|
Post by Zoo Master on Dec 14, 2002 19:48:54 GMT -5
I think Joe Berardi was one of the top action bowlers of all time, I saw him many times at Reaceway Lanes in Yonkers, some real classic match's
Where is Joe now and what's he doing.
|
|
|
Post by JK on Apr 25, 2003 7:27:02 GMT -5
Joey lives with his wife debbie and 4 kids on Staten Island. He sells MRI equipment to hospitals.........hasn't bowled in a while.
|
|
|
Post by Lou Capasso on Nov 10, 2003 16:47:31 GMT -5
Joe Berardi in my opinion was the bowler to watch he had it all Form, Ability,Threw a TON . The only thing I can say about Joe I was happy to be his friend for a few years on tour.I LOVED TO WATCH HIM BOWL!!!!!If there is one tip I could give any bowler is watch him and learn. In my opinion 1 of the greats of all time!!!!
|
|
vp
New Member
Posts: 23
|
Post by vp on Nov 12, 2003 19:17:56 GMT -5
When I was a kid, Joe used to come to Carteret Lanes on occasion. This was back in 1973-74, used to bowl Ed Walsh on the upper end of the house and take all of Ed's money. Back then Joe would "cradle" the ball, then just rip it threw his downswing. Met him years later at the bar at the Petraglia Open at Carolier. He did remeber those times and was a complete gentleman.
|
|
|
Post by thecane on Aug 9, 2004 14:19:49 GMT -5
when joey was in fla, he had a buddy that i helped. nick frichella ( nicky slowfoot) formally from maple in bklyn, last i heard ,someone told me he had a nervous breakdown, he lived about 15 minutes from me in fla, that was over 5 to 7 years ago. i got his averaged up about 15 to 20 pins and he even finished 3rd in a doubles regional with joey the cane
|
|
|
Post by bowler130 on Aug 15, 2004 18:59:41 GMT -5
I put up a post on the Beeper thread, and then saw this one and decided to toss in my two cents.
Man, I idolized Joe growing up. I thought he was the greatest. The gentleman who said in the post above to watch Joe and learn was 100% right.
I was a teenager in the early 80's and had seen him bowl on TV, I think in the Firestone. I recall entering my first JBT (Junior Bowler's Tour, Chuck Pezzano Jrs. organization) at Pearl River Lanes. I think Joe's Dad owned the pro shop and I remember that I hoped I'd get to meet him.
Finally I did, though not at Pearl River. Great guy. I was a pinchaser at the now defunct Elmsford Lanes on Route 9A in Elmsford, Westchester County. Joe was bowling in a PBA/WASA regional. His partner was a gal named Kate Helbig. They won. But here's the classic.
When the PBA does any kind of tourney, they require (or at least back in 82-83 they did) two pinchasers, two mechanics and an electrician to be on duty in the pits. So, I was put on the shift. In the final match, Joe strings 8. Our boss tells me and the other chaser to climb up on the catwalk, in case Joe bowls the 300, so we can shut off the machines and pull the pins right away.
Joe strings 11. We had a monitor in the back so we could see everything; either they had a closed circuit on the final pair or it was being taped for local cable. Some strikes were buried, some were jersey/brooklyn. He was carrying everything, with such style and obvious ability. Gets up for number 12. BURIES THE EIGHT PIN. 299.
My chasing partner jumps off the walk, turns off the machines, and hangs over the pinsetter to grab that 8 pin off the deck before he takes any other pins out. I ask him "what the hell are you doing?"
His response (he was a bit goofy but well meaning) "I'm going to give this to Joe, he may want it as a souvenir."
I look at him like he's cross-eyed and from another planet, then I peep out of the masking unit and see that Joe does not look happy about that buried 8. I tell him "I wouldn't do that. Why would a guy of that level, who's bowled a bunch of 300's, want that G-d Damn 8 pin he just buried."
But goofy goes and gives it to him anyway. And while I stood back there cringing, I saw him accept it with grace.
