The Sporting Life #193

Bill Green:

I probably was a better storyteller all along than I was a sportscaster. I'm kind of really enjoying my life and feeling very fortunate, and this has worked out really well.

Brian Corcoran:

I was by no means the best athlete on the track on any given day, but took the fire and will to win to the next level, knowing when I found my calling in sports marketing and business. I could apply that every day to the fact of providing myself and my clients with the satisfaction and pride that was instilled in those days.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is Dr. Lisa Belisle, and you are listening to Love Maine radio show number 193, the Sporting Life. Airing for the first time on Sunday, May 24, 2015, the Sporting Life is alive and well in Maine. Some of us enjoy organized sports at the youth, school and professional levels, while others of us are passionate about the great outdoors. Today we speak with longtime Maine sportscaster Bill Greene, who now hosts a weekly show called Bill Greene's Main. And with Brian Corcoran of Shamrock Sports. We know that you will find their perspective on the sporting life enlightening. Thank you for joining us. I must admit it's a little intimidating to sit across the microphone from this next individual because he's doing something. He's been doing something for the past 40 years that I've been doing for the past, say, five. This is Bill Green, who is an anchor and reporter for WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6 and has his own series called Bill Green's Main, which airs Saturdays at 7pm thanks for coming in.

Bill Green:

My pleasure. Thank you for inviting me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And I like that you're advertising your station, WCSH6.

Bill Green:

I am. It's a chilly day and this fleece is about the right weight.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, you've been Sort of a buzz in my ear for many, many years. As somebody from Yarmouth, whenever I think about sports, I think about Bill Greene.

Bill Green:

Oh, nice.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And Bill Greene's mane is something that you've been doing for how long now?

Bill Green:

15 years. 15 years started in the year 2000. We've done 336 half hours.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And that's a lot of traveling around the state.

Bill Green:

It is indeed.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So tell me about that. Tell me how far you've gone and why you're doing this.

Bill Green:

I've gone from, you know, those two little points at the top of Maine. The one on the left is Eschor station. And so I say escort station to Elliot. But I think I've covered every town that someone lives in and most of the towns that people haven't. There are some townships around the St. John River I haven't been in. And I think that someday, Kirk Craddy, my photographer, is here today. I own him, I guess. And we're going to go, Kirk, someday to every one of those towns that we haven't been in and color in a Delorme map.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How did you end up doing this? You are a Maine boy. You were born and raised here in Maine and you've been here all your life.

Bill Green:

I have been.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How did you end up developing this whole Persona, this whole job?

Bill Green:

Well, I sort of think, you know, luck and circumstances. I was born in Bangor. I went to Bangor High School. I was a kid, I think, with some intellect, but my dad was a railroad brakeman. My mom was a housewife. And so I didn't have great academic background, so I had to work my way through college. I needed a job. And so I happened to get a job as a studio Cameraman at Channel 2, a minimum wage job. I was trying to get a job loading trucks, and the guy said, you know, they're looking. I didn't want this job myself because they're only paying minimum wage, but Channel 2 is looking for a cameraman, which was a studio cameraman, not a photojournalist. And boy, I thought Hollywood, man. I just couldn't imagine there were a couple of people that worked there that I had grown up watching. Eddie Driscoll, for one, who was something of a mentor to me and just. I loved it from day one. I loved it from day one.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And this is something that if we're talking 40 years plus ago, this is something not everybody had on their radar. Not everybody was thinking, someday I would like to be a television anchor. A news anchor, right?

Bill Green:

For me, the first day I went in the studio, Eddie was on the air doing a show called Dialing for Dollars, which in eastern Maine. He was a legendary guy. He was like an old vaudeville guy and as talented as could be. In fact, we went to Lakewood one time when Milton Berle was there, the king of television. And Eddie came down to meet Milton Berle. Eddie Driscoll was funnier than Milton Berle, there was no question about it, but kind of locked into a career in Bangor where he achieved enormous ratings and things like that. But that night they asked me if I could stay late and run camera for the news. And they ra new sounder at the beginning that duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh. This is the TV 2 News 6 o' clock report. And I was on camera and the red light came on and I just. I literally had a thought, Lisa, that I'm going to do this till I'm 65 and I'm 61 and a half.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And do you still have a few more years left in you?

Bill Green:

I do. I hope I have one more four year contract.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So if you're 61 and a half and you've been in Maine all of your life, some people would say, how do you keep coming up with new ideas? How do you keep finding new people to talk to and places to go?

Bill Green:

The diversity of Maine is a big part of it. And I'm talking about the geographic and economic diversity. There are people in the mountains, there are people in the coast, there are people in the county. There are a lot of stories to be told. I've done the easy ones. You know, I've done George Mitchell, I've done Susan Collins. But I, you know, I'm finding more and more interesting people. For example, I find what you do really interesting. And the person we should be interviewing today is you. I want to know what you're doing. Why don't you just have a stethoscope around your neck? Listening to my heart? Why are you trying to make me well by doing this? I think your story is among the thousands and thousands of interesting stories that I may or may not get to.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, it is. I don't even know what to say because I'm so used to being the one who asks the questions rather than answering them. And I think I share probably a very similar interest to yours, which is the story, which is finding out why people do what they do and why do they live in the state of Maine and what do they do to. In my case, I'm Particularly interested in what do they do to keep themselves healthy and also living their lives passionately. And what I really enjoy is seeing people who are doing the best thing that they could be doing in their lives and being happy with it, which is why I'm interested in you and your story. Some people would just keep. Some people would say, well, I'm going to go to Los Angeles next or I'm going to go to New York City.

