New Britain herald., 1927-12-24
AMATEUR POL0ISTS CAVIAR TO GALLERY
Players Not Scientific But They
 Draw the Fans

DfaW t1e Fans
 TO the lover of roller hockey-the
 Al bug" who takes to the bleacbers
 llAe Kid glove to a dainty hand and
 would suffer from self lf-consciousness
 In & reserved seat-somethino mo,.
 than the game between the nrofes-
 slonals must be served up to insure
 the success Of an evening around the
 netting. New Britain has hundreds
 or ardent rooters who like their
 hockey fast and rough. with lots of driving and passing and everything else that goes 10 make the rafters ring With cheers, boos and applause, put they must have their dish prop- eriy prepared. They do not like to see the big fellows" out on the floor immediately after the crowd arrives
 IL IS all right to have a glimpse of the pros about the dressing room. ana 70 know they are on hand, but before the big crash is staged along about o'clock, the rooters want the amateurs.
 Ever since the Hardware City first took up polo-which was some lime back-the amateurs have been the appetite whetters. They have gladly gone out before the multitude and taken their trimming. not only physically. but at the hands. or tongues. of the bleacherites and in return they have been permitted 10 occupy space among their critics, there to view the "big game" that follows theirs on the evening pro- gram. They have been known to draw hundreds of admissions at the gate night after night, and, 10 their credit, they have never been accused or quitting. Whatever the situation In other cities. the New Britain bows who played the game when it was polo" in Hanna's armory and the old Casino. always battled to the bit ter end and even If "the bag" had been heard Of in those days, 1t is doubtful that anyone would have seriously given a thought to the possibility Of the result of a game being pre-arranged. The playing would have belied the insinuation,
 Celebrities in Amateur Ranks
 The history of the game in this city contains the names Of some classy aggregations, and when. a few evenings back. the Fusari brothers. Frank Hoole, George Bayer and Jimmy Clinton skated out at the Stanley Arena 10 the plaudits Of good crowd. not few of the boys in the bleachers imagined themselves transported to similar scene a dec ade ago, In which some Of these players and several others of equal calibre whanged the red ball into the metal cages in the clashes be- tween the Nutmegs. the Indepen- dents. the Delphis. the Commercials, and several other quintets of that period.
 Pete" Fusari, who Is still spry and nlmble, was a clever skater and 8. nice floor worker, while his Kid brother Jack" was known as the Fred Jean of the amateurs" play ing & steady game at center. "Jin- my" Clinton, clever on the baseball field. handled a polo stick on ice skates or on rollers with the skill Of a professional, while "Al' Swan- son, Frank Toole. Eddie Samlow, "Bill' Walsh, "Pinky" Reynolds. | 'Bill' Kopf. Connie" Reynolds, Patsy" Delaney, Buddy" Dobson. Snapper" Walsh, Feet" Markham, Fred Greene, Shorty Keogh, Jack" Storey. Mac Mulconry. Bugs" Ryan and a host of others many a thrill as they bat led for the championship of the ,ity.
 The game had such a hold on the youths of the city a decade or so lgo that Hanna's Armory was rent d every Saturday afternoon at an hourly rate and several games were played. It was rough, with no 'eferee to interfere, and many a sore shin and battered pair of legs de- ] ! vas polo" and shiny" in those jays, while hockey was known by 'eputation as a college game. played y 'rah-rah" boys with a flat puck md wide. flat sticks.
 Good Old Rough Days
 Lovers of the game recall excit- ng clashes between the amateurs, when Patsy" Delaney, playing half 'ack for the Nutmegs. was wont to lug the ball the length of the floor with a left hand wallop. and Kopf nd Walsh, rushes for the W. z. B. !. aggregation which went through n entire season with hut one de- eat, were veritable demon on the loor. Eddie" Samlow. and Jack" Tusari mixed 1t up almost every ime their teams met. and. as one an remarked during a recent game, "Dick" Dillon, the basketball ref rec who has the reputation of call- ng every foul he sees, had been the polo games in those avs, he would have been obliged 0 equip his whistle with an auto latic device. for his breath would ave been exhausted In the first few linutes of some of the games.
 The fans still talk Of the game hat practically decided the city