Nice Article from Jamestown News

October 6, 2010
by Lenise Willis


Jack King (L), 80, and Alan Johnson, 77, have attended more than 200 Ragsdale football games.

As the air turns crisp and a cooler breeze ripples through one's hair, the changing season brings to mind two things: School is back in session and it's football season. Walking into Kenneth T. Miller Stadium, Ragsdale's home turf, one may notice the familiar constants of the field, scoreboard, blue-and-white decked fans, and even the concession stand. But there's another consistency that may not be as noticeable: longtime friends Jack King and Alan Johnson, ...
who have cheered at every Ragsdale home game for more than 40 years.

"We've known each other a long time and we get along pretty good together," Johnson said. "We've really had some fun going together to the games."

It was about 1965, after a Sunday school class at Jamestown United Methodist Church, when King and Johnson met and found themselves talking about their shared enthusiasm for football.

King and his wife had recently moved to Jamestown and had been attending the football games at the old Jamestown High School, now the Jamestown Public Library. "The football field was back there behind the library," King said. "We just lived two blocks from the school, so we'd walk to the games. They had enough stands for the ladies to sit, and the men walked up and down the sidelines watching the game pretty close."

"I was always interested in football," said King, who was a drummer in the band at High Point High School, now High Point Central.

As a football player for Jamestown High School, Johnson, who graduated in 1951, had a similar deep-rooted love of the game.

Since then, the two have attended every home game and many away games together. There are no rituals and no fuss. "We just get in the car and go," King said. "Ragsdale has been up and down all these years, but we keep right on going. It's become a habit. We look forward to it."

Although both King and Johnson have had children and grandchildren attend Ragsdale, they agree that it made no difference - they attended and still attend the football games for a mere love of the game. "We just enjoy the excitement of the game," King said.

Every Wednesday King and Johnson mow the lawn at JUMC and talk about their plans for the upcoming games. "For the home games I go over early and make sure I save a seat for Alan," King said. "And on the away games, he usually drives his car and we go together."

Johnson and King haven't even let bad weather prevent them from their Friday night ritual. "We've been down east in a sleet storm, and we've been to games when snow was coming down so hard you could hardly see the game," King said.

Johnson added, "One night down in Asheboro we had a really hard rainstorm just before the game started, and Jack and I were all bundled up under umbrellas waiting for the game to start."
To honor their commitment, about 10-15 years ago, the father of one of the players arranged for them to ride to some of the away games on the bus with the players and cheerleaders.

Their most memorable moments rely on the great players who have passed through Ragsdale's hall of fame. Both King and Johnson spoke fondly of watching Ricky "Buck the Truck" Adams and Toney Baker, both of whom were running backs at Ragsdale and later went on to play for N.C. State University.
When asked why they were such devout fans, both King and Johnson downplayed their level of loyalty, saying that their support wasn't anything unusual for Jamestown residents.
"I think there's a lot of people here that have been to all of the home games," Johnson said. "There are many away games we go to where we have more fans there than the home team does. It really is something that James-town people do on Friday nights, I guess."