Bill Green:

Well, I certainly tried and I was offered jobs in Rochester, N.Y. springfield, Mass. And Augusta, Georgia. And I didn't want to go to either one of those because it wasn't the stop. If I had been offered a job in Boston when I was looking, I would have taken it. And actually after I was married and the kids were born, I got offered a job in Washington D.C. but it was kind of too late. And so I'm lucky that some of those things didn't happen because I hate this expression, think I know what it means, but I'm kind of self actualized. I'm kind of really enjoying my life and feeling very fortunate. And this has worked out really well because of. You want to hear a funny story?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'd love to.

Bill Green:

I'm in the Red Sox locker room. It's about 1995, and I'm trying to do Boston. I'm trying to get down there as much as I can. And the guys in the circle are Mike Greenwell, Jody Reed, Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs. And they're talking and I'm kind of. They recognize me well enough that they recognize my face, but they don't know who I am. You know, kind of, I'm kind of in that very extended group and I'm sitting there listening to them and I'm thinking, if these guys weren't playing baseball, I wouldn't be wasting my time. You know, it was almost like an epiphany. You know, this is stupid. You know, I don't want to chase jocks. And so at that point I decided to really work on my feature story, my storytelling, my features. I probably was a better storyteller all along that I was a sportscaster. And so I did sports from 75 to 93. But it was time to get out. My children were born in the late 80s, early 90s. It was time to, as another mentor of mine said, go home and help with the dishes and not be away nights and weekends as much as I was as a sportscaster. So I started doing features and it's really worked out well.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What I've enjoyed on the radio show is getting to know people and then making the connection from one person to the next person to the next person, the whole Kevin Bacon thing and then seeing them again out in the world. I may not always remember their names or even recognize their faces, but having those connections and that for me is so great because this is Maine, and we can do that.

Bill Green:

Maine is a big, small town, and when you think of it that way, I remember as a little boy, I think, paying a quarter to go to the University of Maine to see your dad play football, and Charlie Belisle, as how they used to say it, he was noted. He was an undersized fullback, I think, maybe a running back. I think he was a fullback. And, you know, that was a great group of players that overachieved and went to the bowl game, the Tangerine Bowl. And so now, and here you are doing as spectacularly as you are, and there are just connections everywhere you go in the state of Maine. It's a very interesting, very comfortable place to be.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's also interesting for me to see the people who are drawn here. And they'll say. They'll come on the show and they'll say, well, I went to Bar harbor and I vacationed in Bar harbor, and then I wanted to come live here for the rest of my life. But that's not why they stay here. They come here maybe because it's beautiful, but they stay here because they really feel connected to the other people that they meet.

Bill Green:

There's a guy two houses down the street from me in North Deering, and he was, I believe, helped me a psychology professor at Duke, I believe. And he didn't. Knew he wasn't going to end up at Harvard or something. So he went around the country and looked at all these places and decided to move to Portland, Maine. And when he told me that one night, sitting on the steps, you know how you talk to your neighbor? I was incredulous. You know, how much smarter than me are you that you got to, you know, you were smart enough to think I'm going to live in the best place I possibly can. And maybe an equally intelligent person wouldn't choose Portland. But you know what I mean, I just fell here. I just landed here. But I did have an experience one time. I was at a dinner with my wife. I was the spouse. And there were people from Miami, Chicago and Washington, D.C. and where are you from? We're from Maine. And they go, oh, main. With like 16 syllables. And, you know, they're looking down their nose at you and we started talking about the murder rate and Miami had just replaced Chicago as the murder capital of the world or something like that. And they turned to me, how many murders did you have in Maine this year? And I remember the number was a low 16. And they said last month, I said, no, last year. And then we talked about education and the kids had scored high, like fifth in reading and eighth in math that year. And I know that Washington is not a state, but they were 50, 51 and 52, you know, and by the end of the conversation I was lying because I thought they were all going to move to Maine. You know, it just, you know, and I kind of thought, you know, I should be bragging about Maine. I grew up with an inferiority complex about Maine. Maine's not as good as Boston somehow or something. And, you know, I just said, I'm going to start bragging about it. And so I do. And I do. I think in my show I am guilty of seeing Maine through rose colored glasses. But there's an awful lot to like about being here and I kind of choose to take that angle. I'll let others do the very pressing problems that we're facing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I feel the same way. I think that people have asked me, why don't you ask harder questions of your guests? Why don't you do more hard hitting news? Or when I write for the magazines, they'll say the same thing. And I'm not an investigative journalist. That's not really what I need to do. Somebody else can do that job. What I really want to hear is what makes people happy, you know, why they come here, why they stay here.

