GARFIELD vs. ROOSEVELT, 8 P.M. : EASTSIDE Story

The 22,000 people who will jam into Weingart Stadium at East Los Angeles College for tonight’s football game between Garfield and Roosevelt high schools are coming to cheer their teams. They are coming to see old friends. Mostly, though, they are coming to remember.

This year’s East Los Angeles Classic is the 62nd meeting of the schools in a series that began in 1926. A rivalry that annually galvanizes the local public has produced lasting memories for the many public figures who attended the schools.

Among Roosevelt’s alumni are USC Athletic Director and Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett, Clipper owner Donald Sterling, Olympic boxing champion Paul Gonzalez, former Dodger outfielder Willie Davis, former congressman Ed Roybal, federal Judge Harry Pregerson, Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson and Los Angeles Board of Education member Victoria Castro.

Garfield alumni include boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya, retired California Supreme Court Justice John Arguelles, state Sen. Richard Polanco, four members of the musical group Los Lobos--David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Louie Perez and Conrad Lozano--and Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre.

So, get ready for a trip down memory lane. In the case of Garfield and Roosevelt, it runs straight down Whittier Boulevard to places like Chronis’ Famous Sandwich Shop, where third-generation owner Greg Chronis, son of 1944 Garfield graduate Nick Chronis, says he will serve as many as 60 dozen chili dogs on the night of the East L.A. Classic. Or to King Taco on the corner of 3rd Street and Ford Boulevard, where the postgame fare and conversation can get equally hot when the subject is Garfield-Roosevelt.

Mike Garrett, USC Athletic Director and 1965 Heisman Trophy winner Roosevelt, Class of 1961

“I scored six touchdowns in one of those games, which was certainly memorable because the best game I ever had came against our archrival. I never scored that many touchdowns in a game again.

“The Garfield-Roosevelt game was a prelude to what I experienced in the Notre Dame-SC games and what the Kansas City-Oakland Raider games were like. It was a blood bath and the game we pointed to all year.”

Richard Polanco, California State Senator Garfield, Class of 1969

“I remember sneaking into the game when I was in elementary school. When I was in high school, I had a ’65 Chevy Impala with a 327 [cubic-inch displacement engine] under the hood. I would pick up my buddies and go to the games and have a great time watching the games and the girls. We’d just cruise around afterward or join everyone over at the Serbian Hall in San Gabriel. That was one of the largest halls around and where everyone would go. We’d also do Whittier Boulevard, go over to Chronis’ and pick up some chili dogs.”

“In 1969, I was the homecoming king and they kind of paraded us out there on the field. I didn’t have any eggs thrown at me, so I guess I was all right.”

Harry Pregerson, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit Court Roosevelt, Class of 1941 (winter)

“Growing up in Boyle Heights and East L.A. as a kid, you knew the rivalry was intense. I remember when I got to high school, I saw a football player named George Kornoff walking across campus in a big letterman’s sweater with a football. He looked like Tarzan. He had this mane of long blond hair and he had promised that he would not cut it until he played in a game where Roosevelt defeated Garfield.

“This guy was also a tremendous gymnast. He used to do one-armed handstands off the Fourth Street bridge with a train running underneath. He’d do that for a nickel.

“The games themselves were always intense. I remember the screaming, the shouting and the yell leaders. Our team had a halfback named Raoul Regalado and the crowd would yell ‘Raoooooul! Raoooooul!’

“It was an all-American team. The center was a really tough guy from Little Tokyo. One of the ends was African American and the other end was Slavic. Other players were Jewish. We had players from all backgrounds. It was something else.”

Paul Gonzalez, 1984 Olympic boxing gold medalist, Roosevelt, Class of 1982

“I played for the Roosevelt B team in the 10th grade, but my [boxing] trainer wouldn’t let me play as much after that. He went down there and spoke to the coaches and said, ‘Hey, man, I don’t want anything to happen to this kid. He’s getting ready for the Olympics.’

“Before the Garfield game, we’d all be on tactical alert around campus. We’d go and try to grab the head of their mascot and take off.

“After I stopped playing football, we’d catch the [bus] to the game with Garfield, have a great time and then walk back to Roosevelt from East L.A. College. Actually, we would end up running because guys would be chasing us as we ran through Maravilla [a public-housing project] yelling, ‘Roosevelt! Roosevelt!’ tearing up a ruckus. It was pretty wild.”

Oscar De La Hoya, 1992 Olympic boxing gold medalist, and world champion in four weight classes, Garfield, Class of 1991

“I started attending the game when I was 13 or 14. I used to sit in the Garfield section, of course, and I remember looking across the field to the other side and seeing the Roosevelt fans just cheering and yelling and having a good time. Both sides would go crazy. Like a boxing match.

“In high school, I went every year with a group of friends. We would go out to those games because there were always nice girls there, just hanging out. Not just from Garfield. From both schools.”

Donald Sterling, owner of the Clippers, Roosevelt, Class of 1952

“The Garfield game was the highlight of the whole season, the game of the year, even back then. I was on the gymnastics team, and everybody in the lettermen’s club and the hierarchy of the school went to that game. It didn’t really matter who was favored because it was always a thriller.

