Ec's north island recreation league

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1953
EC's Glee in '53

Well, it is time to enlighten you about life in the whole wide USA and some of the big news events of 1953... WWII hero Dwight D. Eisenhower is the new president and Richard Nixon is the vice-president... polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk... will be ready in 1954... the whole world was afraid of the polio virus, I guess... but it wasn't a big deal to EC, his family, relatives and friends... don't know why we weren't scared of it... we just didn't talk about it much, if at all... I guess ignorance is bliss...we must have been ignorant... the Korean War ended... and Joseph Stalin died... one of the greatest songwriters and entertainers of all-time, Hank Williams, died on New Year Day from drug and alcohol abuse at the age of 29... but he left a legacy of great songs that are still great even today... and he left us his very talented son, Hank Williams, Jr.... and in the stranger than fiction arena, American transexual George Jorgensen became Christine Jorgensen in sexual reassignment surgery in Denmark.

In the world of entertainment... Ian Fleming publishes his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale in the United Kingdom... Playboy Magazine's 1st issue features Marilyn Monroe as its first cover girl and nude centerfold...they sold exactly 54,175 copies at 50 cents each (yes, that's accurate, EC verified them all) ... and the New York Yankees won their fifth world series in a row... YIP YIP HOO RAY!... the Yanks beat those dastardly Dodgers in six games... George Mikan and his Minneapolis Lakers whipped the New York Knicks for the NBA crown four games to one... the Montreal Canadians defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to one in the NHL finals... Dark Star was the Kentucky Derby winner at Churchill Downs in Louisville... the Indiana Hoosiers upended the Kansas Jayhawks 69-68 in the NCAA finals... and the Maryland Terrapins (10-1) won the mythical NCAA football crown, but they were beaten by the Oklahoma, the #4 team in the Orange Bowl 7-0... the number one team was picked by sportswriters prior to the bowl games... no playoffs at the time... just bowl games... it would be 1968 before the Associated Press would picked the final ratings after the bowl games.

And for the most historic event of the year 1953 according to EC... my family finally got a TV set in Mobile... I loved The Lucky Strike Hit Parade... every week they would recreate the top 7 songs of the week... really like The Jackie Gleason Show with Art Carney (Ed Norton)... I Love Lucy with Lucy, Ricky and Ethel and Fred Mertz... Dragnet with Jack Webb ("Just the facts, ma'am")...and Our Miss Brooks with Eve Arden (EC had listened to her show on radio... now EC could SEE it)... life is full of glee in '53... yeah, life is good.

And finally, here are the Academy Award and Emmy Award winners... EC's pick for the best picture of 1953 would have been "Stalag 17"... sorry, EC didn't care for "From Here to Eternity" at all, y'all.

Note: the winners are in BOLD print for the Academy Awards.

[Eugene Church]

(Note: EC has lived in Baton Rouge for over 30 years now... used to read all about the LSU Tigers beginning in 1950 when I first moved to New Orleans... however, I'm a Tulane Green Wave fan... not a Tiger fan at all, y'all... but I really liked Bob Petit.)

In reviewing the 1953 NCAA Basketball Tournament, I noticed the LSU Tigers coached by Harry Rabenhorst were 21-3 for the season, 13-0 and unbeaten the Southeastern Conference, which was ruled by the Baron Adoph Rupp at that time... HOW ABOUT THEM TIGERS!

They came in fourth that year... Indiana was the winner, Kansas second and Washington third... LSU lost in the semis to Indiana 80-67 and lost to Washington 88-69 in the third-place consolation game. (they don't have consolation games anymore)

The Tigers were led by one of the all-time greatest players of all-time, college and pro... Bob Pettit.

Petit would go on and star in the NBA with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks... he was voted one of the 50 greatest NBA stars of all-time in 1996... I think he is still alive and 93 in Baton Rouge... he's a retired bank president and a supremely classy individual... he still looks like he could still go 40 minutes on the basketball court.

(Thanks to Wikipedia)
In 1954, the Milwaukee Hawks selected Pettit second in the first round of the NBA Draft after the Baltimore Bullets' selection of Frank Selvy. With $100 in the bank, he signed a contract with Hawks owner Ben Kerner for $11,000 – an all-time high for an NBA rookie then. Pettit's awkward ballhandling and a lack of strength to battle NBA bruisers weighing 200 pounds that early in his career, had Hawks coach Red Holzman move him from center, his position at LSU, to forward in his first training camp. "In college I played the standing pivot", he said in a April 1957 issue of SPORT magazine interview. "My back was to the basket. In the pros, I'm always outside. Everything I do is facing the basket now. That was my chief difficulty in adjusting, the fact that I had never played forward before." Though many were skeptical about Pettit making the transition from college to the rough-and-tumble NBA, in 1955 he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after averaging 20.4 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. He became the second rookie to win all-NBA honors but the team finished last in the Western Division.[2] After the season, the Hawks moved to St. Louis.

