Post by fjs64 on Jul 14, 2012 7:00:02 GMT -5
Thanks AZ.......this is the piece you referenced about Mike....quite a character. Easier to read in the article, but here is a copy of it.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW - The Other Side of Mike Rooney ....... by Joe Jankoski
"The Roone"
Anyone who grew up in Hudson County in the 60's and paid attention to the local basketball scene knows, or at the very least has heard, of Mike Rooney. His legendary basketball talents were on display on the hardwood at Snyder High School when he scored 1,613 points without a three point line. He averaged 36.9 points per game in his freshman year for St. Bonaventure University after he declined Coach Wooden's offer to be a Bruin. After a run in with some "Bonnie Rules" he moved on and became a Sooner in the foreign country of Oklahoma. Got drafted by the Lakers when the NBA had only 8 teams,(Cazzie Russell was #1 pick that year), he played for 5 years in the tough Eastern League. He graced the summer asphalt of Audubon Park, teamed up with the Can Do All Stars to beat the Harlem Globetrotters in front of 7,012 fans at the Jersey City Armory, and eventually became a member of the incomparable Bondsmen. For years he put on shooting demonstrations in tough games against top competition at the Rucker's and Mt. Carmel tournaments that are still talked about over beers by basketball junkies.
So that is the Mike Rooney we have all come to know and respect…there is however another side of Mike. For example, do you know that:
+ Mike has an account at the Brooks Brothers store on 45th and
Madison where they know him by name and has a personal sales person
- the lovely Kim - to help him choose those unusual pants with exotic prints.
+ Mike has a "professional" side as he worked for Eastman
Kodak for 10 years selling stuff before the digital age hit.
+ He has a 55 inch, 3D Plasma TV hanging on the wall of his
St. John apartment. He subscribes to everything Oklahoma and when he
dons his 3D goggles to watch the game - he feels and acts like he is still
in the student section in Norman…ask the lady next door!
+ Speaking of St. Johns Apartments, no one has lived there
longer, he will celebrate his 40th year in the same apartment this year. He
was there before the bedbugs moved in.
+ About 20 years ago Mike decided to have his apartment
painted for the first time. He found a local tradesman who agreed to paint
it all for a case of Budweiser. Unfortunately Mike paid his bill halfway
through the project…the painter left for lunch with his pay and never
returned. Mike now sports a trendy two-tone studio!
+ He owes his basketball inspiration to his childhood idol, Vinny Ernst.
+ His first teacher, Red Lyons, perfected that perfect jump shot
form every Saturday morning at St. Al's gym.
+ He juiced up his game by playing Robert McLoughlin one on one
for hours on end - full court!
+ He runs up a weekly tab at his favorite restaurant, the Chicken
Delight on Montgomery St & Bergen Ave.
+ Next door, the Pakistani news-store guy graciously gives him a
line of credit to pay for the 35 Te-Amo cigars he picks up weekly. (he
has cut back to only 5 a day)
+ He is also a very well known customer at the Christ Hospital
Emergency Room, where he has his own bed and typically checks
himself out of after they give his ticker a tune-up.
+ He is a voracious reader who devours two novels a week.
+ Recently donated 500 books to Bruce Thomas' wife because
his apartment does not have room for a library.
+ He is thankful to Joe DiFeo for the line of credit line to drive his
hot Honda Civic, he has not missed a payment and the car has not been
robbed - yet!
+ Mike is a nice slum-lord for his house in Point Pleasant - he has
not raised the rent in 10 years!
+ Plays a big role as the Jersey City Commissioner of Garbage
and a big time official badge to prove it.
+ He is a very active committeeman who helps get out the vote
at the St. Johns Senior Citizen Center. He reports no republicans are
registered there!
+ He loves to take in the sun during the hot summer days when
he parks his chair on the cement beach called McGinley Sq. He hangs
with a unique posse. (describing that crowd will require a separate article)
+ Spends Friday nights with his soul brother Danny Waddleton at
the famous DaNoi Resturant on Avenue C Bayonne. Stop down and tip
a few and share a story if you have the time.
+ He continues to give 32 different teams a shot at playing
hoops each week. He used to pay Ronnie Steimetz to referee, in a cost
cutting move, you now call your own. No one complained.
+ Up until recently, Mike was the Athletic Director at Hudson
County Prep. Now days it is tough to justify having an Athletic Director
when the school was stripped of its sports programs!
