It’s late Saturday night, slash-Sunday morning, I made it around the clock once again! My wife and daughter are enjoying the weekend in Chicago (I couldn’t make the trip, we are in the process of putting next years team together by having workouts for potential recruits at the college).
As most of you know, this is a blog about the good old times in Windsor Terrace, typed up by me…”Red”; as most people know me; from my P.O.V (we encourage guest bloggers)
I never really gave any thought to the nickname that was given to me at such an early age. (Maybe it had something to do with the color of my mop atop my dome).
Around the neighborhood, some people called me by my first name, Steve. Some shortened my last name and called me Fin.
The last few years I have gone by Steve to most; no one out here in the Midwest knows me as ‘Red’. But when someone refers to me as Red on the blog, it brings back some great memories and brings a smile to my face. (There have been many famous people who went by ‘Red’. Holzman, Auerbach, Bruin, Barber, and D.J. Red Alert, to name a few)
Memories that crossed my mind tonight were eating an ice cream cone at Bonalli’s on the avenue (wait, do you eat an ice cream cone or do you lick it?). Or an ice, slush and if I had enough dough that day, downing a shake.
Remembrance of playing ‘Kings’ against a wall; any wall you could find. You remember Kings, don’t you? About 4 or 5 people lined up a few feet away from the wall, facing it, and the first guy in line was King. We used a rubber ball and the King ‘served’. (I will let our readers fill in the blanks)
How about recalling, as a student at Holy Name going home for lunch? The bell would ring close to twelve and you would head home for about 30 to 45 minutes then come back for the second part of the day.
Do they still allow kids in Holy Name to go home for lunch? And when we went home for lunch, was the lunch rooms being used? If so, by whom?
Total recall of playing ‘Around the World’ in the boys schoolyard. Do they still play that game?
It was easy for us to play Around the World in the schoolyard because we had the concrete cut out into square boxes.
Boy those cement mixers who poured the concrete in the schoolyard that day were smart!
Everyone started out close to the basket and you had to make a shot in the first box to move on. You worked your way out to the corner, then up the side to the wing; then across the foul-line extended all the way across the court to the opposite wing, down the sideline to the corner then towards the goal. if you made a shot and someone was in the box, you sent them back to the beginning.
(What did you have to do to win the game?)
Rich F., is Around the World the reason why so many great outside shooters came from Holy Name?
I would do anything to go back into time like Michael J. Fox in ‘Back to the Future‘; to those days on the avenue with friends and the times spent in the schoolyard playing Around the World.
I’m also waiting with much patience for the day someone calls me ‘Red’, out here in Michigan.
But I will not hold my breath because the ‘doo’s’ not red anymore and it’s almost gone!
-SF
Hoops135@hotmail.com
CONTAINER DIARIES 
Charles Kawas said:
Red, have’nt seen anyone playing Kings in years, there are so many other games lost to the ages. Lets see Hide the Belt, Yellow-Jack 123,Red-Rover-Red-Rover, Mumph-Freeze, Buck-Buck, Boxes, and many more. Its to bad……………….
hoopscoach said:
Chas,
We played ‘Buck-Buck’ around the corner from Ballard’s pharmacy.
Hope you are well…
I could go for a Sunday morning of watching Farrell’s football
Helen Cole Prestia said:
When I was in kindgergarten or maybe first grade & we lived on 8th ave, I always wanted to play Red Rover (I’m not even sure if that’s the right name of the game) with my brother Jerry & his friends, Kevin Sullivan & his older brother, Doreen & Christine Kawas, I can’t even remember the others, they were older than me. Back then I was alot smaller then them. I remember I could never break through any of them. I would completely flip over their arms & scrape my boney ankles on the concrete. I spent the whole summer wearing those little round circle bandaid nobody else ever had any use for. I think they just wanted to get rid of me. I know the Sullivan’s never wanted me tagging along with my brother. Jerry was a very good overprotective big brother. One of them once asked “can I slap your sister?’ Being the Nice brother he was he replied “No one slaps my sister but me!” Gottta love him for that one.
Robin Mardini Adelson said:
I remember playing in my backyard before I started school. When I heard the church bells ring, I know that my sister, Clodette and brother, Suheil were coming home for lunch.
“Bewitched” was on TV-channel 7 at that time and I would hear the opening music.
