Rising Above: Inside the Mind of Champions on The Varsity Radio Show!

What does it take to be a champion—both on and off the court? In this episode of The Varsity Radio Show, we sit down with Grayson Moon & Cooper Watkins from Guntersville High School as they reflect on their Final Four run, the hard lessons of defeat, and the mindset needed to bounce back stronger.

We also welcome Tessa Monroe from Arab High School, as our guest co-host. She shares her incredible journey through injury, perseverance, and resilience in sports. Plus, hear from FCA's Kandi  Armstrong about life-changing faith-based sports camps, how young athletes are building stronger futures, and what makes a great leader. And, we'll get an update on the local sports scene from Sports Analyst Greg Glasscock. 

💡 What you’ll get from this episode:
✅ Behind-the-scenes stories from top high school athletes
✅ How to develop a winning mentality in sports and life
✅ Overcoming setbacks & using them as fuel for success
✅ The power of faith, team chemistry, and mental toughness

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Transcript

:
Now  it's time for the varsity radio show. Here's your host,  Seth Henniger.  What's up? What's up? Welcome to the varsity radio show and we are here and live and  I love this show. It is the bright spot of my week. It is amazing.  And what makes it amazing is the people in the room. And I have to tell you, one of them was so dedicated, they limped up the stairway to be here.  And this is one of me and Stephen's favorite student athlete hosts and she's incredible. From A-Rab High School with her hip repaired and all, hopping along up the stairs. Tessa Munro, how you doing? I'm good, how are you? She's phenomenal. She's like way cooler than I'm even saying. I just don't know how to give her props. Thank you. I mean, she ran up those stairs. It looked like a miracle. What's happening?  How you been doing? I've been good, I've been good. Just recovering and doing school. Living the dream.  Oh, you know. The dream.  Also in the studio, he pushes the buttons, he slides the sliders, he makes the Oompa Loompas do what they should. Take their baths,  swim in the chocolate waterfall,  and hang out in the candy forest. He is! The Willy Wonka of radio, Steven Spiegel! What's going on everybody? Hope you're having a great day. Yeah, how have the Oompa Loompas been? You know, they've been okay. They've kind of been bummed a little bit. See, I've been dealing with kidney stones. Oh yeah. And they've been trying all of their home remedies. You know, everybody in this room's injured but me, and I'm just trying to knock on wood and say, not yet! Please God, not You never know what you might be next. Stop it, Tessa! Might take a tumble down those stairs. is a she is in great athletics. Tumble downstairs. What are you going to push me? I got a crutch. You never know. All right. Anyway, thanks, Tessa. Anyway, my kids need me to be healthy and whole right now. But anyway, hey, we want to tell you about the sponsors for the Varsity Rayo show. Marcos Pizza. pizza, salads, desserts, subsides, and beverages under new management.  In the shops of Albertville, they will be delivering the fuel to the varsity today. And then B &B video games. Yep, yep.  B &B, the Albertville mullet, as we call it. We love it.  Business in the front, party in the back, 80s style arcade.  I have never watched it, y'all don't judge me, Stranger Things, but there are literally five video games that were in the filming of Season Two of Stranger Things that you get to play. at this place. That's pretty cool. And certain games that have been in movies like Pexels and stuff like that. B &B video games in Albertville, the shops at Albertville. Buy the Pizza Hut as every 80s thing should be. Hey, we have all kinds of fun things happen on social media. And if you missed that, then you've missed a lot. I just because we laugh so hard we cry. And my favorite segment, one of them is coming up, meme of the week. And if you missed that, then it's your bad.  Not mine, it's your fault.  So come join us on our social media. Stephen, tell them the lob's going on right now. Sure, okay. So we're over on YouTube and we're on Facebook, but I will give you a little bit of a warning. We're having a few technical difficulties there. So if you on and we're not there, I'm so sorry.  It may be that you'll have to catch the broadcast after. And if that's the case, it will be on YouTube and it'll be on Facebook. and Horizon Communications, Channel 182. Should be there tomorrow night.  Come watch us literally on TV.  man,  it's been great being a partner with them. Hey, let's go over to our social media, Stephen, put the good music on. Let's do it. How about some Forrest Frank  and Good Day? Does it feel like a good day?  Absolutely sunny outside. Let's him sing about it.  The FCA moment of the week.  I'm so excited to be joined by one of the most joyful, cheerful, awesome people in the fellowship of Christian athlete office  in Huntsville. She is the one, the only, the legend,  Armstrong.  Hello. I don't know about a legend, but hi. Nice to  see y'all quote unquote again.  So Candy cannot see us, but we can see her.  just so all of you on radio, just so you know. And none of you on radio can see any of us. So, hey, just imagine how good looking we are. Just when you listen to our voice, just imagine the best looking people you can think of. Bless it. it. it. But anyway, Candy, tell us what's going on in the wonderful world of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. We are Camp Camp. camp, camp, camp, and throwing in other things in the midst of camp. But yeah, we've got camp coming up.  It will be here before we know it. It flies by. We have been having camp planning  since camp was over last year. We started right back up in August and  planning and all the details and you know, there's a lot that goes into it with the four power sports camp. And  then we go to St. Simon's for a week and.  Then we come back for our PLT parties and we have two of those now middle school and high school where we separated them  for the first time last year so just a lot  a lot going on but speaking of  We do have our power sports camps going on and they will  Start up in Marshall County there with you guys on June the  9th through the 13th and that's going to be at Sand Mountain Park And then we will come back to Huntsville, June the 16th through the 20th and have sports camp. That's going to be  at White'sburg Baptist Church at the Rock there. We've had it there for the last several years.  And then we will take our interns to St. Simon's.  And that is a week where,  first of all, our interns start off with boot camp, as you know, two weeks.  Or camp even starts and they're poured into.  And then they hit the road  running so hard with. the Marshall and the Madison East Camp. Well, the week after that,  this year, it'll be June the 23rd through the 27th, we're taking them to St. Simons.  And that's where they become the campers  and the summer staff will be the huddle leaders. And they get poured into  just like they've been pouring into the campers  and just kind of rejuvenate them a little bit to come back. because as soon as we get back, hit Coleman Camp, which will be July the 7th through the 11th. And then the following week, we finish up on Friday. Sunday, we set up for Madison West and we kick off  Madison West Camp on that Monday,  July the 14th through the 18th. And then we have two PLTs, which will be  July the 24th and 25th, and then August 1st and  2nd.  Camp is ages seven through 13. If you are a 13 year old, we implemented a new  a new thing, we call it GAP, and it's to kind of prepare  the kids who are aging out of sports camp,  but they're really not  old enough to be like an intern yet, or some will just be starting middle school, so moving into the middle school PLT.  That age group's very intimidating as far as just the transition. That's a  hard season.  So we implemented a new program called GAP last year. trying to  wedge between camp and PLT so those kids feel  welcomed and they can become huddle leaders that year when they turn 14. So just trying to get them to transition smoothly and where they can still feel and be a part of FCA in a huge way, their student leadership teams on campus and whatnot. So summer is huge for us.  of our busiest season.  We love it, we love it, we love it, but we also have our  April 22nd, we have our ministers appreciation lunch, we have men power hours going on, all this stuff will be located on our website. You can follow us. I've been trying to update the website today,  NorthAlabamaFCA.org.  All the information is on there, all the camp date, camp registration links are on there.  We have a March Madness special going on right now for camp and two hundred dollars March  31st. goes up to 225. This will be the last  Price break that you will get until it becomes the full price. But yeah, it's a lot of exciting stuff and yeah, my grandson got to come last year for the first time Seth I know your son got yes last year. Yes, and it is just so cool to see  how the interns invest in those kids and how much they learn because the growth that I have seen in my own grandson from camp and the challenges that he challenges his mom and dad with.  It's just great to see because it's a win-win-win for everybody all the way around. So if you're interested, please, please, please sign your child up seven through 13.  Middle school PLT is six through 8th grade and then the high school is 9th through 12th grade. Yeah, and I can tell you as a dad my son could not wait.  