Gene Fisch

[SkanSU]

Oops again ... and you believed everything the nuns told you?

 

[Orangeyes]

Oops again ... and you believed everything the nuns told you?

I had no choice, the triangular rulers they used to skin your knuckles with were no joke.

 

[SkanSU]

I had a teacher whoused to throw erasers at us ... and those were the hard kind. And then we had ... Mr. Kidd!!

 

[sutomcat]

St. John the Evangelist was one of the top academic schools in the area. CBA followed by Nottingham followed by St. John's was the pecking order for a top education.

CBA=$$$

Nottingham=$$$

St. John's=An equal chance for all to get a top notch edumacation.

What kind of a reputation did St Vincent's have?

Match the Parochial League Members with Big East schools

Assumption
Most Holy Rosary
Sacred Heart
St Anthony's
St John the Baptist
St John the Evangelist
St Lucy's
St Patrick's
St Vincent's

In other words, which schools won the most? Which had the most rabid fans? Which schools were the snootiest? Which schools bent the rules the most (recruiting, playing ineligible players, etc.)? Which schools lost the most?

 

[Orangeyes]

What kind of a reputation did St Vincent's have?

What kind of a reputation did St Vincent's have?

Match the Parochial League Members with Big East schools

Assumption
Most Holy Rosary
Sacred Heart
St Anthony's
St John the Baptist
St John the Evangelist
St Lucy's
St Patrick's
St Vincent's

In other words, which schools won the most? Which had the most rabid fans? Which schools were the snootiest? Which schools bent the rules the most (recruiting, playing ineligible players, etc.)? Which schools lost the most?

Match the Parochial League Members with Big East schools

That will take some time, will think about this question later on
Assumption
Most Holy Rosary
Sacred Heart
St Anthony's
St John the Baptist
St John the Evangelist
St Lucy's
St Patrick's
St Vincent's

You left out the 10th Catholic school Cathedral

Who won the most?

1. Sacred Heart
2. St John the Evangelist
2. St Patrick's

That's the way I remember it from my 5 years at Parochial Schools

Which had the most rabid fans?

Sacred Heart, they had the most to cheer about. Going to their gym was crazy.

Which schools were the snootiest?

I never thought any of them were snooty

Which schools bent the rules the most (recruiting, playing ineligible players, etc.)?

Being at St John's we would hear other schools accuse us of all kinds of things related to recruiting. When we were on top it would come in heavy doses. We would dish it back.

There is no doubt that Bob Felasco was highly competitive. I can remember the day he recruited me. We had just played our last game at Franklin School, our home court, and we just got finished shaking hands with the other team. Coach taps me on the shoulder and says, "I hear you play baseball as well, you are planning on attending St. John's high school aren't you!? I told him that it was my dream to follow in my cousins footsteps. My cousin was the point guard for basketball and catcher on the baseball team a couple of years before.

Then Bob would go to the next kid on the team that he wanted, etc. One of Felasco's co-workers from GE, Tony Nardello, who just recently passed away, was our coach. He acted as a secondary scout since he saw all the players in the grammar school division we played in.

So say we played Blessed Sacrament and he spotted Russell Cusano, who was the best point guard in the league, he would no doubt let Bob know about him. With Felasco's contacts being strong from his hey days at North and SU, he had a lot of friends who were both refs and coaches.

I never heard of any of the schools using ineligible players. I know our school was very strict about academics.

Who was the biggest loser?

During my time it was Cathedral who had a run of glory before my time.

One area you didn't cover was the social aspect. Most of the schools had dances after their games. I was very shy and would go to the dance but I would hover with the rest of the guys on one side. There we would check out the chicks who were on the other side and tell war stories, mostly lies.

My wife says the CBA dances were the best, you can only imagine why. Cherie, did you like the CBA dances? Dianne also said St. John the Baptist had good ones. Usually you would stay for a while for the dance at the school you just played unless there was too much bad blood going on or you lost. When you won, you were sort of kings of the castle. I used to like the St . Pat's dances because my buddy said a girl there had a crush on me. I never did find out who she was. He lived just down the street on Milton so as I look back at it, he played me like a cheap violin. Whatever school had Sam & the Twister's would have the best attendance. Sadly only one member of that group, Jan Fetterly, is still playing, and yes he is Kyle's uncle. I get out from time to time to get in touch with the past, Fooba Wooba John.