When I was in school, I remember coming home for lunch and watching “Password” while eating lunch. We’d eat fast and run up to Ray and Otto’s for candy before the school bell rang!
Helen Cole Prestia said:
How about the Gong show in the summer? That was the funniest thing ever. Remember the Unknown Comic with the paper bag over his head???
BL said:
It’s funny how we remember the tiny detail’s of our youth .I remember Kevin Mahoney(K-Dev) had this basketball that was so worn down there was hardly any leather left on it.It was so slick you actually had to spit on your hand’s to grip it.But begger’s can’t be chooser’s, it usually was the only ball in the yard.I would rather not play than to use a rubber basketball.A rubber basketball would hit the rim and bounce all the way to 9th ave.
Tommy Cole said:
When I was in Holy Name everyone went home for lunch except those who had no adult home at lunchtime. To eat in the lunchroom you had to have a note and get special permission. We used to eat as fast as possible so we could get up to Rae and Otto’s and to the schoolyard. Lunchtime was when some of us got in the most trouble. Remember how we used to have to freeze wherever we were when the first bell rang, then scramble into line when the second bell rang? How bout flipping or pitching baseball cards in the schoolyard? Those boxes in the schoolyard…some of the brothers used to line us up – each guy on a corner – and have us do calistentics (at least Bro. Gerard, Bro. Servulus and Bro. Vincent did).
prospectparkswim said:
I never knew anyone stayed at school during lunch. I went home even with no adult home…..I’d read a book while I walked, get home, open a can or two of tuna in oil, read while I ate, drink the oil (ewww, I know) and then walk back to school, reading…..I walked into lampposts frequently.
Who supervised the lunchroom? How come you were allowed to go to Ray and Otto’s??
I remember wanting to walk to school by myself during first grade. My parents decided that they’d have to see if I could do it…they both followed me, several paces behind..it was ridiculous…..up Sherman, onto tenth, up Windsor. They finally left before I crossed Howard….I got to walk alone after that.
I remember Wednesdays needing to bring a snack for “snack time”. I used to bring a can of Hunt’s pudding. I would forget a spoon frequently and just bend the lid and use it. I LOVED that stuff. Pudding rocks.
I bought candy at Ray and Otto’s EVERY SINGLE DAY of my life…it’s an addiction I still deal with. I would eat Fun Dip, Blow Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Mary Janes, Red Hot Fire Balls, just to name some….right now in my kitchen I have Tootsie Pops and Tootsie Rolls.
Mary Anne (Brick) Monaco said:
Hey Charlie K
Do you remember on 16th street we would sometimes play
“Chase Charlie” When you would come out all the kids would try to catch you and you would run down 16th street like it was an obstacle course, running up stoops and jumping fences! I don’t think anyone ever caught you.
liz sabbagh said:
ROBIN,
I have the same pre-Holy Name memory. I remember when “Bewitched” came on Brian, Lori, Nu-Nu, Joe and Mark came home for lunch. Back then the T.V. announcer would say, “Beeewitched, in living color…”
How have you been?
Robin Mardini Adelson said:
Liz,
How are you? It’s great to hear from you! Are you planning to come to the Class of 1978 reunion?
Robin
liz sabbagh said:
I sure hope to. Happily, Jane surprised me with an e-mail last month. I can’t tell you how much I have been enjoying catching up. It’s amazing how much we’ve missed and didn’t know about each other’s lives, yet we seemed to have picked up right where we left off. I really am delighted that she reached out for me. I always loved Jane. We spent many a day sitting on her stoop talking about the trials and tribulations of boys and playing “Trouble”. Can’t wait to see everyone!
BETTY T.B.K. said:
Red I also loved when they called me red!!!! They also called me some other nick names but we wont go there. Im so happy I came to love my beautiful red hair, because like you it brought me alot of attention, I not only was a easy to spot as a red head, but I was a tall red head, and I couldnt get away with much. They seem to always know who I was. “I wonder why that was” LMAO Red its only in my 50s that I had to start touching my color, I was very fortunate. I have come to make a very important decision in my life and that is I WILL ALWAYS BE A RED HEAD TILL THE VERY END!!!!!!!!!! ONE DAY AT A TIME
hoopscoach said:
Betty,
Way to go!
Eileen Slavin McElroy said:
Ok to answer everyones lunchroom questions….
