Way Back Wednesdays: Sacked...Almost

On October 20, 2006 my beloved Coolidge football team went up against perennial Turkey Bowl contender Dunbar High School. The game, preceded by much fanfare, was televised on ESPN and hyped as a match between two Washington DC powerhouses boasting loads of D-1 talent. Well, it didn't quite work out like that.

In one hell of an off-season before the 2006 campaign, a Coolidge assistant accepted a head coaching job at Ballou High (also in DC) and took four of the Colts top players along with him. The match-up that ESPN had scheduled included Dunbar's Arrelious Benn (Illinois/Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Nathan Bussey (Illinois/2011 NFL Draft) and Coolidge's Marvin Austin (UNC/2011 NFL Draft), Romale Tucker (Syracuse/Towson), Lamar Milstead (UVA), and Dwan Thornton. The game that was actually played was lacking Coolidge's all stars.

Coolidge brought out a team that didn't have the star power of the 2005 squad and still competed, but lost, to Dunbar. This is a shot of Coolidge freshman QB getting de-cleated shortly after firing a pass attempt.

Tardy for the Party

I showed up early, but was mad late. My arrival at Coolidge's gym was at 7p, an hour before the game started. I strolled in like I had time to kill, glanced at the clock and noticed 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter of this JV game. But as I soon discovered, the JV team didn't play that night.

What I did see of the game was pretty good. Coolidge was down 4 in the middle of the 4th but ended up winning by 8 with a flurry of steals, defensive stops and easy lay-ups. Shout out to my man Derek who was injured but still cheering from the end of the bench.

Way Back Wednesdays: DeMatha, Coolidge and Caron Butler

When I first walked into the Frank R. Williams Center, I thought to myself "this is no place a camera can or should be used". The dark cavernous arena was home of the Coolidge High School Colts and the annual Caron Butler Classic. The Classic was a showcase of local high school basketball teams hosted and sponsored by the former Washington Wizard.

The date was December 4, 2007 and the final game was between Coolidge and Dematha coached by Vaughn Jones and Mike Jones, respectively (both alums of the DeMatha program). I don't remember the fine details of the contest, but according to this video, DeMatha won by two. This photo was taken with a 70-200mm lens at 1600 ISO, 1/320th at f/2.8. The most interesting thing about this picture are the people in it and all the basketball talent that lives in the DMV. From left to right, Philip Green, Derrick Washington (Coolidge), Quinn Cook, and Josh Selby.

Time Machine Wednesdays...I mean Way Back Wednesdays

Last week I started Time Machine Wednesdays in which I would go back in my archive and find a picture from waaaaaaayyyyyy back in the early days of my illustrious photography career. In the 8 days since I've unfurled this guaranteed rating increasing series, I've already made two mistakes. One is that Time Machine Wednesdays lacks the alliteration needed for this to be remotely successful. The other mistake: today is Thursday. So I will attempt to fix both problems by now calling it Way Back Wednesdays and dating this entry as if I posted it yesterday. Enjoy!

This is the photo that started my foray into sports documentary work and my infatuation with Coolidge High School. On August 15, 2006, I took this picture in the Coolidge locker room. The previous day, I talked with then head coach Jason Lane about a photo project I wanted to do that involved documenting the team throughout the season. I showed up about 10 minutes late after getting lost and the first thing he said was, "I knew you were coming but I didn't know you were going to be 15." The gift and the curse of the baby face. I was actually 23 at the time and didn't know I would spend the next 4 football seasons at 6315 5th St. NW.

Shout out to (l-r) Greg "G-Dot" Bagley, Kobi Williams, Wayne Ouzts (sitting) and Alfred Williams.

Phoenix Suns

I spent much of last basketball season shooting purple and orange; the main colors of the NBA's Arizona franchise. This season I predict doing much of the same. Last Wednesday, they actually played each other. Coolidge took another lopsided loss to their locker room (this time to Gonzaga 76-45) but again, the season is in diapers. Shoutout to this rematch in the City Title game...maybe?

