Do you recall the first time you played organized sports? Do you remember your first coach, your first team? Your first away game? How about the uniforms?
Way back in the day I played basketball for Holy Name’s ‘B’ team. In 1972, I was in the third grade, 8 years-old to be exact. My coach was Georgie Rauthier.
We had a blast.
Georgie was a great guy. He had a lot of energy, he pushed us and always seemed to care about us.
Some of my best friends at that time all shared in their first team experience with me. There was Frankie and Jimmy Cullen, Glen Thomas, Greg Wood, Jimmy Corrar, John Godfrey, Kevin Molloy, Patty Larkin, Joe Fields and my mind is playing tricks on me again because I’m having a ‘moment’ where I can’t recall any other players. (If I omitted you, please let me know and I will add you.)
I do know that we got smacked most games.
We lost to Regina Pacis 63-9 and to St. Finbar 29-3. In the Finbar game, Frankie Cullen scored our three points with an old fashioned ‘and-one’. He hit a driving lay-up and got fouled. Marv Albert would’ve said, “YEEEEESSSSSS, AND THE FOUL!”
At Regina I hit a corner jumper from the left side right before the half, I’ll never forget it because it was my first bucket of my career! Also I will never forget Regina having Steve Leondis, a strong-forward who did it all. He was so much taller and stronger than any of us. He later went on to Xaverian High School where he had a solid career.
Regina Pacis locker rooms had that vent where you could hear the people bowling next door.
I recall going to play I.H.M. one Sunday afternoon. You could actually walk there because their school was only a short distance from Holy Name. Some guys wanted to take the F-train…our home station was 15th Street PPW; I.H.M. was Ft. Hamilton… one stop away. Boy o boy, did we get into big trouble that day! But that’s for another blog entry.
Mr. Martin also helped Georgie out with the team. We practiced at P.S. 10 on 7th avenue on Monday and Wednesday nights. We’d meet in the girls schoolyard and the parents would drive us down and pick us up afterwards.
One night after practice we were running around the gym like crazy, just having a good time. In the public school gyms they have the long ropes that hang down for gym class but this one night Georgie decided to pull them down and let everyone get a try of climbing the ropes or swinging on them.
Our fun ended when the ‘A’ arrived in the gym and we were kicked off the court.
Boy those were the days…No worries, we just had fun and played.
Here is a team photo sent in by a loyal reader of Container Diaries. As you can see, the uniforms were sweet! Some of the shorts had belts on them! As I’m composing, I’m trying to recall what jersey number I wore?
Coach-
Great Photo- Is that Jimmy Martin all the way to the right?
Joe Fields is an attorney in my Firm’s NY office. I’m sending him a copy of the photo. Maybe he can ID the team.
Jim F.
When you speak to Joe please tell him I said hello… We grew up together on 16th street.
Maryann DeLuise (nee Brunton)
I remember walking into the Our Lady of Peace’s gym on 2nd street off 4 avenue
39 years ago. The place seemed huge to me with the bleachers on the left and the place
smelled of sweat and popcorn . The court had a dark green 3 second key and that is the
place where this picture was taken.
Hello Maryann! How are you? All is well here…4 kids (2 boys, 2 girls)…will be marrried 20 years this fall! Time flies. We all still miss your brother Vinny. Nice guy.
As for the photo, it looks like it predates me…the blond with the ears might be Jimmy Dolan? Regards to all.
Fin,
I believe that these uniforms later became the uniforms that the girl’s track team wore.They were a big improvement over the darn dresses with bloomers that we wore for the basketball team. They too had a belt!
I believe that the dark-haired boy in the front with his eyes half-closed is a Palazzo from Prospect Avenue. You think so?
Hi Joe!
I glad to hear that all is well with you. I have 2 kids (girl and boy)…My daughter is in her second year of college and my son is a junior in high school…talk about time flying! Everyone misses Vinny he was a very popular guy. As my brother Tommy says “The finest man to walk in shoe leather”
How are Frank, Tom, Jimmy, John, Robert, Fredie and Charlie?
Oh Mary!
I remember those awful bloomers! Its the first thing that came to mind when I read this post!
Hoops,
Sorry to inform you but the uniform did not have a belt on it.
That is a big blue waistband. Yes Mary Kawas-Rotolo you are correct
that is Greg Palazzo in the front row along with Jimmy Dolan.
ML,
Don’t be sorry, it’s a-ok. You may be right, but there were many of those uniforms with belts on them.
I think that must be Jimmy Dolan’s ears, good call, Joe….and MK, the very first year that the girl’s basketball team got uniforms that were NOT bloomers, they ran out and I was the ONLY girl wearing bloomers. I have a picture of me standing there, all knees, with the damm bloomers on and everyone else is in shorts…
Another thing is that the ONLY time I ever scored a basket in five years on Holy Name’s teams, it was into the WRONG basket. I nearly died of embarrassment. My brother always says to me, why is it that you excel at swimming the way you do but once we put an implement in your hands you are awful??
The B team 1969-70
Thomas (Roachy) Ryan, Michael Routhier, Gregory Palazzo,Patrick Walsh
James Dolan, Joseph Quirke, James Martin
BR Michael Larkin Mr Gruschow and i think the arm belonged to James fields
What squad!
Thanks ML- I was sure that was Jimmy Martin. He’ll get an kick out of this photo!
Michael Rauthier was a good dude. I missed him after he passed. The guy was aces. As was the whole entire Rauthier clan.
Yes indeed Michael Routhier (fyi correct spelling) was a great guy. I remember he was able to tie his shoes before i could and that made me mad.
I enjoy his sense of humor and his wry smile. He use to drive the middle and fake me into jumping, then lean into me. He was always thinking of drawing the foul. I miss him.
ML,
He got up pretty high too when he went to the hoop.
ML,
Great Call! I had one of those uniforms when I played for Nicky Cannella on Bantam B as a third grader. Those shirts were indestructable and the pants had that shiny smooth substance with the padding inside. I remember my first year playing for Nicky Cannella and Georgie Routhier. We never won a game. That was my first introduction to hoops and I think the experience that I had with playing at this early age and enjoying it so much I was able to stay on and enjoy the game today as a coach. I hope that my own kids will find something to enjoy (sports or otherwise) that they will become instilled and have a love for.
I remember as a kid not winning one freakin game as a Bantam B player. We would get blown out all over Brooklyn in the CYO Vacariate A league for we were a traveling team and had no home court that year. We played one game out at Saint Athanasius on 60th Street and Bay Parkway near Bishop Kearney HS. St. A´s was killing us and to make matters worse decided to run the score up to rub it in. After the game we went into the lockeroom to change and our coach Georgie Routhier started to punch out the whole suspended ceiling. We all got startled and then started to laugh. I never had fun losing but on that day it felt like we had won! LOL!
Glenn, I remember that game at St.A’s!! Georgie started punching out the suspended ceiling in the locker room, then Greg Wood(our center) started punching out the ceiling!! Georgie looked at him like what the hell are you doing!? He figured it was OK
I remember when we used to practice up in the school yard, and we’re all up there, wondering where our coach was so we could start practice (9am Saturday morning). We went down to Georgie’s house and turns out he was “sleeping off” the night before and his mother let us in to wake him up!!, and we wound up going up to the yard and practiced!!
Super internet site: hope to come back again.