Mike Rooney is a most unique character, pure Jersey City and the ultimate gym rat. That is what he is, that is what he does. Got to love it!
WHERE ARE THEY NOW - The Other Side of Mike Rooney ....... by Joe Jankoski
"The Roone"
Anyone who grew up in Hudson County in the 60's and paid attention to the local basketball scene knows, or at the very least has heard, of Mike Rooney. His legendary basketball talents were on display on the hardwood at Snyder High School when he scored 1,613 points without a three point line. He averaged 36.9 points per game in his freshman year for St. Bonaventure University after he declined Coach Wooden's offer to be a Bruin. After a run in with some "Bonnie Rules" he moved on and became a Sooner in the foreign country of Oklahoma. Got drafted by the Lakers when the NBA had only 8 teams,(Cazzie Russell was #1 pick that year), he played for 5 years in the tough Eastern League. He graced the summer asphalt of Audubon Park, teamed up with the Can Do All Stars to beat the Harlem Globetrotters in front of 7,012 fans at the Jersey City Armory, and eventually became a member of the incomparable Bondsmen. For years he put on shooting demonstrations in tough games against top competition at the Rucker's and Mt. Carmel tournaments that are still talked about over beers by basketball junkies.
So that is the Mike Rooney we have all come to know and respect…there is however another side of Mike. For example, do you know that:
+ Mike has an account at the Brooks Brothers store on 45th and
Madison where they know him by name and has a personal sales person
- the lovely Kim - to help him choose those unusual pants with exotic prints.
+ Mike has a "professional" side as he worked for Eastman
Kodak for 10 years selling stuff before the digital age hit.
+ He has a 55 inch, 3D Plasma TV hanging on the wall of his
St. John apartment. He subscribes to everything Oklahoma and when he
dons his 3D goggles to watch the game - he feels and acts like he is still
in the student section in Norman…ask the lady next door!
+ Speaking of St. Johns Apartments, no one has lived there
longer, he will celebrate his 40th year in the same apartment this year. He
was there before the bedbugs moved in.
+ About 20 years ago Mike decided to have his apartment
painted for the first time. He found a local tradesman who agreed to paint
it all for a case of Budweiser. Unfortunately Mike paid his bill halfway
through the project…the painter left for lunch with his pay and never
returned. Mike now sports a trendy two-tone studio!
+ He owes his basketball inspiration to his childhood idol, Vinny Ernst.
+ His first teacher, Red Lyons, perfected that perfect jump shot
form every Saturday morning at St. Al's gym.
+ He juiced up his game by playing Robert McLoughlin one on one
for hours on end - full court!
+ He runs up a weekly tab at his favorite restaurant, the Chicken
Delight on Montgomery St & Bergen Ave.
+ Next door, the Pakistani news-store guy graciously gives him a
line of credit to pay for the 35 Te-Amo cigars he picks up weekly. (he
has cut back to only 5 a day)
+ He is also a very well known customer at the Christ Hospital
Emergency Room, where he has his own bed and typically checks
himself out of after they give his ticker a tune-up.
+ He is a voracious reader who devours two novels a week.
+ Recently donated 500 books to Bruce Thomas' wife because
his apartment does not have room for a library.
+ He is thankful to Joe DiFeo for the line of credit line to drive his
hot Honda Civic, he has not missed a payment and the car has not been
robbed - yet!
+ Mike is a nice slum-lord for his house in Point Pleasant - he has
not raised the rent in 10 years!
+ Plays a big role as the Jersey City Commissioner of Garbage
and a big time official badge to prove it.
+ He is a very active committeeman who helps get out the vote
at the St. Johns Senior Citizen Center. He reports no republicans are
registered there!
+ He loves to take in the sun during the hot summer days when
he parks his chair on the cement beach called McGinley Sq. He hangs
with a unique posse. (describing that crowd will require a separate article)
+ Spends Friday nights with his soul brother Danny Waddleton at
the famous DaNoi Resturant on Avenue C Bayonne. Stop down and tip
a few and share a story if you have the time.
+ He continues to give 32 different teams a shot at playing
hoops each week. He used to pay Ronnie Steimetz to referee, in a cost
cutting move, you now call your own. No one complained.
+ Up until recently, Mike was the Athletic Director at Hudson
County Prep. Now days it is tough to justify having an Athletic Director
when the school was stripped of its sports programs!
Mike Rooney is a most unique character, pure Jersey City and the ultimate gym rat. That is what he is, that is what he does. Got to love it!
