Latest / Chirping Zebras / MIKE PITT | Chirping Zebras Podcast | Ep 105
Transcript
- Mark Riley: Mike Pitt, welcome to the show. Welcome to the Charping Zebras. Mike Pitt: What's going on fellas? Thanks so much for having me. Mark Riley: No, it's awesome to have you and what you do is extremely important. Why don't you give us kind of a rundown of your role with the Peter Freide ALS Foundation. Geno Binda: Absolutely. Mike Pitt: Yeah, so my role, kind of the origin extends far beyond the official title and everything we do as a foundation. So Pete was one of my childhood best buddies. ⁓ Met the first day of football practice in high school and then sat together at lunch and then, know, just buddies ever since then. You he went to BC, I went to Northeastern. So, you know, we do home and ways at Maryann's and Punter's and, you know. Mark Riley: I'm Mike Pitt: Then we moved into Gino's old stomping grounds in Southie after and played pretend adult for a few years. ⁓ Yeah, yeah, exactly, Yeah, and so when Pete got diagnosed, we... Geno Binda: Exactly, you have to. All you yuppies. Mark Riley: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Mike Pitt: kind of everybody just banded together and tried to help raise awareness, but also raise funds for his medical care, which year over year, mean, was actually month over month just kind of skyrocketed as it does with any of us patient. So, you know, while he's with us, we're... you know, it was just, his buddy and, you know, trying to help, help him and the family raise funds. And then it was only after his passing that his mom and dad, John and Nance, started the foundation. And it was from those financial struggles that like they knew that was going to be the purpose for the foundation and helping ALS patients and families pay for the out of pocket costs, which, you know, most people don't know that insurance doesn't cover any home care for any of these patients. which is, I mean, it's unacceptable at the least, but yeah, I mean, it can be for a progress patient, you're looking at at least a quarter million dollars a year out of pocket. And that's just to keep them in the house with their family, their kids, their wife, their spouse, whoever it is. ⁓ And then it was a couple of years ago. Mark Riley: Crazy. Mike Pitt: John and Anse, they're just, you know, it's been a lot for them to carry and I've had to step in. And so this is where I've been ever since and keeping the ball on. Geno Binda: Good for you. Mark Riley: Now, a lot of people hear the name Peter Freides, right? And they think of the Ice Bucket Challenge, they think of ALS, but I don't know if anyone knows kind of who he was as a person and kind of like how great of an athlete he was. So maybe you can kind of like educate people on who he was. So they kind of put a, not a, know, put a little more to the name than just what they know. Mike Pitt: Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, you guys would have loved him. He would have fit right in with your crew. He was an all-time shit talker, just always chirping guys. I think that's primarily why I like playing baseball, because he wouldn't shut up. He would just keep talking and talking. Mark Riley: Ha ha. Mike Pitt: Even, you know, so we played football together in high school. was a three sport star, football, hockey, and baseball. And I remember even during football games, you know, we'd be lining up and he's chirping at the running back or the wide receiver. I'm like, Pete, will you shut up? It's like even our own teammates are like, dude, just relax. But he was the best. Mark Riley: Yeah. Geno Binda: It's all part of it. Mike Pitt: But so he actually, it's funny that he's known for baseball. That's kind of where he put all his eggs because hockey was really his first love. ⁓ He was the captain of our team at St. John's prep who had, you know, some studs. ⁓ Matt Antonelli who... He could have played at Harvard, ended up playing baseball at Wake Forest and getting drafted by the Padres out of high school. that was kind of his track. But Johnny McCarthy, who played at BU, was on the national championship team, was captain there. He was on that team. And Pete, his leadership shone just as bright as well as his athleticism on the ice. Um, so he was fantastic there, baseball, obviously, and, uh, football, he started as our safety and, know, he could, he could come downhill and tackle the best of them. Um, so yeah, he was, I mean, he was a big kid, you know, fast. Um, but yeah, and he was just, he was, he was a hockey guy. was ultimate teammate, you know, locker room guy. Um, and just brought it together. So he was, he was a great guy. Geno Binda: It's Hockey. Hockey is a small world and you brought up a name John McCarthy and we talked about Sean Sullivan before we got on here. They play together in Worcester. Yeah, that's a small world, man. Mark Riley: Now we're going to Mike Pitt: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we used to go, I used to go to those games that we tie one on over. Was it Irish Times and was there afterwards? Yeah. Geno Binda: ⁓ yeah, there's a whole bunch of spots, yeah. Absolutely. Mark Riley: I do want to point out that so you're a St. John's prep guy, Gino is a BC high guy, I'm a Zivarian guy. So we'll put aside our differences. Although I think in the tournament this year, I think all three are out. Is BC still in? As of this taping, ⁓ I know ⁓ Zivarian got knocked out by someone and I think the prep got ⁓ upset too. Mike Pitt: You There we go, cat the conference. Geno Binda: Let's go. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Mark Riley: So. Geno Binda: It's a shame to see CM lose too. That was a shame. Mike Pitt: ⁓ We all hate to see that. We all hate to see that. Mark Riley: I know, we hate seeing that. One thing we can agree on is CM sucks. No, I'm just kidding. My nephew went there. ⁓ Geno Binda: Bleh. ⁓ No, no, you're not can marking. Mike Pitt: Yeah, well, so I'm down. We were talking earlier, too. I'm down the South Shore now. I'm in situate, so I can't get away from all yous very BC high guys. I mean, I'm on the BC high bus called the MBTA going into the city. You know, it's absurd. Mark Riley: I figured I'd- Geno Binda: ⁓ yeah, most woman. Mark Riley: You you Geno Binda: Yep, we're all down here. Yep. That's funny. I'll show up people. Mark Riley: That's hilarious. I know. now you, so in college, you go to rival schools and you both play baseball. Mike Pitt: It's my world. No, so I actually ended up playing football at Northeastern. Yeah. Back before we lost the squad. RIP. No more punter's pub either. It's sad state of affairs. And Matthews is gone now. It's a whole different place. I don't even know what it is. Mark Riley: ⁓ okay. But Pete, Pete. I know. Geno Binda: Ah, it's a- Mark Riley: I I know the hockey rink is gone. It's it's. ⁓ Geno Binda: What a building that was, right? Matthews Arena, one of the best. Like you just walk in, you just feel the aura in the, ⁓ it was awesome. Love that building. One of my favorites to work in and just remember that going as a kid, it's gonna be missed. Mark Riley: Did you didn't Mike, you didn't play hockey. Mike Pitt: No, so I always joke, I'm one of our only friends that never played hockey. And ⁓ my parents were absolute derelicts and delinquents. So I'm just convinced they didn't want