East Limestone High principal Dennis Black made one thing clear Tuesday — he won’t be wearing green when he tees off at the Limestone
County Sports Hall of Fame Golf Tournament a week from Friday at Canebrake. Unlike his colleague, Tanner High principal Billy Owens, Black will more than likely be sporting Indian colors when the two Limestone County rivals go head-to-head on the links for a day of fun. “It doesn’t matter how old you get,” Black said. “It’s about pride and winning. Being a former coach and athlete, the athletic part goes away, but the will to compete doesn’t. It’s a way for us to have some manly competition.” In the 31 years that Black has been involved with East Limestone, he said the rivalry between the two schools has always been fun. To tell just how big the rivalry is, Black mentioned a truck that he bought several years back. The only problem he had with it was the color, so on his way home he stopped and dropped the green truck off to have it painted cardinal red. “I don’t own very much green,” Black said. “Both Mr. Owens and I were both coaches, and the first green piece of clothing I had was a green sweater I wore when they were in the state basketball tournament.” According to Owens, he’s not sure there’s another rival like it. “I would have a hard time finding a bigger one,” Owens said. “ I think it’s a healthy one. All of the kids know each other very well, and both schools like to win, especially in football and basketball. It’s been fun.”
As for the rivalry come next Friday — “We’ll let them win in golf, if they’ll let us win in football and basketball,” Owens said with a laugh.