Re: JOE ZARRA « Result #1 on Nov 27, 2009, 12:54am »
My reply to rotunda was awhile back. But Stump, you have a lot to say throughout this site. I mean you no disrespect-we may know each other-but this is not the place. I bowled at Eagle Rock Lanes, and Palladium-where Anthony Smith walked in saying "I want you" while I was practicing, but never came on the lanes. I bowled against Mitch Sachs at 4 Seasons-he could not touch me-and we bowled head to head. I watched him bowl at hy-way-nothing impressive. However, when the Lyons Sunday Morning League moved to hy-way and I shot 2 300"s in 3 month's, and Danny Williams the Proprietor-called to congratulate me personally-Mitch Sachs was nowhere around. How do you base your ratings on the top NJ Bowlers?
I mean you no disrespect, but in Union County, the people that were put in the Hall of Fame, I dusted regularly.
Re: Bob Perry Is Back « Result #3 on Nov 27, 2009, 12:23am »
hey bob: Met you thru paul polito, we became friends. you used to bowl in the kegker tournament at cateret, nj, 1978-79: 3:00 squad. The last time I saw you was at maple Lanes in Brooklyn-had to be 15-20 yrs ago. But before that, we became good friends at Paramus Lanes-you introduced me to Mark Roth for the first time. It was nothing to you, but a dream to me. You were were probably one of the greatest natural bowlers I have ever seen, and was proud to know you back then, a priviledge I took for granted. I can't say too much here, however the curves I am throwing you will spark your memory. I hope you will reply.
Joined: Jan 2002 Gender: Male Posts: 226 Location: Brooklyn NY
The Legend of Kenny Barber « Result #4 on Nov 23, 2009, 1:05am »
Memory Lane: The Legend of Kenny Barber 8/07/2009
By Gianmarc Manzione
The fat and soggy stump of a cigar between his fingers, Kenny Barber explodes out of his brand new, jet-black Hyundai to greet me with a sparkling smile and a glowing pair of jade-colored eyes.
"I bet you didn't expect me to look this good!" he says.
A doo-wop station blasts from the car's open windows as he tells me about the eight grand he just won at a poker tournament last weekend, one of many card games he travels to throughout the state in pursuit of the kind of dream any action bowling legend harbors: an appearance in the World Series of Poker. With his silvered mop of slicked-back hair, polyester jump suit, and the rope of gold chains glittering down the front of an exposed chest bushed with black hairs, he looks like an extra from last week's Sopranos rerun.
I find him in the parking lot of a bowling center in South Florida, where, his life as an action bowling great long-ago terminated by a bad back, he moved from New York decades ago to escape a bitter nostalgia that aches more sorely with each passing year. A lot of things ache in Kenny Barber's life these days: the cirrhotic liver which, according to the doctor paramedics delivered him to when he blacked out behind the wheel of his car and impaled the neighbor's front door, "is about 90% dead." The new knees he needs.The carpal tunnel in the right wrist of his bowling hand that, as anyone who knew Kenny all those years ago understands, is the ache that has some stories to tell.
"The number one guys back then were Ralph Engan, Johnny Petraglia, Ernie Schlegel, Kenny Barber, Mike Limongello, Mike Chuchillo," PBA Hall of Famer Larry Lichstein recalls of his younger days in the action. "Now what happened was if you could beat any of these guys in their house, you could leave the place with your pockets stuffed with hundred-dollar bills. We had 900 bucks one night, my friends and I, and my friend said to Kenny Barber 'Would you like to bowl Larry?' Kenny asked 'How much?' My friend said '200 a game.' Kenny laughed, then looked at my friend and said 'I don't pick up a ball for less than a grand a game.' Now Max, a book maker, saw me beat someone else, and he put up the money for me to bowl Kenny. We bet $1,000 and we won, then $2,000 and we won, then $4,000 and we won that game-we kept winning, and Kenny and his guys quit. That night we left with six grand between us, I had $2,000 in my pocket, and I knew that that was how I would make my living for the rest of my life."
If you think nearly 50 years is enough time for Kenny Barber to have gotten over that one, you don't know Kenny Barber.
"He averaged 240 that night for five or six games, he shot lights out!" Kenny recalls in a fleeting burst of anger. "I was the guy to beat, and he did it. He was the only guy to beat me like that."
That was then-a long-gone era when bowling centers in the Tri-State area were places where the carpet clung to the reek of a gangster's cigar as gamblers penciled their debts into the score table, days when some cities enacted ordinances to ban anyone under the age of 16 from entering bowling allies and billiard halls.
Those were also days when Kenny Barber's name made the cover of Bowlers Journal in April, 1963 for a three-page feature called "The Restless One" with an apt sub-title of "Kenny Barber hated everything until he found bowling." While the personality of a guy who earned nicknames such as "The Joker" and "The Rego Park Flash" inevitably factors into the piece-the feature describes a teenage Barber who gets thrills by "hanging around street corners, racing around in hot-rods and having a good time at society's expense"-Kenny Barber's bowling was the real story.
The youngest player to bowl in the All-Star Tournament in 1963-arguably the most prestigious and grueling bowling tournament in the world, which became known as the U.S. Open in 1971-a 17-year-old Barber competed alongside names like Don Carter and Dick Weber, carrying a 204 average for 52 games. A month after bowling the All-Star at 17, he shot a nine-game total of 1940 at the ABC tournament (now the USBC Open), shooting 671, 615 and 654 and ultimately placed 9th in All-Events. Before busting his back while running out the final shot of a 299 game one day, Barber recorded a high series of 876 with a rubber ball, shooting scores of 300, 299 and 277 in an action match at Jamaica Arena-"where 50 Cent is from," Kenny adds. Kenny averaged 258 for ten games that night.
"Kenny Barber was the Joe Frazier of my Ali. I always felt he was a hell of a bowler," PBA Hall of Famer Ernie Schlegel recalls. "We used to bowl in Emil Lence's Ridgewood Lanes. He would curl up into a little ball and explode at the foul line. So one night Kenny bowled me singles and the first game I beat him 300 to 279. That is first time I ever met him, and it was the first 300 I ever bowled-it was for a lot of money."
But bowling is hardly the only game in Kenny Barber's life, making his living over the years as the proprietor of pro shops from coast to coast, a stand-up comedian, a manufacturer of the "Strike K" bowling glove worn by touring pros such as Jim Pencak in the early 1990s, and, of course, a card player. His father Charlie, a great bowler in his own right as well as a brilliant musician who played bass and tuba with the likes of Arthur Godfrey, Tommy Dorsey and Fred Waring, also struggled to settle for any one life in particular. Every family has a way of doing things; the Barber family, however, has a way of doing everything.
Kenny turns the dial on the car stereo and stops on CCR's "Fortunate Son."
"This is all we listened to in 'Nam," he tells me before locating the piece of a hand grenade in the back of his skull to show me.
