Book Reports

This page is going to talk about the books I have read in 2020. It will be in the form of book reports, for a sense of nostalgia for grade school and high school years.

I read the first 9 chapters of Basketball Junkie by Chris Herren and Bill Reynolds in 2019, so I will start 2020 with chapter 10. Now, Chris is in Bologna, Italy to play for that city’s basketball team. But thanks to his addiction and the fact that the team’s training facility is in the mountains near no major town, he realized that he cannot procure his drugs for his habit and goes home. When he arrived in Massachusetts, he learned that he was released by the Celtics. So he and his dad go to Istanbul where Chris is in rehab but also signs for a major team - Galatasaray S.K. Chris described what type of city Istanbul is – glamorous city center but poor districts elsewhere. But while on the Galatasaray S.K. team, he tries to procure heroin from the ball boy. In Chapter 11 Chris is now playing in China with the Beijing Ducks. He is one of two Americans on the team. Unfortunately, he is now hooked on heroin, and is supplied by a Nigerian dealer. He described Beijing as a city of extremes – upscale in one area and third world in another, with lots of traffic and smog. He told us about a road trip to play a team in a town near the Pakistan border, with no ethnic Chinese living there, and being told to not leave the hotel because it is too dangerous for Americans. In the next season he is playing in Nanjing. To him, it is not a pretty place – in the middle of nowhere with all of the buildings made of concrete. One night he was at a club and got into a fight and ended up spending several hours in jail. After his tenure in Nanjing, he played for three weeks in Warsaw before returning to New Eng;land. His wife Heather and the two kids are living in Portsmouth RI. Chris managed to play in the Continental Basketball Association for a team in Bismarck ND. To get drugs he would shuttle between Bismarck and Providence. By chapter 12 he is really struggling with addiction. He spent his NBA pension and emptied out the Paine Webber account. But his kids are doing well in Portsmouth that’s to Heather and the Portsmouth schools. Then his grandfather died and then his mother (in the summer of 2005). In the fall of 2006 he got to play in Tehran, and over there his taxi driver got him his fixes. But he did have nice things to say about Tehran – the people are friendly, and the city is not as isolated as we think here. The middle class residents yearn for a return of the royal family. The team he plays for is named Paykan, after the sponsor, a car company. After the season he returns to the USA and was invited to stay at the home of a former teacher that he had (Mary Parker) while at Fresno State. Her family lives in a town called Oakhurst near Yosemite National Park. While staying with the Parkers he became a fitness instructor at a fitness resort but soon is on crystal meth, which is worse than heroin. Soon Heather and the two kids arrive and he rented a Cadillac Escalade to drive to Oakland to pick them up. But since he was stoned, he drove the wrong way and ended up in Modesto – broke but still able to get drunk and then arrested. Soon Heather and the kids return to New England and lived in Middletown RI. She soon took him back, as she wanted him to again be the man she married. But Chris was still addicted, with his life revolving around drug dealers. When we get to chapter 13 it’s 2007 and he is hooked on heroin and vodka. Chris w sable to get a job as a fitness instructor at the University of Rhode of Rhode Island but that did not last. Then it was a series odd jobs and then soon the utilities would be turned on and then off. When he rode into Fall River to score, people would recognize him but he barely acknowledged them. Then one day he was dead for 30 seconds with a needle in his arm. In chapter 14 he arrives in rehab at Daytop in Rhinebeck NY, something that Chris Mullins arranged for him. Chris described life there – spartan and disciplined. Then one day he was able to go on leave to be with Heather for the birth of his third child. While in Rhode Island he bought vodka and was soon in trouble back at Daytop. One inmate suggested that he leave his family for their sake. That thought made him want to change. He then lost all of his privileges and was in the kitchen cleaning dishes, pots & pans for 18 days straight. But soon he was sober and learned to be a dad again Once he realized that he had to change, he started to advance at Daytop. He wanted to be the person that he wanted his kids to look up to. Then and Heather and the family came to visit him and he had to admit the truth to get better. Chris also began to understand how addiction works on you. He would stay at Daytop for four months and was clean by then. Then after Daytop he went to a halfway house in Falmouth MA. His friend Kevin, who had joined him in Fresno, had been there and had been over his addiction for four years. The rest of chapter 14 has Chris going back and forth from the Miller House and meetings where he runs into people form Fall River and Portsmouth who know him and whom he knows. But he is making progress and goes home to visit his family on Halloween. Soon he gets a job with Kevin’s future wife repossessing cars. He does not always enjoy doing that but it’s a source of income. Chapter 15 mentions an article that appeared in the Boston Globe on May 31, 2009 that describes Chris life, including the years in the NBA and that he is now clean. Since the drug buss and traffic violations left him with legal issues, his dad helps him find a lawyer to help get him out of serious trouble. And his wife stood by him. Not long afterwards he started a basketball in Portsmouth at a Catholic school and also at the Bank Street Armory in Fall River. He was so respected that a couple of tweens asked him to be there on Heroes’ Day. Later he admitted that has he still played professional basketball he might have died. While running his school he has rules telling the students how to treat their colleagues – with respect. He also wants everyone to enjoy playing and have a positive experience. Making your school’s team is not everything. His son even plays for an AAU team and went to play a game in Boston. Chris told him to have fun and not worry about how many points he scored. He also does not force his son to play if he does not want to. In chapter 15 Chris condemned his parents’ obsessed with their kids’ performances and that they would get scholarships. Chris feels that the only way a youngster is a success at sports is if he smiles while playing. Then in the fall of 2009 he is hired by Gosnold (the organization that helped get him sober) as a community relations consultant. Chris went on to cite warning signs to addictions – signs that he ignored. He was invited to speak at a detox facility named Star in Fall River, where he was a patient in 2008. Chris also stresses that meetings are important as you can share stories and know that you are not alone. He advises us to live for the present since the past is over and the future can bring fear. Before the 2009 playoffs Chris Sr. and Jr. go to the Celtics practice in Waltham and meet several NBA players, including former teammate Paul Pierce, who gives Junior his autographed sneakers. Chris said that he is no longer haunted by his past and what might have been. He lives with the choices he made and that there is no point in dwelling on past choices. He is grateful to have his life and family back. He has a new career now and that involves helping others. Chris Jr. and Sr. also got tickets to the 2009 NBA playoffs from Celtic Austin Ainge. Chris appreciate the fact that he got to play for the Boston Celtics – his dream came true. He also went with his kids to a basketball camp at Durfee High School and was awed to see the banners with his name on them and appreciated what he accomplished. In the epilogue there is a story about the Durfee Hall of Fame dinner that took place in 2010. Coach Jim O’Brien (fellow Prepster) said that all of Chris life is in Fall River Dreams. Chris remembered the negative things like pressure to excel and win. Later he realized that it was Coach Karam’s family who helped Heather and him. A Durfee classmate named Jeff Caron wrote to him while he was at Daytop – the only non-family member to do so. Jeff and Chris were the two best players in Durfee when there. They were friends since childhood since they played ball in each other’s yards. When it came time to introduce the guests to the attendees, Jeff was the one who introduced Chris. When Chris addressed the audience, all of the family members started to cry except his 3 kids. Chris said that the still regrets getting addicted but is happy that his kids respect and admire him.