Here is a site that will stir some memories.

Interview with the late Sam Amato

Syracuse, New York Rock Music: 1960s - 1970s

Fetterly's present band, Smokin

 

[IthacaMatt]

As a kid growing up in the Parochial league I was just as fanatic about basketball as I am now. In grammar school and high school I was lucky enough to witness some of the greatest games, players and coaches to grace Central New York's gymnasium's.

At one point, a few years ago I was even going to write a book on the league. I knew my best resources were near the end of the their lives and I would have to interview them while they were still here and of sound mind. I wasn't going to do this for any monetary gain, goodness knows this project would probably lose money. No, I would do this as a service to the community, a way of saying thank you to an era that was truly glorious and unique. To preserve the memories of several generations and maybe put together a shrine to the people who made so many happy moments for so many people growing up in and around it.

If you are too young to remember the Parochial League or if you have never heard of it you were my intended audience. The book would serve as a reference and guide to an era of tiny gyms, and David versus Goliath encounters that were staged at the War Memorial between the Champions of the Parochial League and the City League. The Parochial League was always David and many times they overcame their big city brothers.

Most of the makeup of the Parochial league teams were of neighborhood kids of similar ethnic backgrounds. Sacred Heart was mostly the "Polocks", St. Pat's the "Irishmen" and Assumption the "Italian's".

Some schools like mine, St. John The Evangelist, were comprised of hybrids, as kids like me who had no nearby Catholic Church, migrated downtown. We also were the destination for most of the Eastwood kids who graduated from Blessed Sacrament some six miles away.

Gene Fisch was perhaps the greatest player to have played in the Parochial league. I remember seeing him up close and noticing that the skin on his face didn't look normal in spots. I learned that he had been in a prisoner of war camp in Poland during the Russian takeover and was scalded with hot water by his communist captors. Whether or not that story was true I have no way of knowing but everyone knew that story and we all believed it.

I never did do the book, as I was told by the Onondaga Historical Society that someone was already in the process of doing that history. A few years later I checked back to see if and when the book was going to be published. I tracked the author to Chicago. To my dismay I learned that the book was going to cover the Bishop Ludden era forward. That era came sometime after the Parochial League's demise.

Bob Felasco, coach at St. John the Evangelist and a former Orangeman basketball player as well as Greater Syracuse HOF inductee who passed away last year

There is still a book to be written but some of the main resources have since died. Below is the Hall of Fame bio of Gene Fisch, Geno as we called him. Regrettably, it doesn't even scratch the surface of his greatness as seen through the eyes of the child that I was. "Geno" will be inducted into the Greater Syracuse Hall of Fame tomorrow right along with Syracuse greats, Chris Gedney, John Cherundolo and Bernie Fine. I just thought I should let you know a little bit more about him and that bygone era that holds so many sweet memories for those of us who lived it.

Congratulations Gene and and thanks for the memories of a lifetime.

Gene Fisch Hall of Fame Bio
　
　
Was he the greatest basketball player in Parochial League history? That question can be debated but never answered to the satisfaction of all. But, Gene Fisch's ball-handling wizardry was legendary. In 1959, and only a sophomore, Fisch, along with senior Dick Pospiech, led Adam Markowski's Sacred Heart team to its first Parochial League championship and an unblemished 21-0 record. The next two seasons Fisch led the Hearts to two regular season titles and one playoff crown. He was the league's leading scorer despite not even measuring six foot tall. He was rated the best player, pound for pound, during his time in the Parochial League. Fisch went on to play collegiately at New York University.

As a young kid growing up on the near west side, I went to St. Lucy's for church, Delaware Elementary for school. I grew up watching 1960s Parochial League games. Mark Higgins was a friend of mine who starred for St. Lucy's as a center, back in the mid-to-late 60s.

 

[tipphill]

St. John the Evangelist was one of the top academic schools in the area. CBA followed by Nottingham followed by St. John's was the pecking order for a top education.

