Ep 49 - What Makes A Program Unstoppable: Culture, Scheduling, And System

The gym felt like a title game before the ball even went up. By the final buzzer, an 83–47 win over ranked Puxico had the crowd buzzing about defense, depth, and the kind of culture that turns December tests into March confidence. We walk through how the Bulldogs imposed pace from the opening tip, smothered shooters, and took away paint touches, then highlight the balanced scoring led by Kobe Thomas and Marquell Murray with a bench that changed possessions and protected the lead.

We open up about the program’s engine: a shared system from seventh grade to varsity that’s delivered a combined 42–2 across levels. That foundation made Monday night’s surge more than a hot streak. It’s habits. You’ll hear us break down why the rebounding battle decides most games, how rotations tightened closeouts, and where we can still grow—fewer gamble fouls, cleaner baseline rotations, and sharper execution late in quarters. We also address the annual scheduling debate with real constraints for public schools, the miles we already log, and why the goal is meaningful tests, not vanity matchups.

Then we turn to what’s next: the St. Dominic Christmas Tournament in O’Fallon. As the one seed, we face North Point to start, with disciplined programs like St. Dominic, Live for Life, and Holt waiting in the bracket. We map out the likely counters we’ll see—tempo control, stacked pressure in the backcourt, switch-heavy defenses—and share the adjustments that travel in tournament play: touch the paint before shots, invert actions to create mismatches, and finish every defensive stand with two hands on the glass. The girls tip Saturday morning too, and we’re excited to see both squads chase hardware while families make the trip.

If you love high school hoops, community pride, and the details that turn energy into wins, this one’s for you. Tap follow, share with another Bulldog, and drop a rating so more folks in the 573 can find The Dog House. Who do you want to see us face on championship Tuesday?

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Transcript

Opening, Episode 49, And Sports #49s

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Alright, Bulldog Nation, it's time to get in the doghouse. This is where Tyson Pride lives, where we tell the stories that make this town special, from the legends of the past to the faces shaping our future. Whether it's basketball, community, or just that good old Bulldog grit, we've got you covered. You're listening to The Dog House, the voice of Tyson. What is up, Bulldog Nation? Coming back this week of Christmas of 2025. This is season two, episode eight, and overall 49. 49 of the Dog House, and you are Micah Harris. I am Matt Tanner. We are your host for The Dog House. Thanks for listening. And uh Micah, tell us what our big episode 49 is. Give us some sports, some pro athletes. There we go.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Ron Gidry. Chris Sell. Yep. White Sox and Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves. Yep. Jake Arrietta. Yep. Chicago Cubs. Cy Younghorn. Werner Jordan Zimmerman. Yep. Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, Tim Wakefield, Boston Red Sox. So great knuckleballer. Knuckleballer. Yep. Oh man. A nasty knuckleballer. Then in the NFL, we got Sean Phillips, San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos. I'm not going to read that one because I think that's my chat GPT messing up. Hey, let me guess. John Riggins. No, no. No. We'll probably get this with Alvin Kamari like a hundred times. Yeah. Evidently he wore his rookie year early in his career. Ben Lieber. Don't know. From the Minnesota Vikings linebacker. And then Adam Archoleta. Yep. Was with the Rams in Washington. Good. That would be the Redskins back in the day. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Not the commanders or the Washington Football Club or whatever they want to be. Whatever the heck they were called that year.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Yeah, they're still called that now.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

I mean but they were the commanders.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

They are the commanders, yeah. Yeah. Well, they're just called Washington for a year. Right, right.

