A Question For The Cane

[old dog]

Cane, I’d like to hear your thoughts on these bowlers in their prime, as pure (action bowlers), nothing else, not PBA bowlers.

Iggy Russo
Lemon
Horn
Don Carter
Dick Weber
WRW
Pete Weber
Earl Anthony

In what order would you put them, add anyone of your own if you feel their better (action Bowlers) then any of the above.

[thecane]

i didnt see the pba guys bowl action, but did see the other three i would rate them richie , lemon and iggy in that order. never bowled richie, did compete in tourneys with richie , one at hodges and one at maple,he won both by more than secretariat won the belmont, mikey asked me to bowl one night at colony, but after watching him beat billy picone there the week before i turned him down, as i usually was interested in winning not just playing anyone like a family member of mine , who would bowl anyone with a backers money, i used my own money. and iggy i bowled with at seaview and leader and against him at leader, he was a genious 30 years ahead of his time when it came to bowling, with weights, psychology using his own 4 lb pins if he couldnt beat you on the light wood, also bowling low score or off the wrong foot, but refused to bowl me thta way at seaview, after i just came off shooting 770 in a match
the cane

[thecane]

just a comment on another bowler who came to ny in the early 60s name troy davis. beat my brother on 9 & 10 at glenwood 4 straight my brothers games were 259 268 279 289 his games were 268 279 289 298, we then took him to colony the next night and he beat phil marino 9 staright for a nice payday. i heard he also went to long island and the bronx and also won in those places as well. he was lankey about 6 foot 9 and seem to have a reach to the arrows, threw a ton of ball, lots of speed for those days.
the cane

[old dog]

Do you know where Troy was from, did he come alone or with a crew, did he bet big himself.

Lenny, was the sixties when you were bowling action the best times of your life? looking back what did it mean to you and did you appreciate it at the time.

Did you know a bowler from Ave M named Paul Lieberman, he might of been there before you started hanging out there.

What did you think of Sal Pollizzi as an action bowler.

Did you ever bowl Johnny Gayle at M, for awhile he was betting pretty good when he owned the refrigerator repair store on Kings Hiway near Mcdonald Ave.

[Louis Capasso]

to old dog, the cane was the best matchmaker around. i only new him from about 1975 ish. he wasn't bowling much anymore but he could sure set up some good matches. to cane , lenny i hope your answer to old dogs q's was yes to the action being some of the best times of your life. becouse it was always excillerating to walk into a house and everywhere you looked there were good matches. and if you were a good shooter all eyes would turn to you and the only question was who had the balls to bowl you. my favorite match heads up was also my undefeated doubles partner( most of the matches with and against set up by cane) was Snake.
even though cane always bet snake in our heads up matches (thanks for the donations cane) but also cleaned up when snake and i bowled double together. one thing about the cane is he is a smart bettor . my biggest problem was i always wanted the best bowlers to beat. usually cost me alot of money. becouse when i beat the best in a house 1st all the fish would swim away. see cane i must have finally learned. LOL

[thecane]

yeah the sixties are and were irreplaceable. louie snake lost to you before i became his menter and soon after i worked with him is when he dominated except when the cheese took him down in doubles, but they beat you and the joey many an occasion after my tutoring.
sal polizzi bowled at val mar i believe , but he didnt see many of his matches, i think he bowled my brother a couple of times , but then again who didnt.
paul lieberman i knew and bowled in leagues with him a sid gordons , but he didnt bowl that often to my knowledge at av m but when he did he was tough from '60-'63
johnny gale , pulled a jamsie on me one night after i beat him 6 straight at ten a game , he upped it to fifty and i lost the next 2, never happened to me again, you had to beat me the same amount back sorry, to those who couldnt regain their losings. for when i won three straight from then on and possibly lost the next2 , i would pull the last game trick, and say same bet your either even or 2 down, and it usually wound up 2 down, just a psych ploy.
thecane

[thecane]

troy came in from the carolinas, with a guy named dick west also a duece shooter, but nothing like troy, just the 2 of them with lots of cash and they were packin as well, i think they must of picked up a good piece of change, i know an approximate figure, because they didnt bet chump change and id like to have that 40 years later now
the cane

[thecane]

come to think of it now ,I think pauls home house was av m , but came to gordons for action and bowled the majors there.

the cane

[old dog]

Paul's home house was Ave M, he lived just a few blocks away. He threw a real good ball, I think it was a full roller. I'm not sure if he shot any big action or just with the neighborhood guys, he could be tough, no pushover.

Sal Pollizi also bowled out of Elmwood with the mouse.

Lenny, did you ever book any matches against Bill Daily and company, if so how was it going up against that type of money and talent.

I don't care what anyone says, Lou was a real presence on the lanes, he definitely intimidated many a foe and on any given day could blow away anyone with that over powering ball, just like Mark Roth had.