Bill Green:

Well, I kind of pride myself. My dad was a depression guy from Orono, the Basin in Orono. And down behind the police station, there's like a place that goes down to the river and they call it the Basin. And you know, he could hunker down. My dad could do with very little. And he had a union job. He had a pretty good life. He ended up becoming a golfer and went to Florida and all these. He did okay, but he could be happy with very little. And I think I can too. And you sort of intimated that a bit in our conversation at the beginning because you talked about people who are doing something that makes them healthy and well, as opposed to chasing a buck perhaps, or whatever it is that they might be doing. And I think that's a big part of living in Maine. I don't care if you're, you know, dropped out of school in the seventh grade and like a Maine farm. Now it's not the biggest, just potato farm or something. They do pumpkins in October, they do bees all year long and they do flowers in the summer and I'm not getting some of my crops in there. But they're community supported agriculture in the spring and summer. And it's not just a farm then they're doing hayrides and they're doing milkshakes and you know what I mean. They've got nine jobs. I think a lot of people have two or three jobs and they piece together a living and they're pretty happy sometimes. Most times I think. I hope

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

we at Love Maine Radio are fortunate to have a collaborative relationship with Apothecary By Design and to offer an ongoing speaker series. The next speaker in the series is me. We invite you to join me and hear more about finding wellness in water and nature. We're going to be discussing the brain, the body and the deep blue sea. During this event we'll explore the power that water has to relax, restore and revive our spirits from a neurobiological perspective. And we'll give you some tips for putting these things into action in your own life. We hope to see you on Monday, June 1, 2015 from 5 to 7pm it's going to be a great time and you'll learn a lot. Plus, I just like having my friends around me. Thanks. For quite a while you were doing news and sports and you've done your own thing now for 15 years and more than 300 shows. So how did you decide? Like this is how I'm going to do this and how I'm going to put together something that I really enjoy doing.

Bill Green:

One of the I think bad things that happened in broadcasting were rules that enabled corporations to own a lot of TV stations. That's just my personal opinion. But anyway, we have a good owner in Gannett, but we own like 50 stations. I say we. I've never been to the corporate office. But anyway, they bought Channel 6 and Channel 2 off the Rhines Thompson family of Maine. And they were looking for a way to look local because I think to be successful in broadcasting, you need to be broadcasting pretty close to what the people, the hearts and minds of the people. And I almost think they said, well, who's expendable? You know? And so they chose me to do this show. And I happen to have a brilliant idea. I named it Bill Greene's Maine. I'm glad I didn't name it Maine Today because it would be Maine Today with somebody good like Rob Caldwell or something. It wouldn't, you know, but you can't get, you know, you can't have Bill Greene's Main with Kathleen Shannon or Caroline Cornish. So I've got kind of a monopoly going here. But I was just kind of around. I had the skill set to do it. I do think there are some things about me. I do think I'm a pretty good storyteller, like my father, who was a marvelous storyteller. And, you know, usually the word bull was in there when my father was telling a story, but he had the basic elements of a good story down. And the other thing is Kirk Kratty, who's here with a camera today, and I, we produce a very high volume of work. We do it at a pretty high level, I think, so economically, the finances of the business, which I bet you're finding a lot out about or know a lot about now, after five years, we do a pretty good job and we do it relatively inexpensively. So I'm pretty proud of the work that we do.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I would agree with that. I think working with John McCain, who is our audio producer, but also the staff at Maine Magazine, Maine Home Design, 75 Market St. We are able to do exactly what you've described, which is create a high quality product on an ongoing basis at a really economical cost. So that makes all the difference. And it is amazing what you can do with people who are good at what they do and work well together.

Bill Green:

It's really funny to me because I used to anguish in school. Oh, do I have a good enough subject? You know, with this writer's block thing, I don't have time for writer's block. I got to write it. And if it isn't right, it goes anyway, you know, you've got to get it done. And so it's really fun to be on this side of academia. Just write it, get it done, move on. We'll do another one tomorrow.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, that's true. And in medicine, it's very similar where you have to get it right, but you also have to get it done quickly. And it's actually a little bit closer to you have to get it right. So when I first started doing the radio show and writing for the magazines with a regular weekly deadline or a regular monthly deadline, I would focus on the getting it right. Getting it right. Getting it right. And then I started to realize you just need to get it right enough for this particular situation.

Bill Green:

I can't imagine being a doctor, though. I mean, that's serious business. Yeah, there's a profound thought. But it is. I mean, my goodness.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I think a lot of family medicine is actually pretty much doing what we're doing, which is having conversations, getting information from people, and really understanding what their social context is. So you may be treating somebody with high blood pressure, but you're also treating a family member who's maybe eating not the best foods and they're not able to exercise because they have a transportation problem. They can't get to the gym, and it's snowy out. So do you see what I'm saying? There's a lot of crossover.

Bill Green:

Yeah, but don't you think that's more of a modern philosophy towards treating patients than perhaps 25 years ago, 30 years ago, that we find out about their hopes and wants and dreams as they're sitting in an office and not just treating that high blood pressure? Here's your red pills.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I actually think we're coming back around to medicine the way it used to be practiced. I think we used to not have. Sure. Maybe 25, 30 years ago, we had more technology. We had antibiotics, we had surgeries that we didn't have before that. But I think for a long, long time, medicine was. It was what the community doctor had to offer sitting up in Holton, Maine. And a lot of it was reassurance, was listening, was understanding context.

Bill Green:

So I'm telling you, Lisa, you should be on your own show. I don't know how you do interviewing yourself, but. But you're more interesting than me, so.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I don't think so. And I want to actually talk to you about something specific. One of the reasons that I was interested in having you come in was I read something that you wrote in the notes, and I know you have a regular column, and I think it's syndicated somehow because it's in more than one newspaper.

