Recent Stories with tag metro league tuesday

Teenagers Run Amok!

I don't know if you are familiar with the psyche of the average teenager, but in my experience, telling a pre-adult not to do something is an accelerant like Aquanet to fire. Don't you think Henry V's parents were all like, "Don't fight Harry Hotspur at Shrewsbury!" But he did anyway, and took an arrow to the face.

Garfield's administration probably wished they had a full archery set Tuesday night, when their anti-floor-storming warnings went unheeded.

To set the scene: After watching their school's basketball team fall behind 21-6 to rival Roosevelt, enduring a 15-minute delay after a scoreboard malfunction, and sweating through an overtime period, Garfield's students sensed that victory was finally near. Their Bulldogs led by two points, and Roosevelt had just 2.7 seconds to get off a desperation shot. Security guard Joe--a Garfield employee since my years at the school--edged through the twenty or so GHS cheerleaders and addressed the section. "If they win, don't rush the court," Joe told the front few rows. He pointed a little further back and shouted. "Don't rush the court, okay?"... (more)

First, a word about Seattle Prep's DJ Fenner. If you haven't seen him, make haste to your local high school gymnasium. Late in Prep's 77-56 win over O'Dea Tuesday, Fenner took his defender off the dribble with a crossover, drove the lane, elevated around another defender, switched hands in mid-air and finished at the rim with his left hand. Wow.

With two top-ten teams playing (Prep's #6, O'Dea #10), a capacity crowd filled Prep's gym Tuesday. I was thigh-to-thigh with my friend's girlfriend on my left, which was awkward enough, but also with a nine-year-old boy on my right, which is I think possibly illegal.

Though we'd squeezed in to watch basketball, what we saw actually resembled hockey. You didn't hear the expression "let 'em play" shouted at this game, as the referees--including former Seattle Times photographer Rod Mar--permitted Prep and O'Dea to settle matters with minimal supervisory interference. Or as my friend Mark put it: "They're beating each other bad out there."

Early on, the physical style played to O'Dea's strengths. The speedy Irish applied heavy pressure to Panther ballhanders, forcing steals and bad shots. O'Dea raced to a 20-point first quarter and an early six-point lead.

But the stress of defending Prep's bigger, taller players began to wear on O'Dea. The Irish don't give substantial minutes to any player who's taller than 6'3". Prep's point guard is 6'3". Prep scored inside and on putbacks, slowly catching, surpassing, and eventually blowing out the Irish. Mitch Brewe, Prep's 6'7" sophomore center, led the way with 24 points, most from point-blank range.... (more)

Let's cut the bullpoo and get right to the basketball, shall we? Because the #6-ranked Garfield Bulldogs and unranked Ballard Beavers put on a thrilling show Tuesday night.

Oh the fun! The two student sections, shouting derisive chants at each other. Ballard's Salim Gloyd, a Garfield Bulldog the past two seasons, hitting shot after shot against his former team. Garfield's Glenn Brooks, keeping his young, underachieving Bulldogs in the game. 

We'll start just after halftime, where the best action was between the two student sections. The Ballard rooters, about 100 students who stood for the entire game, felt emboldened enough by their school's seven-point lead over the favored Bulldogs to unleash the ubiquitous "O-VER-RAT-ED! O-VER-RAT-ED!"

Garfield's students retorted with "WE CAN'T HEAR YOU! WE CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Then things got a little more creative. And bawdy.

Ballard got off a chant of "YOU NEED TON-Y! YOU NEED TON-Y!" It's a reference to Garfield mega-star Tony Wroten, sitting behind the Garfield bench in street clothes while he recovers from a knee injury.

Garfield students, sitting one section to my left, were momentarily confused. The discussed the proper comeback. Then their voices began to ring out: "TRIM YOUR BEA-VERS! TRIM YOUR BEA-VERS!" Yowza!

Back to the game, where Garfield was employing a new strategy against former teammate Salim Gloyd. The muscular Gloyd, who played post for Garfield the past two years, is more of a shooter for the Beavers. He clearly enjoyed facing his old team. In the first half, after drilling a three in the face of former teammate Wilson Platt, Gloyd delivered some trash talk and a chuck on the shoulder.

