Brothers with Opinions -B.W.O.
Four friends discussing Winchester, VA news and topics. Debating political issues, news, social injustice and anything that is up for debate in our world.
Brothers with Opinions -B.W.O.
Crafting Champions: Coach Zach Harrell-Zook on Building Leaders, Navigating Challenges, and Inspiring Through Sports and Service
Ever wondered how local sports heroes are crafted through passion and persistence? Join us as we chat with Coach Zach Harrell-Zook from John Handley High School's varsity basketball team, who shares his inspiring approach to coaching. With a focus on building commitment and leadership, Zach reveals the nuances of shaping young athletes amidst the modern challenges of social media and rising college costs. His insights into creating team unity over individual accolades echo the essence of true sportsmanship, promising a treasure trove of wisdom for aspiring coaches and players alike.
The episode also tackles the realities of coaching in today's fast-paced sports environment. Discover how balancing team dynamics with individual growth can transform a squad, as Zach reflects on pivotal moments from his career. From thrilling overtime games to strategic decision-making in the district competition, these stories highlight the resilience and grit that define successful teams. We delve into the impact of instilling a strong belief in young athletes, especially those from single-parent households, and the powerful role of mentorship in guiding them toward fulfilling their potential.
Beyond the sports arena, we venture into broader discussions that affect us all. From community service initiatives inspired by personal stories to the economic implications of global trade policies, our conversations are as diverse as they are poignant. Uncover the lesser-known events in U.S. history and their significance while exploring the layers of economic challenges faced by everyday Americans. This episode promises a rich mix of sports, service, and history, offering an engaging experience that both informs and inspires our listeners.
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Speaker 2:A lot of people talk, but they ain't never walked apart. Gotta shine a light on poverty and fight against injustice and always speak to truth. What's happening, ladies and gentlemen? Sunday, december 1st last month of the year 2025 coming up, but before that, we're going to get into another episode with Zeb Wayne, tony and myself. Man, let's get it going because we have Mr Zach on coming about 10 o'clock hour. So until then, ladies and gentlemen, sit back, listen to my man, tony, real quick, kick it off with that local news and all those scores happening in the area.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So to clarify, it would be Zach Harrell-Zook, the Hanley head coach of the basketball team, everyone that's jumping on for our fans who don't know. All right, so jumping into local news and sports, like we always talk playoffs and everything, and so we have class two. I'll start with where Strasburg beat Buckingham, beat the Brakes off of them 54-7, and then Pocosin beat King William 40-0, and Glenvar was over Gretna 30-8 and Graham Gretna, and then Graham man a lot of shutouts, man 21-0 over Union. So that sets the stage for, you know, congratulations to Strasburg. They're one of two teams that made it to, you know, the regional champs class two and made it to the VHS state semifinals. So they will face Pocosin Seems like next Friday or Saturday it's probably Saturday, what's the seventh, because some of these games are played on Saturdays and then Glenvar will face Graham.
Speaker 4:So then December 7th is a Saturday.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so that's it. Yeah, I noticed some games were on Saturday too, but okay. So moving on to Class 3. Lafayette defeated Norcom 33-6. Kettle Run squeaked by Thomas Jefferson 35-32. Liberty Christian defeated Turner Ashby 56-23. And William Byrd over Lord Bach However you say that name 46-44. So that sets up Kettle Run faces Lafayette and Liberty Christian faces William Byrd in the VHSO semifinal for Class 3.
Speaker 2:Lca's going to win, that one Is that your prediction they're from Lynchburg. Yeah, I know a lot of not a lot about them, but enough about them to know that they're legit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I haven't really heard. You're talking about Liberty, christian, right yeah?
Speaker 5:Mm-hmm Liberty Christian right, yeah.
Speaker 3:So now class four. We have Sharando defeats Salem 29-26. Phoebus destroyed Hampton 42-0. Tuscarora over John Champagne 41-16. And Dinwiddie falls to Verena 41-27. So who plays next week? Like I say, that's next Saturday, I think Shirendo. Yeah, so next Saturday Shirendo plays Phoebus and Tuscarora plays Verena.
Speaker 2:Where is that state game at?
Speaker 3:I'm not sure, god. You asked me too quick. Some neutral site. I'd have to look it up. Oh, we don't want to forget about West Virginia real quick. Sorry, because they started a week late. Martinsburg defeated Parkinsburg South 56-14. Huntington defeated Willing Park 51-39. Spring Mills won 14-7 over Morgantown and Hurricane defeated Jefferson 57-21, which sets up their semifinal. Martinsburg plays Huntington and Spring Mills plays Hurricane. So of course Spring Mills and Martinsburg look like they're on a head-on collision in the playoffs. Like you said, chris, two teams out of Martinsburg, pretty much.
Speaker 4:What about that region that Skyline was in, that team that beat Skyline, thomas Jefferson?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I think. They lost to Kettle Run. They lost to Kettle Run 35-32.
Speaker 3:35-32.
Speaker 4:Okay, yep.
Speaker 3:I didn't hear that score. Oh, Josh, they squeaked by him. So I think Colorado probably they have a chance to win it. They're always good. So there you go, guys. Local scores. Shout out to Sharando and Schwarzberg for moving on and representing the area.
Speaker 2:Schwarzberg be dominating teams too. Man no lies. Not surprising Andrew Mudd's someplace for them, I think yeah he goes to Strasburg now.
Speaker 3:So yeah, congrats to those two local teams. Keep going, bring a state title home, bring it back to the area. So, moving on Now everyone, we will get on with Zach Harrell and get into that interview. So everybody enjoy that interview with Zach Harrell, the coach of John Hanley High School. All right, everyone, we have Coach Zach Harrell Zuck on from John Hanley High School varsity basketball coach. Welcome, coach.
Speaker 6:Thank you guys, Appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 3:Yeah, man, no problem. Yeah, we just have a few questions. It won't be that bad, all right. So first question I have is what is your coaching philosophy? If you could get into that.
Speaker 6:Sure, yeah, I mean I believe that you know, as a coach, for me it's a three-piece passion, purpose and persistence. Like you have to be unwaveringly passionable about your cause, what you're doing, and then you have to be able to instill that into your players. Your players have to play with an unbelievable amount of passion.
Speaker 6:Everyone has to have the same love for the game, the cause that you're working towards, in order to be successful. The second is persistence. You can't take days off. You can't have days that waver from the mission. You can't take days off. You can't have days that waver from the mission.
Speaker 1:That same passion you have to be persistent in that cause every single day.
Speaker 6:And then you have to have a purpose. Like you know, everything that you do, there has to be a why. There has to be a why behind everything you do. And every kid has a different why, every coach has a different why. You know that why is going to be different for everybody. Uh, but, but you have to have passion, you have to have a purpose behind what you're doing, and then you have to be persistent. Uh, now, when it comes to you know, I'm sure what some of what you're asking has to do with. Um, you know some x's and o's, or offense defense. You know what are things you, you know what are the things you'd like to do, how are things you'd like to play?
Speaker 6:So I, you know I obviously come from. You know playing college basketball, coaching college basketball. So I've seen the. You know the higher level side of things. And when it comes to high school basketball, you know one of my favorite quotes ever is the shoes are meant to fit the feet, not the feet to the shoes. And shoes vary in all size and confirmation. So if I have a size eight team, I can't force them into a size 13 shoe. They're a size eight, right. If I have a size 13 team, I can't force them into a size eight. So I think it's the coach's job to formulate a system that brings the most out of the talent or players or skill sets that they have, rather than trying to force feed them into a system. I think you can look at not just this area but other programs around the state that have hey, we're going to run this every year, no matter what, and don't have the talent to do it.
Speaker 3:I totally understand from coaching.
Speaker 6:Yeah well, you know, I think you look around the state and you know you have. You know some coaches have been, you know, for the last. You know however long they've been flexed and we're flexed no matter what. But you've got a, you've got a ball dominant guard heavy team, you know, and you're running flex. You know, or you or you know, you have a team that you know is primarily motion based. But you've got, you know, you've got three bigs that can all post up and get to the bottom. So it depends on what you have, but some coaches don't waver from that.
Speaker 6:You know what I'll say about us and you know our system and our philosophy is like I'm going to fit a system to the players.