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I started to read The City Game by Matthew Goodman on January 6th, 2020. So far, I learned a bit of the history of City College of New York. The current campus near Harlem only opened up in 1907, and most of its buildings were made from the solid rock excavated from the Manhattan schist. Most of the students were immigrants or the children of immigrants (Jewish and Italian, mostly). As for its basketball program, its 15-man roster had 11 Jewish Americans and 4 blacks – all West Indian). They generally did not win very often. In chapter 2 we meet Nat Holman, the CCNY coach from 1919 to the 1950's. He is a product of the Lower East Side but always conveyed an image of upper class upbringing – being well dressed and minus the New York accent. In the early 1920’s he turned down an offer from Converse Shoe Company to endorse a line of sneakers, but Chuck Taylor did, and Chuck’s name is on that iconic shoe to his day. Nat’s assistant was Harold “Bobby” Sand, a short scholarly man from Brooklyn. Bobby got married in 1940 and soon his wife Sylvie was very ill, and then in 1943 his daughter Wendie was born. She survived a bout of tuberculosis but Bobby and Sylvie always worried when she caught a cold. Bobby recruited what would be the best team in CCNY history for the 1948/1949 season. Invitations to the NIT and NCAA tournaments loom for the CCNY Beavers. In addition, the Kentucky Wildcats under Adolph Rupp may also go to both tournaments. CCNY had its New York City rivals – St. John’s University and Long Island University. All 4 teams had its ace player - Kentucky with Bill Spivey, St. John’s with Bob Zavoluk, Long Island with Sherman White, and CCNY with Ed Roman. Chapter 3 talks about Ed Roman (the family name originally was Romatsky) whose was the middle son of Polish Jewish immigrants. Ed was tall and lanky and people often made fun of him because of that. But he was also very honest and would not join his friends when they stole items from the candy stores. He also practiced at all hours wherever he could find a court or a backboard. When he was a freshman at William H. Taft High School, he was asked to join the basketball team by coach Marty Force. After he finished high school he was offered and accepted a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati, and his older brother Mel also accepted into the master’s program. But both brothers got homesick after a week. CCNY offered Eddie a part time job, admission to grad school for Mel, and a full time job for their dad. But the job never materialized for Mr. Roman, and Eddie was limited as to the number of hours that he could put into his part time job. But in his freshman year, he did set the point scoring record for a CCNY freshman. In chapter 4 we read about the life on the CCNY campus – political clubs, rallies and paranoia after the USSR exploded an atom bomb. There was also political paranoia thanks to the House Un-American Activities Committee in Washington. We see what a taskmaster Coach Nat Holman is – despite the public persona of a refined gentleman, in the gym he is as gentle as a drill sergeant. The 1949 season opens with a game on the City College campus against Queens College and the Beavers win 91-45. The next game is at Madison Square Garden with the opponent being Lafayette College (the Beavers won 76-44). They chose the Garden because it holds over 18,000 people versus only 5,000 at CCNY. And college basketball teams outdraw the professional teams like the Knicks. College basketball had a promoter in Ned Irish who worked to promote NCAA basketball and have college basketball games at the Garden. Chapter 5 introduces Al “Fats” Roth and Floyd Layne (a son of immigrants from Barbados). Floyd loved jazz and often visited jazz clubs in Manhattan and the Bronx. He and Eddie played on a traveling team called the Wildcats and became good friends, despite the fact that one went to Taft (Eddie) and the other went to Benjamin Franklin (Floyd). Floyd also met another future Beaver while playing in a Fresh Air Fund benefit game with Eddie Roman at Madison Square Garden – Ed Warner. Chapter 5 also describes how the idea of a winning team has to also cover a point spread for a bettor to win. So it’s now possible to bet on an underdog since there is a chance that the favored team will not cover the spread. Norm Mager is on the CCNY Beavers by chapter 6. He disliked Coach Holman and told Eddie Roman about the point shaving scheme. In the third game of the 1949-1950 season, $4,500 would be divided among 5 Beavers: $1,000 each to Norm Mager, Irwin Dumbrot, Eddie Roman and Al Roth. $500 would go to Herb Cohen, a sub player. Chapter 7 introduces Ed Warner, who is the son of immigrants from Antigua in the West Indies. His dad worked in a laundry and was also a numbers runner. The chapter also describes the poor state of medical care in Harlem and that private hospitals would not admit black patients. The lack of proper medical care probably killed Ed’s mother. Then there are the high rents in Harlem, due to limited supply and high demand because blacks could not buy or rent elsewhere. Decent jobs are scarce for them. Ed soon learned the numbers racket and was in a gang for a while before he made it to the CCNY Beavers. He was the only player with a police record, and the only orphan. The other black players all had their fathers in their lives. Ed’s teammates included Ed Roman and Floyd Layne, and they soon faced Southern Methodist University in game #3. The Beavers covered the spread so those who bet against CCNY lost the bet. As a result, Norm, Ed, Herb, Irwin and Al did not share the $4,500. But Norm told his teammates that they owed a game to the bookies next time. Chapter 7 is devoted to Mayor William O’Dwyer, and how he got to the office. He was first elected in 1945 and won because LaGuardia decided not to run again. O’Dwyer’s right hand man is Jim Moran, who became his deputy commissioner. No building permit would be issued until a fee was paid, and part of the money went to Moran. O’Dwyer was widowed in 1946 and in 1948 took up with a model named Sloan Simpson who was 27 years younger than he was. On November 29, 1949 O’Dwyer was taken to Bellevue suffering from exhaustion. After he was released, he left for Florida and married Simpson on December 27. And in New York the Beavers agreed to shave points against UCLA. Chapter 8 tells us that the Beavers lost to UCLA on that day by a score of 60-53. The players no longer owe the bookies a game. CCNY is now 6-2. But fans still feel that they will never win it all, just like the Brooklyn Dodgers. They are next up against two schools with NIT championships: Long Island University and St. John’s