"It's a Lovely Ride" ~ Go Giants!

Tom 1969 Harris Field

Winning Sunday will warm my winter by ten degrees; it has been an amazing and dramatic New York Giant football season. This is the only sport I leave my heart unprotected. I’m grateful with all the cynicism that surrounds me that I can still feel this way about a team and one sport. My favorite activity remains playing catch with a football.

Go Giants!

Let’s make plays like this one.

Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!  This song makes me want to put the pads on.

"It's a lovely ride," sing it, James!

St. Stephen's 1974 Yorkville Football Champions

Jimmy & Tommy Super Bowl Partners

Asphalt Green 1974 Champs St. Stephen's

Cry, Cry, Cry

Carl Schurz Park party flyer 1974

Football from 1969 still with me

St. Stephens 1974 Yorkville Champs

Mom watching football game in 1969

Pryor

Carl Schurz Park 87th St 1961

25 Years Ago Today, The Giants Taught The Broncos To Play

25 years ago today, the New York Giants beat the Denver Broncos 39-20. I was there, in the worst seat in the Rose Bowl on Jan 25, 1987. I couldn't have been happier. That day was perfect. My Giant misery was finally over at 32 years old. Go Giants! 

If it was 1973 by chance, and I was 19, I'd go to Paragon's on 17th & Bdway, buy new football equipment, go to the Asphalt Green on York Avenue, and start a tackle football game. Bet you I'd have 22 guys in an hour.

On the sideline the girls with the radios played Dancin' In The Moonlight & Bargain. 

I always liked listening to Keith Moon when we hit each other.

New Column in "Our Town" Newspaper

Hi Friends, my newspaper column, "City Stories: Stoops to Nuts" starts today in Our Town, the Manhattan weekly.

It's an honor to write for a newspaper serving the community since 1970.

Early on, my grandmother contributed to the paper and I attended Our Town functions at the Central Park Boathouse. Our Town sent a reporter to the Asphalt Plant football field in March 1974 to cover the local PAL Championship won by St. Stephen's of Hungary.

Thank you, Manhattan Media and Allen Houston, Our Town's Executive Editor, for inviting me to write for a paper that's tied to my life and tied to my stories.

Thank you, for reading my stuff. I love to make you laugh.

Here is the link to the first story.

http://ourtownny.com/2011/02/23/undercooked-and-overcharged/

Dancing in the Moonlight

I love tackle football, always have, and encouraged it year round in Yorkville.

In my lifetime, I've played a tackle football game in every one of the twelve months. Many viewed this strange.

Finding a decent field to play tackle football in Yorkville was a challenge in the 1960s & 1970s. In Central Park you marked the sidelines on the rocky no drainage field by carefully placing your coats and bags in a row and making an end zone with your extra equipment. Nobody wanted to put there stuff far away from the action. It tended to walk off.

In 1973 the Asphalt Green opened ~ we played tackle football on our first authentic marked-off field. In March 1974, St. Stephen's of Hungary won the Championship.

Here's the Our Town newspaper article on that game and several photographs from 1973 and 1974.

At the conclusion of the "Pineapple Bowl," aka the "1973-1974 Yorkville PAL Football Championship" St. Stephen's celebrated on the sideline at 90th St & York Avenue. This song blasted on several radios, we rocked all day and danced in the moonlight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMc8naeeSS8&feature=related

First of May

I have a delicious dichotomy, I crave contact sports and I love the Bee Gees. Played tackle football down Carl Schurz Park at 6 years old, and bought New York Mining Disaster 1941 the week it came out. I'm a sucker for orchestrated rock, brothers or sisters singing harmony, and hitting three guys when they try to tackle me. The secret: hit them first, they think you are going to try to avoid them. Don't.

First of May was the first single off the terrific red velvet felt double album, Odessa (spring, 1969). What a gift, not a thunk on it, every song a keeper. It's one of those records that swiftly moves me from feeling sad to happy then back again to sad. Sweet music, I miss tackle. Please, don't tell my orthopedist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gewTWM6fH0



First of May

When I was small, and Christmas trees were tall,
we used to love while others used to play.
Don't ask me why, but time has passed us by,
someone else moved in from far away.
Now we are tall, and Christmas trees are small,
and you don't ask the time of day.
But you and I, our love will never die,
but guess who'll cry come first of May.
The apple tree that grew for you and me,
I watched the apples falling one by one.
And as I recall the moment of them all,
the day I kissed your cheek and you were gone.
Now we are tall, and Christmas trees are small,
and you don't ask the time of day.
But you and I, our love will never die,
but guess who'll cry come first of May.
When I was small, and Christmas trees were tall,
do do do do do do do do do ...
Don't ask me why, but time has passed us by,
someone else moved in from far away.

1974 Pineapple Bowl Champions

St. Stephen's of Hungary ~ 1974 Pineapple Bowl Champions ~ above from the top left: Tom Pryor, Joe Menesick, Karl Feldman, Eddie Hauser, Eddie Zimmel, Gerard Bakay, Eddie Ohfer, Buzzie, Mike Roberts, second row, Eddie Ekis, Al Maher in front of Ekis, Russell Deutch, Freddy Muller, Benny Romano, Robby McGreal, Kevin Burns. Not shown, Dr. Robert Hauser, Hunter College.
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Below is an article on the Pineapple Bowl game from Our Town, the local newspaper.

In 1973 the Yorkville churches, Settlement Houses and Police Pcts. created a short lived Yorkville Football League. The 19th & 23rd Pct. sponsored the league paying for jerseys and referees. We had one championship game, The Pineapple Bowl.

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The Pineapple Bowl matched Lenox Hill Settlement House versus St. Stephen's of Hungary in January 1974 at the Asphalt Plant football field on York Avenue & 90th Street. St. Stephen's rolled over Lenox Hill 24-0. This win was sweet for St. Stephen's because Lenox Hill included most of the guys who regularly kicked our butts in touch football down John Jay Park. This lopsided rivalry between Carl Schurz Park and John Jay Park lasted ten years.

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Freddy Muller, Mike Roberts, Benny Romano and myself got our revenge. We were the four regular doormats for the John Jay guys.

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Joe Menesick, one of Yorkville's all-time best athletes, had a terrific game playing out of position at half back (normally he played center). Joe ran the ball for 170 yards. It was my pleasure, to finally lead Joe on a run rather than him always leading me. I loved being flat on my back after a block and lifting my head to see Joe running over the body of the guy I just cleared. Joe was a train.

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John Jay beat us in touch but Carl Schurz kicked their ass in tackle. That's a fact.

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The St. Stephen's Pineapple Bowl party down Carl Schurz Park lasted six months, until we resumed getting our regular beatings playing touch down John Jay's.

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They had talent, we had heart.

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I Don't Like the Eagles

I don't like any Philadelphia sports teams. The Eagles are not the Anti-Christ from Dallas, but serve the underlord well. Like the other lesser devils, the Washington Redskins and the San Francisco 49ers, the Eagles must die.

Great piece in today's NYTimes Fifth Down on the Giants/Eagles history.

Goooooooooooooooo Giiiiiiiiiiiiiants!

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/

That's me running the football for the St. Stephen's/19th Pct. team against the Our Lady Of Good Counsel/23rd Pct. team in the 1974 Pineapple Bowl. The Pineapple Bowl was the Manhattan Eastside PAL Football Championship held at the Asphalt Green field on York Avenue and 90th Street. OLGC/23rd Pct. also served the underlord. St. Stephen's crushed the serpent 23-7.