⇒ Skip this, take me to the discussion archive!

In 1999, we started Streetplay… and the discussion area quickly became its most popular feature.  While we’re carrying on our tradition of discussion 21st-century style on our Facebook Streetplay Discussion Group, we really didn’t want to lose all the years of reader-submitted stories and questions when we closed the discussions on Streetplay.com.  That’s why we’ve gathered together every non-spam message we could (our site was getting hacked left-and-right!), and gathered it all here in a new, WordPress-powered archive.

Nearly every message that was on our original discussion board can be found here.  Each message is created as a blog post, and when possible, the original author is credited.  Also, with the power of the WordPress platform, we’ve been able to group the messages by their original categories (see the menus at the top of the page), and also add new tags to the nearly 4000 posts we’ve retrieved… take a look at the list of tags on the right-hand side, or just look for them at the bottom of any post.  Of course, you can also search for any specific words you want using the search function at the top of any page.

To get you started, we’ve inserted the first bit of the message list below, beginning with the most recent.  If any message strikes your fancy, try clicking its title, or use the categories and tags to dive deep into a topic you like.

Have fun with this!  We hope you enjoy exploring this unearthed corner of Streetplay as much as we do!


I grew up on the same block…

I grew up on the same block as Dom Deluise. In one of his comedy routines, he talked about the pushcart and donkey right near his house. I’d get a kick out of his story because I would pass that donkey almost everyday. Well after he moved to California, I remember seeing his mom always sweeping the front yard. She was also very religious and would often sit near my mom in the church Regina Pacis which was right across the street. Whenever Dom Deluise came back to visit people would always see him buying vegetables on 11th avenue. Also I went to HS with his niece, Jean Dorio. I remember going to a party at her house on 75th Street.

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Just wanted to warn people…

Just wanted to warn people not to buy pimple balls from halfball.com,its been three years and still no delivery of the product.

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The only other ball game…

The only other ball game we played not listed here was called something that might have been spelled “sluuuugie”, which was played with 2 teams. Each team would throw the ball to only their teammates, while the other team tried to steal it. Stealing the ball often was physical rough housing allowed. One last game also unmentioned, but played with out a ball was johnny on a pony, usually we played against a johnny pump (fire plug), but sometimes against a telephone pole. Charlie from Ozone Park 1965-1978

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i know: apple on…

i know: apple on a stick makes me feel sick makes my heart beat 2,4,6. not because your dirty not because your clean not because you kissed a boy behind a magasine. boys,boys there no fun hear come the girls with the blue jeens on they can wobble they can juggle they can do the splits. but i betcha i betcha they cant do this. now close your eyes and count to ten if you mess up then start again. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 we diddent mess up wont start again. if you mess up: we messed up we’ll start sgain

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In the east Bronx we played…

In the east Bronx we played many different variations. Many of our own making. We never played with a ring. We played hit and span or shoot for the sewer or cut out slots in shoe boxes. Even had a marbles racing game my brother made.

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This site has so much potential…

This site has so much potential – can’t you get rid of the spam?

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NorthEast Philly and Feltonville…

NorthEast Philly and Feltonville in the late 40s and 50s. Step(stoop) ball, curb ball, wall ball, wire ball were all the best games. Many of the row houses had alleys between them, so you got points by the times you hit both walls. Only had smooth Pennsie Pink and white-pimple balls, and each had it purpose. Loved the smell of the new ball. Charlie, Mike, Leroy, Bobby all great street ballers. Richie was a big kid that usually won, and beat you up if he didn’t. Nancy was as tough as Richie and she beat us up too, but nobody cared. LOL

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what is the variation of…

what is the variation of marbles called when you have the shooter in the center of the ring and players take turns with smaller marbles,and try to shoot the shooter out of the ring?

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The Brown family grew up…

The Brown family grew up on Davidson Ave & 183rd Street early 1960’s to 1979. So many great memories. Come visit us www.JimmyandLucy.com,

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I use to play Johnny on the…

I use to play Johnny on the pony on Arnow avenue in the Bronx in the Early Seventees along with Ring o Levio in the courtyard between the 2 buildings. In Johnny, One team would have a guy standing with his back against the wall Called the Pillow while his team members all crouched down in the opposite direction one after the other with the first guys head in the pillows stomach. The object of the game was for the other team one by one would leap on to the backs of the crouched team and scooch up towards the pillow. They would win if they could get the crouched team to buckle and fall. If the crouched team held them then the teams would switch and the other team had the chance to leap and break the pony. I had a great innner city child hood. Things were so much simpler then.

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