Originally Posted On January 19, 2018 By Leslie Heindel on beneworleans.com
Many years ago, when I was still bartending, I got a phone call from my friend Aloysius asking me if the Halfmoon Bar would want a skee-ball table. Without hesitation, I proclaimed, “YESSSS!” Little did I know, I was going to make a forever friend with the dude that was rehoming this thing. Within a week I was renting a U-Haul, with a guy named Jason Mangone I met about 10 minutes before that, and lifting a skee-ball table into the back of the truck.
How It Formed
In September of 2002, Jason had a trip planned to the Jersey Shore. That trip got cancelled due to a hurricane coming for us in New Orleans. Luckily, he didn’t lose power or internet during it, because he had an amazing idea. If he couldn’t get to Jersey to play skee-ball, he would bring it to New Orleans. A few clicks & $400 later, Jason was the proud owner of a skee-ball machine. For seven years he invited people over to play, but in the back of his mind he hoped it would make its way to a bar. Then he met me & we formed the official New Orleans Skee-Ball & Drinking League. (I am now retired & Jason is running the show completely on his own. I’m still not sure how…)