hunter, Jim Bunning and Don Drysdale to go along with his great season of 1968 and being one of the best big game pitchers of his era. And thanks to the wild gyrations in his wind-up and variety of arm angles of his delivery he was arguably the most entertaining mound artist of his time. So RIP to the great El Tiante and boos to voters who never gave him a chance to enjoy the honor he earned.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

Making connections

Morphs and Milestones reaches kids with animals

Morphs and Milestones is a nonprofit that utilizes “rescued and rehabilitated reptiles in education and therapies for persons with special needs,” such as DiGeorge Syndrome, autism, and all kinds of delayed development. It also works with standard education as well as individuals with emotional PTSD. Nate Monty runs the organization with his wife, Brenda Casillas. Nate has more than a decade of veterinary technician and zoo experience. They will present an educational program at Manchester City Library on Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 6 p.m. and expect to be opening a facility in Francestown in a matter of weeks, although no date has been made official yet. Visit morphsandmilestones.com.

What is Morphs and Milestones?

Morphs and Milestones is a nonprofit that me and Brenda started. We started it because of the work we did with our daughter, Autumn Rose. My daughter, Autumn, has DiGeorge Syndrome, and she is nonverbal, and they were having an exceptionally hard time teaching her how to communicate effectively so that they could go ahead and figure out exactly what she was learning and what she wasn’t learning. We found that through the exposure to reptiles, which were her favorite animals, that she would get in a mode of almost being very investigative. And we utilized that to help teach her ASL … we were urged by her special education team to make it available for others. So at the core, Morphs and Milestones is a nonprofit organization that uses rescued and rehabbed animals and we use them as therapy and educational aids.

What made you think to try using reptiles to help with your daughter, Autumn?

[W]e were building with some sticks, some just fun stuff to build and knock down. And on one of the displays I had mounted on the wall, I had turned on YouTube … and a YouTuber came up that was handling snakes and she got really excited. And then immediately after being excited, she sat down and just watched the screen. And I said, ‘Hey, wait a second, there’s something here.’ And that’s how we got into reptiles.

What will the educational program be like at Manchester City Library?

At Manchester it’s going to be an auditorium-style program. That’s what we did last time. And it’s not like a standard auditorium program. There will be a time where I am up front and I am speaking and showing the animals, but I also utilize our volunteer team. And while I’m talking about the animals, the individuals watching the program and attending the program actually get to physically touch and see the animals up close so that they can see and almost feel the experience in real time. So we’ll do that over several ambassadors that we bring. And at the end we invite everybody to come up to the front or on the stage. And they can interact with the animals at a higher level and really have one-on-one conversations with things that interest them about the animals.

Can you expand on the Autumn’s Adoption Corner portion of Morphs and Milestones?

Morphs and Milestones started off just doing the therapy work and then as it grew we did therapy and education. As that grew, people started finding out that we’re here, and sometimes it was people who needed to find a place to actually put an animal … they started reaching out to us and said, ‘Hey, can you help us?’ … So we built Autumn’s Adoption Corner. When the animals come in to see us, they’re all evaluated and taken care of and then the adoption process is very similar to what you see with other companion animals like dogs and cats and horses. We modeled a lot of it off like what we saw with the SPCAs and the rescue leagues so that the next home could be a forever home.

What does the future look like for you all?

[W]e’re actually opening a facility in Francestown, New Hampshire. It’s at 74B Main St. And the facility is .. an old firehouse. And on the bottom floor is going to be an adaptive classroom … The second floor of it …is going to be the area where we have a teacher resource center.

Morphs and Milestones
Educational Program
When: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 4 to 6 p.m.
Where: Manchester City Library, 405 Pine St., Manchester
Free, open to the public
morphsandmilestones.com

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

News & Notes 24/10/17

The ick season

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services is encouraging Granite Staters to talk to their health care providers about immunizations to protect themselves from serious illnesses related to flu, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and Covid-19, especially high-risk populations “including older adults, infants and young children, pregnant mothers and individuals with weakened immune systems,” according to an Oct. 9 press release. “The best way for people to protect themselves against the flu and other respiratory illnesses this season is to get recommended immunizations,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan. “Staying home when you are sick and washing your hands frequently are also important measures….” New Hampshire residents can get a sense of the respiratory virus levels in specific communities at wisdom.dhhs.nh.gov; click on “Wastewater Surveillance” under the “Infectious Disease and Immunization” category. To find locations to get vaccinations in your area, go to vaccines.gov.