Sponsor Shoutouts And Community Partners

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Yeah, exactly. Just the W or whatever. That was that's so weird. Ignorant. But whatever. Unless we digress. We want to uh give a shout out again to our partners. Thank you to uh Mercy Phoenix and Jodie Cheney, and thank you to D. Bizzle and Greengrass Guys. Again, uh Mercy Phoenix is a healthcare staffing, healthcare solutions. They provide EMT, EMS, RN, CNA's, sort of the whole gamut of staffing. And if either if you are involved in something that are in an organization that needs that type of service, please reach out to them. Reach out to Jody. You can reach him at mercyphoenix.com and there's a contact us, you know, a little form to fill out, and contact him on Facebook, or certainly you can reach out to us, to Micah or me, and we will get you in contact with Jody for sure. And or if you are someone that has that set of particular set of skills, EMT, EMS, RN, CNA, any sort of skill in that healthcare profession, he is always looking to fill positions because that's what they're doing. And they are uh a healthcare staffing solution. They're always looking for folks because they they pick up contracts all around here, all over the country, mostly in this, in this, I would say in the three or four hours, yeah, in this region. And they have you know, they're able to uh place that in. It's I would say pretty doggone lucrative with per diemes and housing allowances and all that stuff. So if it's something that you have that particular skill set, reach out to them or again, reach out to us, and we will get you in contact with with Jody. And uh again, thank you to the greengrass guys. They are an unbelievable partner as well. They are able to take your lawn from not good to pristine. Yes, to any something more than you could imagine. They D has transformed my yard, he's transformed the bank's lawn into basically a show place where it there I I I I used to have that I think it's called henbit, that purpley flowery looking thing that comes in the spring. Used to have those. I had dandelions, I had probably crabgrass, I'm not exactly sure, but I don't have any of that. I have Bermuda, which we're trying to get that out of the way, and now I have fescue and bluegrass, yep. And he seeds in the fall, and from about starts warming up in about March, April, you know, catch some warm days. I mean it just until it gets super hot, but it but even when it's hot it looks great because I'm able to to keep it irrigated. Yeah, and that's the key with that type of grass, keeping it irrigated. But they do an unbelievable job. They check your soil, they do, it's professional, it's very affordable, and they will tailor it custom just to what you need specifically, and it will make your yard look great. And I'm a freak about my yard. I love I love it to look really good, and it stripes up really good. If you like stripes in your yard where you mow and all that stuff, it looks really good. And frankly, one of their show pieces, and I think Dee would agree with me, is the Sykeston High School football field. Man, they made that thing look great.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Evidently soccer field, too, wasn't it?

Mission, Media, And Production Updates

SPEAKER_01 5:39

And the soccer field, yes, that's correct. And now he did not they did not put fescue or bluegrass on the football field, they put Bermuda because it's I mean, because of the the wear and tear and the traffic that's going to be on it. Just a more hardy. Exactly. Exactly. And it it handles that heat a lot more. And again playing football on it and digging in it in the turf and that type of stuff, but man, it looks good. And D, I mean, basically takes a pair of scissors out there and cuts that grass. I mean, he mows it all the time and he'll text me and he's like, Man, I'm mowing right now, and it'll be 11:30 after a Friday night football game or something. He's out there watering. I didn't realize he mowed it too. He did, he does. He gets a essentially gets a real mower, R-E-E-L, which is a not R-E-A-L, like it is a real mower, but a real, the it's like a blade, that type of blade on there, and it it's a it's a it's like a golf course mower, basically. And they mow it to that level of tolerance, and they are you know able to cut it low, but keep it nice and hardy. And again, he waters it and puts his magic dust on there or whatever they put out there to make it look beautiful. And so they are again if you now right now is not a time to look at it. The the I because I actually drove by there the other day. It's dormant, the football field of dormant, of course, because it's Bermuda. But check it out in the early spring when it starts.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

That's like around track season, probably be Oh, yeah, it'll start coming out.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. So if you see those guys, tell them thank you for being partners with us.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Again, we talk about our our mission, they see our mission, they are totally aligned with what we are trying to do, and we're just we couldn't be and kind of our mission is to just spread the news in the community, you know. Exactly. And and you know, good news, and and we want to we want to bring people in that are doing things in our community.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Exactly, exactly. We want to highlight that. And of course, the I'll say the main focus, but the sort of the origin of what we do starts with sports. And bulldog sports to be more exact, but we we we talk about others, but in general, this is our focus, and this is what this has started from. And uh you never know.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

I mean what when you hear we are psyched and yeah, you're you're thinking like one of the first things you see is a bulldog. In my mind, that's where my mind goes. Exactly. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

So exactly. And so thanks to those guys, and and like we said last time, they have agreed to continue being our partner, and we just we could not be more proud of that. Again, we're gonna give a shout out to Luke, our audio, our visual graphics, and all that stuff, and he's able to get that stuff done just like Lickety Split, and it takes him no time where it takes me. It'd take me all day. Oh my gosh, could take me and I still wouldn't get it done. I know. Shout out to my beautiful bride, thank you for allowing me to do this and getting out of your hair for the time being to do this. Shout out to our general counsel, Justin Tanner, for providing he again, he has provided us some business help, but mostly he's like the court jester. No, I'm kidding. Kidding, I'm kidding.