God Bless you Joe. I learned a lot about bowling and sportmanship from you, and I hope you're still playing!
|
|
|
Post by TonyTantillo on Aug 18, 2004 9:17:00 GMT -5
Joey was a great bowler but I don't remember him being a great action bowler. I was one year younger than Joe when he bowled for Mt. St. Michaels in the CHSAA league at Stadium Lanes accross from Yankee Stadium. In addition we both bowled in the same small house Steele Lanes. When he made the Pro's his bio said he bowled at Parkway as he grew up but that is not the case. His family lived across the street from Stelle Lanes and he bowled their all the time. I don't remember him bowling much action. Only leagues and constantly practicing. His dad was really devoted to his becoming a pro and worked a side job as a bartender I believe so he could practice. Early in his pro career he was spnsored by Max from Kusky's on the tour receiving a weekly salary, expenses and a percentage of the purse's he won. The biggest match I saw him bowl was at Kusky's when Max backed him against Jeff Kidder. Jeff beat Joey that night pretty easily. Max also backed Petraglia and Butch Soper among others on the tour and would bring them in to bowl against Jeff but very rearly did they win. The story about Max is that Petraglia introduced Mark Roth to Max early in his carrier when Roth wanted sponsorship but Max did not like his style. I don't know if that story is true maybe someone can verify if it was or not.
|
|
|
Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Aug 18, 2004 14:59:09 GMT -5
Joey bowled alot of action in the early seventies especially at Fiesta Sat nights. He first came around when he was around16.
|
|
|
Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Aug 18, 2004 15:09:34 GMT -5
That firestone tournament he won his second major, he swept the field on tv. Don't remember whom he beat in the final game but the first match he beat his buddy the great Roth. 230-224. Roth opened with double nuts, Berardi a triple and that's all she wrote. Berardi was the first bowler I can remember that won a stop playing the 6th diamond with urethane. Now it's no big deal, but everybody is using resin.
|
|
|
Post by TonyTantillo on Aug 18, 2004 16:12:43 GMT -5
There is no argument that he was a great Tournament and League Bowler. But what I saw around the action is that it did not alway's translate into being a great action bowler. It also worked in reverse I think the question of why some of the best action bowlers never went out on tour was that it was not where they were at their best.
|
|
old dog
Junior Member
The 60's were the best
Posts: 83
|
Post by old dog on Aug 18, 2004 16:19:09 GMT -5
Tony I remember Jeff doing a real job on Butch Soper, wiped him out.
How old was Joey in 1975, that's the year I saw the horn walk off the lanes at Raceway against Joey before the match began. Joet buried 10 straight in practice and Richie put his ball away. Obviously this wasn't the horn of the sixties.
|
|
|
Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Aug 18, 2004 18:49:03 GMT -5
Richie in 1975 was not near the bowler he was at his peak. In his prime, he would have eaten Berardi. Bowlers who were great in action did pan put on the tour, Limongello, who was great on tour, and Schlegel and Egan to name a few. Action bowlers that were good but not outstanding like Roth, Petraglia and Berardi became great on tour. mchugh another great action bowler held his own but nothing special on tour. Other decent action bowlers like Lichstein and Spigner won on tour but nothing special.
|
|
|
Post by Louis Capasso on Aug 18, 2004 19:03:03 GMT -5
1975 richie was in vegas!!!! berardi was TOUGH! Joey had ice in his viens, the only time he got rattled was the 1st few times on tv. Joey and i hung out together one fall tour in 1977 or 78 and became friends. but the question is who would have won the match and my answer is...........the lane conditions would determine the outcome becouse if there was oil i would have to believe it would have been close. a little drier condition maybe richie. a wetter condition joey. a gutter shot ME !!!! LOL. One thing I will havew forever is i have known and bowled them both and won. I beat joey in a pba finals at riverhouse lanes, gus lampo's house at the time he shot 289 and i shot 299. i avg 240 that week and finished 8th. tough conditions haha
|
|
|
Post by TonyTantillo on Aug 18, 2004 21:57:36 GMT -5
I was there old dog when Jeff beat beat Soper. In the space of a few weeks he beat Joey, Soper, Tom Baker from Buffalo all who were sponsored on the tour by Max and backed by him in action. The worst beating was one the night Jeff beat Petraglia 7 out of 8 games. Jeff was the best I ever saw my father alway's talked about Lemongello being the greatest but I never really saw him in action. The best match I witnessed actually was at Bridge Lanes in Queens between Jeff bowled Doc Iandoli. I had the pleasure of keeping score and they both played a real gutter shot. They were both lined in but Doc seemed to have a little edge because the gutter was not Jeff's natural shot. I remember Doc going up two games and it came down to the tenth frame of the next game with Jeff needing a strike. He moved back inside to the fourth arrow for that shot and got the strike. He won the next two games and the match was over. It was a great match to watch up close. Those were the good old day's.
