ROBESON EYES BETTER IMAGE
Roughly 50 spectators sat in the stands of Robeson’s tiny gym Wednesday evening, when the Eagles played host to Thurgood Marshall Academy.
It seemed like a typical scrimmage, but for Robeson, it was more. The prior time a regular-season game was played there, Dec. 12, 2006, it ended in a brawl with Jefferson that cost Robeson its season.
“We’re considered bad guys now,” said Paris Armwood, one of three returning players from last year’s squad and aware Eagles games will be viewed with much scrutiny. “We’re at the bottom and we’re trying to climb back up. What happened was wrong, but people assume we’re going to start something and that we’re thugs. Who wants that?”
The fight came after a hard foul, and Jefferson forfeited three games, but Robeson got a stiffer penalty because fans ran onto the floor. The crowd Wednesday was no different than at almost any other PSAL basketball game, and several school safety officials looked on, which is common practice.
The Department of Education has yet to decide whether Robeson will be allowed to have home games this season, but TMA head coach Abdu Torrence said he thinks it should.
“They’ve learned their lesson,” Torrence said. “We’ve never had a problem. I think it was just an isolated incident.”
There had been previous security issues at the Crown Heights school, which helped lead to the harsh punishment, but head coach Todd Myles remains upset with the decision.
“[The incident], with kids on the court, was totally wrong, I would never condone that,” said Myles, who starred at the school in the 1990s. “But to take a season away from the players? If we have such bad kids, why do so many of them go to college? They’re still hurt by last year. And teams are going to look at us differently. It’s going to be us against the world.”
