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.

Roosevelt @ Dunbar Football

Football fluctuates back and forth between basketball as my favorite sport to shoot. Night football is dead last on that list. Friday night lights might be fun for some but not for me. Unless of course Coach Taylor is on the sidelines. Anyway, during their homecoming game, the Dunbar Crimson Tide beat the Roosevelt Rough Riders 40-0. Tough break.

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No Pads: McKinley Tech Football Passing League

It's still very early in the preseason for high school football. As part of the preparation for the Friday night battles in August, the DCIAA schools participate in a passing league which consists of 7 players on a side, one football, no pads and no helmets. The receivers sure up their route running and catching and the defenders work on pass coverage. No pads means no tackling so the receivers are subject to some vicious shoves disguised as two hand touches. McKinley Tech lost to Dunbar in the last game which eliminated them from the passing league playoffs. Tick tock tick tock until late August.

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3.5 Basketball Games in 8 Hours

Last Saturday, I spent the whole day sitting on a wooden floor in a camp chair with a camera attached to my face. The VMG Battle of the Beltway Classic held at the University of the District of Columbia pitted 5 teams from the Washington DC area against 5 teams from Baltimore. In the middle of that showcase, I headed over to the Verizon Center to photograph the alma mater play Georgetown. All of the Washington DC area teams won...except American. Shout out to Jordy, I randomly ran into him on the metro on the way to Verizon.

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Dunbar Knocks Coolidge out of the Play-offs

Since I came around in 2006, the Coolidge Colts have made the playoffs every year. After Friday nights game against Dunbar, they are in serious jeopardy of not. It was a tough, defensive game and Coolidge led 7-0 until the 4th quarter. Dunbar scored two touchdowns and won 14-7. Read Tony Owusu's DCSportsFan article here. As the clock flashed 0:00, the Coolidge Colts' tears and dejection were on display as if they would not play another game. Their last game of the season will prove to be meaningless as a trip to the playoffs, barring a miracle, is not likely. The disappointment shone most vividly on the faces of the seniors who have never had the chance to play in the Turkey Bowl, DC's public school championship played annually on Thanksgiving Day.

I'll photograph the Coolidge Football Colts on Thanksgiving one day. I will. Shout out to the seniors.

Let There be Light

Another Coolidge game, another exercise in photography in the dark (okay low light). Not this time. I decided to set up strobes in the corner balconies in the gym and see what those results got me. Before and after (below). Now if I could only do this in every gym.

The Coolidge Colts defeated Dunbar High School to claim the DCIAA West regular season crown. Next stop, the playoffs. Shout out to Coolidge for building that huge gym with the really high ceilings.

Built for Halloween

Last Friday, I spent most of Halloween with the (very orange and black) Colts from Coolidge High School. They had a big game against perpetual rival Dunbar High School, with the winner being the DCIAA West regular season champion. Unfortunately, the Colts lost 34-27. As usual I spent a lot of time "behind the scenes". The Colts season with a game against Cardozo High School and playoffs thereafter. Shout out to my man with the orange and black high top Nike Dunks (below). They had bats on them.