by “Stretch” DeTrooth

Soccer is becoming more and more popular in the U.S. The game is continuing to grow at all levels: youth, high school, college, and professional. Youth and travel soccer is booming, and many small rural high schools are starting soccer teams. Our professional league (MLS) is doing very well, and it’s continuing to grow and gain more fans. Plus, the men’s 2026 World Cup will be played in the U.S., and soccer fans are excited about that. President Trump even talked about next year’s World Cup at a recent press conference.

Ronald O. Messye has been a lifelong soccer fan. He played high school and community college soccer, and he’s coached his sons in rec and travel soccer. Messye has formed The Valley Possums- a men’s semi-pro soccer team. Messye said, “I was a soccer fan and player before it was cool in The Valley. It’s good to see more people come around to this great sport. After all, it is the most popular sport in the world. I’ve been coaching my boys, and I haven’t played in years. I recently got the itch to play, so I started the Possums. I’m looking forward to getting a team together and playing.”

Messye recently held an interest meeting for the Possums, and he had 29 men show up to the meeting. Messye added, “I was glad to see a good turnout for the interest meeting. Unfortunately, only 14 had ever played soccer, and many of the guys looked out of shape. A few of the guys were even vaping. A positive was that we had 7 guys there that had Hispanic last names like Lopez and Hernandez. We’ll hold tryouts in a couple weeks, so we’ll see what happens. I plan to keep at least 16 for the team.”

I was able to attend the interest meeting, and I spoke with multiple people there. One potential player said, “I don’t know a whole lot about soccer. But, I played linebacker on the football team in high school, and I’m still in decent shape. I’m sure I can play some defense and put a hurtin on some people.”

One potential player’s wife said, “I really hope my husband makes the team, because I could use some good laughs. He played in high school, but that was 14 years ago and 50 pounds ago. Maybe, it’ll give him some initiative to get in shape and lose some weight. I have a feeling the Possums will be a fitting name, because some of the players will be probably have to rollover and play dead out there.”

The Possums will play their games on Valley City High School’s football field. There’s still a lot of work to be done to field a team, get a schedule together, and much more. Valleyans seem to be excited about the Possums, and the SRVO will be here covering the Possums along the way.

by Ima Phibber

In the South and in Mississippi, there are more Dollar General stores than you can shake a stick at. They are everywhere! In recent years, they have started popping up in rural areas in the middle of nowhere in some cases. They are very convenient, and they carry just about anything you need. However, many people and investors have complained that they cater to low-end consumers, and many have said they need to up their game and offer more items for high-end consumers. Dollar General has answered the bell.

Dollar General has created a new line of stores called Dollar General X or DGX, and Valley City will have one on Hwy. 31. The X stands for Extra. These news stores will help Dollar General attract more high-end consumers. The X stores will have a small coffee shop and sitting area very similar to Targets that have Starbucks inside them. The coffee shops will be called DG Drip. These X stores will even carry Dollar General branded coffee. They will also carry more upscale brands as well including Hey Dood, Lululime, Southern Tyde, and many more. A wine and cheese area will be in the new X stores as well.

Dollar General spokesperson Dee Gentral said, “We’re very excited about our new X stores, and we felt The Valley was a great place to put one of our new X stores because of the recent growth. Our aim is to attract more high-end consumers, and we also hope shoppers will come in and stay a while. We hope they’ll hang out, drink some coffee, and have a better shopping experience. Many people are in and out of our stores as quickly as possible, but we hope to change that with our X stores. The longer people stay, the more money they generally spend.”

In addition, the X stores should very clean. They will use robots to clean the stores, and they will also use robots to check inventory. They will also be fully staffed; each X store will have at least 3 employees present at all times. Additionally, each X store will have at least one fully functional self-checkout kiosk. I talked to multiple Dollar General shoppers, and I got mixed feelings about the new DGX stores.

One shopper said, “I shop at Dollar General because it’s convenient, but I don’t see how these DGX stores are gonna do well. We don’t have a lot of high-end shoppers around here. Plus, who wants to drink coffee and hangout in DG? I don’t. I wanna get in and get out as soon as possible. Plus, the old guys will probably take over the coffee shop, and nobody is gonna wanna hang around those old farts. I hope it does well, but I doubt it.”