Speaker 6:Now, what things won't change and what the non-negotiables are is that you know we must be the hardest working, most prepared, most conditioned team on the floor every single night. So those are non-negotiables. But I'm going to alter what we do offensively, defensively, to fit, you know, to fit the personnel and the kids that I have, you know like, for instance, and the kids that I have, you know like, for instance, this year, you know you've got, we've got a guy in, jay Sean Offwood, who's 6'3", 355 pounds. He's Division I offensive lineman. So you know, when he's in a game at points this year, you know we might try to get the ball down low. You know we've got an extremely versatile defensive piece and Christian Dengis, who's 6'5", plays well above the rim and has a 6'6 wingspan. So there are things that I can do with Christian defensively that I haven't been able to do with teams in the past you know, so it all just you know.
Speaker 6:Then you've got Will Brunduin, who's I mean our area of basketball has been around for close to a hundred years. You've got on three on three sports, which is a widely popular, you know recruiting network, along with 24 seven sports and stuff that has published articles on him being potentially the best shooter in his class in the country for 2027. So there are things, offensively, you can do with that right. So it's just it's got to fit the kids that you have, um, you know, and that that's my belief. I believe it's my job to put the kids in the best, best position possible, based on their skill sets, rather than force the kids to do. You know what I want to do.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I totally agree. It's like every year you have a different challenge or you know a different group of kids you know you have to cater to and whenever they're strong, you know their strong points are.
Speaker 6:That's the fun part to me and that's what's different than college is, you know, I think at college you're you're going to recruit to, you know, hey, this is how I'd like to play and this is what we're going to recruit to. Versus, you know, at the high school level it's say we got to make the best out of what we have and this is the hand we're dealt with and how can we get the most out of of this group of kids. And fun part to me because then I'm always learning and evolving as a coach, rather than you know, hey, this is what we do, no matter what um yeah, college is a lot easier, like you just said.
Speaker 3:They can recruit what they want to run their system. At least try to yes, you know it.
Speaker 6:You know if you look at, you know Alabama and NATO. I mean they're not recruiting anyone that didn't shoot 45% of the three in high school.
Speaker 6:You know they're also not recruiting anyone that you know if you're below six foot you better be, you know, one of the fastest guards in the country. So I mean, you know it's different. I personally love the challenge of, hey, let's see what we got and hey, what can we do to maximize this group, and that's what's fun. So I think you'll see, you know different stuff from us this year, offensively, defensively than even last year.
Speaker 6:You know, in a year that we went 18-6 and, you know, had a good season with a lot of youthful players and a lot of them are coming back. But even a lot of them have evolved their games and they're better in certain ways now. Or they're older, they're stronger, they're more physical, and then you can do a whole lot more with that. Based on those circumstances, I totally agree.
Speaker 3:So, speaking of that, your culture, let's move on to Chester. What have you seen as your biggest challenge as a coach so far? Hanley being a head coach.
Speaker 6:I think that in today's era of social media, a million AAU teams, social media a million.
Speaker 6:AAU teams, the, the cost of the cost of college. You know, and, and you you look at kids from our area and for the majority of our kids I mean you know, you know if they want to try to have a free education, you know it's going to be through sports and I think that places a lot of pressure on kids and families. And, you know, I think the biggest challenge has been trying to educate, orchestrate, convince 15, 16, 17 and even 18-old boys that your statistics do not matter at all, like at all. You know, like Christian Christian Dengis could average, which he won't. He could average eight points and five rebounds. And I still have Division I programs texting me, you know, week in, week out, about him because he's six foot five, he can shoot the three, he can play above the rim and he has long arms. It doesn't matter what his high school statistics are. It doesn't matter what Will's high school stats are. If you're being considered one of the best shooters in the country, then you're going to be recruited at that level, right, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 6:That is the hard part that has been for me, you know, with social media and all of the things out there and just trying to get everyone to understand what is important and that the only thing anyone's ever going to remember is did you win or did you lose? Win or did they lose? I mean heck. I mean, I was player of the year in 2015. I can't tell you what my stats were. All I know is we went 20 and 2 and lost on a game on a on a buzzer beater shot at charlottesville in triple overtime that and we underachieved as a team. That's. That's the only thing I can tell you. I couldn't tell you.
Speaker 5:That damn.
Speaker 6:Charlotte.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that damn Charlottesville. How come they always pop up?
Speaker 6:Yeah, our goal is to make them come to us this year, so we have a different story. But, yeah, you know that's been. The hardest part is, um, you know, just just trying to educate our, our area, our players on like, hey, like, fellas, you guys could, you know, every single, any single one of you could go play it, you know, at wood or or a different school in the area and and you'd probably average a whole lot more points. Maybe play, play more, yeah, right, but but you won't be as successful as this team can be.
Speaker 6:Yeah, you know, and just just trying to put it all together and I think the hard part for me has been, you know that first year it was just. It was COVID and it was just us as a staff and those kids.
Speaker 6:And there was no possibility for any outside noise or influence, like it was just us and the kids, nobody at the game. Like it, just it and just what that group was able to accomplish. I mean, you're talking about a team that was less than 500 the year before that we took to the state final, you know, and we're up by seven and a half, you know, wearing masks, against a team from seven, five, seven, like, and it was because there was, they didn't care, they didn't care what they scored, they didn't care about. You know, mom and dad weren't there to. You know, to yell and scream at them.
Speaker 6:And, like, these kids feel so much pressure and the hard part for me has been trying to facilitate an environment where they don't feel that they can just they can just play and and love each other and, like man, there's nothing that means more to me than this last year, you know, when I got married you know, my, my best friend, chris Oates, you know, was my best man, and Trey Briscoe was at my wedding and, like we all grew up together and they're at my wedding party, you know it's like I want that for these kids too.
Speaker 6:You know, when they leave here, you know for them to have those meaningful lifelong friends and you know, I think the biggest challenge has been trying to get kids to understand that. You know, those things don't matter, um, and and what matters is what you achieve as a team and that's.
Speaker 6:That's all that anyone's ever going to remember, and it's hard for a 16 year old kid to understand that you know, and when? Everyone else is trying to be cool and look cool, and it's like no guys, what's cool is winning. Yeah, what's cool is winning to be cool and look cool, and it's like no, guys, what's cool is winning.
Speaker 5:What's?
Speaker 6:cool is winning. What's cool is doing something that nobody's ever done before and being able to hang that in the rafters forever, because teams come and go, but banners hang forever and they will remember you forever if you do something that no one else has ever done. But in order to do something no one else has ever done, you have to act different than everyone else has ever done, and that's the hard part. But that's also fun, Like if it was easy, everybody would do it right.
Speaker 3:Yeah right.
Speaker 2:You have the most talent coming back. Go ahead, chris, coach, he has the most talent coming back by far. They're probably the deepest team. They remind me of Kentucky, especially with the guard play. There's so many, from Will to Briscoe to Amari, there's just so many of them. Oglesby, like you said, christian, you guys are very deep and they've been together now for two or three years consistently. But you're right, coach Dixon, who coached all of us name on the court, we've all went to states. Guess what? We don't have, what millbrook has, and they haven't been around nearly as long as us.
Speaker 6:You could change whole history right, yeah, and you know those kids gotta realize that you're right yeah you know I grew up down the street from from little e and, and you know chris oats, you know one of my closest friends, his brother, older brother and brother, andrew Oates, played on that team. So I got to live vicariously through, you know that, that team almost like their whole time growing up, because I'd always be at, you know Chris and Andrew's house. You know I'd see Little E, the Rodney twins, levon, like like those guys, man, like they would, they would get into it. You know they were competitive and like, but like they didn't. At the end of the day they didn't care about anything but winning and that's why they got it done. You know, that's why.
Speaker 6:And guess what, you still had Eric still went on to play division one, jordan Sugar still went on to play division one, and and, and you know, andrew went on to play quarterback at Shep. And like they all still went on to do all the things that they wanted to do individually, you know. But did they? You know, did they maybe average as many points as they could have somewhere else? No, but what they did together was, like you said, something that hadn't been done, and that was back when there was only three classifications.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Now you've got six. Yeah, we would have never played against Hampton and any of them back in our day. Never, no, no never, no you mean in.
Speaker 6:Brunswick, woodbridge, garfield, I mean, you know, it just looked different.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, we wouldn't have never, ever had a chance to play anybody in the 757. Yeah, they would have put it on us.