When I was in third grade, I think? my mom went to work at a job where she just felt Michael (aka yet another Red) and Eddy couldnt be trusted to feed me lunch and get me back to school, so I had to eat in the supposed “lunchroom”
We brown-bagged our lunch, ate in a classroom, supervised by a volunteer Mom or Mrs. Dinsmore and then got some run around time in the yard, before going back in for the afternoon.
I HATED it….I remember getting sick and vomiting all over a classroom, afer drinking a warm, orange, Sunny Dew in a juice container (holy crap, isnt it amazing the little details we recall?)
…cant remember the conversation with my mom after it, but I really dont remember having lunch in the “lunchroom” beyond third grade!
After that, it was making my own PB and J and heading back up to the yard asap, which wasnt hard when you lived on the avenue, right Steve?
Annemarie McGrath said:
I never had a nickname until I moved to the town I live in now….and here I am Annie….it’s not “Red”, lol, but it suits me…I think the reason I value my town here is because of how much like OUR neighborhood it is…
This morning at six forty five am, fifteen adults and children from our dirt road gathered on a neighbor’s lawn (the houses are very close together on this horseshoe shaped road) to rake it because the guy who lives there had shoulder surgery. This same guy spent four hours last winter on my roof when my husband was out of town, clearing off the snow so the roof wouldn’t cave in….
We all raked the crap out of his lawn then moved next door to do the neighbor’s……then, at around nine am, every kid in the neighborhood played whiffle ball on our front lawn, rode bikes, bounced on the trampoline next door, played lacrosse, tag and who knows what and then my husband and I walked about ten kids down the road to watch our friend white water kayak this crazy spot.
I don’t need to go back to our neighborhood to live, I got lucky enough to find it again, here…..and I believe it’s thanks to the fact that it was what I was looking for. We are so lucky to have grown up with all those kids all over the place. My kids are getting that now and although our house is not all that, it puts us right here…and for that, I am grateful.
Thanks, Red, Fin, Steve, for bringing this all together.
Jerry Cole said:
Helen,
Those were fun times back on 8th Avenue & 16th Street. I think you left out Lori & Tony Nemnom. Overprotective, well, maybe I was just a little bit. 😉 But, you didn’t need much protecting because you could always handle yourself pretty well.
Jerry
hoopscoach said:
Eileen,
You are correct. I hear the rent above some of those stores are sky high!
Jerry Cole said:
Coach,
How about a couple more famous Reds, Red Skelton, Red Ruffing, Red Schoendienst, Red Buttons, Red Grange and of course the Red Baron…..
Jerry
jim vackner said:
I too was called Red by the oldtimers on the block and hated it..Now it is a combination of red, blonde, and some grays. I get a lot of my folically challenged friends and relatives ticked off by complaining about the frequency I need to have my hair cut..
Steve, you were always known as Red on Windsor Place. I was never sure of Jocko, Augie and Schnozz’s real name as a kid. I used to run into Augie (16st) on the Staten Island Railway often. One day I was with a colleague from work and when I introduced them, he had to say his name because I had no clue…
hoopscoach said:
JC,
Good ones! Don’t forget ‘Red Bull’!
JV,
It’s amazing how we are remembered!
Rich Ferraiolo said:
Steve think you are right. With around the world you had to shoot from the outside and then to win from under the basket. And if I remember right Steve you never saw an outside shot you didn’t like.
Jim you still taking the Staten Island Railroad?
hoopscoach said:
Rich,
You are correct, but I wasn’t alone.
Rich Ferraiolo said:
We sure had a neighborhood of jump shooters.
hoopscoach said:
Even the big’s wanted to ‘chuck it up from the cheap seats’.
R.Powers said:
When I transferred from P.S 154 to HN I was starting fourth grade. This was a very traumatic experience for me. All of my peers were already settled in the school so I was all alone. Plus the frightening stories of the teachers and nuns from my peers and my sister, who is an alumnus? At that time the lunch room was well established and filled with students. I walked in; everyone turned their heads to me to watch where I sat. It was like walking into a jail cafeteria. So, I sat alone. J. Fraser dumps popcorn on my head. That’s it I had to prove myself so I gave the old fighting fist sign. Sure enough we fight in the yard. Both of us were disciplined. Then we became best friends and still talk to this day.