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The Return of Calvin

I just read that John was Calvin Coolidge's first name according to a very reliable source (Wikipedia). It's an interesting fact, but it has little to do with this post. The return of Calvin has everything to do with the Colts being back on the hardwood and in their first game of the season, they went up against defending City Title champion DeMatha Stags. DeMatha, a national powerhouse, opened a brand new gym pitting two teams in which both head coaches Vaughn Jones (Coolidge) and Mike Jones (DeMatha) were former Stags.

Coolidge took a 70-41 beating but hey, it's a long season. Plenty of time for them to get better and plenty of time for me to make some decent frames. Shout out to 30th presidents all over the world.

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Hello McKinley Technology High School!

The prep sports seasons are over and school is almost out for the summer. But of course the public high schools here as well as many around the country are competing in 7 on 7 passing leagues. Usually my football coverage consists of orange, orange and more orange. This post includes orange but the focus is on a new color. Burgundy...or maroon.

Coach Jason Lane stepped down as head coach of the Coolidge Colts after the 2009 football season. He was then replaced by Coach Natalie Randolph in March. The media storm has died down during the off-season but I'm sure it'll kick right back up in August because it sounds like a plot from Friday Night Lights.

For now, I'm introducing McKinley Tech. But first, the good ol' orange (I'm gonna make my way back eventually).

Now What?

I had a plan. I had a brilliant plan that would make this 2009-2010 high school basketball season photographically interesting. Back in November, I picked two teams (one private school and one public school) to follow throughout the season. These two teams, Gonzaga and Coolidge, were going to meet in the city title game at the Verizon Center then I was going to play powerball and win $300 million. Well it didn't quite work out that way. Coolidge lost last Thursday night to Eastern High School in the public school semifinals. Gonzaga moved on to the semifinals after beating Bishop McNamara. At least one team is still on track to keep half of my clairvoyance in tact. Shout out to Coolidge basketball. Losing is always tough, especially in the playoffs.


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DCIAA Quarterfinals: McKinley Tech @ Coolidge

The game was supposed to start at 8p, a tad late for a high school game but whatever. Twenty minutes and two tardy referees later, the quarterfinal matchup between Coolidge and McKinley Tech was underway. Coolidge, undefeated in the West, struggled in the early quarters but was able to advance to the semifinals. Read about the game here. Shout out to coaches and their halftime "encouragements". They usually seem to work.


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Ugly Win: Coolidge vs. Wilson Basketball

Coolidge basketball is currently undefeated in league play (4-0) but it seems that every game is the same. They apply full court pressure the whole game and jump out to a huge first quarter lead. They give up some of that lead in the second quarter. They then come out flat in the third and let the opposing team right back into the game. Then they take over again and complete the roller coaster victory in the fourth. I don't know how much longer they can keep winning like this, but a win's a win. Read about it here. Shout out to whoever decided to paint the key white on the Colts new floor. It bounces up a little more light into the player's faces.


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The Real Orange III

Whenever Coolidge and Roosevelt get together to play any sport, a battle over who is the real orange ensues. Tuesday night, neither should have been in contention while Coolidge wore mostly black and Roosevelt, mostly white. The real reason the two got together was to play a game of basketball. A game in which Coolidge took over early and never let up with a 89-69 victory. Shout out to Coolidge's chances in the City Title game. The team looks good. Damn good.


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Coolidge vs. Cardozo @ Roosevelt

After the holidays and a Jesuit Classic, I'm back to Coolidge and public school basketball. Coolidge played Cardozo at a surprisingly well lit Roosevelt high school gym. Coolidge came out with the orange unis and applied full court pressure pretty much all night long. Coolidge closed out with a 70-61 win in a game that was not as close as the score indicated. Sloppy second half play and TONS of turnovers allowed Cardozo to stay in the game and probably resulted in a miserable practice for the players the next day. Shout out to in-league games, you never know what will happen.


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Same School, Different Sport

The Coolidge basketball season started at the beginning of the month. They're eight games in, but the season is still young. Last night, they matched up against Stonewall Jackson, a team they beat soundly but took a while to put them away. The team is young, 8-1 (lost to a really good DeMatha team), and the season looks promising. Hopefully I will be photographing them in the Verizon Center in March. Later this week, they're headed to Miami for one of the many nationwide December tournaments. Shout out to the orange, gray and white.

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