Camden Courier-Post, May 14, 1949View transcription
Life Hereabouts
BY CHARLEY HUMES
THIS MAY HAVE ALL THE EARMARKS of a Memory Lane story . . . and maybe it is . . . but the main theme is something that is going to happen tonight . . . right here in Our Town . . . at Kenney's Restaurant . . . along about 7 p. m. . . . and far into the night, too . . . but we're ahead of our story . . .
On the night of April 11, 1924 . . . just a little over 25 years ago . . . a bunch of Camden young men was very happy . . . and yours truly the happiest of them all . . . a basketball team playing under the combined names of Broadway Cycle-Union club won that night the semi-pro basketball championship of South Jersey . . . the tournament had been sponsored by the old Camden Courier . . . and the cup to the champions stood as high as "Hop" Stoddard . . .
WHEN THE TOURNEY teams were announced under a by-line story by Frank H. Ryan . . . then sports editor of the Courier . . . Broadway Cycle was not the favorite to win . . . nor were they the longest shot in the field. either . . . Mister Ryan and other sports writers put us in the category of being a "dark horse."
There were some great ball clubs in that tourney . . . and later we will do a piece about each and every team . . . because all deserve credit and any one of them could have wound up with the championship . . . but tonight is Our Day to holler . . . and we hope you don't get too bored with us . . .
THE TOURNEY OPENED . . . the nearest thing to a favorite we can find from the old clippings was Barney Maguire's Immaculate Conception club . . . and the same clippings announce they were 8 to 5 to beat Broadway Cycle-Union when the two clubs met in one of the two semi-final games . . .
The night of the game a great snow-storm struck Camden . . . the drifts were six and seven feet high . . . but that didn't keep the fans out of the old YMHA Hall on Walnut street . . . it was packed to the doors when the two clubs took the floor . . . and one of the hardest-fought basketball games ever played in this city was their reward . . . after 40 minutes of play . . . Broadway-Cycle-Union scored a one point victory . . . if memory serves us the right the final score was either 27 to 26 or 24 to 23 . . . and then we went on to the finals to meet a hustling crew of youngsters representing the YMHA . . . and we won the game . . . again by a matter of a point or two . . . and the championship.
THE NEXT YEAR this same club operated as the First Ward Club . . . with the old Republican Club up there sponsoring the outfit . . . and they went on to win 43 of 47 games played that year.
TONIGHT . . . at Kenney's . . . those lads will get together for their first reunion . . . Red Haines . . . who has been away from Camden for 22 years will be there . . . Red works for the PRR . . . So does "Toots" Benedict . . . now living near Harrisburg . . . and away these many years . . . Charley Sheets . . . the "Babe Ruth" of the outfit . . . "Otts" Laxton . . . the first "Mighty Mite" we ever met . . . Eddie Brandt . . . the great center . . . whose elopement to Media one Saturday afternoon with lovely Harriett Schwoeri rated an eight-column line in the local papers . . . the line reading . . . "Eddie Brandt Elopes to Media with Oaklyn Girl" . . . "Ham" Hambleton . . . the ball-headed wizard who steadied the club so much.
ONE who will not be there . . . but whose praise will be sung long through the night . . . was "Udge" Quicksill . . . Udge has passed on . . . but the fighting heart he carried back in the early 20's will sure be on the sleeves of his old pals tonight.
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION team that went under by that one-point margin in the championship tournament was an All-Star aggregation . . . and numbered among its players were such names as "Bart" Sheehan . . . Joseph Sheehan (who later starred at Cleveland) . . . Shamus Maguire . . . Eddie Lobley . . . who captained Penn to an Eastern League basketball championship.
Bart . . . now the Honorable Judge Bartholomew A. Sheehan was always as ready to play with First Ward on nights when part of the club could not make the game . . . So was Joe . . . and Shamus . . . Eddie Lobley played several dozen games with Our Outfit . . . and because they are such fine sportsmen . . . and swell citizens . . . all of them have made reservations for tonight's affair.
There will be others there, too, and one who could take it back in the early 20s and still can (and who undoubtedly will come in for a lot of ribbing about the old days) is Doc Housner . . . the little referee . . . Doc will be on hand to call the fouls.
THE OLD MALARKEY will start to flow along about 6.30, when the clan gathers . . . the lads who played with First Ward (which it was all the time, but a sponsor insisted on the other title in the tournament).
So if you hear a loud rumble along about 9.15 . . . say to yourself it is game time . . . First Ward and Immaculate . . . .grab your hat . . . hit the road for the playing hall at 531 Market street . . . . meet the guys you cheered back in the early 20's . . . Nostalgia . . . Oh. Boy.