Another shopper said, “I’m so pumped about the new DGX store! My friends and I will have a place to hangout and drink coffee now. That’s so cool. My parents have been pushing me to get a job after dropping out of college, and I think I may apply to be a barista at the new store. It’s so exciting!”

Will the new DGX concept work in Valley City? We’ll see, but it is great that they picked The Valley and Valley City to put one of their new stores. We’ll be there for the grand opening in a few weeks.

by “Stretch” DeTrooth

Football season is here! The Super Bowl seems like eons ago. Talking season is over, and it’s time for games. Football season is the best time of year (especially in Oct. and Nov. when it’s not 100 degrees). The only negative about football season is that it doesn’t last long enough. lt’s also time for the SRVO’s annual Valley high school football preview.

Strong River Bend

Strong River Bend (SRB) High looks to improve upon a good season last year. They made it to the second round of the playoffs, and they’re hoping to make a deeper run this year. Coach Jackie Mullen took over in 2023, and he implemented his Bulldozer offense, and it’s has been difficult to stop. Coach Mullen said, “Well, you know, we have a senior laden team this year, and they’ve worked really hard in the offseason. I think this year is gonna be a big year for us. We are going to pound the rock; they’ll be some games that we won’t throw the ball once. If you wanna come watch pretty boy 7 on 7, you probably won’t enjoy watching us play. We’re gonna wear you down and demoralize you. Stack the box, that’s ok. We still gonna run it.”

The SRB faithful has really embraced Coach Mullen and his style. They have high hopes for the year. SRB’s defense, coached by Joe Lee Grantham, should be a really good unit as well. This is Coach Mullen’s third year there, and many coaches take a big jump in year 3. We’ll see if that happens with SRB this year.

Valley City

The Valley City High faithful is hopeful for a better year this year. They were 2-8 last year and missed the playoffs. They have a new coach- Jeff Fedora. Fedora was the offensive coordinator for West Madison the past 2 years, and he brings a fast paced, high-flying offense with him. Fedora said, “I’m working with a talent gap here at Valley City, but I think our offense will be the equalizer. We’re going to score a lot of points, and hopefully our defense can make some stops for us. We hope to get our fans to start staying for the second half of games and not leaving after our halftime shows.”

Coach Fedora brought Johnson Ellis with him to Valley City to coach the defense. Many fans were not happy with that decision after his defense gave up an average 40 points last season. Hopefully, Valley City can start winning games again and live up to their great history.

Valley Prep

The Valley Prep faithful have high hopes for this year after coming up short last year. Their Standard Collective has been active this offseason, and they have brought in 8 new players that should be major contributors this season. Quarterback Austin Dart was brought in from West Smith to run the offense. He has offers from multiple G-5 teams. Receiver Donte Metcalf will be his deep threat. Metcalf, with size and speed, is a nightmare for opposing defensive backs. He has offers from all the big boys including Ole Miss, Alabama, Ohio State, and more.

Coach Lane Freeze said, “We are excited about this season. Our portal guys should help us a lot. We’re going to score points, and even though we lost some guys on defense from last year, we’re still expecting big things from our defense. Our conference is going to be tough, but I feel good about our guys.” Valley Prep hopes to maintain their recent success, so it’ll be interesting to see if their new crop of players can keep the momentum going.

Valleyans love high school football, and the quality of football continues to improve in The Valley. There a lot of interesting story lines coming into the year, and the SRVO and yours truly will be here to cover it all.

by I. B. Lyon

Fashion is very interesting these days. People living during the Victorian Age would be appalled by our current fashion. Some would say it has become unattractive and downright sloppy. Plus, it changes each year. So, people that hold onto clothing items will be awarded, because they’ll probably come back into style in a year or two. One fashion item that many are not fond of is short shorts. A Valley clothing company has gone to war over short shorts, but their issue with short shorts is probably not what you think it is.