Holiday Scheduling And Going Solo

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Probably truly talking about like grievances though. Oh, yeah. We're recording on festivists right now. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

We may have to touch on some grievances tonight. We might. We might. And shout out to uh Derek James and Brian James for providing us with the stats and all that stuff, and they are quick on the draw to uh Brian is to get all that stuff done and get it stated up, as we say, and get it, he's got a spreadsheet and it calculates. It's just uh it's an unbelievable machine that he's got rolling there. Again, Tyler Anderson and Twisted Arrow Woodworking for the doghouse sign on the wall. Tyler is when we had Santa on here the other night, he's obviously has done other things and provided other states and stuff like that. Tyler is very, very skilled in woodworking.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

Supposedly it started with Mississippi State.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Yeah, Old Miss or Mississippi State or Bowen. Mississippi State.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

It was Natalie Bowen or Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

That's exactly right. That's what he said.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

She said it like and he kind of makes him on a pallet.

Puxico Hype Meets Bulldog Defense

SPEAKER_01 10:24

I think that's right. He takes and I'm guessing he takes a like a like a not a torch, but uh and burns that wood. And burns the wood slightly to give it that blackened look, so to speak. Yeah, it's it's unbelievable. I don't know how he made that I don't know what he made the bulldog other. Right, the bulldog and the the raised words and all that stuff, but it it looks phenomenal. And we are just proud as a peacock to have that here.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

We appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Absolutely. Again, like, follow, share the dog house on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and we're on YouTube. And I got another video. I got Joey Higginson's uploaded night. I've seen that. Yep. And I'm working on Santa Rods right now. I had a we we record typically in two parts, Mike. We'll record our part, and then we record, you know, the guest part, and we will you know it's pretty simple. You can merge them. And I synced up the audio on our part, and I was trying to sync up the audio with Santa, and it was off, and I I I've got to get better at that. I couldn't figure out how to get that worked in there, so I've got to get back to that after we get done here recording. You can catch this podcast on and uh all the other episodes as well on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, as well as listening to our feed on Buzzsprout, and our website is thedoghouse.buzzsprout.com. Our email is doghouse.sikston at gmail.com. And so I we forgot one.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

What's that? I want to shout out to my wife and thank you for letting me do this. Absolutely. I I she may or may not hear it, but if you see around, tell her how much you appreciate listening to us because she does sacrifice she does. A lot of times it's two times at least two times a week.

Box Score, Depth, And Defensive Keys

SPEAKER_01 12:06

It is, it is. We you know, we we try to it it it just depends. We try to get this part done so we can get that knocked out and we talk about what we want to do. Because I don't want the we don't want our guests sitting here a half hour, you know, waiting on us to get our part done. So we try to we'll try to sometimes if it works out, we'll try to do it all on the same night, maybe do the guests first. And you can do this with with again with the magic of editing, we can record them at any time, but yeah, sometimes we'll try to get the guests and get that done, and then we will record our part and you know, and then flip them around to get them get them worked in there, but then there are other times when we just knock out this part because the guest might be you know later in the week, and so we get this done. So we you know we we we try to do it that way too. And so it can take some time, and I'm I'm appreciative of you for being able to be be flexible and um I try to be flexible. You do, you are, and same thing with Becky, she's very flexible, and my family's flexible. You know, we kind of run Luke out of the this he doesn't come in, he comes in here some, he's got a drum set up, you can't really see it. It's behind it's behind the camera, but he's got all that set up, and so but he's down here and he studies and he basically or not basically he lives down here, his bedroom's down here, and so we run him upstairs, and so we you know we put him out for a minute while we're down here recording, and so I appreciate him doing that as well. So again, we've still got our shirts, got our swag red and black, short and long, short sleeve and long sleeve t-shirts. Give us a shout if it's something that uh you're interested in, and we will get that to you. Also, well Micah, it's again it's week of Christmas, and we try to fit this in. We are we are going to go solo this week. We had someone scheduled, and I don't want to say who they are right now because their schedule is very hectic and can be changed at about any moment. And so this is Christmas week, and it's you know what, we just we we've sort of decided, you know what, we're gonna do our part and maybe even do this next week with the new year. It's it's a lot trying to get this. I mean, listen, we've got we've got this thing scheduled months ahead, and I want to make sure that we you know give our guests due time and give us some downtime too, so we're not cutting into our own family time. I mean Mike and I are a family, but yeah, we have our separate families as well.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

My sister names in tonight and stuff, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:39

