The History of The Mighty Mudskippers
In 1900 Genoa, Italy a cucumber salesman named Carlo Fellicci Bocce created a game for his simple minded sister, Angela, to play with her children. Bocce emigrated to the US in 1906 when Carlo settled in New York's Lower East Side. Soon, all the urchins, rag-a-muffins and ordinary orphans were playing the cucumber man's game. New York was a dangerous place at
that time and at one pivotal juncture it appeared that the city would collapse in a miasma of gang related violence. Carlo Bocce bravely approached the leaders of the two biggest, deadliest gangs and suggested that they settle their problems through the game of Bocce. Both gangs resisted until, out of the stench and fog of the docks, came a third gang, "The Mighty Mudskippers." This assemblage of Greek party boat captains were as drunken, filthy, violent and acne-scarred as the other gangs but, unlike the Italians and Irishmen, this gang understood the need to resolve various turf disputes through the precision and skill that Carlo Bocce's game demanded. Soon, all were in agreement and Bocce Ball replaced the knife, gun, rock, burlap sack, cudgel, bat, bat with a protruding nail, and straight razor as the main means for settling arguments in the grungy city. New York was saved and organized gambling soon became the town's most beloved pastime (after Bocce Ball) all thanks to a legendary gang of reasonable boat captains and their incredible love of playing with balls.
