This episode of Painted on the Tank is brought to you by Rustic Oak Real Estate, a locally owned boutique brokerage right here in Huddle, Texas. Led by broker and owner Courtney Shelley. They help clients buy, sell, and lease residential, farm and ranch and commercial properties throughout Williams and Travis and the surrounding central Texas area. Local roots, impeccable service. That's their motto, and it shows call 512-845-1084 or visit rusticoakre.com. That's rusticoakre.com. Rusticoak Real Estate. Good morning, everyone. I'm Chris Rowland, your host for Painted on the Tank. Today is October 2nd, 2026. We thank you for joining us today for our third episode of the season. And today we're going to talk about the Huddo Hippos from the Lone Star State of Texas. Huddo, Texas. But before we get to Huddo, we've got some unfinished business from last week. Last week we covered the Watersmeat Nimrods. And that was the second episode that pitted the two teams up against each other in Teutopolis, Illinois, and Watersmeat. That was a matchup between the Wooden Shoes and the Nimrods. And by a fan vote of 95% to 5%, you, the listeners, decided to move on the wooden shoes. So they will advance in that north region to the second round. Their opponent to be determined later on in the season. So a big congratulations to athletic director Derek Zarusen and all the wooden shoes out there who cast their vote. And with all that being said, let's jump into today's episode featuring the Hutto Hippo. Principal Burns was extremely passionate in our conversation, and his love for the hippos and the hippo nation was extremely evident. He gave me some insight on the city itself, as well as the school district and just what that name Hippo means to all those that embrace it. Now, geographically speaking, Hutto is located just north of Austin, between Georgetown and Round Rock. It's an extremely fast-growing town, according to the 2020 census. The population at that time was 27,500. Principal Burns advised me that most definitely that that number will increase at the next census in 2030, insomuch that a second high school is now being constructed and will open there in the county. He said, you know, we're a uh we're a one-horse town, but not for long with the opening of that second high school. And we'll discuss that second high school here later on in the show. But before we go that route, let's dive into the origin of uh this name, the hippos. How did Huddow become the hippos? Well, there's a legend about, and that story was pretty much confirmed by Principal Burns. And it's a uh very interesting to say the least. So it's around 1915, and when a circus train stopped in Hutto at the train depot to take on more passengers, pick up and deliver some mail, and take on some water and fuel for the steam locomotive. The circus train workers then at that time also took the opportunity to care for their animals, to feed them, to water them, let them mouth off the train, be able to stretch a little bit, move around, and at some point during the layover, an actual hippopotamus got out of the rail car and made its way to nearby Cottonwood Creek, which is next to the rail line. So this created mass hysteria, you could say, especially among the circus workers. They were uh they were struggling to catch this hippo, try to chase it down, get him somewhere or to where they could actually recapture the hippopotamus. Then they found its way, it ends up making its way to the muddy waters of Cottonwood Creek. Then the legend says that the depot agent at that time telegraphed the communities of Taylor and Round Rock, that were just about eight miles to the east and west of Huddow, to the effect of stop trains, Hippo Loose, and Huddo. Now, Principal Burns said that the local paper wrote the story shortly thereafter. And ever since then, the town just kind of ran with it. They adopted it with the high school, and to today, still today, there are no other hippos in the country. Principal Byrne said, we are the only ones, and they definitely stand out with that. Um that's what we're looking for in this podcast on this show to find these nicknames of one-offs. No, no one else has it. And the hippos truly can attest to that today that they are the only hippos in high school athletics in the country. Now, in 1923, is when the high school really officially adopted the name, and the logo of the hippopotamus first appeared on the high school graduation announcements for Huddho High School that year. So we're looking at 103 years of the hippos. You might ask yourself, how much do they really embrace that name hippos? Well, they do so much that the school board passed a policy that makes every school in the district use the nickname hippo. That's your middle school, your elementary, and your high school. All of those schools have the nickname hippo associated to them. Now, the mascot, there are two mascots with HUDO. At the high school, you've got Hank the Hippo, and the middle school, they proudly have Henry Edda the Hippo as their mascot. As for community involvement, there's a tremendous amount of that from the citizens of Huddh. There are an estimated 3,000 painted concrete hippos located in various buildings and businesses throughout the community. In fact, uh Principal Burns says if you don't have a hippo, you're kind of looked at a little oddly at your business. So it's definitely the most the favorable thing to have as a hippopotamus about your business. He also told me that visitors and like church groups, tourism groups, that they will stop in the city just to look at the statues, the various ones and their different colors, and they really do enjoy that as a tourist attraction. He told me, quote, we call it Hippo Nation down here. There are hippos all over this town, and we take a lot of great pride in that. End quote. And with that, we're going to hear a word from our sponsor. You heard it here earlier, Huddo's gone from a sleepy town to a bustling city. And nobody's watched that unfold quite like Courtney Shelley and the team at Rustic Oak Real Estate. Courtney's family has called Huddo home since 2001, and for over 13 years, Rustic Oak has helped folks buy, sell, and lease homes, farms, and ranch properties and commercial spaces across