Looking back, looking froward

Sports are proof that we live in a small, sometimes strange world.

Last Friday, the high school I graduated from- E-Town Stand Up (Real Name: Evanston Wildkits)- won their sectional in boy's basketball. In Illinois HS basketball, there are four classes of school, determined by size. In each class, to advance in the playoffs, you must first win two games in your regional. (There are 32 regional winners across the state) Then the regional winners advance to play in the sectional semi-finals and championship. Then there's a super-sectional (final eight teams in the state), state semi's (final four) and then the grand-daddy of em all, the state title game. (NOTE: In the pic, Evanston is wearing white, but all the fans in orange and blue are also rooting for the 'Kits)

With a dramatic 50-38 victory over Hersey HS, Evanston advanced last Friday to a super-sectional. This wasn't a complete shock, since the 'Kits were the #1 seed in their entire section after finishing the regular season with a 25-3 record. Still, shock or not, it is pretty exciting. But the truth is, the more exciting part is that in this super-sectional we will be playing in, the opponent will not be the number one team in the state, Whitney Young HS (Which features the youngest son of this guy). They lost in a big upset to Mt. Carmel HS, meaning the 'Kits will take on Donovan McNabb's former school for the chance to go downstate.

I mentioned at the top that it's a small, strange world, and this super-sectional matchup is proof. You see, when I think back to my high school days at good ol Evanston, tons of memories come to mind. But if you were to ask me the three coolest experiences of being a sports fan at the high school, two of them would be connected to this game that the Wildkits haven't even played yet. (The super-sectional is Tuesday night)

The first of the two important memories happened in my sophomore year, 2003. We had a very strong basketball team, with three guys who would go on to play Division-I basketball (though some don't consider the Ivy League D-I, it actually is) and another player who would end up making Top Plays on SportsCenter . We advanced past the regional, past the sectional after a classic game with rival Niles West, and into the super-sectional. Now today, the super-sectional games for the Chicago-land area are played either at Chicago State University or the Sears Center, which is in some God-forsaken suburb of the Windy City. (Evanston plays in the game at Sears) But back in '03, the super-sectional was played in a building on Chicago's West Side, one that has over 20,000 seats and features a statue of the Whitney Young player's dad outside. Yeah, my high school played a basketball game at the United Center. (Side note: Part of me wishes that the modern technology of today, mainly everybody having a digital camera and Facebook, was around back then, so that there would be easy-to-find pics of the game at the UC. But I kind of like that it is only available through memories.) Evanston wound up winning the game 65-61 (I checked that score on the web, though I remember it being a lot wider margin), and it was truly one of the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. Being in the lower bowl of the UC, with hundreds of fellow students wearing orange & blue, doing the E-Town cheers and just having a great time is one of those memories I'll remember forever.

The basketball team ended up finishing fourth in the state that year, losing the state semi-final and runner up game to two schools that had future Illinois Mr. Basketball's and Duke recruits on their team. (Though Shaun Livingston never went to Duke, that is still the highlight of his career) And those games- even with defeats- were still cool. But I think the best part of that run was the super-sectional game at the United Center.

Memory number two connected to this upcoming basketball game happened the following fall, in August of 2003. It was a new school year, I was now a junior, and for the first time in a long while, Evanston had a good football team. (I could write a different 1,000 word column about the problems with the E-Town football program, but I'll save that for another day) The problem was, even with our good team that year, we still had to face defending state champion Mt. Carmel in the opening game of the year. Now if your not from around here, you most likely don't know the history of High School football in Chicago. But here it is: Catholic school tend to dominate. And Mt. Carmel is one of those schools. The Caravan have won 9 state titles, 15 city championships and alums include McNabb, Simeon Rice, Antoine Walker and Chris Chelios (Obviously the last two are not connected to football). To make a long story short, Evanston upset the top ranked team in the land on that hot August Saturday in overtime. Led by receiver Jody Ellis (who is famous for a)stealing my brother pogs in 4th grade, b) making first-team All-State in football and c)being kicked off the University of Illinois football team for stealing cell phone chargers and printers from a dorm room) the 'Kits shocked everybody in the stadium that day, including myself. It sounds corny to say it, but I had never been more proud to be an Evanston Wildkit than on that day (That changed later on in my HS career, but at that time it was the way I felt).

So now, my two memories collide: A super-sectional basketball game versus Mt. Carmel.
Who would have thunk it? I won't be able to go to the game Tuesday night, but that doesn't mean I won't be giving every ounce of cheering power in my body to the Wildkits. They deserve it. And I hope that, even if its only for one current student sitting in the crowd that night, they create a memory that will last forever.