I know my grandson. next day could not wait didn't want to come home couldn't wait to go home. know and it was like our grandson.  He loves to you know, he loves to  he gets in that where he wants to sleep in or either wake up and lay in bed and watch TV and whatnot. But for him to get up, cause he went to camp with me, I mean, he had to be there early. So for him to get up and he didn't give us any trouble either, it was like, it's time for camp. And if I was in the bathroom or something, ready, he didn't see me, he'd cry, thought I'd left him. I mean, it is, it's,  What did you do to make that boy feel abandoned?  Maybe she's just getting ready. She's in the bathroom  Getting dressed. She's not like yeah, was funny, but he thought I had left him, but it is that's We see kids from all walks of life Yeah, and we have partners shout out to our partners because we would not be able to get to do what we do Without them yes absolutely amazing blows me away every year Love  it. Love it. it. it. Love it. Well,  Miss Candy,  absolutely love Fellowship of Christian Athletes and all that you do. And you guys are tremendous. And I so appreciate you giving us your time today. Absolutely. I was glad I could take a break and say hi. I'm glad we missed you. Yeah, we I've missed y'all too. It's been busy around here.  but anyway, hopefully we'll see y'all again soon. Yeah. Okay. See those campers at sports camp. Yeah. Good to see you miss candy. You'll need to up sign up sign up sign up sign up north Alabama FCA dot org. Yes. Have you gotten one of these texts? This has happened to me in the last month. Like I got Did Mark say from paying a road toll via text message today? I've I've got, Steven, if you got one of these,  I got one, I've got like two or three of them. Yeah. can't say I have. This is the new cars extended warranty thing. Really? Like, yes, they, they have been blowing up my phone and I'm like, leave me alone. So thank God today I survived.  I've gotten probably four robo calls since we've started the show. He did. It's awful. He actually answered it. A minute ago. And a lot of it's for Medicare. It's like,  I'm not even in my  50s yet. I don't have Medicare. When I got my phone, there's a thing you can sign up for and it's like every spam call that you can get, they can tell it's a spam and it will just send it straight to voice mail. You don't even get the notification. Yeah. I need that for my life. I don't remember what it's called. My dad signed it up. Whenever you figure it out, shoot that to me, Tess. I need that for my life. But it do like every... Everyone. It's just like the majority of them. get like one a week maybe.  When you say hello and they did like they did to you today, Stephen, and there's a 10 second delay. Yeah.  They're like, they're just not used to people picking.  If I say hello and they like don't answer immediately, I go... Click. I like go into the keyboard and I like start pressing random numbers. That's awesome. Because it'll like...  Like it'll literally they're like and they hang up we didn't even have this conversation, but this is great. This is like what how how do you torment?  Robo calls It works  my grandmother I'll never forget this she used to pick up the landline phone. Yeah  a long time ago It is she go. Hey, are they paying you to do this?  They always say yes.  They're not paying me to listen click  This is great grandma! Way to go!  Also Savage, scientists say they can  recreate living dinosaurs within the next five years.  There are literally four movies showing why this is a bad idea. And growing. Because there are more movies coming out. I mean, Steven. Yeah?  I,  as a kid... When Jurassic Park, I don't know if it was two or three, but the one they got on the boat accidentally and went to like San Francisco and started eating people.  I saw body parts. I was like, this traumatized me as a kid.  Why are we doing this?  If they want a dinosaur, just get a pet alligator. There it is. Yes. At least you know how to deal with it. Did chickens and alligators are related? I do now. Yeah. I don't know how, but they're somewhat like in the same like. Did you know that, Stephen? I know why alligators are always honry.  Gonna be an Adam Sandler. It's you remember.  Haha. Go ahead mama said cuz I got all them teeth and no toothbrush  Yes, have you seen that  water boy never seen water boy? I mean, I probably have I don't remember Bobby Boucher Bobby Boucher It's 71 and sunny outside. We got that going great. That's happening. It's great. I'm ready to get burnt  Crispy I'm ready to get burnt.  You're tired of being cold. I'm tired of being pale You want your tan back. I'd rather be red than white Wow, I hate being pale. I want to be a lobster. Yeah, yeah If you get the right amount of burn, it'll turn into a tan and that's true dark. There you go. But if you go Too burnt. Yeah, you're just in pain for the next five days. Yes, that's true One time I literally got I think I got sun poisoning from the beach No, I laid out and it's it's like my family's the worst to my whole family Gets tan. Yeah, they they tan Not me. I will burn. I mean I get  tan But there's only a certain point that I get tan and then I just turn red Yeah, and I was like four or five years ago. I literally couldn't walk out in the sunlight. Yeah, I couldn't yeah So I went to Belize this summer  did a missions trip Belize City. Yeah,  and uh,  oh It was so hot.  So for our fun day They took us on a, guess they called a water trolley and we drove for an hour to an island.  And then we got on another boat and we went to the coral reef and I swim with sharks  and yeah, what nursing sharks and stingrays stingrays. The nurse and sharks were fine. They cared nothing about me, even though they were as big as I was.  Um, but The stingrays were the worst. They were like all up on me. Stingrays, they don't sting you unless they sense danger. So like if you're sitting at the beach and there's like stingrays will come up to you you pet them, they won't sting you.  They're curious. They're very curious.  Have you ever heard of the croc?  I have. I have. Irwin. And this is how Steve died. Yeah.  Normally, generally the only time that they sent, they sting is when they sense a danger. Yeah, I felt that little thing hit my leg and I looked down and I'm like, hey man, what's up?  But I was good until he like totally enveloped my body. Like just to give you an idea how big this thing is.  Totally enveloped my body.  And I'm like,  I dealt with the sharks just fine until you did that, I'm out.  I'm done.  I don't,  I don't, I don't have time for this. The Clutch Moment.  Tessa, I think you're going to be able to answer this real good because,  man, I mean, you're hurting now. the title of this Clutch is Get Ready. And I want to hear about one of your worst  practice moment stories. Like the practice went off the rails. Things just didn't go good. It was just  a bad day.  I think one of the worst ones was last summer. Coach Jones is very like, we're gonna get the basics down. The basics are what wins games. Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. So every practice we do a drill, it's called Butterfly. Yay. I mean, it's not bad. It's not one of our favorites, but I mean, it helps us. And so we have to get 20 free ball passes, no, 50 free ball passes. It'll go up like over the season as we get better at it. So we'll start at 20 perfect free ball passes. And then you have to get 20 again, but off of a down ball. So there was one time we just couldn't get it. Like we could not get it, we would get to 19, someone would drop the ball. I would cry. Someone would overpass it. Because if you overpass it, would make us send back down to zero. Yeah. So we were all getting angry at everybody. She's like, we're a team. We're not going to get angry at anybody. So we ran. Still couldn't do it. I think we did it for like 30 minutes. Couldn't do it. Finally, we did it. We got it. We were all like, OK. Well, then she made us run for every overpass and every drop ball. And so we were just tired. We're exhausted. She's like, okay, so since you're exhausted, we're gonna scrimmage.  Which,  I mean, I understand like those long rallies, they go, you know, to five sets sometimes. They go all is the day she tried to kill you.  We were so tired.  Like I could barely transition all the way out. Our middles could barely jump. Like was just, we were exhausted. It was so bad. like, we literally fell on the floor when practice ended. We were dripping sweat because at that point it was like 95 degrees outside. The air conditioning barely touches you in the gym. You're just like sitting there and you're sweating. It's right after we worked out already. So it's just like, our bodies are tired. We're exhausted. was, it was bad. It's not a good day. No. I honestly believe this preparation for something  important always opens you up to more though. Yes. And see practice and training are essential for development and moving forward and if as bad as practice stinks and there's times when it really does. I think those bad practices are the reason that we make it so far. Yes. The reason in that last game, the final four game, I mean we ended up losing. But the reason that we were able to battle back being down two sets, coming up, winning two straight sets, and we had that third set left, that fifth set left, I think those practices are really what,  where we're exhausted, we're tired.  