So he's you know, we're we're each sacrificing a little bit to get this done. So so we're we're gonna we're gonna do that. But what what we can talk about the show is Monday night. Monday night. And it was prime time. It was. And there there was a lot of anticipation. Yep, I was gonna use a different word, but yes, that's a good word. Anticipation of of this game. There was a lot of trying to be respectful. Yeah, there was a lot of chatter from Puxico folks. And I I read the article that Dennis put out today, and of course, again, I'm I'm around the program a lot. Coach didn't put a lot of emphasis on or actually I say lot, he didn't put really any emphasis on the sort of not really back and forth, but the the lead up to it, you know, Puxaco beat Sykes them fair and square in the summer. I mean, it that's true. That is now what's not necessarily true is I keep seeing 25 and 30 points, and I don't I mean they won. And I was thinking more like 14 to somewhere in that. I wasn't there either. Actually, we talked to Justin and he went and said he went back and looked, and he thought it was like 60-46 or 60-44 or something along those lines. And again, I no excuses. They won. And I think at that point we had some spots to fill. You know, we had Father Tolton, we played them the last couple years. We had to fill their game. Who what other games did we lose, Micah?

SPEAKER_00 16:27

We lost a Principia game from last year.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

We lost a Principia game last year, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

We've actually kind of dropped out of the six-man, like Yeah, we're not playing in that anymore.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

So we we've you have three or four games to fill, and so Haytai is ranked, they're going to be ranked in class two if they're not already. They're a really good team. You know, they wanted to play. Puxico wanted to play as well, and so we picked them up. You know, I s I I hate to get crazy down in the weeds, but people, Sykes and why they why are these class two schools? Well, that's what we have down here. It is, and you know, I heard I read somebody, you know, Sykes and our schedule, tougher teams. You know, we go to St. Louis like a half a dozen times. I mean, we don't have an unlimited travel budget. It we are a public high school. And listen, I've ridden on a bus with them when they like they go to a jamboree or something in St. Louis. I'm telling you, right on that doggone bus for two hours sitting on those crazy bus seats is not the most comfortable thing in the world. And again, we're talking about first world problems, as they say, but it's not the most comfortable things. I mean, we go to Union, that's even further than St. Louis, technically, that's out west. It's a good two and a half plus hours by bus. I mean, it's Washington, Missouri, essentially.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

It's out there.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Yeah, and then we go to we went to St. Mary's last year. They're coming here this year. We went to we we go to St. Louis. Well, we go this weekend to play, as a matter of fact. Last year we went to Springfield. So, I mean, to say that we don't go anywhere and don't play anybody is just not true. Now we picked up Cruthersville again. That's the first game right after Christmas. It's like on the fifth. And so, but anyway, I said all that to say this.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

That's at Cruthersville, is it?

Area Rankings, Injuries, And Scoreboard Talk

SPEAKER_01 18:20

That is at Cruthersville, that's correct. But uh said all that to say this Puxaco is a ranked class two team that have you know last year, did we determine they get to the final four? I know they were in the quarterfinals at least, and I believe they may have gotten to the final four last year, and so they're a quality team. And so, you know, the all we we we played them, and matter of fact, their fans and supporters and other folks thought, you know what? They they're gonna beat us, and that's what they should think. They shouldn't come in here and think. Right, right, right. And especially one that you pick up. Um, you know, if it's a conference game or something and you those are different, you have to play those. They had that they did not have to play that, so to their credit, they they they wanted to play, and so they they came over here. And I think that's you know, we'll we'll see how that helps them down the road. I've I just my opinion, I feel like they w haven't seen the level of athleticism or maybe the team's speed, the depth, the depth, the depth. I I said that pre-game during on YouTube last night on Bulldog Nation Network. I was I I I thought that would be a problem, and frankly, it ended up the Bulldogs just jumped out and landed both feet on them and didn't let them off the mat very much. And so it ended up being what eighty three forty-seven, I believe. Is that the final? I'm not sure. I think that was the final eighty-three-forty-seven, whatever it was, it was over thirty because it was a running clock. And so the Bulldogs came out hot. Two huge games by Marquell Murray and Kobe Thomas. Kobe Thomas had twenty-four, Marquell with twenty-two. We had two other guys, we had Ben James with 10, Jaharis had four, Sean Cole had five, Quay Allen had five.

unknown 20:19

J.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Ray had I think six or eight.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

But he had what, three or four blocks.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

He did. Jaharis was a man in there among with their with their big kid who held him scoreless, and I and I don't know that kid's average. I would we did not have any of their stats last night. But they listen, the the Burchard kid, he'd scored forty a couple times this year. Hancock kid has scored twenty or better a lot, and they ended up with eight eighteen and fifteen or eighteen and sixteen. And so, you know, after that, you know, they if they had they probably had eighty-five percent of their points or more.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

I will say they they they kept they stayed in. I mean, like they they didn't give up. No, they battled the whole time.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Yeah. According to the folks I talked to that had seen some film and knew about Puxico, they had not been pressured all year long. And so I think that my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

Well, not many teams can probably do that. No, no, right. Because they can't make up like if they gamble in the press and they'll beat, they'll beat them back. Right. Right.