All you had do was walk in and see him either in a match game or just practicing, your eyes would go right to him and stay there, you didn't have to know him or know of him, it took just one look to know he was something special...

[Billy Tops]

Hey dog I second that about Lou, I never saw Snake bowl (wish I had) but Lou impressed me from day one. I think he was about 16 the first time I saw him at Maple in the late seventies.

Lenny was always a good action bowler and smart matchmaker, unlike his brother who was a real character and lots of fun to watch. I saw the cane many a time at Ave M, he bowled my bud Butch there one step, I think it was on 5 & 6 or 7 & 8 or 19 & 20, the memory isn't what it use to be.

[Renaissance Man]

That Paul did have quite a ball.

Lenny you were much smarter than your brother but didn't have his flair, I'm not sure but I think as a bowler he was a little better than you or was it just that he always seemed to be going up against a lot of top names.

I also only saw a little of Lou but was really impressed with him.

I'd like to hear some more about Snake who I never caught.

[The Wizard]

now this is a pleasure to read about real action without all the garbage thrown in.

thanx

[HarryBar]

This is so great having the site protected from the trash talking punks who don't now anything about life let alone bowling action.

I was a friend and sometime partner of Ernie in the 60's and can tell you guys some amazing stories if anyone wants to hear them.

[Renaissance Man]

Ernie definitely made and is still making his mark as a pro, but when it comes to action he’s a true legend, one of a kind. I’d love to hear as many stories about him and any experiences you had in the days of real action.

[Louis Capasso]

Thank you for the compliment's. it is a rarity on this site . and to cane yes i lost the doubles match with me and joe c to snake and tee. but beat the snake after i quit and he whooped joe in singles. but thats the thing snake and i bowled each other probobly 20 times and never did we trash each other or disrespect each other.
last time i went to maple snake was the 1st to come and say hello, we were and always be friendly and have respect for the other. today its all trash talk and who talks a good game. like they trash tim mack i have seen him bowl twice and man does he throw a truck.

[Billy Tops]

Lou, you are only trashed by the young idiots and people that were jealous of your ability while there’s didn’t measure up. You made a place for yourself that won’t be forgotten.

[thecane]

remarks about my brother, being better than me. he through a better ball , however , we bowled at least 20 times doubles as partners and i had to carry him every match, but if you ask him he'd say he was baggin to extend the matches, we lost at least 2 to 3 matches and in those he averaged in the 170s i in the 2 teens. the only time he beat me even up was in a tournament that lasted 4 weeks and i was leading with 2 games to go him and position round after going wire to wire, he was in 5 th 500 pins behind, peterson points 50 bonus, so if he shot back to back 300s he could get 700 pins total, i would have to bowl less than 200 for 2 games, and you know what, he said if i shoot back to back 300s i could win this. well he started with the 1st 8 and wound up 268 i shot 191. position round i shoot 228 to marty tulo 221 and lost the tournament by less than the 50 pin bonus , had he lost he also shot 268 the last game and still wound up 5th, so much for i think was better. he did out average me by maybe 5 pins , but i also beat guys like mark, stillman and stoop, and he lost to all of them, and they had higher averages than me also
the cane

[thecane]

reply to the snakes ability. when i met him, it was at park circle .in th 70s , and i was partners with dan glass every week vs snake in side action , maybe 20 to 50 a game plus total. and over 36 weeks maybe dan 28 wins 6 osses and 2 pushes. very under rated dan with full roller averaged 199 and snake 189 on a dead grind, but the house did favor leftys. that summer, snakes girlfriend at the time, says why dont i help him (snake). so that summer , i began to transform , his one demential game from point 5 swing 5 to a bowler , who could play nosebleed at 25 fall back, where he made a lot of bucks at the old mill basin every friday night, and even surprised the guys like louie and joe c , who were beating him regularly. from the time i ran around with him, i too was taking part of snakes action every night, since i was not only his personal coach , but taxi as well.

so i know exactly what he did in a 70 week period, from march to july the following year, only losing one match and sweeping the pots every week 10 guys 10 a game side action and he would have to lose the last game every week in order for them to come back, but there was second as well, so he would go 4 wins 2 seconds every week or 5 and 1 , when the superstars at maple and rainbow found out they too came to a rude awakining on the grind.
2 weeks snake wanted to cut me out of the action, so i call my friend dan glass i am partners with dan , and snake 0 for 6 , dan 5 and 1 , an gets pissed.
the next week lefty yenzer hears dan sweeps the pots, and comes to the basin and shoots 087 and 112 and dan wins both of those with low dueces, so much for the 230 average at maple and rainbow.
all the wall shooters stayed away after that, dan really didnt need the money, and snake told me to tell danny to stay home and he would give me back my action , so danny stayed away and snake continued his dominance