Speaker 3:I think Wayne's got a question.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I got one question for you. Just keep it short and simple. Mine is like a motivational standpoint what strategies do you use to keep your players engaged and motivated, whether it's a winning situation or a losing situation?
Speaker 6:Yeah, the number one thing kids look for and what, what. What I also have to take in mind with with a lot of my kids I mean, you're looking at pretty much every given year. Uh, I mean I'll have a roster that you know two-thirds of the team will be a single family household. Um, you know at least two-thirds of the team you know is in that realm and so at the end of the day, all these kids want to know is you believe in them. They might not be hearing that, they might not be hearing it at home, or you know they might not have.
Speaker 6:You know we got a lot of kids on the team, like you know where it's.
Speaker 6:It's, uh, you know single moms getting after it, working multiple jobs, doing everything they can to provide for them, and you know sometimes we may be the only voice that you know that they can to provide for them and you know sometimes we may be the only voice that you know that they get to hear from a male perspective at times and and any, any kid just wants to know that you believe in them. So I think at the heart of our motivation is in feeling and letting the kids know that, that we believe in them. And it's not just about, hey, you have the potential to do this, like no, we believe you can do this right now. Um, cause, every kid they're told, man, you can, you can do this or you can do that. You have this potential. But letting them know this is what we believe you can do right now and we believe it. Uh, and that's, that's what you know. Yelling and screaming and belittling kids, just it just doesn't work it just doesn't, you know?
Speaker 6:and now, the stronger relationship you have with a kid, then you, you know you can get on them, and but but at the heart of that message is hey, come on, man, I know you can do better. No-transcript.
Speaker 3:Awesome.
Speaker 5:I mean.
Speaker 3:I've always learned, or learned as a coach, to turn a negative into a positive.
Speaker 6:Yeah, don't don't, don't always just point out the negative, but always finish with a positive. Yeah, my old coach, scott Mankins, who I mean we were just talking about that team you know the one-state title. Mankins used to phrase positive attitudes change everything. That was the saying of the team. Every team was paced Positive attitudes change everything. There's nothing good going to come from dwelling on the negative.
Speaker 3:Oh, exactly Not at all.
Speaker 2:Wayne. He's the one that coached Mike, chris and Tickney when we were playing. They was missing a player down low, but they was the best.
Speaker 6:Yeah, and Chris Boone is one that I mean. Chris was over at my house a couple weeks ago. We were putting in some trim and, you know, redoing my hallway and you know Chris is another one of those guys Like that team that they had back in the day when you had you know, you had Tig Boom Crawford. Oh God, they were Any one of them guys could have had 40 a night you know they also had Jamie Good also.
Speaker 6:Yeah, you know it was whoever was hot and they just, you know they played well together as a team and they just you know, uh, so you know, chris, chris has talked to me too about you know, trying to come in and talk to the guys at some point this year too and I just think, having our guys here from you know, not just you know, I'll try to bring in alumni or folks in the area that have.
Speaker 6:Hey, maybe that you know they got done as a team what they wanted to get done and this is what worked for them, but also guys that, hey, we didn't get it done, and these are some things that you know that that stopped us along the way. We got too worried about this or we got too worried about that, or um. So yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Awesome. All right, zach. Another question for you. Share a memorable moment from your coaching career that stands out as a highlight.
Speaker 6:So we are traveling on the road in the state semifinal game to Halifax, and this is during COVID times. I'm 23 years old. I mean, it's just. The year is flying by so fast. We're sitting at 10-0. And you know, if we win the game, we know that we're hosting the state title, we know that. And we're up three with three and a half seconds to go. And there's a guy on the scouting report. I'm not joking when I say he has not hit a three all year long.
Speaker 6:And that was that was going to scout report like hey and so my inbound philosophy was hey, we're going to deny everyone but him, like we're going to play the statistics like we're, we're going to deny everyone but him and he's going to have to heave it from half court.
Speaker 6:Yeah, like that's how we're going to. You know we're going to force the ball back. He's got to take two droves and he's half court. Like that's how we're going to. You know, we're going to force the ball back. He's got to take two dribbles and heave it from half court. Man, if that joker didn't bank in a half court shot it ended in the overtime.
Speaker 6:And the part that impressed me man was like you know, and people say this, and this is no, it's like people say like oh well, when things get hard, hanley quits. Like that's what people say. And in that moment, I'm telling you. When those five guys walked over to me after that guy hit that shot, I mean the look in Meech's eye was like nah, just give me the ball. This is done.
Speaker 6:Right, like. But they could have just put their heads down and folded Like that's an on the road game. They hit a half court shot. Dude hasn't hit a three all year long. All the momentum has shifted and just like they, the way they walked over to the huddle was like nah, we not, we're not, we're not going out like this. And I was just so proud of that group because you couldn't script the scenario even more where people say, oh, hanley quits, hanley kids quit. Like you couldn't have scripted a better scenario and those kids did not at all.
Speaker 6:And they put their back up against the wall and just and we ended up winning it by seven in overtime. Like it was score, stop, score, stop, score, stop. And it was just that Sometimes I worry, like as a coach. That happened to me when I was 23. Like I could coach for 50 more years and never be more proud of a group of kids, just because, like that was the ultimate test of, like resiliency for that group and I hate so much that people didn't get to see that team.
Speaker 6:Like it, it, it just that team deserved for the community to be able to see them, and obviously it was tough times and circumstances, but that's that's by far and away the proudest moment.
Speaker 6:It's just not even that we won the game, that that they didn't give up yeah, that they continued to fight and I think from that moment it's carried on like you can watch any of our teams with our staff the last four years. It's like those kids fight like they, they continue to fight and they do not give up. I mean, at charlottesville last year it's got 41 free throws to our 13. Our kids are are still digging in heels in down eight with a minute and a half to go, just fighting and fighting. And that's what I'm most impressed about is that first group was able to carry that on and, you know, to the other groups that have come after.
Speaker 3:Gotcha Good stuff, man Good stuff. So, Chris, you got a question.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good stuff, man, good stuff. So, chris, you got a question. Yeah, when can we uh see on the schedule that hanley and martinsburg get to play each other? That's a good way back and they have not played in so long. I'm like man, that'd be amazing for that little, for that area, right there to 81. I think that could be fun, especially because you guys are really good and we know martinsburg's always pretty good yeah, you know, and and that would obviously uh prepare us for, uh, for what?
Speaker 6:um, you know what, what we eventually want to get to. You know which. You know in the region tournament and you know if you're forced in to get to a state tournament, like you know it's, it's hard for our kids to play teams all year long that just try to slow us down and then all of a sudden you're playing somebody that's just trapping everywhere flying around super athletic. So our kids almost have to play like two different brands of basketball throughout the year. And you know, martinsburg would prepare us for, you know, for the types of teams that we would see at the regional level with the EC glass or GW Dan.
Speaker 2:They run, they have size.
Speaker 6:Absolutely. They're athletic, well coached, you know, and I think we would. We would do Martinsburg a favor too as well, you know. Here's all I'll say about this. You guys can ask the other coaches when you interview. I am just so you know. The way that the region works now is all record-based.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 6:It's all based on your record. So I want you to compare the schedules of the local county schools last year to the schedules that they made this year for themselves after we went 18-6. And I want you to look at that. And so it's become hard for me. Like if we schedule Spotswood twice, martinsburg, huguenot, skyline twice you know another school from Ridge like we wanted to play Verona. Like if we schedule all these 10 really tough games, well shoot, we may go 16-6 and we'll be, or 16-8, we'll be extremely prepared for the playoffs, but we may not make the playoffs.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because they can hurt you in the long run. Is what you're getting.
Speaker 6:Yeah, you know so if the other schools are playing Warren County and Central and Turner-Ashby, I mean look at the schedules. I mean it's hard for us. So that's why, as the vice president of the coach association, the biggest thing on my agenda well, two things one is the shot clock and two is is getting a statewide point system. Like you should be encouraged, you should be encouraged to play tough teams, the system shouldn't be encouraged for you to. You know schedule down lower classifications and then, you know, try to get the best record possible. And I understand why the other area coaches did it. You know they're looking at the region. Like we know Hanley and Charlottesville are going to be really good and that leads to a playoff spot. So how are we going to get there? Right?
