Sports fans using their heads: ; Hats, masks, even headdresses can help display school spirit
Charleston Daily Mail March 15, 2001 | BRAD McELHINNY DAILY MAIL STAFF The head is a useful appendage. It is good for thinking, scratching and, on occasion, for using as a battering ram. Most of all, as the boys state basketball tournament demonstrates, it is good to put things on your head – tribal headdresses, blue hardhats, gorilla masks, swim caps, pompons or laurel leaves. in our site swim caps
Fans are using their noggins to display their school spirit.
“We all get into it around here,” said Capital High School senior Victor Hodges, who wore a spiky blue wig with streaks of white during Wednesday’s opening round at the Civic Center.
During most school days, such headgear is rare. But the state tournament is a chance to step out of character and get a little bit wild.
Several Capital students went even further, coating their entire bodies with blue latex. Seniors Scott Boggs, Tim Smith, Ben Gillespie and Jonathan McClung spent three hours covering themselves in blue.
“School was a definite no-no this morning,” McClung said. “We’re feeling a little bit blue this week.” The four students also wore blue gorilla masks and blue swim caps. But it was their blue skin that stood out. The latex looks like wet paint. McClung thrust forward his arm and suggested giving it a feel.
“You thought it would come off on you, didn’t you?” he asked.
Yeah, uh, just like that school spirit.
Oceana sophomore Brandon Gregory probably would not wear his feathered Native American headdress to biology class, but the tournament is different.
“It feels pretty good,” Gregory said. “I’m comfortable in it.” Across the floor, Valley High sophomore Brandon Moschino wore not only a laurel leaf on his forehead but also a toga. It must have been the Ides of March because the Fayette County High School’s mascot is the greyhound. swimcapsnow.com swim caps
“I want to look like Julius Caesar,” Moschino explained. “It’s just that I like William Shakespeare and he wrote a story about Caesar.” Well, maybe he was getting extra credit for English class.
Not everyone who brought headgear was so enthusiastic. Members of Cabell Midland’s softball team were going to wear their visors to support the basketball squad. But not all the softball players were actually wearing the visors.
“I look stupid in it,” said Cabell Midland junior Katie Burgess, who gripped hers in her hand.
– n n For someone who sits in the same spot for four days straight, Winfield resident Debbie Elkins finds a lot to do.
Elkins and her husband, Buffalo High School basketball coach Chuck Elkins, attend the tournament every year. And Debbie Elkins likes the games, she really does, but she also brings a bag filled with books, magazines and headphones.
Her game distractions are evident because Debbie Elkins sits at midcourt court on the front row.
“I love ballgames, but I also work long hours, so any time I can put my nose in a book, I do,” said Elkins, who is a nurse and office manager for a Charleston cardiac surgeon. “I have a knack for reading a book and watching the game at the same time.” On Wednesday, Elkins was reading “The First Counsel,” a whodunit by Brad Meltzer. She said she usually reads about three books during the four days of the tournament.
As for her reading habits, she said, “It depends on the games. I might watch the entire game if it’s a team I know or depending on how close the game is. I’ve been teased about it for years. People who know me know I bring a bag of books.” One of the books she brought this year was called “How to Make Baskets.” But the book appeared to refer to a vessel for bread or flowers rather than a metal circle to aim a ball at.
BRAD McELHINNY