|
|
|
Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Aug 18, 2004 22:52:01 GMT -5
The horn would have beaten
|
|
|
Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Aug 18, 2004 23:06:07 GMT -5
At his peak, Richie or Lemon would have beaten Berardi on any condition. You had to see Hornreich at his best which was prior to 1969. berardi at his best in action not even close to Hornreich. Richie beat Godman on more than one occassion at central where the lanes were dry, with Godman averaging in the 240s. Richie in the vargo on oiled lanes with 4 lb wood shot 1080 for 5, iincredible. The great EARL ANTHONY won that tournament one year with a 1020. Richie played anywhere from the gutter to the fourth diamond in the good old days. In those days, he had a very high backswing. Lemon was just as good, no matter what the conditions. I have not seen anybody here talk about the late Charlie Faino from Philly who was the best around from 1970 through 1976. He supported a family off the action and beat everybody around. Jeff never beat Faino, although they rarely bowled each other. Urethane lanes came into play in 1976 and the full roller that Faino through was not as effective.
|
|
|
Post by Louis Capasso on Aug 19, 2004 9:44:11 GMT -5
i beg to differ i have spoken about faino on this site an awsome full roller and TOUGH. i heard he passed away and that is a shame he was probobly only in his 50's
|
|
|
Post by bowler130 on Aug 19, 2004 13:03:16 GMT -5
Did Earl Anthony ever bowl action? I know he was from California, but..
|
|
|
Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Aug 20, 2004 0:33:47 GMT -5
Earl no action. Kidder challenged him at Garden City and Earl said to come to Seattle. So Daly and Kidder hopped a plane and went to Seattle. No match. he wound up bowling Gary mage for $100 a game. From the mouth of DALY. Does not mean anything. I'm sure Anthony would have chewed him up. Kidder and Daly were big gamblers and feared nobody. In 1978 Kidder bowled pete Couture in Baltimore and lost 5g. Not too many know this story.
|
|
|
Post by Renaissance Man on Aug 21, 2004 2:01:31 GMT -5
SENIOR CITIZEN, in your opinion was there anyone ever that was a bigger action combo than Jeff and Bill, was there any other action bowler that would bowl just about anyone for the type of money Jeff would put up himself on an on going basis. How good of an action bowler would you consider Daly to be. Why do you think he finally got out of the action scene.
|
|
|
Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Aug 21, 2004 9:06:09 GMT -5
Probably not. However, if the bets had been as big, as when the horn and lemon were at their best, I'm sure they would have each bet 1000s. These guys would at times bet 1g out of the box when 100 was a nice bet. Schlegel, doc, etc. rarely bet more than 100. The horn was in Vegas one year in the late sixties on tour and Burton challenged him to a three game total wood for 1g. richie said that he only bet one game at a time and challenged him for 10g. Burton flew the coop. Daly was a small deuce in the 60s which was tremendous, probably two classes below the best. His doubles partner was Pete Pastor a better bowler and Daly was not a big bettor then.
|
|
|
Post by HarryBar on Aug 21, 2004 10:12:19 GMT -5
You are wrong about Ernie. He often bet way more than $100. Especially when he was "sure" he'd win.
