Big Game Is Fans’ Dream, Security Nightmare

About 500 fans filled the Quonset hut-shaped gym at Dorsey High School, forcing school officials to close the doors 40 minutes before the start of a Friday afternoon basketball game between Dorsey and Crenshaw.

“No more room,” a school policeman informed 300 other fans outside. Even Marques Johnson, former NBA star and father of Crenshaw forward Kris Johnson, had to talk his way past security. And he played basketball at Dorsey for a year before transferring to Crenshaw.

Later that evening in East Los Angeles, about twice as many fans turned out to see Cathedral play at Salesian in a game that matched two teams that had a combined record of five wins and 30 losses. The doors had to be closed an hour before the 7:30 tip-off.

Why? It’s the Big Game.

Rivalries can be a time when a team with the worst of records can be motivated to play its best. They unite communities, attract crowds and rekindle friendships between former competitors.

But they can be a scheduling and security nightmare.

Last year Cathedral and Salesian played an important Santa Fe League football game to empty stands at Piux X High in Downey. The game was moved to a neutral site and played on a Thursday because of administrators’ concerns about possible violence.

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“The situation was getting hot, really hot,” said Jerry Scott, Salesian football coach. “Guns were involved (in incidents leading up to the game). That’s why the administration stepped in before anyone got hurt. If one student got hurt, it would have been a death warrant for that school.”

Cathedral, located between Elysian Park and Chinatown, and Salesian, which is in Boyle Heights, have been rivals since the mid-’80s, when the two Roman Catholic all-boys schools became members of the Santa Fe League. Both attracted students from the same elementary schools.

The rivalry became so intense last year that school officials banned fans from sporting contests between the two schools for two years.

“The whole reason for playing a closed football game was to play a safe game with no incidents, so no players or students would get hurt,” Scott said. “The problem is with the young alumni, guys who graduated two or three years ago who don’t want to let go of those high school years.”

Officials from both schools kept last year’s game site secret from news media, students and fans. Only coaches, players and officials attended the game, which Cathedral won, 13-3.

The ban was to last until next January, but media and community pressure forced the schools to admit fans to the games, Scott said.

Salesian, which has separate bleachers for opposing fans, played host to both basketball games this season. Increased security and a bigger faculty presence kept the games incident-free.

“Some of the rivalries are very healthy and have gone on for so long that parents and their children often attend the same high school, and the tradition is carried on from one generation to another,” said Barbara Fiege, City athletic commissioner.

“The forefront is the Garfield-Roosevelt (football game). It’s a family-oriented game where people are not afraid to bring their little kids.”

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That matchup has become the area’s biggest football game and a model for other rivalries. In the 58th meeting between the two last year, the game, now called the East Los Angeles Classic, drew an overflow crowd of 25,000 to East Los Angeles College’s Weingart Stadium. Officials hope to move the Classic to the Rose Bowl next season to accommodate a bigger crowd.

What makes games between rivals exciting yet dangerous?

“Kids competing against each other from the same neighborhood,” said Robert Garrett, Crenshaw football coach. “They played Little League together, they went to the same junior high. That is what makes a game a rivalry.”

Crenshaw-Dorsey games are among the City’s most exciting and competitive, whether football, basketball or track.

“I don’t ever have to emphasize the importance of the Crenshaw game,” said Paul Knox, Dorsey football coach. “They see these players daily and they know who will be talking and boasting if they are victorious.”

“We only have problems with outsiders and the non-participants,” Garrett said. “The kids never have been a problem on the field.”

Gunfire erupted during the closing minutes of a 1991 football game between the two schools; two students were wounded by bullets that ricocheted across the field. Two years earlier, a game was interrupted by gunfire outside Jackie Robinson Stadium; no injuries were reported.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has $55,000 set aside in its current athletic budget to pay for additional security at such “critical games,” Fiege said. The fund covers all sports, but mainly is used for football and basketball games.

“This year has been a very quiet year for the City in comparison to a few others,” she said. “I think it’s a credit to the individual schools and their administrators. There is more communication between schools, and administrators are taking care of things before they happen.”

The best rivalries require teams of equal ability--but that is not always the case.

Said Randy Rodriguez, Lincoln football coach: “When one school actually loses a lot and the other team is having a winning season, it can get ugly . . . .”

The Tigers have had the upper hand lately against cross-town rival Wilson in football, but are still trying to avenge the clobberings they endured in the ‘70s. The worst took place in 1977, when Wilson held a 63-0 halftime lead. The Tiger team, reduced to 20 players because of injuries, boarded a bus and left before the start of the second half.

“We still get haunted by that,” said Rodriguez, who was a Lincoln assistant in 1977. “We had a bunch of great kids on the team. I have that team picture in my office as a reminder. If we ever get beat that bad again, it’s time to get out.”

And other rivalries are downright personal, like the Bell Gardens-Montebello basketball games. The Lancers’ Charlie LaCommare has coached against younger brother Dennis 10 times in the last five years.

Said Charlie: “I’ve never lost to him yet.”