|
|
Post by Mr. Action on Mar 16, 2006 20:51:34 GMT -5
In the 50s - 60s - and 70s
What classic leagues were considered the best or at least top notch?
Which were the best teams and who was on them?
|
|
|
|
Post by jjknapp on Mar 18, 2006 17:04:06 GMT -5
Paramus Eastern Classic,
Skytop Major leage
King Pin Major
Lodi Lanes classic
plus a whole bunch of others in the 60's
|
|
|
|
Post by Mineralite on Mar 18, 2006 22:51:58 GMT -5
Met Majors at Bowlmor. Had all the best bowlers in the area...
|
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Action on Mar 19, 2006 1:30:46 GMT -5
Welcome I think Roth use to bowl in that league   |
|
|
|
Post by Louis Capasso on Mar 20, 2006 9:49:02 GMT -5
he did. so did many other greats. i started bowling in that league at 15 or 16. 1st team myself and roy garcea subbed on his brother joe's team with charlie venable . the following year i bowled with al pujols and lou delutz. but ben mcnevitch, tony sparando, roth ,petraglia, berardi,etc etc etc. plus they also had some great women bowl there too. 1 standout was annese kelly.she was an awesome bowler from leemark lanes.
|
|
|
|
Post by Louis Capasso on Mar 20, 2006 11:04:51 GMT -5
PARAMUS CLASSIC WAS PROBOBLY AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER THAN THE MET MAJORS. MY 1ST TIME THERE I BOWLED FOR V. LORIA AND SONS.THE TEAM ON THE LANES THAT NIGHT WAS 1ST ROTH 2ND ME 3RD BUTCH DANGLE 4TH JOE HOOKS CIRILLO AND 5TH PETRAGLIA . THAT WAS A FUN NIGHT I WAS 16 YEARS OLD AND SHOT 730 AND WAS 3RD OR 4TH ON THE PAIR THAT NIGHT..IT WAS THE ONLY TIME I HAD EVER BOWLED WITH MY IDOL JOHN PETRAGLIA IN A LEAGUE.... PLUS MY FATHER AND 3 OF HIS FRIENDS WERE THERE TO SEE IT .WE WOULD JUST DRIVE THERE TO WATCH AND THAT NIGHT ROGER LOREA ASKED ME TO BOWL ON HIS TEAM ,HE HAD SEEN ME BOWL THE WEEK BEFORE AT THE BOWLMOR AND ASKED ME TO BOWL AGAIN.......
|
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Action on Mar 20, 2006 21:35:42 GMT -5
Did they at one time have a classic league or big yearly tournament at Fitzimmons.
How was ben mcnevitch as an action bowler, I saw him in a match in the late fifties at Ovington lanes. I believe I also saw him in the early 60s at Ave M...
I don't think most people realize how good and feared Joe S was in his prime (fifties and early 60s) ...
Why do you think most of the real good action bowlers from Maple in the mid sixties didn't come to Ave M when the big action was there?
|
|
|
|
Post by Harry the Horse on Mar 20, 2006 23:00:15 GMT -5
Lou -
Joe Hooks is still bowling. He recently shot a 279 - 278 - 279. Not bad for a guy in his seventies. I was in his pro shop practically every other day in the sixties, sitting around talking bowling with Joe. It was on White Plains Road in the Bronx. He has his shop now up at Paradise Lanes in Yonkers, owned by John Kourabas, the son of Chris Kourabas, who owned Paradise Lanes in the Bronx way back then, and also owned University Lanes where I first started bowling. Chris also owned Inwood Lanes, which was Ernie Schlegel's house.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Action on Mar 20, 2006 23:44:43 GMT -5
Way back then did many guys come to Inwood to bowl Ernie, was there much action there...