Speaker 6:And you know. So they're trying to.
Speaker 2:They're trying to schedule favorable games that they feel like they can win, to try to get in, to try to get in that playoff on now and then when they face charlottesville or hangley, uh, more than likely they're going to be in a lot of trouble because you're not going to win if you're playing all the rapid hannock and warren county and stuff all the time, right, you know and going to win if you're playing all the rapid-handling and Warren County and stuff all the time.
Speaker 6:Right, you know. But the system, you know, for them they're looking at it like, hey, we got to figure out a way to get to the postseason, you know so we, you know. So we play Huguenot this year. You know we play Skyline twice, we play Charlottesville Like, we have some tough games on our skit stanton, um, you know, uh, or re lee. So, like we, we have some tough games on our schedule this year and uh, you know, hopefully, you know we can win the benefit of the doubt of those and uh, get to the next level. But we don't. We don't want to be in a scenario again where we're traveling in the postseason because we scheduled tough games and everybody around us, didn't?
Speaker 6:um, you know, I mean you look at, look at charlesville schedule from last year. I looked at the beginning of the year and I said they only have two, three potential losses western albemarle twice and albemarle twice, that's it. You look at their schedule and you're like this team's 18 and four at the minimum, and so, like you knew you had minimal margin for error. Uh, and so we played spots with twice and we played meridian and you know we played skyline. Fortunately we got skyline. You know they typically always have had some good talent. But uh, you know we played some tough games last year and you know we were. I think it was a game or two under shawlsville. So then we had a trap and that was that was. That was a tough environment, for sure what about the tournaments?
Speaker 2:how do you decide what tournaments you're going to be a part of and how do you know exactly what team you might play if it's a real tournament, like you'd play the winner of a game and so on but this might just be a match-up tournament, where you just play a game and that's it yeah, so the.
Speaker 6:so the main in-season tournament that we do is the Hanley Show, and what we'll try to do with that is we'll try to give us a team that will simulate what a post-season team for us would look like. So this year we're playing Huguenot. I just went down and scouted them Saturday after Thanksgiving and all, all seniors, extremely athletic, they're going to press, trap, fly around. So you know that would prepare us for EC, glass, gw, danville, charlottesville, prepare us for those types. But now the way that you have so many class three and class four Northwestern district teams, so the district is like, well, 12 or 14 teams in Northwestern district but there's like eight class three teams and only four or five class three, uh, four teams now.
Speaker 6:So what they've done is they've said, hey, class fours, you've got to play three class uh, you got to play three class three teams at least twice. So that, right there, that's six games right there. And then you factor in all your district games that you you know, know, james Wood, liberty, sarando, mo Bro, so you're already looking at 16, 18 games already covered. So you don't have a lot of wiggle room. And then really, the only time people really do tournaments is either a holiday tournament around Christmas time or, like you said, we do a showcase like that. So we haven't played in a tournament where it's like, hey, if you win this one, you go on and play a different team at the next one. So I think in-season tournaments have kind of gone away a little bit, just because you know so much of your regular season is consumed with like what your mandated required games are.
Speaker 3:Gotcha. Well, I have one last question, you know to get done real quick. So, Zach, describe a pivotal moment in your coaching career where you had to make a tough decision that impacted the team's trajectory.
Speaker 6:When you say impacts team's trajectory, like hey, this could lessen talent for us.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like lessen talent for us. Yeah, like you know, just a controversy. You know like I've made hard decisions. You know like a starter, you know you're taking out somebody, it's just anything. That was a hard decision. Basically, you had to make a very tough decision.
Speaker 6:Sure, I think, oh, excuse me, they're sophomores, they're juniors. Now I'll excuse their sophomores, or juniors now.
Speaker 5:So two years ago, around Christmas time was when.
Speaker 6:Kyron Oglesby transferred back into Hamlin and at that point in time it was halfway through the year. So, you know, you have to really ask yourself like, hey, you know what are you going to do? Is he going to be on the team hanley? So it's like yeah, people called him a transfer, but it's like, is he really a transfer? I mean he played.
Speaker 3:He played a day. He played a day in morgan. He's lived in winchester right, you know his mom went to school with us.
Speaker 6:So yeah, yeah, and so with the hanley andwood, yeah, so you know, I kind of looked at that situation, like you know, and I don't know, I didn't know too much how much Kyron really wanted to be at the private school he was at, you know, I think, and he wanted to play with his friends and he wanted to be at Hanley and he wanted to, you know, be there, and so you know we had a decision to make.
Speaker 6:Hey, we're going to put them on the team. You know what are we going to do and you know I sat him for two games, but that was in. Hey, you have to, you have to do and earn everything that everyone else already has Right and then, and then we'll go from there. So you know, he had to pass his conditioning test that everyone has to do, which, tony, I'm sure, christian told you about.
Speaker 3:We know about that.
Speaker 6:The latter is not even you know, and it took Kyron a couple times.
Speaker 5:You know, to the point.
Speaker 6:I said what are you guys doing in practice over there? You know, and it took him a couple times and you know, hey, if you want, you know you got Isaiah LeVette here, that's a senior, and you know you've got other guys. You know that, play your position. You're going to have to come in and compete right away. But I looked at we were getting really stagnant as a program at that time. Like we were I think we were three and seven and we were on the verge of like the team was like are we okay with losing? Like have we just accepted losing? That's where the team was like are we okay with?
Speaker 5:losing, Like have we just accepted?
Speaker 6:losing. That's where the team was, and so your question was like a pivotal moment that could have changed the trajectory. But the reality was, when somebody came in at that moment in time, it elevated the competition and practice immediately.
Speaker 6:Like everyone started realizing oh, like I'm fighting for time, I'm fighting for minutes, I'm fighting for rotation. And you know I applaud Kyron for handling it. You know the way he did was hey, bud, you're not getting uniformed, so you pass that test. And then, once you get a uniform, you got to practice X amount of days before you can play. And you know, I remember, you know watching, you know he sat out the skyline game at home and you know we tried everything in the world we could do to stop the Diggs kid and we couldn't. And you know they beat us at home in a close one and I can see Kyron like wanting to get out there and thought he could make a difference and he just came in and put his head down. But you know that was tough, you know. But I kind of looked at that, you know, like hey, this kid's been here, he grew up here.
Speaker 6:You know he was right around the corner. So, yeah, I thought that was a pivotal time, but you know, I thought it worked out good for us.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I can relate to that.
Speaker 6:We finished the season 17 and 12 and went to the state tournament that year. And it wasn't just because, like, oh, we had Kyron, now Just the level of competition every day and the level of compete and practice, and just like it was just a pivotal moment for the team, Everyone got tired of losing. You know, when Kyron came in, he didn't want to lose any games. Everyone was tired of being three and seven and it just sparked this competition and competitiveness in practice.
Speaker 3:Hey, I get it. I mean, you know, like, the more talent you have, it's going to lift everybody else up.
Speaker 6:Yep iron sharpens iron.
Speaker 3:Iron sharpens iron. Yep, you took words right out of my mouth. So I mean, the best team I ever had at Daniel Morgan was a Christian Amari J, like dude, we were 15. And that team, best practice, ever pushed each other and, like you said, you bring somebody, it's like, oh shit, I better step my game up, you know, because this guy could take my spot, just like that, which happens. So it's always great to have, it's great to have a lot of talent, but at the same time, you be a curse when you do. You know how that goes. So, guys, you got any more questions for zach?
Speaker 4:nah, I'm good on the questions oh, you're good.
Speaker 3:so, zach, uh yeah, like you brought up, you know you have a tough schedule and everything and I'll just say I predict you guys to finish first in the district. I'll say it first and foremost. But who do you see as your biggest challenge this year in the district?
Speaker 6:So in the district.
Speaker 3:Not to put you on the spot.
Speaker 6:Yeah, you know, I think I think every year, year in, year out, you know, Sharando seems to always have the same type of team Tall, physical play well together.
Speaker 2:But I think that, yeah, Garland's been coaching since I played, yeah, 33 years.
Speaker 6:Yeah, you know and you know what you're going to get.
Speaker 1:I mean you know, hey it what you're gonna get.