Rebounding, Bench Impact, And System Strength

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Well, but I mean the same thing against us. Yes, they haven't right. They haven't been they haven't been pressured like that, and I think that maybe a shocked them a little bit, maybe overwhelmed them. And they were, you know, they there were some turnovers and things like that, and so we were able to take advantage of that and shot from a very high clip from the field, more like thirty, what'd I tell you, 33 of 62? I mean, that's over 50 percent as a team. And so you're not gonna lose too many games at 50 percent. Oh man, that is getting it done. And so the the dogs were able to uh build a big lead and were able to just continue piling on. To their credit, Puxico, like you said, they didn't quit. They played hard, they played aggressive. They I think the fact that we were able to check so many of their their threes, they I I didn't have the paint scoring, but man, they couldn't have had 10 points maybe. I know Bertrid got in there a few times, Hancock got in there a few times, but in general, they just did not score in the paint. And so, you know what? Hats off to them. They wanted to play this game. They and and hats off to their fans. They asked.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

I want to go win state now. Oh, sure. I mean, I I say that. I mean, I know they're two, but I mean they're class two.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Yeah. And then and we talked about this last night. There's them, there's Hayti, Charleston, Charleston, and there's Bernie. And so there's four really good teams right there, not counting anybody else that I hadn't even mentioned.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

Weren't there four of them like when the state rankings come out last week or something?

SPEAKER_01 22:57

I think there were three. There was three or four. I think Bernie, Charleston, and Puxico were all ranked. Yeah. I don't think Hayti was, but if you're sleeping on Hayti, you're making a mistake. I can tell you that right now.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Scott City.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

They're three, I think. I think. Yeah, they put a beat down on somebody the other night. Who'd I see? I saw another interesting score. I think it was 70 to 46. Farmington beat Cape. Yeah, I did see that. I'm assuming without Edwards haven't heard as of last week. I had I asked some folks and they said as of last week he hadn't got the results from the MRI back yet. So I'm sure he did not play against Farmington because he's a difference maker. He is. And we you know we the we the dogs beat Cape Central with Edwards with everybody there. Personally I hope the young man's not hurt.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

I mean, I mean I want to play the best team that's available.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

Right, right. I well, I mean when when it's time. You do, but also, you know, it's his senior year. I don't want him to be hurting. I don't want any kid to to go out like that. He's he's a talent, and he's got he's got the ability to play at the next level and play at a high level. And so I I wouldn't wish that on any kid. So I'm I'm hoping he's better. I hope he's able to come back and and and get back to the city. Well they need him. They need him. They do need him. They do need him. The uh but again uh the the the game was electric, man, it was packed. It looked like a Friday night of C MO conference, and they were and and you know, usually then you get all six fans or all six teams' fans in there.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

Not too many teams were playing last night, so I mean I would think that there was kind of almost like anybody that was a basketball fan in the region probably can't. Absolutely.

Program-Wide Record And Culture Since 2011

SPEAKER_01 24:52

I and I mentioned it on the air. I saw Coach Blankenship from Risco, I saw Coach Long from Bernie, uh so I I said it on the air, I saw another coach, I can't remember even who it was, but there's a lot of people that are basketball fans as well that were here at the game. And of course, I'm sure Bernie wanted to get a look at Puxico, right? I don't think so. I mean, you can watch film and you can do a lot of stuff, but seeing them in person, yeah, it it's different. The Berchard, he's a special player. I mean, he he's a good player. His he's quick, he can shoot. I was surprised at not surprised. Burchard can shoot it, Hancock can shoot it, they had the little small little lefty that could shoot it, 35 could shoot it. They they they they had an off night, and I I read some stuff and well they didn't shoot that well. Well, give Sykes a little bit of credit for that, right? I mean they were checking a lot of shots, yeah. And they were shooting it under dress, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

