June 8, 2026 • 33 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's that time time time luck and load load. The
Michael Verry Show is on the air.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Looking into mic.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
We gotta beet a bead.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
I don't plan to shave, and it's a good thing,
but I just gotta see I'm doing all right.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Will think I make my support meats. I'm beating ready
to that the joke. It's neither drink the drug and noo.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I'm just doing all right.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
It's a great congratulations to Tomball High School. Their baseball
team are the state champions six eighth, six eight.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I don't know the new classifications like I used to
It just used to be.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
One through five, five A being the biggest, and they
went to six eight. I think they split the six A.
I don't know what six I don't know six eight
two is the smaller of the big schools are the bigger,
But anyway, it's a big deal to win state and
the baseball programs in this region, I don't think this
(01:23):
is accidental are apparently the best in the state because
the team they vanquished was what is a very very
good Memorial High School team. Some of those kids coming
out of Postoke Little League that went to the World
Series six years ago. No, sorry, that would have been
(01:44):
eight years ago. This was two years after. That's the
hell of a baseball program, bel air. Another one with
a great Little League program that feeds up. Paarland with
a great Little League program that feeds up. That's why
you see those kids coming out of there, that going
on to high school and then college and on and
on and on. We will talk to Tomball High school
(02:06):
baseball coach Doug Rush at eight thirty this morning, and
congratulations to Memorial High School. They had a hell of
a run this year. Hell of a program. I have
some friends and their dad's over there, and they told
me that this program, this team was special, and it
turns out they were right. A friend of mine was
telling me a story this weekend. The night before. His
(02:29):
girlfriend was mumbling about being back in eighteen ninety two
and she was writing The Hobbit and Lord of the
Rings and I said, what the hell? He said, Oh,
she's token in her sleep again. I saw the weirdest
thing yesterday. I saw a police officer. Not so weird,
(02:53):
but I saw a police officer wearing a pilot's uniform.
I thought that's weird, and I remembered, oh, he's one
of those plain clothes cops.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Went to a party on Friday.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
It's a costume party, and this fellow shows up and
he's got a girl in his back. He said, I'm
a turtle. I said, well, who's on your back? He said, oh,
that's Michelle. There has been concern that Houston is home
(03:34):
to a serial tell by the way. On the baseball front,
University of Texas baseball got into the College World Series
last night after meeting Oregon. That is our friend, Chad
or Chad Nakanishi's Oregon is his alma mater. Yes, congratulations
(03:57):
on that old miss advanced. Congratulations University of Texas women's
softball team. They beat a very good Texas Tech women's
softball team. What's the girl's name, Djay Kennedy Orjajay black
girl that transferred from Stanford and she is a beast.
(04:18):
This girl, she's something special. But that UT team they've got,
they're impressive as well.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I'm not a huge.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Fan of women's sports, never have been. I did get
into the track career of Flow Joe during that time,
and I remember, and I've always I think Mary lou
Rettin did this, but I've always rooted for the women's gymnastics.
That's always been something that felt like, you know, really
(04:46):
united the country. Simone Biles, you couldn't help but root
for her. I guess she's the best all time statistically, Ramona,
Is that right? I think I saw in terms of
number of medals, she was the the Michael Phelps of.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Women's gymnasts.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
You knew who I grew up idolizing as a like
you would throw in when I was growing up. You'd say,
you know, if somebody would say, well, she married this guy,
and somebody's asked your mom, well is he handsome? And
she goes, well, he's no Robert Redford. You know Robert
Redford was you know Dan Pastorini good looks right, He's
(05:26):
no Robert Redford.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
That was the standard for good looks.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
Well.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
When you talk about somebody being a great athlete, when
I was a kid, you didn't say Jesse Owens. That
was nineteen thirty six. Do you remember who you would
say if you talk about Olympics era, who who No,
not Bruce Jenner, No funny Bruce Jenner. Other than beyond
(05:50):
the cover of wheaties, the guy won the Dekatlon. I mean,
it's a feat of epic proportion.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I don't think we had we had done.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
I mean it was it was statistically it was bigger
than the Miracle on ice.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Do you know we didn't beat the Russians in the final?
You do? How do you know?
Speaker 3 (06:12):
You always say yes, you get to sit up ooh
like Johnny to what, No, we did not beat the Swedes.
It's another Scanndonavian country. What.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah, we did not beat the Swedes. Okay, try again,
the fins the finish. No, it's not the same. You
can't say it's the same thing.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
That's disrespectful to people to finish people everywhere?
Speaker 5 (06:35):
All right?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
And what was I about to say? You interrupted me?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Mark Spitz, Mark Spitz, Yeah, the swimmer he looked like
Mark Gastino. Remember you had that big old mustache, Mark Spitz.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Did he turn out to be homo too? He did?
Oh that mustache tells you? What about Tom Selleck?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Who don't tell Jimmy Pappas, Although truth be told, if
if Tom Selleck is homo, his homo with Jimmy Pepper,
I've never seen a bigger fan of another grown man.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Jimmy Pappas has a has a really nice house in Galveston.
Light rich people do out in Pirate's cove. I guess
it's called and beautiful, beautiful home. And he's got a
whole room dedicated to.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Tom Selleck and his Hawaii experience. You know.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
His ring tone on his phone used to be the
Magnum p I saw, but they don't do that for
the flip phone.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
They don't service anymore. True story. Hey, I got a
picture this.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Morning from somebody on their way to court a firefighter.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Let's see here.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
And I checked this out with the fire department. You know,
there was worry that there was a serial killer because
these people were dying to bayou. They finally took photos
of one before she jumped, and they actually rescued her.
She looks like a manate on her back. She a
big girl. Here's the deal. I checked her ound on
this true story. PC makes you hot, like you think
you're on fire. So they feel so hot they jump
(08:06):
in the water to cool off. Now I'm not kidding,
this is a true story. They jump in the water
cool off, and then they can't get back out and
they're drowning. So everybody's happy that Okay, we don't have.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
A serial Killer. Well, that just means we got a
bunch of PCP heads trying to cool off. Maybe we
should put a cooling station or something, PCP cooling station.
The Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
My mom tells me Rush open their tour last night,
first time in twelve years.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Where they're playing LA is the opening of the tour.
