Super fan

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Here's to you, Super High School Sports Fan. No matter what the day or who the team plays that night, you're there: in the bleachers, spilling onto the court. With face paint, funky hair, maybe even a penguin suit, you yell and cheer your team to victory.

"It's always been fun to do," said Joe Uhls, a senior at Central High School.

Notre Dame fan. (Kit Doyle)

Uhls was named King of the Jungle his senior year and leads the charge at basketball games in Central's group, dubbed "The Jungle."

"It hopefully makes the basketball team play better, knowing there's people there to support them," Uhls said.

Uhls wears a crown and sometimes old basketball gear. Jordan Sheets, a junior at Central, can sometimes be found in a taco suit, but Uhls claims costumes are optional.

"Just as long as it's orange and black, we don't care," he said.

The Notre Dame Dawg Pound at the Show Me Center. (Kit Doyle)

Orange and black, or red and black if you attend school in the 63755. The J-Crue at Jackson High School is slightly smaller, but just as spirited.

"It's basically to keep everything going and to keep the excitement going," said Brian Hill, a senior at Jackson High School.

Hill has shown up for the J-Crue since his sophomore year. They have themes like camo, business night or costume night.

"I wore a penguin suit one time," Hill said.

He said the J-Crue isn't a closed circle. As long as you have a ride, you have a crew.

Notre Dame Regional High School has a crew, but it's all blue.

Central fans erupted in the Jungle. (Kit Doyle)

"Blue Crew is basically to bring the school together and get behind the athletes," said Kristen McLain, a senior and one of the presidents of the club.

Most of the students agree the best part is dressing up.

A creature in the Jungle. (Kit Doyle)

"It's just fun to go and act crazy," Notre Dame junior Nick Wren said.

Emily Matthews, a senior at Notre Dame, said acting crazy and getting loud at the games is great, "but in the meantime, it's just fun to support our team."

Nobody knows exactly when any of the spirit groups started. The Jungle may or may not date back to the 1980s. Some Notre Dame alumni claim the Blue Crew started in 2001.

Ultimately, the origins, the colors and the cheers don't matter. Joda Holloway, a junior at Notre Dame, who wore dangerously short blue shorts, matching Chuck Taylors and Coke Bottle glasses for '80s day Thursday, summed up the No. 1 reason for joining in on the spirit club fun:

"It's ballin''"

charris@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246