[quote="fuchsia" post=385820][quote="Beast of the East" post=385778][quote="RedStormNC" post=385775][quote="Las Vegan" post=385731][quote="Monte" post=385705]Definitely too early to make any decisions on attending any kind of events, but I would really have to think long and hard about ever attending an event CA again, when you consider the lack of air circulation and how cramped it is. I feel like I dodged a bullet the week of March 7th-14th, when I was at MSG 3 times. Plus subways, buses, etc. Not going to be pushing my luck anytime soon.[/quote]
Your post reminded me of a story from years ago. An alum and long-time season ticket holder spoke to AD, Ed Manetta, at halftime of a game at the Alumni Hall sweatbox, and begged him to open the windows above the red seats to get some fresh, cool air into the arena. Manetta responded he couldn't do it because pigeons would fly in.[/quote]
Screen windows are very expensive ![/quote]
Playing literally thousands of games on NYC asphalt playgrounds, I had completely forgotten how on many days you had to gauge the wind when shooting from the outside. You could actually develop some deft skill shooting into a headwind, or to the left or right of the basket in a crosswind. Totally something our kids missed, and that's too bad.[/quote]
As a Rockaway kid biking to Riis Park to play I found the hardest shot to make was from the ocean side corner, where the on shore breeze made everything go way long after 2PM.[/quote]
Exactly!!! I didn't know you were a Rockaway kid. What street were the famous courts on? The one near the McGuire's bar? Was that at Beach 108? or Beach 98?
It was uncanny how some kids could even get hot from the outside playing the winds. Sometimes a good gust could create an airball that missed the rim by a good 3 to 4 feet, or if you misread the wind or it went dead just as you released. Playng inside on varnished wooden floors, nets on hoops, temperatures that were not either broiling hot or frostbite cold made indoor basketball seems like an elite, almost girls game.
Playing outside with woolen gloves, where some of us wore only one to feel the frigid ball. Melting snow didn't stop us, and playing in soaked woolen gloves, a wet basketball, glassy eyes, and a runny nose seemed routine in winter. Forget about it if you jammed a finger in winter - you feared your frozen fingers may snap off in the cold.
When I was 18 or so, I'd ride my bike from Richmond Hill up Cross Bay Blvd, over the first bridge to Broad Channel, then over the 2nd bridge to Rockaway (that's exactly what we called the bridges - 1st and second although they may have specific names. The first bridge I think was free and the second a toll bridge, correct? Either way then the toll was a quarter or 50 cents.
If one of us got a car, the game was always for the passenger to try to hook shot a quarter into the toll basket. Of course we had a paucity of change and that was when a quarter meant something, so missing the basket meant getting out and searching for the quarter, to the anger and chagrin of drivers behind us. The errant shooter was likely to get punched or smacked by the driver and rear seat passengers, all in good fun and a lot of laughs.
There are legendary courts in Rockaway, that Cousy played on, the McGuires played on, and guys would travel from all over the city to play against the best. I believe that even Alcindor came to the Rockaways, and maybe the last group included Len Elmore. By the mid 70s though, it was done. A good friend of mine would shoot baskets on that court as it were a ghostly shrine or museum - hallowed ground that attracted some of the best players ever. By the grass had sprouted up in the cracks in the asphalt. t's been a long time, so it may have actually been cement and not asphalt. We would take our bikes to the beach in early may and all summer - a basketball could be tucked in the carrier behind the seat and secured with a small bungee, or more likely a rubber book strap with those metal clasps.
I had a Schwinn Varsity - which was about 25 bucks cheaper than a Continental, and a much heavier bike, which was mostly bad but made it a tank. It was bright orange and I paid for it with money I earned working at the A&P at $2.10 an hour, so 25 bucks plus tax was a huge difference to me back then.
If the ball got loose tearing down Cross Bay Blvd, that could be an adventure retrieving it. We'd ride through the back streets of Centreville behind John Adams, and over the Belt Parkway over a small Bridge into Old Howard Beach. We'd turn onto Cross Bay Blvd in front of the Cross Bay Lanes (which I think was torn down to build a shopping mall. Riding a bike on Cross Bay in Howard Beach was treacherous with drivers not looking for bikes as they swung onto Cross Bay or swung open their car doors.
Back then you could drink when you turned 18, but I waited till 19. We'd stop at a beer distributor just before the first bridge and buy a six pack, and then stop in a deli for sandwiches. Just about the best lunches I've ever had were consumed on the boardwalk benches - a few cold beers, a fresh hero, a great ocean view, and chat where basketball consumed 75% of topics covered, girls another 20, then maybe 5% on other important matters. Glorious summers..