Tammy Triolo said:
In case anyone is curious R. Powers is my baby brother. I remember when I transferred over from Public to Private! That’s when I went from Sweet & Shy TOOOO! Well I’ll leave that to anyone’s guess. I am raisin’ my own now And payback is a %$#@$ times two.
hoopscoach said:
Tammy,
You were always sweet and shy. Raise your two the best you can; you’ll be ok. Hope you are well.
Always keep in mind with your kids; ‘be a model, not a critic’.
Kevin Mahoney said:
Brian,
I remember that old basketball of mine. Believe it or not, It lasted me all through high school.
Hope all is well.
richie krumbholz said:
is this tammy that lived on sherman st for a while, your mom was roberta right!!
hoopscoach said:
Richie,
I believe so…
JIM VACKNER said:
Rich,
I take the SIRR local if I catch the 5:15 or 5:30 ferry. I ‘m going to 200 Park in June.. you on the island ?
BT said:
Steven, I think I always called you Steven. But anyway, In the game Around the World, most people went out 4 boxes. It was always a good challenge as we got older to go out 5 boxes, and as you were coming down the final side, you had to go up and down in front of the rim taking only one shot and not the normal two shots. It wasen’t that bad to get sent back home to start all over again because you got to take a bunch more shots and challenge yourself to catch the guy who sent you home..
After that was all done you had to put your Butt Heels and your Head on the Pole and Hit the shot. Yes only one shot again. then you won the game and it was time to play again…..
hoopscoach said:
Bobby,
That’s what I was looking for. Going up and down with only one shot allowed. And then, you had to make that shot while pressed against the pole. It’s like the ‘Mikan’ shot when working out.
Good call!
BL said:
Kevin,You were an excellent basketball player.We had some great battles in Holy Name and 154.That basketball of your’s was amazing.We should have sent it to Springfield,as the most worn out basketball in history.If I remember correctly you had the only jumper in history with foward rotation.Hope all is well with you,you were a class act growing up.
jim vackner said:
I was playing horse a couple of years ago against some girl who bragged she played college ball. She was pretty good but all those days of spinning a ball on my finger ala Maravich paid off. My winning shot was spinning the ball on my finger from one end of the court to the other and laying it in. SHe told me ,” I can’t spin the ball on my finger!”. I replied ,”S*cks for you’ (Learned that from my young uns).. needless to say, she spun the ball on her finger for two steps, threw the ball the length of the court and lost. She then cursed and threw the ball against a fence.. I wondered if we were related.
jim vackner said:
The one thing about our neighborhood is that players did not shoot out of their range, Guys like Gerard and Jimmy, a good shot was anything past halfcourt. For myself, I was pretty good from around 15 feet if you drew a circle from the basket.
I think that is why so many of us do not enjoy the NBA like we used to. I remember guys like Starks who were quick and athletic putting up alot of threes instead of going to the hoop or trying to get a better shot. I remember whta they said about Oscar, if you gave him a ten footer, he wanted an eight footer, if you gave him a five footer, he wanted a layup. We were taught if you could get a shot closer or your teammate was closer, that was the shot that should be takedn for the team.
Rich Ferraiolo said:
I’m on the island now Jim. Catch the 7:15 or 7:30 boat in the morning and the 615-6:30 at night. I’m on 5th and 44th in the city
jim vackner said:
Rich,
I will be at Park and 43rd . Jerry Coles and Rich (don’t use nickname) are nearby. We shoudl try to get together. What part of the Island do you live? I’m in Grant City.
BL said:
When it comes to jumpers the the deeper the better.
jim vackner said:
BL,
By deeper, ya meaner closer to the hoop?
hoopscoach said:
One thing is for sure, there aren’t as many good outside shooters as there use to be! All kids want to do is dribble drive to the rack.
It takes time to get into the gym/schoolyard and put up 500 shots.
Kids have to put the time in…
Rich Ferraiolo said:
That was one thing Caoch Fin rarely did in his younger days. Going to the basket, but with the jumper i don’t blame him. Jim, I’m on Stobe below Mason. I catch the train at Jefferson
jim vackner said:
Red,
You got it right. I think playing all the time, just shooting around, and playing taps, around the world and horse, you developed good shooting habits like shooting the ball the same way every time with backspin and some height to the shot.
