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Message: [QUOTE="Orangeyes, post: 43481, member: 34"] [B][COLOR=#000080]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. [/COLOR][/B] [B][COLOR=#000080]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.[/COLOR][/B] [B][COLOR=#000080]If you are too young to remember the Parochial League or if you have never heard of it you were one of my intended audiences. 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.[/COLOR][/B] [IMG]http://media.syracuse.com/news/photo/9596770-large.jpg[/IMG] [B][COLOR=#000080]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". [/COLOR][/B] [IMG]http://media.syracuse.com/opinion/photo/9727637-large.jpg[/IMG] [B][COLOR=#000080]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. [/COLOR][/B] [B][COLOR=#000080]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 German takeover and was scalded with hot water by his captors. Whether or not that story was true I have no way of knowing but everyone knew that story and we all believed it. Edit: It was true, the Germans were using Polish prisoners as guinea pigs to do skin graphs in practice for when they had to treat their soldiers who had burns.[/COLOR][/B] [B][COLOR=#000080]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 his book was going to cover the Bishop Ludden era forward. That era came sometime after the Parochial League's demise.[/COLOR][/B] [IMG]http://mi-cache.legacy.com/legacy/images/Cobrands/Syracuse/Photos/o186709felasc_20100415.jpg[/IMG] [B][SIZE=2][COLOR=#000080]Bob Felasco, coach at St. John the [SIZE=1]Evangelist [/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#000080]and a former Orangeman basketball player as well as Greater Syracuse HOF inductee who passed away last year[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B] [B][COLOR=#000080]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.[/COLOR][/B] [B][COLOR=#000080]Congratulations Gene and and thanks for the memories of a lifetime.[/COLOR][/B] [SIZE=4][COLOR=#000080][B][SIZE=4]Gene Fisch Hall of Fame Bio[/SIZE][/B] [B][SIZE=4]　[/SIZE][/B] [B][SIZE=4]　[/SIZE][/B] [B][SIZE=4]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.[/SIZE][/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] [/QUOTE]

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