Aileen Knox devoted to local teams for 60 years

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Cannon County High School basketball super fan Aileen Knox of Readyville holds one of the many scrapbooks that she has compiled of photographs and clippings about her favorite teams.

By KEN BECK

The Cannon Courier

She loves popcorn, Mayfield Ice Cream, Talk of the Town and Young & the Restless.

But what Aileen Knox loves better than anything is keeping up with her Cannon County High School basketball teams.

Knox, 76, has been hooked on the Woodbury high school basketball squads for more than 60 years, going back to her freshman year in 1954. At that time, her father, Jess Knox, drove her to the gym to see many of the games

These days, she's plugged in via her General Electric Superadio that she keeps on the edge of her couch. Come every Tuesday and Friday night of basketball season, you can bet she will be sitting right there with her ears perked up like a jackrabbit.

"Yeah, I love sports. I love high school basketball. I listen to 'em on radio, every one," said Knox about her devotion to her hometown teams. "I cut their records out of the paper. I cut every picture out that comes in The Courier."

The super fan possesses about 10 scrapbooks, each one jam packed with photos, box scores and game summaries.

"I probably started keeping one when I was in high school," said the lifelong Readyville resident, who graduated from Woodbury Central High in 1958 and then began a 50-year career serving local folks seeking medical attention.

"I worked at the Good Samaritan Hospital till it closed, from 1958 till 1981. I registered patients at the front window. Then I did the same thing at the Woodbury Medical Clinic from 1981 till 2008," Knox said.

Her most recent scrapbook starts with the 2013 season, and it should hold enough room for this year's slate of games, if not more. She updates the scrapbook after every game. At the end of each season, she will record in ink the scores of every boys and girls game by the Cannon teams as well as their season and district records.

"The one [scrapbook] I keep down there [on her couch], when they set the tournament up, I go back and look at a lot to see how they did last year," she said.

Note: The Internet has nothing on Knox when it comes to statistics and photos of Cannon County teams over the past four or five decades. Her collection could serve as an archive.

"I like it when they get to the tournament time. I've heard some exciting games, like when the boys won by one point. Now that's exciting," Knox said.

During tourney time, she makes her own brackets and pens in the winners as the games progress.

Knox proves to be more than a one-sport fan. She follows Atlanta Braves baseball and University of Tennessee and Titans football teams.

"I don't understand football good, but I watch it," she said. "I got into baseball in 2009 and 2010 after I retired."

Why does basketball come first?

"I understand it better. I love basketball."

As for her favorites. Well, Cannon County's girls' and boys' basketball teams are at the top of her list. Middle Tennessee State University's girls' basketball team comes in second, and when the late, great Pat Summit was at UT, her Lady Vols took third place.

Her top local players over the decades?

"I like that little Abbey Sisson girl. She plays for [Woodbury native] Rick Insell now [at MTSU], and I liked Gloria Parker in 1958. And Josh Ruehlen. He's really good," she said of the 2016 Cannon County graduate.

Does she consider herself Cannon County High's biggest fan?

"I don't know," she said. "I guess Robert A. Harris could be."

Eager for the 2016-17 season to commence, she says, "I've got to get me a schedule. I bet they have it. If I was on the Internet, I'd pull it up."

As the interview winded down, the super fan concluded, "If you put all that in The Courier, they'll say she's a nut about basketball."

That's a possibility, but then it just might be the truth.

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