“Everybody lived around Brooklyn and Soto, so after the games everyone went to the hot dog stands and the places in that area. Everyone had a great time.”

John Arguelles, retired California Supreme Court Justice, Garfield, Class of 1945

“I was in high school in the [World War II] years. Those were the years that you graduated on a Thursday night and were in boot camp on Saturday morning.

“In those years, we didn’t play Roosevelt. We were in different leagues, but we were certainly aware of them and their great athletes. I have an idea that something happened [between the schools] and we didn’t play each other for some reason.

“The war also curbed a lot of things. It might have actually resulted in abbreviated football schedules that restricted teams to six or seven games instead of nine or 10. On the Garfield campus, we had some kind of defense industry. One of the defense plants set up a shop there where people could actually work on the high school campus, doing something like stitching shoes or making gas masks.”

Victoria Castro, Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, Roosevelt, Class of 1963

“I had an older brother on the team at Roosevelt so I started attending games when he was in high school. By the time I got to Roosevelt, it was really exciting because those were the years Mike Garrett was there and we used to win a lot.

“I really liked the spirit of being with friends and being connected to the tradition. And, yes, we did check out the football players. I remember my senior year, I was going around with the student body president of Garfield. That was like, ‘Traitor, traitor.’ For that night I sat on the Roosevelt side.

“I’ve only missed three or four of these games over the years. When I go to this year’s game, it’s not as a board member but as an alumnus who’s going to cheer Roosevelt. And do you know what I get the greatest joy from? As a board member, I get a parking pass! Now that is an accomplishment.”

Bill Harmatz, retired jockey, Roosevelt, Class of 1949

“The rivalry between Garfield and Roosevelt was not only in football but in gymnastics and track and everything else. I was All-City in gymnastics and I was also the head cheerleader, so I was at all the football and basketball games.

“We would start getting the student body up for the Garfield game at the beginning of the week. It didn’t matter how the season was going. We would go out of our way to get them hyped up for Garfield. We did back-flips and somersaults at different rallies and if there was something like a play in the auditorium, we’d show up and yell, ‘Make sure you come out to the game. We have to get Garfield this time.’

“When I was riding, I’d go up to Canada for a stakes race and someone would show up and say, ‘Hey, I know you from Roosevelt.’ It happened in Chicago, New York, Kentucky, wherever. It was hysterical. Anywhere I went, there always seemed to be someone there from Roosevelt.”

Richard Alatorre, Los Angeles City Councilman, Garfield, Class of 1961

“I remember going to the game and seeing Mike Garrett score six touchdowns and wanting to throw up the whole game. I mean, the guy was scoring six touchdowns! Wouldn’t that make you sick?

“I hate to say that when I was in school, you didn’t hang around too much longer after the game was over because inevitably someone got into a fight. But now, it’s just good clean fun.

“I’ve rooted for Roosevelt in the past, mainly because I like the underdog. By and large, I’m for Garfield. Everybody wins on that day.”

Edward Roybal, U.S. Congressman from 1963-1993, Roosevelt, Class of 1934

“In those years, we were in the Depression and we couldn’t afford to take the streetcar to Garfield when we played there. So we walked or took a bus. Then we walked home to Boyle Heights. There was a place on Fourth Street, across the street from the playground, a mom-and-pop place that sold sandwiches and malted milks. You could meet after the game and talk about how the other side cheated if they won and how great we were if we won.

“There weren’t any problems in the stands. In those days, the kids would actually obey. No kidding. They would not violate a school rule because once you did, you were an outcast. And you didn’t want to be an outcast with all those beautiful girls there.”

‘I ran track, and I remember losing to a Garfield man in one of my last races and thinking, ‘By golly, I didn’t try hard enough. I have to do better.’ Four or five years ago, I went to the game at East Los Angeles College and Garfield won. All those same feelings came back.”

Hal Bernson, Los Angeles City Councilman, Roosevelt, Class of 1948

“The rivalry really started after I left Roosevelt. We had some contact with Garfield and Wilson, but it wasn’t anything of the large scale that it is now because we were in different leagues.

“Roosevelt was a city power, particularly in gymnastics. We were a power in football, too. But the player everyone from every school remembers from those days is Hugh McElhenny [later of University of Washington and NFL fame] at Washington High.”

Al Padilla, East Los Angeles-area coach, Roosevelt, Class of 1948

“I’m like a Ping-Pong ball. From 1955-60 I was B coach and assisted with the varsity at Roosevelt. From 1960-70 I was head varsity coach at Garfield. I was also head coach for many years at East L.A. College. From 1980-82 I went back to Garfield, and in 1993 and ’94 I was helping out at Roosevelt. I’ve been on both sides of the fence. When I walk in the stadium I have to make sure I go to the right side of the field.

“I’m probably the only guy who got to coach Mike Garrett and also coach against him. I had him as a 10th-grader at Roosevelt. In 1960 and ‘61, I coached against him and he beat the crap out of us. We had a team that won the league championship but he scored six touchdowns against us.

“There’s a very simple answer for why this game has become so great. And it can be summed up in a single word: intermarriage. There’s moms who sit on the Garfield side and dads who sit on Roosevelt’s side and vice versa. I guess we always thought the grass was greener.”