WKXL - New Hampshire Talk Radio

A message to Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics fans! On The Sports Machine with Slim today, we shared something that needs to be said: Boston fans are holding our teams back. It's true. Our fanbase nowadays is largely comprised of a bunch of zombies who do exactly as they are told. Yesterday, I went to the Celtics/Wizards game at the TD Garden. While there, it really hit me that the Celtics fans in attendance had no spontaneity when it comes to cheering. They simply cheer when they are told to by the music blaring from the speakers or by the pictures streaming across the huge TV screen at the top of the stadium. Our Bruins and Celtics teams need the REAL fans to get in the building for this playoff run and show everybody how it is done. If we want to have winning teams, we need to have hungry, winning fans!

Hockey East correspondent John Leahy joined us from Washington D.C. Monday. John gave us his analysis of the NCAA Men's Hockey Championship Game Saturday night won by the University of Denver over top-seeded Boston College. John also talked about the Bruins and their next to last game of the regular season tonight in D.C.

"I'm done with this Celtics team. I just can't do it anymore."

The Sports Machine with Slim has been a tried and true, hard core Green Teamer for decades. This season seemed like one that would have a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Brad Stevens made incredible trades this past offseason to bring in KP and Jrue Holiday......and we were able to move Marcus Smart and Grant Williams in the process. Win Win. But last night's loss has Slim feeling loss, loss, loss, loss. As in, 4 losses in a postseason series that will ultimately end with the Celtics packing up and going home without a championship yet again. It is just a matter of what round the Celtics will lose in. They will not win the title this year. The Bruins, on the other hand, have every chance in heck to win it all in the NHL. They have proven their toughness time and time again. They head into a stretch beginning tomorrow, in which they will play 3 games in 4 days to determine what seed the will have and who they will play in the first round. Things are totally open in the Eastern Conference: The Bruins could end up with the #1 overall seed, or they could realistically finish in the #4 spot. Either way, this team can win three series in a row and get to the Stanley Cup Finals. Today is a "glass is half full/empty" kind of day. What side are you on? Our callers the Pistol, Thomas Poeck, and MBD fill the phone lines today with their own takes as The Sports Machine with Slim gears up for the playoffs!

Brian Messina, owner of the Royal T Car Wash in Derry, dropped by and gives us a boatload of info on his car wash business. One of the fastest hours I’ve spent with a guest and it was all about his car wash!! From part time employee to ultimately becoming a passionate owner. I met Brian at a Studio Lab open house in Derry (another topic for another episode) and he started to talk about his car wash; how he started, his issues with the state, the technology, etc. Some inside baseball and a great look at an amazing business as well as an amazing man. What an hour!

It's Friday, which means the Friday Fun Bunch is in the WKXL Studios! Ken Cail interviews Tom Raffio, President & CEO of Northeast Delta Dental and Kitty Rae the OFFICIAL “Flick Chick."

The 4 year/ $135 million extension for Jrue Holiday comes as a bit of a surprise to The Sports Machine with Slim. Why now? That is the first question I asked upon hearing the news. There are only 3 games left in the regular season. Why not just wait until the season is over and then give him the extension? Maybe the Celtics brass were afraid that Jrue would have a ridiculously good playoff run and then be in position to demand a much more expensive contract? That seems unlikely. On this team, it will be hard for Jrue to stand out with huge numbers offensively. There are just too many scoring options. Today on The Sports Machine with Slim, we dig in a bit deeper. Maybe the Celtics leadership team needed this long to make sure they knew Jrue is a hard worker and a good teammate? I guess that's possible - but they weren't able to tell that a month or two ago? That gives me some concern, because it has been obvious to anyone watching the Celtics this year that Jrue Holiday is a stud who is willing to do whatever is necessary to help his team win. That's the player he has been for years. I have a different theory on why the Celtics decided now is the right time to give Jrue that contract extension. Wyc and gang want every player in that locker room to know that Jrue Holiday is somebody who is gonna be here for a long time. When Jrue speaks in the huddle during the playoffs, the players on the team need to know that the voice they are hearing is someone who is 100% pure unadulterated Celtic. With a team packed full of NBA all-star talent, whose voice is going to be the loudest when times get tough? Will it be Jayson Tatum's? He is our best player, but he isn't a loud talker. Will it be Al Horford? He is the veteran everyone wants to win for, plus Al has been here for years, but he isn't necessarily a loud talker either. And he many times won't even be on the court at the end of a close game. Derek White is a great member of the team, but in crunch time I don't think players on this Celtics team are going to look for him to be the man who brings us to the promised land. Same goes for Kristaps Porzingus. That leaves us with Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown. Jaylen Brown has the largest contract in NBA history, with a 5 years, $304 million deal that kicks in next year. But Jaylen also has a history of chocking in big games. Let's just look at Tuesday night's loss at Milwaukee. Brown was 7-19 from the field. 0-6 from three. He also had 5 turnovers. This has been a recurring them for him. In Game 7 vs Miami last year, he was 8-23 from the field, 1-9 from three. AND he had 8 TURNOVERS! Jrue Holiday needs to have the loudest voice during the playoffs. He is the man who was won a title before. He is the guy that other players need to shut up and listen to when times get tough. And he is the man Celtics fans want to be in charge of making decisions at the end of big games. Celtics fans want this. And the folks making decisions at the executive level for the Celtics want this too. That's why they signed him to the contract extension.

On today's episode of Artful Living, Jane and Catherine are sharing all the details for the upcoming NH Opera Idol 2024. This opera competition will be a very special way to enjoy the "opera"! Join us and learn all about NH Opera Idol.

We talked printing on Thursday's installment. The Director of Business Development for Keystone Press of Manchester, Joanne Petrello, joined us to talk about Keystone which was founded in 1915. Joanne spoke of the company's history and also the services they currently provide and the strong relationships Keystone has built over the years.

This week on Facing the Future, we'll look at what happens at the end of 2025 when many of the tax cuts enacted in 2017 are scheduled to expire. What should Congress be doing to prepare for this fiscal cliff? How much would it cost to extend the tax cuts? Are there viable options to offset the revenue loss? We’ll get some perspectives on all these questions from Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Well, it was time to put on my big boy pants and do a solo episode! Trying to talk by yourself for an hour was a little more difficult than I had imagined, but, it was time to give it a shot.Topics for this episode were spotlighting Mike Perry’s website and Instagram accounts "Clardy Short Photography" and walking through Jeremiah Smith’s incredible website "The Casting Connection” which does a superb job of aggregating audition postings from around the country and making it a one stop shop! Then it was time to talk about local productions and auditions with highlights of the Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative, the Pittsfield Players and the Bank of NH Stage. Plus a lot of other gum flapping by yours truly about various things that popped into my head.