Column: Rec hoops heaven

By Tim “Shoe” Sullivan

Like many others, I really miss Stevens Point Rec Department basketball.

The Rec Department’s official basketball program started sometime in the 1950s and was still going until 2011.

I had a strange dream the other night. I woke up and wondered what local school gym I had to go to that night.

For over 40 years, I either played “Rec” League basketball or was the official scorer. My late buddies Ma Pesch and Randy Wievel also reffed and scored for many years. We combined to have at least a hundred years on the hard court.

The Rec Basketball Leagues were very beneficial to our local economy. At one time, more than 50 teams were playing in the hoops leagues. If you’re scoring at home, that meant at least 500 players were in the program. And after the games, teams loved to go out for some beer and pizza. A place like Mickey’s was always packed with people coming from games at Madison School, and the list included players, scorers, refs, and timers.

The games were played at the Rec Department or school gyms like Madison, Washington, Bannach, Jefferson, PJs, McDill, Ben Franklin, Jackson, and SPASH.

Oh my goodness, there were so many local characters who participated. Legends like Don Kottke, Dick and Don White, Pat O’Donnell, Bullhead Koehler, Junkyard Kanas, Todd Barnes, and Dan Mahoney.

Players were from all walks of life. There was a team of law enforcement featuring Mike Lukas of Iwanski Construction (“We Hammer”). A squad of doctors mixed it up with lawyers, and a few priests took on the farmers and railroad guys. Also gracing the tile were college students, hospital workers, Sentry folks, ShopKo employees, and bartenders.

Team sponsors were everywhere. Willie’s Bar…Papa Joe’s… The Flame…Buffy’s Lampoon… Kim’s Barrel Inn… Frank & Ernie’s… Ziggy’s…Geno’s KoKo Klub… Del Monte… ShopKo… Mickey’s… Shamrock Pizza… Pizza Hut… Iwanski Construction… Final Score… Top Hat…Archie’s…Fix Amusement…Archie’s…Aldo’s.

An endless stream of players. Hank Mlsna…Bernie “Bookie” Peterson…Lynn “Red” Blair… The Fix Boys (Donny, Rick, Dave)… Kurt Schweers… Frank Pisarski… Paul Drake…Jamie Gerber… Pat Stanislawski… Tom LaBoda… Brian “Load” Filtz… Fritz Becker… Tom Quimby… Frank Jurgella… Jay Billings… John Charles… Kent Zelhofer…Greg Clefisch… Dick Smaglik… Nate Weiler… Justin Raab…Troy Weichelt… Doug Berry… Taylor Dernback…Glen Slowinski.

And more teams. Friendly Bar… Moore Barn… D&S Super Cones… Hilltop… Partner’s Pub… Guu’s on Main… Graffiti’s … Kristen’s Middletown Pub… Lucky’s… Rhody’s… Craig Wold was their star… Marvin’s… Pete’s Sports Bar… Morey’s… Bahama’s… Club Orlow… Lind Electric (they had some shocking wins)… Gepetto’s (with Karl Pnazek)… Underground… Ella’s…and Skyward.

And they just kept on coming. Glen Tetzlaff… Dan Swoboda… Ryan Bushman and Bill Bushman with the patented fade-away… Pete Clark… Kim Wisniewski… John Burmesch… Bob Nelson… Dan “Toast” Felckowski (I held him to 53 points in one game)… Chuck Nagle of the Wisconsin Badgers… John Vollmer… Mark Molski… Todd Barnes… Jay Warner… Tim Roman… Bob Derezinski… Randy Woyak… Dale O’Kray… Vern Linzmeier… Don Penza… and Chris Meyers.

Jerry “Jughead” Krueger was running the program when I started there in 1968. Then Dave McDonald became director and Joe Graceffa took over. Joe was awesome and was in charge until the end. The senior officials were Ma Pesch, Randy Wievel, Jim Moe of UWSP, Gary Marquard, Owen Glodowski, Eugene King, and Art “Quick T” Gerhardt. The latter were referees. Marquard gave out the most “Technical” fouls, although Gerhardt was a close second. Art hit a player with a “T” in the Ben Franklin parking lot, and a player on Mickey’s got a technical foul while arguing with a Madison ref while the zebra was eating a pizza.

Rebounds. Assists. Air Balls. Fouls. Steals. Fights. Moaning. 3’s. Layups. Cherry picking. Time outs. A player named Henry for Joerns fouled out in two minutes. Players won games with shots from half-court. A lady at Ben Franklin ran onto the court during a game and yelled “WHO took the cookies??”. While everyone was waiting for an ambulance during a game at the Rec and the poor player was grabbing his broken ankle, a teammate walked over and asked if the game clock was still running.

And just like that, one day Rec Basketball was over. A thing of the past. No more than a dream remembered.

Very sad.

But what a ride it was.