"I have escaped death so many times in my life," he says. "It's unbelievable!" Any of those escape attempts could easily have been his last-nights when he did not have the money to cover a bet with the kind of guys who get their money one way or another, places where you were as likely to glimpse a gun as you were to watch a game.
Here in South Florida, though, where a seething sun blanches the storm-proofed roofs of Burger Kings and Citgos that banish the state to a crush of homogenized towns, the money, guns and glory that Kenny remembers dissolve into the banalities of the present. But that's not to say that he isn't still pulling tricks.
"I just gave a testimonial about it last week," he begins. "It's unbelievable! 'Mona Vie,' this juice that's made from berries-this berry from the Amazon. The doctor told me my liver was 90% dead, I was in a coma for a day and a half. The doctor told me to get my papers in order, because I didn't have much time left. Then I start drinking this juice, I go back to the doctor, and he tells me he can't believe it-my liver's fine! I'm telling you, this juice-it cures cancer, prevents heart attacks, everything" he declares with an emphatic wave of his hand.
Joined: Jan 2002 Gender: Male Posts: 226 Location: Brooklyn NY
Re: Memory Lane: An Interview with Mike Limongello « Result #5 on Nov 23, 2009, 1:00am »
Memory Lane: An Interview with Mike Limongello, Pt. 2 8/5/2009
Yesterday PBA Hall of Famer Mike Limongello reminisced about his days as a young, legendary action bowler from long Island. Today, we conclude our interview as Limongello remembers more of his legendary matches against action bowling greats. While Limongello may be best known for his now-mythical, all-night action matches against the likes of Richie Hornreich or Ralph Engan for thousands of dollars a game, though, he also proved that he could contend with the greatest names in the sport during his days on the PBA Tour, winning two majors in one year when he took the U.S. Open and PBA National Championship titles in 1971. Here, Limongello also recalls the day that Dick Weber kept him off what would have been his first telecast, the time he borrowed Harry Smith's bowling ball in the middle of the 1971 U.S. Open and won the tournament with it, and memorable matches against legends like Carmen Salvino and Ray Bluth.
A lot of the guys who were a part of the action scene back in the day say they were the best days of their lives. What made those days so great for you?
ML: To me I was just so much in love with the action. I loved bowling, I started when I was 14. I wanted to be a baseball player and when I used to play baseball the manager of the baseball team took us out bowling after the game. I fell in love with it right away and wanted to be a bowler. I just knew I had the talent, and once I started bowling for money and action I didn't want to go to school anymore. One of my home houses was Sunset Lanes. We'd bowl pot games for two or three bucks a man. I got out of school, the school year was over and summer was starting. I was about a 175 average and I bowled the whole summer. I must have bowled 150 games a week. I went from 175 to just about a 200 in three months. I just got so good in three months from bowling every day, I don't know how I did it. But it just was natural to me I just loved the action. The friends we had, such a great time. Everybody liked the action, everyone had this group of guys traveling with them. They used to bet on me.
The action was a lifestyle. So many guys were into it. It was just a fun, fun lifestyle. In other words it was an addictive thing. You just loved the action, the money was there all the time. You could be broke but you always had a shot to make money and it was fun, exciting and fun. I wouldn't have changed those days for anything. It was a really unique time to be bowling back then, from 1960-61 to '65 when I went on tour the action was really big, 7 days a week and it was in a different house every night. One night it was in Brooklyn, the other night was in Queens, then Jersey another night. Yonkers was big on the weekends. At Central Lanes up there they had about 50 lanes, you could go there after leagues were over on Friday night, say ten or so, and go nonstop through Sunday afternoon. I would go there Friday around 11pm and you literally by one or two in the morning just about every lane was going, there was a different match on every lane. It was just before I went on tour, we just traveled the action circuit every night. It was a group of guys that I lived with on Long Island and it was maybe seven or eight of us. We were all bowlers, and we would just go every night wherever the action was and just bowl whoever was there.
At any time we could lose whatever we had in our pocket. I could have two grand and blow it easy, or I could have $50 and go into the house and just beat everybody in the house and turn $50 into $5,000. I did it so many times with a small amount of money. I won a lot of money bowling and the only way I lost money was in doubles when I couldn't get matches anymore. I would have to bowl with a 170 or 180 bowler against two 200 bowlers and you just lose matches like that.It was a different world. It started in the 1960s, '61 and '62 and went to maybe the late 70s, about 15 years. But from '61 to '70 it was just all over the place, and then it just died out. There was no action anywhere anymore. It was really a life not a lot of people would know about and what's funny is kids nowadays come up to me where I work, some kids come into Taj Mahal-this actually happened. Some young kids came in from Long Island, a lot of people where I deal know me and that I used to bowl. I'll be dealing, and somebody might be saying something like 'Hey, this dealer, he used to bowl on tour.' 'So this young kid from Long Island sitting at the table, the kid was about 25, and he says 'You're the Lemon!' and I go 'Yeah.' And he says 'Oh my God! You're a legend!' and I am like 'How do you know about me? You're 25.' He says 'You're a legend in Long Island, everybody knows about you.' I was shocked. I know a lot of people know about me, but here is a young kid and he is a bowler and he bowls in league, wants to be a pro maybe, he says 'Yeah the guys always talk about the old action days. Look under actionbowlers.com.'
A lot of people call Ralph Engan the king of the action. What was your estimation of Ralph Engan?
ML: Ralph Engan was a tough guy to bowl. We had some great matches, me and him. He would beat me, then I would beat him, we would go back and forth. But one night in Central Lanes it was really late, like six or seven in the morning, and most of the action is done. I had been bowling a couple of matches earlier and Ralph was there betting on other matches. Well it came down to nothing going on and they said 'OK, Ralph, bowl Mike.' The house was betting against me and I am bowling Ralph heads-up for three or four grand a game because everyone in the house was betting on him. I beat him like four in a row, and that was the end of the match. But he beat me a few times too. I didn't really want to bowl him, it was a tough match.
What was it like to make that transition from action bowling to the pro tour?
ML: The action and the tour were very different things. My goal was to be a pro bowler, I didn't want to be a hustler for rest of my life even though I loved it. I wanted to be on tour. When I went on tour the reason I started out so good right away was that when I got up against the best guys on tour I wasn't afraid of them. I was in awe of them, I had seen them on TV, OK, but in my mind I said 'If I bowl as good as I can bowl I can beat them.' That is how I felt in my heart. So bowling in the finals against Dick Weber or Salvino or Harry Smith I wasn't afraid of them. Of course they beat me sometimes. I am not trying to brag, these are my honest feelings. The first finals I made was in Florida. It was the fifth or sixth tournament I bowled in and the first game I bowled Salvino, he shot 250 and I beat him. The next game I bowled Harry Smith. He shot 240-something and I beat him. The next game I bowled Ray Bluth. He started with the first 9 and I beat him. I started out strike, spare and struck all the way out. He had the first 9 and left the 2-4-5 and shot 277. I struck out and shot 280, and I am floating on cloud nine. I just bowled three of the best bowlers I have ever seen on TV and beat them. And I settled down after that. It was a 16-man finals. I was hanging in there in 5th, 6th or 7th place-somewhere in that area. They only took the top four to make TV. So now it comes to the final game and I am bowling Dick Weber. So it's whoever wins the game makes TV, whoever loses is the alternate. That was the first time that I was nervous and had to win a game to bowl on TV, and I am bowling Dick Weber and he is in his prime. It was a close match all the way. Then it came down to the tenth frame and it was really close, and I got up first and I had to double to win and I get up in the tenth and left a four pin. He had to strike to beat me and he just struck out in the tenth and he beat me 218 to 210.
