Each summer Camp Greylock had a junior side v. senior side faculty basketball game. Swede was the junior side's weapon this year (1941). Swede scored 20 in the game and his team won.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Swede's Competitors
My father competed directly against some fabulous athletes, but three of them, discussed in some detail in the book, were true originals. Unfortunately, they are mostly forgotten.
Monte Irvin was one of Jersey's all-time great athletes. He was all-state in football, basketball, and baseball, and set the state record in the javelin. He went on to star in the Negro Baseball Leagues, and was considered a strong candidate to be the first black player to break the "color line" to major league baseball. Monte and Swede guarded each other in a high school basketball game 75 years ago...the details of which Monte remembered astonishingly well. Monte Irvin is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bob Davies was a two time all-American at Seton Hall University, playing for a team that would win 43 straight games. At the same time, Swede's Panzer College team won 44 in a row. Unfortunately, the two teams, perhaps 5 miles apart, never met in a regulation game. But they did have a scrimmage game, and Panzer, with Swede guarding Davies, reportedly had the upper hand. Bob Davies went on to star in professional basketball; he was all-pro for many years. A true original, he was the first player to master the art of dribbling and passing behind his back and between his legs. He is in the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame.
Al Blozis was truly one of a kind. He was a giant for the times, at 6'6", 260 lbs. of muscle. He was all-pro for the New York Giants, and he was the best shot-putter in the world. Swede competed against the so-called "Human Howitzer" in the prestigious Penn Relays track meet in Philadelphia, and won the silver medal behind Bloziz's gold. Al Blozis was killed near the end of WWII. He is in the pro football Hall of Fame.
Three remarkable athletes, all in major Halls of Fame, totally original...and quite forgotten. Hopefully by discussing them in "SWEDE", people interested in sports will get a peek at these originals. Swede was very proud to have competed directly against them
Friday, July 15, 2011
Swede vs. the Housewives
In certain ways Swede was ahead of his time. An example: he often did the family food shopping. The local Shop-Rite would be filled with housewives and Swede. I don't think he realized he was out of his league. My poor father thought that shopping should be a science, with a logical, pre-arranged strategy of what food categories, which aisles, coupon usage, etc. Naturally, he was always considerate, making sure not to block an aisle with his cart, moving along quickly, etc. To do it any other way would be illogical, and he wouldn't have that.
He would arrive home appalled at "how inconsiderate some of these women can be...the way they shop!" "They block the aisles, they ram my cart...one women even took one of my items out of MY cart!" We'd be very entertained with Swede's weekly food-shopping adventures. The only negative...he never bought junk food. My sibs and I always preferred Estelle doing the shopping, since we knew she'd come through with some stuff that, though bad for us, satisfied out sweet teeth.
Friday, July 8, 2011
"Quanto sei bella"
My Italian-American grandfather, Anthony Lepore, occasionally spoke a few words in Italian. They were usually swear words. But as kids they went over our heads. He often would pinch (my siblings) Dale, Patty and Doug on the cheek, saying "quanto sei bella" ("you are so beautiful)." Then he'd come over and pinch my cheek and say "quanto sei bruto" ("you are so ugly)." Sheesh.
Anthony liked to tell the story of when he took the family to a local college basketball game...they knew a couple of the players on one of the teams. But their team lost because "some big lug" on the other team totally dominated the game, getting all the rebounds, scoring most of the points, all quite effortlessly. Anthony rooted quite aggressively against this guy, who turned out to be his future son-in-law, Swede Masin, playing for Panzer College.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
One more thing...
Perhaps the best part about the things mentioned in the previous post is that it's a true story...all of it.
Thinking about a screenplay
I've been writing notes about a possible screenplay inspired by (certain portions of) "SWEDE". It seems most movies today are either 3D and/or animated, are F/X dominated, have gore, monsters, or vampires. I'm thinking there is an appetite for a period piece movie with action, humor, romance, etc. I'm thinking of movies like "Hoosiers", "The Blind Side", etc., both of which had sports themes but were not just sports movies. Both seemed to have universal appeal.
Some of my thoughts regarding what would play well on screen:
1)The time and place; pre WWII, depression area Newark, NJ, in an historic all-Jewish neighborhood
2)Tiny, unknown Panzer College, led by Swede, which captured the imagination of fans by winning an all time college best 44 straight games.
3)It's forgotten today, but at the time there was an organized movement by a Nazi organization to spread the Nazi "ideal", and the Newark area was their prime target. A local Jewish gangster, Longy Zwillman, organized "The Minutemen", made up of ex-Jewish boxers, to disrupt the Nazi Rallies.
4)Humor. Much of the cast would be young, attractive (eye candy for viewers), fast talking and feisty.
5)An intriguing love interest: The star Jewish athlete, Swede, and the beautiful Italian Catholic girl, Estelle.
6)At the center of everything would be Swede, who develops from a big, clumsy, unassuming kid who doesn't have a clue about sports to a heroic sports icon, a source of pride of the Weequahic Jews.
So there could be plenty of sports action, focusing on Swede in his various sports stardom; romance, but one that causes more than a little drama with the dis-approving parents; a Jews vs. Nazis sub-theme; a young, funny, good looking supporting cast; and the bigger than life, gentle giant persona of Swede.
So I think there is a lot of entertainment potential, and an opportunity to do something a bit different. If nothing else it will be fun to work on!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
"Best of 2010"
Kirkus Discoveries, an international review house of new authors, named Swede "Best Biography" in it's Best of 2010" rankings. Very exciting for this new author. The review itself, attached in my previous post, was wonderful (if I do say so myself) and a nice surprise.
A woman who just started reading the book told me she was balling after reading the introduction. I asked her if she was bored to tears, and she reassured me it was because she felt it was so touching. Nice getting that kind of feedback!
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