University. The chapter details how schools like LIU, Kentucky and Oklahoma giver their basketball players nice perks to play for them. Then on January 3, 1950 CCNY plays SJU and they win, 54-52. We also learn how the SJU Redmen got their team name – from the red uniforms that the players wore. But the fans extended it to Native Americans and even carried a wooden Indian statue with them to games (the statue was stolen from a cigar store in the 1920’s). In chapter 9 Ed Reid of the Brooklyn Eagle is starting to investigate bookies and has the help of district attorney Miles McDonald. Miles learns that New York Police Department members are on the take from the bookies to look the other way. He devised a plan to send rookie police officers to 4 campuses in Brooklyn: LIU, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn Law School, and Pratt Institute as undercover officers to find out who is breaking the law. Assistant district attorney Julius Helfand met with the rookies at the Hotel St. George on January 2, 1950 and briefed them about the project and what could happen to them with respect to the other members of the force. In Chapter 10 the Beavers are on campus during winter break, practicing. Bobby Sand was asked to write articles for the newspapers but Nat Holman would not let him. Bobby had also been getting offers for head coaching jobs elsewhere but declined all of them because his wife did not want to leave New York. The Beavers soon had their first road trip on 1950, to Muhlenberg College in Allentown PA and won 95 to 76. They soon beat Boston College, Princeton and St. Francis College but the trip ended with a loss to Canisius College by a score of 53 to 49. Chapter 10 also goes into detail about how registration for the spring semester goes about. It ends with telling us that he Beavers beat Manhattan College. And that DA McDonald summoned the first three arrests in the sports investigations. The 29 rookies will be going to the 4 campuses in chapter 11. Rookie Police Officer Anthony Russo had lunch at Jiggs Cigar Store and soon saw how the bettor, counter man and owner handled bets. And the rookies were harassed mercifully by the other police officers, especially when it was time to pick up their pay checks. But they uncovered a ring at Brooklyn College. During chapter 12 the Beavers made the 1950 NIT Tournament with a 17-5 record even though they lost to UCLA and Niagara. They first faced the University of San Francisco and won 65-46. Next would be Kentucky – a whites only team in a whites only school. The Kentucky Wildcats were coached by Adolph Rupp, a great coach but a virulent racist. The chapter talks about how segregated Lexington KY was during the mid-20th century. UK would not allow integrated teams on its home court, and Rupp disparaged the Beavers because they were coached by two Jews and had all Jews and blacks in its lineup. Chapter 13 talked about the aggressive approach of playing by Rupp, who also wrote a book on how to play. He also declined a spot in the NCAA Tournament because he refused a playoff game against North Carolina State, who was seeded 9th as opposed to UK’s 3rd seed. And when UK faced CCNY in the 1950 NIT, three of the Beavers’ starters were black and three of the UK starters would not shake hands with the CCNY players before tip-off. That really got the crowd at Madison Square Garden angry. When CCNY played UK the Beavers used speed and aggressiveness to mess up UK’s timing and, in the end, CCNY won, 89-50. Rupp was pissed, CCNY kind of gloated and there was mourning in Kentucky. In chapter 14 CCNY beats Duquesne University 62-52 and Bradley University beat SJU 82 to 72 and that meant that CCNY would face Bradley for the NIT championship. The Beavers also got a bit to the NCAA Tournament. Before the big game the players stayed at a hotel on West 46th Street, a few blocks from the Garden. Bobby Sand wanted to stay with the players but his wife was ill so he stayed with her in Brooklyn. Nat Holman was at his apartment in Madison Avenue, ill with the flu. CCNY and Bradley were opposites image wise – one in a major metropolis, the other in a smaller city which is a symbol of runes and hicks. Bradley also had all the proper types of clubs and fraternities/sororities. The opposite of CCNY. But in the end, the Beavers beat the Braves 69-61 and Ed Warner would be named the most valuable player. Chapter 15 describes the stress Mayor O’Dwyer was going through. Despite Time’s extolling New York City in 1948 as the superlative city in the world, there were problems, such as labor unrest, a fare hike in 1948, and a tugboat strike in 1946 that caused goods to stop entering the city. Luckily, it was settled quickly. O’Dwyer also faced budget issues, a 100,000 plus roster of municipal employees and corruption at all levels. The police officers were on the take to look the other way, including away from book making operations. Deputy Commissioner Moran made millions from bribes (and he was a St. Francis Prep graduate). After the 1950 St. Patrick’s Day Parade, O'Dwyer met with the CCNY Beavers at City Hall on March 20th. Floyd Layne had dreams of playing in the NBA (Chapter 16) but in the middle of the 20th century it is still all white. He could play on a barn storming team like the Harlem Globetrotters, but after hearing horror stories of former barnstorming players about travel conditions for blacks in the early part of the century, he decided not to. Floyd idolized Jackie Robinson, who had broken the baseball color line a couple of years earlier, in 1947. And despite being from the Bronx, he hopped the subway to Brooklyn to see the Dodgers. The NCAA tournament was coming up, and the Beavers had to play the Ohio State Buckeyes, and they won 56-55. The next team that they would face was the North Carolina State Wolf Pack. North Carolina State had built the largest arena on any mid-century college campus, and since they were in the South, the team was all white and did not allow integrated teams on its court. In the South it was undefeated, but they faced the Beavers at Madison Square Garden and were mostly likely not thrilled to face an integrated team. The Wolf Pack lost to the Beavers 78-73, who were on their way to the NCAA tournament. In chapter 17 the Beavers reach the NCAA championship game, played at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1950. The opponent was Bradley University. Before the game, Jackie Robinson dropped by the locker room to give the Beavers a pep talk. In the end, CCNY won, 71-68, and Bradley insisted that they were robbed. Chapter 18 tells us about the celebrations that occurred on campus. There was extreme pride among the City College students for their team. They were proud