Ron & Jen’s Great Escape – Jan. 18, 2023 – Ron St. Pierre and Jen Brien

by Ron St. Pierre & Jen Brien, contributing writers, commentary

MY DAD

You know, all this chit chat about Joe Biden’s garage got me thinking lately about MY DAD and HIS garage. A 3-car sucker right on South Main St in Woonsocket. As a kid I’d sometimes looked around in awe of all the stuff dad had in there, and when I got bored, I’d poke around in it! I’m sure he ALWAYS knew when I did that. Always knew. I remember how clean he used to keep it. You could eat off that thing as every Sunday (at least in late spring, summer, and fall) he would be out there, literally sudsing it down, scrubbing it, and rinsing it. It was wild. Then, he would shine up the white walls on his wood paneled station wagon, getting ‘em ready for Monday Morning.

Yup, my dad. My super complicated, really, really, smart, super-complicated Dad. He and I had a challenging relationship as I always found my way into a mess, but till the end, he was always there to help mop it up. This July it will already be 3 years since he passed. I still haven’t processed it all. I assume that has to do with my life and how I’ve learned to put up walls in self defense of pain. Once you give up alcohol to fight deep pain you have to find a way to cope. As far as my Dad is concerned, I haven’t yet. Maybe I’m a coward, but that’s the truth. It just floats around somewhere in me, and I won’t let it come to the surface. 

Some day.

In the meantime, I think of my Dad from time to time and I want to both cry and smile at the same time. I know it wasn’t easy to raise me. I did a lot of dumb things, and I’m sure my Dad would say, “I know it wasn’t easy to be my daughter, I did a lot of dumb things, too”. Well, in the end, the fact is, we are all imperfect and can get messy and mixed up. That’s just being human. 

What I know for sure about my Dad, though? Two things. He most definitely would say, “Hey, Jen, it is what it is” about it all… and, he would most certainly have the cleanest garage in all of Woonsocket, RI. 

I’m thinking of you today, Dad. I pray you’re at peace. 

Till next week my friends! – Jen

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IS BRADY BAKED?

Tom Brady’s season and likely career as a Tampa Bay Bucaneer is over… but what about his playing career? Brady’s Bucs’ season ended on a whimper taking a wild card thrashing at home from the Dallas Cowboys 31-14 in a game that was never in doubt. Brady threw 66 passes… a career high… completing only 35 for two touchdowns. In his defense, the Bucs are not a very good team with no rushing attack to speak of and a defense as porous as Swiss cheese. The 45-year-old free agent quarterback to be simply said after the game, “I’ll take it one day at a time” regarding his future which most likely won’t have a Tampa Bay zip code attached. Brady’s 2022 season was hardly one in a bubble. There was a retirement… an un-retirement… a divorce… a strange leave of absence from training camp and the worst season of his career. So what team is willing to bet its future on a 46-year-old 7-time Super Bowl winner? You might be surprised. Ron thinks it’ll be the Las Vegas Raiders and a reunion with Josh McDaniels. Jen things it’ll be Miami where he’d have the offensive arsenal necessary plus a possible part ownership situation. What about a reunion with the Pats? That would be for sentimental reasons (and to put fannies in the seats). Then there’s the 49ers where Jimmy Garoppolo is a free agent and rookie Brock Purdy’s Cinderella story might strike midnight. Who knows? One thing is for sure… Brady looked every MINUTE of his 45 years of age Monday.

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AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

A study by an Arizona State University professor suggests a famous Monty Python sketch could provide an effective form of exercise. Exercise physiologist and longtime Monty Python fan, Dr. Glenn Gaesser, says the “silly walk” uses more than twice the energy of a regular walking pace. He equates the silly walk with running more than five minutes. He says 15 minutes of silly walks a day meets the guidelines for “weekly vigorous activity.” The MINISTRY OF SILLY WALKS sketch is a FLYING CIRCUS classic. Check it out on YOUTUBE.

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Ron St. Pierre is a veteran broadcaster whose career has spanned over four decades. Ron has programmed, performed on and managed WHJJ, WPRO, WWRX, 790 The Score in Providence, as well as WBZT and WKGR in West Palm Beach and WABC in New York City. Ron also anchored sports on WPRI Ch 12 in Providence. He is a member of both the Rhode Island Radio and Television and the City of Pawtucket Halls of Fame. He was born and raised in Pawtucket.

Jen Brien has over 20 years of radio broadcast experience having hosted shows on WPRO and WHJJ with Ron as well as her own shows on WRKO and WBZ in Boston, WXTK on Cape Cod and WHAM in Rochester, New York. Jen was born and raised in Woonsocket and served six years in the Army MP Canine Unit.

Hazel, Ron’s dog, makes regular appearances.

“Ron and Jen’s Great Escape” podcast, a more lighthearted look at the events happening around us, can be found on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts, with new episodes premiering each Wednesday and listen to Ron and Jen’s Great Escape call in radio show Friday afternoons 2 til 4 on 101.1 FM, 1540 WADK and streaming everywhere on WADK.COM.

Go here to read all Ron & Jen’s columns: https://rinewstoday.com/ron-st-pierre-jen-brien/