We wanna give up, we just know that we can't. So I think those practices where we've ran, we've worked out, and  we're gonna scrimmage, it actually helps us understand what our bodies can do  and how to use our mind in the court and not  get mentally tired because mental toughness is a really big thing in volleyball. Like you go back there, you missed your serve, you're going to be down there. So if you just like sit and talk to yourself, you'd be like, Hey, it's one point. Like there's 25 other ones. Yeah. Like it's not the end of the world. Like mental toughness is, is basically what we preach in practice. Like you have to be mentally tough. You have to be mentally ready for these things to come at you. Yeah. And that's a big deal. And James four, seven through 10 says, humble yourselves before God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. That's not the point I want you to get come close to God. and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. This isn't a condemnation thing. This is a ask for forgiveness. Right? Purify your hearts for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.  Let there be tears for what you've done.  Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up in honor.  You see, the closer we get to God though, the more pure We try to stay and the more humble we are, the more ready we will be for what God has for us. So I want to question readiness.  Why does the way I prepare for something really determine  its success in the end?  And I want to ask you this right here, Tessa, how important is preparation in our lives, right? In all of our lives. I think preparation is extremely important in everybody's life. I think  if you play a sport, you have to prepare for that big game. You have to prepare for the small games.  If you work a daily job in nine to five, you have to prepare for, you know, business meetings for clients. have to prepare. Teachers have to prepare like lessons plans to teach people.  So I think like being prepared for just every little thing, like it may not go your way, but you're going to be prepared for it. That's good. You may not win the game, but at least you were prepared for how they're going to play. Right. You may not do good in that meeting, but at least you were prepared with all your information that you needed. Yeah. It's just a lot of preparation leads to success is what we think. But in reality, preparation can lead to failure too. Yeah. It's just the way you have to look at it. Yeah.  And like you said, I think you said it on the other story. The for me, I've learned the loss or the pain of something  makes me more prepared for the next something. The more  I've come from a family that's like, you're going to lose stuff. You're, you just have to suck it up and deal with it. Like life goes on.  Yeah. Life isn't going to stop whenever the worst thing happens to you. Yeah. That's not how life works. Life's going to keep going on. And I think a lot of people don't understand that the closer you are to God, the more humble you are about those losses. You're not going to be cocky about it. You're not going to  dwell on it. You're not going to be sad. Yeah, it's sad. Yeah. I know when we lost that final four game. I was sad. was devastated. worked, you know, my whole high school career  to make it to state. This is, we won area, we won regions. Our next thing was state.  That's what we had to win. Nobody's won all three before. So I think that loss is getting us prepared for next year.  We're going to win county. We're going to win area and then we're going to win state  and regionals. And you know how it feels now  because you were in that position,  you know, I mean, I was in the position my sophomore year whenever we lost the state championship.  There's nothing we could have done about it. That team,  Montgomery Catholic, I think, Montgomery Christian, something like that. A very good, very well developed team.  I think we just got in our heads that game and I think we were like, we're down two sets, there's nothing we can do.  I think it was just a lot. So that prepared me for the next season. I knew I was going to be in varsity all season.  I mean, I was a junior. We lost both of our outsides. I knew I was going to be so that prepared me. I'm going to battle back. I'm going to do it for those seniors just like they did it for their seniors in the past. It's just the way your mindset is.  you know, you actually have a lot in common with these two about to come in  on a different level.  But number two, what can I do to get the most out of something? We need to have an attitude that refuses to settle for moderation.  And I think one of the biggest enemies of our life is apathy. Right.  Are just like. Well, I'm not going to get a, you know, instead of getting better, like you just said, Tessa, we're just like, well, I didn't do it that time. I can't do it again. So we get defeated. So  why do we not want to have an attitude that just settles?  I think the more you reach for stuff, the more you realize the goals that you can accomplish. Yeah. And I think  God in a way is when you settle for moderation, when you settle for being mediocre, he doesn't want that. So he's going to send you more challenges and more challenges. to push you better, to  make you more developed, to get that attitude that I don't want to settle for mediocre. I like it. And I think a way that  we can not settle for  moderation is just keep pushing ourselves. Know that challenges will come, we'll fail, we'll lose games. You'll not get that business contract. You'll do all this stuff, but you just have to know that's what God put into your life. That's what He chose. He chose to do that. It's teaching you something. He doesn't just do things to just do things. They all have a greater purpose.  They all serve. they all serve to you, to better you, to make you better for, you know, something up in the future. So you might lose to like a 7A school in like a 22, 25 kind of way. Like, but then you go, you know, when you're playing a 5A school and you apply the same techniques, the same methods that you used against that 7A school, you're like, let's play like we did that game. Like they're better than us. We're the same like skill level as them. So if we play up to a 7A school standard against a 5A school, we're going to win. I mean, we played Bob Jones last season,  played two, I think we played two sets each set we lost, you know, by two or three. Bob Jones, have four D1 commits. Like,  they're all professionals. They're very good. So we were, we weren't even sad about that loss. We were very proud of ourselves. then we took, we took and we applied everything we did in that Bob Jones game  to the final area game against Gunnersville.  We battled back. Gunners was a very good team. They're very well developed. They're not bad at all. knew it was gonna be a battle. They wanted to beat us. We beat them, you know, however many years in a row for area. Yeah. And we knew that they were coming out strong and we, that fifth set, we knew what we had to do. We had to play like against Bob Jones. Yeah. And I think, I think our senior Bennett even was like, we have to play like we did against Bob Jones. Like this is what matters. Yeah. And I think so often, especially in Christianity too, you said it like that, that moderation, like, you know, you get defeated in your month. In Christianity, God never wants us to settle. Like, it's not something he wants us to just be moderate, or just okay, or ever quit seeking more of him.  Right? Which comes to number three. What are some initial actions I can take to be best prepared? And  in our Christian walk, it's your devotion life, right? It's your prayer life. It's worshiping God. It's surrounding yourself with godly friends.  And once we hear God, God speaks to us in those moments, we then have action steps. And this is my last question we'll pray and be done.  Why is it so important that we are taking actions to get ready for what God has planned for us?  Because we don't know what he has planned for us. So the actions that we take to better prepare ourselves,  you know, we don't know if he has this plan to do, you know, this as a career or this as a career. But I think it's all about you have to listen, you have to wait, you have to be patient, you can't just... sit and expect it to happen. So good. You have to be prepared. You know, if you're choosing between two career paths, two colleges,  you're going to look into those career paths. You're going to look into colleges and you have to you have to pray. to be like, OK, God, which one is better for me? Yeah. Like, do I go down this road? Like, I want to do this. But what do you need me to do? Yeah. Like I need  I know what I want to do. What do you need me to do? What does the world need from me that you're going to choose me to do? That's so good. So I think we just have to keep preparing ourselves that It may not be our choice.  It may not be what we want to do, but what are we called to do?  That was good.  I like that because it's so true. You know, I think we all have our preferences, but what's God's preference? What does he want? And I think that's the overall answer. God, we thank you  for this moment. God, we thank you.  God, for this devotion. God, help us to be ready to be the Christian. God and the person that you want us to be. God help us to far exceed our expectations and live out yours in Jesus name. Amen. So what's been the best part of your year? So far. So far. I don't know, it's been rough so far. It'll get better.  Oh, I hope.  I don't know.  Best part of my year. You're a fun, successful person. You got this.  I really don't know.  I've, uh,  the best part of my year. That's  a lot. Probably just making it to host estate.  