Give blood, get a treat

To restock blood products after recent hurricanes the Red Cross is urging people to give blood, according to a press release from American Red Cross of New England. Go to redcross.org/nne to find donation times and locations near you. Through Oct. 31, donors will receive an emailed $10 Amazon gift card for donating and be entered to win one of three $5,000 gift cards, according to the website.

Help for helpers

Easterseals NH has received a state grant to train “direct support professionals working for organizations across New Hampshire,” according to an Easterseals press release. “Easterseals NH will be offering courses that provide direct support providers a pathway to advancement and certification through the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP),” the release said. “Professionals who earn NADSP certification are acknowledged for their exemplary work in supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities or acquired brain injuries.” Online and in-person courses will be available and the courses will begin in November. See eastersealsnh.org/training-center-of-excellence.

Loons & lakes

The Loon Preservation Committee has two talks on the October calendar. On Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. Iain MacLeod, executive director of the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, will talk about “what has been learned by attaching satellite trackers to several ospreys migrating from New Hampshire to South America. Iain has been studying ospreys for decades, including monitoring the growing breeding osprey population in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region since 1997,” according to a Committee newsletter. The event takes place at the Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road in Moultonborough. On Thursday, Oct. 24, at 4:30 p.m. the Loon Center will host a session with Bree Rossiter from the Lake Winnipesaukee Association about the basics of cyanobacteria (the talk will also be posted online afterward), the newsletter said. See loon.org.

Eats for a cause

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire will hold its sixth annual “Share the Bounty Weekend” on Saturday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 20, when shoppers and diners at participating locations will help raise money for the Farm Share Program, according to a NOFA-NH release. Participating eateries include Revival Kitchen & Bar and The Works Bakery Cafe in Concord; The Works locations in Durham, Keene and Portsmouth; Witching Hour Provisions in Hopkinton; Kearsarge Food Hub & Sweet Beet Market in Bradford, and Black Trumpet Bistro in Portsmouth, the release said. “The Farm Share Program connects community members with limited incomes to low-cost Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares, also known as farm shares, from local, NOFA-NH member farms,” according to the release. See nhofanh.org for more.

Sports news

NHTI — Concord’s Community College has appointed Annie Mattarazzo as the college’s new athletics director, according to an NHTI press release. “Mattarazzo comes to NHTI from Bishop Brady High School, where she served as its athletic director, media and communications coordinator, and math and leadership teacher,” the release said. In the release, NHTI President Patrick Tompkins said, “Annie is extraordinarily well known, respected, and loved in the Concord community and athletics more generally. Just as Paul Hogan essentially created NHTI’s athletics program over the last two decades, Annie will shape our women’s and men’s sports for the next chapter.”

Mattarazzo is a Concord resident, a graduate of Manchester’s Trinity High School and an alumnus of Plymouth State University (for undergrad) and Southern New Hampshire University, where she earned an M.S. in Sports Management, the release said. NHTI has 13 women’s and men’s sports, the release said. Mattarazzo will start her job at NHTI on Nov. 1, the release said.

Put your carved pumpkin on one of the four pumpkin towers in downtown Laconia during the upcoming NH Pumpkin Festival. Register your pumpkin participation at nhpumpkinfestival.com, according to a festival email. Pumpkin Drop-Off is Tuesday, Oct. 22, through Friday, Oct. 25. See nhpumpkinfestival.com.

Temple Adath Yeshurun Brotherhood will hold its annual candidates forum on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 9 a.m. at the temple, 152 Prospect St. in Manchester. Doors open at 8:45 a.m. and the forum will be moderated by George Bruno, former U.S. ambassador to Belize. Candidates slated to attend include gubernatorial candidates Joyce Craig and Kelly Ayotte; congressional candidates for House District 1 Chris Pappas and Russell Prescott and for House District 2 Maggie Goodlander and Lily Tang Williams, the release said.

The Bedford Historical Society will hold a Harvest Gala to support the Stevens-Buswell Community Center, a project that is rehabbing the town’s original two-room school house for use as a community center, on Friday, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m. at the Manchester Country Club in Bedford. Enjoy music, dancing and food. Tickets cost $100. See bedfordhistoricalnh.org.

University of New Hampshire in Durham announced the addition of Aaron Gray as assistant coach for women’s lacrosse, joining UNH first-year head coach Taylor Bastien. Gray comes to UNH from UMass Lowell, where he was an assistant coach for the 2023 and 2024 seasons, according to a press release. See unhwildcats.com for updates on the lacrosse season.

Sunday, Oct. 20, is the final Sunday of the season for the Nashua Farmers Market, which takes place on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 6 Hartshorn Ave. in Nashua. See downtownnashua.org.

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