What's in a Name?

As a young fellow I developed a liking for odd names. I also liked sports at the high schools and Akron U and they offered a veritable treasure trove of great monikers.
The football team at the municipal college, now a state university, was a poetic pleasure. In the backfield were Al Abdullah and Frankie Zazula. On the line were Mike Fernella and Dominic Patella. The captain was Walt Kominick and playing center was a tough Irishman named Shanty Hogan. I liked Joe Zemla, Andy Maluke and Collie McCombs.
East High athletes had great names. Jim Comedy was a favorite of mine, as was Sam Serves, pronounced service. Walt Gezzar (geezer) and Charley Nurse were fine ones and so were Joe Yen, Willie Lee and Bob Royal. Gene Woodling went on to play baseball for the New York Yankees.

There were good names out at Garfield High, names like Mike Feduniak, Ernie Stadvec and Kenny Batman. It almost seemed unfair to have Batman carrying the football. At South High were Fritz Nagy, Wyndol Grey, Joe Papp and Ara Parseghian. The latter went on to coach Notre Dame football. North featured Ralph Vinceguerra, Tony Campanella and Chuck Palazzo. Central had Felix Latona and at West was Friend Van Fleet.

Latona went on to coach football at his alma mater, then died of a heart attack at practice while still a young man. Van Fleet was killed in WWII.

I have always enjoyed picking names for characters in short stories and novellas. Memory and the Akron phone book ensure a steady supply of the memorable variety, but it's best not to turn on the spell checker.

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