How do you deal with that, coming so close to the show and missing it by just 8 pins?
ML: You know, I didn't even care. I wasn't even disappointed to not make the show. I just thought 'Wow, I just bowled Dick Weber!' I didn't choke, I bowled good. But I was nervous. That was one of the happiest times on tour for me, knowing that I was good enough. I said 'OK, I made it. I bowled all these good guys, beat some really good ones, and one of the great ones beat me. Dick had to strike out in the tenth to beat me.' But Dick was great. He just got up and threw three strikes like nothing. It wasn't like I was rooting against him. I was like in a different world, it was so great to me that I was able to watch somebody that great. That was a turning point in my career. Five or six weeks after that, I won. At that moment, I knew I was good enough.
What other memories of Dick Weber do you have?
ML: Dick was a great guy. A lot of times I would have talks with him and I would say 'God, how do you do it?' He was about thirteen years older than me. And a lot of times I'd say 'How do you stay so good? How do you keep going?' To me at that time he was older, he might have been 33 or 34. I said 'What gives you that drive? You've done everything.' At that time he had won so much. He just said he loved it, loved the game, the action, the competition. You know, when you bowled him you could see the fire in his eyes. He wasn't giving an inch. He was totally focused. He was just mean on the lanes, he was like a tiger on the lanes, just mean. Off the lanes he was a great guy. Like Marshal Holman or Pete Weber. On the lanes he is a lion.
Your Hall of Fame entry on the PBA's website describes you as "one of the top clutch bowlers of all time." How did you control your nerves under pressure?
ML: I guess I just did it so much. There were times I bowled with nothing in my pocket and I HAD to win the game, I didn't have enough to cover the bet. I think I just did it so much and so often it just became second nature to me. The biggest thing was I loved it so much it didn't really affect me. In other words I actually loved the pressure, I would wish when it came to the tenth frame-let's say the match was even-I would actually root for the guy I was up against to throw a double so I would have to double to beat him, because I wanted to see how good I could be in the clutch. I didn't want him to screw up. Money wasn't important at the time, I wanted to beat him under pressure. I wanted him to get a double to show I could get up there and beat him. I used to do that all the time. I knew I was going to do it. I knew I could do it. The thing I would concentrate on was the basic principles. If you get nervous and do not think about what you're supposed to do you'll forget your basic fundamentals and you might choke. But if you have a set way of bowling that keeps you in time-you know, keeps your timing right to make a good shot-concentrate on that and not on 'Oh, God I have to get a double to win!' That's what I concentrated on, I got my focus down so good that my concentration was so good and the pressure never came into my mind.
There are stories online about you not even using your own equipment on tour. Is this true?
ML: A lot of times I would borrow someone else's ball. I always believed before this new equipment that if I was having trouble with the lanes there was another ball that would react better than my ball. So if I was struggling, most of the time when we went to an alley on tour I would have one or two balls at the most, the black rubber and a plastic ball-that was it. Now guys carry fifteen to twenty balls, there are so many different things to choose from. If I was bowling I would bring one ball with me, maybe borrow someone else's. I would walk around and ask when I bowled the U.S. Open, after the first qualifying round I was in 150th place. At that time we bowled four 8-game blocks. I said 'I am dead.' I go into the paddock, talking to Harry Smith who had four bowling balls. I am putting my hand in his stuff-his hand was almost identical to mine, same span, grip, everything-and I say 'Harry can I try one of your balls in the next block?' So I get this ball, and whatever kind of balance he had in it, top weight, whatever-in those days all you could do was play around with different weights-the ball just reacted perfectly and I averaged 220, 230. I kept moving up the line and went on to win the tournament. There I am using Harry Smith's ball, and it went all over the paddock, 'Lemon's using someone else's ball!' I used to do that a lot because I always knew in my mind that there is always a ball for every condition.
Why did you leave the tour?
ML: I hurt my back in my late 20s and had to lay off a whole year, doing rehab, weights, training, stuff like that, and it just never helped. I had to have an operation, and then it just kept giving me problems. In my later days on tour when the lanes got tougher for me, you know, it wasn't as easy. Then when I got married everything changed. It was more pressure for me and harder to handle it because I was not just bowling for me anymore, and I was having trouble performing. And even if I did, my fundamentals weren't working. In other words, that's when pressure can get to you-if you can't perform anymore. In my prime, it never got to me. So when I was not able to hit the lanes the way they were doing them I lost interest, the fun was gone. I won 2 majors in 1971 in my prime. I won the U.S. Open and the PBA Nationals, and I got married that same year, and then the year after that was when I hurt my back. I started losing interest and I quit the tour after the winter tour in '75. I moved to Vegas, met my future wife, and I lived in Vegas from '75-'78. Then when we decided to get married we moved back to New Jersey. I had odd jobs here and there, bartending and different stuff, and in the '90s I got into dealing poker. I have been in Atlantic City ever since. I still love the action. I work part time, I am on social security now. I deal three days a week and play poker three times a week. I only live ten miles outside the city, so at least I am still in the action.
Joined: Jan 2002 Gender: Male Posts: 226 Location: Brooklyn NY
Interview with Mike Limongello, Pt 1 « Result #6 on Nov 23, 2009, 12:46am »
Memory Lane: An Interview with Mike Limongello, Pt. 1 8/4/2009
Those who remember when the name of PBA Hall of Famer Mike Limongello routinely found its place high up on PBA tournament standings might wonder where he has been since retiring from the tour, but those who knew Mike Limongello will not be surprised to learn where he finds work today: at a poker table in Atlantic City. "If you put Mike and Richie in a room and gave them $10,000 each, they would only be in the room together for five seconds," says Johnny Petraglia, who grew up bowling with Limongello and his fellow action bowling legend, Richie Hornreich, throughout the New York City area. "That is the way both of them were. Great bowlers, and loved to gamble." As Petraglia and any number of other legends will tell you, though, Mike Limongello is as legendary a bowler as he is a gambler, a man who could stuff thirty pins in the pit in the tenth frame for any amount of money just as coolly as he could wager an Everest of hundred-dollar chips on a single roll of the dice. Included among the six PBA titles Limongello won during his Hall of Fame career are two majors - the U.S. Open and the PBA National Championship, both of which he won in the same year (1971). Now the man known affectionately as "Lemon" in action bowling lore is back to share his tales of the famed action bowling scene where his name became legend, as well as memories of some of the mammoths of the sport. In this two-part series, Limongello discusses the day he discovered the greatness of Dick Weber the hard way, the time he won the U.S. Open with a ball he borrowed from the great Harry Smith in the middle of the tournament, his matches for thousands of dollars a game against some of the greatest action bowlers who ever lived, and other great stories.