In 1954, the Milwaukee Hawks selected Pettit second in the first round of the NBA Draft after the Baltimore Bullets' selection of Frank Selvy. With $100 in the bank, he signed a contract with Hawks owner Ben Kerner for $11,000 – an all-time high for an NBA rookie then. Pettit's awkward ballhandling and a lack of strength to battle NBA bruisers weighing 200 pounds that early in his career, had Hawks coach Red Holzman move him from center, his position at LSU, to forward in his first training camp. "In college I played the standing pivot", he said in a April 1957 issue of SPORT magazine interview. "My back was to the basket. In the pros, I'm always outside. Everything I do is facing the basket now. That was my chief difficulty in adjusting, the fact that I had never played forward before." Though many were skeptical about Pettit making the transition from college to the rough-and-tumble NBA, in 1955 he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after averaging 20.4 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. He became the second rookie to win all-NBA honors but the team finished last in the Western Division.[2] After the season, the Hawks moved to St. Louis.

In 1954, the Milwaukee Hawks selected Pettit second in the first round of the NBA Draft after the Baltimore Bullets' selection of Frank Selvy. With $100 in the bank, he signed a contract with Hawks owner Ben Kerner for $11,000 – an all-time high for an NBA rookie then. Pettit's awkward ballhandling and a lack of strength to battle NBA bruisers weighing 200 pounds that early in his career, had Hawks coach Red Holzman move him from center, his position at LSU, to forward in his first training camp. "In college I played the standing pivot", he said in a April 1957 issue of SPORT magazine interview. "My back was to the basket. In the pros, I'm always outside. Everything I do is facing the basket now. That was my chief difficulty in adjusting, the fact that I had never played forward before." Though many were skeptical about Pettit making the transition from college to the rough-and-tumble NBA, in 1955 he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after averaging 20.4 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. He became the second rookie to win all-NBA honors but the team finished last in the Western Division. After the season, the Hawks moved to St. Louis.

He helped the Hawks improve during their first year in St. Louis by winning 33 games during 1955–56. In his second season, Pettit adjusted his game so that he would get to the free-throw line for easy points for his team and foul trouble for his opponents. Being a phenomenal offensive rebounder and an instinctive scorer, he told basketball historian Terry Pluto that "Offensive rebounds were worth eight to 12 points a night to me. Then I'd get another eight to 10 at the free-throw line. All I had to do was make a few jump shots and I was on my way to a good night."

[Eugene Church]

Here's some photos of Bob Petit.

Looking at the LSU schedule, I was checking to see the score of the Kentucky game... they didn't play the fabled Adoph Rupp and the Wildcats in 1953... Kentucky got the first "death penalty" by the NCAA... the Wildcats were banned in 1952-53 after the point-shaving scandal of 1951... CCNY, Long Island University, Bradley and some of the Kentucky's "Fabulous Five" were bribed to make games closer... they wouldn't lose them, but they would hold the margin down so gamblers could win the point spread... it was a shame... CCNY had a great team in '51.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 29, 1953

YANKS UP BY 2 OVER GREEN GIANTS WITH 2 GAMES TO GO
The New Yerby Yankees' magic number is down to 1 in the North Island First Division... with two games to go in the season a Yankee win or a loss by second place Joliet will cinch the league title for New Yerby... in Sunday's action the Yanks rallied to edge third place Dutton 8-7 in 10 innings... Joliet walloped Wafford 10-3... and Stockdale dumped Jackson 10-3.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 29, 1953

THEODORE UP BY 2 GAMES OVER UNION HEIGHTS, JUST 2 MORE TO GO
The Island baseball leagues are all winding down... there are just two games left on the schedules... the Theodore Bobcats are up by 2 games on the Union Heights Hackers and their magic number is just one... a win by the Bobcats or a loss by the Hackers in the remaining 2 games and the North Island Second League title goes to Theodore... for sure, the Bobcats are headed up to the North Island First Division next season... the top two clubs in the NISD will be promoted to the premier league next year... this will be a first for the Bobcats... they have played in the Second Division all three of their seasons.

In yesterday's action Theodore KO'd the Kinston Firebirds 6-3... Union Heights got the best of the Kofa Kings 5-2... and West Chester walloped the Avalon Oldtimers 10-2.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 29, 1953

SAINTS, GATORS GO DOWN TO THE WIRE IN SIFL
Time is getting short in the South Island First League... only two games remain in the season... but there are lot of questions to be answered... first place is up for grabs between the St. Dominic Saints and the Guedon Gators, who are currently tied for the top spot in the standings... last place Des Allemands will depart at season's end for the South Island Second League, relegated along with one other club... three clubs are in that battle, last year's league champion, Labadieville, Opelousas and Claiborne... in this weekend's results, the Saints and the Gators registered victories... the Saints smashed Opelousas 10-2... Guedon easily disposed of the Labadieville Pelicans 8-3... and Des Allemands wiggled past the Claiborne Cardinals 4-3 on a late-inning homer.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 29, 1953

MERAUX'S MAGIC NUMBER DOWN TO 1
All it takes for the Meraux Tigers to take the South Island Second League crown is a Tiger win or a Bar Harbor loss... Meraux is up by 2 games with only 2 games to go... the Tigers eliminated one of its challengers, the third place Delacroix Cubs, 4-3... while Bar Harbor fell in a crucial game to the Mystic Mariners 10-8... and Chitamaca swept past the last place Bayou Bleu Blues 8-1.

[Eugene Church]