THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 11, 1996 TAG: 9607090108
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 93 lines
THE PEOPLE WHO say mild-mannered Joe Smith hasn't changed a bit since he left Maury for the NBA via the University of Maryland three years ago should have seen him at his old high school gym Saturday.
There was Smith, decked out in a T-shirt labeled with his familiar No. 32 and his new moniker, ``Da Beast,'' slapping high-fives with such force it was as though he was trying to kill flies on his teammates' hands. And allowing himself to be used as a human landing pad for Aaron ``Bug'' Johnson, the 5-foot-8 guard who, after an improbable breakaway dunk, flung himself into the 6-9 Smith for a celebratory chest bump. And flashing that million-dollar smile - three million-plus, actually - as he clapped his hands rhythmically and led the fans through an impromptu victory chant:
``Mau-ray, ooh, ooh! Mau-ray, ooh, ooh!''
Joe Smith was never that animated when he played for the Commodores.
Then again, the sight of Booker T. Washington players at the other end of a basketball court has been known to bring out the beast in Commodores for years. The Bookers, in turn, like nothing better than, as one player put it, ``whipping that Commodore butt.''
As Smith proved, these feelings don't end when the players leave high school. So when former Commodores' star Greg ``Spanky'' Johnson organized the inaugural Maury-Booker T. Washington alumni game, he wound up producing not only an effective fund-raiser but also an outlet for some latent basketball hostility.
``They're always talking about how they beat us, and we always talk about how we beat them,'' Johnson said. ``It's about time we got on the court and, you know, just had it out.''
These days, few would argue that Booker T. Washington and Maury basketball is among the most intense rivalries of all area high school sports. But in the mid-1980s, such a game meant a whole lot more. In 1985, the year the Bookers won the state title, the teams' meetings were so popular high school gyms couldn't contain the crowd. The Bookers shifted their home game to Norfolk State and nearly sold out 7,600-seat Echols Hall. Maury hosted the Bookers at the Old Dominion field house.
``The games were so big people would take off work,'' said Lamont Walker, a star for the 1985 Bookers who, ironically, now coaches girls basketball at Maury. ``And as players, we were never more focused. The intensity level for me has never been greater, even at the college level.''
Although the game no longer galvanizes an entire city, the idea of the two sides hooking up on a basketball court obviously still resonates with many. Johnson said he had no trouble whipping up nine players eager for another shot at the Bookers. So excited about the game was ``Spanky'' - ``I was a little fat boy as a baby'' - that he personally sprung for game jerseys and the referees' fees and said he had so much adrenalin at tip-off he wound up having to quickly take himself out of the game.
Meanwhile, Bookers' coach Walker, who showed up at the gym wondering whether he'd have enough guys, was continually startled by the sight of former Bookers streaming into the gym asking, ``Can I get a run?''
``We ran out of uniforms,'' Walker said.
And despite just word-of-mouth advertising, more than 300 fans - at $5 a pop - stepped out of the sweltering July sun and into an even more oppressive Maury gym late Saturday afternoon to root on their former high school heroes. Proceeds went to the Colonial Boys & Girls Club.
``This is our way of giving something back to the community,'' Johnson said.
The Commodores alumni team, featuring a roster weighted heavily toward players who performed in the 1990s, was led by Smith, who enjoyed a strong rookie season after being selected first in last year's NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, and Cornel Parker, a former University of Virginia star. The Bookers countered with former Parade high school All-American Michael Evans and CBA stalwart Darren Sanderlin, a member of the 1985 state champions.
That one of the referees was a Booker T. grad was mitigated by Maury coach Jack Baker running the clock and scoreboard. The only real conflict-of-interest existed in the mind of Walker, who hesitated before approaching the Maury principal for approval to host the game.
``I didn't know how he was going to react to me coaching the Bookers,'' said an apparently serious Walker. ``And during the game, I had people yelling, `You're a traitor!' It was all in fun, I think. I just want everybody to know I'm happy at Maury and I hope to be there a long time.''
Going in, the smart choice seemed to be the team with the rising NBA star. But as is usually the case in a Booker T.-Maury game, both sides flirted with victory before the Commodores escaped with a 113-111 decision.
``The rivalry's still there,'' Walker said. ``Nobody's going to blow anybody out.''
Just after the final buzzer, talk quickly shifted to staging a rematch, with each side's time frame perhaps shaped in part by Saturday's outcome.
``We want this to be special, so you can't just keep having games all the time,'' Johnson said. ``I'd like to see it become an annual thing.''
Countered one of the Bookers, ``We'll see you at our place next month.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Former Maury star Joe Smith, now an NBA player, slams down a dunk. by CNB