This was my time seeing a Bloodhound as a mascot. I have seen the Gobblers (Cuero), the Shorthorns (Schulenberg), the Ro-Hawks (Randolph), the Voks (Lanier), the Buttons (Central Catholic), and many many many more fun mascot names, but again never a Bloodhound.
I was curious so I did some Wikipedia research on bloodhounds…I had no clue that Pluto is a bloodhound (pretty cool) and there faces are so cute and adorable (makes me want to go to the Animal Defense League and look at some dogs). But, I don’t want to clean there poop in my backyard. That is why I like Franklin, our adopted cat we got from the Animal Defense League a few years ago. Franklin says Meow Meow…get off this rant Meow about bloodhounds Meow and talk about the Meow game.
Both teams have made the playoffs…the District tournament is for seedings, which I don’t understand. Maybe I need to have Mark Kusenberger give me a TAPPS 101 playoff breakdown!! Kusenberger is a broadcaster for the Texas Sports Radio Network with a bunch of knowledge on High School athletics/playoffs.
I was so glad to have my official photographer with me for the game. When I saw my Dad, he even had a TSRN media pass…hmm, how did he get that? It is actually really nice having him with me cause I can focus on the game…I took a whole page of notes!!! I did take a few photos as I was seeing how my camera works on my new Galaxy S3 (I will have an expanded blog post on Friday, March 1st).
I know my Dad likes coming to games with me…whether it is a High School football game, a High School basketball games, or a UTSA football game cause on Saturday, February 16th, he wrote a BLOG about being a “Soccer Parent“! And, me, I like the company and I get free food!!! Plus, it is father and son bonding time with no wife’s and animals to deal with!
When I arrived at UIW, Alejandro Calderon, the Director of Enrollment for St. Anthony, was outside the gym…he was waiting for the Brownsville team to show up (it wasn’t quite crunch time as it was about 45 minutes before tip-off).
I worked a Judson and San Marcos High School football game in 2011. At that game, San Marcos didn’t take the field till kick-off (they didn’t warmup)…very strange!!! On the FIRST play of the game, Judson scored an 80 yard touchdown on the kickoff. Maybe the same thing will happen with St. Anthony!!!
Well, about 10 minutes later, the team bus arrived and Brownsville was on the court warming up and stretching.
My Dad and I flashed our TSRN media passes at the entrance and camped out behind the St. Anthony bench; I like sitting behind the team cause I get to hear the sounds from the players and Coach Smisek. I know Coach is aware that I am there, but I not sure about the players.
Even though I spoke with Coach Smisek before the game, we didn’t talk about the game!! Coach Smisek told me that a few weeks ago, he bumped into Coach Hamilton. Just so yall know, Coach Hamilton is the Assistant Athletic Director at Northisde ISD, but way back when I was at Clark High School, he was the Assistant basketball coach and I was the team Manager.
I told Smisek that I have known Hamilton for 22 years and every time I see him at Farris stadium for High School football games, he asks for my Mom’s cookies (my Mom made cookies I think once for the Clark coach’s)! I also told Smisek that these students are gonna remember you for long time.
I watched both teams warm up while my Dad was running around snapping pictures. I saw Charlie Boggess, the Antonian basketball coach, and Romy Vela, the Central Catholic basketball coach. They were sitting next to each other chit chatting and scouting.
A few minutes before tip-off, I noticed that Coach Smisek had written put them away early and win on his dry erase board for the team to see. WOW!!
Coach Smisek was more vocal than all the other games I have attended. I kept hearing YELLOW, ALAMO, CAROLINA, SPARTAN, MEMPHIS, AND CHICAGO from his mouth! Yeah, they are probably offensive and defensive schemes, but that is all I know. I was hoping that MDLBLOG.com would be one also; that would’ve been awesome!
I think I should design a t-shirt to promote mdlblog.com at all the High School events I attend. Hey, I am all about self promotion.
Since I was directly behind the bench, it was cool to see how vocal Coach Smisek with the team during the timeouts. I am not gonna tell you what I heard during those timeouts, but I will say, it was truthful, intense, and extremely motivating.
The game itself was intense as it was back and forth scoring. Man, I had a feeling it would come down to the last shot!! And, I know St. Anthony has won a few games this year at the buzzer!!
At the end of the third quarter, St. Anthony lead 47 to 46. Khalil Howard, the St. Anthony guard, spoke to the team in between the 3rd and 4th quarter to motivate em. You know something, I really liked that move by Khalil…class act. I wanted to see a Yellow Jacket step up and own the 4th quarter and give em the W…I didn’t care who it was!!
I gotta give the Bloodhounds a bunch of credit in the final 8 minutes…they never gave up. They hit some huge buckets and ended up winning the game by a final score of 63-56. But, dude, St. Anthony made the last minute very exciting with there defense and quick scores and almost pulled a W. Had the Yellow Jackets had that energy and played like that for the entire game, it would’ve been over very early.
Brandon Armstrong led the Yellow Jackets with 21 points (he is a Freshmen). Khalil Howard scored 12 points. Matt Caffey scored 11 points (he nailed 3 three pointers). Caffey also got his ankle wrapped right next to me and my Dad got some cool photos of that. Jackson Becker struggled and scored 4 points; my advice…forget about it and get ready for the next game. Ethan Gonzales scored 4 points and Stephen Wallace and Matt Benavides each had 2 points.
I noticed one of the JV kids was dressed to play…that must be really cool for him. Coach Smisek introduced me to an 8th grader will who be attending St. Anthony next year and he is a really good basketball player. I was curious as to where David Wright was, the big man for the Yellow Jackets (he was no where to be seen), but I didn’t want to ask Coach about it.
I didn’t get a chance to talk to Coach Smisek after the game and I didn’t want to hang out near the locker room and wait for him to come out. He needed to be there for his team and I totally respect that. I mean, this was a tough loss; I am glad it wasn’t the type of game where the loser doesn’t make the playoffs. I don’t even want to imagine that scenario.
After the playoffs, I would love to get Coach Smisek to sit down with and me reminisce about the season and what to expect next season. I am also very curious as to what happens during the off-season. Hmm, maybe a mdlblog PODCAST!!!
I was kinda annoyed at something I did!! Toward the end of the game, I was fiddling with my pen but watching the game…well, when I went to write something down, the tip of the the pen was gone; it vanished into a small crack and went into bleacher heaven. I know I could probably replace the tip very easily, but this pen has been with me for a long time.
Even though St. Anthony lost to Brownsville St. Joseph, both teams have already made the TAPPS playoff’s which will be in College Station…St. Anthony will play Houston St. Thomas. That means my High School basketball season is over.
GOOD LUCK YELLOW JACKETS..I AM ROOTING FOR YOU.
Coach Smisek, thank you so much for making feel like part of the team. I truly enjoyed every moment at all the games I attended. I am looking forward to next season. Yep, you are stuck with me now!!
I know High School football takes over my life on Thursdays, Friday’s and Saturdays, but I would like to attend some St. Anthony football games this season. Coach Smisek, can you pass this on the to the football coach?