Speaking of Horse, go on YOUTUBE and you will see some great vdieos of the HORSE cometition in the NBA from years ago, especially Maravich and Westphal.
BL said:
BETWEEN THE HALF COURT AND TOP OF THE KEY.YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE FIRST ONE OR YOU WILL YANKED OUT OF THE GAME.MY MOTTO “IT’S ONLY A BAD SHOT IF IT DON’T GO IN.”LOL
Kevin Mahoney said:
Thanks, Brian. Those were some great days. Give my best to your brother, Michael.
Jim Sullivan said:
Finn,
I was on Bantam B with you. I don’t recognize a lot of the names you posted earlier though. When I was there, your class (78) was the older group, a.k.a., the starters, and my class (79) were the scrubs. Typically, win or lose we would score about 30-pts. Roughly…22-pts by you, 6-pts by Mickey Riley and 2-pts by the peanut gallery. If I remember correctly, at the end of the season Fonz &Tom Brady sent you to Bantam A and we started tanking. The only 79 guy I can recall is Richie Dixon.
I think Mussa may have left after that year and the only sports left at Holy Name were Bowling and touch Football, which were run by Mr. C. I think swimming survived too. We may have teamed with St. Savior’s on that one. Its hard to believe Holy Name went w/o baseball and basketball for years.
Annemarie McGrath said:
Jimmy. Swimming did NOT survive. (If I remember correctly) I first joined the Prospect Park swim team in 78/79 due to being told we would not have a swim team that year. I remember knocking on Kathy Cain’s door and asking if the rumor was true. She told me to go down and see her friend Al Huchthuasen at the Y. I went down there with Mark and John Ferro and my future brightened. I got fully into swimming and I met my husband that year!! Lucky me. (Okay, lucky him!)
Annemarie McGrath said:
PS I cried for hours that day, thinking life as I knew it was over if I could not swim at John Jay anymore….
hoopscoach said:
Jimmy,
Yep, you are correct. I confess though, I shot way too much that year. I could’ve hit the open man a bit better.
The names I mentioned were probably 2-3 earlier.
We had a lot of fun with Fonz and Tom Brady.
Boy do I miss those days. I’m searching for clips on You Tube as we speak.
Rich Ferraiolo said:
Knowing Fonz’s idea of shooting which was shoot till you get hot when you got hot keep shooting I can understand why you were doing a lot of shooting those days Steve
jim vackner said:
Rich,
I sometimes catch the ferry but not usually that late. I get off at Grant City. You don’t take the express bus from mid dtown (1or the 2)?
Rich Ferraiolo said:
very rarely. if i take the express bus its about 7am. Maybe one weekend we’ll meet at Nunzio’s get a couple slices
hoopscoach said:
Rich,
‘Run-Gun-& Have Fun’
jim vackner said:
Is that bad going uptown in the AM? I may be taking the bus and grab the 4 ?
Coach,
The run and gun was the ABA with DR. J . Gervin, Mc Guiness and others..
hoopscoach said:
Vackner,
Denver Nuggets slogan. Joe ‘Fonz’, Charlie Worsdale and co. use to mention it all the time. It’s how kids want to play today. Push the ball…
Rich Ferraiolo said:
That’s right steve run gun and have fun. can’t score if you don’t shoot. Its not bad going uptown just dont like spending 5 bucks for that bus ride jim unless i have to.
K.Molloy said:
Steve,
I’m pretty sure I was on every basketball team with you in Holy Name but I don’t remember Mickey Riley on our team or Sully. Granted my memory prior to 1983 is very,very bad and even after that its spotty. The only year I sorta remember is 7th grade but I only remember you me Juggy and John Godfrey from that team. I think the only team that beat us that year was the ringers from Visitation with the beards and mustaches:). I could be wrong though, I’d love to hear what you remember from that year and all of our basketball teams from Holy Name. Could you refresh my memories of who else was on the team? And how we did that year.
It was a huge tragedy that we didn’t get to play in 8th grade. It was the 77/78 school year. I cannot believe that was allowed happen. I would not even think of sending my kids to a school without a sports program today. To me it is a tool to keep kids focused and out of trouble, its not the cure all but it is an integral part of raising well rounded productive citizens in this crazy world.