CBA=$$$

Nottingham=$$$

St. John's=An equal chance for all to get a top notch edumacation.

sorry orange eyes pats, rosary, baptists were the better education

 

[tipphill]

What kind of a reputation did St Vincent's have?

Match the Parochial League Members with Big East schools

Assumption
Most Holy Rosary
Sacred Heart
St Anthony's
St John the Baptist
St John the Evangelist
St Lucy's
St Patrick's
St Vincent's

In other words, which schools won the most? Which had the most rabid fans? Which schools were the snootiest? Which schools bent the rules the most (recruiting, playing ineligible players, etc.)? Which schools lost the most?

 

[tipphill]

What kind of a reputation did St Vincent's have?

Match the Parochial League Members with Big East schools

Assumption
Most Holy Rosary
Sacred Heart
St Anthony's
St John the Baptist
St John the Evangelist
St Lucy's
St Patrick's
St Vincent's

In other words, which schools won the most? Which had the most rabid fans? Which schools were the snootiest? Which schools bent the rules the most (recruiting, playing ineligible players, etc.)? Which schools lost the most?

in my very skewed memory in the late 50's vincents and st. pats were the powerhouses---60's were evangelists, hearts and baptists--i think lucy's bent the rules the most in terms of eligibility, the standing joke in GRAMMAR school was that their players didn't take the bus to the games,they could drive. not sure about that--lots of nice guy's went there though.

 

[Orangeyes]

sorry orange eyes pats, rosary, baptists were the better education

Not the year I graduated and I stand firm by that.

Father Casey would never lie

 

[bevosu]

I have no dog in this fight, I went to a Syracuse public high school for 1 year after I moved to the Salt City.

But...hanging around with a bunch of guys from St Vincent in the early/mid 60's..most of them lived around the Burnet Ave area..from either side of Teale Ave to just west of Oak St...all south of James St.

Some of them were pretty good basketball players...can't vouch for their academic credentials.

Can anybody tell me why the local news services always seem to refer to the area around Oak south of James (Green St, Gertrude St, Hawley Ave) to Burnet as the north side..always seemed like the east side to me. Must be anything north of Erie Blvd in that area is considered north?

 

[SkanSU]

I have no dog in this fight, I went to a Syracuse public high school for 1 year after I moved to the Salt City.

Can anybody tell me why the local news services always seem to refer to the area around Oak south of James (Green St, Gertrude St, Hawley Ave) to Burnet as the north side..always seemed like the east side to me. Must be anything north of Erie Blvd in that area is considered north?

Essentially anythng east of Teal was the east side ... where Burnet to Genesee was considered the near north side and beyond the far north side. The far north side were represented by the Germans and Italians, while, as I recall, below was a mixture of ethnicity. Just like the near west side (Sacred Heart) was the heart of the Polish population and as you went further west (Tipp Hill) you ran into the Irish. The east side was represented more by Eastwood. Correct me anybody if I am wrong here

 

[thecoz1]

Bevosu and SkanSu: I grew up down the street from Lincoln Park. Always thought of it as the east side. Lincoln Park and St. Vincent's are on the east side to everybody in Syracuse except the local news media. They somehow moved the Park and V's to the north side. St. Vincents was the only Parochial League High School on the east side. The north side was north of James Street and bounded on the east by Teall Ave., on the north by Court St. and down to MacArthur Stadium, and on the west by North Salina St. Assumption and Baptist are on the north side. Hearts, Pat's, Rosary and Lucy's are on the west side. Anthony's is on the south side and Evangelist and Cathedral are downtown.

 

[tipphill]

Not the year I graduated and I stand firm by that.

Father Casey would never lie

great stuff!!! i wish i could post a picture of MONSINGOR DRISCOLL, from st.pats---their is a very nice picture of him at coleman's on tipp hill.i'll buy you beer there sometime, and we can chat about the parochial league... by the way if you are ever their check out the "mug club"they still have their mugs there from the 50's, great photo op

 

[tipphill]

Match the Parochial League Members with Big East schools

That will take some time, will think about this question later on
Assumption
Most Holy Rosary
Sacred Heart
St Anthony's
St John the Baptist
St John the Evangelist
St Lucy's
St Patrick's
St Vincent's

You left out the 10th Catholic school Cathedral

Who won the most?