of the fact that to enroll in City College, they had to pass an exam. While it was not as prestigious a school as NYU or Columbia, you still got a good education, and the basketball players were real students. Before 1950 there was very little of that college feel on the campus, with the frills and fun. But the Beavers were all New York natives, from the streets and sidewalks of New York. The chapter also tells us about the heroes’ welcome that Bradley players received when they returned to Peoria. After the tournament, two Beavers were selected for the NBA draft. When the Class of 1950 graduated on June 15, Magistrate John Murtagh administrated the Ephebic Oath to the grads. Chapter 19 takes us to Part II, called “The Bridge of Sighs”. In this chapter the author talks about the development of the Borscht Belt in the Catskills, which started at the beginning of the 20th century. By the 1940’s there were basketball games as part of the entertainment, and the players were members of college teams. CCNY’s Ed Roman played at the Brinkman Hotel where he was also employed as a waiter. The games were played on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons. On Sundays, a hat was passed around among the guests, asking for money and then the guests were give a slip of paper with a random number. That is the number in which the total points scored in that day’s game must total to win. The gamblers would ask the players to shave points so that the numbers that they had would be the winning total. One gambler was a jeweler named Sal Sollazzo. Sal would use his trophy wife to attract the basketball players, such as Eddie Gard of Long Island University. Eddie was involved in a point shaving scheme during the 1949-1950 season and dreamed of running a city wide point shaving racket. He was an easy choice for Sal to include in his point shaving scheme. Miles McDonald’s undercover men raided a Bay Ridge restaurant (chapter 20) but found nothing. Yet precinct captain John Flynn committed suicide after being dragged through the mud and accused. At City Hall, O’Dwyer was losing his appeal, and the bookmaking operations were over shadowing all of his planned programs. Later in fall 1950 Bronx Democratic Party Boss Ed Flynn visited him to inform him that the bookmaking operations were being exposed. And the Democratic Party wanted to put a Democrat in Albany after the 1950 election, and with a special mayoral election, it would be easier. Flynn persuaded O’Dwyer to resign, and President Truman appointed him ambassador to Mexico. In chapter 21 we learned more about Harry Gross. He had become a big time bookmaking entrepreneur, since he was scheming and conniving since junior high school. He was staying at the Hotel St. George and the NYPD had an undercover detective disguised as a chambermaid check his room (she found several bits of evidence). Harry later paid off a cop named Jim Reardon, who was well connected in the Department Reardon soon left the NYPD and worked with Gross full time. The chapter then describes how the police officers were paid off to protect the bookmakers. However, Harry Gross was a bad gambler himself, losing thousands. He was finally arrested and sent to prison in September 1950. Ed Gard met up with Al Roth (chapter 22) to talk about shaving points and wanted to get Ed Warner and Floyd Layne in on it too. In the beginning of the 1950-1951 season CCNY won its first three games (against St. Francis, Queens, and Brigham Young). After these games were played, Ed Gard takes Eddie Roman to Sal Sollazzo’s apartment on Central Park west to plan a point shaving scheme, and what the players would get for it ($1,500 each). They wanted to get Ed Warner and Floyd Layne to join them, and Ed Gard met up with them after a Knicks game to persuade them. After the Beavers lost to Missouri, Gard gave Ed and Floyd $1,500 each. In chapter 23 Bob Sand heard talk on a subway train about fixes. Eddie Roman met with Sal Sollazzo on Central Park West to assure him that the fixes were still on. CCNY’s next game was against Washington State and the Beavers won 59-43. A few days later AL Roth met Sollazzo and received $4,000 for his services. Nat Holman had Bob Sand ghost write a book on his behalf, titled Nat Holman on Basketball. Later Floyd Layne used some of his off money to buy his mom a washing machine. Shortly afterwards, the Beavers would play Brooklyn College and Sollazzo asked the Beavers to shave some points off the score but they refused since it was on Christmas Day (1950). In the end, CCNY won, 64-40. Soon two players had leg problems – Eddie Roman with a toe, Ed Warner with his knee. With them sidelined, the Beavers lost to Arizona, 41-38. The next opponent was St. John’s. Chapter 24 introduces police Commissioner William O’Brien, an O’Dwyer appointee. In September 1950 an investigation begins, conducted by Judge Leibowitz, who called O’Brien and Inspector August Flath into his chambers and shows them their link to Harry Gross. O’Brien soon resigned as commissioner after addressing the 1950 Academy graduating class. Acting Mayor Vincent Impelleteri nominated Thomas Murphy to replace O’Brien. But O’Brien was a big fan of the Redmen. Its coach (Frank McGuire) and its star (Bob Zawoluk) were sons on NYPD officers. McGuire aroused some suspicions because he seemed to live quite high on a coach’s salary. In chapter 25 CCNY faced SJU at the Garden but lost 47-44. Max Kase of the New York Journal American said that the games at the Garden were fixed. Kase contacted the Manhattan District Attorney Frank Hogan, who ordered a wire tap of Eddie Gard’s phone. In their next game. The Beavers lost to Boston College 63-59. Sollazzo had promised money to Roman, Roth, Layne and Warner but they got less than promised. It turned out that CCNY lost all of the games where they tried to shave points. Long Island University also participated in point shaving and that aroused suspicions. But LIU then beat Duquesne and that screwed Sollazzo. Soon two former Manhattan College players were found to be involved in point shaving. Hank Poppe of Manhattan tried to get Junius Kellogg to join then but he refused. In its next game, Manhattan beat DePaul 63-59. In chapter 26 Floyd Layne and Ed Warner agreed not to fix any more games and then CCNY won all 4 games of a January/February 1951 road trip. The final game of the road trip was against Temple in Philadelphia. On the train ride home the Beavers were tailed by two detectives who rode on the train and when it arrived at Penn Station the detectives arrested Eddie Roman, Ed Warner, Al Roth and Art Nadell. And Nat Holman did not have their backs. The 4 were taken to the Criminal Courts building for interrogations. Eddie realized that