Yeah. That's a big deal. Grayson. It's my buddy.  How are y'all?  What's up, Cooper?  Grayson, it's good to have you back. This is Tessa Monroe.  At the end.  Grayson Moon and Cooper Watkins.  And  she's from A-Rab.  But I said that y'all have something in common.  They made it to the final.  Final four. Final four. And they were made and y'all just went there too. So  that defeat, that feeling, that hurt. Yeah, it was rough. Yeah.  Yeah. I hate that. Yeah, me too. It was bigger like two years in a row though. So, uh,  wait, didn't vigor be y'all in football too? No, no, no. That was Ramsey.  That was a, when it ran through. Yeah. wasn't like beyond the playoffs this year. They were green. Oh, that was leads. Yeah. Lead leads  the year before it was a Ramsey and they ended up, didn't they win this? No, they didn't. It was golf shores. Yeah.  State championship. Yeah.  But  I'd like to say this to all of you. You are in the four best teams in the whole state. I know that doesn't make it better,  but of all the school, that's a huge deal. Yeah. That's a big deal. And I know it hurt in the moment for you. know it hurt for you, but man, how many kids would kill to be just where you were even in that moment? You know,  I know when you're inside, don't want to settle.  Ever. Anybody. But I feel like this is a therapy session. Alright, let's laugh a little bit. How about that? Let's go there. Steven? do it. Are there any particular cartoons that our guests really enjoy? Anything that you still like watching to this day? Uh, I got a younger brother and we watch Bluey. A lot. Bluey? Yeah. I love Bluey. sister watches that at times. Me and my best friend, Jacy. We will literally sit, Cam's girlfriend, Jacy. We will literally sit and for hours on end watch Bluey. Yeah, especially after a scary movie. I say my brother just to make it like seem better, but I mean, I kind of like it. Here we are. Confession moment. Bluey is so authentic. It's, you know, I think Bluey's like the dad we all want to have, you know, our B. Yeah. I'm talking for me and Steven. Yeah. Um, but man, that's, that's so real. Some of those scenarios, like it's too real. It's fun. Yeah. Yeah, I wish I was that good of a dad, you know, yeah  And they're Australian. Yes.  I didn't I also wish I could speak Australian like at with the accent. Go ahead the dog both the dogs are girls That's true. Yes. It took me like I like I just found that I thought they were boys. They're both Yeah, both girls. I didn't know that to this day  You're eight years old when you found out Grayson moons mind-blown. Okay guys, are we musically inclined any of you musically inclined at all?  Like we like me can you sing or play an instrument playing it? No, I know I can not sing. No, okay good at all Grayson No, I can't can you play an instrument?  Uh? No, I took lessons.  I'm good for what guitar guitar. Yeah, okay Tessa Tessa can she's hiding it. What can you do Tessa? No comment. Yes, you can sing. Can you sing a little bit? can sing Why are you hiding that? Yeah, I don't like it. You don't like to sing? Really? music do you sing?  Anything that's on the radio. Oh, listen to that. That's cool.  Grayson, do you sing in the shower? Don't lie. Don't lie. He does.  Cam, I mean Cooper. I he does it. I know, right?  What song do you sing in the shower though? Katy Perry.  Oh! Thank you for that! That was worth my whole day!  Fireworks? Are you singing fireworks in the shower? Oh  That's good. Let it go. my god. We're going all frozen now. Yeah. Goodness. Here we go. Steven, you got something. know you. Oh yeah, yeah. I wanted to ask you. When it comes to musicality, when it comes to band, do we think that band is a sport or not so much? Like in school? Like high school? Yeah, yeah. Like marching band. Well, kind of. Kind of? Like you have to be very coordinated. That's true. You have to be extremely coordinated and you have to have a lot of stamina. That's true. Like those instruments are not light. You do gotta be strong. Yeah. Cause my brother played the drum. Which one? Big bass drum or snare? The one with a lot of ones. Oh, the quads or the quints. Yeah. Nice. I think. No, he played the snare. don't know. He played a drum of some sort. Very cool. But he... They had band camp and it was like 6 a.m. To like 9 p.m. Mm-hmm for like a week straight. Oh, yeah, we come home and it's just like exhausting cuz like you practice and you practice and you practice and you practice so like a lot of coordination a lot of coordination and a lot of stamina Yeah, were you able to pull that Bucky's video? Uh, yes, I got it. Oh, so in Grayson Grayson MacArthur. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Bucky's Buc-ee's what did they compare it to Stephen but scholastic book fairs like the scholastic book fair? What's the last book fair you guys went to I went one last week with my kids?  I? Man yeah, I just I've been taken back by how wonderful that moment is  yeah, I in with my brother their day  and At the elementary school I kind of forgot how short them things were yes I remember I used to like could not look over them, and then I like yeah over all of them. You know Grayson God made you grow. And here you're a tall guy. You are. You're an awesome guy too. You're fun to be around. But anyway, Stephen. Yeah. Bucky's. Let's hit it. Compared. to the scholastic.  inflatable yard beaver but you know what? let's put it in the truck. it's the equivalent of the scholastic book fair cause you're like how'd you go into a gas station and not buy any gas?  going into a buckys gas station walking out with a miranda lambert poster and four pairs of footy pajamas.  send my kids to the book fair and i'm like how'd you go into the book fair and come home with no books? I just don't get it. Need you to explain it to me. I I appreciate the clean bathrooms and the barbecue sandwiches. I just don't understand why it needs to be the size of a mall. 105 degrees in Daytona, Florida. Why are we buying chaps?  Isn't that the truth? Yeah, there's everything in there. Everything. Last time I went, we did not get gas. Did you not? Let me guess what you got. Beef jerky. No, I got one of those sandwiches. Oh, yeah, that's pretty good fresh brisket on the board. Did you hear him scream it out? love it when they scream that  I don't remember last I went to fuckies Oh if it next time you're at Bucky's it's it's inevitable anybody orders a brisket sandwich fresh brisket on the board uh-huh screaming  oh And the the roasted pecans they have in there. Oh smell like sugar. Oh good stuff cinnamon heaven Alright, so 51 seconds. We got the athlete interview you guys ready. Yeah cool  You had a rough day. Yeah, we an ACT test this morning. Y'all did the ACT today? Awful. When do you take it? April. Oh. You got time. I've already taken it once. I have to get my ACT score up five points. I got a feeling I'm gonna have to go back and take it again. Go to A-Rab or something. Don't go to A-Rab. Why not? Go to like, Bradley Mountain or Holly Pond. Because the way that they grade it, if you go to Burnley Mountain and you originally make a 24, you  can go to Burnley Mountain and make like a 29. Cause they grade it based on like your score report card. The test they send out.  The test they send out.  So like my brother made a 30 something on his and then two girls that were in the same grade, which weren't obviously as smart as him. All right, we're ready for the athlete interview. Yep. Here we go. The varsity athlete interview.  So excited,  one, we have the Tessa Moore, Monroe, Tessa Munro  in the studio.  What did you say it was supposed to be, Tally?  Tally. Tally, Tally.  I like that.  Tessa Tally,  Monroe.  In the studio, we have the one, the only, one of my favorite people in the whole world, Grayson Moon and Cooper  Watkins  in the studio.  But just killing it. Cooper, I'm going to start with you. Tess is going to be helping me ask questions. She's real good. She's more fun than me. But Cooper, you've been playing basketball nearly 10 years. That's a lot. What initially drew you to the sport and how has your passion for it evolved over time?  Well, I moved to Gunnersville about third grade. Yeah. They're going into third grade and I  noticed  everybody here is playing basketball and we played it in PE and everything. So  I just, started playing wreck ball and I've loved playing it ever since.  I mean, really what's kept me playing is just  like every day, like there's something new to learn, you know? Yeah. Grayson, how did you first get into the sport and what made you want to pursue it seriously? Well, my dad played for A-Rab and so he of... He kind of just kind of wanted me to play and he's always wanted me to be the best I can. So I just, he's kind of kept me in it and I just kind of kept playing. I like it, Cooper.  As a point guard you're often the one who sets the tone for the team. How do you  approach the responsibility of running the offense during a game?  Well, I mean I  even I struggle with it sometimes but you got to remain calm,  know like Almost even kill can't really have too much Like you gotta have emotion obviously. Yeah, you're setting the tone, but you can't you can't just be a loose cannon and  So that's something that's really important and just, you know, making sure everybody's in the right spot and doing what they're supposed to be doing.  Grayson, you've played several positions like small forward, power forward and center. How do you adjust  to  your playing style, sorry, depending on where you're positioned on the court?  