to pay for the equipment or wake up early to take me to practice. And by the time I realized everybody else was doing it, I was like, ⁓ shit, I guess I'll play basketball in the winter. Mark Riley: Those are two legitimate reasons. no, but you must have went to games at Matthews Arena. Yeah. Mike Pitt: Yeah, yeah, you know. I couldn't drive myself to practice, so. ⁓ yeah, yeah yeah, mean, like you said, all of our buddies were hockey guys and I love hockey. ⁓ You know, was one the few football guys that was friends with the other hockey guys at Northeastern. ⁓ Usually getting into fights in Huntington, I'd have to break them up. ⁓ But yeah, I mean, and then Dan Boothby, who's the head performance guy at Northeastern, he's been one of my closest friends. He was actually our strength coach when I was playing. So I mean, I've worked with the hockey team over there. Actually, this might be a whole nother side tangent, but funny story. Mark Riley: haha Mike Pitt: I don't know if you guys, I feel like small circles, ⁓ Timmy Stan used to be a BPD, ⁓ cop undercover guy, we used to go in there and, ⁓ Cronin who was the coach at Northeast, forget which year he had us come in and teach the team how to box. And this, this is actually a great story. So me and Timmy Stan, who was on that, ⁓ BPD like undercover show back in the day, he's a giant. Geno Binda: Hmm? Okay, yeah, Mike Pitt: He looks like this, he looks like a white gorilla. He's huge, big shaved head, former Marine. And so Cronin had us bring all the hockey guys into the weight room. And you know, first few weeks we're just doing mitts, we're doing pads, showing them combinations. And 99 % of the kids have never thrown. You know, as the Canadian kids, know, those kids knew how to And then one day Cronin was like, I want them sparring each other. And all the trainers like, Mark Riley: Hello. Mike Pitt: like jerk over like, what? Like, yeah, I want them sparring each other. So we literally tied off a ring with rope in the weight room and had them spar. And like, I thought the trainers were losing their minds. They thought they were all gonna get fired. I think a couple of kids got broken noses, like black eyes. As soon as the AD got wind of it, wasn't Madigan at the time. They shut that down real quick, but yeah, so I spent my fair share of time over at Matthews. Geno Binda: ⁓ I bet. morning. Mark Riley: So I don't understand how hockey players never fought. mean, not necessarily. Yeah, like one of our. Mike Pitt: I don't know, it's mass. All you got, all the mass guys at Finesse. Geno Binda: Well, yeah, and they all had cages on, like the Canadians all have half shields and they fight at like 12. It's part of the game. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Mark Riley: Like, but one of my favorite things back in the day was locker box, right? Like, you know, I, I always delayed going into the locker room because I let my team, the Pee-Wee's, box and my daughter would always beat everyone up. But that was the best thing in the world. Throw the helm in the gloves and let's have at it. You know? I mean, you, ⁓ Geno Binda: Yes, helmets and gloves. Yeah, helmets and gloves. Yep. Mike Pitt: Different generations, man. Different generations. Geno Binda: Shut the lights off and have a royal rumble? Yeah. Exactly. Mark Riley: That's the salty way. Three on one is a fair fight. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Yeah. Mark Riley: That's wild. But that Matthews Arena, just like playing there, going to games, it just, it had a mystique to it. Almost like the Garden, really. I mean, you I would say it's kind of comparable. Mike Pitt: Yeah, it felt like that mini garden, you know, you're just like on top of the ice, like that was a great spot. Geno Binda: Yes. Mark Riley: Yeah, and you never knew if the ceiling was gonna come down or something was gonna fall on you, know, a beam would let go. You never knew, but that's awesome. So Pete played baseball at BC. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Yep. He did, yeah. Yeah, so he played pro overseas in Europe, in Germany for a bit. ⁓ yeah, mean, that was a wild time. He had a lot of stories coming back about that. And then, yeah, just came back and was working stiff like the rest of us. But no, he was a fantastic athlete. And yeah, if he could have picked, he absolutely would have been a hockey guy. ⁓ Mark Riley: And then he went on to play pro, right? Mike Pitt: Actually, this is another good story and it ties in perfectly with the title of the pod. So ⁓ Ray Borch's, he got to meet Pete early on when he got diagnosed. And I don't know how, the circumstances were, but from that first meeting, Ray has been a huge supporter of Pete's and the cause, the foundation. ⁓ We co-host a Black Tie event every year together. This charity game, it's with us and his foundation. But growing up, ⁓ Pete has the same birthday as Ray. And he had a big Ray Bork poster ⁓ on his wall right behind his bed. And so his mom still tells the story today, you every morning of his birthday, she'd come, you know, come wake him up and happy birthday, Pete. And every year he'd go, he tapped the wall. goes, don't forget to tell the big guy, happy birthday too. It was fantastic. But then, so just through, you know, I've gotten to know Ray and he's around all the time, but when Pete first met Ray, you know, Mark Riley: Hahaha! Geno Binda: Love it. Mike Pitt: Ray shakes his hand and goes, ⁓ nice to meet you. And Pete goes, ⁓ no, actually we've met before. He's like, ⁓ he's like, ⁓ I'm sorry. know, when, when was it? Where was it? And it was the, that Pro-Am tournament that I think they still have it out in Marlboro. ⁓ so Pete actually got, ⁓ Geno Binda: Yes. Mike Pitt: So another guy on our team against small world hockey worlds, Dylan Cox, who is Ralph Cox's son, was one of our best buddies. And Ralph was really involved in that program tournament and the last minute they needed a referee. I think Pete might've been sleeping on Dylan's couch in Southie or whatever. And he's like, Hey Pete, you, you know, I know, you know, you can call a game. You want to come do it for the day. And he was like, absolutely. Like, yeah, I love hockey. And so the first game. Ray's playing in it with a bunch of other stiffs and Ray gets a breakaway and Pete calls him off sides on something. And he's as serious as can be and Ray's, who the hell is, like, who is this kid? Anyway, he's like 20 something at the time. And they got to meet after and bust each other's balls, but he's like, yeah, yeah, so that was the first time we met. Geno Binda: ⁓ that is awesome. over. That is funny. So you mentioned the charity game. Now that's going to be held on March 28th to help support and raise awareness for ALS, correct? Can you tell us about that? Mark Riley: awesome. He had him over his bed. Mike Pitt: Yeah, so it's ⁓ the ice alas charity hockey game So it's you know in conjunction with us our foundation as well as raised foundation and a bunch of other people who've worked their butts off to put this together this is our second year doing it and it's gonna be a warrior ice arena on Saturday March 28th from 10 to 4 excuse me 2 to 4 and Yeah, we're raising funds and awareness for patients and families going through all this stuff. Last year was the first year we did it, kind of not really knowing what