Tell me about Richie Hornreich, the man whom some consider the greatest action bowler that ever lived.
ML: I am still very good friends with Richie. I deal poker at Taj Mahal, and Richie comes here once a month or so. He was really great, we started really young. The first time I bowled him he was one of the best bowlers in Brooklyn and I was one of the best on Long Island. He was only 15 and I was 17, and at that young age we were the best around. So they hooked a match up with us at Leemark Lanes in Brooklyn. We had never met before, but I had heard of him and vise versa. So it was a Friday night and we must have bowled all night, we started at midnight and went to four or five in morning. The money that people were betting was unreal. Everyone in Brooklyn was betting on him and all the Long Island people were betting on me. We were bowling for $2,000 or $3,000 a game - a lot of money, especially for the early 1960s. Over the next year or two we would bang heads about once a month or so. There were three or four guys that were the toughest to bowl, and Richie was right there on top. I think he is in the top three best I ever bowled in a match. It always just came down to who didn't get wrapped the most. We both banged the pocket all night, and we were both very good in the clutch. Richie was a great clutch bowler, neither of us would back down. For spectators it was a great thing to watch - two of the best around going after each other. After that we became good friends.
Richie loved the action but he loved other action too - the horses and all that. He didn't love the tour, but I loved the tour because there was always action. We played golf for money, cards three or four nights a week. It was just like bowling action. There wasn't a lot of money on tour - the guys on tour now, they are just devoted to bowling. There is no action, they don't play cards. But back then, of the fifty or sixty who toured every stop there were thirty of us that were all action guys. The director used to write out sheets for us, Harry Golden would tell us where the action was. Harry would tell us what hotel rooms the card game would be and we would go right to the action. We'd play card games all night and bowl the next day without sleep.
Some people say that Richie, if he wanted to, could have become another Dick Weber. Do you agree?
ML: Richie could have been great, but he didn't have the drive. He didn't like the tour. He is a great guy, a really great, close friend of mine. But some guys have tremendous drive, he didn't. He was just great under pressure, you know. We bowled tremendous matches. People would come from all around just to watch us bowl. They were just nail-biting, tough drag-out fights. Neither one of us would back down. There were some guys, I would put so much pressure on them every game that they would fold up. But not Richie. He was good. I could have been better, too. I think I could have been if I would have devoted more time to practice. But I loved the action too. Sometimes after I bowled qualifying I would play cards all night until 4am instead of getting a good night's sleep. Many tournaments I'd come back the next day and I wasn't fresh and I didn't bowl as good as I could have. I was so addicted to the action that bowling was secondary. When you were young you could do it. When you got older it was tougher.
Now Dick Ritger, there was a guy that was methodical. He never played cards, always went back to his room. Salvino hung around but wasn't an action guy. Weber wasn't. A lot of the top names weren't. But some like Dave Soutar, Dave Davis, Don Johnson - they were all action guys. They would play cards but they were great too. Johnson had 26 titles and he would play cards all night. Some of us could do it, other guys couldn't.
Obviously one of the great characters to come out of the action bowling scene was Iggy Russo. What can you tell me about Iggy?
ML: Iggy Russo, he was just one of a million. Unbelievable. He was kind of crazy, he was nuts. He wasn't great, but he was good hustler. Well, he was better than people thought he was and first of all he pulled a lot of dump jobs, a lot of shady matches. He was a good hustler, he would bowl just good enough to win so everyone thought he was a 180 average bowler. He used to bowl a lot of guys that weren't that good, 180, 175 average guys, and he would just bowl good enough to beat them. He would beat them a couple games and then dump a game back and let a guy win a game or two. He got away with murder, he screwed so many people. How he didn't get shot I don't know. He was like a legend dumper and people would still bet on him. He would bowl matches where you'd say 'He can't be dumping this match! It's too easy, he can't lose to this guy.' He would be dumping and you'd never know it. One time at Gil Hodges Lanes he was dumping a match, and he gets up in the tenth frame and needs a mark to win lot of money. But he was betting against himself. So he is sitting in the settee area before he goes up to bowl. I wasn't there, but good friends of mine were there, and some shady mob guy comes up to him and says 'You better get a mark or you're a dead man.' I guess he didn't know what to do, so he gets up in the tenth frame, drops the ball, and fakes a heart attack. He lays out on the approach grabbing his heart and he is acting like he can't breathe and they called an ambulance and they took him away. He knew he would get beat up or killed, so that's what he did. And that's the type of guy he was. He wasn't going to win the match and lose money.
Did you find yourself in a lot of dangerous situations back then?
ML: Oh we went to some bad places sometimes, but I never really worried about it because I wasn't alone. You know we used to go to some places in Brooklyn that were a little shady. But if I travelled alone, yeah, it might have been scary. But we used to go with guys, friends of mine that were big - two guys that were body guards with me. Back then you know it never happened, you never thought about it. There weren't robberies and all that. Now it could happen more. So many people could have gotten robbed so easily, but like in Central you could have walked out of there with tens of thousands of dollars and you never heard of any robberies. I don't know what it was. Thank goodness the crooks never came to the bowling alley. These days you would be more scared of it happening.
Another guy you hear a lot of stories about is Kenny Barber.
ML: Kenny Barber! Oh, Kenny was the loudest nut in the world. He was funny, just a crazy guy. You talk about a hustler? He came in one night to bowl me in Sunset Lanes, I had never seen him before or heard about him. So we set up a match, he is going to bowl me. So we start bowling and he is in my home house now, right, and some people were in from Brooklyn or Queens. He was pretty good, threw a big hook, kind of a spinner. Good, tough action bowler. If I bowled him on ten different conditions I would beat him on eight out of ten of them - he threw too big a hook to beat me. Anyway we're bowling and I beat him the first game and I am beating him the second game, and about halfway through the game all of a sudden he starts having trouble with his thumb hole, dropping the ball. But now he is hustling me and I don't know it. He is slowing me down, every other ball he is complaining about the thumbhole, and before you know it he threw me out of whack. He beats me the second game and the third game. I think I beat him the fourth game, so we're even. He beat me one or two games more than that, threw my timing out of whack. I was taking five, ten minutes between every ball. After that I said 'That's it, no more.' And we never bowled each other after that. He was just a wild nut. After meeting him and hearing stories about him, at first I didn't like him at all. The first time I met him I didn't like the way he acted, but then I said you know, the guy really is a nice guy, but he was crazy. He just wasn't sane. He just did wild things. I don't know what he was involved in and I didn't want to know. He wasn't the kind of guy I wanted to hang around with, he could have been dangerous.