Speaker 6:I mean you know, hey it's gonna be, it's gonna be flexed in circle motion and and you know, but but they all buy it. I mean you can't say that his teams don't buy it and they play hard and so they always have some good size and, um, you know.
Speaker 6:But I think that I think that millbrook has a good core of seniors. This year, with Sean Rooks, kyle Arthur, some of the seniors that they have, I think that they'll be truly competitive. But I truly mean this when I say this. But like we really just focus on us, like I don't like in the summer we don't play any of them.
Speaker 6:You know, we don't play like you know we, we don't play like we I mean we play John Marshall and in Westfield, like I mean we're, we don't, we don't keep tabs on what they're doing or how they are, and like we really just focus on us. And that's been good to us. Um, you know, we've, we're, we're in four years we're 50% state tournament appearance rate and you know we have a regional state championship and a regional championship, a state runner up, and you know it's it's been good to us to focus on us and trying to, you know, keep our locker room, the locker room, and focus on us. But I, you know, I do think that you know, I think Ben Bates is going to be an instant culture change to James Wood. I think he's gonna, you know.
Speaker 6:I think when they play us they'll try to make the game 12 to 8 and really slow the game down. And you know, I think that you know Eric's team's always play hard and Millbrook, typically, is always going to have some shooters. So you look at the game we played against them last year. I mean what are we going to do? They shot 65% from three. You know, I mean they've got guys that you know can get hot any given night. So you know, but I would suspect Millbrook, with the most returning senior guard play to be pretty competitive.
Speaker 3:Got, it Okay, gotcha.
Speaker 2:But you're right, tony, everybody else is playing for second yeah.
Speaker 3:I believe so they know it too. But uh, oh well, zach, uh, in ending, uh, what, what do you do for the? Or how do you get your team involved with the community? I would say your players and student, student athletes.
Speaker 6:Yeah.
Speaker 6:So a couple things we do. One, obviously, we run the Hanley basketball camp in the summertime. You know we've consistently averaged 100 kids, you know, at camp each summer. Then we'll volunteer and run a camp with Parks and Rec, which, by the way, I don't know if you guys have talked to him yet, but this will be a great interview what Chris Conyer is doing with Winchester Parks and Rec really needs some recognition. I mean, from where, when I took over the job at Hanley, from where the rec basketball program was then to where it's at now, I mean he's scraping for volunteer coaches because there's 400 kids in the league. I mean it's incredible, you know. So we'll try to volunteer there and that's been a big part of, you know, something I've tried to do is get involved with Parks and Rec, get involved with, you know, the grassroots development of our kids and you know Winchester parks and rec orchestrated a really good deal with shanandale university that allows them to, you know, allow a lot of rec programs that are really affordable costs for kids so we can get our kids involved in stuff early on. So that that's been a big part of our volunteer environment as well as helping run camps and programs for winchester parks and rec.
Speaker 6:Uh, this year a couple of things we're going to do. One is Salvation Army bell ringing during the holiday times, you know, I think it provides a great humility aspect to our players, you know, getting out there and raising funds for a great cause. And we're also going to do around the holiday time, close to when you know everyone's doing their Christmas shopping last minute Do just a one day basketball camp. That also combos with a food drive where, hey, you know, you can bring your kid in, drop them off all day. Go, do shopping for your kids, we'll take care of them, we'll wear them out, but we just ask you to bring a non-perishable, you know. And do a food drive to help feed some families for the holidays.
Speaker 6:And then the other thing we're doing this year is I'm asking the kids to pick a community service project. So I'm saying, hey, you've got three weeks, I need a plan. Who are we helping? Why are we helping them? How are we going to do it? And it's on them to figure it out as a team and so that you know that that puts the big, passes the baton to them and then, you know, hopefully, shows them that. You know, this is more than basketball, and and that you guys have the ability to make an impact on on the lives of other people.
Speaker 3:Good, good stuff, man, I like it. Good, good stuff, man, I like it. So in closing, who is?
Speaker 6:what's your biggest inspiration in your life and got you into coaching?
Speaker 6:I would say it's a combination of a few different people. It's hard for me to pinpoint, hard for me to pinpoint one specific person. But my college coach, paige Moyer, was the definition of like a personable coach that cares about you and like he, just he, just that really showed me what coaching was all about. But then I got to see my second year coach Nunley, who was just man, he was hard on you and he was detail oriented and but, like you know, when I tore my patella and he brought me on staff, like I got to realize like man, this guy, this guy sleeps here, like he doesn't leave like he, like he is always watching film and he's always preparing.
Speaker 6:So it's like no wonder he gets frustrated, you know, like he's pouring his heart and soul into this, and I think it was the combination of those two that really showed me like, if you can be a bit of both, you can be a good coach, like you can't be, you know, off the rails, just super detail oriented, you know, and not focus on the relationships and developing those. But you can't also. You can't also just be a, you know, full blown players coach that has no non-negotiables, no standards, no rule. Like you. You've got to be a balance of both.
Speaker 6:Um, but it was also when I graduated college. Um, you know, as soon as I graduated college I came back home we found out my dad had stage four multiple myeloma. My dad's not my dad's not supposed to be here, right, and you know they, they told him. You know they called in myself and my mom. They said, hey, he's got, he's got three and a half months.
Speaker 6:But but if he goes to John Hopkins and does a stem cell transfusion, he'll have a chance. And so we said, all right, you know when, when can we go? Like we'll drive right now, and you know, so my dad went to John Hopkins for 30 days and did a stem cell transfusion and you know he has a form of cancer that's not curable. Uh, you know it has to be maintained and requires weekly medications and stuff. But the stem cell transfusion, you know, is what kept him here to this day. But I just remember, as a player, I did not care about player of the years, I did not care about it, I just wanted to win a state championship. That's all I wanted to do.
Speaker 6:But my dad couldn't come to many of my games because he worked 90 hours a week growing up and so I felt like my dad missed a lot of me with basketball and like, and so it was just such an easy decision for me one. I mean my college coaches told me like you have a gift for coaching. You need to coach and you know. So that kind of sparked the interest and then I started to realize, like man, I might be a better coach than I was a player.
Speaker 5:You know I couldn't play a lick of defense.
Speaker 6:But I can coach it. Don't ask me to guard anybody, but I can teach Christian how to do it. You know, and and it's so. It was just really the combination of all those things that are really pivotal time. And you know, I just you know, before my dad goes, you know, there's two things that I want to do in Winchester. I want my dad to see, you know, a program I'm a part of win a state title and I want John Hanley to win a state title.
Speaker 6:I can't be done. I can't be done with Winchester until I think a school that deserves that so much you know, is finally able to achieve that.
Speaker 3:Good, good stuff. Yeah, I agree, man, let's get a state title and then your job's finished, zach, then you can leave.
Speaker 5:No, I mean I start the legacy.
Speaker 4:I think I'm just yeah no, I mean, that's Start the legacy, man, start the legacy.
Speaker 6:I think that's the point where you can just take a deep breath yeah, right Now, let's go do it again. Now, let's go do it again, yeah right, yeah, so set the bar high.
Speaker 3:But hey, man, we appreciate you and hey, I definitely appreciate you because you know you've coached, uh, quincy, you know my oldest boy and and christian, right, you know that you've brought up a lot here, but but I appreciate everything you do. You know you're a tough coach, you are, you're a tough coach and you stick to your guns, man, and I, I appreciate that. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then you know they they've learned from it. They might not, especially speaking about quincy, he might not know now, but he'll learn in the long run. You know what you were trying to instill with teaching.
Speaker 6:Well, you know, I would say he does. I can't remember where it was. I either ran into Quincy or Nicky, but he's. I mean Quincy's working with you now. Right, yeah, he's at UPS now. Yeah, he learned he's there. Um, you know that's, and this is a whole nother conversation. But you know, I think we got to stop force feeding messages to our kids that the only thing they can do to make something out of themselves go to college. I mean, look at, look at some of these jobs we have. In our area alone, dude, a car wash, is paying $20 an hour to go down there and do this yeah, you're right, Hang loose whatever it's called, hang 10.
Speaker 6:I mean $20 an hour to go down there. I mean, Tavon Long and Kamani are down there, both making $20 an hour, and you know Tavon is working towards a management role.
Speaker 5:Yeah, about what I was going to say.
