The battle for the “best” high school stadium came to end last Friday, and when the final tally was released on Thursday, Tiger Stadium at Straughn High School won the battle.

In the final round, Straughn went up against far bigger schools than themselves in the North’s Albertville and Central’s Hewitt-Trussville, but the Tiger faithful still managed to win by more than 2,000 votes. The final vote tally was Straughn 21,277, Albertville 18,482 and Hewitt Trussville finished with 10,475.

There where many along that way that questioned the voting methods of the fanatic Straughn fans, but AL.com’s Paul Beaudry stated time and time again in the comments section of the voting that the Tiger faithful were doing nothing wrong and that the term “best” is subjective.

Does Straughn have the most elaborate top of the line stadium in the state? Not by a long shot. Maybe not even in the county, but what they do have is a base of devoted fans that are second to none.

Fans launched campaigns on Facebook encouraging members of the community to hammer out as many votes as humanly possible, and they did just that.

The same fans that grew callouses on their fingers from voting as much as possible from as many devices as possible, are the same fans that entrench the bleachers at each and every home game.

It’s a community that truly comes together, not just in moments of triumph, but also during moments of defeat. They rally around each other in ways most places aren’t aware are even possible.

On Friday nights in the fall, there aren’t many stadiums that produce as much electricity in the stands and the sidelines than at Tiger Stadium.

Tiger Stadium will surely be packed to the brim on Aug. 28 when Straughn opens up the regular season at home against the Opp Bobcats.