And you know, we're not gonna stand there and if we can, not just stand there and let them shoot it. And so I felt like the Bulldogs did a really good job of closing out on their shooters, which is something that we've kind of needed to improve the last couple years. I mean, like Yes. And and the Bulldogs controlled the boards last night, too. They won the rebounding battle. And I saw a quote from Coach Hollifield, and he said, if who controls the boards usually controls the game. And the Bulldogs were able to do that. And it was good to see, again, not just starting five. Will Ape hit a big three, I know, not just to see our starting five, but to see our the bench that the next group in there, yep, be able to come in. Ty Murray, I thought he played terrific minutes last night when he came in. He did, he did. Came straight in and got a bucket right at the end of the first quarter. Grabbing rebounds. Yep. Jay Ray played terrific, Quay played terrific, Sean Cole played terrific. I mean, we had some guys really step up and make some plays last night. And let's give a shout out to let's talk about the Bulldog system. Seventh grade, 14-1, 8th grade, 14-1. Both both of those seasons are over. So that's 28-2. JV now is five and oh. I'm sorry. Yeah, five and oh. Crap, I forgot those.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Actually, they won six, hadn't they?

SPEAKER_01 27:15

They won six. We were we were forty-one and two before the with with freshman uh seventh and eighth grade freshman J V Varsity. Now we're 42 and 2 after because I said it before the game, before the varsity game on the air. We're forty 41 and 2. Obviously, I didn't know the outcome of that game, so now we're 42 and two.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Because JV they won the three at Notre Dame, and then they played three Le Heta Notre Dame again.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

And then this one. That's right, they're six and oh now. That is exactly right. Yeah. And so they are I mean, the program is rolling right now. I mean, it just it the numbers bear that, and it that it doesn't just happen by accident. It's by design and the way Coach structures this whole thing, the way you you you start the program and and you learn in the seventh grade.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

You you said early on, I mean, this year that coach was excited about this season.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 28:53

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Scheduling Critiques And Travel Realities

SPEAKER_01 28:54

I mean I I I feel like a lot of teams and a lot of people in the area have underestimated us. And I frankly, I think Coach Hollyfield relishes matter of fact, in 2011 is when everybody really underestimated us. And I I was thinking back today because I I rem I read one comment, you know, Syson doesn't schedule anybody. Well, you know what? We were 30 and oh that year, and they said we had an easy or had a terrible or had a weak schedule. Well, you know what? We beat, I mean, we had a like a close to a toy.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

When you get down to the end, you don't get to pick your schedule.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

Right. But oh well, you're not gonna be ready for the playoffs. Well, we won 30 straight ball games, and we we were challenged in one or two games, two games. I say challenge, they're all a challenge, but two really close games, one being Henry County that year, won by like six, and we barely escaped that game. That was a game over in Paris, Tennessee, and then the district championship ended up being like 18 or 19, but we were down five going into going into the fourth quarter, and Daryl, Daryl Howard, or excuse me, we were down five or seven or nine, whatever it was. We cut we tied it going into that in like 30 seconds. And the lat we got a steal layup, steal, layup, steal three, or something like that. It was insane. Just insane. And so just I I I I'm not a I'm not a huge believer in the you gotta play the toughest schedule ever, because there is a thing of winning breeds winning, and you get to rolling, and you know, you could play Murderer's Row and just get the crap beat out of you, or it's a physical game every night. And I'm not saying you schedule patsies, but we're scheduling the best around here, right? I mean it and and I will say this typically the people that say your schedule's too easy want you to schedule other people so you lose. That's period. And so I don't I take a lot of that with a grain of salt. You know, it's the people that you go beat up on. Well, your schedule's too easy. Well, just think if it were harder, we'd beat you by 50. And so I I I take that the haters, you know, you kind of kind of take that as a badge of honor too. But also, you know, if you're if you say your schedule's too easy, you're probably wanting us to lose. Or not just us, whoever the team is that you're talking about. Well, they need to schedule. Yeah, well, yeah, go schedule Principia. Yeah. An international team? Kids from Canada? I mean, last year they had a kid from Czechoslovakia.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Never mind.

