West Side Story

Drew Brees gives his approval of the Wildcats' performance in the BDFL's version of West Side Story

West Side Boys win in a Wild West shootout

GLEN OAKS - Back in the 1970s Western Hills Mall was the hub for retail business on the west side of Birmingham. Located near U.S. Steel in Fairfield, Western Hills Mall was your traditional indoor mall of the times with big anchor department stores on the ends like Sears, JCPenney, Pizitz and Parisian with smaller retailers in between. It included a food court, outparcel sitdown restaurants, fast food joints, a multi-screen movie theater and other stores in the vibrant vicinity. In my teen years, it was a frequent place for outsiders to visit until Century Plaza stole their thunder, but it always remained home turf for the West Side Boys, i.e., Garzo, Meatball, Gulas, Walburn, Whitey, Mad Jack, Smiley and others. The West Side Boys never fared too well outside the friendly confines of "The Mall" territory but they were punk-tough at home in their J. Riggins and Merry-Go-Round designer outfits. In the 1961 film West Side Story, it was a rumble between the Jets and Sharks that decided all the marbles, but in the late 1970s it was the Rockets and Tigers in an annual gridiron grudge match that decided the AHSAA inter-region football supremacy of Jefferson County. The Rockets would go on to win three in a row from 1977 to 1979 in three hard fought contests to showcase their might (this is where the Mighty Rockets originated). Nowadays the bitter rivalry will manifest itself in the BDFL every once in awhile. This week it resurfaced in the form of the Woosiers and Wildcats with the West Side Boys avenging 40 years of frustration in a Wild West shootout for the 58-42 vict'ry. Apologies to the Woosiers from the Dreaded Schedule Maker (DSM), but if it makes you feel any better, it was the second most exciting game of the entire football weekend. Chicken Fried by the Zac Brown Band (2008)