101.5 FM Homer/Cortland, NY
X101’s Mike Eves speaks with Bob Brazill, Director of Community Relations and Development about the upcoming Racker Rivals Big Red Hockey Game on July 12th in support of Racker’s Early Childhood Program.
Mike Eves: [00:00:00] It’s X101, Always Classic in the studio. I am Mike Eves joining us from Racker. It’s Bob Brazil and he’s the Director of Community Relations and Communications. Bob, good morning. How are you?
Bob Brazill: Good morning, Mike. How are you?
Mike Eves: Good. Can you believe it? It’s, uh, almost mid-July into, uh, you know what that means? Racker rival’s, Big Red Hockey Game for Early Childhood and, um, your early childhood program with Racker BDA. Bob, let’s kind of get into a little bit about, what about Racker? does? You guys have a lot of different programs. Of course one of them is early childhood development, right, Bob?
Bob Brazill: Yeah. We do a number of different things. We serve, uh, in the neighborhood of 300 and, or pardon me, 3,500 people in the Cortland. Uh, Tompkins and Tioga communities.
Mike Eves: Mm-hmm.
Bob Brazill: Um, we serve people, um, from end of life to school-aged children to, um, our residential program serves adults. Our Community Support Program serves adults with disabilities.
Mike Eves: Mm-hmm.
Bob Brazill: Um, this particular game benefits our early Childhood Programs, and these are important because there are a lot of clinical services and evaluations for children. So [00:01:00] as a parent, if you have a child with a delay, you’re always looking for, um, some help. Um, children with delays don’t come with a playbook.
Mike Eves: Mm-hmm.
Bob Brazill: Um, and so our clinicians help to determine, you know, what that need might be, whether it’s physical therapy, occupational therapy…
Mike Eves: Right.
Bob Brazill: Or speech therapy.
Mike Eves: Right.
Bob Brazill: Um, and a lot of these services are grossly underfunded by the state. And so what this game does is help bridge that gap. Um, what we found since the time of COVID, you know, five years ago, there’s a lot of…
Mike Eves: Mm-hmm.
Bob Brazill: Voluntary provi- providers like Racker, who, uh, weren’t able to bridge that gap and those services have dwindled. Uh, and…
Mike Eves: Mm-hmm
Bob Brazill: So Racker, um. As an organization has made the decision to continue providing these services as a deficit.
Mike Eves: Okay.
Bob Brazill: But this game does help bridge that gap and make sure these children get the services they need.
Mike Eves: Yeah. Yeah. No, and, and it’s really important too, you know, you gotta kind of be a step ahead of everything and get them the services they need at a, at such an early age. You know, they say, you know, these things at an early age are, are really good. Let’s talk a little bit about the game Racker Rivals Big Red. It’s a, it’s literally a hockey game you guys have. Cornell hockey player alumni, NHL guys come out, um, ex-coaches a bunch of community members and, and things too. Right, Bob? It’s, it’s a lot of fun.
Bob Brazill: It is a lot of fun. I’ve done a lot of events in my life.
Mike Eves: Mm-hmm.
Bob Brazill: Uh, this is my favorite one. Um, as a person that loves sports, um, and loves
Mike Eves: Yea.
Bob Brazill: You know, the camaraderie that goes behind it, this epitomizes a lot of that. You get a lot of, uh, input from Coach Schafer who’s retired this year a very successful career. Um, just a, an amazing guy.
Mike Eves: Yeah.
Bob Brazill: Um, his, uh. Replacement or the new coach, Casey Jones has stepped right in.
Mike Eves: Awesome.
Bob Brazill: So we get a lot of Cornell alumni this year because of NIL, a lot of the current players are allowed to play.
Mike Eves: Oh, that’s pretty cool. Cool. That’s, I was gonna actually gonna ask you that if any current players are allowed to play, that’s awesome.
Bob Brazill: Yeah. We have Jake Craft, we have Charlie Major, uh, Tim Rigo. Um, all great. Players who had that great, uh, final Eight run this year.
Mike Eves: Yeah, they did. They really did have a great Final eight run. You know, when you think about, you know, some of the players too and Yeah. You know, getting some of the college community involved too. That’s awesome, Bob.
Bob Brazill: Yeah, it’s great. It’s really a great game and it does, um, you know, have two facets to it. There’s the people that lace ’em up on the ice and they, and we have the peer-to-peer pledging. Um…
Mike Eves: That’s right.
Bob Brazill: Where it’s a competition within itself, or whichever team has more money raised prior to the game…
Mike Eves: mm-hmm.
Bob Brazill: They start with a one goal lead.
Mike Eves: Oh yeah, that’s right. A little bit of competitiveness. It goes a long way. Bob, what if I’m, uh, interested and I want to, you know, go to the game and stuff too. Where, where can I go and, and get more information? And tickets are available still too, right?
Bob Brazill: Absolutely. Uh, you can go to the website for Racker, which is www.racker.org.
Mike Eves: Okay.
Bob Brazill: Uh, the first 350 people in the door. At line a rink, we’ll receive either a seat cushion with Racker Rival’s Big Red logo, or a foam finger.
Mike Eves: Awesome.
Bob Brazill: Very exciting. Stuff, but it’s, uh, it’s all about the kids. It really is.
Mike Eves: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it is. And it’s happening. Um, this Saturday, July 12th, four o’clock Lionel Rink there over on Cornell. And, uh, the friends and family skate, I think is pretty cool too. Get the kids kind of interested. And that begins, um, at two 30. Um, Bob, we’re almost outta time here, but, uh. What else do you wanna say before we, uh, wrap things up here this morning?
Bob Brazill: I have a lot of things to say, Mike, but it, it’s, uh, we’re very excited for the game. It’s our 11th year. We’ve raised $1.4 million over those 11 years.
Mike Eves: Wow.
Bob Brazill: And that’s, that’s what’s still counting. Um, that wouldn’t be possible without the partnerships we have with Cornell Hockey, Cornell University to host us and our sponsors. You mentioned the family skate, Sciarabba Walker stepped up this year to sponsor that. Yeah. Tompkins Bank has always sponsored this game. I was gonna
say.
Mike Eves: Yep. They’ve been sponsored for a long time, they’re great. Yeah. No, that, that’s awesome. Yes, and then you can still pledge right up to the game, and of course, tickets are available. You can’t go, you can still pledge and, and help out your, your favorite team as well. And, uh, Bob, as you said, it’s racker.org/hockey. So Bob, uh, thanks so much for joining us here.
Bob Brazill: Thanks so much for having me, Mike. I appreciate it.
Mike Eves: Of course. On X101 Always Classic. I’m Mike Eves and for Bob Brazill from Racker.
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