he was now a marked man. Also in the building were Bob Zawoluk, Eddie Gad, and NYU’s Connie Schaff. Bob had an attorney with him – Henry Ughetta, who was a friend of O’Dwyer and also Walter O’Malley. Bob Zawoluk was exonerated The DA wrote a report on the point shaving. Soon the players and Sal Sollazzo were taken in for booking. They faced Judge John Murtagh who was not going to be lenient with them, ad sent Schaff, Roman, Roth and Earner to the City Prison. Understandably, Eddie’s family is devastated (chapter 27). The 3 CCNY players were suspended indefinitely by President Harry Wright until further notice. CCNY students cannot believe that Eddie took bribes, and the students hold a rally to support the three players. Later Floyd Layne was interviewed and said he was shocked at what happened. And besides the CCNY student body, almost everyone else supported the three players. It looked like the entire New York City government was corrupt (chapter 28). CCNY allowed players to enroll, even though their admission test scores were low and also their academic grades from high school. In the next game, Floyd starts as a center against Lafayette College. He had not played that position since high school. But he did well enough to let CCNY win 67-48. But then Floyd admitted to the DA about the bribe taking. In chapter 29, stories about the bribes and the police cover ups are published but the police department suppressed the stories. The NYPD launched an investigation. Floyd was arrested, along with 3 other CCNY players, 2 Manhattan College players, 6 from LIU and one from NYU. The Brooklyn Eagle published the New Year's Eve party picture taken at Sal Sollazzo’s apartment. The investigation continued. Bob Zawoluk had been invited to the New Year’s Eve party at the Latin Quarter and then there were rumors of an affair between Bob and Sollazzo’s wife Jeanne. But despite all of these stories, Bob was never charged. Ex-police commissioner O’Brien and SJU coach Frank McGuire were good friends and O’Brien had warned McGuire. Eddie Roman and Bob Zawoluk had become friends from working and playing basketball in the Borscht Belt. Decades later a former CCNY player named Herb Cohen said that 2 SJU players were thieves, but SJU emerged unscathed, unlike LIE, NYU, CCNY, and Manhattan. Cardinal Spellman may have helped, as he dealt behind the scenes with Tammany Hall, and the Catholic Church had a huge influence on the largely Irish Catholic NYPD & FDNY. Therefore, the Cardinal and the NYPD worked together. District Attorney Frank Hogan may have looked the other way with point shaving and also gave Bob Zawoluk a pass, especially if Cardinal Spellman influenced him. Hogan also wanted to run in 1954 for governor or District Attorney and Cardinal Spellman told him not to touch SJU if he wants Catholic donors. As a result, SJU continues to this day to be a basketball powerhouse. And Bob Zawoluk set a 3-year point scoring record (1826) before playing for the NBA that was not broken until 1984 by Chris Mullin. In chapter 30, Floyd got arrested and Nat Holman banned CCNY players from playing in the Catskills during the summer. Then Bradley University’s Gene Melchiorre came under suspicion. Later a group of CCNY alumni hired a lawyer, Jacob Grunet) to defend the 3 arrested players. Later CCNY executive Sam Winograd and his wife visited Eddie Roman at his home to ask what made him participate in the point shaving. Eddie never did tell him. But it may have been the make work job that CCNY gave him. Sam had taken money to play semi-pro basketball while at CCNY in the 1930’s and made shady deals with a friend who ran a sporting goods store. Later Estes Kefauver came to New York to investigate organized crime in the New York City government, and 3 CCNY players were being investigated and were now fallen idols. In March 1951 Herb Cohen, Irwin Dambrot and Norm Mager were arrested, and now all of the CCNY started 5 had been arrested. When chapter 31 opens, Harry Gross is before Judge Leibowitz to testify about the payoffs, and in May 1951, 77 NYPD officers got indicted. Then Gross goes AWOL, and fled to Atlantic City. Then Meyer Lansky offered him $120,000 to refuse to testify, but soon the police nailed Gross and he appeared before Judge Leibowitz, and as promised, refused to answer. The judge is forced to move for dismissal. Floyd is working is the Garment District (chapter 32) and vows to clear his name. Eddie and Floyd still hung out together but Floyd’s mom felt uneasy with Eddie in her house. Floyd in a tournament at Immaculate Conception parish (in Melrose?) to a small cheering crowd. Then in July 1951 eight Bradley University players admitted to taking bribes. And several West Point cadets were expelled for violating the honor system and Cardinal Spellman asked three Catholic colleges to admit them if they applied. When Eddie and Floyd applied for re-admission to CCNY, they were denied. Floyd started to work with kids at the Forest House. On November 14, 1951 Judge Streit tried the players. It turned out that 4 players, Sherman White, Al Roth, Art Cohen and Ed Warner, did not have good high school grades and normally could not enroll in CCNY. Judge Streit sentenced Sal Follazzo, and Eddie Gard to jail, and gave suspended sentences to the World War II veterans. He sentenced Ed Warner, Sherman White, Con Schaff and Al Roth to prison. He said that they were mature men who tried to corrupt others, who were consenting criminals who profited from their actions. They were not true college students due to their poor grades, and Ed Warner had issues with white authority figures, and Al Roth’s moral scruples had deteriorated. Judge Streit also said that colleges don’t apply the same academic standards when pursuing athletes. He sentenced the 4 men mainly because they poor students and he disapproved of their conduct. But Al Roth joined the Army and avoided jail time (and his mom was very ill); Connie Schaff had personal matters at home to tend to. In the end, only Sherman White and Ed Warner did any real time. Ed Warner’s aunt tried in vain to get an appeal for him. In 1952 CCNY got a new president (Buell Gallagher), and Nat Holman went on a sabbatical (chapter 33). But Bobby Sand was fired as coach and instructor in economics. He had also wanted to de-commercialize basketball because of potential corruption. The Board of Higher Education charged him with unbecoming conduct and dereliction of duty. These charges came from his offer to donate part of his stipend to the players who went with him on a soon cancelled barnstorming trip to South America. Bobby also wanted Ed Warner to join them on the tour. By now Bobby is working in the Garment District, and in 1953 Nat Holman was exonerated