The East Los Angeles Classic 2010 from Jessica Perez on Vimeo.
It’s that time of the year again… The face-off between the Garfield Bulldogs and the Roosevelt Rough Riders!
I traded my purple flats for a pair of New Balance and went on the field to see what this rivalry’s about.
Come cheer your little heart out and represent for your team and hood.
Friday, November 5, 2010
F/S- 4pm, Var- 8pm
East Los Angeles Community College
Weingart Stadium
$12 general admission at the door
-Jessicas2cents
As I write this, terrible, unspeakable acts are being perpetrated on a poor, defenseless Roosevelt teddy bear in front of thousands of die hard Garfield students at a lunchtime rally. Moreso, I am confident that at this same moment similar humiliations are being visited down on a stuffed bulldog to the west of us in Boyle Heights. It’s Classic Week and all is craziness around here until the Friday night lights beckon to join the crowd of 25,000 that will fill Weingart Stadium.
My family is like many others on the Eastside as we are divided in this civil war. My mom is a Roughrider and still proud of it while I have put in seventeen years teaching at Garfield and wearing the Bulldog that comes with that privilege. However, as indicated in the clip’s interviews, Classic Week can be truly manic at the middle schools like Stevenson where half the students will go to Garfield and the other half are heading to Rosie. Combine the Classic with a divided and extremely hyper student body and you had a week when very little real teaching got accomplished.
The video also hinted at the fact that Classic Week is not just a contest for the football squads as the marching bands and drill teams that perform at half time are also in a fierce competition witnessed by what seems to be the entire Eastside that night (and woe to the drum major or baton twirlers who mess up their routine that night!). It may have been in the mid 90’s yesterday but no temperature was going to keep hundreds of kids from practicing endlessly after a day of school to be fully prepared for Friday night. This is truly a community activity that needs no forced enticement to gain full participation and enthusiasm. GO BULLDOGS!
Tonight will be my first Classic. I have lived in Boyle Heights all but 3 years of my life, but I didn’t attend Hollenbeck, Stevenson, nor Roosevelt. However for years, the red and gold, the honking cars, and the pride around the streets made me want to be a part of it. The schools I went to didn’t have the spirit, the heart as those involved in this Eastside match. When I interviewed the players, they were so focused and humble, they knew they were a part of something bigger– that the classic brought together communities, friends and family. Tonight I will see two of my cousins who are former rough riders and another one, a bulldog who played in the 90s. Good luck to both schools, but I have to sit on one side…