Garfield coach Ed Haskins switched his defense in half two, taking Platt off Gloyd and sticking guard Glenn Brooks on him. The move paid off immediately, as Brooks grabbed a steal and scored a bucket to bring the Bulldogs closer. Gloyd went to the bench.... (more)

The stars were out for Metro League Tuesday

Before we get to the whys and wherefores of how the spittle of the 14th-richest man in America ended up on my right hand, let me make one thing clear. Underemployed though I am, I did not attend Tuesday's Lakeside/Rainier Beach game with the intention of sitting next to, and eventually shaking hands with, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

First of all, I did not even know Ballmer would be at the game. Only when I had found my seat and noticed a "Sam Ballmer" on the Lakeside roster did I suspect any impending Ballmerness. Furthermore, I did not sit next to Ballmer. He happened to sit next to me. And, to finally get to the expectoration you were expecting: If you sit next to Steve Ballmer at a Lakeside basketball, you are going to get a little wet. And possibly go a little deaf. The man is not shy with the yelling.

I'm okay with that, because Ballmer is the best kind of parent rooter: He encouraged Lakeside's overmatched players from tip to buzzer, all the way through a 47-point loss. He laid off the referees. And he even cheered the (very many) exciting plays by Rainier Beach.

His high-energy rooting style--at times, his non-stop nervous rocking shook the bleacher bench we were sharing--made me wish heartily that he'd managed to purchase the Sonics. A courtside Ballmer would make notoriously excitable Dallas owner Mark Cuban look phlegmatic.

So, yeah, a few minutes into the game, something moves Ballmer to shout "Boom" (his favorite exclamation), and I suddenly feel a drop of wetness on my hand. Oh. That's Ballmer spit. At halftime, I'd see a Microsoft employee friend of mine who'd come to his first Metro League Tuesday.

"I'm sitting next to your boss," I said.

"I saw that," he exclaimed.

"He spit on my hand!"

"You'd better not wash it."

And I never will. NEVER! I am buying protective gloves tomorrow. AND NO MOM I AM NOT COMING OUT OF MY ROOM!

One Ballmer moment before we move on to the other famous people who were at the game. Ballmer's son Sam had the best Lakeside play of the night. Receiving the ball on the right wing, young Ballmer created space with his off-hand, stepped back and swished a 12-foot jumper. Papa rose as the shot was in the air, and unleashed a thunderous "Boom!" as the ball slid through the net. It was cute--and lest you think I'm being overly sentimental, I said as much to my ex-girlfriend, who was sitting on the other side of me, and she nodded vigorously in agreement.

Also at the game: University of Washington basketball head coach Lorenzo Romar, taking up his preferred spot behind the baseline. Ballmer and Romar had a long talk at halftime. Meanwhile, chatting next to them were Seattle city councilmember Bruce Harrell, whose son is a backup guard for Lakeside, and Husky hoops legend and former NBAer Eldridge Recasner. It was a veritable who's who of Seattle!... (more)

Well, this is awkward.

As Seattle Prep sealed their win at O'Dea last night, I spotted three girls gathered in the hall connecting the gym to the parking lot. They were all wearing t-shirts with two large letters on them. I saw one girl wearing an "NT," next to one with "ER," next to one with "BA." Each held a white card with a question mark on it.

Friend David and I discussed this in confusion until I pieced it together.

"Winter Ball!" I exclaimed. "The t-shirts combine to say 'Winter Ball.' But what do the cards say?"

"Will you go to winter ball with me," said David.

"Yes," I replied. "Yes, David, I will."

And that's how David and I ended up as O'Dea/Holy Names 2009 Winter Ball partners. Not sure what his wife is going to think, but he asked me and how could I say no? Any O'Dea students reading, please let me know where to buy tickets and especially where the afterparty is.

But I've started at the end of the game. Let me get back to the beginning.

This was the first game of O'Dea's season, and thus their first in 18 years without head coach Phil Lumpkin, who died unexpectedly last month at age 57. Commemoration was in order.

Several O'Dea students wore #10 Suns jerseys personalized with Lumpkin's name (Lumpkin played 34 games for the Suns in '75-'76).

Seattle Prep made a nice gesture when they came out for warmups--each player and coach held a white rose, which they deposited on Lumpkin's now-vacant courtside chair.

Among the hundreds of banners in O'Dea's gym, the five state hoops championships Lumpkin won

Fans were asked to observe a moment of silence in Lumpkin's honor before the game. We did so. We were told that the court would soon be named for Lumpkin. We applauded.

No pomp, no ostentation. A few words and then basketball. From what little I knew of the ostentation-less Phil Lumpkin, I think he would've approved.

Then it was time for high-school basketball. HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL!... (more)