It's a hell of a place to start the tour. Brother,
maybe start off in Kansas City.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
That's too much press and LA unless they're feeling pretty
good about it.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
That's a lot of pressure, Rup. There a lot of pressure.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Jj Watt did a podcast interview where he says this, says,
the former Houston Texan star in future NFL Hall of
Fame defensive end now spends much of his time as
both an NFL broadcaster and a European soccer club owner,
one with major investments in both Burnley FC football club
(09:18):
in England and RCD Espanol in Spain.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Did you know that?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I didn't know that either. That's he's turned out to
be a good NFL broadcaster. When he first started, I thought, man,
I like JJ Watt. I want him to succeed. I
wish he wouldn't do this because he was I feel
like JJ was one of those guys like Peyton Manning
(09:44):
and Lyle love It that everybody loves and Matthew McConaughey,
and it puts a lot of pressure for a white
guy that everybody likes, a white guy that is sort
of a darling of people who vote Republican, uh, but
also liked across the aisle. And so there's this pressure
that you can never have an opinion on anything or
(10:06):
or you'll be you'll be hated, and it's it's, uh,
it's an interesting thing. And so I thought, ah, he's
not gonna be a good broadcaster because he'd be afraid
to ever have an opinion because that would be And
then it was like a switch flip and they started
styling him, which was odd because he was a d
(10:27):
lineman after all, but sort of like Michael Strahan, all
of a sudden he decided, oh, I'm gonna look like
a the front cover of Esquire Magazine'm going to be
a GQ man. They had his hair, you know, poofed up,
and I was like, ah, no, I mean, you know,
he was never a lunch pel d guy. He wasn't
you know, Randy White or Deacon Jones or mean Joe Green,
(10:48):
but you just couldn't see him. You know, he had
on the cool shoes, like he was Howie long Now
or something. But he I feel like he morphed. He
developed into a you know, you have to have a persona,
and it's like he watched Bradshaw and saw, Okay, here's
a guy that became a very successful broadcaster by having
(11:08):
a certain amount and so he's a little snarky.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
I think in some ways he's he's at least as
good as Gronkowski, who's turned out to be way better
than I expected him to and he seems to get
better anyway. But I did not know he owned he's
a part owner of European soccer clubs. You know, the
Friedkins own one or two clubs European clubs, and they
(11:35):
have gotten big, big, big into that. It's an interesting
choice for him, very interesting choice anyway. So the story
was about he did an interview and he said, let's
see doing stuff like this they're talking about. He did
the nine nine to nine challenging American Family Field in Milwaukee,
pounding nine beers and devouring nine hot dogs in just
(11:56):
under six innings.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Could I do that nine.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Beers and nine beers and nine hot dogs. If I'm
sitting around my boys on Friday night when we're talking, I.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Say, I cushed nine hot dog? Could I really do?
Speaker 3 (12:11):
It's kind of one of those things that people say
they could do until you get down to it, and
you know, how many pull.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Ups can you?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
All right?
Speaker 3 (12:19):
And then you actually get started and those first couple
are going down fast, and you know, you get to
about hot dog number seven and beer number seven and
I don't know about you, but I'm gonna start leaking.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
It's coming out and coming up. Yeah. Yeah, I don't
eat or.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Drink to the point that I puke because I don't
like put Yeah, no answer is I could not.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
I'm not gonna ask if you could, because you're on
day what twenty nine? Anyway, So the guy's podcasting.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
The guy's name is Roger Bennett, and the story was
the best places to eat in the World Cup, which
is here now, And he said the.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
First, the place that I first tried when I moved here.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
To Parland, is called Gringoes, And apparently the crowd started cheering,
and he said, you.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Know exactly what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
You know, when Bob Hope, who had traveled the world,
he would do the USO tour. He was always going
and performing for the troops. I think that made him very,
very popular, and I think he enjoyed it. But he
was interviewed, I think on the Donahue Show about the
greatest places he's been in the country, and he said,
in great favorite hotels, and he said, well, you know,
(13:40):
one of my favorites down in Houston, and Donahue looked
at him, like, Houston.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
They even have Ericant, isn't it. He said, Houston.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
And he said, yeah, looking out the Warwick Hotel down
or Warwick as we say here looking down the Warwick
Hotel down Main Street. And you got those water fountain's
talking abou Mecum fountains, You got the water fountains, you
got the tree lined esplana, and then of course you
(14:07):
got Rice University on the right and Medical Center on
the left, I don't know, and you got the park
and then you got the museum. Just it really is
a beautiful, beautiful space, absolutely beautiful. Meekham Fountains was down
for a long time. It was it was you think
about here was one of the most celebrated beautiful public installations,
(14:30):
and there it sat with the water off, and you
drive by a fountain. It's like it's like when when
people would have pools installed in the seventies.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
And they'd grow old and.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Die and their house would come up on the market
and you'd go and they had filled in the pool.
But they hadn't put any grass or anything over. There
was just what used to be a hole, and then
like a hole that had been puttied, like someone was
selling their house and they took all the art off
the wall, and then they came in with toothpaste and
puttied the hole.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
So you can, well, hell, you might as well just
left the hole. It looked better than this.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
This looks like, you know, some pop Mark PCP head
about to jump in to buy you drown and then
be the victim of a serial killer.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah. He went on to say, killings Burgers. Of what
I was gonna say is if.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
I was Gringoes, I'd grab that audio and I'd be
sending it high and low. Killings Burger's very good, PAPIs
Burger very good, trill Burgers very good. It's like crack
Colachi Factory, Shipley Donuts Island grill. Another great place, State
of Grace, River Oaks. That's a Ford Friz place. Papas barbecue.
(15:44):
He says they're Jalapano sausage breakfast. Tacos are fantastic. You
had to agree with his list. Just doesn't hurt to
be on the list. It's good for gringos. Tom Ball
baseball coach Doug Rush, for bizarre, the new state champions are.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
One million of United States dollars. That's what the coach
of Tomball got for winning the state championship. A million dollars.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
That's his victory. But Tomball coach Doug Rush is our guest.
Welcome coach, m hm, coach, he hit the mute. But man,
you might asine we've done that in the state championship.
(16:36):
He wouldn't get his million dollars. Alright, hold on, I'm
gonna put a more whole because it could have been me.
You know, it could have been me.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, I keep the bunts on. Coach. I can hear him, coach,
see if you can get guest message has been transcribed.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
More than one Hello, hey coach, Yes, can you hear me?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
You know what just happened? I do not know what
so congratulations on the state championship.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
You seem so serious.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
I'm not serious. I just want to I just want
to know.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
What you want to ask you about the state championship
and then everything else. I really enjoy your show.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
How would your players describe you, you know, compared to
other coaches?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
How are you different?