THIS MAY HAVE ALL THE EARMARKS of a Memory Lane story . . . and maybe it is . . . but the main theme is something that is going to happen tonight . . . right here in Our Town . . . at Kenney's Restaurant . . . along about 7 p. m. . . . and far into the night, too . . . but we're ahead of our story . . .
On the night of April 11, 1924 . . . just a little over 25 years ago . . . a bunch of Camden young men was very happy . . . and yours truly the happiest of them all . . . a basketball team playing under the combined names of Broadway Cycle-Union club won that night the semi-pro basketball championship of South Jersey . . . the tournament had been sponsored by the old Camden Courier . . . and the cup to the champions stood as high as "Hop" Stoddard . . .
WHEN THE TOURNEY teams were announced under a by-line story by Frank H. Ryan . . . then sports editor of the Courier . . . Broadway Cycle was not the favorite to win . . . nor were they the longest shot in the field. [sic] either . . . Mister Ryan and other sports writers put us in the category of being a "dark horse." There were some great ball clubs in that tourney . . . and later we will do a piece about each and every team . . . because all deserve credit and any one of them could have wound up with the championship . . . but tonight is Our Day to holler . . . and we hope you don't get too bored with us . . .
THE TOURNEY OPENED . . . the nearest thing to a favorite we can find from the old clippings was Barney Maguire's Immaculate Conception club . . . and the same clippings announce they were 8 to 5 to beat Broadway Cycle-Union when the two clubs met in one of the two semi-final games . . . The night of the game a great snow-storm struck Camden . . . the drifts were six and seven feet high . . . but that didn't keep the fans out of the old YMHA Hall on Walnut street . . . it was packed to the doors when the two clubs took the floor . . . and one of the hardest-fought basketball games ever played in this city was their reward . . . after 40 minutes of play . . . Broadway-Cycle-Union scored a one point victory . . . if memory serves us the right [sic] the final score was either 27 to 26 or 24 to 23 . . . and then we went on to the finals to meet a hustling crew of youngsters representing the YMHA . . . and we won the game . . . again by a matter of a point or two . . . and the championship.
THE NEXT YEAR this same club operated as the First Ward Club . . . with the old Republican Club up there sponsoring the outfit . . . and they went on to win 43 of 47 games played that year. TONIGHT . . . at Kenney's . . . those lads will get together for their first reunion . . . Red Haines . . . who has been away from Camden for 22 years will be there . . . Red works for the PRR . . . So does "Toots" Benedict . . . now living near Harrisburg . . . and away these many years . . . Charley Sheets . . . the "Babe Ruth" of the outfit . . . "Otts" Laxton . . . the first "Mighty Mite" we ever met . . . Eddie Brandt . . . the great center . . . whose elopement to Media one Saturday afternoon with lovely Harriett Schwoeri rated an eight-column line in the local papers . . . the line reading . . . "Eddie Brandt Elopes to Media with Oaklyn Girl" . . . "Ham" Hambleton . . . the ball-headed wizard who steadied the club so much. ONE who will not be there . . . but whose praise will be sung long through the night . . . was "Udge" Quicksill . . . Udge has passed on . . . but the fighting heart he carried back in the early 20's will sure be on the sleeves of his old pals tonight.
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION team that went under by that one-point margin in the championship tournament was an All-Star aggregation . . . and numbered among its players were such names as "Bart" Sheehan . . . Joseph Sheehan (who later starred at Cleveland) . . . Shamus Maguire . . . Eddie Lobley . . . who captained Penn to an Eastern League basketball championship. Bart . . . now the Honorable Judge Bartholomew A. Sheehan was always as ready to play with First Ward on nights when part of the club could not make the game . . . So was Joe . . . and Shamus . . . Eddie Lobley played several dozen games with Our Outfit . . . and because they are such fine sportsmen . . . and swell citizens . . . all of them have made reservations for tonight's affair. There will be others there, too, and one who could take it back in the early 20s and still can (and who undoubtedly will come in for a lot of ribbing about the old days) is Doc Housner . . . the little referee . . . Doc will be on hand to call the fouls.
THE OLD MALARKEY will start to flow along about 6.30, when the clan gathers . . . the lads who played with First Ward (which it was all the time, but a sponsor insisted on the other title in the tournament). So if you hear a loud rumble along about 9.15 . . . say to yourself it is game time . . . First Ward and Immaculate . . . .grab your hat . . . hit the road for the playing hall at 531 Market street . . . . meet the guys you cheered back in the early 20's . . . Nostalgia . . . Oh. [sic] Boy.