TK Duds, a Valley clothing company, has started an ad campaign making fun of short shorts for men/boys. Short shorts for males is the style now, and it’s difficult to find shorts for men that come down close to the knee. Many male shorts go about halfway down the thigh, and TK Duds has had enough.

TK Duds Founder and CEO Tommy Klein said, “I’ve had enough of the short shorts on guys. The fashion faux pas has lasted long enough. I’m tired of seeing young guys walking around in tight short shorts showing off their thighs. I just don’t get it, and I think many people are tired of it too. So, we started making longer shorts for guys, and we’ve started a fun ad campaign mocking the short shorts. I think it’ll help us sell longer shorts, and it’ll help society at large stop having to look at guys’ thighs all the time.”

TK Duds has created a simple line of t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies that have short snarky statements about shorts for guys. You can buy them in their store in downtown Valley City, and you can buy them online. They’ve already started selling like hot cakes. They’ve also started making male shorts with 9″ and 11″ inseams which are a good bit longer than most male shorts on the market now. These shorts have started selling well also.

People have mixed feelings about the new shirts and shorts. One young male said, “I like my short shorts. It makes it easy to move, and they’re cool in this hot weather. Plus, they’re the style; I’m gonna do what I have to do to be in style. I’m not gonna wear the longer shorts.”

A young female said, “Look, it’s ok for me and my girl friends to wear short shorts. We’re girls, and we shave our legs. I don’t like all these guys wearing short shorts. I even see guys my dad’s age wearing them, and I don’t like it. I’ve already bought 2 of the t-shirts, and I’m going to buy a sweatshirt soon. Bring back long shorts for guys!”

TK Duds’ new shirts and shorts are flying off the shelves now. But, will it last? It’s hard to tell this day and time, but they have definitely touched a nerve. They’re getting a lot of publicity, and they say there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

by Ben BeEssen

We’ve all been inundated with back-to-school pictures on social media the past couple weeks. It’s neat to see kids holding signs or pieces of paper showing everyone what grade they’re entering, and it’s neat to see how the kids have grown over the years. Many younger kids are excited about the pictures, but it seems a lot of older kids aren’t so excited. Some moms (we know dads aren’t involved) go all out with nice signs, and some go with simple pieces of paper.

Munder Difflin, a Valley office supplies business, has decided to have a little fun and mimic the popular back-to-school pictures with work anniversary pictures. Munder Difflin has been a staple in The Valley for about 40 years, and they employ about 25 employees. Many office supplies businesses have shuttered over the past 10-15 years because of Amazon and other large stores, but Munder Difflin has hung in there. They take pride in their customer service, and they go above and beyond for their customers.

Manager Scott Michaels said, “I see all these back-to-school pics every year on Facebook, and I thought we could do something like that to have a little fun at Munder Difflin. Work anniversaries was the logical choice, so we started taking work anniversary pics for our employees. Some employees like it, and some think it’s stupid. But, I like it, so we’re going to keep doing it.”

I was able to talk with multiple employees, and I got mixed feelings about the work anniversary pictures. One employee said, “I love the work anniversary pics! I’ve been here for 12 years and 10 months, and I can’t wait for my 13 years pic. Scott will post it on our Facebook page, and I’ll share it so all my friends and family can see. My kids and husband think it’s lame, but I don’t care!”

Another employee said, “These anniversary pics are so stupid. I hate them. I might quit if Scott makes me do it again. It’s just another one of Scott’s ridiculous ideas. It’s just so silly and not serious, and it doesn’t help us do our job. I really hope Scott stops them sooner than later.”

It will interesting to see if any other businesses start work anniversary pictures for their employees as well. I have a feeling Munder Difflin is a one off and not many businesses will follow suit. You can follow Munder Difflin on Facebook and MySpace to see their employees’ photos.

by “Stretch” DeTrooth

Water polo is not a sport you see played in The Valley and in Mississippi. It is predominantly played on the West Coast. But, that is about to change. Valley Prep is always on the cutting edge, and they’re always looking to differentiate themselves from other private schools in the state. They were the first school in The Valley to add flag football, and now they’re the first school to add water polo.