Speaker 5 (17:37):
So?
Speaker 1 (17:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
I think they like me because they know they know
I love them first, you know, I kind of have
a I tell them upfront that I'm going to love
on them and we're going to be in this thing together.
But I'm also you know, I have very high standards,
and I keep them to what we think is the
ideal formulas for winning, and we stick to that plan.
(18:00):
And then they also like me because I have a
really good sense of humor. It's kind of kind of
put the incorrect. So a lot of my friends say,
would you Sam, I'm but sure so, but you.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Know what, I think, high school junior sophomore junior seniors
probably like that a whole lot. Would you say you're
more of a player's coach, a guy that pawles around
with them, or would you say you're more of a disciplinarian.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
Uh, I'm kind of in between.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I probably probably more on the disciplinarian side as i've aged,
just because you know, teenage boys they want to be
they want to be coach hard if they're talented. Uh,
they just don't know they want to be coach hard
until until it starts having a lot of great results.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
And once you get the results there and we've had
that for you know.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
A long time now, then they start buying in and
they start realizing you you want the best for them.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
But but we also have a lot of fun our practice.
They're a lot of fun and they're real high, high intensity,
but high lots of scrimmaging and lots of uh, just
banter back and forth here in practice.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
So would you describe I do have good go ahead?
Would you describe your standards that we oppold?
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Would you describe your physique as more Tommy Lesorda or
Tony LaRussa.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
Well, I would.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
I would say my physique's more Arnold Schwartz than that.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
I don't think my wife and everybody, I don't think
why everybody else would agree with that. So were.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I was, Yeah, I played for you know, that's one
of the things I rail on on on the Facebook
about is I played for grew up and Denton and
played for North Texas State University. They just happened to
start an arc team in the eighties and we weren't
very good, but we had an arsty team, and then
they dropped it in nineteen eighty eight. And so it's
(19:57):
a school up in the Dallas metroplex with forty five
thousand students and they don't have a baseball team.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
And it still makes me mad this day.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
So, coach, what am I to think of the fact
that they ended the program after you were there?
Speaker 1 (20:09):
That's not a good sign.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Well, then I came to Lee College in nineteen ninety
two as an assistant.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
That's how I got to Houston.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
I was an assistant for my old head coach, Alan
Carl and they ended up dropping that program a few
years later. I was already gone, but program college program
seemed to drop when I'm when I'm around.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Them, I noticed that why do you think youth sports
is important to the development in this case of a
young man?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Well, I think youth sports, I mean, youth sports is
kind of out of control right now. But you know,
if you go to some of these supposedly high level games.
You got parents getting ready to fight each other and
fight umpires and kids talking all kinds of crap at
each other, and it's just gotten to be something that
kind of needs to be rained in. But on the
high school level and the junior high level, the public school,
(21:03):
I think it's the best teacher of men that you
can that you can have. It teaches some discipline, that
teaches some integrity, teaches some character. It teaches them the
hard work pays off. It also teaches them that sometimes
you can work as hard as you as hard as
you want to, and you don't exactly reach the goals
you want. But it teaches you how to be a teammate.
And every every single thing that you learn on the
(21:26):
grid iron or in the classroom or on the basketball
court or anywhere in uh Texas high school public education,
it is if you can carry that over into.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
A job for the rest of your life.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
I think unless you've played some sort of team sports,
you can't understand how important that is to the growth
and development of a young person. It's it's historically been
young boys, I think to some extent now it is
it has included girls that that is a relatively newer phenomenon.
I think it was Lord Wellington who said that Waterloo
(22:03):
was one on the playing fields of Eton. And there
is something to be said. You know, you look at
the Earl Rudder commentary at A and M. We look
at what Patten said about the boys at A and M.
There is a theme to this and team sports and
what you learn and the relationship between this mentor coach
(22:24):
guy who choose your ass but you know, as he says,
going to love on you, you know, deep down he loves you.
It's almost a paternal relationship. There is something intertwined in
all of this that is so much bigger than a baseball, football,
or basketball game. And anyone who's ever been a part
of it for the rest of their lives remember that
(22:46):
is similar to being in the Marines or the military.
It is such an important part of your skill set
that you then take with you for the rest of
your life. And I believe that. I believe that to
the depths of my core. I insisted my kids play
team sports. They're both graduated now. I think you learned
so much about sacrifice, practice, teamwork, losing, winning, all of
(23:12):
those things.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
It's so very important. Does your wife.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Work, Yeah, she's a principals she's an awesome one a school. No,
she's the principal at an intermediate school here in Tomball.
Speaker 5 (23:25):
Aste.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Oh my goodness, Well she's a she's.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
By far the better half.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Do y'all live in Tombo?
Speaker 5 (23:32):
We do.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
We live in Tomball. We're just Tomball people. Tambo's a
great town.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
It really is from what I've seen from the outside.
Is this the first time Tomball's won the state championship?
Speaker 2 (23:44):
So we I got the job at twenty and eleven.
They'd always been pretty good, and in twelve we went
to the fourth round as the far ast it had
ever been. But we wanted in thirteen, and then we
wanted again in twenty four, and lost in the state
championship game last year, and won it in twenty six
(24:04):
just a couple of days ago. The third round or better,
Oh well almost. We've been third round or better every
single season.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
So somebody told me you didn't get the million dollar
bonus for winning those early championships.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
That was a layer contract negotiation.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Hold on. Coach Doug Rush, tom Ball High School baseball coach,
the new state champions is our guest coming up.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Fall.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Doug King no team and this other guy, Michael Berry.
Doug Rush is the state champion high school coach for
the state six for the six to A baseball champion
tom Ball baseball team.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Did you say this is the third championship you've won, Yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
It's through the third one. We won one in thirteen
and won in twenty four. We lost the king Wood
in the championship game last year.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
What score.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
Five or four? You know we had the basis loaded
with two outs. It was tought.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Yeah, I say you were forty two to one and one.
Who was the tie and who was the loss?
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Well, we were forty three one and one. I want
to make sure you get that. I was.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
The tie?
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Was Montgomery High School in a tournament in our second
game of season. And then we lost to Flower Mountain
Marcus two to one the weekend before last week in
the first game of the three game series. Then we
came back and beat him in game two in game three?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Was that a bad ump or do you have anything
to say for why y'all lost? Up?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Uh? No, we just lost. We were glad we beat him.