Well, you kind of just got to  play wise, you got to remember plays and you just got to Go out there and know what you're doing and then be ready just to go and stay calm.  What's your favorite of the three?  I  like, you know, the  power forward and the center.  They're both.  I like them both.  All of them. One of them I can shoot, one of them I can post.  Grayson, you said you're a part of FCA and Junior Civetan at Gunnersville.  So how do you apply the lessons that they teach you into your sport? Well, first of all,  Everything I do, I do it for the glory of God. I just, uh, she's the ability that he's given me. Love it.  So  you said that  Michael Jordan athletically aspired like man inspires you. Is it because he's like known as like the goat or just like anything that he does on or off the court? How does that? Yeah, it's his work ethic. I think  I watched the last dance when it came out and that that like,  yeah, that was awesome.  The thing about Michael Jordan  and I say this when there's always the LeBron.  discussion.  You could not outwork Michael Jordan. So  even if you were better, he's going to spend more time practicing and outwork you.  I just, if you saw last dance and I've seen parts of it, there are some of these athletes running their mouth. like, that was not a good decision against Michael Jordan. Cause he came out just to embarrass them. Like, so you've been part of some big moments that, uh, including the area championship, making it to the final four. What did those achievements mean to you, Cooper? And how did the team come together and make that happen? Um, what? To me, it kind of showed like,  you know, that's  set the standard, know, that's Gunnersville basketball.  to  the team, like, I think it  was a good moment. You know, we'd had rough patches all throughout the year and adversity. And  I thought getting to those places  and getting on top of  that hill was a big, you  not relief, but like,  you know.  You we got through that adversity, you know, as a team and all that. yeah.  Grayson, what's been your proudest moment on the basketball court so far?  I'd say  this year against Albertville,  it was a big game against them and yeah,  just some things went bad. And I mean, I had a phenomenal game that game.  Yeah. And that's, guess, probably one of my  Favorite moments? Biggest moments, yeah, because they're a big rival to us. Yeah. Just felt good to beat him. Absolutely. So you said your dad personally inspires you. Is it because he pushes you to do better or is it anything that he does outside of your sport?  It's  inside and outside of sports. He always pushed me to be the best I can, of course,  but  he also pushed me to be  the best Christian man I can be  going through life.  So you said that  you're looking forward to growing closer to your teammates and exceeding expectations. How do you plan to exceed those expectations of people that have already put them on you?  Of people that have already put them on us? Like, yeah.  How do I plan to about that? Yeah, like how do you, like  they set expectations for you. How do you plan to exceed them?  Well, just by outworking everybody, you know, come every day ready to learn, get better and,  you know, to get exposed. You know, find new ways  that, know, you might not even know you need to get better at and work on that.  And you mentioned that you love the daily process of getting better. Can you walk us through what a typical practice or training session looks like for you, Cooper?  Like a day or? Yeah.  Uh, well in the spring we usually will, we even scrimmage in the mornings.  So that, that's a good, like to get exposed. I was saying, you know, that's five on five. You know, it's. It's not like light scrimmages. mean, they're pretty  rough. it's competitive. And  then, know, afternoons, sometimes we'll go and shoot on like the gun or,  you know, ball handling stuff like that  and just  kind of zeroing in on more stuff you need to focus on. then  for practices, like during the season, you know, that's just a full team practice, you know, pushing each other.  Yeah.  Yeah. And um, Grayson and he's one of my favorite in the whole world. You mentioned playing for coach self. Is there,  love coach self.  What's something you've learned from him? Uh, that's had a big impact on your game. I've learned that  no matter how much he likes you, he's going to push you as hard as he can. Like,  uh, he's just gonna,  like I said, push you to be the best you can and,  everything, anything that you do.  Yeah.  And. He's, mean, he's just going to get you to be the best you can.  Tess, if you knew him, he's one of a kind. He's, he's a friend of mine.  Man, coach self is amazing.  Uh, but Cooper, how, do you stay motivated and focused during tough times, especially when the season gets longer challenging?  How do I say focus? Yeah.  Um,  I kind of look big picture.  Um,  and just. I look big picture at the same time. look at a one day at a time, you know, get through this day and you know, 1 % better every day is better than taking a day off and,  and, um, you know, worrying about the problem at hand, you know, just get through the day.  Yeah.  Grayson, I'll ask you this and then Tessa  Tessa's got you. So  how do you prepare yourself mentally and physically before a big game, especially as a key player on the team?  Uh,  usually I'll go.  find myself space and I'll put in some music  and I'll- the music? You gotta stop right there, A little bit of everything. I'll put in some Christian music sometimes and sometimes it'll be like  country or something like some uptempo country or  I don't know just different kinds of music. You know sometimes Katy Perry will come in. There it is!  Uh,  yeah. I'm sensing a pattern here, Steven. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I'll go and I'll just sit and I'll then I'll pray and I'll start stretching and then I'll take them out. We'll all come as a team and start stretching and then it's game time.  Yeah. Wow. Gotta get that Katy Perry in. Yeah. Chris, you're awesome. OK, so y'all both made it to the final four this year  and y'all lost.  Yeah. What was your mindset throughout the last like? couple minutes, couple seconds of that game. Like what was going through your head? Like did you know that you were gonna lose? Did you feel it? Like I didn't watch it so I don't know if it was close or anything. Well it wasn't very close but the whole game I was kind of just like we're just gonna go down with a fight. Like we're not gonna give up. We're just gonna keep pushing and try to bring it back as close as we can. That senior bunch, they never, like it sounds corny, they never gave up. They always like would dig, they find a way to get, you know. At least one punch out of it, you know, yeah, they're they're fighters and that that kind of  Fire job. Yeah, I'll say that  the guy next guy's coming up that that route that will rub off  and I hope it rubs off the throughout the whole program Yeah, you know  it  don't get me wrong not to rub it in they had like ten threes didn't they? Yeah, they they really a lot. They were 11 for 20.  That's crazy  That's crazy. Not normal Chris  So you're going to attend the University of Alabama or is that your plan? Nate Oats, man. Yeah. Yeah. I guess whatever God leads me to do right now. So right now your plan is to attend the University of Alabama. Is there a certain career path that you want to take or are you just going down there to just? I'm just going to go down there and see what I want to do. I'm still thinking about it. How about you, Cooper? Oh, I'm no Alabama.  uh... day you're a good plan on going there oh yeah i understand but as far as i what going into  definitely something it sounds ordinary some of the business school i've kind of feel around with that but something in there you can do a lot of stuff with a business degree yes a lot yeah  so cooper uh... what's one skill or aspect of your game that you're really focused on on improving this season  controlling the ball. All this past year I was terrible turnovers and what's just sad to say because I'm a point guard obviously but yeah handling the ball under pressure and you know kind of creating space to create space for others you know. Yeah. So it's a floor up.  You can never, and I think we were kind of talking about it, you can't ever get better unless you know your weaknesses. Yeah.  That's a big deal.  Grayson, you said you love playing with your teammates. How important is team chemistry to you  and what do you do to help build that bond both on and off the court?  Uh, yeah, I think team chemistry is like a key point to playing the game because  you've got to trust your team. You've got to. You gotta go into the game knowing that you've got people behind your back.  Go in there and make plays and  go help win games.  And then, what was the other question?  Let me...  Oh yeah, How important is team chemistry and  what do you do to help build that bond both on and off the court? We'll go every now and then. We'll all go and just hang out and go eat or something and go talk. And  I think that's a good way just to  get closer to each other and... You know, and we'll go play together, of course, and all kinds of stuff. What's that go to restaurant?  Bubburitos. Yeah, Bubburitos. Come on. How did you know? Oh, my best friend's writing cam.  OK,  OK. Hey, get a lot of. Bubburitos is awesome.  It is.  Jesus name. Anyway, it is so good.  Cooper, you mentioned your grandfather is a personal inspiration. Can you share a lesson he's taught you that impacted both your athletic career  and your life overall?  You know, take every opportunity.  