My mother’s name was Mary – she was Irish Catholic – my father’s name was –
Clarence -Russell – Everyone called him Bob.
I grew up on North Main Street in a little town called Eldred – in Pa. near the NYS border.
Bradford, Pa. was 14 miles as was Olean, N.Y.
Bradford was known for OIL – Pennsoil – Kendall –
Olean for Saint Bonaventure – BONNIES BASETBALL!
My father introduced me to those years of BONAS basketball – sitting at the kitchen table –
with a small radio – a sheet of lined white paper – and he would write the names of each basketball starter
for Saint Bonaventure down and those of subs.
It was the age of ROCK and ROLL – for my brother – turned collar – slicked back hair.
He was ten years older.
I would sit with my dad, listening as he did and watching him put down an X for a score.
At the foul line, it was a ZERO, and if made a line on a slant drawn through it!
I must say I went with him when he bowled – yes our small town had a bowling alley!
He taught me how to keep score often saying –
“ADD TEN – THEN SUBTRACT 3 IN YOUR HEAD TO GET THE CORRECT SCORE”
depending on what number you were using to add and subtract.
My dad, you did not cross the line but was also very dedicated to his family.
It was sitting with him during those games at our kitchen table –
in the mid to late 50s- that I became a BONNIE fan.
Then – we would drive down the street to the local watering hole – “SLAVINS”!
A bar- grill and all the men would meet there as RUSS was a huge BONNIE fan.
He had a radio for the bar and everyone leaned in to listen while sipping beer.
Our seats were just by the entrance as the bar top bends around so your back was toward the door.
That went on for several years and then he somehow got a hold of one season ticket at the OLD OLEAN ARMORY!
Now this place was crowded and tickets were so hard to come by
hundreds of fans around the whole court so that you could touch the players sitting on the bench or throwing the ball in !
IN OTHER WORDS – A LOUD PIT OF SCREAMING LOYAL BONAS HOMETOWN FANS!
I had to stay home with the radio at the kitchen table and that is when I took up keeping the scores with Xs and O’S with slanted lines.
He wanted to take me but there were no tickets.
Later in life – after the RILEY CENTER was built on campus – I got my own tickets.
Later – before we moved to NVA – Sherry and I had season tickets along with
a golf membership across from the University at their golf course.
To this day I follow the “BONNIES” – checking news stories – recruiting and transfers –
I no longer keep score – but I remember my times with my dad –
Thanks for reading PAPA’S WORLD – my site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog
AND MARY – SHE RULED THE HOUSE – IRISH CATHOLIC – my dad – IRISH PROTESTANT-
That my friends is a whole other blog to come! LOL
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