Tim Peterson
By Tim Peterson
I got out to see some local basketball over the past couple of weeks and was pleasantly surprised.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not about to write a column on how basketball is going to overtake football as the most popular sport on the high school level. It won’t and never will. We have the data to prove it. But in the right setting, it works.
Two weeks ago I went out to Rosemead to watch the Panthers take on Gabrielino. The Eagles were on the verge of running the table in league and Rosemead was second in the MVL so the stage was set for a big game.
The Panther fans were out in force and there was a large Eagle contingent as well. The result was a packed house that was as loud as I can remember at Rosemead. It was standing room only. Just ask Rosemead football coach Marc Paramo who was standing as well down near the east end of the gym.
Despite the sold out crowd Rosemead couldn’t keep up. The Panthers hung around for a quarter but the Eagles ran away in the second quarter and never looked back.
But even in a blowout the fans never calmed down. Rosemead scored late in the fourth quarter to cut the Gabrielino lead to 28 and the Panther fans erupted like it was tied. They yelled and screamed with every basket until the bitter end. I actually had never seen anything like it.
Then last Wednesday night I saw the same thing, maybe more so, at Temple City in a first round playoff game. The gym at Temple City has stands on both sides and the fans in the front row are right on top of the court. There wasn’t a seat to be found on either side and some fans were even sitting up top in the balcony.
The student section was uproarious from the opening tap and never sat down. With the opponent being from Simi Valley, and the rain pouring down outside, 99 percent of the fans, if not 100, hailed from Temple City.
The home court advantage was in full effect. A Simi Valley player would have a shot blocked and would be serenaded with “You got swatted!” A Simi Valley player would be whistled and the TC fans in unison, notably the students, would yell “You can’t do that!” And when a Simi Valley player tossed up an airball in the first quarter he was met with the sing-song “Airball!, Airball!, Airball!”
Of course that wasn’t the only time he heard it. Every time he touched the ball or went to the free throw line the rest of the game he was greeted with the Airball chant. And as might be expected, he clanked a few from the charity stripe.
The Rams got off to a fast start and ultimately won by three points in a win that no way could have happened on the road. The sixth man played a huge part in the win.
No it won’t become bigger than football. It will always be second fiddle. But for the last two weeks, right here in the San Gabriel Valley, basketball was fun.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com or Twitter @tspeterson40.
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