I think,  you know,  if  you have an opportunity and you're any bit scared, know,  like what's the worst that could happen?  You're going to end up. Regretting it eventually, you know take every opportunity that's  before you because you know something will happen.  It's good  Grayson  um,  and then you're up  you also mentioned Michael Jordan is your favorite professional player What's something from his career  or playing style that you try to incorporate into your own game?  Just the way he  Always would  he just would play  like 100 % all the time.  He was calm, but he played the hardest he could. And he always would find a way to  pull out or pull in or something like that. Yeah, that's good.  So y'all are losing  five seniors this year.  And I know a lot of them started.  Do you think that y'all will improve from last year losing those seniors that were pretty key players in  the way y'all played? Or do you think that y'all stay pretty  OK?   I think we will  we're definitely losing some firepower a lot of  a lot of athleticism, but  I Think we can be a very solid team.  I think  Yeah, I think we'll be we'll be fine we just got to work Yeah, we got the I think we got the skill of course like he said we lost some a lot of that that is as one but I think we just Gotta build that chemistry and just start playing with each other and trust each other. And I think we'll be pretty good this year. Okay, Cooper, you're a small, power forward and a center.  Do you prefer  one or the other? Grayson Grayson sorry. No, can't. I mean, I don't really prefer either. I like both of them. One of them. Like I said, I have one I can shoot and one I can go in there and post. Yeah. Cooper, when you're not on the basketball court, you said that you enjoy music and college football. I also enjoy college football. Yeah. But what's your go-to playlist to get you hot before a big game? Is it Katy Perry too? Yeah! No, no, no, no, no, no, And also one is like Katy Perry. Normally before a game, don't listen to music. I don't listen to music. like to be in my... I guess that sounds bad to say, but I like to just sit there, you know, my own thoughts. Reflecting. Yeah, don't normally listen to music before game, but I listen to music driving to the gym. Yeah. What is that? What's that list? Well, my playlist is literally like every genre, I've been on a big Bob  Marley kick. was going say Taylor Swift. Just shake it off, man. I hear enough Taylor Swift from Bob Marley. Oh yeah. Yeah, but I've been on a Bob Marley kick. What's your favorite song? Jammin'. Jammin'.  Everything is going to be all right.  I've that to all of our babies. So they say they're crying out  everything is gonna be all right  Cuz every little thing gonna be all right. That is  felt good didn't it?  Um  Grayson it's clear your parents inspire you athletically How do you how did they push you to be the best version of yourself both on and off the court? well  They're always just there for me they're always encouraging and they're always just,  uh... just picking me up in anything I do and always pushing me to be the hardest I can and just talking with me and just everything. Love it. Love it. Cooper. Um, you're a fan of history. Um, is there a particular historical figure or event that fascinates you and how does that interest influence your outlook on life? That's a really good question. Um, you said historical figure, historical figure.  Um  or event event.  Um, I like that's generic, but I like uh, I like world war two. I like the fact that uh, I don't like the fact that pro harbour happened, but I like the fact that you know, america was just chilling Yeah, we're like, we're not even get involved all that and you know, as soon as they poke the bear you poke the bear and like we go in there and we just whoop tail and that that's pretty awesome. Yeah, but historical figure wise I can I mean  I'd have to think for a long while but the British  Prime Minister  Why can't Winston Churchill?  you Winston Churchill phenomenal. He's a dog phenomenal  Dude gets on the radio   and says, bring us your pans and your pots and we're going to make it.  And they had, they didn't do any good. If you know that had nothing to do with it. He was just inspiring the people, but he kept Nazi Germany out of their country. Yeah.  With his  boldness, courage, honestly. bombed England for days.  Oh my gosh. I love, I love Winston Churchill.  Um, But, and my son, funny story, Steven, my son  gets fascinated. He's seven,  and he has  been talking World War II for the last week. He's talking atom bombs. I'm like, son, that was a really bad thing. It annihilated  100,000 people. Oh, that little boy, you know, little boy in  Fat Man and he's watching all I'm like, so know that you need to be worried about this stuff.  anyway, Grayson, I'll ask you this and  Tessa can ask one of her final questions. Twister is your favorite movie.  What's something  from that movie that you think you could survive if you were in a tornado yourself?  So what's something from that movie that you think you could survive if you were in a tornado yourself? I don't think anything. Nothing. I don't think I'd survive  Game over. There's also no way I'm ever going into a tornado  just for the fun of it. No never. Yeah  That would be really bad Tessa. So you fish,  Grayson.  Do you find that it's peaceful to fish? Like is it like one of the things that you do just like clear your head and  it's  Something I do when I'm bored sometimes and yeah, I'll just go out there and I'll just go out there and fish and it's just kind of peaceful and you go out there and just sit by a lake and you know, watch sunsets or whatever and it's just yeah, kind of calms me down and just settles your brain and just kind of gives you a break for the day. Love it. So Cooper, you play under Coach Self. Does he do anything that pushes you to do better in extracurriculars or in school or just in general? Outside of basketball? Like school? Yeah. I mean, he says if you don't get your grades up, you're a run. But what do you mean? Does he inspire you to do better? Oh, yeah. I mean, he pushes everybody, like Grayson was saying, and he knows when you're not giving your best and  you know,  I mean, he knows everybody can  grow to be better. You know, he just, he pushes the crap out of you and I like it.  Coach self is the real deal.  is.  He's a player coach.  They,  it's hard not, if I brought him here, the whole, all you would hear tests is how much he loves these guys  and how I'm serious and how  is he not that way?   It's hard not to want to do anything for that coach  But I'm  going to something that's not serious Cooper  since you're into the movie interstellar  What's your take on the idea of time travel and if you could travel anywhere in time?  Where would you go and why?  So my take on it is it's pretty that's pretty cool. Yeah, and um,  where would you go?  I honestly, like I'd go back to like Roman Empire. Tense! I'd be like a, I don't know, I feel like it'd pretty cool to be like a Roman philosopher and just like chilling like in Italy, you know? Yeah. Like eating grapes and nice grapes. I love it. Just sitting around eating grapes. Grayson, you know, you may not like time travel, but where would you go? I really don't know back in, I don't know, just sometime back in the,  I don't know, 60s maybe.  60s? Back in like the old days.  Old days.  So if you, Grayson, last question for you, if you could team up with any professional athlete, past or present, for a basketball game, who would you choose and why? Are we picking like a whole team or like- Person. Okay, just one person. Uh, I'd say put me Michael Jordan. All day long, every day. I guess that would be the same for you, Cooper, right?  Uh, yeah, sure. Or like someone like really tall. So I get there like, oops. Shaquille O'Neal. Yeah. Yao Ming or something. Yao Ming.  Awesome.  Let me ask you just one last question. Most embarrassing thing that's happened to you during practice, on the field, off the field,  whatever, make us laugh.  You got this. Go, Cooper.  Uh,  I mean.  And practice I get yelled at all the time. Yes! So that's very embarrassing. What are you yelled at  mostly for? Making dumb passes. Okay. There's like nothing getting into my head.  Grayson uh-huh  I guess when I first started dunking  uh I kind of didn't get understand it exactly  so one time we were on a fast or I was on a fast break and I Dunked it and I hung on the rim and I went forwards  and I didn't like or I let go and so then I came down and laid on my back  And it was pretty funny, but it hurt really bad some time  Lots of pain. Yeah, it was like funnier in the moment  Yeah, I bet if you went back and looked at it, you'd be like, that was great. Yeah, it was. But it hurt.  It hurt just- You had moments like that. Mine's from my own sweat.  Oh! I remember that! Hey guys, you have been fantastic. We are about to do free-sale in about seven minutes. But we want you to come join us over on the social media that Steven got running again. Thank you, Steven. You're welcome. You're fantastic. But if you're listening to the radio, we're gonna play some awesome music, but if you are missing the online, you're missing the whole show, so come join us right now for some funny videos. My level of minding my own business, Steven, are being nosy. Oh yeah. You what I'm talking about? Yeah, you gotta find something to do. You gotta look busy at You know what? This is me trying not to look nosy.  it's gonna vacuum the yard  they'll never notice anything  Oh, that was fantastic.  