Dante-Guardian Angel School Yard--Part 2

Vince Romano

Collaborator: Johnnie Parise

www.TaylorStreetArchives.com

PART TWO: FOOTBALL

The legend of Dante School Yard cannot end without including the memorable football game that took place just prior to the demise of Dante School.  To fill in the uninitiated, Holy Guardian Angel Church was being torn down to make way for the Dan Ryan Expressway. A fundraising football game was organized to help with the expense of building a new church and a new school  a couple of blocks further west. The football game raised $500 which was a lot of money for the 1950s.

THE DIMENSIONS
The football field ran north and south. The east sideline was the concrete walk along Dante School.  The east sideline was the iron fence that separated Dante Schoolyard from the Guardian Angel School.   No replay cameras were needed to confirm if you were out of bounds. The sound of you colliding with the fence was proof enough. Typical for a neighborhood game, equipment was sparse. Not many guys were wearing helmets (or pads) other than Slick (Louis DeRosa). He was the only guy who came out fully decked with a spiffy uniform…  pads and all. For the record, Slick was Zanzo’s idol…a story that will likely be recounted in another of the Archives anecdotes.

THE PLAYERS
While most of the players were the Dante School Yard regulars, I, yours truly, once again, was one of the rare outsiders who played in that game. As one might have predicted, there were numerous arguments. The opening kick-off produced the first heated argument that lasted several minutes when the ball was recovered by the kicking team. The ball had traveled ten yards but no one on the receiving team had touched it. Neither side was able to convince the other as to what the proper ruling should be. Hence, the compromised decision was to kick off again. Chickie Fazio, one of the top high school sprinters in his day, received the ensuing kickoff. He broke free down the west sideline (the iron fence). Unfortunately for Chickie, he was not at his peak performance that day. He was stopped by a crunching solo tackle. Chickie suffered a broken knee. No, the game didn’t stop. As soon as he was taken off the field, we resumed the onslaught against each other.

THE INJURIES
The following may give the reader some additional insight as to the intensity of the game. Chickie Fazio’s broken knee put his law career on hold. Claw, a nicknamed received because of a malformed left arm, broke his good right arm during that game. Allen Bettina (Farmer’s younger brother) had to report for induction into the army the following day. When he showed up at the induction center, he was so bruised and battered that he was given a temporary deferment to give his injuries a chance to heal. The demand for mercurochrome and bandages ran heavy that day.

SLICK
Despite the intensity of the game, Slick’s uniform never got dirty. During the final seconds of the game, both teams turned on him as a matter of principle. The 60 minutes of recluse he had enjoyed was paid back in a brief 60-second flurry.

There must be a hundred of stories like this up and down Taylor Street--from DesPlaines on out to Western Avenue. The names and the stories should all be documented for posterity. Indeed, it was a glorious time.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD CON
One final note for the sociological and urban historians.  The fundraiser was for naught. Apparently, the trusted community leaders successfully bargained for their spoils and the neighborhood was surrendered to the power structure when the decision was made as to where the University of Illinois at Chicago was to be built. The new Guardian Angel Church, along with most of the neighborhood homes, were relinquished to the conquerors via the rule of law; i.e., eminent domain. Less than two years later, the Italian American community, after losing their original church and school on Arthington Street lost their newly built church and school, which were  financed, in its entirety, by the community. Their donations had gone for naught as there was no restitution for the contributions that were made by the residents. Many in the community lost their homes as well. Most received only a bare fraction of what it would cost to replace their homes in another neighborhood. It was rumored that the successful bargainers either retained their property or received the giant share of the stipend allotted for the homes on each block.

vincent