He'd start with a small $40 bet and let the back have most of the bets. But, when he felt it, he'd freeze them out and cover most of it himself. I saw him bet $500 or more a game plenty of times.
|
|
|
Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Aug 21, 2004 11:23:37 GMT -5
Well he never did at Central. If he bet that kind of money, it was probably a TANK. It' amazing how many tanks there were amongst the best. Lemon was the only honest bowler among the best. Even richie played games in his day.
|
|
old dog
Junior Member
The 60's were the best
Posts: 83
|
Post by old dog on Aug 21, 2004 18:57:36 GMT -5
If this old dog remembers correctly Daly was an average better before he entered the sevice and had big time cash when he left the service? Daly was a tough action bowler, I was at Kuskies the night he bowled Butch, it's a great story www.actionbowlers.com/bio/chapter9.htmlWhat kind of a better was Berardi with his own cash.
|
|
|
Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Aug 21, 2004 20:39:42 GMT -5
Berardi was a small bettor. When he first came to Fiesta when he was about 17 or 18, my partner and I backed him many times.
|
|
old dog
Junior Member
The 60's were the best
Posts: 83
|
Post by old dog on Aug 21, 2004 23:09:09 GMT -5
I never had the pleasure of seeing Joe bowl action, I 'd love to hear about some of his matches. The only time I almost caught him was in 1975 at Raceway lanes when the Horn called the match off when Joey buried 10 straight in practice.
It was the one and only time I saw him live and was I ever impressed.
|
|
|
Post by TonyTantillo on Aug 23, 2004 8:49:18 GMT -5
The strikes might have been impressive but his action smarts have to be questioned. The purpose of the action was to win money not put on a show in practice once he felt line in he should have started shooting the 10 pin or something else until the other guy was ready. When you are around the action you learn those thing. You also learn not to beat your opponent worse than necessary if you want the match to continue.
|
|
|
Post by mocheeks on Aug 24, 2004 14:50:26 GMT -5
ok so now I'm going way back but I remember bowling with Joey Berardi in the United States Youth Games. That was back in 1965-1967. Even back then I knew he was something special to watch. For those of you old enough to remember, the US Youth Games was an event put together by Mayor Lindsay. It focused on bowling, track and field,and basketball.
What a bowler he was!!!!!
Monica
|
|
|
Post by Louis Capasso on Sept 1, 2004 13:05:38 GMT -5
hi monica its me that little kid of 16 who had a crush on u then. joe was my favorite bowler to watch. i remember when i made my 1st pba national final joe was doing the scoring and i was playing the wrong line and was in serious trouble dropping down from about 11th place to 22nd with a few games to go and he says i ve seen you try to spli a board for 3 games and lose about 1000 in prize money move in where roth was playing . he was right won 4 of my last 5 matches and shot about 230 over for the last five . no one else would have said anything but i valued his opinion and ability and knowledge of the game. anyone knowing joe's wherabouts please e mail me.
now here's another name from the past and of today joe tusa. joe is in jersey and a customer of mine who bowled with me 12 years ago and recognized me tells me he is helping joe out since he is a little down on his luck. well i have seen tusa and even offered him a job to help him get on his feet. o.k. cant resist i meet tusa at maple lanes bowling a like tournement in 1974 he wins i finish 3rd. but have to wait for my father to get there to sign for my prize money since i was only 15. anyhow tusa and his backer are chirping how great he was and how he would bowl anyone in the house. so big head little 15 year old i was bowl him, he shoots 300 at me AND TIES ME next game he shoots 248 I SHOOT 300 AGAIN. END OF STORY AND MATCH.
|
|
|
Post by HarryBar on Sept 1, 2004 13:24:39 GMT -5
Senior Citizen, I just read your post of 8/21 about everyone being in the tank except for Lemon. Well I wouldn't know for sure.
You have to remember the time and people involved. They were GAMBLERS and we were in an age of bookies, loan sharks, pool shooters, horesplayers. We didi it all.
In sports you had fixes in basketball just 10-15 years earlier, boxing was crooked, horses were fixed, ballplayers gambled and owned horses, etc.
So if bowlers acted this way it was only "normal" at the time. Everybody was trying to get the edge.
|
|