1. Sacred Heart
2. St John the Evangelist
2. St Patrick's

That's the way I remember it from my 5 years at Parochial Schools

Which had the most rabid fans?

Sacred Heart, they had the most to cheer about. Going to their gym was crazy.

Which schools were the snootiest?

I never thought any of them were snooty

Which schools bent the rules the most (recruiting, playing ineligible players, etc.)?

Being at St John's we would hear other schools accuse us of all kinds of things related to recruiting. When we were on top it would come in heavy doses. We would dish it back.

There is no doubt that Bob Felasco was highly competitive. I can remember the day he recruited me. We had just played our last game at Franklin School, our home court, and we just got finished shaking hands with the other team. Coach taps me on the shoulder and says, "I hear you play baseball as well, you are planning on attending St. John's high school aren't you!? I told him that it was my dream to follow in my cousins footsteps. My cousin was the point guard for basketball and catcher on the baseball team a couple of years before.

Then Bob would go to the next kid on the team that he wanted, etc. One of Felasco's co-workers from GE, Tony Nardello, who just recently passed away, was our coach. He acted as a secondary scout since he saw all the players in the grammar school division we played in.

So say we played Blessed Sacrament and he spotted Russell Cusano, who was the best point guard in the league, he would no doubt let Bob know about him. With Felasco's contacts being strong from his hey days at North and SU, he had a lot of friends who were both refs and coaches.

I never heard of any of the schools using ineligible players. I know our school was very strict about academics.

Who was the biggest loser?

During my time it was Cathedral who had a run of glory before my time.

One area you didn't cover was the social aspect. Most of the schools had dances after their games. I was very shy and would go to the dance but I would hover with the rest of the guys on one side. There we would check out the chicks who were on the other side and tell war stories, mostly lies.

My wife says the CBA dances were the best, you can only imagine why. Cherie, did you like the CBA dances? Dianne also said St. John the Baptist had good ones. Usually you would stay for a while for the dance at the school you just played unless there was too much bad blood going on or you lost. When you won, you were sort of kings of the castle. I used to like the St . Pat's dances because my buddy said a girl there had a crush on me. I never did find out who she was. He lived just down the street on Milton so as I look back at it, he played me like a cheap violin. Whatever school had Sam & the Twister's would have the best attendance. Sadly only one member of that group, Jan Fetterly, is still playing, and yes he is Kyle's uncle. I get out from time to time to get in touch with the past, Fooba Wooba John.

Here is a site that will stir some memories.

Interview with the late Sam Amato

Syracuse, New York Rock Music: 1960s - 1970s

Fetterly's present band, Smokin

great post -- how about wilmer alexander and the dukes at suburban park. the dukes still play--mostly in rochestor--geneva area. i saw them at carrier cr., at a hotel they were still great---no more wilmer though.they are known as the incredible dukes now
please correct me if i have any misinformation

 

[bevosu]

great post -- how about wilmer alexander and the dukes at suburban park. the dukes still play--mostly in rochestor--geneva area. i saw them at carrier cr., at a hotel they were still great---no more wilmer though.they are known as the incredible dukes now
please correct me if i have any misinformation

Wilmer and The Dukes...their biggie..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD1DfiPOoHU

 

[tipphill]

Actually I never heard of him which makes me think he didn't go to Rosary but maybe it was a little before me.

Weird city trivia:
Lucy's is considered the near west side, in fact the city and SU's West side initiative is centered all around St Lucy's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_Westside,_Syracuse

Old timers call Tipp Hill and the Sacred Heart area etc the far west side. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Westside,_Syracuse

st.pats is in the area called the WEST END and i am an old timer.

 

[alibrat66]

Just received a very gracious and warm email from Gene. He enclosed his acceptance speech at the Hall of Fame banquet. Very inspiring. Syracuse ought to be very proud of him.

This thread has brought back many memories for me. Thank you.

I graduated from Eastwood in 1959. We won the city baseball crown that year (Howie Stethers pitched for us), came in 2nd or 3rd in football, and were the middle of the pack in basketball. I stay in touch with many of my high school friends. My brother played for Felasco at Evangelist, my younger brother, not very athletic, also went to St. John's. My youngest brother and sister went to Ludden & Grimes. My eldest sister went to Convent School. Kind of the UN of high schools represented by my family!