was going to happen with it. And it was a huge success. It was awesome. like a, it's very family friendly. So we have a free skate beforehand. so, you know, family comes out kids. And so what we do is we have a charity team, the blue line blues play against the Bruins alumni team and Ray captains that team. ⁓ Tuku was there last year. ⁓ I'm not at Liberty to say, you know, definitively who will be there, but you Geno Binda: Nice. Mike Pitt: know some recent retirees from from the Bruins have committed so it'll be a star studded lineup this year and it's it's an awesome time and just a good day to get out on a Saturday with with the family and the kids. Geno Binda: Nice. The Bruins alumni and their foundation, mean, Ray Bork, they do a tremendous job with their charities. And the biggest thing with hockey people, we all show up, right? They all show up. And hockey people are the best and they give back, I think, more than any type of athlete does. yeah, the Bruins Foundation is phenomenal, along with Ray Bork's. Mike Pitt: Yeah, yeah, I mean, Frank Simonetti who runs the Alumni Association and then, you know, swoops with the Bruins Foundation. I mean, they're all fantastic, top notch. ⁓ Yeah, just standard hockey guys, know, just as loyal as they come. Geno Binda: Yes. Absolutely. Mark Riley: Yeah, Frank is awesome. He's a huge fan of ours and has helped us out a great deal. So and and you know, I'll try. I referee some of the games, so I'll try to get that one and be out on the ice there with you guys. Yeah, yeah, because it's a lot of fun being out there with the boys, you know. Mike Pitt: It'd be fantastic. All right. Geno Binda: I will be unfortunately on the road that weekend for the NCAAs. I'll be out in some capacity working, so supervisor of officials for Atlantic Hockey. So when the NCAA tournament comes around, it's a lot of fun. So busy, fun. Mike Pitt: be able to come to pass when work. There you go. Mark Riley: Well, one of the zebras will be there. That's not bad. Now, if people want to, ⁓ where do they get information about the game? They get tickets and all that stuff. Mike Pitt: Thank you guys. Thanks. Yeah, so it's cheap. It's $5. You can get tickets at the door, but if you want to pre-buy them and learn more about the events and the cause and everything we're doing, it's ICEALS.com. it's I-C-E-A-L-S.com. You can choose to buy tickets, donate to some of the players on our charity team. And there's also a youth fundraising component where if different teams want to help fundraise, there's a competition. The highest raising team gets ⁓ a Bruins game day experience that we have going on. ⁓ kind of pulling from everywhere. like I said, it's an awesome day to come out, support a great cause, and see some awesome hockey with some Boston legends. Geno Binda: Absolutely. Mark Riley: Now, do you have any ringers on your squad? Mike Pitt: We might have a few, you know, we might have a few. I'm not at liberty to say. We were trying to get... So Bobby Carpenter, St. John's guy, ⁓ he's playing at the game this year, but he was like, I'll play for the Bruins. We're like, really? Don't you want to play for us? mean, come on. Yeah, seriously. Yeah. Mark Riley: ⁓ I didn't want to give it away. Geno Binda: Yes, yep. I know Bobby. Mark Riley: ⁓ yeah. Geno Binda: Get his daughter to play for you guys. Mark Riley: Yeah, I think she's better than any of them. Right? Gold medal winner. Yeah, Bob is good people. I know. Now, so the game, I want to get into a couple things that people might not know about or whatever, we really want to promote the game, obviously, the 28th. So if... Mike Pitt: Yeah. Yeah. Geno Binda: Yeah, absolutely. Can't keep up with her. Mark Riley: if anyone's looking to go. And the cool thing about those games, if you've never been, the Bruins make themselves very accessible. You know, it's not like they go out in the ice, go off the ice and you don't see them. They make themselves very accessible to anyone that's there for autographs and whatnot. so it's a pretty cool thing to be a part of. It's a great organization. So just so people know. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Mark. I'm glad you said that because yeah, the free skate, it's not it's not frog pond, right? It's not like you're going around in circles with your kid and holding their hand. I mean, you're going up to Ray and Tuca and all these other greats and swoops and they're signing whatever you want sign. They're taking pictures with everybody. They're they're out in the mix. ⁓ And then after the game, you know. Geno Binda: Bye, bye. Mike Pitt: They're hanging around and talking to whomever and having a couple of cold ones in the locker room with everybody. It's an awesome time. So I appreciate you. Geno Binda: That's great. Mark Riley: Yeah, no, it's a cool thing to not just like every one of them, you know, from, you know, any alumni, like I was there for the Warrior for Life game and a lot of the guys come back to play for that, right? And it doesn't matter who it is, Farrin, Seidenberg, Bergeron, they all, they do sign everything. They spend the time, they talk to these, you know, like kids and fans. It's just cool to see because not every professional athlete, I don't think, Mike Pitt: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mark Riley: kind of is like that. And it's pretty cool. Mike Pitt: It's like Yeah, yeah. And that's another piece of it that just makes it like a special, special event. I mean, it's my favorite now that we do it. ⁓ You know, it's not like these black tie events where, you know, everybody's trying to talk to whoever's in the room or, you know, these other things where just people aren't accessible. ⁓ It's a fun, fun, time. Mark Riley: Yeah, with the exceptional citizens week, ⁓ they played the Bruins alumni and we did an episode from up there. That'll be coming out in a couple of weeks, I think. But it just cooled like in the lobby in between the periods. They're all hanging around, know, people getting autographs. I actually got recognized by a bunch of high school kids from Full Ride. The show I'm coaching. One of the kids walks up and goes, is this you? And shows me the phone with me in the middle of a reel. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Geno Binda: Hmm. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Mark Riley: And I'm like, yeah, that's me. And they all were like, you're in full ride with Pache. It was kind of home of the bucks. And then some other kid come over, you the guy from Charping Zebras? I'm like, yeah. And he got a picture with me. I'm like, Jesus, it's pretty cool. I guess people are paying attention. It's kind of neat though. Now the ice bucket challenge, everyone, well, not everyone, because it was really, I mean, coming up on 11, 12 years ago, right, that it really took off. Geno Binda: Home of the Bucks. Mike Pitt: Yeah, that's awesome. Geno Binda: Mm. Mark Riley: and everyone was doing it. ⁓ There's a lot of people now, I bet, that were really young that don't really know about it, might've heard of it. It was such, I mean, it took, it went across the Atlantic, like it was everywhere, right? ⁓ Talk about that and kind of how that, I mean, I know there were other things prior to that that people were doing with, you know, Cold Water Challenge, I think it was. How did that all come to, you know, come to fruition? Mike Pitt: across the Atlantic. Yeah, so it was actually Pete and his buddy, Pat Quinn, who is around our age, Pete's age, was diagnosed with ALS as well. And they became really, really tight. He was in the New York area. So he'd come up for our events. We'd go down for his. And like you said, the ice bucket challenge early on, it was just kind of moved from cause to cause, right? I think it originally started with a women's college basketball coach who was going through breast cancer. And that's kind of where the origin of it, right? Like you dump a bucket of ice over the coach's head. And so Pat actually had seen it going on for something else online. And this is the early days of Facebook, right? Like nothing like we know now. There's no Instagram, there's nothing. And Pat said to Pete, he's like, He's like, think we should, I think we could do this. I think we can kind of use this for our cause, get the word out, raise some awareness. And Peeve said, yeah, let's do it, let's roll. And it's funny too, I didn't even think of this till just now. ⁓ But yeah, so obviously. know, Pete sent, you know, at this point he was nonverbal. So he's kind of typing with his eyes. So he sends a text and Facebook message to all of us like, this is what we're doing. We're like, yeah, absolutely. Sign us up. And so we started doing it, you know, you just think it's cute friends and family, you know, kind of small circles. And then a buddy of ours lived, I think his wife was friends with Farrance's wife and had mentioned it to him. And it's like, Hey, would you do this? Like people are huge Bees fan. Like this would be awesome. And I know some people have credited, Edelman with being the first one, but it was actually Ference being the first professional athlete in Boston. And then, you know, he called out a bunch of the other Bees and then that's kind of when it really took off. And cause it started in, you know, that small knit hockey community and then sports and, you know, Pete went to college with Matt Ryan at BC. So he's got all the Falcons guys doing it and, and, know, Brian Boyle too. ⁓ so it's funny that's, that was like, that was really the accelerant for just getting it rolling. But I remember when it was happening, it was, you know, at its height, it was like every day, you're like, who did it? Like what? Like. Geno Binda: And then you had Biz rent the helicopter and double. Mike Pitt: Yeah. I mean, I jokingly say like that made business, business larger than life, you know? Yeah. Yeah. But, ⁓ I mean, it was, it was incredible. Yeah. And so we're coming up on the 12th year anniversary and, ⁓ it's yeah, but it is interesting too, cause you know, we're older. It's you kind of take for granted that you just assume people know what it is. Right. But in my role now and Mark Riley: Yeah, that's right. Geno Binda: It did. Yeah, absolutely did. Put him on the map. Mike Pitt: and kind of educating everybody about what ALS is and how crippling it can be, not just physically, but financially and for the family. ⁓ It's like I deal with a lot of college kids, there kids in their 20s and it's like, ⁓ yeah, I kind of remember that, what is it? And it's letting them know. You know, this was the first viral thing. Like I know virals like every hour, right, nowadays. But like, back in the day, there wasn't TikTok, there wasn't Instagram, there wasn't all this stuff. It was just Facebook and this was all over it. This was the only thing that was going. ⁓ So it's awesome and it's part of Pete and Pat's legacy that their names are tied to it. So never take that. Geno Binda: Especially, mean, you talk about the finances for people with severe illnesses or constantly going to the hospital and those bills add up, add up. And I've been to plenty of those black and Thai events and you sit there and listen to stories and people's hard times and donating to these causes. It's just such a great, great thing because... you know, it takes a burning off the family have to worry about the money and worrying about what are we going to do next? And it's just something that they don't have to worry about going through this. And, you know, I hope people really realize that and, you know, open their wallets for this great cause. Mike Pitt: or any of us in the family have to worry. Yeah, it's funny you used to mention that because earlier today, so we do quarterly grants for patients and families. this morning, that's what I was doing. I was going through it and it's an application process. And before we got on, I'm like, I got to go take a walk because it's, I mean, it's awful. Like the stuff I have to read and then it's, but yeah, just. Geno Binda: Hmm Mike Pitt: Here's one of a... This was a patient that we've had a long time relationship with and helping her and her family out for a while. I don't know if you guys can see it, this woman, Tesla Davis, she was a single mom, 34, her daughter is eight years old, and you know. She was just living with her family, with her parents, trying to help her out. But she lost her battle a couple months ago. But I mean, this is the reality of what we're dealing with. then these people know they're going to lose their battle as we're all going to lose our battle, right? We're not all here forever. But then the fact that... You know, they gotta worry about keeping a roof over their kids' heads, you know, or their spouses' heads. Or they gotta figure out which bills they're gonna pay and not pay because they have to pay the nursing help to help shower their husband, right? So it's a brutal thing and the reality of it is pretty awful. Mark Riley: ⁓ think, I think a dog wants to come on. We've, we've had dogs on pretty much any dog would eat my dog, but we we've had a bunch of dogs on. We've had a few people with dogs that they got involved. So Terry, Terry O'Reilly's, dashhounds, they were involved. Yeah. We've had some famous. Yeah. He's got, ⁓ he's got like five. Mike Pitt: Yeah, I know. Can you guys hear it? ⁓ Geno Binda: Well, that dog sounds like it would eat your dog. Mike Pitt: What? Yeah. Geno Binda: Oh yeah, his, oh yeah. Mike Pitt: ⁓ he's got a wiener dog? Geno Binda: He's got a shitload of Weenie dogs. Yeah. Yup. Mike Pitt: No way. So I actually, have one. That's not the one that's chirping me right now, but my wife, my wife and her family loves him. So he's hanging out with her right now, but yeah, that's funny. ⁓ Mark Riley: ⁓ yeah, big wiener dog guy. Hahaha That's awesome. So I want to talk a little bit about ALS and kind of educate people on that. But getting back to the ice bucket challenge for a second, it's funny because you you think kids that are 10, 11, 12, they weren't really born when it was happening. But kids that were five, six, seven that might not have been paying attention or their parents weren't, you those kids don't, they hear about it, but what is it? And I think, are you planning on Mike Pitt: Yeah. Mark Riley: kind of trying to bring it back because I think it would be real cool. Mike Pitt: Yeah, we've so every year, uh, August is kind of like the unofficial anniversary month of it. Um, so this will be the 12th year this come in August and two years ago, we did a big 10 year anniversary at Fenway park. Cause that's where Pete actually officially did his ice bucket challenge with Will Middlebrooks