Bill Green:

No, it's not. I have no ambition. It's why I'm still working in Maine tv. I write what I feel is a somewhat usually satirical column for the Yarmouth for the Notes of Yarmouth. And it's designed merely to make people smile.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Okay, well then I was privileged enough to read. I read it on a regular basis. I read this particular column and it was about Little League. And you were talking about Little League, which I have a particular interest in, because my son, who's 21, went all the way up through Little League. He actually ended up being on the state championship team that went down to, I think it was Connecticut.

Bill Green:

They were regional in Little League, so they went to the Bart Giamatti Center.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Exactly, exactly. Bristol. Yes, in Bristol. And we spent a number of days down there. And I was a Little League parent for many, many years. And you were talking about some of the good things about Little League and baseball in particular and sports in particular and some of the things that you might do differently. And one of the things that you were discussing was maybe we're starting kids a little too young and asking a little bit too much of them at a young age and maybe taking the fun out of it somehow.

Bill Green:

Absolutely. And it's not because of baseball or Little League, it's just that's the game that we get to first. But you know, for six year olds, we put them on a T ball team, we give them a shirt with their name of their team on it. We line them up and they get two at bats a game. Half inning is everybody bats once. And then you go out in the field and you stand there with your parka over your shirt because it's cold and it just, it's just too organized. If you play one game of wiffle ball in your backyard, you might get 25 to 50 at bats. Where in a T ball game you get two. Obviously you're advancing more in your backyard and I just think. I think it's over organized. For example, you're one of the. I don't know if you're fortunate or not, but I would say you are. You made it to Bristol. That's a magnificent accomplishment to win the state championship and get to Bristol. Every other team in the state that year, every other kid that's your son's age, it was your son that won. They stopped playing on July 12th when you won that championship in Maine. And so the organization ended July 12th. Well, that's the time to be playing baseball in Maine. But we're trying out in the gyms here in another couple of weeks. For what purpose? So that we can have the state you know, the all star teams picked by the end of school, when we really should be beginning summer ball, then we get the districts out of the way. If you're lucky enough to win a district. And in the Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cape District in Little League, that's, you know, there are 19 teams. My son's team got to the finals of the district, didn't get to the state. And I mean, just to get to the finals of the district was amazing. And then you go to the state, and then if you do win the state, you go to the Northeast Regional because New York and Pennsylvania and New Jersey are in there. And then you go to the Little League World Series. And we play the championship game on August 18th on ABC. Well, in order to get that game played on that day, we have to start in like April, and that's wrong. We'd be better off to not go end it with a county championship, end it with a state championship, and let everybody play all summer long. That's my theory about, I call it park a ball. And I think we're starting really early on it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You know, it's an interesting thing for me because all of my children, two of whom are in college now and one who's a Division 1 swimmer for Providence, you know, I've seen them go all the way up through with sports and I love that they're healthy. I love that they have great, dedicated coaches. I love that we come from a strong, sports oriented town. I love that they have that success and they have the training that that's kept them on track. But there is something about the lack of freedom that sometimes comes along with that, that it's so regimented and the practices are so frequent and that you end up having. What's painful for me to watch is the crossover of seasons where you have kids who are trying to play two or three sports all at the same time. And as a doctor, I've seen the problems with overuse injuries in 8 year olds. I've seen the pitcher's arm and I've seen, you know, I've seen head injuries in football players who are 10 years old. And so this is, for me, the conflict is how do we keep kids interested and engaged and communities happy and healthy and not go too far?

Bill Green:

I don't know. And I made a mistake with my son Sam. He's a good athlete and he played football, basketball, baseball. Well, if you play football, basketball, baseball, all you gotta do for football still is lift some weights in the offseason. But if you play basketball, you Gotta play aau, you gotta play summer ball. You play baseball, you got to play Legion, you got to play summer ball. He's not playing three sports, he's playing eight. And he was over scheduled. It was entirely my fault. But I had this Charlie Belisle idea that you play three sports because back in the day that was the ultimate man. And we have to specialize in sports now to just play. My recommendation would be pick a sport, play it, and then have some off time in the season to ski with the family or, you know, and you know, you hit on a sport. I love swimming, you know, because you end up buff, you know, you'll look great if you're a swimmer and you know, you can regulate your schedule. But I don't know how we keep people healthy. I think we do it by limiting the number of sports they play. The old images are gone. Three sports is. What do you think?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I think I just said it. I think there is. It's kind of the equivalent of having more of a like a universal pitch count, you know. So pitch count is what we instituted for young athletes in Little League and it was actually after my son started, so it was not that long ago. I think we do something like that where we have some maximum number of minutes that young athletes are playing for any sport at any time.

Bill Green:

I'm glad you brought this up, Dr. Lisa, because I also believe in meaningful physical education. And I see this is when they elect me king, which could be any day. Now that we take physical ed, the kid comes into school and it's really a personal exercise diet. Help me with what you need. But Bill Green did not need to go into the gym and play kickball. Your child, who's a Division 1 swimmer, didn't need physical education as we know it. Now they may have needed perhaps an extra study hall in school because they're getting their workout with their swim program or whatever. I think we ought to incorporate physical fitness as a lifetime part of our life and start teaching that in school by looking at their day, looking at their diet, looking at what they're doing for activity and using that hour a day and calling it physical education. How am I doing with that?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, that sounds good. I do like though what physical education, some of the things, I mean my children would never have played say wiffle ball or they never would have played volleyball. So I think there is some nice thing about giving them access to. To other things that enable them to cross drain. So I don't know. There's probably something in there amongst all that and you also have this idea about giving us an extra hour of daylight in the summer.