of wrongdoing but Bobby was not. And the BHE did find Holman also not guilty of a 1945 bribe attempt. Nat was also reinstated as head coach in 1954. Bobby was demoted to the Record Department and other dispiriting positions. In 1953 District Attorney Hogan announced and end to the investigations. In the end, 7 colleges were involved: CCNY, LIU, NYU, Manhattan, Bradley, Kentucky, and Toledo. And the NBA tried to promote itself as being cleaner than college ball, and banned 3 former Kentucky players for life. In the same year Floyd joined the Army for two years and in 1955 he re-entered CCNY, as did Eddie. While at a USO dance in Washington State, he met his future wife. When he returned home in 1954 he re-enrolls in CCNY as well. Floyd could still not get a chance to play in the NBA. But he did get a chance to play in the Easter League’s Hazleton Hawks. Also playing in the league were Eddie Roman, Ed Warner and Sherman White. Floyd and Eddie both still worked with kids in the Bronx. Chapter 34: Ed Warner, Bobby Sand and other Williamsport Billies were driving back to Williamsport in February 1960 when the car went out of control and went down an embankment. All of the men survived the crash, even if banged up a bit. Soon Eddie was teaching physical education at the Bronx Youth House, but soon decided to become a psychologist and enrolled at Columbia. By now Ed Warner was working for GM in Tarrytown but also was involved in the numbers racket. He also played in the Rucker League in Upper Manhattan but by 1963 was dealing and using drugs. He was soon arrested and sent to Green Haven Prison, where Floyd and Eddie visited him regularly. After being paroled, Floyd would go to see Ed play in the Rucker League games. Floyd still worked with kids but also saw his neighborhoods becomes slums. One of the kids he worked with and counseled was Nate Archbald, who made it in the NBA. Floyd also played in the Rucker Tournaments and later on got a Master degree from Columbia. He became the basketball coach on an interim basis at Queensboro Community College in 1970 but had to step down in 1972 when the original coach returned. Then in 1974 Floyd was chosen to be the head basketball coach at CCNY, and asked Nat Holman to come to the press conference to say a few words. The Epilogue is basically a what-if chapter. Harry Gross took his own life in 1986, but his 1953 testimony helped get 23 NYPD officers dismissed. Bobby Sand wrote articles, scouted for the Rochester Royals and ran basketball clinics. In 19562 the BHE had CCNY re-instate him, and in 1971 became the coach of the Baruch College basketball team. Eddie Roman eventually had 3 kids, taught in “600” schools but went to NYU for a doctorate. He would go to CCNY games to cheer Floyd and his team. He got Ed Warner a job in the Bronx, but Ed got into a bad accident on the Harlem River Drive in 1984 and spent the rest of his life in a wheel chair. Eddie Roman finished his dissertation in 1985 but soon was with leukemia, had chemotherapy, and passed away on March 1, 1988. He was waked at Sinai Chapels in Flushing where Floyd gave a eulogy. Then by the 1990’s Eddie Roman, Floyd Layne, Irwin Dambot, Norm Mager, Al Roth, Ed Warner, and Joe Galiber were enshrined in the CCNY Hall of Fame.

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I started to read The Greatest Ballpark Ever: Ebbets Field and the Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers on February 2nd. Bob McGee talked about the last Dodger game played at the park, on September 24th, 1957, mentioning the players’ names and positions. Then Walter O’Malley saw that there is a new market in Los Angeles and the team moves there for the 1958 season. The team arranged to play its first seasons in the Los Angeles Coliseum instead of minor league Wrigley Field. There were soccer matches played in 1958 and 1959 at Ebbets Field, and an Italian team from Naples managed to get their fans quite agitated, so much so that the fans stormed the field on several occasions. The first chapter also describes the transfer of the property, on January 1st, 1960, to a developer named Kratter, who will be building apartment houses there. On February 23rd, when demolition began, Bob McGee described the placing of the demolition equipment on the field, and who was present. Carl Erskine was there and made a home movie. Roy Campanella was also present, receiving an urn of dirt from the field. Then there was an auction in which items found around the ballpark as well in the cornerstone, were sold. I got to chapter 2 and we read about Charles Ebbets’ family life from birth to the late 19th century. The Brooklyn Eckfords were the city’s first professional team but did not last. Then Brooklyn got a franchise in the Interstate League, and then played at Washington Park, located in what is now Carroll Gardens. After the park burned down, a new park was built in East New York, a fairly long way from Brooklyn’s populated areas. Finally, Brooklyn got a franchise in the American Association, which was the National League’s competitor in the 1880’s. Charles Ebbets was an owner, but the team managed to have losing records each year. Finally, in 1890, the franchise joined the National League. They were called the Superbas and also the Bridegrooms (since so many players were married) before the name Dodgers (originally Trolley Dodgers) was given. I read the rest of chapter 2, and Brooklyn is now part of New York City. A new Washington Park was built, but Charlie Ebbets needs a new concrete park and the location of Washington Park is not that practical, so he heads over to a neighborhood east of Prospect Park and eventually would buy the property that he was checking out. In the 1900’s the Dodgers/Superbas are not doing well, and the rivalry with the Giants is heating up. Also at this time Charles Ebbets’ personal life is in a mess, as the marriage is falling apart. On January 2, 1912 he was able to tell the press of his plans for a new ballpark and unveiled the blueprints. All of the dimensions of the park were told to the press. He had a rotunda included but no press box at first. The groundbreaking was on March 4, 1912, and in the meantime other new parks opened in Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit and Cincinnati. The cornerstone was laid on July 6,1912 and it was hoped that the park would open in September, but that did not happen. The Brooklyn baseball organization got a financial boost from Edward and Stephen McKeever, who bought into the group. In chapter 4 we get a vivid description of the rotunda at the home plate end, and also the dimensions of the park and a description of the exterior. The public got its first view of the interior on March 16, 1913.