|
|
|
|
Post by Harry the Horse on Mar 26, 2006 11:00:24 GMT -5
There was plenty of action at Inwood, but it was a small house, and it's action days coincided with the action at Gun Post, which was THE action house in the sixties in the Bronx, so the action wasn't as often at Inwood as it would have been. Yes, plenty of people came to Inwood to bowl Ernie, and most of them ended up wishing they hadn't. The problem for them was that Ernie was practically unbeatable down there. First of all, Chris Kourabas, who owned Inwood, would let Ernie practice all day long for free, and he did. Secondly, the shot at Inwood might as well have been designed for Ernie, because he threw a full roller, practically a straight ball, and he was very accurate. A shooter throwing a big hook would struggle, while Ernie would just go straight up and in just a little. Inwood was in Washington Heights, just across the bridge from the Bronx, near Dykeman and Broadway, Academy Street. Harry Bar, on this web site, used to have his pro shop at Inwood.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Action on Mar 26, 2006 22:46:52 GMT -5
Who were some of the top bowlers Ernie beat and lost to there?
I remember him being at Ave M a few times but don't remember who he bowled and how he did.
What I do remember was that I wasn't impressed with the ball he threw and found it hard to believe he could go against some of the best around. just goes to show how wrong I was...
The guy I was most impressed with on first sight was Joe Berardi in 1976 at raceway, he was going to bowl the horn. I had never heard of him, when I saw that ball he threw in practice I was awe struck and something weird happened, the horn picked up his ball and walked off the lanes after Joey burried his first 10 straight in practice. Of course this was years after the horn was in his prime...
|
|
|
|
Post by Harry the Horse on Mar 27, 2006 15:02:45 GMT -5
I don't think I ever saw Joe Berardi bowl. My heyday as an action bowler was in the sixties, and I think he came along later. Also I was from the Bronx, and I'm not sure if he bowled there.
As for Ernie's ball, if you go back to one of my earliest posts, about a year ago, you will see that I said that I had always thought that Ernie threw the worst ball of all the really top action bowlers. Like you, I could never understand how he could beat the top guns. I mentioned in that same post that I did see him lose to some not so great bowlers. But actually the truth is that throwing a full roller straight up and in is one of the best balls that anyone can throw - IF - and I say ONLY IF - you are incredibly, unbelievably accurate on every shot, because there is no room whatsoever for error. If you are not dead perfect in the pocket, you will never carry the five. When you throw a big hook, even if you're a little light, you can still strike with a mixer, or, more often, if you have enough ball, you will strike with a sweeper, where the five takes out the seven. But Ernie never threw a sweeper in his life, for the reason I stated above - if he was light he could never carry the five. The only way he ever struck on a light hit was with a mixer, what he called "scrambled eggs." So if you throw that kind of ball and line, you have to be perfect. The thing was that when he was on, Ernie usually WAS perfect, so when he was on, he could beat anybody.
|
|
|
|
Post by jjknapp on Mar 29, 2006 16:37:06 GMT -5
Ernie's ball was also loaded. He threw the load on many occasions.
|
|
|
|
Post by Harry the Horse on Mar 29, 2006 18:25:26 GMT -5
I never really thought Ernie was throwing a load, though I wouldn't put it past many of the guys those days. Really, a load wouldn't do a whole lot of good for a shooter throwing that kind of line, though it certainly couldn't hurt any. It was the guys throwing the big hooks that sometimes used a load, though someone like Ralph never needed to, because he had a ton of ball already. The one guy who ALWAYS threw a load was Iggy Russo, and still he generally got beaten by the real top guns.
|
|
|
|
Post by jjknapp on Mar 30, 2006 7:48:11 GMT -5
Iggy was sleazy and I wouldn't put anything past him.
I remember a story about Iggy needing a ten pin to win a big match. The foul lights wern't on, so Iggy walked down the alley and and threw the ball by the masking unit and made the 10.... the shit really hit fan on that one.
PS... I bowled with Ernie, he did throw loads....
|
|
|
|
Post by Harry the Horse on Mar 30, 2006 11:43:14 GMT -5
I believe you. As we both said, we wouldn't put it past any of them back then. Yes, Iggy was very sleazy, and disgusting looking, too. Ralph was the classiest guy around in those days, the exact opposite of a lowlife like Iggy.
|
|
|
|
Post by jjknapp on Apr 4, 2006 15:59:07 GMT -5
Is sleazy Iggy still alive??? and how bout Chicago Bill who I think was/is gay.
|
|