Bill Green:

I believe this from the bottom of my heart. Just driving around and we drive about 25,000 miles a year in Maine. We should go to Atlantic Savings time from about May 15 through August 15. And it's hard sometimes when I jump this idea on people for them to get it. So basically it would give us an extra hour of light on summer evenings. And the idea is you can run and walk and garden and golf and whatever you like to do that extra hour. And with our light deprived winters that we're now coming out of, you know, going to Atlantic Savings or what I like to call vacation saving time, would give us that extra hour. And I, when I retire, which I Hope is in 2019, I'm literally going to try this campaign statewide. I've talked informally to like Maine innkeepers in Maine restaurants associations, Maine Golf association, and you know, all those people want to generate more revenue. So, you know, it seems they're for it. And so look for a campaign. I don't think as a reporter I should do that, but I am kind of talking out on your show today. And John, if I have time to say this, see Lisa, you say you don't ask hard hitting questions, but because you have a respectful, intelligent approach to things, you get people to talk. I don't think you have to beat people with a mean spirited question which is obviously going to shut them up to show how tough a reporter you are. I think what you've got to do is to get people to talk. And so I think an intelligent conversation is a great way to get people feeling comfortable in getting them to say things that they might not normally say. But anyway, vacation saving time, Atlantic Saving time I think would be a great idea and I think it would be a just, it would mean a lot to the Maine economy because we'd all be doing things more. It would enable us all to live a healthier lifestyle because I do think we all tend to lose a pound or two or three in the summer and get into those activities. And I just think it's a real natural thing for the state of Maine. And the reason we're on the time that we're on now is when the railroads started to move around real quickly. They couldn't adjust their watches in each town. So railroad executives standardized time, Eastern Standard Time Central. That had to do with railroad movement in the late 19th century. So we're actually living on a time that was created by some railroad executive in the 19th century. And I don't think that's the healthiest way to live. What do you think of that, Dr.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Lisa well, I think it's a great idea that you're gonna have to get a lot of momentum behind. I feel positively inclined towards it. I mean, you seem like someone who gets an idea in his head, follows it through. Bulldog, bulldog, terrier mentality. I think you probably are gonna get some people to listen to you.

Bill Green:

Okay, well, if anybody wants to join my campaign, drop me a note right to Channel 6 in Portland or Channel 2 in Bangor, and I'll sign you up for this big campaign that's coming up in my mind in 2019.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I love it. I think it'll be interesting to see how people respond to this. I mean, literally, in a conversation I had earlier today, we're talking about ideas that people have in their minds about the way things have to be because it's the way they've always been, and how you actually can question those ideas because in some circumstances they were put there for reasons that maybe aren't that relevant anymore.

Bill Green:

That's one of the biggest obstacles that I hear when I bring it up or speak about it. They say, oh, don't do that to me, Bill. I don't want to change things. I think it will be better, trust me. But you're right. I mean, there are some people who are dead set against it just because they're dead set against it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, we'll see four years from now when you get to start your campaign on this. I'll be following this all very closely. And see, it'll probably become known as Bill Green's Time or something like that.

Bill Green:

That would be not good. But no, Atlantic Savings Time, Atlantic Saving

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Time, or whatever it be, or vacation time?

Bill Green:

Well, see, I think vacation Saving Time, it's got that hook, you know, that commercial hook that will let us sell it. And actually, I had some guys in Damariscotta who will probably deny it now, but they're thinking about trying it as a town. Damariscada, some summer will just go ahead an hour just for the free publicity. Come to Damariscada. We're ahead of the rest of the country. And I think it'd be a great idea we stay up till 10 o' clock where it's light till 10.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Or maybe you could just try it as an individual and see how that works out for you.

Bill Green:

I kind of do. I kind of do, Bill.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How can people find out more about Bill Green's main or the work that you're doing? For WLBZ2 and WCSH6.

Bill Green:

You know websites, WCSH6, WLBZ2. They can go to Foodstop in Cumberland. I get coffee there most mornings. I'm around. Call me up Turn it on Saturday nights at 7. And if anyone has an idea for the show and they'd like to send me an email, it's bill.greencsh6.com and I'm always getting great ideas from people and I'm around and approachable. Give me a call. It's not a big deal. It's a lot of fun to do it. I'm a very fortunate person to have this job.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I think you are fortunate to have this job, but I'm also fortunate to have my job. And talking to you, I'm reminded of that and reminded that something done over a long time can still be fresh and new and exciting and interesting. And it's been great to talk to you. It really has.

Bill Green:

Thank you. It's been fun talking to you, Dan.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So this is Bill Green. He's an anchor and reporter for WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6, who has a series called Bill Greene's Maine, which airs Saturdays at 7pm and those of you who have never heard of Bill Greene, I can't imagine who that would be. But if you're listening, you need to go find out more about Bill Greene. Thanks, Bill.