The rotunda was large but the round shape made it difficult to sell tickets when everyone was in line and fights often broke out. The first game was played on April 5, 1913, an exhibit game against the Yankees. The Superbas won, 3-2. The first Brooklyn player to bat was Casey Stengel. The regular season opened, against the Phillies was on April 9th and the Superbas lost 1-0. The four Brooklyn newspapers described the games and the virtues of Ebbets Field. The new scoreboard tells what is happening on the Ebbets Field grass, but also the scores of other Major League Baseball games. Charley and the McKeever Brothers even had their own box seats behind home plate and would often mingle with the fans. But after the 1913 season Charley had manager Bill Dahlen dismissed and hired Wilbert Robinson, a New York Giants coach. Soon the team had a new nickname, the Robins. They also acquired some new pitchers to help build a contender. But in 1914 the Robins faced new competition from the upstart Federal League, who fielded a team called the Tip Tops (after the bread company) at Washington Park. By 1914 the rivalry and feud between the Brooklyn club and the Giants was made worse by the rancor between Robinson and the Giants’ John McGraw. In 1914 the Robins finished 75-79 and the Tip Tops cut into attendance figures. At the end of the 1914 season, the Federal League sued for recognition as a third major league and on January 5, 1915 Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis presided over the case and just sat on it for 11 months with no decision. In the meantime, Charley Ebbets looked for ways to use the park to make extra money, and boxing was the best way. During the 1915 season the Robins acquired Rube Marquand and Larry Cheney, making the team even better. Later in 1915 the Tip Tops planned to add lighting at Washington Park but it fell through. Then Judge Landis asked the Federal League and Major League Baseball to settle their differences, and Harry Sinclair planned to add a Federal League team in Manhattan. By Christmas 1915 the agreement folded the Federal League, and the players returned to Major League Baseball. Then by 1916 housing is going up by Ebbets Field and the Robins become contenders and won the 1916 pennant and would face the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. In chapter 5 we see that the Robins lost the World Series. With the collapse of the Federal League, Ebbets had that league’s contracts lapse and was able to lower the payroll. In 1917 the US entered World War I and the Brooklyn Navy Yard was humming. The Robins played a benefit game on Sunday July 1st and the managers were arrested thanks to the blue laws, but were quickly released. During the 1917 season the draft took a large number of players from all of the lineups (Casey Stengel ended up in the Navy), the season was cut to 126 games, performance on the field for the Robins was mediocre, and attendance plummeted. The 1918 season was pretty much the same, and on November 1st there was a terrible accident in the subway at Malbone Street where 97 people were killed. The street was renamed Empire Boulevard and the station, Prospect Park (the nearest one to Ebbets Field). Charlie Jr. thought that his dad was on the train but was at a dinner instead. In 1919 the blue laws were repealed and attendance rose. Also in that year Casey Stengel pulled his famous stunt with the sparrow under his cap. The following year spitballs were outlawed but grandfathered for the pitchers, like Burleigh Grimes, to continue to use them. Prohibition came into being and that hurt the concessions. But the Robins were starting to win (notwithstanding losing some 20+ inning games). The Negros National League was formed in 1920 by Rube Foster and the Eastern Colored League in 1923, and one of the Brooklyn teams started to use Ebbets Field. Before that the black players’ teams mostly barnstormed. The Robins also faced competition from the Brooklyn Bushwicks, a semi pro team who played at Dexter Park, and the Eastern League’s Brooklyn Royal Giants. Both the Royal Giants and the Bushwicks’ play was as good as many of the major league teams. The Robins did make it to the World Series and faced the Cleveland Indians. Only to lose 5 games to 2. After that season Charlie began to pinch pennies but was also altruistic by donating to charities. Ebbets Field hosted the 1923 Army-Notre Dame game because the Yankees and the Giants were in the World Series. In the summer of that year Charlie Ebbets Jr. and Steve McKeever had an altercation that would have dire consequences in later years when ownership issues came up, since they never reconciled. The following season the Robins ended the season 1½ games behind the Giants, who went on to the World Series (and lose to Washington). On April 18, 1925 Charlie Ebbets died and about 2 weeks later, Ed McKeever also died. Now Wilbert Robinson became the president of the organization, and he was not effective. Zack Wheat became the assistant field manager and he was also not effective. To get more revenue, in 1925 a series of operas were staged at Ebbets Field. Chapter 6: In the late 1920’s the Robins are generally finishing 6th place, but people are still coming to the park. They soon earned the nickname of the Daffiness Boys, and in one game three players ended up on 3rd base. The filed also hosted boxing matches and for a couple of seasons football. Around this time the neighborhood around Ebbets Field started to get built up. Around this time businesses had promotions, like Abe Stark’s haberdasher shop with the sign “Hit Sign, Win Suit”. But by this time the park was considered obsolete. The club cannot scout for better players the way other teams could. By 1929 the park was in shambles and the ownership in a deadlock. The seating capacity was low and there were plans to increase it to 50,000 but that did not pan out. In late 1930 Wilbert Robinson is replaced as manager by Max Carey. And the team is back to being called to Dodgers for 1932, but still trying to shed the Daffiness Boys label. Soon Frank York walked out from the company presidency and was replaced by Steve McKeever, and then there was dissension between McKeever and the Ebbets heirs. With the Dodgers mired in 6th place by 1934 and then player/manager Bill Terry of the Giants asked a newspaper writer if Brooklyn was still in the league. The Dodgers’ new manager, Casey Stengel rebutted Terry by saying that pitcher Van Lingle Mungo would get them later. Casey