By Josh Frye
Thirty years is how long it took for J.U. Blacksher’s Bulldogs to capture the regional basketball championship.
The last time the championship was clenched by the Bulldogs was during the 1989-90 season.
Man do I feel old.
I cannot remember exactly how old I was in 1990, but I know I was hitting on six, maybe.
But the thought of this event made my mind wander through all of the events that I have witnessed during my lifetime. Growing up in the Uriah, Monroeville, Megargel and Frisco City areas was pretty boring for the most part.
When people ask where you are from, it’s hard to put just one name out there because in reality it is one large community built by a lot of smaller communities.
As a youngster and teenager, there are only a handful of things to do in our community. Sports, hunting, fishing and eating was about all there was to occupy the mind of a growing adolescent.
Sports around this part of the country is a way of life.
Televisions are tuned every weekend to football, baseball, basketball or NASCAR programing.
Houses are usually filled to the brim with family, friends and BBQ during big sports games or events. The Alabama and Auburn rivalry take precedence over all other things on one weekend a year.
These are the events and things that pop into my mind when I think about my childhood.
On Iron Bowl weekend, I would go hunting in the morning, come home for the game, eat a bunch of food and then head back to the woods if day was still shining through.
I looked forward to that event every year.
I knew on that weekend that I would be with my buddies at our little hunting cabin.
Oh, how I loved that place. And still do.
We would spend countless hours laughing, joking and hunting. When it was game time all bets were on, as we huddled around the television drinking as much Dr. Pepper as we could fit inside our stomachs.
As you grow older you remember these events, and you miss them more and more as the years pass.
It is truly amazing how sports can help shape a life and create the memories that it does.
High school sports are the ultimate Friday night escape in our communities.
Every game is a rivalry due to the close proximity of the neighboring communities and schools.
The J.U. Blacksher boys didn’t just win a regional championship, they created a memory.
People and students will remember that game for the rest of their lives. Hopefully 30 more years will not pass before it happens again.
However, if it does, we will still remember the 2018-19 Bulldog basketball team.
Moments like this are created in an instant but last a lifetime. It is what makes life so worthwhile in such a small community. Bulldogs backers will treasure this moment forever.