They were they were pretty cocky. I call them carpetbaggers.
So yeah, okay, the last the last two opponents we played,
they both had they both tired their coach mid season
because they had ant of emails from parents. So it
was a joy beat them because I knew both those
coaches house. You know, I like both those coaches. They
(26:09):
got fired.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
What an irony that you're hoping to beat the team
because you're mad at them for firing the coach.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
That's your friend. I love that. Let's go through your players,
aren't you.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
To tell me one quick thing, really quick about each
player that makes that player special as a ballplayer and
a person. First, one to arrive at there or the
team class clown or whatever that is. And then one
asset they have if you were on a scouting report,
and it can all be the same. We'll start with
CJ can't see well, CJ Sampson.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Yeah, Well that's Chris Sampson's son. He spent five years
pitching in the big leagues back in the you know,
two thousands, early two thousands. He is just an incredible
kid with an incredible work ethic and the Greg Maddox
of high school baseball. He throws a little, He throws
pretty hard, but he doesn't throw ninety five.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
And he's just he's just an incredible pitcher.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
He's set all kinds of hitting and pitching records at Tombaugh.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
You know more about baseball. You've forgotten more about baseball
than I'll ever know. But for me, the professor's asset
was his pinpoint accuracy.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
This kid's got that kind of control.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
If he has a bad game, he walks one.
Speaker 5 (27:21):
Oh wow, He's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Does his dad ever offer you a little bit of advice?
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah, his dad and I are close. I mean his
dad does a good job, has done a good job
raising him. And he's got three boys. He's got col T,
he's a sophomore. He'll be a really good player for
US as junior and senior. And he's got another young
young kid named Cleet who's a nine year old bat boy.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
And they all are baseball people for sure.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
He's got a kid named Colt and a kid named
Cleat those if they don't become professional baseball players, that's
a disappointment to the family.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
Well, I got a kid named Ketcher too.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Let's talk about Ketcher Hopkins. What's his story?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
So, just like CJ, he's going to Texas A and
m at Our. That's our two big time guys.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
And he's the best pure athlete I've ever coach. Just
can play any position on the field. But he's an
incredible actually an incredible catcher who moved over and played
shortstot for us most of the year because we had
a couple of injuries, so we had another catcher. It
was really good Daniel O'Briant, so we had him play
short shot most year. So normally he's a catcher playing catcher,
(28:23):
but this year he's a catcher playing short.
Speaker 5 (28:25):
Stop, all right.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Keenan Fosdick.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Uh, he was Kegan, Yeah, he was a sophomore.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
It came on we started he started oh along about
the early part of the district. He became a full
time player and he was phenomenally ended up hitting I
think three seventy five on the year, just the consummate
two hole hitter, could lay down a bunch and hit
some pop's at a monster playoff run for us. And
(28:52):
he's he's gonna be a really good player for us
in the future too.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Nolan Rush, all.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Right, that's my son, so I'm partial to him. He
can really hit, hit four hundred this season, drove in
thirty eight runs, and he's got the burden and the
pleasure of playing for his old man. So he gets this,
He gets asked you it's like everybody else on the field.
But then we get to go try to work on
(29:19):
what he needs to work on off the field. So
it's my hours and hours and hours.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
It's my experience that the coach's son gets in ninety
percent of the case of all the praise and and
nothing but praise. But then there's that ten percent where
he not only gets an ask chew and he gets
it worse than anybody else because coach wants everybody to know,
my kid ain't get anything special.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Is he a clean up hitter?
Speaker 5 (29:41):
Well, yeah, he hit in the three and four hole.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
He was hitting five hole, then we had an injury
or two. He hit three and four hole and did
really well. You know, he's not a home run guy yet.
He's still a sophomore. But he hit one home run,
but he drives in runs, so he kind of was
clean up hereo.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Corbyn Cook Corbor Cook.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Came on late, started late and had a really great
playoff run for us. He's a senior. That's going to
a junior college to play, and just an incredible kid,
a great athlete. Could probably be on an American Ninja Warrior.
Just just that kind of athlete, can do flips and
all kinds of duff stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Brady Burrow.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Brady Burrow is a kind of a catalyst of our team.
Speaker 5 (30:23):
Plays left field.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
He's been All District the last two years. Just he's
a He's a short, stocky guy who just gets on
base and just is always revved up and getting the
team fire up. Just a great kid.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Caleb Gaffer.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Caleb Gaffer, he was injured a little bit this year.
He's to be had a really good year at the
beginning of the year and then he pulled his hamstring
and was out for a while, and then he came
back into the playoffs. He's got a lot of big
hits for us. Real good athlete, dual player, football, baseball guy.
He's starting free safety. That's our catcher.
Speaker 5 (31:01):
He came in.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Uh, he's been in our program since he was a
little kid. He's been in our camps and just all
kinds of stuff. Just a just a great success story.
He's going to build college as a catcher.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
Did a great job.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
For US Hunter Myers.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Under Myers was our starting second basement almost all season. Uh,
another really good kid, just a solid player, had a
good season. I need to tell you about Blake Edling too.
He was our number two pitcher and he went twelve
and oh this year, So had a phenomenal year.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Elaine, And is he playing college ball?
Speaker 2 (31:35):
He's a junior.
Speaker 5 (31:36):
He'll play collegeball somewhere. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
And Lane Bradford.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Blaine Bradford is a senior center fielder and he hit
pretty well for US. I just didn't let him hit
all the time because he was a little bit smaller,
but real fast and patrolled the outfield real well and
just a great player. And just like all these other kids.
I mean, you know, there's a ton of kids on
that rock of year that could play for a lot
(32:01):
of other people, but they're all team guys, and he's
just the ultimate team guy.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
Is it Michael Early at A and M Now, who's
their baseball head baseball coach.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
Yeah, it's Michael Early.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
I think Cliff Pennington's his assistant, main assistant.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
So if they pull two kids off your team, that's
probably more than any other team in the country.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
That's a lot for a class. Are you on his
speed dial?