SPEAKER_01 31:27

I'm just No, I know, I know. We can get don't get wound up on. I'm with you. We can get wound up on that for sure. At least at least live for life, plays in their own league, you know. Right, right. Principia, Principia is a prep school, in my opinion. I'm not knocking them. They're terrific. And again, they beat us fair and square by four or five, whatever it was last year. I'm not not moaning and complaining about that. I'm it it's just the truth that they are chosen just like Shamanade, just like DeSmet, just like Viani. They they do have an unfair advantage, or they have an advantage when able to get the kids that you want. And so I'm I'm not I'm not even I wouldn't even be upset with them because they're playing by the rules that they're given. I don't blame them. So anyway, I didn't mean to get off on all that.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

But I mean, like it it it it does.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

Yeah, it becomes it becomes frustrating for them to we've been taken out by them. I know Webster Groves beat us this past year. They're a public school, but the past two seasons, Cardinal Ritter beat us, Viani beat us in that quarterfinal game. Thought we had some squads, especially last year. And again, that's you know, we they beat us fair and square. All of them beat us fair and square. Nothing was cheap about it, nothing didn't cheat or anything like that. I'm not suggesting that, but it's that's the rule of the rules. It is, it just kind of sticks in your craw when when that that kind of happens, and I get it. I I I I get when people say that, and I and I agree with them. But the dogs, again, coming off that big win, they are now nine and oh. No. Yeah, nine and oh, because we were eight and oh coming in the last night.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

Yeah, they'll be nine and oh.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

Yeah, we're nine and oh, and so they go in the this weekend, the number one seed in the St. Dominic Christmas Tournament. In the first round on Saturday, we will play North Point. They are the eighth seed. North Point is their it's a new school right in that area. As a matter of fact, Brett Collins, who used to be the baseball coach here, is the baseball coach there. Okay, maybe athletic director too, but I'm not sure. There's a new team in there. Again, Live for Life is a new team that's in that. The past couple years, or well, it's been have they been in it? No, no. No, this is the first year, but Fort Zoomwall South have been in it.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

Yeah.

St. Dominic Tournament Preview And Seeds

SPEAKER_01 33:44

And that we had kind of developed a little bit of a rivalry with them, but they have been out of it the past two or three years. At least this might be the third year, maybe the second year. I know they weren't in it last year, so they've been out of it for a couple years, and so they usually have a pretty good squad. They got their coach, his name is Bill Fried Friedling, F-R, it's F-R-I-E-D-L-I-N-G, or F-R-E-I-D-L-I-N-G. And guy can coach, and you know, he's in a class five with a bunch of other St. Louis schools, and man, the but the guy knows what he's doing. You can see. You can see when his kids play and the stuff that they run. He runs a good program. And uh we'd they're the Bulldogs, they're red and black. It it kind of became a thing, and we had several years where we battled them a lot of times, and they got the best of us. We I would say we probably won 80% of those games, but they we didn't win them all, and they won a cut you know, they won some, and so it was kind of funny before we got there, they had kind of been running that show, and we showed up and sort of turned the tables on them. We haven't won it every year since we've been up there, but we've won several.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

We've won Well, we won it for like 10, 15 years in a row.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

Yeah, we won a bunch of maybe not 10 or 15. Yeah, we we so we started 10, 11, we well started in 2010 technically. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. It's gonna be our sixteenth year. Holy cow, I would not have said sixteen years.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

And I think we've lost it by maybe two or three times.

SPEAKER_01 35:19

I was gonna say maybe four. Other than that, we've won that. We've won it. And so Bulldogs have but we play good competition. Again, people act like we just go up there and play a bunch of you know junior high teams or something. It's just not the case. I mean, this Holt team, what I understand, is really good.

unknown 35:37

St.

SPEAKER_01 35:38

Dominic's gonna be good, they're the two seed, Live for Life's gonna be good. I think they're the three or four seed. So it's just not gonna be a walk. I you know, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

I again we could keep playing the same teams over and over again.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

Right. If we go play in the Christmas tournament, it's just like playing the Seymour Conference tournament, right? I mean, uh it's a great tournament, don't get me wrong.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

I'm not gonna and it's great for the little schools, but I mean, like, I mean Well, and they wouldn't let us in there.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

We couldn't get in there.

SPEAKER_00 36:03

Well, it's been locked for years. Right.

SPEAKER_01 36:05

And I I mean, we we shouldn't, but it you know, we can't get in the Bloomfield tournament. Uh they're not gonna let us in there. And I and I we don't need to play in that. But you know what I'm saying? Right. Well, where else are we gonna go? You know, in the popper bluff, I that's just not I mean, we've played in that before, but St. Dominic is they're very nice to us, they treat us well, we get great competition.

SPEAKER_00 36:26

And again, it's a great little drive, too.