 

[SkanSU]

Whoa ... talking about memories. Wilmer and the Dukes ... and Suburban Park ...Whenever we travel out on west past Manlius I always point out to my wife - that's where Suburban Park used to be and she always says ... "So" (She's not from around here) ... remember right across the road used to be the Manlius Military Academy. Wilmer and the original Dukes can't still be around ... they gotta be at least ... well old.

Those old WOLF pictures do bring back memories ... I used to work down there, on occasion, with Roger Zinzser ... we were both Sr.s and he was big into radio and television.

 

[alibrat66]

Apropos for this thread:

http://biggeekdad.com/2011/05/i-wish-i-was-eighteen-again/

George would be 116 today, if it weren't for those damn cigars! (I have one in my mouth as I type these words.)

 

[SkanSU]

Apropos for this thread:

http://biggeekdad.com/2011/05/i-wish-i-was-eighteen-again/

George would be 116 today, if it weren't for those damn cigars! (I have one in my mouth as I type these words.)

I love this thread ... it's jogging the memory cobwebs that are driving me crazy!! Hey, Tipp Hill do you remember when Coleman's was just a hole in the wall ... 2 rooms with a pass through between them ... the bar area had a pool table (never balanced) ... and the other room had the tables for "dates". Pete was always there and was so much younger than than now ...

 

[Cheriehoop]

I love this thread ... it's jogging the memory cobwebs that are driving me crazy!! Hey, Tipp Hill do you remember when Coleman's was just a hole in the wall ... 2 rooms with a pass through between them ... the bar area had a pool table (never balanced) ... and the other room had the tables for "dates". Pete was always there and was so much younger than than now ...

I remember that well. The bartender was Buzzard Moriarty who had a deformed arm and made All parochial in basketball and baseball for St Pat's years ago. He was a jailer for the sheriffs dept. His grandsons Pat and Kevin Barrett played for Ludden in the early, middle 2000's. A regular neighborhood character at Colemans was Matt Cleary, a deaf guy who almost lived at the bar.
Peter had a heart attack at 39 and gave up drinking totally. His mom used to live in the upstairs aparment which is now a banquet type room.

 

[Orangeyes]

great post -- how about wilmer alexander and the dukes at suburban park. the dukes still play--mostly in rochestor--geneva area. i saw them at carrier cr., at a hotel they were still great---no more wilmer though.they are known as the incredible dukes now
please correct me if i have any misinformation

Oh man you're killing me. When I was younger all I wanted to do when I grew up, besides play pro baseball & basketball, was be a DJ. So here I go these are 45's kids

Give me one more chance

Get Out Of My Life

Wilmer & The Dukes - Love-Itus/Show Me (Medley)

I Do Love You

and an instrumental

Get It

I think I saw myself on the dance floor
Here they are playing Living in the USA & One More Chance at the Poor House East

 

[Orangeyes]

I love this thread ... it's jogging the memory cobwebs that are driving me crazy!! Hey, Tipp Hill do you remember when Coleman's was just a hole in the wall ... 2 rooms with a pass through between them ... the bar area had a pool table (never balanced) ... and the other room had the tables for "dates". Pete was always there and was so much younger than than now ...

I remember my West End friends taking me there in junior year. After hearing about the place for two years it wasn't what I was expecting. I was under age but my friends said don't worry Pete serves anyone. It was wide open and the lighting was very bright. The floor was a mess, so this is Coleman's, needless to say I wasn't very impressed but the neighborhood kids loved it.

 

[tipphill]

I remember that well. The bartender was Buzzard Moriarty who had a deformed arm and made All parochial in basketball and baseball for St Pat's years ago. He was a jailer for the sheriffs dept. His grandsons Pat and Kevin Barrett played for Ludden in the early, middle 2000's. A regular neighborhood character at Colemans was Matt Cleary, a deaf guy who almost lived at the bar.
Peter had a heart attack at 39 and gave up drinking totally. His mom used to live in the upstairs aparment which is now a banquet type room.

i think that was his brother mush wasn't mush chief of the fire dept. in syracuse at one time?