and some of the other guys. And so we had, you know, um, all the brass come out, Sam Kennedy, Maura Healy, um, Mark Riley: Right. Mike Pitt: a lot of people. So that was great and kind of just putting us back in the spotlight or the Ice Bucket Challenge back in the spotlight and re-educating people. uh, but it's interesting too, cause just last year it's been this kind of second iteration where people are using it for their own causes. And there was a college group that were using it to highlight, uh, mental illness and just, you know, suicide prevention amongst kind of college age individuals. And I had a lot of kind of Geno Binda: Mmm. Mike Pitt: people reaching out and news outlets and you know like, ⁓ are you upset that they're using it? It's like, no, that's fantastic. Like this is exactly, like this is what Pete, this is what Pete did and this is what Pete would want. Like, yeah, yeah. Geno Binda: Yeah, Pete actually stole it from somebody. Yeah. And that's the whole thing, right? Like if you can bring awareness, who cares where it came from? Yeah, right. Mark Riley: Yeah Mike Pitt: Right. And like nobody, you know, it's information, it's knowledge. You don't own knowledge. It's just a transfer of, you know, this to somebody else. So, ⁓ it, so that part of it's been cool just cause it starts the conversation of like, ⁓ what is this? Like, where did it, you know, where was the, origins of it? ⁓ and you can't tell that story without talking about Pete. So, ⁓ yeah, we've, we've tried to do different things, but it's just a different time, right? Like, like I mentioned, Virals every 15 minutes now. You know, it's not a thing. There's TikTok, there's Instagram, there's X, there's all these things. I don't think you'll ever be able to capture something like that ever again and have a platform that can spread it that everybody's locked into, because that was it. That was all we had. Geno Binda: Yeah. Right. Yeah, because our intro is going to get longer and longer on all these different platforms. The TikTok, the socials, and this and that. Like, just paint it under one umbrella. Yeah, you're right. It's crazy how much there is and how crazy just a moment goes by. Everything's just a blip. It's unbelievable. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Mark Riley: I think the cool thing is if anyone does an ice bucket challenge, the first thing I think of is Pete and that whole, you know, because no one, I mean, I didn't know about the history and where it came from or, you know, where it quote started till I looked in. So I hear ice bucket anything and that's the first thing I think of, you know, I read in kind of looking into it. was, and I don't think it was for the ALS one, I think it was prior to that, but there was a, I don't know where they were, but at a fire station, the fireman did something with the fire hoses, as the ice challenge, and they got in trouble for using the fire equipment without permission. Like really, like that's ridiculous. So I don't know, I just thought, I will say it was not Boston. Mike Pitt: don't know what. Geno Binda: Mmm. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Yeah. Sounds like the city of Boston. I don't know where that takes place. Geno Binda: ⁓ yeah. Mark Riley: It was not, can't remember where it was and I'm probably glad I don't. Yeah. Well, I don't want to say, even if I knew my luck, get pulled over in that town next week. And you know, I'd be strip searched on the side of the road and you know, depending on what the cop looked like, I guess that wouldn't be a bad thing. ⁓ Mike Pitt: Yeah, I'll just call it Cambridge then. It was Cambridge. Yeah. Yeah. Geno Binda: I heard on the radio today that the city is going soft, that the Patriots party for going to the Super Bowl was shut down early at two o'clock. Usually you lock the door and you have after hours. guess wherever they were at, the cops knocked on the door and said, eh, this ain't happening. I was like, what are we doing? Jesus Christ. Mark Riley: Hello. Yeah, they were at a restaurant in town and people called the cops and the cops showed up and I didn't hear the whole, I know. Right? And there was a lot going on in that party. And let's just say that, but yeah, can you imagine walking in and being like, congratulations about going to Superbowl, but we got to arrest you. Unbelievable. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Can you imagine being those claps though? Like, oh, come on. Like, ugh. Geno Binda: No way. You just walk away? Mike Pitt: Yeah. Geno Binda: Sorry, I to bring that up. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Mark Riley: ⁓ Now, ALS, a lot of people hear it, but don't really know what it is or how it affects people and how there is no cure. You know, people wonder, do I, how does it happen? How does it, how do you get it? Like all those things. Talk about that a little bit in that, just to kind of give people an idea of what this. Nasty disease is all about. Mike Pitt: Yeah, Nancy always says, you know, before Pete, was Lou Gehrig's disease. That's what they would call it, right? And so ALS, it's a neurodegenerative disease and we're not really sure what causes it, what kicks it off, ⁓ but it's incurable. You know, it's a terminal diagnosis. early on when Pete was diagnosed they used to say you have a thousand days the average life expectancy is three years so you got a thousand days and when Pete was diagnosed there was no treatments it was you know go make your plans and enjoy the time that you have ⁓ But so there's two types, there's a ⁓ hereditary type ⁓ that's passed down through different genes that you can actually test for. And then there's a completely random, and we're not sure how or why, you know, people get it. We haven't found a link. There's been, you know, people guessing and making different correlations, whether it's traumatic events or... ⁓ you know, military service, it's funny, first responders are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed. But yet they're not really sure how or why, you know, that match gets lit. But thankfully, I mean, since the ice bucket challenge and now we've kind of had a spotlight on it, there's been more treatments and different drugs in the pipeline. And so MGH and the Healy Center over there, which focuses on neurodegenerative disease, they're at the forefront of R &D and they've had come up with some fantastic genetic type of treatments. But at this point, there's nothing to stop it or halt it. It's kind of just slowing the progression if they can. ⁓ ⁓ But I will say that the biggest steps and leaps they've made is with the different gene therapies that they've come up with it. So for the genetic type of variant of this disease, ⁓ there are some more treatment options coming through and we're just hoping that, you know, with a lot of technology and AI is actually gonna help, you know, speed up a lot of this stuff that we'll be able to halt and reverse, you know, symptoms and help the lifespan. ⁓ But then not, it's hard for me to bring that up without, I don't want to go back to the insurance piece, but that's the other thing that's a tough seesaw, right? Because you're extending somebody's life, but you're not extending their wallet. And so the cost of that care continues, if not to stay the same, go up. So a lot of these patients, Geno