You used to bowl as Ernie Schlegel's doubles partner in your action days, right?
ML: Yes, Ernie was one of the best. They set up a match with me and him at Whitestone Lanes and we bowled all night long. After the match was over and the smoke cleared we were even, and he says 'We're gonna make a lot of money!' I said 'What do you mean?' I was unknown at the time, it had just started to get out that I was pretty good. So he said 'Listen, we're not ever going to bowl each other again. I am going to take you around. I have some places to take you where they don't know you and we'll bowl doubles." I said 'OK.' So we used to go up to Raceway. Well he took me in there and he says 'Look, I will set up a match.' No one knew me at all in that area, and he set up matches against guys that were really easy matches to start out with, every weekend, every Friday and Saturday night for 6 months we never lost. I am out there trying hard and Ernie is doing nothing, shooting 180, 190 and I am going 'What's wrong with this guy? I am shooting 220, 230 every game and we're going back and forth and more and more people started betting on the other guy, the hometown guy. Now the money is getting big. More and more people are betting, the matches are getting up to $500 a game, $1,000 a game. Now all of a sudden Ernie starts shooting 250s. I still didn't know what was going on. He pulls out another ball and shoots lights out. In those days, it was so different from now. Then guys bowled 'til they were broke. You didn't bowl a few games and quit. In those days guys would bowl until they had no more money in the house. But you started out slow, not the top bowlers right off the bat, and you just kept winning, kept beating guys week after week. Then the matches got harder and harder, but we still won every week. It got to the point when there was nobody left to bowl but there were always places to go. We used to travel to Connecticut.
Ernie was famous back then for his antics on the lanes. What was Ernie like back then?
ML: When Ernie was bowling against me, he would try to trash talk, and I said 'Ernie, that might have worked on some of the other guys you bowled. But if you want to beat me you're just going to have to beat me. You're not going to rattle me or shake me up, no matter what. It's not going to shake me.' He laughed and said 'Yeah, you're right.' But he would rub it into guys when we used to bowl other teams. He was really bad, he would really rub it in trash-mouthing people. If he got a strike in the tenth, he would get a light hit and he would yell 'Fruit salad!' He would get the whole crowd going. He was a wild man, a showman. I was real quiet.
Schlegel sings the praises of an action bowler by the name of Dewey Blair. Did you ever have any matches against him?
ML: That's an amazing story. When I used to bowl action in Central I always heard about this guy Dewey Blair. He was the best anybody had ever seen, but I had never seen him and he never went on tour. Finally one night up in Yonkers they set up a match with me and him, and everybody is betting on him. So the first game, he beat me 269-268. The next game we both start out with first six, and I get up in 7th frame and I get the first 7. Now he throws a strike and he has the first 7 too. But on that 7th strike he rips his thumb, a big chunk of skin comes off, and he couldn't finish game so he had to forfeit. It was like the weirdest thing in world. This was going to be an unbelievable match, and now he rips his thumb and couldn't finish. And that was it, I never bowled him again. I was so upset because this guy is the best I have ever seen. He didn't throw much of a ball. He threw a straight ball, but he was deadly accurate. He never came around again. He was like a ghost - a legend, but a ghost.
Joined: Jan 2002 Gender: Male Posts: 226 Location: Brooklyn NY
Memory Lane: Back in the Action With Del Ballard J « Result #7 on Nov 23, 2009, 12:24am »
Memory Lane: Back in the Action With Del Ballard Jr. 9/10/2009
One of the most storied places in bowling lore is reserved for the legendary "action bowling" scene that flourished in the New York City area throughout the 1950s and 1960s. One man who remains unimpressed, though, is PBA Hall of Famer Del Ballard Jr. "New York's overrated," Ballard said recently when he sat down with BOWL.com and took us back to a time in Texas when a 17-year-old Norm Duke averaged 250 standing on one lane and lofting the ball over the gutter cap of the next, when even the flawless David Ozio's 230 average that particular night was not enough to win a single game as Ballard went penniless betting on him, when hardly anyone beyond the county line was yet to hear the names of Duke, Ozio or Ballard. But by the time those names were known from coast to coast, New York, too, got a taste of Texas action when Ballard and the boys from back home stopped in at the famed Deer Park Lanes in Long Island for action whenever the PBA Tour came to the northeast. And it was there, in a center so wild and crowded that spectators found their seats on ball returns to get a glimpse of the action and people held the door when players of Ballard's stature arrived, that Ballard understood why New York is the place where action bowling is done like nowhere else. Here, Del Ballard Jr. takes a trip back down memory lane and remembers a co*ky Bob Vespi standing on a ball return in Deer Park with his hands in the air to taunt a rattled Rudy "Revs" Kasimakis after a clutch double in the tenth, the action matches Norm Duke bowled for as much as $10,000 a game, and many more great memories from his days in the action.
Del, you hear a lot of action stories out of the northeast, but every once in a while you also hear stories out of Texas involving the likes of Norm Duke, David Ozio, yourself and others. What memories do you have of bowling action down in Texas back in the day?
DB: New York's overrated. Norm and I go way back. Seven straight weeks he came over after we bowled league on Tuesday nights, and we bowled for $1,000 a game, $2,000 on totals. So, yeah, you can say we've been around.
And this was in the early 1980s, before you went on tour?
DB: 1980, '81. I was about 18. This was before I went out on tour. Norm might have just gone out, he's about a year younger than me. The first real action match I remember, Norm bowled David Ozio at a bowling center in Corpus Christi right after a regional in 1981 at Buckeye Lanes. It was a two-sided AMF place, and they hooked a mile. Anytime you bowled there the humidity and salt water were horrible for the lanes and the surface was terrible. I don't know what they were bowling for but it was a lot of money, and there was another guy from the Houston area named Larry Thompson who was a huge action bowler back then too.
The three of them got down on a pair and I was helping them keep score. This was like my second regional ever and I am down there helping them keep score, and of course I am betting on David Ozio, he looked like the greatest bowler I had ever seen. Norm was averaging 250 and they were hooking so much he was standing on the left lane approach bowling on the right lane, walking around the ball return and throwing it over the gutter cap. At 17 years old he knew how to do that. And all I remember Larry Thompson doing is turning his back and looking at us and saying ‘Now how am I supposed to beat that?' And Ozio averaged 230 and couldn't win a game. That was one of the most remarkable performances I have ever seen. I lost all the money I had in my pocket, all $250 of it.
So you were betting on Ozio against Duke?