Speaker 2 (32:24):
So I know him and I know Cliff Pennington, the
recruiting courter or the assistant coach.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
All welcomes. Our boys played together.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
We've played teams that have more D one athletes on
them and we just happen to have two guys that
are real special that are going to A and M.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
That's a big deal. That's a real big that's a
heck of a program. Hold on this moment.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
Okay, Memorial High School head coach Doug Rush Rush off
his million dollar bonus for winning the state baseball championship
as our guests
It's that time time time luck and load load. The
Michael Verry Show is on the air.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Looking into mic.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
We gotta beet a bead.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
I don't plan to shave, and it's a good thing,
but I just gotta see I'm doing all right.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Will think I make my support meats. I'm beating ready
to that the joke. It's neither drink the drug and noo.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I'm just doing all right.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
It's a great congratulations to Tomball High School. Their baseball
team are the state champions six eighth, six eight.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I don't know the new classifications like I used to
It just used to be.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
One through five, five A being the biggest, and they
went to six eight. I think they split the six A.
I don't know what six I don't know six eight
two is the smaller of the big schools are the bigger,
But anyway, it's a big deal to win state and
the baseball programs in this region, I don't think this
(01:23):
is accidental are apparently the best in the state because
the team they vanquished was what is a very very
good Memorial High School team. Some of those kids coming
out of Postoke Little League that went to the World
Series six years ago. No, sorry, that would have been
(01:44):
eight years ago. This was two years after. That's the
hell of a baseball program, bel air. Another one with
a great Little League program that feeds up. Paarland with
a great Little League program that feeds up. That's why
you see those kids coming out of there, that going
on to high school and then college and on and
on and on. We will talk to Tomball High school
(02:06):
baseball coach Doug Rush at eight thirty this morning, and
congratulations to Memorial High School. They had a hell of
a run this year. Hell of a program. I have
some friends and their dad's over there, and they told
me that this program, this team was special, and it
turns out they were right. A friend of mine was
telling me a story this weekend. The night before. His
(02:29):
girlfriend was mumbling about being back in eighteen ninety two
and she was writing The Hobbit and Lord of the
Rings and I said, what the hell? He said, Oh,
she's token in her sleep again. I saw the weirdest
thing yesterday. I saw a police officer. Not so weird,
(02:53):
but I saw a police officer wearing a pilot's uniform.
I thought that's weird, and I remembered, oh, he's one
of those plain clothes cops.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Went to a party on Friday.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
It's a costume party, and this fellow shows up and
he's got a girl in his back. He said, I'm
a turtle. I said, well, who's on your back? He said, oh,
that's Michelle. There has been concern that Houston is home
(03:34):
to a serial tell by the way. On the baseball front,
University of Texas baseball got into the College World Series
last night after meeting Oregon. That is our friend, Chad
or Chad Nakanishi's Oregon is his alma mater. Yes, congratulations
(03:57):
on that old miss advanced. Congratulations University of Texas women's
softball team. They beat a very good Texas Tech women's
softball team. What's the girl's name, Djay Kennedy Orjajay black
girl that transferred from Stanford and she is a beast.
(04:18):
This girl, she's something special. But that UT team they've got,
they're impressive as well.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I'm not a huge.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Fan of women's sports, never have been. I did get
into the track career of Flow Joe during that time,
and I remember, and I've always I think Mary lou
Rettin did this, but I've always rooted for the women's gymnastics.
That's always been something that felt like, you know, really
(04:46):
united the country. Simone Biles, you couldn't help but root
for her. I guess she's the best all time statistically, Ramona,
Is that right? I think I saw in terms of
number of medals, she was the the Michael Phelps of.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Women's gymnasts.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
You knew who I grew up idolizing as a like
you would throw in when I was growing up. You'd say,
you know, if somebody would say, well, she married this guy,
and somebody's asked your mom, well is he handsome? And
she goes, well, he's no Robert Redford. You know Robert
Redford was you know Dan Pastorini good looks right, He's
(05:26):
no Robert Redford.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
That was the standard for good looks.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
Well.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
When you talk about somebody being a great athlete, when
I was a kid, you didn't say Jesse Owens. That
was nineteen thirty six. Do you remember who you would
say if you talk about Olympics era, who who No,
not Bruce Jenner, No funny Bruce Jenner. Other than beyond
(05:50):
the cover of wheaties, the guy won the Dekatlon. I mean,
it's a feat of epic proportion.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I don't think we had we had done.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
I mean it was it was statistically it was bigger
than the Miracle on ice.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Do you know we didn't beat the Russians in the final?
You do? How do you know?
Speaker 3 (06:12):
You always say yes, you get to sit up ooh
like Johnny to what, No, we did not beat the Swedes.
It's another Scanndonavian country. What.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah, we did not beat the Swedes. Okay, try again,
the fins the finish. No, it's not the same. You
can't say it's the same thing.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
That's disrespectful to people to finish people everywhere?
Speaker 5 (06:35):
All right?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
And what was I about to say? You interrupted me?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Mark Spitz, Mark Spitz, Yeah, the swimmer he looked like
Mark Gastino. Remember you had that big old mustache, Mark Spitz.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Did he turn out to be homo too? He did?
Oh that mustache tells you? What about Tom Selleck?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Who don't tell Jimmy Pappas, Although truth be told, if
if Tom Selleck is homo, his homo with Jimmy Pepper,
I've never seen a bigger fan of another grown man.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Jimmy Pappas has a has a really nice house in Galveston.
Light rich people do out in Pirate's cove. I guess
it's called and beautiful, beautiful home. And he's got a
whole room dedicated to.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Tom Selleck and his Hawaii experience. You know.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
His ring tone on his phone used to be the
Magnum p I saw, but they don't do that for
the flip phone.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
They don't service anymore. True story. Hey, I got a
picture this.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Morning from somebody on their way to court a firefighter.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Let's see here.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
And I checked this out with the fire department. You know,
there was worry that there was a serial killer because
these people were dying to bayou. They finally took photos
of one before she jumped, and they actually rescued her.
She looks like a manate on her back. She a
big girl. Here's the deal. I checked her ound on
this true story. PC makes you hot, like you think
you're on fire. So they feel so hot they jump
(08:06):
in the water to cool off. Now I'm not kidding,
this is a true story. They jump in the water
cool off, and then they can't get back out and
they're drowning. So everybody's happy that Okay, we don't have.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
A serial Killer. Well, that just means we got a
bunch of PCP heads trying to cool off. Maybe we
should put a cooling station or something, PCP cooling station.
The Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
My mom tells me Rush open their tour last night,
first time in twelve years.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Where they're playing LA is the opening of the tour.
