The people of Shelby County are the most rabid I have ever seen as far as support for high school sports. And I think that is a good thing.

Take Mr. John Jones of Columbiana for example. If there is a sporting event involving the Shelby County Wildcats, you can bet he will be in the crowd somewhere. And he is not alone. Columbiana is a high school football fanatic city. People at Davis Drugs talk about high school football at the lunch counter. It&8217;s like Alabama/Auburn fanaticism on the high school level.

In my hometown, we were lucky to get a few stragglers late getting home from work to even stand still long enough to watch our pitiful homecoming parade. In Columbiana, the schools let out early. People line the streets three and four deep including young and old alike.

There are no rules like not throwing candy from parade vehicles and children race up and down the sidewalks spraying each other with silly string.

But the support for high school sports is certainly not limited to Columbiana in Shelby County. See the huge crowds at Pelham, Briarwood, Thompson and Oak Mountain football games. Those are big schools and they pack their stands.

So do the smaller schools like Montevallo, Calera and Vincent and on and on.

Crowds also show up for baseball and basketball, volleyball even figure skating in Shelby County.

I think it is a pride thing. People in Shelby County are proud of their schools and their children and they show it