For over a decade, my dad kept the stats for BHP football. He did it by hand, on paper, the way he'd always done it, and he did it well enough that nobody needed to ask whether there was a better way. About 13 years ago though he asked me to help him simplify the process. I built him an Excel program, walked him through it, and got ready to hand it off. He listened to the whole thing, then told me he didn't have Excel and didn't know how to use it.
So I decided I would volunteer and enter the data, and he would drive and find a way to get me a Coca-Cola in the press box. That was the unspoken deal, apparently, and it's been the deal ever since. Over thirteen years of Friday nights entering play-by-play data next to my dad, who is now closing in on 25 years of doing this for the Bears. We would argue from time to time about yardage or how to rule penalty yards, but by the next play I was head down entering numbers into the laptop and he had his binoculars focused onto the field catching the next play.
What started as a spreadsheet grew into something bigger than I expected. We decided the stats needed a home, so I built thembears.com. We wanted to reach fans where they actually were, so we ran the social media accounts (@bhp_bears and howboutthembears). We wanted people to see the numbers and the players, not just read them, so we started making gameday graphics. For the big games, graphics weren't enough, so we cut a few hype videos. And last season, wanting to celebrate this program's present and its past, we launched The Bear Rumble Podcast. I have poured more hours (and money honestly) into all of it than I'd care to add up, and I've had more fun “volunteering” than I ever expected.
When I started, I wasn't married. I didn't have kids. I still lived in Belton. Since then, all of that has changed. I live on the east side of Anderson now with my wife and our three boys, and those three boys are all in the T.L. Hanna pipeline.
That last part matters more every year.
My boys are reaching the age where Friday night is the whole social calendar. They make plans at school, they want to be at the game with their friends, they want to be where their community is, they want to see that team that represents them. I did the exact same thing at their age. The difference is that when they want to go to a Hanna game, I've been the guy telling them we couldn’t and I'll see them in the morning because I'm headed to BHP.
For a few years now, a neighbor who helps with the Hanna broadcast has been after me to come do stats for them. I got good at putting him off. I had my answers ready and I used them. He was persistent, and eventually he did the smart thing and went around me to my wife. She was on board long before I was. She'd already seen what football Friday means to our boys when it's their community's team on the field. She never pushed. Every year she just supported whatever I decided and let me get there on my own, even if she threw in some side-eye looks every now-and-then.
I finally got there. My connection to the BHP community is real, but it's mine. It isn't my sons'. They're building their own connection to their own school, and they want their dad there for it. Once I let myself actually see that, the rest of my argument fell apart. I'd been wrestling with a decision my wife settled in her head a long time ago.
So here it is. For the 2026 season, I'll be handling the live stats for T.L. Hanna football and stepping away from Friday Nights at BHP.
What this means for thembears.com
Hopefully, not much. We're working on training a few people on the stat system (new and improved - and hopefully it gives fans even more insight to the numbers) so your Friday night stat experience stays exactly what it's been for the last decade. If we can't get that fully in place, the fallback is that the stats get gathered over the weekend and posted early the following week. Either way, thembears.com will keep being updated and the Bear Tracks post will continue every week. We're doing everything we can to keep the changes small.
Some things will change. The podcast is going on pause. It's been one of the most enjoyable things we've made and one of the best formats out there for this kind of coverage, but it also eats an enormous amount of time, and something has to give. The social accounts will slow down too. We'll still post finals and game stats, but especially on X, we won't be able to keep up in real time the way we have.
None of this changes how I feel about BHP. This decision was hard precisely because of what this program means to me. I can't tell you yet exactly what my involvement will look like going forward, but my support for the Bears isn't changing at all.
On August 21st, when Hanna travels to BHP to open the season, I don't know what feelings are going to hit me. I'll where a neutral color polo. But some things run deeper than a logo, or shirt color, or location on Friday Nights. And one thing I know for sure, no matter the outcome, I will be proud of Them Bears and I will ask one question as I leave that pressbox. How Bout Them Bears!
We have 18 until Them Bears kickoff the 2026 season. With that we will have our regularly schedule content leading up to game week. So over the next couple weeks look for these post:
- 2026 Season Preview
- 2026 Bear Tracks Five Questions
- Week 1 Bear Tracks