I maybe I enjoyed that more than anybody else. Uh, the pizza hut from the 90s. Oh man. You're taking me back. I have to tell you, I don't know if you were, you are Oh seven.  Y'all are probably the same. When were you born? Oh, wait, oh, wait, oh seven.  Uh, yeah. Pizza hut was a magical place. It was kind of like this. Is that Donald Trump? Yes, that's Donald Trump. Why was he eating the crust first? Stuffed crust. Those were legit. Priazzo was the best pizza pizza hut ever made. The Big Foot Pizza that was so popular in the  90s.  Those flip and spray hand puppets that had a strong rubber smell.  Do you remember when Pizza Hut gave out PlayStation 1 demo discs?  Playing games on the tabletop console while eating pizza, coloring with those super fragile Pizza Hut crayons?  Pizza Hut's early website is actually still online and it looks like this.  Rocketeer promotional cups.  Definitely one of the best promos ever.  Remember those Pizza Hut coupons?  was your favorite thing about Pizza Hut?  So,  school used to do something. If you read so many books, right, Stephen? Yeah. They would give you a coupon and you got one of those personal pan pizzas as called Bookit. The Bookit campaign. Oh, those things were  awesome. Yeah, they were. Those little pan pizzas. Uh-huh. They brought them out. Y'all just missed out. I'm sorry. It was  legit. I go back in time. I wanna go back like... It would be worth time traveling. though all the way 60s, but like, you know. 70s 80s 90s something like that early 2000s stop in each decade just to kind of take it all in yeah I'm gonna tell you the best part of the night well there's a lot of good things about the  90s so I was a kid and yeah into my teenage year in the  90s  and Michael Jordan yep in the Chicago Bulls  for all those years was so fun to watch but my favorite thing and Steven knows this is TGIF Friday Nights  and they had four shows family matters boy meets world and sabrina the teenage which and step by step and they played in a court every friday it was awesome you'd skip pizza hang out is great steve urkel steve urkel good stuff you ever seen steve urkel yeah well oh my god family matters Family Matters. He guest starred on Full House a couple times. did. He has. And Full House was during then. So,  is good. When he came to Family Matters, was just supposed to be on for like a day or two.  But he ended up... favorite. Yeah, he was a fan favorite. They kept bringing him back. Oh, he is like the biggest nerd.  Y'all need to watch Family Matters. But the first season's really not that funny, but it gets better and better as it goes. Yeah. And Urkel is just... Have y'all ever heard of Steve Urkel?  Even pop it. Okay, you pop a video of just to show him or just a miracle for you sure  He's on  do I do I do huh? He's on full house He got a couple times he did but he was on family matters. That was the name of his show  And uh, it was based in Chicago It's one of the best shows ever. My favorite was boy meets world though It was  have you ever seen it on tiktok on tiktok They have a pod what is it pod meets world or something like that or it's the podcast of some of the people that on it Yeah, y'all gotta watch boy y'all miss go ahead Steve sure. I'm so sorry. No you good. This is Urkel just this is cultural reference for you   Hi,  Eddie.  Erkle,  why don't you ever knock?  Well, if I did, nobody would ever let me in. All right, see ya.  Did I do that?  There you go. Little Urkel for you. Yeah. Oh, it got better as the years went on. But anyway, he did a bunch of, he just,  he was a goofball and he made the dad mad all the time. It was so funny. And his alter ego, Stefan Urkel.  Gotta check it out sometime. Shows for you to watch. I'm telling you, Tessa, I know you don't watch TV, but Boy Meets World and Family Matters.  Y'all need to watch it. My dad's talking. About is a boy meets world yeah, my dad's talking about my mom or dad's talking about that I've never seen Cory into pain. I'm surprised cuz y'all did have girl meets world  In your that's I think of I'm thinking of something that's something meets world girl meets world was a branch off a boy meets world and made me so happy because they brought back all the old people from boy meets world so it was about like their daughter it was about it that's a pre-encropment or into pain yeah, we're in  Topanga's daughter. Yeah, you guys ready for some freestyle? Yes. We got some trivia for today. Yes. Let's do this thing. Here we go  The varsity freestyle  and we have some questions for you. All you got to do is call in and answer  We have three questions. You were really smart people if you answer all three questions and you will because we believe in you and Um, you will win a five person all day pass the bmb video games All you gotta do is call in we're like phone a friend and we have the answers. You just gotta be brave enough Give us a call Question number one is which planet is known as the red planet? Which planet is known as the red planet? It's the next planet after earth at two five six five. Oh five. Oh eight eight five I believe you It's easy.  What do you think it is? Can I say it? Yeah. Mars. Yes. Yes. You are an intelligent man.  I tried. My brain's dead after today. That was the stupidest test I've ever taken. See, I brought Soian after the ACT. That was probably not a good idea.  And then you're taking it in April. Yeah. I think it's  like the day before prom.  Oh my gosh. I'm gonna go up in there looking like an Oompa Loompa.  I'm gonna be bright orange.  Is it gonna be on For the real tan or a fake one? Fake. Come on, there gotta get a spray tan. Thank you.  I gotta get a spray tan before prom. I ain't gonna be that tan. Feels good today. Yeah. It did. I got out of school because I dressed like I put like a sweatshirt on and pants just because I wanted to like you know kind of be comfortable during the test. Yeah. And then I got outside and I started sweating. I was like, dang, didn't it was gonna be this hot today. I'm gonna die! Wait, did y'all get to leave early? Yeah, we got out at like one. Wow. It's a good day. Yeah. Yeah.  Wow. So, y'all having all the fun? Y'all not. You'll have to sit for the whole till everybody's done.  Yeah.  Oh, all right. Poor Tessa.  last time we took the ACT, we took a mock one and I think we had to stay the rest of the day.  We have to stay the rest of the day after our AP exams too. And like go to class?  Which I don't go to class after fifth period, my fifth period, after fifth period of all my electives. You're done. I literally sit there. I'm so sorry. You're so boring. And I can't check out. I don't have any notes left.  Ugh. You've been hanging out. Greg  in the... Well, I say in the studio. Over the line, he's here, the voice of the Wildcats, and our sports analyst,  and our good friend here at the Varsity Radio Show. Greg, how are you?  I'm great! It's a beautiful day. How are y'all doing? It's fantastic outside. I'm enjoying this 70 and sunny thing.  Yeah, what do you think of the daylight being longer now? Longer days? You know,  I like it. This is I've  heard people griping about, know,  losing the hour of sleep or whatever. And I've just been telling them to quit whining and get over it. That's right. It's one hour of your life.  Yeah. mean, you know, you go to bed earlier or whatever, but, uh, give me this extra hour of daylight. Any, any time  I wish it would like this all the time.  Yeah. You know, it is.  And I like, if there's about partisan thing and politics, I'm not being political here, but I have heard that They have  had a bill  at the House of Representatives to actually do something about this and they can't get together on it. I'm like, on what?  There's no political advantage on either side of this. This shouldn't be an issue. This is something we...  If there's anything we can come together on, people, it's giving us an extra hour of light. Come on.  I mean, that's what I've heard, too.   Ready forever. Well, if I ever got whatever position it took, that'd be the first thing I would sign off on for days. Come on guys, can't we all just get along on this daylight saving time thing? I mean,  you don't have to like the other side to make everybody happy for once, right?  Well, here's the thing about it. It don't matter what you do, Seth, and you know it as well as I do. You can't make everybody happy because there's folks out there that want it to be dark and... Four o'clock year round. That's true. I don't know who those folks are, but they're different. Anyway. said it, not me, Greg.  Anyway, you. Greg, tell us what's going on in the wonderful world of Marshall County sports.  Well, we're in full swing of spring sports and I hadn't really been able to sit a whole lot yet, but we've got. everything going on from baseball to track to soccer and you name it. I've been trying to keep up with it even though it's like a three ring circus it seems like there's several spring sports going on daily but uh track and field did real well they had a big knock long ago out in somewhere in Coleman, Keckone and the girls actually finished first. was girls right behind them and the boys finished fourth overall so I expect a big year out of track from Coach Bashaw and his group and it seems like every year they're young. I don't know how he does. He keeps everybody in like eighth and ninth grade forever or something. don't know. a young group does it real well. Soccer's gotten off to a good start as usual. They just toasted. at Sand Mountain Park, I believe they called it the Lake City Cup. A lot of teams in it. The girls won it and the boys were runner up.  