Binda: Hmm. Mike Pitt: It's not only is it a financial decision, they're deciding, do I live and continue to put my family in this financial abyss that they'll never get out of? Or do I just go off into the sunset, right? Not spend time. So it's, it's an impossible choice that people have to make. Mark Riley: It blows my mind that insurance, the companies are making enough money. Why aren't they covering this stuff? I just don't get that at all. And what they're not covering is really the important part. The quality of life part in the sense that try to make it as comfortable as possible. It angers me. I don't like insurance companies anyway. I just think they make too much money. No, very small. Smaller than referees. The fan base for referees. ⁓ Mike Pitt: I mean, they don't have a lot of fans. That fan section is small. Geno Binda: Yeah, right. Mike Pitt: Yeah. But, and so with insurance, they'll cover the costs if you choose to go into a facility, right? And so it's like, okay, I'm gonna go to one of these facilities that I'm sure every one of us has been in and can't wait to get out of, or I'm gonna spend the remaining days I have with my friends, my loved ones, my kids, my spouse. And like, it really, it's about just giving them the dignity. Geno Binda: right. Mike Pitt: to make the choice and do, you know, it's absolutely brutal. It's absolutely brutal. Almost as brutal as my dog. I'm gonna freaking kick him. I gotta let her off. Mark Riley: And I was going to say, your dog is not a fan of insurance either. I don't think, I think your dog agrees with us that insurance is evil. Of course, if there's an insurance company that wants to sponsor a podcast, we'll be more than happy to cash a check or make a donation to. Geno Binda: Nah, your dog's fine. Mike Pitt: No! It is evil. By all means. ⁓ Mark Riley: The Pete Frady's ALS Foundation. ⁓ Now, what's wild to me is the fact that, and it's not the only disease that is like this, ⁓ one that comes to mind is MS, they don't know where it comes from. And that's the kind of scary part. And on top of it, like, you know, makes you realize when you're healthy, you should enjoy that while you can, because... at any moment that can be taken away from you. And that's the piece that's kind of, you know, there's so many things like that. And it's like, where does this come from? Why can't we figure out where this comes from? And that's the kind of scary part when I think of this stuff. Mike Pitt: Yeah, it's terrifying. then, anything like this is catastrophic, right? Like cancer, ⁓ MS, Parkinson's, all these things. the one thing I think just makes ALS unique, it's the rate at which somebody deteriorates right in front of you. It's just very traumatizing. ⁓ to your point, it's like, how are we not figuring this out, right? Like with all the technology, with all the smart people in the world, especially in the Boston area, that's the scary thing. And then the scarier thing too is it's happening more and more. Like the percentage of diagnoses have gone up over 20 % in the past 10 years. ⁓ And then, you know, it's happening to younger adults. It was actually just... So Anthony Baldino is a 27 year old. He's out in Western Mass, Shrewsbury area, but he was diagnosed last year. He's going to be dropping the puck at our, our ice ALS event. Um, but yeah, Pete was 27 when he was diagnosed and the, the sick joke in all of it too, is that the younger you're diagnosed, the more aggressive it tends to be. Um, but yeah, that, that's, that's a scary thing and it's, it's a lot. Like coming into this, I was naive to how the burden and the weight of it would be on me. But the silver lining in it is what you just said, Mark. It's like, this can happen to any of us any day. This is getting hit by a bus, but then the bus runs over you continually until, ⁓ but yeah, it helps you. ⁓ Just remember like, hey, anytime I'm having a bad day or I think I'm having a bad day, you know, smack myself and say, shut the hell up. know, remind you like, I'm good. I got out of bed today. It's a good day, you know? Mark Riley: That's the mantra I live by is I'm looking down at the dirt not up. It's a good day You know and and that's you know, it keeps things in the perspective, you know it's just it's Now if if someone wants that now the game is on the 28th and that's one way you can get involved How's how's another way that people can get involved with the foundation? ⁓ Whether it's donating donating the time, you know How's that? You know, what can they do? Mike Pitt: Yeah, honestly, I would say do whatever you can, Whatever's in front of you, whatever the low hanging fruit is for you. ⁓ But yeah, I mean. If to visit the website, it's PeteFreadies.com. A lot of people outside of Boston, it's Pete Freights. You know, that's how it's spelled. F-R-A-T-E-S. ⁓ But yeah, donations come to the events. You know, there's, if you want to have your own events and donations, but honestly, anything you can do, whether it's connecting through people in your networks, ⁓ if you have ideas, if anybody wants to reach out Mark Riley: Yeah. Geno Binda: Yeah. Mike Pitt: to me personally, know, it's Mike at PeteFredes.com. ⁓ There's no conversation I won't have and there's no call I won't take to, you know, just if nothing else, just to talk to somebody, even if they've gone through it or going through it. And it's anything we can do to help one another. it's, yeah, kind of, I, for the foundation of all of us and You guys will understand, like I equate everything to being on a team and a sport, right? Like my family's a team, you know, when I was in business, that was the team. And the great thing about a team is you're not alone, right? It doesn't just rely on one guy, even if, you know, you feel, you feel alone sometimes. So it's, you know, as a teammate, sometimes you're carrying your, your brothers and your sisters and other times they're carrying you. So, ⁓ anything. they can, know, anybody out there can do to carry us. We're open to it and anything we can do to help carry them along. ⁓ Mark Riley: No, it's, it's, and, and we're fortunate and, kind of appreciative that we can on our platform, get that word out. I mean, you know, it's fun to have great guests and, you know, guys like Darren McCarty and all those guys. But when you can have someone like you on that can shine light on something that not everyone A knows about or B actually thinks about, you know, ⁓ I think that's. Mike Pitt: when you have. Mark Riley: That's a cool part for us is to be able to do that. Mike Pitt: Yeah, and I mean, to dovetail it, like, you guys are doing what you can do, and I can't be more thankful. And there's nothing anybody thinks is too small, right? Because it's not, or too big. Like, I'm extremely grateful to you guys and anybody else that would even just have a thought about us, an ALS patient, or just trying to do something. ⁓ It's, yeah, it's incredible. Mark Riley: So the game is on the 28th. Other events coming up in the future for this year? Mike Pitt: So we got a busy end of Q1, Q2. So we got the hockey game on March 28th. BC Baseball has a yearly ALS awareness game at Fenway Park. So that'll be Saturday, April 11th. You can buy tickets on the Red Sox website. And then we have a road race that's part of the Harpoon Five Mylar. So we're the beneficiary of that. So, that's May 