On The Sly

Nice work Blunder, there's no ponytail covering your eyes. The last one wasn't that important anyway. The Garrows were also great wrestlers & Ron still plays tennis to this day.

Do you remember the skating rink behind what is now the Middle School and the smoke filled cabin with the wood stove where you left your stuff while skating? That's where Jeff raced when in town.

Foxy,
I'd like to try my hand on Tom a Hawk's quiz!
Jeff Burns (PHS)
Ron & Gary Garrow (BCS)
John and Dennis Mooney (Their mom was a teacher @ St. John's) The last one doesn't ring a bell as i left the area in '66.

I am humbled by the support from the "carver" and "Tom a Hawk" especially after that dressing down from "W". The quiz from Tom is an excellent one but I will refrain from responding as I feel that others should join in & have some fun with this type of activity. I do not want to be viewed as a "Hogger Blogger"(Is there such a thing?) or be viewed as a "Cliff Clavin" of the net. Note: I would have missed Billy Loughan at SJA as he was just little before my time for HS but did enjoy his exploits at PSUC.

Hey, Bullet, I think ‘the carver’ is right on with his comments. Don’t let that high-browed “W” get the best of you. Show him what you've got!

Here’s a quiz that should get you back in the game and restore your confidence:
What power forward also made a name for himself on the same oval Eric Heiden skated on, and where did he skate while in town?
What back-court brother duo were also successful golden-glove boxers, and which one was the number two seed behind Harry McManus while at Plattsburgh State?
What family from Fox Hill had members state-ranked in archery ‘back in the day’ and what was their connection to St .Johns?
What high school baseball standout from OLVA got his nick-name based on foot speed?
(Never mind that last one, I forgot you were a round-ball expert!! Nicknames are Foxy’s arena anyway)

I think the answers to the last quiz were:
Leon Angevine from Peru & Greg Ducatte from MAI
Billy & Bobby Meconi from Ausable
Billy & Bobby Finney from Peru
Billy & Bobby Loughan from St.Johns

W, in defense of "Bullet", I think your little quiz was perhaps alittle too elementary for the great and powerful "Bullet" ..Give em something a little tougher and meaningful...and perhaps he'll spend a few moments on it! Do you have a problem with "community college"?? I did study under Goerlitz and Moskowitz and they were Ivy league all the way! Your last blog reminded me of another league, "Bush" league.

Bullet:
I’m afraid I overestimated your talents. When you said “bring it on” I assumed you were versed in counter-blogging, but now see you are still a neophyte. The first rule of the Blogg/Counter-Blogg is there are no rules. You’re probably a graduate of the Community College of blogging and didn’t have the luxury to study under two of the greats, Rich Goerlitz and Hal Moskowitz, who honed their skills with a different medium, Speak Out. Their signature, “think about it” was the clue to their talents, which can be authenticated by Gil Duken and the ‘park bench capers’.

I was disappointed you didn’t utilize your contacts, and call on the expertise of sources that surely would have solved your dilemma. The Mannix boys (Mike & Marty) could have recounted memories of passing Eckermant’s on their way to F&L from their home on North Catherine; and Johnny Fountain would certainly have remembered the day Emile moved his operations from Stetson Ave. to the corner of Sailey and Durand where it would eventually stand under the banner of LOU’s. The steps lie mostly unoccupied today, a testament to the countless post game refreshments of yester-year.

You can see, today, the unspoiled and untouched Copeland Field as it stood 50 years ago, a frisbie throw from Matt Bell’s front doorstep on Cumberland Avenue. It awaits a generation that will never materialize. The tree in right field is taller, the grass longer, but the hedges still stand that defined the first and third baselines. The chain link fence in left fades into an abyss that was termed center field, and the likes of Bruce Copeland, Bob Grant, Bob & Lou Buck, Joe Proctor, and Gus Angelos were only a few of the players that participated in Eddy Feignor type softball at that location. Left-handers had to hit to the opposite field and righties were penalized with automatic outs if they went the opposite way since there was no right field to be had. Rules were changed daily and decided on prior to game time and most players viewed it as an away game from their home fields. I will commend you on your mastery of the “Cats” but admonish you for forgetting the mice that have faded into time with lesser accomplishments.

I could have tempted you with the obvious questions, like who were the two athletes from Peru & MAI who had successful careers with Joe Paterno at Penn State, or name three brother combos named Billy & Bobby from Ausable, Peru, and St.Johns ‘back in the day’, but thought you were worthy of loftier challenges. A quick call to Joe Staves at PHS would surely have directed you down the correct path, but you chose to turn me into the boss by asking for Foxy’s advice. I bet you were the one in class that complained about the questions on the test that weren’t covered in the book, and always raised his hand to ask if ‘that material will be on the test?’ We real counter-bloggers have a name for that-I wonder if you know it?

In the future I’ll limit my taunts to ones you can handle, and hope you don’t turn me in to the administration again. Blogg on, my friend, but be careful with your counter-bloggs, and don’t try to throw me off with multiple names. Disappointed as I am at the discovery of your shortcomings, I remain impressed by your mastery of personalities. You were right on with the answers you could muster. (tbi)

Foxy, you are right about today being a little better than the old days. People who lived in Plattsburgh in the 50s and 60s will remember the city dump on north Margaret St. sending its smoking clouds across the entrance to the city beach. OH! the beach, the raw sewage washing up on the sand from the Saranac River as all the pipes led to the river from our houses and factories. We could always tell what color paper the Imperial Mill was making on any day by the color of the river. Many of us remember the horrific smell of the smokestacks at Georgia Pacific. The city had trucks with high power sprayers to spray DDT on catapiller infested trees on our streets, we played in it! Luckily environmental laws were passed to protect us. Mostly our memories do filter out the unpleasant, I think we're lucky that way. That's why people like to remember the good old days.Thanks Foxy for letting us do that. Russ