Valley Prep Athletics Director Boo Holtz said, “We had no plans to add another sport this year; this all came about by chance. I was attending an athletics conference in the Bay Area earlier this year, and I started talking to my Uber driver. It came up in conversation that he was a volunteer assistant coach for the City College of San Francisco’s men’s water polo team, and he said he’d played water polo for Pepperdine. I joked that Valley Prep should start a water polo team, and he should be the coach. I got his number, and I never thought I’d call him. I mentioned it to our headmaster, and he wanted me to look into it more. I started a dialogue with the Uber driver, and here we are now.”

That Uber driver was from Serbia, and his name is Marko Scrachanic (pronounced scratch-an-itch). I was able to catch up with Scrachanic, and he’s very excited about his water polo team. He said, “I’m just so happy to be in The Valley and Mississippi. The cost of living is so much cheaper, and I don’t have to work 3 jobs now to make it. No more silly protests. However, I will be swapping earthquakes for tornadoes, but I think I can deal with that. I’m so happy to introduce water polo to Valley Prep. I’ve started organizing a team, and the guys are excited to get going. You will have to come see us play in the fall.”

Scrachanic will have an uphill battle forming a competitive team. Valley Prep isn’t known for its athletics, and none of his players will have played water polo before. But, Scrachanic is up for the challenge. He said, “I know the first couple years are going to be tough, but I’m looking forward to working with the kids and instilling mental and physical toughness into them.”

One of his player’s dads said, “We’re glad to have Coach Scrachanic here at Valley Prep, but I’m not sure he knows what he’s getting into. These boys are so soft. I hate to say it, but I bet my son can’t tread water for 30 seconds. Most of these kids have never watched a second of water polo, and they think it’s gonna be swimming with a ball. They’re gonna be in for a rude awakening, but I wish Coach Scrachanic the best.”

Valleyans and Valley Prep fans are looking forward to watching some water polo. The SRVO wishes Coach Scrachanic and his team the best of luck, and we’ll keep you updated on the team’s season.

by I. B. Lyon

Remember the Big Mouth Billy Bass from the 1990s? The singing and dancing bass that took the nation by storm. Thousands mounted the singing fish on the wall, and they’d press the red button over and over and laugh. I can hear the catchy jingle in my head even now. “Take me to the river. Drop me in the water.” A Valley company has created a singing and dancing catfish similar to Big Mouth Billy Bass, and it is flying off the shelf.

Valleyan Joe Blucatt was cleaning out his attic recently, and he came across his old Big Mouth Billy Bass. Blucatt said, “My wife had been after me for a while to clean out the attic, so I finally got around to it one Saturday. I was taking some boxes down, and I came across the Big Mouth Billy Bass. I chuckled, because you can’t help but laugh at that thing. I immediately thought about creating a catfish similar to it. It’s been so long since the Big Mouth Billy Bass hit the market that there’s a whole generation that doesn’t know anything about it. Maybe a singing catfish could catch on and get really popular too.”

Blucatt has always been a tinkerer, and he is always in his shop working on something. He didn’t really know where to start with the singing catfish though. He turned to his son, Joe Jr., who had recently graduated from engineering school at MS State. He and Joe Jr. got to work in the evenings on a prototype. Blucatt said, “Man, we didn’t really know where to start, but we eventually started on the speaker. We got that right, and then we started on fish itself. That was tough; we worked on that for months. We finally got it how we wanted it after many long evenings in the shop.”

After their prototype was complete, they manufactured about 15 catfish, and they gave them to friends and family members. The catfish sings a bluesy jingle while dancing when the blue button is pressed. Everyone loved them. “Blucatt said, “Everybody loved our singing and dancing catfish, so we thought that we might have something. My brother, Jay Blucatt, really encouraged us to start mass producing these and selling them. He said they could be even bigger than the Big Mouth Billy Bass. Joe Jr. and I talked it over, and we decided to give it a go. So, here we are now.”

