Pittsburgh Should Forget About American Football and Focus On.....

[revnecro1273]

MARBLES


PITTSBURGH - Mark O'Mahoney was like a kid again, crouched on the floor with an aggie cocked in his thumb and aiming at one of 13 target marbles arranged in an "X" at the center of a 10-foot circle.

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He's 59 now and hadn't played marbles since he was 13, when he won the National Marbles Tournament in 1962. But his shooting skills appeared not to have faded Saturday as he joined a reunion of marbles champions from the Pittsburgh area, home to more national champions — 31 since 1927 — than any other part of the country.

"It keeps the kid in you," said O'Mahoney, a Pittsburgh native who came from his current home of Marietta, Ga., where he is a locksmith, to attend the reunion at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center.

"Spin and speed. That's what it's all about," he said as he demonstrated.

The rules of ringer, the version of the game played in the national tournament, are straightforward: Two players compete, and the first to knock seven target marbles out of the ring wins. Players use shooter marbles of one-half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Shooters are often called aggies because many were made from agate. They can also be made of glass, marble or other stone, but not metal.

O'Mahoney said he won his tournament just three weeks after having a cast removed from his shooting arm; he had broken his wrist while horsing around. That earned him a mention in Sports Illustrated.

No one is sure why the Pittsburgh area has produced so many stellar "mibsters," as marble players are known. Pennsylvania as a whole has produced 66 national champions, with more than a dozen coming from the Reading area since 1968, said Debra Stanley-Lapic, who won the 1973 girl's championship at age 14 and now coaches and directs the Berks County Marbles Program.

She thinks the game has been more or less a tradition in both areas. "It becomes like a family thing," said Stanley-Lapic, whose 11-year-old daughter, Whitney, hopes to follow in her footsteps with her own championship.

"It's a lot of fun. It requires a lot of talent that isn't used anymore — or at least I don't think it is," she said.

Dick Ryabick won the 1943 tournament, which was held in Ohio, and recalls being rewarded with a bike and baseball bats and gloves.

"When I won in '43 — this is crazy — they had a parade (in downtown Pittsburgh). They had a band, they had police on horses," said Ryabick, 77. "They gave me a key to the city. That was crazy when I think about it."

Ryabick said he and his brother played on a canvas ring in their attic. They won "bucketsful of marbles between the two of us" from other players, he said.

What happened to all of those marbles?

"Well, we had slingshots," he said.

[Romanowski]

thanks skippy

[Seanie Mac]

lol true. another guy who just says dumb shit for attention.

[alby]

dalmatian meat must be toxic.

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by alby

dalmatian meat must be toxic.

typical response by the uninformed in western pennsylvania...korea isnt a dog eating country...try to educate yourself sometime dude...so you assume all asian countries consume dog meat...i guess that is fair, since i associate all western pennsylvanians as being uneducated, inbred, morons

[Seanie Mac]

ur korean?

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by Seanie Mac

ur korean?

no....european

[Seanie Mac]

what country?

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by Seanie Mac

what country?

czech

[Back Country]

Originally Posted by revnecro1273

...korea isnt a dog eating country...try to educate yourself sometime dude...so you assume all asian countries consume dog meat...

My aunt was born and raised in korea until she was in her 20's. Shes 100% korean, and she ate dog meat.

I believe it was the 2002 world cup (year?) in korea that animal rights activists protested koreans eating dog meat but they continued to eat it anyways.

She cooks bulgogi (best beef I have ever had) every christmas. When we have christmas at my cousins my unlce makes jokes about her cooking kaegogi using the family dog, kaegogi being the dog meat version of bulgogi. Bosintang (spelling? sorry, not korean) is the soup version which i have herd them joke about as well.

Not all koreans eat dog just like not all americans eat beef, but as a generalized culture koreans do eat dog meat.

Suprised you dont know this since you live there?

[alby]

I assumed nothing Rev, just going by what older guys I know who served in Korea have told me....

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by Back Country

My aunt was born and raised in korea until she was in her 20's. Shes 100% korean, and she ate dog meat.

I believe it was the 2002 world cup (year?) in korea that animal rights activists protested koreans eating dog meat but they continued to eat it anyways.

She cooks bulgogi (best beef I have ever had) every christmas. When we have christmas at my cousins my unlce makes jokes about her cooking kaegogi using the family dog, kaegogi being the dog meat version of bulgogi. Bosintang (spelling? sorry, not korean) is the soup version which i have herd them joke about as well.

Not all koreans eat dog just like not all americans eat beef, but as a generalized culture koreans do eat dog meat.

Suprised you dont know this since you live there?

sure it can be found here...but it isnt common...back in the day it was..but it is more expensive than beef or pork...i am sure it can be found to eat in usa as well if you looked for it...but it isnt in abundance here as it isnt in usa, european countries or elsewhere...it isnt like the other asian countries of vietnam and china where it can be found in droves

[Bobtheicon]

My wife is Korean. Our dog has made it 8 years so far.

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by alby

I assumed nothing Rev, just going by what older guys I know who served in Korea have told me....

oh that is a good source...if you wanted you could get other exotics here as well..but doesnt mean it is all that common...you have to go looking for it...it wont be at any old shikdang (restaurant)

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by Bobtheicon

My wife is Korean. Our dog has made it 8 years so far.

not sure why korea is so highly associated with eating dogs...when in china you can walk into almost any mom and pop restaurant and get dog and also see the dogs skinned on racks in grocery stores...vietnam can get cat just about anywhere