I also strongly believe that basketball at that point in my life was my last link to normalcy. I was teetering on the edge at that point and once that link was broken I was completely out of contol for many years.
It is only by the Grace of God I am hear today with a good job and super great wife and family.
Anyway thats my story and I’m sticking to it:)
Tell me what you remember.
Kevin
hoopscoach said:
Kevin,
You turned out alright my man. Just remember, it’s not how you start it’s how you finish.
As for our career at Holy Name; man-o-man. I’m like you, things are spotty. I love hearing from guys about our playing days. I’ll give it a shot…
3rd grade – I played Bantam B. Most of the older guys were on that team. Jimmy C, Glenn T who were one year older. Frankie C, Jimmy W., who were two years older. Bantam B was 3rd, 4th and 5th grade.
4th grade – Played Bantam B again.
5th grade – Played on the Bantam A team for Danny Pisselli.
6th grade – my favorite year at HN. Bantam A again. Fonz and Tom Brady coached us.
7th grade – The Rookie team. The season you mentioned. We won a ton of games. Juggy was the youngster and he had a few good games.
8th grade – Again, like you mentioned above – no team. How bad was that? Johnny G took me out to Bensonhurst to play for Ty Cobbs and I didn’t like it. Think you are right about how important basketball was to us – come to think of it, when hoops was taken away, that might of been the start of my downfall.
Jim Sullivan said:
Kev, I don’t remember you on that team either, but it was long ago. The name Godfrey I now recall and in my efforts to think back I remember something worth posting…
We had a mascot. A rubber doll that sqweeked with a squeeze called Baby Finnster. It had blue cap and diaper. I remember we had some ritual during our pre-game with Finnster. The vision is of us in a semi-circle in what i think was Holy Family’s basement gym. Finnster is sitting on the edge of the stage (I think their gym did double duty).
I’ll have to smoke mushrooms and humm to the crystals to get anymore.
I can’t recitify your timeline. I’m guessing this would have been you 4th grade B team.
K.Molloy said:
I have a vague recollection of the baby Finnster thing but only of the references to it not the doll and I remember it coming from the Cullens for some reason.
I remember playing for Danny Pisselli and Fonz. I remember practicing in the freezing cold in the boys school yard and I can still see Pisselli licking his hands to some how keep them warm. And I remember on Fonz’s team he would make me jump and touch the taps bar for what seemed like the whole practice sometimes, trying to increase my vertical. I also remember the practices at PS 10’s.
Maybe someone with less memory impairment could help us out with the team rosters. Third grade for me and “Red” would be the 72/73 school year, fourth 73/74 etc,etc.
hoopscoach said:
Kev,
I don’t recall any mascot either.
Those practices in the schoolyard were unreal. Imagine a coach having his team out in the yard in the winter these days? The parents in the community would have his head!
Glenn Thomas said:
I remember those practices in the freezing cold in the Boys Schoolyard where all 6 baskets were used by the Bantam “A”, “B”, Rookie, and Intermediate. If there was snow we would shovel the schoolyard if we had to. We used to cut our gloves just below the knuckles so that we would have our finger tips to grip the ball. Danny Piselli would make us run around the schoolyard and wing the ball at us if we were’t running hard enough. We would practice after school @ 3:30PM and then on Saturday mornings from 9AM to 12PM. I can remeber going through the “walkthroughs” with our man to man or zone offenses. The older guys like Michael Routhier and Frankie Esposito and their crew would come and play defense against us for a while so that we could practice our sets. We were the “travel team” for we had no home court some years. PS 10 for one year. I remember traveling to the likes of OLA, OLPH, St. Agatha’s, St. Athanasius, and St. Mary Mother of Jesus for games. Parents would volunteer to drive or it was the bus or subway. I don’t remember winning too many games aside from the one bantam year when we were 6th graders.
hoopscoach said:
Don’t forget Regina Pacis. The fans stood and cheered overhead on the balcony!
What about Visitation in Red Hook? Talk about your ‘road games’.
Mike Mardini said:
No mention of Summer League! Cullens, Soup, Finn, everyone! Even some ringers from 17th street, etc. Hot nights and bunch of fun. The place is parking lot now. Hoops are long gone…….
hoopscoach said:
Mike good to hear from you. Stories about the summer league are all over the blog – you may have to do some searching. Enjoy the archives!