They did well and  until here recently, I think I saw where  baseball was on like a seven or eight game winning streak. Wow.  Lost over the weekend, but then I saw they had a big home win yesterday and they actually have a big county series this week with  Boas, have them at home today and then go to Boas on Thursday. So yeah, things are in full swing, you know, of course, I always loved basketball and then football, but I always enjoyed the spring sports just simply because you're outside when it's nice weather and not 20 degrees, of course. yes. But yeah, it's nice outside. We'll take it. It  is. It is. But I really wish,  I'm sure your host would agree with me.  I wish the high school basketball season went year round. Yeah, I agree with that.  I  always hate for it to end.  To an end, especially when you go to back to back Final Fours and come up a little bit short. I'm sure they can't wait for the next year to,  uh... to get here, you know, because it seems like we get to the peak of that mountain or real close to it. Just can't quite  get there. But on the bright side, there's not many things that can say they make a final four. That's  what I said.  Yeah. You know?  Yeah.  And, and, and Greg in here,  you know, yeah, these, these two guys, they've been in the final four in basketball. Tessa  has been to a state championship and the final four,  uh, in volleyball. And like you said, come up just barely short, but like you said, what a big deal.  know,  probably the only thing worse than coming up a little short in the final four is, uh,  coming up short in the championship and coming home with that red map instead of the blue map.  Uh, but you know, getting the final four championships, whatever the case, because that's still a  big deal.  And for most athletes, if not all, that should, know, unless they're a senior, of course, that should make them hungrier  to, you know, get in the weight room or training or whatever the case may be to work even harder knowing they can get to that point.  And hey, let's  next year, let's,  you know, let's complete the task. You know, we know we can get there. Now let's just do the little extra we need to to grab it, you know? Yeah. Yeah.  I,  there are highlights for everybody in this room.  Next year's the new year. These guys have good teams and great coaches and so they,  I can only see them continually going  after the top.  Oh yeah. And I expect, know, of course like every year, like with basketball,  you know, there are some guys that are going that.  will dearly be missed, but I mean there's some good talent on that team now and  you know there's a good talent on the JD that I'm sure some of those guys are going to  move to varsity next year and all.  you know, I always try to say about Gunnersville Athletics, whether it's basketball, football or whatever, they don't rebuild, they just reload.  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, Greg, I'm so glad that you called in today and I hope you have a fantastic week. Well, I hope you all do too and look forward to talking to you next week. Absolutely, Greg. You're the man. Talk to you soon. All right. See y'all.  That's your chance to sing Grayson.  It's  just kind of catchy.  It is, it is quite fun.  Um, I'm going to pull this up. Let's do a little would you rather while we're waiting for the- Selfway says it, he said it too, we got unfinished business next year.  Is that what he says? business. Yeah. You got this guys. Like I said, all of y'all, I mean like, y'all both like Final Four, State Championship and that's crazy. And so... Let me ask you a quick question. Do you like Taco Bell? That's kind of one of those it's either yes or it's no. It's not usually in between. I love Taco Bell. Oh really? I love it. What do you get there? Well, I did get their nacho fries, but then they took it off the menu. So I'm very sad about that. Bitter. Bitter. Gotcha. How about you guys? What do you think? I'm not a huge fan of it.  I've had Taco Bell one time in my life. Really?  Once?  Yeah. It must have not done anything for you. Nah, it wasn't even like, I didn't even get it either. Like someone had got Taco Bell and I had like a bite of like a  quesadilla or something. Yeah. But I didn't like it that much. Well, I can tell you one thing I like about it is the cheese. Give me all the cheese. want all, even the cheese roll up. It's on like the value menu. I really like that. But hey, take a look at this. I think we have finally reached the pinnacle of cheese perfection.  Because we're not just putting cheese  in the taco.  We're not just putting cheese  on the taco.  The cheese  is  the taco.  That's right.  This taco is made entirely out of cheddar cheese.  I present to you  the queso crisp  taco.  There you go. So that was literally their conference or something, right? Yeah. They did like a Steve Jobs style, you know, Apple kind of thing.  Oh, wow.  That was hilarious. Yeah. So would you rather, guys, would you  would you rather all three of you have the power to bring good luck to others or always have good luck for yourself? Tessa?  What? a selfish or you're not?  Yeah. Nah! Listen! You're on the spot. I don't know. Good luck for others or for yourself? Probably good luck for others. Cooper.  What if, I feel like this is a lie detector test.  What if  you yourself good luck and by that, like you made people around you. Listen, for finagleness.  So for yourself, right, Cooper? If you give yourself good So for yourself. And like whoever like surrounded, surrounds you, they kind of like, are like. That's not what the question said.  I don't want to lie. No, no, no. I know what you said for yourself. Okay, grace  I Guess I'm just gonna say for myself. There it is. See at least two minutes  I could see that everybody else I can see because people more other people need good luck rather than me Yeah, if people need good luck and they need you around to have the good luck That means that they always want to have you around. That's good. Big deal. That's good. Yeah, that's good  So if I'm around you I'm  I like it. It's relationship, but then at some point you become an item to them. Oh, yeah You have to pick and choose who you give it to Wow I overanalyze everything. I love  this. This is the perfect time to overanalyze. That was  That was amazing  No, would you rather have the ability to communicate with extraterrestrial beings? Which I don't know that exists  or explore the deepest depths of the ocean explore the sea  Yes  100 % what's down there? Coop Yeah, the ocean Ocean  ocean I want to go down there see what's like now I just want to remind you of the kind of things that you find out Thank You, Steven the anglerfish. Have you seen that video recently? They're terrifying. They're tiny I didn't know they're like yeah, they're they were big. They're like the size of a of a an orange It's great. They're that small. I was a scared of things cuz  watch Nima  Yeah, but those blobfish and then things out deep are they like shallow this blobfish. think they're pretty deep too Yeah, blobfish are ugly. Thanks are nasty. Oh Yeah, there you go Wait, they actually exist. Yes. Yeah, what'd you think it was AI? I'd  I thought it was something that was made up. No, those are real. Believe it or not, narwhals are real too. They actually have the horn. Yeah? Yeah. Like from Elf? Yeah.  Wait. The whales with the horn? The narwhal. are real. Hi buddy.  Hi buddy. Hope you find your dad.  Perfect! Exactly. Yes, they exist. that picture out there looks like the Elf thing. It does. It just starts going down. But they're real. I didn't know that. We're not faking you off right now. These are real things. I didn't know that one was real. I thought that was fake. You thought the normal one was real? Yeah, I thought they took like a seal and put a... I don't know, like a horn on it. Yeah. I don't know. know. I can't remember the show. Creature something. PBS. Octonaut Octonaut no no no the uh you know what I'm talking about no but the newer version okay gotcha oh oh Krats yes Wild Krats yeah they actually did a whole show on the nor walls I was just cause my kids watch it I've learned so much about and Antimals Antimals Antimals yeah Also over on TikTok at Varsity Radio Show and YouTube Varsity Radio Show 885. And we're on podcast everywhere. Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Heart Radio, and Horizon Communications,  Channel 182. Hey guys, we're glad you're here.  We want to tell you about the fuel of Varsity. That's Marco's Pizza, Pizza Salad's Desserts, Subsides, and Beverages in the shops at Albertville under new management right now.  And,  uh, B &B Video Games. Uh, 80's style arcade, we call it the Albertville Mullet. It's got business in the front, party in the back. 80's style arcade in the back.  Local video game retail store in the front. We are so glad that you came and you are part  of this show.  Hey, I'm gonna do a little shameless plug, Stephen. I, uh, am actually gonna be speaking at a Gunnersville Dad event thing at the Gunnersville Middle School. If any dads are out there, I will be speaking,  uh, Saturday morning. Free pancake breakfast.  And I think I have a few good things to talk about then. I'm not an expert dad, but hey, we'll get through this together. Come join us Saturday morning, Gunnarsville Middle School cafeteria. And I'll be there. And then come join us next week again at the Varsity Radio Show. Same Varsity time, same Varsity place, 230 to 430, 88.5, JFM. We'll see you back next week. The Varsity Radio Show, Tuesdays, 2.30 to 4.30, streaming live to Facebook and YouTube,  and  live on the radio.  There's no excuse to not tune in.