Speaker 6:That's great, that's great, you know so.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know. Um, so yeah, I think, yeah, we do touch on something. It's like we, it's like sports are, but you know what I mean. Like that's it like and I've learned, especially with my older, because I've learned, you know, you're a parent and going through this the first time and that's the thing you just want them to be successful and a great human being. You know, in the end, you know sports isn't the end, all be all.
Speaker 6:You know but you know, and you, you know, you. Sometimes you'll hear like, oh, you're only about winning, or you know, it's all that matters. Winning, it's like no. But if you focus on the traits that contribute to or result in winning, those are the traits that are going to you're going to take with you for the rest of your life exactly yes and life is a battle of winning and losing.
Speaker 6:You're not the only person applying for the rest of your life, and life is a battle of winning and losing. You're not the only person applying for the job. You're not the only person doing the job. There's somebody out there that's trying to do it better than you. And so when you focus on what it takes to win and getting people to do that, then you know that they're going to be successful in what they do next, because what that requires is 100% of your effort, all the time. Right. Your best effort requires a positive attitude. It requires being able to handle adversity, it requires being able to work with others All those things together. You learn those through sports, you know, but you play the game to win right, and so all those traits go into contributing to what it takes to win, and then you know what it's all about is life after handling.
Speaker 4:Exactly, exactly right, yep.
Speaker 3:So, zach, hey, man, we appreciate you and you know. Good luck on the season. Yep absolutely Look forward to seeing you guys.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, we'll be out there. Keep the kids motivated, man and engaged.
Speaker 6:Absolutely.
Speaker 4:Yep.
Speaker 3:Hey man.
Speaker 6:Appreciate your guys time.
Speaker 3:Hey, you too, man. We really appreciate it. Have a good day, man All right guys All right Later.
Speaker 4:Later.
Speaker 3:All right, everyone. That was coach Zach Carroll. We appreciate him being on this week, and so now we're going to jump into our main topics for this week, which will be Donald Trump, tariffs, and then we'll talk about some history that's never talked about. All right, everybody, all right. So our first topic everyone will be Trump policies and the tariffs that he wants to put on countries and taxes and all kinds of bullshit. So let's just dive into that, because he wants to start taxing you know, 100 percent taxes, what it says. Or in Canada, mexico, guam, who you know, israel, whoever he wants to tax everybody for imported goods. So what's your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:the same same stuff all the time. Man, I don't really think nothing's going to change. They just everything. That it's just an excuse to continuously rise. Raise the prices on everything we have to, regardless if it's for your home, for your car. It is a home or a car. Your food, your supplies you get at everyday dollar stores or Walmart or whatever. It's going to be no different. They're just going to raise the prices on everything, except for our pay. Our wages won't change, but the price of everything will, and they'll continue to delete the middle class and continuously raise the bar between that top one percent and everybody else.
Speaker 3:So OK, chris. So to touch on, you know, I'll touch on this article from the Associated Press. It says, and I quote President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a block of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRIC alliance, which consists of Brazil, russia, india, china, south Africa, egypt, ethiopia, iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Speaker 2:Which that's where Dubai is.
Speaker 3:So that's basically what we get all our goods from Canada. Yeah, what do we get from Canada? Lumber, it's some fruit. I think I'll have to look up what we import from Canada and Mexico and stuff like that. So the thing is, is everybody who voted for Trump was thinking oh, what do they always say? Oh, gas prices and everything's going down? Well, guess what? Everybody, if he does this, everything's going to skyrocket and, like you said, chris, we can't even survive now as it is.
Speaker 4:Well, you got to think about when he was in office.
Speaker 4:gas never went down. Gas rose when he was in office. Gas never went down. Gas rose when he was in office. And then when you put this extra tax, so-called tariff, on all these nations, all it does is just raise taxes on imported and exported goods and the only thing, only people that benefit from it are foreign countries the consumer, and then the country who's getting the import, the consumer, and then the country who is getting the products imported into their country. So, with that being said, it would never benefit the citizens of no country. It'll just always make us pay more and more for clothes, food, gas, et cetera, just like Chris was saying, Like everything will just get raised and our pay will stay the same well shit.
Speaker 3:I mean, when you look into the national average, the history of like, um, what I'm gonna say, uh, pay rate, um, minimum wage, is what I'm thinking. Dude, it really hasn't rose since the 70s or 80s. Is that the average? The national average has stayed the same for 30 over 40 years.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that number is always going to be different because they change it, but it's still the median point of the economy. You'd never go up. There's no up. When you're thinking you're making $27 an hour at your job, I'm like, oh yeah, I'm making, making good money, but you forget to realize what they raised in our country. So you're still living the life as like you're in the 1990s yeah, that's what.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's what I'm getting. So, yeah, like you say, you make 20, even 30 an hour yeah you see, everything goes up and it's it all balances out. It's like you're still basically making the same. I want to say but they make it. Try to make it look good, Right.
Speaker 4:Like back in the day we talked about it before. We're like oh, gas is 79 cents, you could get a soda for 50 cents. Yeah, because you wasn't making that much. And then when all of a sudden you start making more, now the soda costs 220. Bag of chips costs $3. But it's the same shit that they were baking in those other decades, man. They ain't changed the cheese. They ain't changed the tortilla.
Speaker 2:They're still the same bro man. I remember when a piece of candy cost one penny man.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying. I mean, I understand things go up, you know, but it's the whole gripe. Is well, all right if she goes up, of course your pay has to have it all balanced out, but it doesn't.
Speaker 2:Ask your parents if they're God willing they're all still living or the ones that are. Ask them how much they used to be able to, just even though we don't like it like that now. But ask them about McDonald's. Say how much could you get a McDonald's meal for? They will be like I ate a whole McDonald's meal for under a dollar for it. They will be like I ate a whole McDonald's meal for under a dollar.
Speaker 5:I remember when it was $5, $6.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like $18 to $20.
Speaker 5:now it's doubled. Everything's doubled.
Speaker 2:It's more than doubled now. Actually, remember we used to have to deal two Big Macs for like what? $5?.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Now one is like $10.
Speaker 5:It's one.
Speaker 4:You know why? You can get two Big Macs for $5.
Speaker 2:That's four patties and they're super little and they add that extra piece of bread to make you feel like you got something it's not meat, it's soy.
Speaker 5:They put soy like ground soy protein. They cut the meat.
Speaker 2:It's weird but it didn't used to be fake, it used to be real. Stuff used to be fake until people realized that they could hustle the shit out of all of us and just make fake food and then save money on their end. But charge us more and with the things they add to it it makes it so addictive. Like people in general, we love these products, the Whoppers and all this extra stuff Subway.
Speaker 5:Chipotle. But it's all fake.
Speaker 2:It wasn't fake when our parents' generation, and then, when these restaurants started out, they was not fake.
Speaker 4:Man, you got to think about it. Man, there's not that many fucking cows, man, to keep up with all the McDonald's in the world bro.
Speaker 2:Cows, pigs and chickens. Man, that's the food.
Speaker 3:I live on, so I love it.
Speaker 4:It's processed anyway. Everything's processed man. Everything's fake, bro it is.
Speaker 2:but what I'm saying, Tony, is it didn't used to be. Ask your mom, She'll be like hell. No, it was good, it was real.
Speaker 4:I remember there was a chicken sandwich from.
Speaker 2:Chick-fil-A People started fucking with the farms and everything else. Look at Bill Gates. He just got a law passed where he's allowed to genetically inject his food with fake shit and I'm like how's that crazy? And it got passed because he's got all that money and he can be like well, I'll do what I want. People are like you can't break the law or override the law. Well, he has enough money to pay all the lawmakers. Yes, you can, and he did.
Speaker 5:China is buying farmland in this country. China, really, but they're cool with.
Speaker 2:Bill Gates.
Speaker 3:They are Alright, guys. I'll touch on this article a little more of what Trump stated, and then Putin as well. So it says Trump, in a true social post, said we require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar, or they will face 100% tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US economy. So, moving on, it says it's not us who refuse to use the dollar, putin said at the time. But if they don't let us work, what can we do? We forced, we are forced to search for alternatives new payment system that would offer an alternative to the global bank messaging network, swift, and allow Moscow to dodge western sanctions and trade with partners and a court movement on. Trump states no chance. Bric will replace the US dollar in global trade and any country that tries to make that happen should wave goodbye to.