Williamson, Travis, and the surrounding central Texas counties. As their motto puts it, Local Roots Impeccable Service. If you're looking to make a move in Huddle or elsewhere in Central Texas, call 512-845-1084 or visit rusticoakare.com. Again, that's rusticoakre.com, rusticoakrealestate, local roots impeccable service. Welcome back to Painted on the Tank, where today we continue our episode on the Huddo Hippos from the great state of Texas. Huddo is recapping once again one of 32 teams that we're featuring on this podcast as we try to determine what name, which nickname in America is the best in high school sports. That will be decided by you, the listeners. And ultimately in the month of May 2027, we'll give away a $1,000 prize to the school that is victorious through the tournament. And he said there are a couple rivalries for the hippos. They do have one team, a historic rival in the Taylor Ducks, also the Georgetown Eagles. But he said it's always a good laugh when the hippos and the ducks match up against each other on the field or court or wherever else they might. He did tell me that those rivalries don't really occur as much anymore due to the growth of Huddo and their recent reclassification. And now their current rivals are larger nearby districts such as Round Rock and Leander. And the Round Rock team there is the dragon. So you've got a hippos and dragons matchup when those two schools meet. He told me that when they do travel, teams that aren't familiar with them, all it takes is for them to see that hippo mascot, and they immediately say, Hey, you're those folks from over in Hado. Let's talk about some accomplishments for the high school. So the football team, they're very successful. Actually, they got about a 63% winning percentage all time. They don't have a state title yet, but they've definitely advanced in the postseason pretty far on different occasions. Actually, in 2005 was a really good run. They made it to the 2005 state semifinals. They had a 13-3 record and were district champions. And that was the season that Principal Burns had really put Huddo, put the program on the map in Texas football. And we all know what Texas football, Texas high school football means. Beyond the gridiron, the hippos have also had success with their volleyball program, where they were state champions in 1999 in class 2A. And then also the tennis team captured a state title in 2016 under the Class 5A. When it comes to notable alumni, there are a few from HUDO. And Principal Burns immediately went straight to a current name that college football fans should be familiar with. That is Will Hammond, class of 2024. He's a red shirt sophomore quarterback at Texas Tech. And during some success there with the Red Raiders. Right now, Texas Tech has a 4-0 record on the year, and they're number 12 nationally ranked at the moment. So a good start for Will Hammond in his role at Texas Tech. And Principal Burns, speaking of the character of Will Hammond, said he's just an outstanding person, his family as well. He said he still even comes around and uh in the building and works out with the high school football team, that he's just an extraordinary uh human being. And a couple other alum include Jeremy Curley, former NFL player who also played collegiately at Texas Christian University, as well as Chase Griffith, Huddo quarterback, who became UCLA's starting quarterback, and he actually testified before Congress in 2024 on NIL rights, which is currently a hot topic in collegiate sports. As I do with each of my interviewees, I ask Prince Will Burns, tell me about Huddo, if someone from 2,000 miles away who knows nothing about the community, nothing about the school, what what can you tell me? And he again he mentioned the pride and the community and the school, what it what it means day in and day out, that the the hippo mentality, hippo nation, how that that's fostered at a young age. But what was the most impressive, the exact quote that he gave me? He said, quote, the name is fun and the nickname is fun, but at the end of the day, building students who are ready to embrace the workforce and to step out into the real world. He said, That's what really matters at Hutto High School. End quote. As I told you earlier, we would bring up that new high school once again. And the interesting thing about that high school, it's going to be known as Creekside. And they have decided that Creekside High School will also be known as the Hippos. They'll have a different color scheme, but Hippo Nation is so alive, so relevant, that they decided the second high school will be the hippos. So can you imagine when Huddo and Creekside meet when they play each other? It's going to be interesting times to see who the real hippos are. This new breed of hippos are the uh the older, older guys that have been around for a while. So a wonderful story there with the new new high school on its way. Recapping, you have heard the story of the Huddo Hippos. How that a hippopotamus getting loose from a circus train in the early 1900s led to a whole community, a whole nation, as they call themselves, hippo nation, coming about. So is their story worthy of moving on to the next round? Will you vote the hippos on to the second round? Their opponents we will hear about next week. They come from the state of West Virginia. That's the polka P-O-C-A dots, the polka dots. Nice play on words there by the high school. We'll hear about that school and how they came to be the polka dots. But you've heard the story on the hippos. I hope you've enjoyed it. I'd like to thank Principal Ryan Burns for the time that he gave me. I know that principals are extremely busy, but he was a delight to interview, extremely professional and very friendly, and sincerely appreciate him. And I wish Hippo Nation the best of luck in this round and moving on, should they do so. Thank you all for listening to Paint It on the Tank. I ask that you would please listen to us on Spotify or wherever else you get your podcast from. And be sure to check out the website, www.paintedonthetank.com. And as a reminder, this episode was brought to you by Rustic Oak Real Estate. We appreciate them and their sponsorship for this episode. Thank you all. Take care. Until next time.