A Few Question

[Billy Tops]

Lets start with the basics:

What was the greatest decade and city in the world of action bowling? and why

1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s

[old dog]

I'm really glad to see this new board, I love to talk and read about the real action days without all the stupid remarks.

To me the greatest decade in bowling was the 1960s in Brooklyn NY

I wasn't a bowler but a mediocre side better ($2 to $100) a game depending on finances.

I started hanging out in the then brand new Ave M Bowl when I was 14 or 15 about 1958 or 59, at that time the big action hadn't started, the biggest action bowlers were Marc & Red, along with stix and Patty, Paul Lieberman, Marc Kaufman, Roy, Bernie, Cliff, and a few others.

I remember the small pot games on Saturday morning between mainly the kids my age, they were fun to watch.

The young guys like Bernie, Cliff, Marc, and Roy started going to Windsor Lanes on 15th Ave in Boro Park Brooklyn on Sarurdays to bowl action against a stable of kids from that house that the owner of the lunch counter, Josie would back. I would go along with a few other guys to bet on the side.

Those were truly great fun filled days, very competive, yet the bowlers respected each other, no put downs or name calling, it was a much better envirement than what's out there now.

When Mac wagner started hanging out at Ave M, followed by Stoop the face of action drastically changed to the Big Time.

This duo was followed by action bowlers like the Dwoskin Brothers, Sal the Plumber, Sal Pollizi, and a whole host of others including shylocks, bookies, and gangsters, all betting on the side.

Mac and Stoop were backed by the owner of Ave M Howie Noble, they started attracting the biggest action bowlers in the East, such as Lemon, the Horn, Iggy, Joe S, Freddie the Ox, and the list goes on and on.

In the hay days of the sixties Ave M had big time action 7 days a week from about 1am on each day for about 3 or 4 years until Matty was gunned down outside the alleys one Sunday Night, the police investigation killed the action which never returned at that level.