Blucatt initially started selling their Cool Crooning Catfish on Facebook, and sales took off. So, they started a website and created CCC, LLC and began selling the catfish online. They’re not in any retailers as of now. Blucatt said, “I had no idea how to do a website, so Joe, Jr. built a website for us. Sales went through the roof, and we couldn’t keep up with the demand. So, we hired 7 people to help us out. I also had to expand my shop to have more manufacturing capacity. We realize our catfish won’t be popular forever, but we’re gonna ride the wave while we can.”

The Blucatts are producing about 200 units per day, but that is still not keeping up with demand. They could outsource production to China, but Blucatt said that is not an option. The Cool Crooning Catfish will always be made in the USA. It’s great to see a local Valley business doing great and getting a ton of notoriety. Will the Cool Crooning Catfish get as big as the Big Mouth Billy Bass once was? We’ll see.

by Heeza de Seaver

During the summer, you often see enterprising kids selling lemonade. You occasionally see kids selling produce and other items on the roadside as well. Everyone loves to see kids out working and trying to make money especially this day and time. Some Strong River Bend (SRB) kids have been garnering a lot of attention for what they’re selling this summer- omelettes. It’s not just the fact they’re selling omelettes, but it’s how they’re being prepared.

July in Mississippi and The Valley is hot, and most people try to avoid the heat. But, 3 smart, hard-working kids in SRB are using the heat to make money. They’re calling themselves the Crackin Crew, and people are loving their omelettes. They’re preparing omelettes using the sun’s heat and a few metal griddles. You can see them setup close to the 31 and 81 intersection in SRB, and you’ll normally see customers’ cars lined up waiting on their omelettes.

They get started each day around 11:00 am, and they finish up around 3:00 pm on most days. It does take about 15 minutes for the omelettes to cook, because of their unique cooking process. One customer said, “The Crackin Crew has got it going on! This is my 3rd time buying an omelette from them, and they are fantastic. They are well worth the wait. Waffle House or Huddle House ain’t got nothing on them.”

They keep the ingredient list short and simple- eggs, ham, onions and peppers, and cheese. Each omelette costs $7 each no matter the ingredients you choose, and they are selling around 50 omelettes per day. So, you can do the math, and it’s not bad for a few adolescents.

One of the Crackin Crew’s moms said, “These kids were at my house when they came up with the idea of cooking omelettes using the sun and griddles, and I told them that they were crazy. I bought some eggs for them, and I let them use my griddle to begin with. I thought they were wasting their time, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised.”

One member of the Crackin Crew said, “We had an idea and thought it would be fun, but we never dreamed things would go as well as they have. We are bringing in that guap. I think I’ll be able to buy a new PS5, and get some sweet new drip and new Jordans. I’m gonna be looking dope when I go back to school.”

This is a fun story, and hopefully the Crackin Crew will be back at it next summer. Who knows? Maybe they can stay close friends and open a restaurant one day. Make sure you stop by to get an omelette before school starts back.

by “Stretch” DeTrooth

Baseball is a sport full of tradition and unwritten rules. Many older baseball fans don’t like the celebrations and antics in the game right now. It’s common for hitters do a big bat flip and long pause after hitting a home run. Some pitchers stare down and trash talk hitters that they’ve struck out. A lot of teams do choreographed celebrations at home plate or in the dugout after home runs. It’s just too much for a lot of baseball fans. If you watched college baseball this year, this really got out of control. So, the NCAA College Baseball Rules Committee is considering a controversial rule change for next season.

I have a source that is tied to a member of the rules committee, and the committee is considering some interesting rule changes. One possible rule change is sure to be very controversial. Evidently, there are some old school committee members from the North. The committee is considering a rule to allow “hockey style” fighting between two players on opposing teams. My source tells me that most of the committee are tired of the antics, taunting, and over-the-top celebrations that have become part of the college game. They’re hoping the new rule will help with the antics and cool things down.

