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Don't know how many from StL know him, but he was in my graduating class at Southwest High School in 1946. His name is Gino Pariani, raised on The Hill near my school, and is in the Hall of Fame in the soccer world. He was part of the 1950 American team that pulled an amazing upset of the highly favored English team. He played forward striker, if I recall.

If you google his name there are lots of articles, many with pictures of his family, the Hall of Fame award ceremony, and other background things. He is a big deal in the soccer world and a native of StL. He passed on a few years ago of lung cancer. A really nice guy.

Thanks for the info. I can imagine that you could write a book from growing up in that area rich in sports heritage.

Do not know whether I have enough material to write a book. Maybe a short story. The 30's and 40's were a great time to be growing up in StL. It was highlighted by the wonderful Cards run throughout the 40's.

Two other sports greats grew up in the same Hill area where Gino lived. Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola, both catchers- Yogi for the Yanks, Joe for the Redbirds.

Knot Hole Gang Vet wrote:Do not know whether I have enough material to write a book. Maybe a short story. The 30's and 40's were a great time to be growing up in StL. It was highlighted by the wonderful Cards run throughout the 40's.

Two other sports greats grew up in the same Hill area where Gino lived. Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola, both catchers- Yogi for the Yanks, Joe for the Redbirds.

And most likely there were a host of people that were almost as great as these guys, but didn't get the fame. The movie on the 1950 World Cup team The Game of Their Lives gave a quick re-creation of the soccer. I believe a few other members of that soccer team came from the Hill.

To be part of that era had to be fun.

German and Italian immigrants led to some serious soccer talent back in those days.

If you guys want to see a cool movie about these guys from St. Louis, check out The Game of Their Lives. It features Gerard Butler before he did 300 and every bad movie since that.

Loved that movie!

I attribute my tolerance for soccer to being a native St. Louisan that was basically raised watching and playing the sport.

thrill wrote:German and Italian immigrants led to some serious soccer talent back in those days.

If you guys want to see a cool movie about these guys from St. Louis, check out The Game of Their Lives. It features Gerard Butler before he did 300 and every bad movie since that.

fyi, it appears to be called The Miracle Match on Netflix.

Knot,
Were you friends or at least acquainted with Gino, Yogi or Joe at all?
If so, I'd love for you to share any stories/anecdotes of what you've experienced with them.
(That might've come out badly, but you know what I mean)

st.lewis11 wrote:Knot,
Were you friends or at least acquainted with Gino, Yogi or Joe at all?
If so, I'd love for you to share any stories/anecdotes of what you've experienced with them.
(That might've come out badly, but you know what I mean)

I don't have much to report on them. Gino was in my class at Southwest High School. We graduated in the same class, but I didn't buddy around with him. There were 400 in our class, so that's a big group. He was a very nice guy- really devoted to soccer, which was not a very big thing in those days. We had a soccer field in Francis Park, a few houses away from my house in St. Louis Hills. We played pick up games there a lot. But, Gino was at a different level than the rest of us. I lived a long way from high school, had to take two buses to get there. Our neighborhood was the end of town in those days. Gino lived on The Hill, which was where Southwest was located. Kingshighway and Arsenal.

Yogi and Joe went to South Side Catholic, so I had no contact with them. Joe is a couple years older than me, Yogi is three years older. There was a girl in our class, a really great gal, named Betty Lou Berra, and I think she was Yogi's cousin. We dated a couple times, but that was about all-nothing long term.

Thanks Knot, for the nice tidbit of nostalgia.