DB: Oh, absolutely! You would watch Ozio throw it and think ‘How could this guy ever lose?' And I knew Norm was good but that day I learned that it was tough to beat Norm Duke. I didn't bowl Ozio much action, but I bowled a lot of action against Norm. Joe Vito used to come up on Tuesday nights too from San Antonio. Joe Vito and Norm Duke were the two biggest action bowlers. You ask anyone from Texas and they will tell you Joe Vito was the best money bowler ever. He was just phenomenal. Those were fun times, fun times. I bowled Rudy a couple times too.
Rudy Revs?
DB: Yeah, I bowled him a couple times up at Deer Park Lanes in Long Island. When the tour was up there we'd always bowl action. I bowled a lot of action up there. Guys like Bob Perry, Rudy a couple times, Bob Vespi bowled Rudy there. That was a great match.
What do you remember about the Vespi-Rudy matches? You hear stories about those two bowling action to this day.
DB: Oh, they were great matches. Great matches. Not only did I see those matches, I was backing those matches. I had to be there for the action! I was always around where the action was. This was when Vespi was good on tour and all I remember is that it was crazy. People were all over the approaches sitting on the ball returns trying to watch, sitting on the pairs. It was crazy.
Now, every time Rudy needed one he would throw it right through the face. And all I remember is Vespi got up and doubled in the tenth to make him get the first one, and he turned around and stood up on the ball return with his arms out and said ‘Well, we know whose shot it is now! And we know what's gonna happen! Does everybody in here know what's gonna happen?' And Rudy throws it right through the face.
But Rudy himself has such a huge reputation as an action bowler, so I would imagine that there were nights when Rudy was unbeatable too?
DB: Well I would imagine so, yes, but it also depends on who you're bowling. You know, when the tour comes to town it's a different story than when you're bowling local people. I mean, that's a little different. I don't know where Rudy developed all the reputation from because I wasn't around. But when the tour came to town we didn't care who he was. We didn't care who we were bowling against.
You say "We." Who else was involved in these action matches when the tour came to Long Island?
DB: Well it was me, Norm, Ozio would bowl action up there, Doug Kent is a great action bowler. Now, Norm got matches that I was never a part of, matches where they were bowling for big money.
How much money are we talking about?
DB: Oh, between $5,000 and $10,000.
Per game?
DB: Oh, yeah! But see they'd do it differently there. Up there they do a deal where you get all the money on one side, and then the other side has to match that money. That's how you get the fans involved. You go around and get a hundred bucks a piece from thirty guys, I mean, that's $3,000. The bowler would put up about $1,500 of his own money and collect another $3,000 or $4,000 from the back and now you're bowling for $5,000.
But it's not like the bowlers themselves are bowling for all that money to come into their pocket, right? Not when all these other people are betting on the match.
DB: Right. The bowler puts up the amount of money he wants to make, or the bowler's backer.
So if Norm Duke is paying $1,500 out of pocket but other people are betting $3,000 on the match Norm himself is just bowling for the $1,500, right?
DB: Exactly. That's how they get the whole bowling center involved.
So that's why the whole place became such a riot?
DB: Right. East coast action is different from the action down here. Up there they involved the crowd. Nothing is better than walking into Deer Park where there are about 2,000 people in a place that normally holds about a thousand people all up on the approaches and they hold the door open for you when you walk in. I mean they actually make you feel pretty special, because you're the action. That was the fun part. We used to have a great time. Great times.
Now that would get me back into bowling more. That's when it's fun.
Well what happened to those times, Del? Why have they gone away?
DB: Well, if you can "trick" it and you can do the right thing and average 270, it doesn't matter how good you are. It's more about how you can find the right trick.
What do you mean by "find the right trick"?
DB: Well, like guys I bowled with up in Long Island. They had this little trick gutter shot. Norm is one of the best gutter players of all time and he had a hard time beating the guy because it's like boards one and two hooked, but if you hit one too early it went through the nose, and if you hit three you would miss the headpin to the right. Norm practiced the gutter shot when he was a kid, he grew up on the same lane machine that I did, but he grew up on the one-to-one pattern, not the three-to-three pattern.
Does your wife Carolyn Dorin-Ballard ever bowl any action?
DB: Oh, yeah, locally around here when they're bowling pot games and stuff like that.
Well I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not bowling Carolyn for any amount of money.
DB: I know I can't beat her. She just laughs at me.
What about Del Ballard Jr. in 2009? Are you still bowling much these days, looking for any action at all?
DB: Oh, no. I spend all my extra time hanging out with my daughter. If there was some action going on I wouldn't mind going a little bit. Not bowling, just betting on the action. I like the action. Just a few years ago I bowled a couple of guys, Alex Cavagnaro and Rubio when I was bowling up there at Carolier. We were there and went over to Strike 'N Spare or whatever it was, and Chris Johnson and I went over to bowl them and you know I'm not any good anymore, everybody beats me, right? Well I think I averaged 270 for the first four games, and Rubio was just not happy, he goes 'You're supposed to be the weak link!' And they were just not happy, but I ran them over.
Joined: Jan 2002 Gender: Male Posts: 226 Location: Brooklyn NY
Memory Lane: Back in Central with Jeff Kitter « Result #8 on Nov 23, 2009, 12:15am »
Memory Lane: Back in Central with Jeff Kitter By Gianmarc Manzione
8/31/2009
Long before the World Series of Poker attracted legions of fans to their television sets to watch gamblers crowd a casino card table with millions of dollars in prize money on the line, a place called Central Lanes just a short drive north of New York City swarmed with money and matches whose legends no main event in Vegas will ever outlive, a place where Jeff Kitter bowled future Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia for $2,000 a game equipped with nothing but a 10-pound ball and two fingers as Johnny used only his thumb, a place where you always knew you could find a black jack game out back whenever you had no match inside.
"You still weren't there at 5:30 in the morning with your date," Kitter explains. "This was gambling."
Welcome to Jeff Kitter's 1960s, a time warp in which Richie Hornreich gathers friends by a rainy window in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge Lanes and places bets on which rain drop will make it down the window the fastest, where a young Mike Limongello borrows enough from Max the Shylock to make it through one more match as long as he agrees to let Max bet on him, and the action at Central Lanes in Yonkers is far too real to be outdone by the manufactured thrill of jackpot sirens and neon lights thousands of miles away.
"There were very few avenues to gamble back then," action bowling legend Jeff Kitter explains. "There was no sports betting to speak of, the Meadowlands race track hadn't even been built, Atlantic City wouldn't become a gambling venue for another fifteen years, there were no lotteries, people didn't even talk about going to Las Vegas because it was so far away. Just as the place to gamble was the pool hall in the '30s and '40s, the bowling alley became the place to go and gamble in the '50s and '60s."
In the time warp of Jeff Kitter's memory the pharmacies close at five, cell phones are the stuff of sci-fi jokes and the neighborhood turns desolate after dark. But if you're looking for action after hours, you can find it any night of the week at places like Leemark Lanes in Brooklyn where Richie Hornreich is battling Mike Limongello for enough money to pay the rent for several years, or Central Lanes where Larry Lichstein glimpses Ernie Schlegel for the first time in his life and finds him "pounding his chest like a gorilla, saying he is the greatest bowler in the world."
