Rubbery Rivalry

Bill Symmes remembers a basketball season when every game was a Rubber Chicken game.

The 32-year-old Spokane lawyer was a sophomore at Lewis and Clark High School 16 years ago when the annual spirit competition between the Tigers and South Hill rival Ferris got its start.

Symmes didn’t play basketball — he was a baseball and football player — but he went to his share of games.

And it was the animated behavior of Symmes and his buddies that sparked LC’s student body president to challenge the Saxons to a spirit contest, Symmes said.

They dressed up in various theme costumes and led chants with the cheerleaders.

The game also was an attempt to improve attendance and sportsmanship at Tigers games, said longtime LC teacher Bob Lobdell.

The Rubber Chicken game is still going. LC and Ferris go to battle Friday at the Spokane Arena, with the girls game starting at 3:45 p.m. and the boys following at 5:30.

The competition has been refined since 1983.

“It has mustered to the point it’s unbelievable,” said Lobdell, in his 29th year at LC.

Judges rate the respective crowds on criteria such as attendance, the number of fans in school colors, noise level and innovative cheers. The spirit winner takes home a rubber chicken.

“Of course LC won the first one, I think, but I could be wrong,” Symmes said. “But who’s going to challenge (me)?”

Symmes and company didn’t have to do much to get pumped for the inaugural Rubber Chicken game. They just boosted their level of rowdiness a little bit.

LC was supposed to be one of the top teams in the league that year, Symmes said.

Josh Collins remembers. He was the ASB president and was a member of the basketball team. One standout player moved to Texas and another was seriously injured in a car accident, said Collins, 33, now a banker in Jersey City, N.J.

The Tigers made the playoffs but failed to qualify for the state tournament.

“LC was having kind of a disappointing season, so we would do everything we could to keep the team’s spirits up,” Symmes said.

After his 1985 graduation, Symmes went to college at Yale and law school at Southern Methodist University. He also spent time working in New York.

When Symmes returned to Spokane in 1994, he was surprised to see the spirit competition still going.

“It’s great that it’s actually grown,” he said. “I get a kick out of it.

“I was amazed when I came back how big this thing has grown. It was set up as a one-time deal.”

Collins, too, can’t believe the Rubber Chicken game still exists.

“The rivalry had been going on a long time, and it was fun to add a little levity to it,” Collins said of the initial spirit game.

“We came up with the rubber chicken. But it was a joke really. We thought it would just be once.”

Lobdell figured the competition would go on.

“But we had no idea it would grow to the interest and size it has,” he said. “It set the groundwork for other schools’ rivalry games. It’s a state-tournament environment.”

Symmes hasn’t attended the game since his senior year at LC. He said he might make an appearance Friday.

Ferris won the chicken last year. And Saxon senior Chris Watts guarantees Friday will be crazy.

“It’s like an atmosphere you’d never get used to,” the 6-foot-7 post said. “The whole arena is filled. Thousands of kids are going crazy out of their mind.

“It’s hard to play. This is my third year and I still haven’t gotten used to it.”

Records don’t matter in this game, players and coaches say.

“Sometimes the game is overshadowed a bit by the spirit competition,” said Ferris boys coach Wayne Gilman. “There is so much noise going on that it doesn’t reflect what’s going on the floor.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for players and fans to really get into a competitive thing and have some fun.”

Players and coaches aren’t able to focus much on the spirit aspect, Gilman said.

“The game is important to us because we’re competing to finish as high as we can in league,” he said. “LC is doing the same thing.”

Tiger senior Nick Spurgetis said he looks forward to the game each season. It’s always a big focus during the school week, he said, with hall decorating, and competitions during lunch.

“There’s just a lot of people there, and everyone is dressed in orange and black,” Spurgetis said. “It’s just crazy.

“They (players) take it seriously. It’s still a game, but you go out and try to win, and all the extra stuff makes it fun.”

Spurgetis admitted he didn’t know anything about the Rubber Chicken’s history. But he’s glad guys like Symmes were willing to demonstrate their school pride.

“I think it’s great it has (lasted),” he said. “It makes the rivalry really fun and just a good time for everyone.”

Watts has heard tales about Rubber Chicken games of the past.

“I remember hearing stories from 10 years ago when it was in the old arena and coaches had to put plays on signs to call them out because players couldn’t hear them,” Watts said. “It’s still just as crazy.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: HERE’S NITTY-GRITTY ON RUBBER CHICKEN What: Rubber Chicken spirit competition between Ferris and Lewis and Clark held during the boys and girls basketball games. Judges from other schools evaluate the respective crowds on criteria such as attendance, the number of people in school colors, noise level and innovative cheers. When, where: Friday at the Spokane Arena. The girls game tips off at 3:45 p.m., and the boys follow at 5:30. Quote: “It’s an atmosphere you’d never get used to. The whole Arena is filled. Thousands of kids are going crazy out of their mind. It’s hard to play. This is my third year and I still haven’t gotten used to it.” - Ferris senior post Chris Watts