It's a hell of a place to start the tour. Brother,
maybe start off in Kansas City.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
That's too much press and LA unless they're feeling pretty
good about it.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
That's a lot of pressure, Rup. There a lot of pressure.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Jj Watt did a podcast interview where he says this, says,
the former Houston Texan star in future NFL Hall of
Fame defensive end now spends much of his time as
both an NFL broadcaster and a European soccer club owner,
one with major investments in both Burnley FC football club
(09:18):
in England and RCD Espanol in Spain.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Did you know that?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I didn't know that either. That's he's turned out to
be a good NFL broadcaster. When he first started, I thought, man,
I like JJ Watt. I want him to succeed. I
wish he wouldn't do this because he was I feel
like JJ was one of those guys like Peyton Manning
(09:44):
and Lyle love It that everybody loves and Matthew McConaughey,
and it puts a lot of pressure for a white
guy that everybody likes, a white guy that is sort
of a darling of people who vote Republican, uh, but
also liked across the aisle. And so there's this pressure
that you can never have an opinion on anything or
(10:06):
or you'll be you'll be hated, and it's it's, uh,
it's an interesting thing. And so I thought, ah, he's
not gonna be a good broadcaster because he'd be afraid
to ever have an opinion because that would be And
then it was like a switch flip and they started
styling him, which was odd because he was a d
(10:27):
lineman after all, but sort of like Michael Strahan, all
of a sudden he decided, oh, I'm gonna look like
a the front cover of Esquire Magazine'm going to be
a GQ man. They had his hair, you know, poofed up,
and I was like, ah, no, I mean, you know,
he was never a lunch pel d guy. He wasn't
you know, Randy White or Deacon Jones or mean Joe Green,
(10:48):
but you just couldn't see him. You know, he had
on the cool shoes, like he was Howie long Now
or something. But he I feel like he morphed. He
developed into a you know, you have to have a persona,
and it's like he watched Bradshaw and saw, Okay, here's
a guy that became a very successful broadcaster by having
(11:08):
a certain amount and so he's a little snarky.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
I think in some ways he's he's at least as
good as Gronkowski, who's turned out to be way better
than I expected him to and he seems to get
better anyway. But I did not know he owned he's
a part owner of European soccer clubs. You know, the
Friedkins own one or two clubs European clubs, and they
(11:35):
have gotten big, big, big into that. It's an interesting
choice for him, very interesting choice anyway. So the story
was about he did an interview and he said, let's
see doing stuff like this they're talking about. He did
the nine nine to nine challenging American Family Field in Milwaukee,
pounding nine beers and devouring nine hot dogs in just
(11:56):
under six innings.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Could I do that nine.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Beers and nine beers and nine hot dogs. If I'm
sitting around my boys on Friday night when we're talking, I.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Say, I cushed nine hot dog? Could I really do?
Speaker 3 (12:11):
It's kind of one of those things that people say
they could do until you get down to it, and
you know, how many pull.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Ups can you?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
All right?
Speaker 3 (12:19):
And then you actually get started and those first couple
are going down fast, and you know, you get to
about hot dog number seven and beer number seven and
I don't know about you, but I'm gonna start leaking.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
It's coming out and coming up. Yeah. Yeah, I don't
eat or.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Drink to the point that I puke because I don't
like put Yeah, no answer is I could not.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
I'm not gonna ask if you could, because you're on
day what twenty nine? Anyway, So the guy's podcasting.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
The guy's name is Roger Bennett, and the story was
the best places to eat in the World Cup, which
is here now, And he said the.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
First, the place that I first tried when I moved here.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
To Parland, is called Gringoes, And apparently the crowd started cheering,
and he said, you.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Know exactly what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
You know, when Bob Hope, who had traveled the world,
he would do the USO tour. He was always going
and performing for the troops. I think that made him very,
very popular, and I think he enjoyed it. But he
was interviewed, I think on the Donahue Show about the
greatest places he's been in the country, and he said,
in great favorite hotels, and he said, well, you know,
(13:40):
one of my favorites down in Houston, and Donahue looked
at him, like, Houston.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
They even have Ericant, isn't it. He said, Houston.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
And he said, yeah, looking out the Warwick Hotel down
or Warwick as we say here looking down the Warwick
Hotel down Main Street. And you got those water fountain's
talking abou Mecum fountains, You got the water fountains, you
got the tree lined esplana, and then of course you
(14:07):
got Rice University on the right and Medical Center on
the left, I don't know, and you got the park
and then you got the museum. Just it really is
a beautiful, beautiful space, absolutely beautiful. Meekham Fountains was down
for a long time. It was it was you think
about here was one of the most celebrated beautiful public installations,
(14:30):
and there it sat with the water off, and you
drive by a fountain. It's like it's like when when
people would have pools installed in the seventies.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
And they'd grow old and.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Die and their house would come up on the market
and you'd go and they had filled in the pool.
But they hadn't put any grass or anything over. There
was just what used to be a hole, and then
like a hole that had been puttied, like someone was
selling their house and they took all the art off
the wall, and then they came in with toothpaste and
puttied the hole.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
So you can, well, hell, you might as well just
left the hole. It looked better than this.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
This looks like, you know, some pop Mark PCP head
about to jump in to buy you drown and then
be the victim of a serial killer.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah. He went on to say, killings Burgers. Of what
I was gonna say is if.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
I was Gringoes, I'd grab that audio and I'd be
sending it high and low. Killings Burger's very good, PAPIs
Burger very good, trill Burgers very good. It's like crack
Colachi Factory, Shipley Donuts Island grill. Another great place, State
of Grace, River Oaks. That's a Ford Friz place. Papas barbecue.
(15:44):
He says they're Jalapano sausage breakfast. Tacos are fantastic. You
had to agree with his list. Just doesn't hurt to
be on the list. It's good for gringos. Tom Ball
baseball coach Doug Rush, for bizarre, the new state champions are.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
One million of United States dollars. That's what the coach
of Tomball got for winning the state championship. A million dollars.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
That's his victory. But Tomball coach Doug Rush is our guest.
Welcome coach, m hm, coach, he hit the mute. But man,
you might asine we've done that in the state championship.
(16:36):
He wouldn't get his million dollars. Alright, hold on, I'm
gonna put a more whole because it could have been me.
You know, it could have been me.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, I keep the bunts on. Coach. I can hear him, coach,
see if you can get guest message has been transcribed.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
More than one Hello, hey coach, Yes, can you hear me?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
You know what just happened? I do not know what
so congratulations on the state championship.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
You seem so serious.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
I'm not serious. I just want to I just want
to know.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
What you want to ask you about the state championship
and then everything else. I really enjoy your show.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
How would your players describe you, you know, compared to
other coaches?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
How are you different?