The details of the “fight rule” are being finalized. The rule will allow two “hockey style” fights per game. The fight will have to be requested by a head coach, and it will have to be approved by the home plate umpire. One fighter from each team will be chosen to fight, and the players have to be in the lineup at that time. The head coaches will be allowed to pick their players that they want to fight. There will be a boxing ring size square painted on the field between home plate and the pitcher’s mound. It will be a very short boxing match of 20 seconds. Only punches will be allowed, and the fighters will have to wear MMA gloves. A player will only be able to be involved in one fight per game. And, the home plate umpire will referee the 20 second fights to make sure things don’t get out of control. The pitch clock will time the fights. The home plate umpire will pick a winner, but no advantage will be gained by the winner’s team.

I was able to talk with a few college baseball coaches about the potential new rule, and I got mixed feelings about it. One coach said, “I think this is lunacy. What is wrong with the committee? If you think things need to cool down, how is this going to help? This will be like pouring gas on a fire. I think this will only make the taunting and yapping get worse. Plus, I don’t want my best players being involved in fights and possibly getting injured. I really hope this rule doesn’t go into effect.”

Another coach I spoke with had a different view on the “fight rule.” He said, “I like the idea of this rule. I think it will add a lot of excitement to the game, and I think it will attract more fans. Fans would love to see a good fight. I’m not a fan of the antics in the game now, and I think this new rule could help get some of it out of the game. If you get your butt beat, you’ll probably shut your mouth. Plus, wouldn’t it be so cool to see a player’s fight record along with his hitting or pitching stats? I think that would be awesome! I know this rule will be controversial, but I’m for it.”

Some details of the “fight rule” have to be worked out, but it looks like it has enough votes on the committee right now. But, that could change as more people find out about the possible rule change. Many people think this will be bad for youth baseball and possibly encourage fighting. That is a valid concern. It will be interesting to see if the rule actually into goes into effect. The SRVO will keep you updated on any new developments on the “fight rule.”

by Ben BeEssen

The Valley City July 4th Celebration is always a big event, and this year was no different. Many attendees said this year’s crowd was larger than any of the previous years’ crowds. It doesn’t get much better than a July 4th celebration in small town America. There were many events including a catfish filet eating contest, sweet tea chugging contest, and more. The night was capped off by a fireworks show.

A lot of people were looking forward to the cousin reveal station again this year, but the event organizers didn’t bring them back. They felt it was too controversial and too “redneckish” for the event. They added a watermelon seed spitting contest though (a much less redneckish event), and it was a popular event. They had 9 contestants, and it came down to two ladies- Sue Spitphire and Hazel Hottaire. Spitphire ran out gas in the end, and Hottaire ending up narrowly winning the contest. Hottaire was awarded 3 watermelons for winning the event (a $60 value).

The catfish filet eating contest was a big draw. 12 contestants competed in the contest, and they had 10 minutes to eat as many filets as they could. Bro. Jake “The Snake” Flair prayed beforehand that there would be no bones in the filets. Johnny Blue, the winner last year, was upset by Billy Flathead. Flathead slowly and calmly ate 40 filets. He put hot sauce on his filet, and his slow pace and patience paid off in the end.

The sweet tea chugging contest had some controversy. Contestants had one minute to chug as many 12 ounce cups of sweet tea as they could. Initially, Sonny Lipton was crowned the winner. But, last year’s winner, Milo “Red” Diamond and his wife complained to the judges that Lipton didn’t actually drink all his tea. After a video review, Diamond was crowned the winner. Lipton only drank about 80% of each glass of tea; a lot of tea ran down his chin and neck and onto his shirt. Lipton and Diamond’s wives had words, and the two ladies had to be separated.

The Dirtdobbers started their patriotic themed show around 8:00. They performed many patriotic songs including “America the Beautiful” and “God Bless the USA.” This is always a moving show. You had hundreds of people singing along and waiving American flags.

To cap the night off, there was a fireworks show at 9:00. Many people complained about the drone show last year, so the event organizers decided to bring back the fireworks show this year.

This year’s event was fantastic. It’s always nice to see the community come together to celebrate our great country. The good ole USA isn’t perfect, but she is pretty awesome. We have so much to be thankful for, and we hope that God will continue to bless our great country.