"Everything was closed on Sunday, so when you went to Central Lanes on Saturday night or early Sunday morning, the town was desolate. You would drive up Central Avenue-the bowling alley would be on it-nothing was open. There wasn't a delicatessen open, there were no supermarkets. You were living in an era where there were four or five TV stations and only a handful of people had color TVs and cars didn't have air conditioning," Kitter recalls. "But the first time I went to Central Lanes it was five o'clock on a Sunday morning, I took the first bus up Central Avenue and the whole town was desolate, but I got off the bus and the whole parking lot of Central Lanes was packed, and right away I had this strange feeling, like 'What are all these people doing at five o'clock in the morning at a bowling alley?'"
Now that a parking garage stands on the plot of land in Brooklyn where Leemark Lanes once stood and the 42nd anniversary of the day two tricksters started a fire in a utility closet of Central Lanes and inadvertently burned it to the ground is upon us, many of the bowling alleys Jeff Kitter speaks of endure only in the memories of those who were there. They are the places that Kitter describes as "theaters" in which names like Dirty Bruce, The Hawk and Billy the Kid were as common as names like Joe and John and even "Benny Cigar" the beer delivery man and his 160 average could find a match for hundreds of dollars a game.
"What made the atmosphere almost carnival-like was that you could find a match between two 165 bowlers for a lot of money. Benny Cigar bowled Joe Bera the bookmaker I don't know how many times, and it wasn't unusual for them to bowl for four or five-hundred a game, and they were horrible."
It was a carnival in which Kitter happily indulged, where Iggy Russo, perhaps the most mythical character to emerge from the action bowling scene of the 1960s, drove up to every match with a collection of loaded balls and lead pins which, if you wanted to bowl Iggy for any amount of money, you accepted as part of the deal. It was a carnival in which you bowled for as much money blindfolded as you did throwing the ball between your legs, a carnival in which anything-from the rain in the window to black jack out back-was a chance at getting a taste of the action.
"One of the things I never see written about are novelty games, but there was a lot of gambling done on bowling in all sorts of different manners-low ball which involved trying to pick off the corner pins but if you threw it in the gutter you got 10 plus whatever you got on the next ball, then there were matches bowling palm ball, blindfolded, house ball, between your legs, between chairs, with the other guy's ball, I'm not even thinking of them all."
But as Jeff Kitter says, a place like Central Lanes was as much a theater as it was a bowling alley, a theater whose audience arrived from "as far south as Philadelphia and as far north as Boston," a theater whose participants-however far removed from "the action" as they may be these days-tell their stories as vividly now as they did the day after they happened.
Joined: Jan 2002 Gender: Male Posts: 226 Location: Brooklyn NY
Ex-Hustler Joins the Establishment « Result #9 on Nov 22, 2009, 11:53pm »
BOWLING; Ex-Hustler Joins the Establishment By JACK CAVANAUGH Published: Wednesday, July 28, 1999
Looking like a man not accustomed to rising early, Rudy Kasimakis kept yawning. It was 8 o'clock in the morning and he was about to start bowling during today's second round of the United States Open at A.M.F. Milford Lanes.
''There've been a lot of days when I bowled until 8 o'clock in the morning,'' Kasimakis said. ''But starting to bowl this early is going to take getting used to.''
In alluding to the many times he wandered out of bowling alleys squinting at the early-morning sunlight, the 34-year-old Kasimakis was remembering the years he played for big stakes as an ''action'' bowler while eschewing the Professional Bowlers Association Tour. But now the flamboyant Kasimakis -- Rudy Revs, as he is known in bowling circles -- has become part of the establishment after more than a decade of going head-to-head with scores of bowlers, local hot shots and professionals, in smoky, dimly lit alleys across the United States and as far away as Saudi Arabia.
Although he ranks 20th on the prize money list and has yet to win a P.B.A. tournament, Kasimakis, a native of Hicksville, N.Y., has become the biggest attraction on a tour that lacks players who combine flair with talent. The 5-foot-7-inch, 250-pound Kasimakis stands out as much for his sweeping high-arc windup, huge hook and powerful delivery as he does for his robust build, thick neck and dark goatee.
The P.B.A. Tour is essentially a collection of highly talented but indistinguishable participants, and is a virtual nonentity in the sports world.
So is the tour ready for Kasimakis, a swaggering, trash-talking, in-your-face competitor accustomed to bowling while betting his money against his opponents and usually winning? The answer, from spectators, bowlers and the P.B.A. commissioner, Mark Gerberich, seems to be yes.
''Rudy not only is a great bowler, but he has a terrific rapport with the fans,'' Gerberich said. ''Not all action bowlers can make the transition, since our game is totally different and requires more consistency. And he's attracting more attention to the tour.''
Dave Ozio, a former action bowler who has won 11 titles, conceded that Kasimakis can be intimidating, ''although we don't let that bother us.'' Ozio said that most of the pros welcomed Kasimakis on the tour. ''We need more animated players,'' said the 44-year-old Ozio, a member of the P.B.A. Hall of Fame. ''We have enough monotones out there as it is.''
Kasimakis, who spent a brief spell on the tour a decade ago, agrees. ''The tour needs more color,'' said Kasimakis who, until a few years ago, still worked part time in the pro shop at Mid-Island Bowl in Hicksville and at Bay Shore Bowl. ''They have to attract more viewers and spectators, especially young people.''
During his long years in the shadows of bowling, he competed in every conceivable type of betting game including games where the lowest score won, but with bowlers having to knock down at least one pin, and games where bowlers rolled from behind the scorer's table.
Now he's on the tour and even has three sponsors. Through 16 tournaments this year, Kasimakis has earned $34,750, finished second twice and in the top five three times. With a 215.5 average through 16 games here, he seemed poised to qualify for the next round on Thursday after the field has been cut from 180 to 45 on Wednesday. Both the men's and women's winners of Sunday's finals will receive $35,000.
Married and the father of two children, Kasimakis said he decided to give up the life of an action bowler to spend more time with his family at their home in Gouldsboro, Pa., in the Pocono Mountains. ''I also was ready to go on to the next step,'' he said.
That next step has produced a more subdued Kasimakis. He seems to have refrained from trying to intimidate his new colleagues on the tour. Are those days over? he was asked. ''I don't think so,'' he said with a smile. ''I'm going to be me, and I think I still get under some people's skins.''
