Wild and crazy guys go all out for their teams

By Jim Margolis
Capital High School

FlipSide photo courtesy of CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL When it comes to Capital High sports, nothing is too outrageous for SuperFans Jonathan McClung (left) and Tim Smith.

Tucked away in a cranny on the hilly West Side of Charleston is a red brick house with white trim.

Inside that house in a back room past the kitchen sit two Capital High School students contemplating their next appearance at a school athletic contest.

Anyone who attended a Capital home football game this past season probably saw these two crazy, psycho and eccentric men: seniors Jonathan McClung and Tim Smith, otherwise known as the SuperFans.

“I think we got the idea of SuperFans from the ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit ‘SuperFans,’ but we took it to another level,” Smith said.

McClung and Smith have made many appearances at Capital High athletic events. At the Capital-Parkersburg football game last season, the SuperFans carved out real pumpkins, spray-painted them blue and silver, and wore them on their heads.

“Why? Because no one else would ever do it,” Smith said.

For Capital’s homecoming game against Cabell-Midland, McClung, Smith and their friend, senior Justin Lyttle, bought plastic knight armor, partially destroyed it with a baseball bat and covered the armor with fake blood. The SuperFans entered the stands as slaughtered knights, hoping the Cougars would slaughter the Knights of Cabell-Midland. Capital nearly succeeded, losing a 13-10 heartbreaker to the then number-one team in the state.

The Capital-South Charleston football game brought more interesting costumes. The SuperFans purchased black and orange feathers and glued them to their shirts and pants. Toboggans covered with feathers and a couple of bird beaks covered with fake blood completed the ensemble. The battered birds led the cheering in the stands while the Cougars hammered out a hard-fought 7-0 victory over the Black Eagles.

“Capital Punishment” was the theme for the Capital-St. Albans contest, as Smith and McClung showed up in jail suits, black curly wigs and sunglasses. The inmates rallied the Cougars to a 48-3 win over the Red Dragons.

On “twin day” of homecoming week, the SuperFans showed up in huge pants stuffed with air-filled trash bags (the pants were purchased at Gabriel Brothers and had waist sizes of 64 and 74 inches). That night, they attended (in costume) the Capital-Greenbrier East boys’ soccer game, which the Cougars won 3-2.

Dressed similarly, the SuperFans attended the Capital-Cabell Midland boys’ soccer game, the Capital-Charleston Catholic boys’ soccer game, the Capital-GW playoff volleyball game, and the cheerleading competition.

At Capital High athletic events where both SuperFans were present, the Cougars had an overall record of 8-4-1, with a third-place finish in the cheerleading competition.

Do the SuperFans make a difference?

“I don’t know if we do or not, but I like it when the players recognize us,” Smith said. “It’s good to know that they know we are here and stuff.”

As far as costumes go, the SuperFans do a lot of shopping.

“We buy stuff from all over,” Smith said. “Wal-Mart is a regular, Lowe’s has gotten a trip, and Fountain Hobby came through for the feathers big time. A lot of the stuff we just find around the house. We don’t get any special deals or anything — all we got is strange looks from the workers.”

By the end of football season, they had spent $200. They fund their fanaticism out of their own pockets. McClung, a “savvy E-Bay user,” tweaks his income from that site and by mowing lawns and doing odd jobs. Smith said he has a “good job that pays for the frivolous stuff.”

The SuperFans have many game-day traditions.

“We always wear our SuperFan T-shirts when we are doing something that day,” McClung said. “Also, we always spin out real fast and squeal our tires from the place where we bought the stuff.”

Added Smith, “We always lay on our horns going to the games all the way past the venue to let everyone know we’re coming.”

And to increase the excitement, “We would not make our ‘grand entrance’ until kickoff,” McClung said.

Smith said his favorite memory was going out and cheering with the cheerleaders when senior squad member Jessica Taylor was feeling sick.

“I said, ‘Someone needs to take her place,’ and everyone said I should, so I went out and got in formation and was cheering. I was trying to stay with them, and they put me in a pyramid. It was great. The crowd was really into it, and I had a lot of people say that was the most pumped we ever got. We won that game, too.”

McClung’s memorable moment occurred at the Capital-Greenbrier East boys’ soccer game.

“Tim and I were in big pants with our faces painted. Shortly after getting to the game, it started raining ... and raining ... and raining some more. We stayed the whole game — of course without an umbrella — and by the end, there was not a dry spot on us.”

The SuperFans have appeared on local television stations WOWK and WCHS about four or five times, Smith said. They also have been featured in both Charleston papers.

“I’m a SuperFan because someone had to do it,” Smith said. “McClung and I had some great ideas that we thought we’d like to do, and we wanted to make everyone laugh and have fun at the games and bring more people out.”

McClung said the best part about being a SuperFan is the crowd’s reaction. “Seeing the excitement it added made it all worthwhile,” he said. “SuperFans has definitely been an absolute blast. I have learned to laugh at myself. Hopefully, this has started a tradition that will continue with each senior class to come (hint, hint).”

The SuperFans do have plans for the future, but they are top secret. Look for the SuperFans wherever Capital High is competing.