and Terry almost came to blows at the Polo Grounds club house that year. Then in mid-1934 both John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson died. The Giants were way ahead of the Dodgers in the standings but lost the pennant to the Cardinals. In 1934 Frenchy Bordagaray was an on field character rivaling Casey. Then in 1936 the Brooklyn organization was in financial trouble but did finally install a loudspeaker system. Casey was fired despite a vote of confidence, pissing off the sports writers. The Depression was hurting the club and the Ebbets heirs. The team got green trimmed uniforms in 1937 and they still stunk. There was even an idea to sign Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige from the Negro Leagues, but that did not pan out. The park was in deplorable shape by 1937. The Dodgers did sign Cookie Lavagetto, Heinie Manush and Woody English that year. Woody would win 3 suits from Abe Stark that year. Also in 1937, Willard Mullin of the World Telegram created the famous Brooklyn Bum caricature. And then came the Dodgers Sym-Phony Band. There was also the free ticket scheme if a home run ball was returned. Kids would also sneak into the park when deliveries were made and hide until game time and sit with a fatherly figure to avoid suspicion. The boxing matches soon relocated to Manhattan. In 1933 the Negro National League was formed, and the Brown Eagles landed in Brooklyn. Other teams played in Dexter Park and its owner, Nat Strong, did not like competition. The Eagles were owned by Abe ad Effa Manley, who soon moved them to Newark in 1936. Professional football returned in 1930 when the Dayton Triangles relocated to Brooklyn to become the Brooklyn Dodgers. College (Manhattan and SJU) football and high school football games were also played at Ebbets Field in the 1930’s.

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Since The Greatest Ballpark Ever is my own book, I will put reading and reporting it on the back burner after February 23rd. I will return to it later after I finish reading Falling Upward. I was also listening to Father Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward starting on February 7th. He has spoken about Homer’s Odyssey and what Odysseus endured on the journey, and what he had to do when he first returned home to Ithaca. Father Rohr also talked about having our lives divided into two halves, and when we reach the second half, we should be more mature and wiser. Father also says that offense and defense retaliation is not good. I took out the hard cover book on February 22nd started to read in the next day. The introduction basically tells us that life is in two parts and has falling and failure. Climbing the ladder of success and reaching the top may have us facing the wrong wall. Suffering and failure will hit all of us. We can grow spiritually more doing it wrong than by doing it right, but the ego hates failure. It takes a foundational trust to fall or fail and not fall apart. Myths are losing favor in Western civilizations and have been replaced by isms like communism, fascism, terrorism, and materialism. He also mentions a trans-rational mind which can do better than a rational one. Father also cites The Odyssey and the prophesy that Odysseys received. An outer authority often brings us into our inner authority. Odysseus also had to turn his oar into a winnowing shovel. The first world of production must now find its purpose. Odysseus now had to sacrifice three manly things to Neptune. We cannot use first journey tools for a second journey trip. When Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca for good it is almost like our connection to the Kingdom of God. The recap is that the whole story is in a matrix of finding home and returning there and refine and define what home really is. Home is the beginning and the ends and not sentimental but an inner concept. Chapter 1 says that the ask of part 1 of our lives is to create a container and answering, “what makes me significant, “how do I support myself?” and who will go out with me?”. The container is not an end in itself. By part 2 we should have new wine skins and ways to hold our lives together, and we need something better than Part 1 when we are in Part 2. The 3 big three concerns of Part 1 are security, sexuality, and identity. History has been made up of making structure of security and loyalty. In the early years we are overly offensive and defensive with no time left for friendship, simply living, and the like. We do need boundaries, identity, safety and order to get started personally and culturally. We need some narcissism. If you are properly mirrored early in life you won’t need to beg for the attention of others. In Part 1 we are generally only concerned with success, security , and containment – Maslow’s needs. In the USA we are pre-occupied with security. We have to be careful that certitudes don’t become all controlling needs. We have to move beyond the early motivations of security, reproduction and survival or we will never develop, A problem with preoccupation with safety and certitude is that we never get to the contents of our lives. Excessive offensive and defensive behavior keeps us away from the substantial question – what drives you forward. Taking offense causes more offense than giving offense. Two halves of life. We have to chart and encourage movement and directions. True leaders are the elders in a mature society as they have experienced life. Those that are not true leaders will affirm people of their own level – like gangs or terror cells. If you grow in wisdom and grace you can be patient and understanding of the previous stages. Chapter 2 is about heroes. What makes a hero?

Live in a given world;
Courage to leave home and beyond the comfort zone (check out St. Francis, St. Joan of Arc, Buddha);
On the journey, the heroes and heroines find their real problems, and there is always a wounding that changes them;
The first task is only a warm-up;
The hero or heroine returns to where (s)he they started and relearning it for the first time.

The real hero(ine) is not a rock, film, or a sports star. Potential heroes leave the family and the familiar surroundings and go out and about and into real issues (Abraham & Sarah come to mind). We can look at Abraham’s possessing, St. Francis’ partying, Odysseus’ conquering before they went on to their journeys’ next stage. We also must heed Jesus’ warning that you have to leave family to be His disciple.