Bill Green:

Thank you, Lisa.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As a physician and small business owner, I rely on Marcy Booth from Booth, Maine, to help me with my own business and to help me live my own life fully. Here are a few thoughts from Marcy. When was the last time you took a break from what you were doing, from the work that was piled up on your desk and just looked up? I know that during the course of my days, I often forget to take a moment or two to just breathe, look up at the sky and dream. Terrible that I have to remind myself to breathe. But when I do, I feel energized. Because in those moments, I'm able to let go of the daily grind and think more about what I want to accomplish, how I want my business to grow. Sometimes those are the aha moments. If we all took a few moments out each day to stop what we were doing and dream a little about our business futures, not only would we feel a great sense of calm, but we may come to realize that these dreams can, in fact, come true. I'm Marcie Booth. Let's talk about the changes you need. Boothmaine.com

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

as a former Little League parent and current soccer mom, current lacrosse mom, the person that I have across the microphone from me today is I think he and I are going to have some commonalities. This is Brian Cochran, who is the founder and president of Shamrock Sports and Entertainment. He and his wife, Melissa Smith, have a son named Baxter and they live in Falmouth. I know you're a busy guy and I know you know a lot about sports, so thanks so much for coming in and talking with me.

Brian Corcoran:

Thanks for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As I was saying, I'm a longtime sports mom, also former high school slash little bit of college athlete, and now I'm actually the mother of a college athlete. So sports is something that's been in my life for a long time and my family follows the Red Sox, the Patriots, pretty much any sport that you could possibly think of, even though I'm not so much into it myself. But it's part of our family, it's part of our fabric. And you have made this really part of your life to a much greater

Brian Corcoran:

extent than many people pretty much eat, sleep and breathe sport and specifically sport business, sports marketing. With an 8 month old baby boy at home, you look at life with a different perspective.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So your wife Melissa is the CEO of wex, correct?

Brian Corcoran:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So this is a pretty big job.

Brian Corcoran:

She's an even better mom and wife and friend and other things.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I was going to get to that.

Bill Green:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I wasn't going to discount that part of things. But you have a high power job, she has a high power job. You both are very passionate about what you do and now you have an 8 month old. How has this shifted your perspective on first of all, work, life balance and second of all, sports?

Brian Corcoran:

Yeah, it's never easy that work, life, balance that we all fight is never an easy thing. I think having a family that has had some recent deaths put things in perspective. You hear people talk about family. First, I'd like to think that Melissa and I eat, sleep and breathe. While we certainly have work weighing on our shoulders and our minds, the fact that an eight month old baby boy at home brings different perspective and the fact that it's actions, not words thinking of even the way we start our day starts a little earlier. Whether we like it or not, we're on his schedule, not ours. So while we have a Work calendar. You know, we get out at 5am with the stroller and that's the time when we know we can spend some time together as much with him. It's a win win, as they say. And it really makes you measure minutes, not just hours. It's not just about looking at your outlook calendar and what meetings I have today. It's about how am I going to be a better husband, a better dad, each day a little easier now that he's crawling, be walking and running soon. But it's, it's. I don't like to think that it's something that there's a silver bullet solution on the work life balance, but it is a choice. You make the choice to put family first and you need to make sure that your actions speak louder than words.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have loved sports all your life. You, you were a sports person, you played sports.

Brian Corcoran:

Yeah, ran track all the way through college. There's a reason why my day job is on the other side of the business. It's representing these leagues, teams and to certain prospective athletes. But at the end of the day, you know, I think the life lessons that I learned as a student athlete I carry with me each day. Love the game of baseball, love the game of football, love the game of basketball. Ended up being a track athlete in college. I think that will to win still burns in me every day. Yet I realize my limitations and my talents didn't take me to that next level. But I enjoy the fact that at work and play I have an opportunity to be an influence on the business side, an influence on helping these teams, leagues and other events get sponsorship and be well funded so they can be the best they can be. And then who knows, maybe there's a future for me on the other side as a little league coach. That's the next chapter.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You grew up in Old Orchard and as you said, you were an athlete and you learned a lot of valuable lessons from being an athlete and you were an athlete in college. So when did you realize, okay, I want to do something with sports, but I'm not going to be able to continue to be an athlete in a way that, I don't know, makes a living for me.

Brian Corcoran:

Yeah, my original come back to passion points is really the driver of all of that. I had a passion to compete initially. I think the crossroads about my junior year in college, I realized I'm not going to be an Olympic athlete, I'm not going to be a professional athlete. But I love sports. I want to find a way by which this can become A passion I can still live out. I was a sports medicine undergrad. That led into realizing that there was this thing called sports marketing and sports business. And like most people that find their passion, I call it Irish luck, stumbled across it, Had a mentor in undergrad that was on the sports marketing side of the business. Being very actively involved in student activities, student government, fraternity, this, that and whatever. Got to meet a lot of people. It happened to be that they were looking for somebody in the sports marketing division of the athletic department and preferably somebody younger. And so right out of undergrad they offered me a job in the athletic department in athletic marketing and promotions. I was this guy doing all the halftime shows at all the basketball football games and all of that. And little did I know that that was a business and more importantly for my sake was kind of at the foundation level of sports business really being what's now a multi billion dollar business. Little did I know back in my naive 20s that Shamrock and other things would be a part of, you know, my future, which has been a lot of fun.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What did you run and track?