SPEAKER_01 36:28

It is, it is, and the people that want us to lose, they just are the people that say our scheduling tough enough just want us to lose, period.

SPEAKER_00 36:35

Who are we supposed to go play with, Sean?

SPEAKER_01 36:37

Right. Oh, of course. Yes, they want us to play with Sean, they want us to play Principia, they'd want us to play Shamanade, they'd want to play Webster Groves, Viani, you know. And of course, all those teams will want us to come up there. We tried to schedule with Sean a couple years ago. And last year, maybe it was last year, and we're like, yeah, you come down here. We because we no, nope, no, and we just couldn't get it worked out. We wanted to play them, and then they didn't want to come down here either. So it just it just didn't work out. And so, you know, we've tried to schedule these teams, so the fact that people say, Well, you're not scheduling, well, you know, they don't want to play us either. And so just because we want to play somebody doesn't mean that's gonna happen. But anyway, I don't want to want to go on a rant.

SPEAKER_00 37:19

We're looking forward to the Christmas turn.

Girls’ Bracket, Travel Plans, And Community

SPEAKER_01 37:21

Absolutely. And we look forward as our family. We go up there and we hang out and we have a good time and we spend now this week, this week it's or excuse me, this year it's kind of weird. Off schedule. It's off because we play Saturday, off, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Usually it's three days and you stay two nights up there, and it's kind of you know back to back to back. But this year it's kind of changed up and that's okay. We'll we'll still make some days out of it and spend time together as a family and do that kind of stuff, and we'll go watch the Bulldogs and enjoy them. So again, the Bulldogs play Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday. Hopefully, and Tuesday we'll be in the championship game, and that will be at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon, Missouri. There is a bracket out on Facebook for oh, the excuse me, let me mention this too. The girls are playing there too. So the girls, I think, play at 10 o'clock on Saturday morning. So don't forget about the girls. If you're up there watching the boys, go watch the girls play as well. I'm not sure what seed they got, but I know they're playing at 10 before the boys. And so, listen, they'll and I'm sure I know the boys are driving up and coming back and then staying Monday night because they'll play Tuesday. Regardless of whether they win or lose Monday, they'll play Tuesday. And so they'll they will spend the night that night. And so again, come out and support the dogs, both the boys and the girls, and hopefully both of them can pull that championship. How cool. We we've done that once or twice before. Both no maybe, maybe the girls have won it one time. I can't recall. But regardless, it's it's a good tournament. Take your family up there and and spend time with them and then watch some good basketball too. So Micah, we'll um again, we're gonna this will be a shortened podcast this week, but we are still proud to bring it to you. We'll continue and hopefully we'll have our guest on next week. And if not, we'll come back to you one more time. And we've got again, we've got our guests scheduled. Things happen sometimes, that's life, and we're not going to throw people under the bus. And we'll just we don't know. Right. Don't don't know exactly what happened and didn't ask for an explanation, and nobody owes us an explanation. So we will continue doing what we do regardless. And so for that.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

So you can always use this time to catch up on old ones.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

Absolutely. Go back and listen to our old ones, of course.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

Like one you maybe hadn't heard. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:45

And again, there are there's one Apple street. I know we've got two Apple podcasts, and I don't know why Apple won't fix it. I've emailed them. You can't call Apple. I mean, there is no calling. Like I saw somebody said, I need to call Amazon. Well, good luck. You can't call anybody at Apple. And so it is it's impossible. And so I've emailed and asked them to combine them. They haven't, they won't, they won't even respond. And so I I don't know what to say. So there is, if you look for the doghouse, there is two different streams. One of them, one of them has everything back to the beginning, back to the very first episode. And the other one is like the first 15 or is the other one starts at at 15 with Coach Hollyfield when you and I started. Okay. Yeah. The first 14 are with Richard and me. The second one, the second, all the other streams will have basically from Coach Hollyfield forward. So that'd be 15 to 49. So there's a bunch of them out there. Please go back and listen to them. Give us a like, share, follow on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. Catch us on again, Amazon, Apple, Spotify, R Heart Radio, all of the different mediums that are out there, all the different podcast stations that you can pick up on and check us out and give us a listen. And for that, I am Matt Tanner. I'm Micah Harris. Go Dogs. That's Go Dog. To do it for this episode of the Dog House. Thanks for hanging with us and showing love to Sykston, where small town pride runs deep and bulldog grit never quits. Don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share this with anyone who bleeds red and black. From the heart of the 573, this has been the Dog House, where Sykston stories always have a home.