Neptune Lanes, TV Matches

[old dog]

Does anyone remember the TV matches from Neptune lanes in Brooklyn on the black alleys with the first white & black brunswick balls

Was there any action at Neptune.

[vp]

Hey Old Dog, I am from Jersey, and when I was a child some of the names were Joe Brown, Joe Zarra, Gordy Colletti, Sr. Do they ring a bell?

[Louis Capasso]

Hey vp where in jersey are you i live up by circle lanes , and i knew gordy sr and jr. I remember when sr made the top 24 at garden city in the mid 70's he finished a distant 24th but he was the crowd pleaser he had the fans laughing and everyone hadf aball! i think that was 1975.

[vp]

Hi Lou, I live at the Jersey Shore. Gordy Sr. was a pisser. I had the priviledge of bowling in a few double's leagues with him, he was never at a loss for words-God rest his soul. Same with Gordy Jr., he also bowled in Paramus- alot more laid back than his father.

Another guy who was funny was Joe Zarra, he used to bowl action on Bloomfield Ave. in Newark-this was before our time. Whether Joe could or couldn't handle his opponent, his friends made sure he won, either by distraction, or spitting on the approach-anything for an edge.

[vp]

Hi Lou, I live at the Jersey Shore. Gordy Sr. was a pisser. I had the priviledge of bowling in a few double's leagues with him, he was never at a loss for words-God rest his soul. Same with Gordy Jr., he also bowled in Paramus- alot more laid back than his father.

Another guy who was funny was Joe Zarra, he used to bowl action on Bloomfield Ave. in Newark-this was before our time. Whether Joe could or couldn't handle his opponent, his friends made sure he won, either by distraction, or spitting on the approach-anything for an edge.

[Louis Capasso]

Hi vp do we know each other if so maybe we can get together my family has a house in bay head and we come down that way every so often. I also know jr. another nice guy and good bowler. there were alot of great jersey bowlers . John Gualtiei , DiTolla gil sliker all the paramus and lodi guys Teata semiz was always one of my favorites and a friend his son lives very close to me.

[vp]

Lou, I think I only met you at Carolier, however we came up in the same era and knew a lot of the same people. Good people. I have not tried to bowl yet since my knee serjury. Down here there are a lot of high scoring houses, a different type of bowler though. Last year, Roger Gardner dominated a house called Strathmore Lanes in Aberdeen, NJ, I think the low avg. in the league was 220. I had started league bowling last year and was at 204 until knee serjury. I am anxious to get back into the swing of things. If you are in the shore area stop by. i saw your e-mail address I will send you an e-mail

[thecane]

i bowled on the black lanes, with my brother and mother, in a family portion of the show between matches, i was 18 my brother 16 in 1959, we beat the damskys , the next week lost to the mazzarellas.
all the big name pba bowlers, came to bowl there, watching bluth in practice setting up white adhesive tape on the lanes as a marker around 17 at 50 feet, and shooting 780 that night. other bowlers who bowled joe joseph vs iggy russo , and iggy beat him , had him closed out and bowled off the wrong foot in the 10th to showboat.
saw iggy a couple of months ago , and when i asked him about the heart attack match he had at av m vs stoop , he didnt remember it , but i still do , i bowled a match on the opposite pair 11 & 12 , he was on the other side of the house 19 & 20. but he said he remembered quite a few of the others, at 85 or so i dont think he remembers the match he and i bowled at seaview vs phil marino and i think pete anos the house broke even so did i, but we lost the 1st two nobody wanted to bet and iggy shot back to back 290 10 pin 1st frame both times and covered it all end of match
a couple weeks after that at leader we bowl joe c and tony farina we win 4 straight then i bowl iggy singles and he quit after 1 game 220 160
i can remember 45 years ago but i cant remember yesterday , must be the big a getting near
the cane

[yonkefirsch]

They televised those matches from Neptune around 1960. Guy Lebow was the announcer and his sidekick was a guy named Ray Hamalefsky (sp?). Guy had two nicknames for strikes... one of them was a "Tareyton Topper" and the other escapes me. If I could recall the other sponsor, I'd remember. Could have been "Brunswick Beauty".

It's fun to think about those names from that era: Gil Edgett, Joe Santini, Bert Goodman, Johnny Meyer (my favorite), Mike Kilgannon, Vinny Pantuso, Sis Mantovani, Vinny Sarrow, Iggy Russo, etc. Fitzsimmons, Ave. M, Parkway, Colony, Falcaro's, Leader, Kings.

I saw a lot of the late night action and I was only 12 years old!

[SEC]

olddog said:

Does anyone remember the TV matches from Neptune lanes in Brooklyn on the black alleys with the first white & black brunswick balls

Was there any action at Neptune.

I remember the last two lanes on one side had the black alleys and every Friday night at 10:50 p.m. (can't remember which channel - maybe Chnl 9 or Chnl 11) they'd broadcast a show called "Make That Spare" from Neptune Lanes.

Andy Varipapa appeared a few times on the show.

My dad was in a Men's League at Neptune in the late '50's and once threw a 708 series (with a 248 in his warmup game). He'd bowl for money and once came home winning $500 (then a considerable amount of money).

I learned to bowl there and continued to do so until Rainbow Lanes opened up (around 1962 or so) and I used to bowl with Mark Roth there (with whom I went to school. I wasn't too bad for an 11 year old, averaging 145, but Roth was already averaging about 165 then).

[Zoo Master]

The TV show I liked best from Neptune was King Of The Hill or whatever it was called. They painted the end 2 lanes black and the biggest names in bowling, Dick Wber, Harry Smith, etc. would go head to head (3 game match) each week with white Brunswick balls.

The winner of the match would come back the following week.