Years ago the one they called Tupac Shakur wrote a poem entited “The Rose That Grew From The Concrete.” It went like this, “You try to plant somethin’ in concrete y’knowhatImean? If it GROW, and the…and the rose petal got all kind of scratches and marks, you not gon’ say, ‘Damn, look at All the scratches and marks the rose that grew from the concrete.’You gone’ be like, Damn! A rose grew from the concrete?!'”
Well playas…that rose with all of it’s scratches and marks blossomed right before our eyes 32 times this basketball season to win the Class 4A State Title with an UNDEFEATED record. Some cats from the FAR EAST SIDE, better known to those that aren’t hood affiliated, as Warren Central did the impossible based on the standards of this world and the people that constantly put limitations on our kids growin’ up in the hood.
They did what nobody outside of the hood wanted them to do. They became the ONLY team in the 108 year history of Indiana High School Basketball to win 32 games and finish with an unblemished record. Even their own hometown newspaper dissed them all season long chasin’ a cat around that’s not even from Indianapolis in hopes that he’ll sign with the Indiana Hoosiers.
It’s par for the course for duns to dismiss the fact that they’ve overcome all types of obstacles just to get to practice on a daily basis. When fans from other schools and communities look down their noses at these kids because they just happened to be from the FAR EAST SIDE. It becomes motivation for not only the players but for the coaches, administrators and teachers as well. Everybody in the buildin’ is walkin’ around with a chip on their shoulders. Everybody’s waterin’ the side walk to ensure that that rose sprouts up in the middle of the concrete.
Sure, we’d all like to have great soil and brand new fertilizer to plant our seeds in but it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes you’ve got to plant the seed where it was dropped.
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! If the concrete is where it falls then out of the concrete it must grow. For those of us that grew up in ANY HOOD, USA we understand that resilience that it takes to succeed under those circumstances.
The fact that Warren showed up to Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday night in their right minds ready to play with a record of 31-0 made it was impossible for them to lose. They’ve been battle tested in every aspect of their lives and losin’ that game wasn’t an option.
It didn’t matter that Carmel had gone on an 18-0 run in the first half. Because they’ve been playin’ from behind their entire lives and hadn’t given up. It didn’t matter that the refs were callin’ fouls that didn’t exist in the first half. They’ve been fightin’ injustice their entire lives. It didn’t matter that their OWN city newspaper dissed them a week ago and put the dun that they had just beaten on the front page to thank him as if he’d won the darn game.
Naw playa, it didn’t matter because when you grow up in the hood you’re always expectin’ for boyz to dismiss you. That dismissal is the motivation you need to keep growin’ out of that concrete. Who cares that when you stand on the podium with the trophy in hand that you’re a little scratched up? Who cares that you’ve got some marks on you? You’re the champ and they’ve got to acknowledge it FOREVER!!! Be that rose and be proud of it. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.
2) Ole boy: noun – the person that I’m currently talkin’ about.
3) ANY HOOD, USA: noun – any ghetto or hood in America.
The G is excluded from the endings of all words because the G is near and dear to my heart because I’m from “The G” which is Gary, Indiana. So I only use the G when I’m talkin’ about “The G!”
The caption under the photo is real talk today!
You asked a question one of your articles about the officiating where they come from They come from the good old boys program if you know what I mean in the state of Indiana the for eastside wasn’t supposed to win that Northside 4A championship but each of those 32 games they were deliberately and I mean deliberately was called for unfair play on Warren Central side so all the critics and all the haters and all the black and white stripes that denied them the opportunity because they didn’t want to see African Americans prevail cheaters never win!!!!
You asked a question one of your articles about the officiating where they come from They come from the good old boys program if you know what I mean in the state of Indiana the for eastside wasn’t supposed to win that Northside 4A championship but each of those 32 games they were deliberately and I mean deliberately was called for unfair play on Warren Central side so all the critics and all the haters and all the black and white stripes that denied them the opportunity because they didn’t want to see African Americans prevail cheaters never win!!!!