16th. So we got a busy time and then keep an eye out. I'll let you, I'll definitely send some invites for the captain's ball, the ⁓ black tie that we do with Ray. And yeah, I'll keep you guys in the loop. It'd be amazing to have you. Geno Binda: Thank Mark Riley: No, no, definitely. It's funny. Harpoon does a 5K. Is it like you drink at every K or is it? I'm just wondering. Yeah. Asking for a friend. Although I don't drink anymore. I don't run or drink. Yeah. Well, I was supposed to run the marathon this year, but I don't think it's going to happen. I had said on this podcast, I was going to do it with Becca Pizzi, who Mike Pitt: Well, I mean, you drink plenty after. I'll tell you that. Geno Binda: Ugh. Well, can start there, Mark. You can start with the 5K, then the marathon. ⁓ Mark Riley: is an amazing marathoner. But yeah, then I had the parade come up. I had other things to focus on. can't train. I'm not now. I'll come to the five data. Mike Pitt: through your training off. Yeah, I get it. And next year when we get a bib, you can run for us. Mark Riley: Yeah, yeah, I'll need a bib for sure. I'll come to a 5K and cheer people on, but I don't think I'm going to be running. But that's okay. Geno Binda: There you go. Mike Pitt: Yeah. No, no. Come drink some of the beer. There's plenty to go down. Geno Binda: There you go. Mark Riley: I don't even do that anymore, that's the problem. I would not be, yeah, I don't, I could do that too. You know what we could do is we can easily put together a comedy show to benefit ALS for sure. I don't know if you've done that in the past, but I can put that together. I know a guy. Mike Pitt: Well, they got the non-elks, you know, they got everything, you know? Meltzers... ⁓ Geno Binda: He can go and tell some dick jokes. Mmm. Mike Pitt: ⁓ I'd love that. That'd be fantastic. So it's funny too, my wife, so my wife's dream is to have a, she loves roasts. you know, they do, her dream is to roast me. And I was, I was busting her balls. was like, we should do, you can roast me and we'll do it for charity. But like, I like, I like your idea a lot better. Geno Binda: Mmm. Mmm. All right. Mark Riley: Well, I mean, we can always tie a roast in. I've been hired to roast people. One of them was a retiring CEO of a company. So they hire me and give me a bunch of research, but they neglect to tell anyone else that I'm roasting this dude or the dude himself, right? So I start ripping this guy. Geno Binda: Yeah. Mike Pitt: Yeah. you No. Mark Riley: And everyone's sitting there going, why are you being mean to our boss? It was fucking awkward as shit. And I'm like, you hired me to do this. No one told anyone. It was pretty funny. And then I got hired to roast the guy's wife for her birthday. You know, much like your wife is interested in. But the problem was, the husband gave me all this stuff, but only him and his wife knew about it. So. Mike Pitt: like Right. Yeah, no heads up. Geno Binda: Joke's on you. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Yeah Mark Riley: when I'm ripping her, her family's like, what are you doing? know, like again, they didn't tell anyone. And I'm like, this is not how this work works. Yeah, you're like, what are you doing? So the wife was up there and the husband's laughing, but no one else is laughing. I go, does anyone else know about these stories? He goes, no. So I fucking ripped into him for like 20 minutes and ⁓ he ended up getting roasted. But I'd be more than happy to come to your house and rip on you. Mike Pitt: Right. Yeah. Yeah. Do you understand the concept of a roast? You gotta let people know. Ha ha ha! Mark Riley: for your wife if you need it. ⁓ That's about all I can do. I can't come over and fix anything for you. I help you with any other thing. I can come and shit on you for a while. That's what I do. ⁓ But seriously, let's plan on doing that. Let's plan on putting together a big show, ⁓ you know, to help ALS. Cause I know all the guys, you know, would get involved and would love to, I'd love to help out. I know what Gino can do is five minutes. Mike Pitt: ⁓ I'm sure she did. Yeah. I love that. Yeah, comedy thing would be fantastic. Let's talk that. Geno Binda: I'm working on my five minutes. Mark Riley: We keep trying to get him to do comedy. He's got enough trauma and he's got plenty of anger, plenty of trauma. He has plenty to pull on. Mike Pitt: I'm here in Nashville. Geno Binda: I get a lot of anger, I don't know if I can, I don't know if it's gonna, I could do like, I could do the set like once. I couldn't do it like multiple times. I, you know, if I did two shows, it'd be two totally different shows. Mike Pitt: Yeah. Mark Riley: No, that's good. You need more material. Mike Pitt: Yeah, By the third one, he's in the corner crying. It's like, ⁓ awkward for everybody. Geno Binda: Yep. It's over. Mark Riley: We'll just bring your father and sit him in the crowd and you can roast him. You know, he's most to your trauma. Well, yeah, pretty much. Yeah, for sure. Dad or mom. No, we'll definitely put that together. We can talk, as they say, offline and we can plan that. ⁓ Geno Binda: Neh, Igauch. Mike Pitt: You Geno Binda: He was- That's funny. Yeah, right. Mike Pitt: That's most everybody's trauma. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Mark Riley: And we'll put all the information about these events in the description of the podcast. And we'll shoot it out on the social medias for sure. And it's petefraidys.com. Now, on a little lighter note, you played football, you dealt with referees, were the trapping zebras. What was your, like, do you have any stories about Mike Pitt: Okay. Yep. Yep. Pphrase.com. Mark Riley: either Pete or yourself when it comes to referees or umpires. Mike Pitt: see well I mean the one of Pete as a ref that's the one that comes to mind ⁓ Geno Binda: That's a good one. Mike Pitt: Man, do I have any... No, mean Pete, he was... So I say, you know, he was a ball buster, what not, but he was like, he was kind of like Eddie Haskell, right? He was like, yes sir, no sir, you know, didn't want to cause waves, but then when their back was turned, he was like, ⁓ should I do it, you know? So he was good about that. ⁓ Nah, he was pretty well put together. I do have to say though, Mark Riley: You guys never trip, refs. Okay. Mike Pitt: The only negative, well not negative, but interactions I've had with refs is as a youth coach now for my kids, which is, I'm sure you guys know exactly what I'm talking about. Geno Binda: Yes. I feel phone calls on the regular. I assign multiple, multiple youth games on the weekend, so that's my industry. So yeah, ⁓ yeah. Mike Pitt: Yeah, it is wild. mean, just the whole thing, right? Parents are wild, coaches are wild, but I mean, some of these refs, like, I'm sure, I don't know, some of these guys probably were on a bend the night before, slept in their car and showed up. It's like, they don't even know what sport they're calling. It's incredible. was, or, ⁓ Mark Riley: Now what do you call it? What sports? Mike Pitt: ⁓ so I mean, I was doing them all, know, baseball, basketball, football. ⁓ put this last year, I coached my son's pop Warner team down here and we had a game last season and I swear like these guys, it was a later game. I think it was like five or six at night. So I'm sure they might've had like a little liquid lunch