Brian Corcoran:

I was an 800 meter half miler and a miler. Yeah, so thought I had quite the stuff in high school. Totally different level. When you get to the Division 1 level, still remain competitive going back to your work life. You know, this was really where I realized I'm going to make the most of college. So I like to think while I was a competitive, you know, student athlete in the classroom and on the playing field, I had my share of fun too, like most of us. But it was an opportunity, I think, as much to learn what it takes to be a better teammate. It wasn't just about, you know, in high school track, it was about me, the half miler. Me, the miler and can I be a state champion? Can I do this, can I do that? In college I think I got a different perspective of that, that I was on a relay, you know, maybe a winning relay team, maybe I was helping a teammate get better. You know, I was a, during the two mile events, I was actually a rabbit. Since I was a half miler and a miler, I ended up being the rabbit, which, who would have thunk in high school being as competitive as I was, that I was actually leading the pack to try to help somebody else break a school record for a two mile. But I look back and really think the very foundation of both business work and play were fostered in a lot of the those days. And I was by no means the best athlete on the track. On any given day, but took those the fire and will to win to the next level. Knowing when I found my calling in sports, marketing and business, I could apply that every day to the fact of providing myself and my clients with the satisfaction and pride that was instilled in those days.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I ran track somewhat briefly in high school, Although I love running, but I was more of a shorter distance person. The people that I looked at with some awe were actually the middle distance people, the 800, the half mile. I think my sister won the state championship in the 800. And what I know about my sister and people who were middle distance was that they were tenacious. You know, you had to be fast, but you had to be strong and you had to, like, hang in there. It was like one of those, like, hanging onto the windowsill with your fingernails kind of races. You just had to keep going and fast.

Brian Corcoran:

The half miles of sprint, don't let anybody fool you, but it's a long sprint. Oh, yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So when I think about what you're describing, even the kind of the personality of that distance, it goes along with what you're saying, which is you have to really, you have to get in there and keep going.

Brian Corcoran:

Pretty high pain tolerance, you know, you. You look at the perseverance that it takes and, you know, I would have loved to have been a sprinter. I just didn't have what it took. Part of me wanted to be the 2 miler. I didn't really have that either, so found my sweet spot. I think the half mile was the thing that was kinder to me. You know, found that that was more my sweet spot. And, you know, now I love. And we ran the Mother's Day 5K on Sunday, and I have a lot of fun with it now. I kind of carry on the passion I have for running and overall wellness, but I don't sweat the small stuff in terms of I don't need to run those record times anymore and really have let that go in favor of spending quality time with, you know, having social runs with people when I can actually enjoy myself and stay fit, stay well along the way.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And I'm sure that you're five years in now with Shamrock, and I'm sure that that tenacity has really helped you as far as creating a startup and actually bringing a business that's. It's not unknown to Maine, but it's relatively unknown to Maine. That must have helped you quite a bit.

Brian Corcoran:

It did. I think as you look at any business, and certainly Maine has its pros, has its cons I think the biggest challenge that we have faced is the fact that we're fortunate enough to have a great Rolodex of relationships that we walked into. And, you know, I'm here, but we have a deep bench of people that have really helped carry the flag and banner at Shamrock to the level that we're five plus years. But I look to absolutely. I mean, I think the common denominator across the entire office is that at some juncture, we were all student athletes. That is by. We had a love for the game. We took that love for the game to the next chapter and made that a part of our livelihood as a business. And, you know, I overuse the expression, but it's, you know, do what you love and love what you do. And our entire group, I think, would say that, you know, that rock in Shamrock is really what that lays the initial foundation of what we think it takes to be successful in our business. It's that perseverance. It's that really balancing act of perseverance and patience because at the end of the day, we're only all as good as the next sponsorship deal that we're helping our clients cultivate. And, you know, that's something that you have to eat, sleep and breathe. And while we have all of those other balancing acts with family, the. The I think common denominator at Shamrock that we have is the fact that we have people that truly have a passion and to your point, have had past experiences that paved the way for their success.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You brought the PBA to Portland. This is the Professional Bowlers association, and they were over at Bayside Bowl. It's a pretty big deal because the spews were televised events that were going all over the world. Really?

Brian Corcoran:

Yeah, it's the first. First time the PBA Tour has been to Maine. You know, while we love the fact that we represent a variety, you know, a diverse base of clients, it really instills a newer, higher level of pride and joy when you can actually say, hey, we've kind of had home court advantage here. We brought not just economic impact, which is great, the business of it, great. Not just for us, but for the state and businesses. But really what drove the needle for us was that pure emotional connection that this community had with bringing the best bowlers on the planet here to our backyard. And, you know, hats off to the guys at Bayside. I mean, they already just run such a quality, fun, you know, bowling operation. But we took it to the next level and put Maine on the global stage, on ESPN and reached in our last broadcast, over 700,000 viewers got a chance to get a little taste of Maine and good for our state, good for tourism, you know, getting Maine on the map. As much as a lot of buzz in the bowling community of, you know, when are they coming back? And so we're happy to announce they'll be coming back again next April.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

we've talked a lot about sports, but I think what you've been kind of intimating is that really it's more the relationship. So really for you, there's the competitive thing, there's the drive, there's the persistence. But it would be nothing without the ability to collaborate and interact with other people and have solid relationship skills.

Brian Corcoran:

Yeah, we, I mean at the heart and soul, I joke people about this, but really what we do at Shamrock, we're matchmakers. So we while sports happens to be the product, if you will, and brands and companies are on the other end of the equation, we really provide the matchmaking between the brands and these whether it's the Boston Marathon, it's the PBA event, it's an NBA thing, it's a NASCAR race. We really become really, we thread the needle between the two organizations, organizations to say company xyz, here's a great opportunity with the PBA or whatever it may be. But it goes back to that leap of faith that those companies and those brands, we're not talking about a local, in many cases a $5,000 local sponsorship. We're in some cases talking millions of dollars that these companies are investing into these sports properties, as we call them. And that leap of Faith has to, to your point, have to be built on trust. It has to be built on a lot of the core values that we were taught back, you know, in those student athlete days and beyond. And so I think we've been fortunate enough to we talk about our book of business, you know, in order to be the matchmaker, you've got to have while we're hired by the sports properties, we're only as good as the ability for us to have the connection and relationship and rapport that we have with those Fortune 500 40s, Fortune 1000 companies.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It must be interesting for you and also for Melissa. You said she is from Wynne, Maine. Wynne, Maine, which is up near Lincoln.

