Jack Adair stood proudly during the Strake Jesuit school song at the Crusaders’ home opener/Class 5A-District 19 opener last Friday at Crusader Stadium.
“This is a big deal here,” Adair said of the school song.
Adair, a Chemical Engineer for Valero, makes it a point to attend as many Crusader football and basketball home games, even though his son, Trevor, graduated from the school in 2010 and now is studying History at St. Edward’s University in Austin.
“I’m just a big fan of the program,” Adair said. “This is a very friendly atmosphere coming to a game at Strake Jesuit. Strake Jesuit respects the opponents that come on the campus. We value them as honest competitors. Everybody’s a good sport at SJ.”
Adair has been following the Crusaders (2-2, 1-0) since before Trevor enrolled at the school in the fall of 2006, and he enjoyed watching their 35-14 victory over Katy Taylor (0-4, 0-1) last Friday.
He usually attends the game on his own because in his words, “I’m the sports fan in the family.”
“It’s a great atmosphere – a beautiful stadium,” Adair. “We’re lucky we have our own stadium.”
Strake Jesuit is about half the size of its Class 5A-District 19 competitors, and there are few easy games in the district.
Case in point: the Crusaders will face perennial state power, Katy (4-0, 1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at Rice Stadium.
“I think it’s one of the best (district’s) in the state,” Adair said. “We have our hands full. We don’t have the numbers that our opponents have, but our boys give it all they’ve got every time they touch the field.”
Adair enjoys the Crusaders’ rivalry with St. Thomas. Last month, Strake Jesuit secured its 14th consecutive victory over the Eagles.
“It’s a big deal to this community,” Adair said. “That St. Thomas rivalry was very lopsided (in their favor), and now, it’s almost equal.”
Adair grew up in Dayton, Ohio and graduated from the University of Dayton. He moved to Houston in 1978 and “adopted the Oilers back in 1978.”
He adopted the Houston Texans in 2002 and has been a Houston Rockets fan, but he’s maintained his Ohio sports ties by remaining a Cincinnati Reds and Ohio State Buckeye fan.
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