Ah, those were the days!

[Zoo Master]

Psycho Dave was actually not a pimp. He just lived off women. He was a nice looking guy, and he would tell women he loved them, sleep with them, and they would give him money. He called himself Dave Blank, but his real name was Dave Blankenstein. We were really good friends in those days. We could both shoot left handed almost as well as right, and when some fish walked in, we would casually bowl against each other left handed, and eventually reel them in, until some big money came on the line. Then we would turn around and bowl right handed. We had to be careful about who we did that to, because it could be dangerous.

I can't remember the name of our house, (does anyone? It was on Macombs Road, just off Jerome Avenue) There was plenty of action there, but Gunpost Lanes was the real place. We didn't have the greatest bunch of bowlers, but we had the greatest roster of characters anywhere, straight out of Damon Runyon. Including me, we were Harry the Horse, Psycho Dave, Lenny the Loser, Checkbook Al, Waldo the Professor, Harvey the Baker, and I can't remember who else. Al Unger was very good. Al and I got drafted at the same time, and spent Basic Training together.

One day Pyscho Dave challenged Frank Medici, who was a phenomenal bowler, to shoot only ten pins. Frank never missed a ten pin, so they put up some money. Frank's jaw dropped when Psycho Dave stepped up to the line and simply shot them left handed! I recall it went on forever with nobody missing, and I can't recall if anyone actually won. They probably both agreed to call it off.

In answer to the original question about Bronx action bowlers, I can only give some distant memories. Ernie Schlegel was never as good as the top bowlers. Ralph and Lemon were terrific, and I think they both were briefly on the PBA Tour, but I'm not sure. Joel Myers used to bowl in a little dark house - Boston Road Lanes. He was great, but inconsistent. Iggy Russo came down there one night, carrying a long bag with five or six balls in it. He would test out the lanes, and then come up with whichever ball was just right for those particular lanes. What a great idea! He was very good, but not as good as the real top bowlers. Howie Palefski was deadly, but left too many ten pins. Every single time he saw me he would tell me I looked like Chris Schenkel. He was one of the few action bowlers who was really intelligent.

Ah, those were the days! : Harry The Horse

[Zoo Master]

Harry the Horse:

The bowling center you referred to was All-Star Lanes on Macombs Road. I grew up around the corner on Inwood Avenue. Thanks for bringing back good memories. : SueS

Well I guess you don't remember much. Ralph won three titles and lemon was on tour for ten years and probably the only bowler voted into the HOF with only 6 titles. Probably because he won two majors in one year. Schlegel was a great action bowler as most know and absolutely better than Ralph in action. Only the Horn and Lemon were better: Senior Citizen

Hi Susie –

Thank you for reminding me of the name of my old house. All-Star Lanes. In view of the fact that I spent most of my life down there, day and night, you would think I'd remember the name, but this was forty years ago.

I still don't know how I happened to stumble onto this website, I wasn't looking for it, and hadn't thought about the old days for many years, but it sure brought back some memories. I have an All-Star Lanes story for you. I mentioned we had some great character names down there: Pyscho Dave, Lenny the Loser, Checkbook Al, etc. We had one guy down there – Mike Bowler. Now the thing is that this was actually his real name! We didn't believe him, until he finally showed us his driver's license. Mike Bowler. Unbelievable. The guy was an incredibly terrific shooter, with one of the smoothest deliveries I have ever seen. He could easily have gone on the tour, but he would never, ever bowl action. Not for a penny. He was just a Citizen who liked to bowl. He would come down two or three nights a week, just bowl six or eight games all by himself, and average in the 230s. One night some guys came down from some house and we were all sitting around. Mike Bowler's name came up, and they didn't believe it was his real name. We insisted it was, and we said what's more he can live up to it. Well some trash talk started, and finally we challenged them. Mike agreed to bowl, because he wasn't putting up a penny, and he didn't care who he bowled. As far as he was concerned he was just bowling for fun. So they put up their best guy against Mike for a three game set. We sent in a bundle laughing our heads off, because we knew what Mike could do, and furthermore there was no pressure on him. He couldn't have cared less – he was basically bowling against himself. Well. Mike shoots an EIGHT, and we never saw that bunch again. We offered Mike some money, but he wouldn't take a cent. I guess the moral of the story is that your mother told you to never bowl against a guy whose name is Bowler. Shortly after that, Mike stopped coming down, and we never saw him again.: Harry The Horse