Speaker 2:America. That's that new thing they have, that's BRICS, the BRIC thing. You're saying, yeah, brics.
Speaker 2:I told you a lot of countries have done away with the US dollar, they ain't worried about it. At the end of the day, you're talking about these countries. You think they're not worried about that. They'll be like well, that's the loss of the US, because we won't have all that product. And then now the demand will be so high that they're going to charge a super crazy amount of money even for anybody here to try to get it on, like Internet and everything else. Trump can't shut that down.
Speaker 4:Yeah, he can't. He's just going to make it worse for our country, man. Yep, you got to. When you go into stores, man, how many things that you pick up, say, made in the US?
Speaker 2:Man, it says made in Indonesia, made in Taiwan, everything else.
Speaker 3:We don't even make our own flags.
Speaker 4:So why would he want to do something like that bro?
Speaker 3:But, Wade, I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 2:You know how many doors you'll see shut on businesses in America, bro, that rely on imported goods A lot, because they can't complete their business without imported goods. Exactly how many cars are driven every day in this country that ain't from this country? Exactly? Like what's from this country. Ford and what else? General Motors, but there's not a lot. Yeah, but Ford is even overseas.
Speaker 3:now, dude, you got to realize. Okay, they say it's not a lot, yeah, but Ford is even overseas. Now, dude, you got to realize. Okay, they say it's not American-made anymore, a lot of these cars. They get all their parts made overseas somewhere.
Speaker 2:now, yeah, that's why, every time we call anybody for help, we always got to speak to somebody. That's hard to understand because they're not even from here either. I ain't knocking them, but they got a job and I'm like all these jobs were sent overseas. I think they was doing that when starting in the 70s and 80s.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:They did that to save money, but now it's really backfired and fucked the whole economy and all of us as a people.
Speaker 5:I think that's the logic behind Donald Trump's terror that he's putting on the other countries. He's trying to bring the work back into this country he wants to bring the business back. He wants to bring, put people back to work, I mean yeah, I get that. It's like we're feeding everyone, but we're not feeding ourselves Right, because we want to look good to the outside world, good point.
Speaker 2:So do you guys know that most, most countries don't pay any of their people per hour? They pay them salaries, so, no matter what, they get paid the same and they have a good work-life balance. And they said that the US is crazy when it's compared to everything else, to how much we have to go to work just to make a dollar.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like a lot of people from other countries always want to come to the US because, you know, they think they're going to live a better life. But when they come over here they're like fuck, like yeah, they're like what the fuck is going on? I've seen this anytime yeah, and then you see a lot of foreigners that come in.
Speaker 2:They all live together because they can't live on their own and they stack up and then everybody makes fun of them. Look at all these mexicans or haitians or whatever, and one house or, and five years later they all got their own shit because they was willing to go through that for four or five years. Well, you kind of have to for real, but they made it happen and everybody else would be still struggling because we weren't willing to do all that as a people, we was like man, fuck it. There's no unity like that here, no, but they've created it because all they've done is divide us as the people every single day, with a million different reasons or ways to divide us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when really we all got to get up and do the same shit, no matter what you look like, no matter what state you live in, you still got to go to work, still got to pay taxes, so to speak. You got to do whatever they tell you. But you're right, everybody, everybody from other countries come here because they sell that American dream, but it's a pipe dream. Yeah, they get him Like why is there so much homelessness, so many crackheads and fiends and shit everywhere? Because they don't understand. They see TV, they just see movies.
Speaker 2:They see cities and lights and they think that everything here is is the same as looking at like Jay-Z and and Tom Hanks.
Speaker 4:That's not our life, but look at a lot of them, though. They're smart, though man, they come here and they build that American dollar because wherever they came from, that American dollar might be worth something where they came from.
Speaker 2:Oh it is. That's why they all send money back to their families.
Speaker 4:Yeah, man. So when they go back home, bro, man, they're probably living like a king back home or a queen man and a big ass like so called mansion bro oh yeah, my wife sending money back.
Speaker 5:Like her mom's got wifi, central air, like they've all upgraded right, your wife is able to send that back to US dollar and it's worth so much more than these other countries yeah, but here before long it ain't gonna be worth shit.
Speaker 4:They're already being depleted by a lot of countries.
Speaker 2:That's why Trump's before long it ain't going to be worth shit. They're already being depleted by a lot of countries. That's why Trump's like oh, y'all ain't going to fuck with us. Well, guess what? But we'll see what happens. Tony, what do you think about it all? I think the last time that gas was low, consistently, was Bill Clinton was in office. Yeah, you're right. Since Bush and everything else, times have just changed. But honestly, bush came and 9-11 came and times have really changed, but there ain't no low gas prices, no more.
Speaker 3:Hey, when Bill Clinton was in office love the man or Haiti we were in a surplus, which means a positive. We didn't have a national debt when he was in office. He's the last. Basically, god is out of debt and our economy was thriving when Clinton was in office.
Speaker 2:He kept it real, he smoked weed, got hit.
Speaker 5:He played the saxophone.
Speaker 2:He's chilling.
Speaker 4:The world seemed like it was at peace, though that's a difference were.
Speaker 3:I mean, do the, do the research, every, every country. We can't say the world was at peace.
Speaker 2:Our world was at peace. There was no fights for the usa like that, not after the first bush right desert storm. That happened in the early 90s. The first bush was in office when we was all leaving elementary go to middle school. That was that last fight. I I don't think Bill Clinton did have any big wars, but he definitely created a lot of shit that we didn't realize.
Speaker 3:All right, so final thoughts on this. Terrorists, it's a bad idea. Of course We'll be screwed.
Speaker 4:That's my opinion.
Speaker 3:Just to sum that up, we'll definitely be screwed. Moving on done with Trump for now, because you know he's always a hot topic. Almost every week you talk anything about his dumb ass, so we'll get into history. That's unspoken, never talked about. And Chris had an interesting one. Chris, you sent this through a text right this USS Liberty incident in 1967. So first of all, ask, like the guy I did in the video is like who's everybody thinks our biggest ally right In this country? Who's our biggest ally? Everybody will say who. It's Israel.
Speaker 5:England.
Speaker 3:Yeah, israel or england. So this uss liberty incident I'll touch on and we'll speak about it was uh during. It happened during the six-day war, which was between arab and israel war arab and israel war and one of our uh aircraft carriers right was a bombed torpedoed by israel and they claim it was an accident. This was in 1967, june 8th of 1967, when this happened and they and, of course, israel, because they apologized for the attack, saying that the USS Liberty had been attacked in error after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship. Both the Israeli and US governments conducted inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to Israel confusion about the ship's identity. Others, including survivors of the attack, have rejected these conclusions and maintained that the attack was deliberate.
Speaker 2:And Israel runs the US and you want to know that's part of the reason that it kind of started back then, because the US didn't investigate none of that, they didn't worry about it and Israel was like you know what, we can kind of do what we want with them, fuckers.
Speaker 3:And that's real. Yeah, we'll just bob your ship and say, oh, it was a mistake, our bad.
Speaker 2:And half the people that have been in our government recently are all people that have Israeli ties, like even Biden, like you know what I mean, the Zionists, so to speak, like they're all just like, yeah, they don't give a fuck, they, they don't care about no america or nothing, they care about themselves. But israel is is controlling this country from the inside out and that what you're talking about right now.
Speaker 2:Tony, you're right, that's that kind of started it off, and when the us didn't investigate it, it was like, all right, they just said it was an accident, like what. They was testing us by that warship or whatever the ship. And once they realized the US wasn't going to do nothing, they was like, well, shit, we good, we got them in our back pocket now. And it's so small the place and nobody's really from Israel, like that. There's people born there now, of course, course, but most of their people moved there from other places and wanted to create it. It's that's.
Speaker 3:Their whole army is people from other places, including this country oh, and then moving on the article, it says here that, uh, lyndon b johnson was accused of covering up the the attack because he's probably one of them too.
Speaker 2:They all involved in that shit together, man, and we never even hear about it.
Speaker 3:And that's why you never Was there really a thorough investigation, Honestly, so who knows? But Israel government does, has paid money to survivors, families and stuff through the years. They did come to that agreement where they paid millions out in compensation and stuff to the family, the 34 victims who were killed in the attack. So they are doing that, paying out money, but it doesn't bring people back. So the attack, yeah, not talked about much at all ever. So there you go for your history that is never spoken or taught in schools because it was covered up by Lyndon B Johnson and he took it out the history books.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they don't want us to know about it. Then we won, won't? He's probably looking some stuff up.
