Good. On. You. Fort. Defiance.
The atmosphere was electric. What do those cliche-addled writers (oh, you know who they are) like to say again? Do they not call it “electric”? Do they not say that one could “cut the electricity with Sarah Jessica Parker’s nose”? What? Is that not how it goes?
Do they not say, “packed tighter than the VH1 bus with the latest 25 women of ill-repute trying to win Brett Michaels’ heart”? What? They don’t describe the bleachers at a basketball game like that? Did I miss something?
So what if it smells like a mix of Axe body spray, cigar-embedded clothing and watermelon Jolly Ranchers? It still gave you goose bumps. It still made the, what do they say again?, hair on your neck stand on end.
An atmosphere even Paul Hatcher cracked a smile over. “Yeah, that was a nice crowd,“ said He Who Can Never Be Replaced.
And then there it was. The proverbial blast from the past, or so they may say. The Pink Posse had returned. It started as a slow trickle, highlighted by the Fort Defiance boys team lounging in the stands during the first half of the girls game. Some wore pink ties. Other, pink shirts. King Larry Landes even wore a too-tight pink shirt over his work robe, replete with “Pink Posse” in black letters on the front.
Good on Landes. Good on him.
And then they came en masse. Pink tie-dye. Pink polos. Pink pants. Yes, some guy had pink slacks on fercryingoutloud.
There was a sign in pink. A baby in pink. Heck, there were a few grannies in pink.
The Pink Posse started for the Fort girls team, or so it has been written, back when Heather Claytor roamed the Valley hardwoods and the Indians were the bee’s knees. The days when fans packed the Convo at JMU, a sea of pink for Fort. A tidal wave of purple for that late, great Spotswood student section. The signs were classic, if not slightly vulgar. But hey, adults don’t get your high-school humor. But some of us give a knowing nod of the head or a wink, like when they drop a good adult joke in a Pixar movie.
On Friday at Stuarts Draft, and against Lee, it all came back. And it came with the cheers. It came with the intensity. More importantly, it came with pride. A Fort Defiance student section all over the Leemen. A symphony of cheers that turned the Stuarts Draft gym into a verbal battleground. Gettysburg, some of may write, sans the severed limbs.
The players responded. Derek Shifflett, a flurry of red-topped blue, raining down 3-pointers. Andrew Phillips burying jumper after jumper. The Pink Posse screaming. Lee fans nervous. Hatcher throwing his hands in the air in frustration every now and again. A game that elicited a hyped-up-in-the-locker-room-hallway celebration from the Leemen. One usually reserved to the Siegel Center.
And through the next-time-use-deodorant-please stink of the stands, it all felt so right.
And all one kid did was put a few signs up at school. A plea for the old pride again, or so they may say. A kid, on the basketball team, who sits on the bench and is 999-career points away from 1,000 in his senior year.
Good on Cody Elliott, they may write, for bringing the Pink Posse back to life.
And good on Fort Defiance for following his lead.
