No Place Like Home

Last night was the night. The one night when it's acceptable to take the trip back to high school and feel totally comfortable acting like you never left. At least that's what we tell ourselves. But that's because Franklin/Garfield is more than just a high school basketball game. Honestly, you could go the gym and not watch single second of the game and still have one of the best times you'll ever have. With the Southenders and Central Districteers who treat the game like a hood fashion show, you're going to see a lot of things you don't usually see. There were more Air Force 1's per capita last night than I've ever seen before. I even broke mine out, I didn't want to look like a fool. Most peoples hair looked nice enough to go to prom, and almost everyone's outfit matched from head to toe. The pre-game music was as great as ever. A steady mix of popular rap and classic hip-hop, even songs like "I'm So Hood," that you've heard a hundred times, hold a lot more meaning when everyone in the whole gym is bobbing to the beat. The Franklin dance team was as hilarious as ever. Pop-locking and snapping to a nice mix of popular music, served as the perfect platform for them to insult Garfield. For some reason making fun of another school is always way funnier though dance. After the game was over the post game festivities were as entertaining as ever. The police standing there as awkwardly as fat seventh graders at a middle school dance, scowling at the few random youngsters who felt the need to proclaim their toughness by ripping off their shirts and yelling loudly what part of town they came from, all while cleverly avoiding any real fighting. Ah yes, the Franklin/Garfield game is always exactly what I need to rejuvinate any loss of Southend pride that I may have lost over the past year.

Somehow, in the middle of all this, they managed to fit a basketball game in. Now, the the rivalry isn't as competitive as it once was, as the Quakers have managed to run off 13 straight wins over the beleaguered Bulldogs. But please believe that both teams still hate each other, and want to win as badly as ever. There are, and always have been, great players involved in this clash of the Seattle basketball titans. And this year is no excpetion. In fact, this year we may have seen two of the best players that either school has ever seen. On the Garfield side, Anthony Wroten, a 6'5'' freshmen point guard, who is the number one recruit in the nation for his class. He was phenomenal. An overly cocky left handed player, who has so much athleticism that it is insane to believe that he was playing in middle school just 6 months ago. He scored 29 points, he probably had around 8 assists, and he let all the Quaker fans know that it's not going to be so easy to beat the Bulldogs for the next four years. And on the Franklin side, Peyton Siva, a 6'1'' junior guard, who for my money, is the best player that has played at Franklin under Jason Kerr. (other than J-Sky of course) I'm talking about Alvin Snow, Anthony Grant, Aaron Brooks, Lyndel Burleson and Venoy Overton. Peyton is better than all of those guys. He is as fast as any of them, with more stroke, better passing, and as much athleticism as you can imagine. He caught a lob last night from Sterling Carter, that I thought was going to end up going over the back board. He went up so high, with two hands, I think he might be an alien. Or simply a super Samoan. He ended up with 22 points, 11 assists, 7 steals, and 7 rebounds, and he was passing first. He probably could've had 15 assists if guys weren't missing layups, and if he'd have been shooting he'd have scored 35.

Lorenzo Romar was just one of the hundreds of people who had the privelage of watching the latest installment of the Franklin/Garfield saga. He had a great vantage point, standing on the far baseline, trying valiantly to hide any and all emotion as he watched the two teams run. But even he, the most poker faced of scouts, couldn't help but yell and drop his jaw when Peyton went and got that lob. I looked over and saw him, standing right next to Justin Dentmon (who probably came along in hopes that the Quaker greatness would rub off on him, either that or he wanted to see where all of his replacements are coming from) when Pepe went skyward, and he went as crazy as the rest of us. Let's hope Peyton follows in the footsteps of his fellow Quaker Venoy Overton, and graces the Huskies with his greatness.

The Quakers came out on top, 85-70, in what was by far the most competitive game between the two schools in the past three years. A far cry from last years 22-0 first quarter run, this year we saw that the rivalry may soon be getting back to where it belongs. As much as I love beating those bastard Bulldogs, it's a lot more fun when they have talent. Anthony Wroten is hopefully the beginning of something good at Garfield. And maybe, in couple of years they'll end our double digit winning streak. But until then FQ up, GB down. Southend! Go Quakers.