Speaker 5 (17:37):
So?
Speaker 1 (17:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
I think they like me because they know they know
I love them first, you know, I kind of have
a I tell them upfront that I'm going to love
on them and we're going to be in this thing together.
But I'm also you know, I have very high standards,
and I keep them to what we think is the
ideal formulas for winning, and we stick to that plan.
(18:00):
And then they also like me because I have a
really good sense of humor. It's kind of kind of
put the incorrect. So a lot of my friends say,
would you Sam, I'm but sure so, but you.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Know what, I think, high school junior sophomore junior seniors
probably like that a whole lot. Would you say you're
more of a player's coach, a guy that pawles around
with them, or would you say you're more of a disciplinarian.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
Uh, I'm kind of in between.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I probably probably more on the disciplinarian side as i've aged,
just because you know, teenage boys they want to be
they want to be coach hard if they're talented. Uh,
they just don't know they want to be coach hard
until until it starts having a lot of great results.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
And once you get the results there and we've had
that for you know.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
A long time now, then they start buying in and
they start realizing you you want the best for them.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
But but we also have a lot of fun our practice.
They're a lot of fun and they're real high, high intensity,
but high lots of scrimmaging and lots of uh, just
banter back and forth here in practice.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
So would you describe I do have good go ahead?
Would you describe your standards that we oppold?
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Would you describe your physique as more Tommy Lesorda or
Tony LaRussa.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
Well, I would.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
I would say my physique's more Arnold Schwartz than that.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
I don't think my wife and everybody, I don't think
why everybody else would agree with that. So were.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I was, Yeah, I played for you know, that's one
of the things I rail on on on the Facebook
about is I played for grew up and Denton and
played for North Texas State University. They just happened to
start an arc team in the eighties and we weren't
very good, but we had an arsty team, and then
they dropped it in nineteen eighty eight. And so it's
(19:57):
a school up in the Dallas metroplex with forty five
thousand students and they don't have a baseball team.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
And it still makes me mad this day.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
So, coach, what am I to think of the fact
that they ended the program after you were there?
Speaker 1 (20:09):
That's not a good sign.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Well, then I came to Lee College in nineteen ninety
two as an assistant.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
That's how I got to Houston.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
I was an assistant for my old head coach, Alan
Carl and they ended up dropping that program a few
years later. I was already gone, but program college program
seemed to drop when I'm when I'm around.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Them, I noticed that why do you think youth sports
is important to the development in this case of a
young man?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Well, I think youth sports, I mean, youth sports is
kind of out of control right now. But you know,
if you go to some of these supposedly high level games.
You got parents getting ready to fight each other and
fight umpires and kids talking all kinds of crap at
each other, and it's just gotten to be something that
kind of needs to be rained in. But on the
high school level and the junior high level, the public school,
(21:03):
I think it's the best teacher of men that you
can that you can have. It teaches some discipline, that
teaches some integrity, teaches some character. It teaches them the
hard work pays off. It also teaches them that sometimes
you can work as hard as you as hard as
you want to, and you don't exactly reach the goals
you want. But it teaches you how to be a teammate.
And every every single thing that you learn on the
(21:26):
grid iron or in the classroom or on the basketball
court or anywhere in uh Texas high school public education,
it is if you can carry that over into.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
A job for the rest of your life.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
I think unless you've played some sort of team sports,
you can't understand how important that is to the growth
and development of a young person. It's it's historically been
young boys, I think to some extent now it is
it has included girls that that is a relatively newer phenomenon.
I think it was Lord Wellington who said that Waterloo
(22:03):
was one on the playing fields of Eton. And there
is something to be said. You know, you look at
the Earl Rudder commentary at A and M. We look
at what Patten said about the boys at A and M.
There is a theme to this and team sports and
what you learn and the relationship between this mentor coach
(22:24):
guy who choose your ass but you know, as he says,
going to love on you, you know, deep down he loves you.
It's almost a paternal relationship. There is something intertwined in
all of this that is so much bigger than a baseball, football,
or basketball game. And anyone who's ever been a part
of it for the rest of their lives remember that
(22:46):
is similar to being in the Marines or the military.
It is such an important part of your skill set
that you then take with you for the rest of
your life. And I believe that. I believe that to
the depths of my core. I insisted my kids play
team sports. They're both graduated now. I think you learned
so much about sacrifice, practice, teamwork, losing, winning, all of
(23:12):
those things.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
It's so very important. Does your wife.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Work, Yeah, she's a principals she's an awesome one a school. No,
she's the principal at an intermediate school here in Tomball.
Speaker 5 (23:25):
Aste.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Oh my goodness, Well she's a she's.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
By far the better half.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Do y'all live in Tombo?
Speaker 5 (23:32):
We do.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
We live in Tomball. We're just Tomball people. Tambo's a
great town.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
It really is from what I've seen from the outside.
Is this the first time Tomball's won the state championship?
Speaker 2 (23:44):
So we I got the job at twenty and eleven.
They'd always been pretty good, and in twelve we went
to the fourth round as the far ast it had
ever been. But we wanted in thirteen, and then we
wanted again in twenty four, and lost in the state
championship game last year, and won it in twenty six
(24:04):
just a couple of days ago. The third round or better,
Oh well almost. We've been third round or better every
single season.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
So somebody told me you didn't get the million dollar
bonus for winning those early championships.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
That was a layer contract negotiation.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Hold on. Coach Doug Rush, tom Ball High School baseball coach,
the new state champions is our guest coming up.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Fall.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Doug King no team and this other guy, Michael Berry.
Doug Rush is the state champion high school coach for
the state six for the six to A baseball champion
tom Ball baseball team.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Did you say this is the third championship you've won, Yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
It's through the third one. We won one in thirteen
and won in twenty four. We lost the king Wood
in the championship game last year.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
What score.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
Five or four? You know we had the basis loaded
with two outs. It was tought.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Yeah, I say you were forty two to one and one.
Who was the tie and who was the loss?
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Well, we were forty three one and one. I want
to make sure you get that. I was.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
The tie?
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Was Montgomery High School in a tournament in our second
game of season. And then we lost to Flower Mountain
Marcus two to one the weekend before last week in
the first game of the three game series. Then we
came back and beat him in game two in game three?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Was that a bad ump or do you have anything
to say for why y'all lost? Up?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Uh? No, we just lost. We were glad we beat him.