Brian Corcoran:

Up near Lincoln, Maine, yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So I've actually, I've been to Lincoln. I don't know that I've ever been to Wynn. You said that's a population of 400, 400, maybe 399 now that Melissa has left.

Brian Corcoran:

Exactly.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

But both of you are working. She's at Wax, you're at Shamrock, but both of you are working really with global partners. Did either one of you think, as you were growing up in these towns in Maine, your slightly bigger Old Orchard beach, hers quite small, did you ever think that this was what was going to happen? And does it somehow make sense that the two of you found each other?

Brian Corcoran:

Yeah, we can get philosophical, spiritual, whatever you want to call it. I think it was fate that we met. I mean, I clearly we both needed that missing piece of the puzzle, you know, and I'll go as far to call her my soulmate. You know, really, somebody also kind of slapped me and slap each other in terms of that. Go back to that work life conversation that we had. I mean, I think this is about finding somebody that from a checks and balance perspective, puts life in perspective and the fact that there is certainly a lot of responsibility on the work front, but somebody that can really help you make better choices to the fact that you can truly have it all. You can have a life partner that enables you to be a better business person, but more importantly, be a better husband, be a better dad. In this case with Baxter, I think that we have found the fact that we love playing on the global stage. And more importantly, she stayed here as she rose to the ranks at WEX. I kind of had to go away for 20 years. It's my only regret is I lost 20 years of not living in Maine to get to where we got now with Shamrock. But now we have it all. Like to think we're young in our 40s and have the world at our disposal to make a difference, you know, and help Maine grow. Maine. And at the same token, do it in a way that has global impact and do it so that it's not just about with the business cap on, but it really, truly has community, well being and all the friends, family and other people that are so vitally important to us are right here, which is great. Both of our families are Mainers through and through and now both have a chance to share our growing family with them. And that's pretty special.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

One last question, and it's one that I have asked other guests who have been on the show, but I think you might have a special insight. Growing up, I know how important sports were to my life, I know raising my own children how important sports were to their lives. But I've had the sense that the balance has shifted a little bit too much and that maybe the emphasis on high level achievement in kids sports has gone a little too far. You're in the sports business, you're in sports marketing. What do you think? You have an eight month old and you're probably going to be a little league coach. What's your perspective on that?

Brian Corcoran:

Winning and losing? I think there's a fine balance. I think a lot of it goes back to while I think there is, you know, a certain cutoff where I believe in winning and losing, I think where society and again, I look forward to being that little league coach to hopefully make a difference in this perspective. The fact that at a younger age it needs to be about sportsmanship, needs to be about life skills, certainly needs to be about the values that we talk about with family. We talk about the virtues that we want us as adults to live by. That I would hope that as youth and I kind of always, I always kind of define that teenager as the cutoff of, hey, there is a point in time where I believe that, you know, whether it's baseball, basketball, whatever your sport of choice is that there is a difference between winning and losing. But as a child, I'd like to think that there's more about that you win by being a good sport and that your coaches are mentoring you every day to be a better person first and foremost. And secondly, start to crank up that competitive fire, but not to the degree that it's at all costs. And as importantly, disgruntled parents that are there sometimes reinforcing bad behavior, how do they create. I'm all about keeping it positive is kind of one of my mantras that goes through and through it's not just the coaches and the little leagues of sorts that need to live and breathe that. It's the parents and the grandstands that need to ensure that they're reinforcing that at all levels. So I look forward to making that choice.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As I'm sitting across from you, I'm noticing your green socks and your green tie. So that reminds me that I need to ask you, how can people find out about Shamrock Sports? Do you have a website?

Brian Corcoran:

Yeah. Shamrock se.coms is in sports, e is in entertainment. So shamrockse.com gives you a little flavor of who we are, what we do. Most importantly, who are the vitally important people that make our business tick. Every day I get a chance to be the face, but they should take all the credit. They put the rock in Shamrock, as I like to say.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We've been speaking with Brian Cochran. He is the founder and president of Shamrock Sports and Entertainment. He and his wife, Melissa, have a son named Baxter. They live in Falmouth. I appreciate your taking time out of your busy schedule to come and talk to me, and I really appreciate what you're doing to put Maine on the global stage from a sports standpoint and to really bring money into the Maine economy and help people live better lives by prospering and really living their dreams. So thank you.

Brian Corcoran:

We're just getting started. Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have been listening to Love Maine radio show number 193, the Sporting Life. Our guests have included Bill Greene and Brian Corcoran. We love to hear from you, so please let us know what you think of Love Maine Radio. We welcome your suggestions for future shows. Also, let our sponsors know that you have heard about them here. We are privileged that they enable us to bring Love Maine Radio to you each week. This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. I hope that you have enjoyed our Sporting Life show. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. May you have a bountiful life.

Bill Green:

Sarah.