Speaker 4:Y'all was y'all was just talking so I was letting y'all get get your little shine on, though I'm just looking at a lot of stuff that you know just don't get taught in schools, man. Like the first thing that popped up when I when I did my research was a lady named claudette colvin, and in school they tell you that rosa parks was the first one to give up her seat on the bus, but apparently this lady was the first one to give up her seat.
Speaker 2:She did it way before Rosa.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I've heard about this. Yeah, but they teach you in schools that Rosa Parks was the one initially sparked the civil rights movement after refusing to give up her seat, while it was true, but when Claudette was 15, she was the first one to actually refuse that movement.
Speaker 2:And Rosa Parks is a redbone black woman. The other young lady was pretty dark. You know what I mean and it's funny how they wait and do what they want when they want to do it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's weird to say it still was a black woman, right, yeah, it was a black woman. It still was a black woman right, yeah, it was a black woman. It's like why does Rosa Parks get credit, right, or that's what's taught.
Speaker 2:Well, Tony, I don't think they didn't have the white people sit on the back of the bus. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:I know that I'm just saying like when you just state, I'm just trying to understand, why does Rosa Parks get the credit for it? You said they're not the first woman, Jackie.
Speaker 2:Robinson's not the first black guy to play in the major leagues. You know what I mean. They tell us certain people for reasons it's weird.
Speaker 4:It is weird, man. I wonder why they do that though, Bill.
Speaker 2:Russell's not the first black guy in the NBA. You know what I mean. But they tell us these guys are the ones.
Speaker 4:And that happened like nine months before Rosa Parks even decided to do the same thing she did. So it's kind of interesting. And then also in like 1871, it was a Chinese massacre in Los Angeles where there was a mob of 500 men that was raided in the small town of Chinatown in LA and they killed at least 20 Chinese Americans and stealing an estimated $1.5 million worth of property. And then they say that the government was behind all that.
Speaker 2:The same way it was with the Tulsa massacre and stuff. It's the same. They will take anybody's shit that they want because not to be funny, it's real the white people's like no, this is all us, Everything is ours, and if you think you can come here and do something, we're going to fucking rob you and burn you and kill you. Yeah, man.
Speaker 4:People don't understand it.
Speaker 2:That's why I tell people I'm like, look, I know the racism against black people is a lot, but it's against all people that ain't white.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's just minorities in general.
Speaker 2:It'll be against poor trailer park kind of people, redneck kind of people. They'll come and take them too if they want. They'll be like no, we got all this. Yeah, man. I seen a video the other day, I think I shared it with you. I'm not sure this country redneck dude was like man. You know. What they don't want is for us and the hood guys to come together.
Speaker 5:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:They want to keep us separated, and this and that he was like bro, we're smart enough. When we team up together, we can shut anything down we want.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you're right. They try to keep us divided because if we're united, they know they're fucked.
Speaker 4:Yep, but a lot of this history that's not taught in schools, though it makes the Caucasian race look bad. That's my personal belief of why it's not taught in schools.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I don't want that. Of course they don't want that, but in the same instance it's not, so to speak, tony and Steph and all these people that did nothing with it, but you're right. It makes their whole race look bad. You're right, they really conquer and divide everything.
Speaker 3:So, Wade, moving on from history, you got your picks ready. Stay with the picks.
Speaker 4:baby Getting better and better each week, baby, so y'all better start following. I know that one loss we had last week was the fucking Washington.
Speaker 2:Two weeks ago we lost man.
Speaker 3:Come on man.
Speaker 4:What was your record last week? My record last week was 9-1. The only game that I lost, I took the Texans over the Titans. I mean, that's a no-brainer. Who's going to take the Titans over the Texans? I don't know, Maybe a Titans fan. But yeah, I went 9-1 last week.
Speaker 2:Ward, I thought you took us over Dallas and we definitely didn't win.
Speaker 4:No, that wasn't on the list. Hold on the list, hold on. That was a part of this week's games because, let's see, hold on, hold on. I don't think I chose that as a game, I didn't. I took that off my list, he just left that off. Yeah, I left that one out, but that was smart then because we tricked it up.
Speaker 4:Last week I took Tampa Bay over the Giants, which I was correct. Chiefs over the Panthers, which I was correct. Miami over New England, which I was correct. Texans lost to the Titans. That was my only loss. I took the Lions over the Colts, minnesota over Chicago, denver over the Raiders, green Bay over the 49ers, seahawks over Arizona and the Ravens over the Chargers. So all those hit, except for that Texans game. So this week I got an eight leg for you. I'm going to take the Colts over the Patriots, the Texans over the Jaguars. I'm going with them. Again, I got an eight leg for you. I'm going to take the Colts over the Patriots, the Texans over the Jaguars. I'm going with them again. I got to, they got to win one Vikings over Cardinals, tampa Bay over Carolina, the Rams over the Saints In a thriller game. Today I believe it's at one o'clock the Eagles will beat the Ravens today, bills over the 49ers. And my last one, another upset, I'm taking the Bengals over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 2:Hold on Did the.
Speaker 5:Eagles in the race play today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one.
Speaker 5:Oh, that would be a big game. Who y'all got for?
Speaker 2:MVP right now, saquon Lamar or somebody else.
Speaker 4:Well, I'm tired of seeing it go to a quarterback man, so, hands down, I'd like to see Barkley, but can't even count Henry out, because Henry's right behind him when it comes to rushing yards. But Barkley's having a historical season, though, for himself.
Speaker 3:I agree with Wayne. I'd like to see it go to a running back and I think Barkley it's Barkley or Henry yeah, because they've had to win their thing. Henry would have to, saquon would have to win because Saquon's team only has two losses.
Speaker 2:The Ravens have five losses already.
Speaker 3:But the problem with Henry is he's got Lamar Jackson on his team, vice versa.
Speaker 2:Lamar's up there for MVP, but I just think Saquon might get it and he should get it. But they haven't given it to a runner back much, and the last time was 2012 with AP.
Speaker 4:I'm going to correct you on that, though. Chris the Ravens only have four losses coming into this game.
Speaker 2:Well, that's still twice as many as the Eagles.
Speaker 4:Right. So they definitely need this win, man, but the Eagles are playing at such a high level right now and the defense is starting to play a little bit better. Man, it's going to be a hell of a game today. That'll be one of my legs for the day. I'm going to definitely take all those teams on the money line. Just a little word of advice Stop taking long parlays. I just do long parlays because it's just something I like to do, but start focusing on two and three leg parlays, you know, on players that normally aren't part of the script. You got to start doing your research if you want that payout.
Speaker 3:All right. Well, thank you, mr Expert for football and parlays. So everyone. That wraps up BWO Brothers with Opinions. We want to thank Zach Harrell for being on, also everybody tune in and check us out on Facebook, instagram X or Twitter, whatever they call it these days. Also, go subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Speaker 4:They'd help us out on that when you go to that platform. You'll see it down low. Make sure you click that subscribe button. All followers, please. We need you.
Speaker 3:It's very simple Subscribe. We got a lot of followers on Facebook, so everybody just go click that subscribe button on YouTube. That'll help us out. We're at 10 right now. We thank everybody who is subscribed to our show so far on YouTube.
Speaker 4:So everybody, great episode and we'll see everybody next week and don't forget out there. If you got any comments, anything you want to be talked about on our platform, just let us know, reach out. Yes, sir, share your thoughts in the comment.
Speaker 3:Alright, thanks everybody, appreciate it. Have a good weekend.
Speaker 1:You know, communication key. But then you must comprehend. Preach B-W-O, Let your voices be heard. We enlightened by the truth and now we spreading the word. How do we learn to live when we conditioned to die? Most people fail before they start because they don't ever try. Man, they told us we was worthless. We believed in the lie. We took it way too literal when Big said ready to die. You know, the KKK turned the cops in disguise man. A lot done, changed, but race still applies 5-0, hands up. Don't even ask why. Trayvon, Mike Brown man, another mother's cry. Hey, BWO, let the con roll again. You know communication.
