TWELVE DAYS TO CHRISTMAS

Not the twelfth day of Christmas. Twelve days to Christmas. And me with no shopping done. Except for Robert and Ally.

Spent Saturday night at Don’s Place. Watched a couple of college basketball games. Chatted with Don, David and Jimmy. Boomer bartending. Don had a championship fight booked. Eleven o’clock. Too late for me to stay up.

The Lighted Boat Parade had to be unusually good last night. The weather perfect. The first boat parade I can recall with such weather.

I did not do the Boat Parade, either on boat or land. Parking would have been a hassle. Spent my time at Don’s Place instead.

Yesterday’s Key West Citizen ran a photo of the intersection of Front and Simonton Streets in 1954. The streets were flooded following a heavy rain.

That was 59 years ago. The intersection still floods following a heavy rain. Does that mean the City has not corrected the problem or does it mean the problem has no fix? Probably the later. I am sure new sewer/drainage steps have been taken. Key West has to live with the situation. Zero feet above sea level. If it rains as the tide is coming, beware. Flooding guaranteed..

Dolph Schayes died. A professional basketball player when attempts were being made to form a professional league. A Hall of Famer, 12 times an All-Star.

Schayes played initially for the Syracuse Nationals. Where I came to know of him. See him. My hometown Utica is 50 miles from Syracuse. It was the early 1950s. My dad would take me to Syracuse to watch the Nationals play.

The Nationals also came to Utica for exhibition games. Utica had recently constructed a new public high school. Utica Free Academy. The basketball court was huge. Seating large. The perfect place for a professional game.

Today everyone shots one handed. Either with a jump shot or standing still. There was a time when long shots were attempted using two hands. The two handed set shot. Schayes was devastating using two hands. When he started playing pro ball, it was transition time. From the two handed shot to the one handed one. Schayes stayed with the two hander as others moved to the one hander.

The one hand shot then referred to as western shooting.

The two hand/one hand situation resulted in Schayes being described as “the bridge between the old game and the new one.”

Syracuse basketball at noon. Syracuse and St. John. At the Garden. A return to yesteryear. The original Big East.

Syracuse an 8 point favorite.

This morning seems to be nostalgia time re basketball. St. John coach is Chris Mullen. First year at the job. Mullen was on of the earliest stars in the Big East when it began. He played for St. John at the time. I probably watched him play every game against Syracuse. At the Carrier Dome, on TV and at Madison Square Garden.

A busy day ahead. Sloan at 11. Syracuse basketball at noon. Then I have to write this week’s KONK Life column. It will be the one I researched last week and did not use because of Helen Sperling’s death.

The column concerns Teddy Roosevelt. A great man, outstanding President, phrase maker, big game hunter, led the Rough riders charge up San Juan Hill, broke up the trusts/corporations.

Roosevelt had one failing. He was a poor speller. Real bad. The article will concern how he dealt with the problem. To the consternation of the British government and major news outlets. The only battle Roosevelt lost.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

2 comments on “TWELVE DAYS TO CHRISTMAS

  1. That was 59 years ago. The intersection still floods following a heavy rain. Does that mean the City has not corrected the problem or does it mean the problem has no fix? Probably the later. I am sure new sewer/drainage steps have been taken. Key West has to live with the situation. Zero feet above sea level. If it rains as the tide is coming, beware. Flooding guaranteed..
    end quote

    Good. Learning something is a good thing. Better late than never.

    But, now, lets look into when any such infrastructure changes, well good changes that is, were made and just what was done.
    The problem can be fixed, the town fathers are, and have been, unwilling to do so.
    The storm drain system in Key West is abysmal. [sp]

  2. “It is a damn poor mind indeed which can’t think of at least two ways to spell any word.”

    Hmmm, someone said that and it wasn’t TR.

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