Sports fans.
They’re some of the most passionate, bipolar, emotional, boisterous and dedicated people on the planet.
All those traits wrapped into one is what makes being a follower of athletics so rewarding…and at times agonizing.
The Southeastern United States is notorious for being home to some of the most-devout sports fans in existence, and that certainly rings true in Pike County.
But while there are a plethora of local spectators that are as committed as they come, nobody tops the ten-man group that has been attending area sports events since the 1970s.
The origin story
If you’ve been to a North Pike, South Pike, McComb, Parklane or SMCC game of any kind in recent years, chances are you’ve seen a member of this group sitting in the same seats they always do.
For nearly five decades, a conglomerate of ten local high school graduates have been coming back to watch games at their respective alma maters.
The members of this prestigious club include Joel Anderson (McComb, ’72), Lester Butter (McComb, ’84), Ramon Webb (McComb, ’74), Michael Jackson (McComb, ’81), Robert “Tee” Felder (McComb, ’75), Jerome “Tough” Smith (McComb, '80s), Tellis "T-Pretty" Allen (North Pike, ’78), James Banks (South Pike, ’70), Grag Right (South Pike, ’73) and the recently passed Eugene Martin (South Pike, ’69).
Originally, the group came about as a result of youthful friendships.
“We’re community boys, all from around the same neighborhoods,” Anderson said. “We’ve known each other and were always at ball games, so we kinda gravitated towards one another to now sit at the same spots every time.”
As time wore on, more and more locals joined the notorious fan section, creating a diverse mix of representation from Pike County’s high schools.
Of course, one may wonder if that would create divides given the intense rivalries in the region, but the group insists that the atmosphere is always light-hearted and fun when they’re together.
“If we [McComb] are playing North Pike, we especially look for T-Pretty,” Anderson said. “T-Pretty is a real fan, so if McComb is playing any of their teams, he’ll still always sit behind us but won’t be on our side. He’ll just act like he wants our team to win.”
After all, with each member of the group having played sports in some form or fashion while growing up, they understand the competitiveness and camaraderie that are associated with athletics.
“We’ve played against one another, and so now that we’re all older, we’re just good friends,” Right said. “We’re just like the pros; friends after the game…but during it’s different.”
The fan’s commitment
And when the members of the group say they go to every game they can, they mean it.
Each week, the guys call each other to coordinate which games they’ll attend, and they also map out future plans after the final buzzer sounds.
That consistency has caused people to recognize certain individuals.
For instance, T-Pretty became notorious when North Pike softball didn’t allow a run in a single game he attended during the 2025 season, while the likes of Anderson, Felder and Butter essentially have reserved seats everywhere from South Pike’s Coliseum to Southwest’s John I. Hurst Stadium.
And the connection among the members is easy to see, as playful banter is tossed around just as much as any ball on the field.
As an example, T-Pretty shared a story about how he once hit a half-court shot in a North Pike-South Pike basketball game, emphasizing how fond of a memory that was for him.
Anderson promptly responded with:
“Those were the last points you ever scored, weren’t they?”
The many memories
Of course, with these individuals having seen nearly every Pike County sporting event over the past 40+ years, they have plenty of memories that stick out when it comes to past games they’ve witnessed or been a part of.
When Anderson reflects on his favorite moments, he turns to his days as an explosive punt returner for the Tiger football team.
“People always tell me about how I ran a 87-yard touchdown back against Provine to take the lead when we were down by six,” Anderson said. “That’s always in my head.”
Webb graced the gridiron at McComb as well, and he also remembers a pivotal touchdown he scored…it just didn’t have the same happy ending.
“We [McComb] played against Callaway at home, and I tied the game with a touchdown right before half,” Webb explained. “But I had called my own number to enter the game, so I got benched for the rest of the year.”
For T-Pretty and those McComb grads, a notable football matchup between their schools is what stands the test of time.
“I remember vividly the first and last time North Pike beat us [McComb] in football,” Webb said. “It was 50-something to nothing, but they just kept coming with a couple seconds left to make it 60.”
Anderson recalls the horrible feeling from that rare defeat, and South Pike’s alumni added on to their rivals’ pain.
“North Pike had the second and third-strings out there, so those kids were wanting to score,” Right said with a laugh. “McComb was kneeling, but N. Pike was still going for it.”
T-Pretty did admit that one of the greatest things he’s witnessed was watching McComb’s basketball team win state titles in 2014 and 2015 despite him being a proud North Pike man.
Meanwhile, Butter thought back to a game he witnessed in Magnolia that drastically changed his life.
“The first basketball game I ever went to was in 1972 at South Pike’s old gym,” Butter said. “I was sitting on the railing for the McComb game, and that was the biggest moment of my life because watching that made me want to be a great athlete.”
And the gained determination propelled Butter to become a local legend.
“He’s [Butter] one of the fastest guys to ever run on McComb’s track,” Anderson said of his friend.
Right fondly reflects upon his days as a basketball player at South Pike, and he takes pride in having been part of one of the Eagles’ best squads.
“I will never forget playing for Coach McClendon at South Pike,” Right said. “He always told us to just stick to the plays, and we had the best defense in the county with a 2-1-2 full-court press. I played the middleman and scored a decent amount off that.”
For Jackson, a coach at McComb made a similar impact on him when he was a young man attempting to figure out what his next steps should be.
“Coach Nelson was my high school coach, and I had come out of junior high with people telling me I was a pretty good player,” Jackson explained. “I didn’t pay too much attention to it and was still thinking about playing football, but Coach found where I lived, came to my house and said that there'd be a spot for me to start on the team. I said ‘Ya know what, I’ll do this basketball thing,' and the rest is history.”
And of course, as an inductee into the SMCC Athletics and Mississippi JUCO Hall of Fames, Felder’s résumé as a standout basketball player speaks for itself. The group jokingly calls him “Hall of Fame,” and Felder ensures that everybody is cheering for the Bears when they are up in Summit for a game.
So all in all, nobody knows more about Pike County sports than these dedicated individuals.
And because of that, they also know exactly why sports in this region live up to the SEC’s notorious phrase: “It Just Means More.”
“We’ve truly had some great athletes come through this small-town community,” Right said.