They were they were pretty cocky. I call them carpetbaggers.
So yeah, okay, the last the last two opponents we played,
they both had they both tired their coach mid season
because they had ant of emails from parents. So it
was a joy beat them because I knew both those
coaches house. You know, I like both those coaches. They
(26:09):
got fired.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
What an irony that you're hoping to beat the team
because you're mad at them for firing the coach.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
That's your friend. I love that. Let's go through your players,
aren't you.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
To tell me one quick thing, really quick about each
player that makes that player special as a ballplayer and
a person. First, one to arrive at there or the
team class clown or whatever that is. And then one
asset they have if you were on a scouting report,
and it can all be the same. We'll start with
CJ can't see well, CJ Sampson.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Yeah, Well that's Chris Sampson's son. He spent five years
pitching in the big leagues back in the you know,
two thousands, early two thousands. He is just an incredible
kid with an incredible work ethic and the Greg Maddox
of high school baseball. He throws a little, He throws
pretty hard, but he doesn't throw ninety five.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
And he's just he's just an incredible pitcher.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
He's set all kinds of hitting and pitching records at Tombaugh.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
You know more about baseball. You've forgotten more about baseball
than I'll ever know. But for me, the professor's asset
was his pinpoint accuracy.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
This kid's got that kind of control.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
If he has a bad game, he walks one.
Speaker 5 (27:21):
Oh wow, He's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Does his dad ever offer you a little bit of advice?
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah, his dad and I are close. I mean his
dad does a good job, has done a good job
raising him. And he's got three boys. He's got col T,
he's a sophomore. He'll be a really good player for
US as junior and senior. And he's got another young
young kid named Cleet who's a nine year old bat boy.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
And they all are baseball people for sure.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
He's got a kid named Colt and a kid named
Cleat those if they don't become professional baseball players, that's
a disappointment to the family.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
Well, I got a kid named Ketcher too.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Let's talk about Ketcher Hopkins. What's his story?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
So, just like CJ, he's going to Texas A and
m at Our. That's our two big time guys.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
And he's the best pure athlete I've ever coach. Just
can play any position on the field. But he's an
incredible actually an incredible catcher who moved over and played
shortstot for us most of the year because we had
a couple of injuries, so we had another catcher. It
was really good Daniel O'Briant, so we had him play
short shot most year. So normally he's a catcher playing catcher,
(28:23):
but this year he's a catcher playing short.
Speaker 5 (28:25):
Stop, all right.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Keenan Fosdick.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Uh, he was Kegan, Yeah, he was a sophomore.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
It came on we started he started oh along about
the early part of the district. He became a full
time player and he was phenomenally ended up hitting I
think three seventy five on the year, just the consummate
two hole hitter, could lay down a bunch and hit
some pop's at a monster playoff run for us. And
(28:52):
he's he's gonna be a really good player for us
in the future too.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Nolan Rush, all.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Right, that's my son, so I'm partial to him. He
can really hit, hit four hundred this season, drove in
thirty eight runs, and he's got the burden and the
pleasure of playing for his old man. So he gets this,
He gets asked you it's like everybody else on the field.
But then we get to go try to work on
(29:19):
what he needs to work on off the field. So
it's my hours and hours and hours.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
It's my experience that the coach's son gets in ninety
percent of the case of all the praise and and
nothing but praise. But then there's that ten percent where
he not only gets an ask chew and he gets
it worse than anybody else because coach wants everybody to know,
my kid ain't get anything special.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Is he a clean up hitter?
Speaker 5 (29:41):
Well, yeah, he hit in the three and four hole.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
He was hitting five hole, then we had an injury
or two. He hit three and four hole and did
really well. You know, he's not a home run guy yet.
He's still a sophomore. But he hit one home run,
but he drives in runs, so he kind of was
clean up hereo.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Corbyn Cook Corbor Cook.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Came on late, started late and had a really great
playoff run for us. He's a senior. That's going to
a junior college to play, and just an incredible kid,
a great athlete. Could probably be on an American Ninja Warrior.
Just just that kind of athlete, can do flips and
all kinds of duff stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Brady Burrow.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Brady Burrow is a kind of a catalyst of our team.
Speaker 5 (30:23):
Plays left field.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
He's been All District the last two years. Just he's
a He's a short, stocky guy who just gets on
base and just is always revved up and getting the
team fire up. Just a great kid.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Caleb Gaffer.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Caleb Gaffer, he was injured a little bit this year.
He's to be had a really good year at the
beginning of the year and then he pulled his hamstring
and was out for a while, and then he came
back into the playoffs. He's got a lot of big
hits for us. Real good athlete, dual player, football, baseball guy.
He's starting free safety. That's our catcher.
Speaker 5 (31:01):
He came in.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Uh, he's been in our program since he was a
little kid. He's been in our camps and just all
kinds of stuff. Just a just a great success story.
He's going to build college as a catcher.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
Did a great job.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
For US Hunter Myers.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Under Myers was our starting second basement almost all season. Uh,
another really good kid, just a solid player, had a
good season. I need to tell you about Blake Edling too.
He was our number two pitcher and he went twelve
and oh this year, So had a phenomenal year.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Elaine, And is he playing college ball?
Speaker 2 (31:35):
He's a junior.
Speaker 5 (31:36):
He'll play collegeball somewhere. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
And Lane Bradford.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Blaine Bradford is a senior center fielder and he hit
pretty well for US. I just didn't let him hit
all the time because he was a little bit smaller,
but real fast and patrolled the outfield real well and
just a great player. And just like all these other kids.
I mean, you know, there's a ton of kids on
that rock of year that could play for a lot
(32:01):
of other people, but they're all team guys, and he's
just the ultimate team guy.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
Is it Michael Early at A and M Now, who's
their baseball head baseball coach.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
Yeah, it's Michael Early.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
I think Cliff Pennington's his assistant, main assistant.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
So if they pull two kids off your team, that's
probably more than any other team in the country.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
That's a lot for a class. Are you on his
speed dial?
Speaker 2 (32:24):
So I know him and I know Cliff Pennington, the
recruiting courter or the assistant coach.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
All welcomes. Our boys played together.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
We've played teams that have more D one athletes on
them and we just happen to have two guys that
are real special that are going to A and M.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
That's a big deal. That's a real big that's a
heck of a program. Hold on this moment.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
Okay, Memorial High School head coach Doug Rush Rush off
his million dollar bonus for winning the state baseball championship
as our guests
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