Photo: Rudy Kasimakis, a trash-talking competitor, has become a fan favorite on the bowling tour. (Thomas McDonald for The New York Times)
« Last Edit: Nov 23, 2009, 12:01am by Zoo Master »
Finally someone has promoted this game on the East Coast but many have not caught on yet. It is World's Best Bowlers Corp. with 3 tournaments at West Babylon N.Y., Carolier Lanes N.J., and Raymond N.H. You can find more information on WBB. The shot is demanding but for a quick weekend tournament for 10 grand, how can you beat it. More PBA bowlers bowled at Raymond since they combine their tournament with the orginal PBA sweeper. Mikia won the stop last year, but ended in 2nd in the WBB losing to Parker with a 187-164. There was only 20 lefties and only Parker made match play. Bill O'Neil, Nolan and Edwards were in the top five. Charlie Buno (lefty) from Lodi had good showings (one win and 3rd) in the first two. They also tape the finals in high definition. My friend Barry Warshaksky was high qualifier with Nolan and Edwards behind. Barry lost carry an got beat in match play finishing 12th. Parker just made the cut with +62 with the cut being +27. This is a very interestng tournament but be prepared for a difficult shot but not impossible. Alot of people just lost their concentration. That is easy to do for most of us when we make bad shots on demanding conditions.
$10,000 1st place tournament « Result #11 on Nov 20, 2009, 4:50pm »
Finally someone has promoted this game on the East Coast but many have not caught on yet. It is World's Best Bowlers Corp. with 3 tournaments at West Babylon N.Y., Carolier Lanes N.J., and Raymond N.H. You can find more information on WBB. The shot is demanding but for a quick weekend tournament for 10 grand, how can you beat it. More PBA bowlers bowled at Raymond since they combine their tournament with the orginal PBA sweeper. Mikia won the stop last year, but ended in 2nd in the WBB losing to Parker with a 187-164. There was only 20 lefties and only Parker made match play. Bill O'Neil, Nolan and Edwards were in the top five. Charlie Buno (lefty) from Lodi had good showings (one win and 3rd) in the first two. They also tape the finals in high definition. My friend Barry Warshaksky was high qualifier with Nolan and Edwards behind. Barry lost carry an got beat in match play finishing 12th. Parker just made the cut with +62 with the cut being +27. This is a very interestng tournament but be prepared for a difficult shot but not impossible. Alot of people just lost their concentration. That is easy to do for most of us when we make bad shots on demanding conditions.
I am surprise that Norm Duke did not show. Maybe Scianna has all Robert Smith's money. This is not a problem with bowlers but where are the high stake backers. No money in the back!!! This is not related to the action matches. These people were not there. When done like horse racing with people betting in the back then the match takes on a different excitement. Also lets face it no one felt they had any advantage to bowl Chris under those conditions. Only Duke is better on US Open patterns.
Re: What A Shame « Result #13 on Nov 12, 2009, 2:38pm »
I am surprise that Norm Duke did not show. Maybe Scianna has all Robert Smith's money. This is not a problem with bowlers but where are the high stake backers. No money in the back!!! This is not related to the action matches. These people were not there. When done like horse racing with people betting in the back then the match takes on a different excitement. Also lets face it no one felt they had any advantage to bowl Chris under those conditions. Only Duke is better on US Open patterns.
Joined: Jan 2002 Gender: Male Posts: 226 Location: Brooklyn NY
What A Shame « Result #14 on Nov 11, 2009, 3:52pm »
Years ago this would never, ever, of happened...
The 9pm ET deadline came and went Friday evening as Chris Barnes awaited a challenger to take him on for the All-In Action Sweeper title in the Arena Bay at the World Series of Bowling.
Barnes was the only player to put up the $5,000 entry fee required to enter the event, which was scheduled to take place in the Arena Bay at Thunderbowl Lanes as a part of the PBA World Series of Bowling.
A special edition of PBA:39X60 covered the event, showing Barnes on-hand waiting a player (or players) to show up and take him on. An eager crowd gathered, hoping to see a new chapter in the epic history of "Action Bowling", but alas, it was not to be. After the dealine passed, Barnes was declared the winner and was interviewed on Xtra Frame (watch here).
The All-In Action Sweeper was designed to evoke the old high-stakes action bowling days. The format for the event was to be two-game match play where total pins would decide the winner. The event was scheduled to be contested using the U.S. Open lane pattern, which is generally considered to be the toughest condition in the sport of bowling. http://rss.bowlingdigital.de/bowl/node/6988
Joined: Jan 2002 Gender: Male Posts: 226 Location: Brooklyn NY
Great Action Bowlers « Result #15 on Nov 6, 2009, 12:33am »
Great action bowlers, here are a few of the best and any time they bowled with or againest each other it was like a great game in any sport you loved to watch.
joe s, frank medici, ralph engan (the most feared), jake charter, dewey blair, lemongello, ritchie hornriech, jack clemente, rich pizzutti, jeff kitter, john massaro, ernie schlegel, doc iandolli, jimmy mChugh, pete mylenki, mike derose, and many more that other people can add to this list. each one of these bowlers had alot of talent and when they bowled each other it was beautiful to watch no matter who won, the jibeing was worth the price of admission...
I may have missed his name somewhere here, but if I didn't... how could you have left out Johnny Meyer? A top lefty with an amazing hook.
The first time I saw Johnny Myers was at Parkway Lanes on Cropsey Ave in Brooklyn. He was teamed with Sis in a big match against Bert Goodman and Dick Martin (I believe). The house was packed for this match and Johnny and Sis walked right through them. I was extremely impressed by Johnny Myers.
That match and Johnny were locked into my memory at a very young age, It was one of the first big matches I ever saw...
Johnny Myers is on the greatest action bowlers list...
« Last Edit: Oct 23, 2009, 12:58am by Zoo Master »
The Hub is Spring Valley had a great major league back in the mid 60's. I bowled on a team with Ernie Schlegel, Herb Ringel, "Fast Eddie" Fenton and John Huie. Ralph Engan, Bob Materasso, Hank Boroughs and lots of the top action bowlers were in that league.
Harry, was there much action after the league. What classic leagues through out the years had the most action on league night?
Joined: Oct 2003 Gender: Male Posts: 80 Location: New Jersey
Re: Westchester County Action « Result #19 on Oct 20, 2009, 6:31pm »
The Hub is Spring Valley had a great major league back in the mid 60's. I bowled on a team with Ernie Schlegel, Herb Ringel, "Fast Eddie" Fenton and John Huie. Ralph Engan, Bob Materasso, Hank Boroughs and lots of the top action bowlers were in that league.
Secrets of Count Gengler « Result #20 on Oct 20, 2009, 1:24pm »
[img][/img]As i said before in the early years bowling balls did not have weight blocks so by drilling holes you would trnsfer the weight to the bottom of the ball (like drilling a three piece with the label on the underside of the ball). This would take the backend control out giving less reaction. Not the ideal way to have a ball. By studying the Counts pictures I see that he palmed the ball with the holes on top an slightly to the right. This would give him positive weight creating a much more dynamic ball reaction and allow him to change the amount of hook an direction depending on where he placed the holes. When everyone was using weak strike balls the Count was not, like a dodo ball today. Iggy predesser!!
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awaited a challenger to take him on for the All-In Action Sweeper title in the Arena Bay at the World Series of Bowling. 
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