beforehand. These guys, they're just like telling jokes to each other on the side. They're not watching the game. They're punting the ball to one another. Like. They were like college girls. Like it was absurd. I was like, what's happening here? Geno Binda: Yeah? So I mean, I'll tell you, it's bad all over the place. I got a call from a kid I used to work the American Hockey League with, know, minor pro, and he's like, he has a kid the same age as mine, and he's like, are they, are you just as frustrated with the youth officiating that I am? I'm like, absolutely. I go, deal with it day in, day out, and now my daughter's playing, and I'm at the rinks, and it drives me absolutely crazy. So you point punt and... Mike Pitt: Yeah. Geno Binda: You know, on an icing, you're supposed to skate down the park, it off, they're chucking the puck down. there's no accountability at all amongst the officiating across every sport, all platforms. When I was repping with Mark, right? Mark is a little older than me, right? But if I was, you know, coming up, but you got, we got taught how to do it. You see the old. Mark Riley: Thank thank you, little. Mike Pitt: you Geno Binda: Old people there now, they're just in for their buck. They're in and out. They don't want to mentor anybody. No one's there for somebody else. They're there for themselves. And when we were there, it was to get the next kid better and ready to get to the next level. And that is way gone. It's gone. It's lost. We got newer kids teaching newer kids. We just get kids out there having fun and not caring. And then you got the group that does care. And that's like 10 % of the people, which is good and really gives a crap. But man, it's fucking bad. It's bad. Mike Pitt: Yeah Geno Binda: Cause no one holds anybody accountable. Like I put on, know, seminars and you know, Monday night quarterbacks and videos and you send out all sorts of stuff, but you can only help yourself, right? In officiating, can only get like, what you put into it is what you get out of it. you know, it's bad. It's. Mark Riley: I think too like someone might be listening is going you're the chirping zebras and you're ripping on rafts, but here's the thing well But no, I think it's warranted and I think one thing that happens whether it's football whether it's umpires whether it's hockey rafts You know we bring a lot of it on ourselves if we go out there and act like we don't give a fuck and We are just there for the paycheck over fucking around putting balls to each other or you know two pucks one in the pocket They just pull it out and drop it Geno Binda: Well, Well, because. ⁓ Mike Pitt: Yeah. Geno Binda: Yep. Mark Riley: We bring a lot of it on ourselves and then we blame parents and coaches. Yes, parents are nuts. Coaches can get nuts. But a lot of times they get nuts because of the officiating. And when I was coaching and I got thrown out a couple of times, what pissed me off was when the refs didn't care. You're gonna miss an offside. You're gonna miss a trip or a hook or a hold. Or you're gonna call something that you shouldn't call. I can live with that, but I can't live with lack of effort. I can't live with, you know, not giving a shit or, you know, swearing at players, high school kids or coaching. Like, that's the shit that drives me nuts. like you said, there's no accountability, Gino. Mike Pitt: right? Geno Binda: That thing's loaded like you like the the problem is is like you can get two guys in there right and they're calling penalties and they're doing it the right way and then you get the parents yelling scream and like let the kids play right and there's all sorts of violence going on right and then you don't call the violence and they're like ⁓ they're gonna call something what the fuck are these guys doing right it's like well what the fuck like you just yelled at me for calling the violence now you want me now you're yelling about the violence like what the what shut the fuck up and watch a kid like you know what I mean like go grab a popcorn go Mike Pitt: Yeah. Geno Binda: Go sip on a Slurpee or go in the parking lot and drink your fucking high noon's. Like enough. And just let the kids go out there and play. who, like do think the kids give a shit? Like no, they don't even know it's violent. They're in the equipment, they're playing, they're having fun, they got a smile on their face and you're up there yelling. Like, and you don't even know what you're yelling at, right? So it drives me nuts. Mike Pitt: ⁓ you must be at the Rockland rink then. Mark Riley: Mike, this is what we call the Angry Gino segment. We love Angry Gino. Mike Pitt: This is part of his five minutes, right? Geno Binda: Yeah, yeah, yes, exactly. Yeah, right. Mark Riley: ⁓ yeah, yep, that's what he's gonna do. He's gonna ask if there's any hockey parents in the room and then just fucking snap on them. Geno Binda: I'm not gonna ask them what they do for a living. I'm gonna show up. Mark Riley: Just yell at them. Geno Binda: I'm gonna yell the second they pull in the pocket lot. They're fucking the way they pocket them. Hey, you dress, yeah, you dress like that for work? What the fuck? Mike Pitt: You ⁓ That'd a great comedy skit. Like just like an SNL skit. Like just have somebody fall on the baritone. Mark Riley: Let's show you. Geno Binda: Seriously, no tie? What is a tie? ⁓ yeah, just sit there with a zebra, you got a shirt on, yeah, yeah. Mark Riley: Yeah, we plan on doing something like that with the zebra outfits at some point, Mike. We're going to be outside of a rink someday just fucking ripping people. So ripping all the Canadian geese walking in. That's what I call the hockey moms, Canadian geese. know, Davis is a beautiful team. They all are. Every rink you go into, it's like, you know, and yeah, I call the moms Canadian geese because they all think they're hot. Mike Pitt: Go over to baby, that'll be a good scene. Geno Binda: ⁓ absolutely. I'm there all the time. Mark Riley: and they all wear the Canada goose coats, right? And not all of them are hot. You know what I mean? They're all fuckable, but they're not hot. All right, let's be honest. And the ones that aren't hot usually wear the North Face coats. That's area I have, that's all. So, I got some issues. Well, my days are coming on. The game is March 28th at Warrior. ⁓ You'll be there, I'll be there. Geno Binda: ⁓ yeah. Mike Pitt: Yeah. So good. Mark Riley: know, a bunch of Bruins will be there. We'll have some fun, raise some money for a great cause. Pete for 80s.com if anyone wants to get any information on how to donate or any of the events coming up. you know what, think this, I think in August, if the ice bucket challenge comes back, we'll do it right live. We'll do it live on the TikTok. I think that'd be cool, right? Geno Binda: All right, that will do it in my pool. Yeah. Mike Pitt: I it. Fantastic. Yeah. I can't thank you guys enough. This is awesome. So appreciate it. Mark Riley: Well, thank you for what you do, Mike. Geno Binda: Best of luck with the 28th and the foundation and everything you do. It's, you know, a lot of credit to you and what you and your sacrifice and everything you do for this foundation. It's a credit to, you know, the type of person you are. So good for you and keep up the good work. Mike Pitt: appreciate it. You guys as well. Keep the laughs coming.