Bowling and Wrestling - the 50s - 60s - 70s

Stone193

I was a big fan of wrestling in the 50s and 60s - those who remember that era - the theme or formula was consistent...

There were the good guys and the bad guys - and if it was a tag team match - sometimes the bad guys would be "unfairly" beating up on the good guys or if a single match where the good guy was being beat up by the bad guy and perhaps his manager or another "bad guy" who came out of no where? Out of the blue - like a patron saint - one of our "heroes" - would come to save the day!

Tho consistently and predictably trite - we cheered each and every time they threw that scenario at us!

In NYC - one of the places I remember watching it - was from the Sunnyside Gardens on - I believe - WOR TV. They competed with wrestling from Madison Square Gardens.

I'm sure we have some aficionados here who would love to fill in the blanks.

I was a big fan of Bruno Sammartino.



Another area that we watched - of course besides BB and FB - was Bowling - yes - bowling.

ABC sports broadcasted some kind bowling show for decades until it was picked up by ESPN.

Back in the 50s - 60s - there were all kinds of great bowlers - like Dick Weber, Don Carter, Billy Welu...

And in the 70s we got a whole new crop of bowlers like Mark Roth and Marshall Holman.

The thing that made Mark special? I believe he was the first "cranker" in the game - putting way more RPMs on the ball - and when "on" - it destroyed the pins - if the lanes were dry? He was in deep trouble.

Here's a 77-79 Sportscaster Roth - and a cool auto'ed picture - no one is gonna accuse him of being a pretty face!





Now I've left out a ton of names in bowling and wrestling from the early decades. If you (old) guys want to add to the discussion - well - that's my motive for starting this thread. Bowling and wrestling are one of those sports that many faithfully watched in the "old days" but rarely bragged about it?

Scottiec2288

I remember the bowling Sat afternoon on abc. I was not a fan of but Earl Anthony was really consistent and won alot. I tried to bowl like Roth but just did not get the results like him! Marshall Holman was my favorite, very emotional to say the least.

mlbfan2

I still watch bowling, and I'll be watching the USBC Masters in about 20 minutes on ESPN. Mark Roth seemed to destroy the pins back then, but his ball looks rather weak when compared to today's bowlers. The bowling balls are so much better today.

MiniDuff

Bowling from then to now is like golf with wood clubs to now.... Synthetic lanes, evenly oiled, resin balls... very easy game today. Seeing that Yellow Dot in Roth's hands brings back a lot of memories. Back then it was the Yellow Dot and the LT-48 if you wanted to grab the lane... Earl Anthony was a machine, but to a degree also a product of how much the lanes favored lefties as well.

Bruno brings back some fond memories as well. WOR for sure.

eagles33

The only bowling I have in my collection are these and a 1990 Pete webber. I bought the whole 72 set for about 5 bucks. If anyone wants it minus the 2 cards below for free just pay shipping shoot be a pm.

3 1 20899645 MINT 9 1972 PBA TOUR BOWLER PHOTOS DON CARTER Card
4 1 20899646 NEAR MINT 7 1972 PBA TOUR BOWLER PHOTOS DICK WEBER Card

mtcards

As a former PBA member, I collect a lot of the bowling collectibles, unfortunately (or fortunately) they dont attain much value. One little thing not known about the telecasts is that during the 70's, the PBA had higher ratings on Saturdays than the NFL did on Sundays and usually a higher rating than the NBC "Game of the Week" baseball. Since then, the environment has changed to the point that the PBA actually PAYS ESPN to telecast the bowling events, which has led to the tape delay championship round except for the majors now.

Stone193

<< <i>As a former PBA member, I collect a lot of the bowling collectibles, unfortunately (or fortunately) they dont attain much value. One little thing not known about the telecasts is that during the 70's, the PBA had higher ratings on Saturdays than the NFL did on Sundays and usually a higher rating than the NBC "Game of the Week" baseball. Since then, the environment has changed to the point that the PBA actually PAYS ESPN to telecast the bowling events, which has led to the tape delay championship round except for the majors now. >>

Hiya Danny

I think we're talking about the Pro Bowler's Tour - hosted by Chris Schenkel and Billy Welu who died of a sudden heart attack and was eventually replaced by the very popular Nelson Burton Jr?

The show had a subtle charm and eloquence that eludes definition but was - as you've said - very popular.

I remember being stationed in St. Louis in 1985 and the show was preempted with a local event and I went NUTS!!!!!! That's how much I enjoyed the show.

There's nothing more exciting than a perfect game!

WFFL

If you want some commentary on wrestling from the late 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's follow my brother on twitter. He lived it. @Hustler2754. He can be entertaining, brutally honest, and sometimes a jerk...just don't know what kind of mood he will be in.

Gregg

sportscardstop

<< <i>As a former PBA member, I collect a lot of the bowling collectibles, unfortunately (or fortunately) they dont attain much value. One little thing not known about the telecasts is that during the 70's, the PBA had higher ratings on Saturdays than the NFL did on Sundays and usually a higher rating than the NBC "Game of the Week" baseball. Since then, the environment has changed to the point that the PBA actually PAYS ESPN to telecast the bowling events, which has led to the tape delay championship round except for the majors now. >>



Did you ever win any regionals or cash on the National tour as a PBA Member?

I'm also a big bowling fan and collector. People don't understand why I collect it since its not worth a lot of money. But I just love bowling. I have an Earl Anthony signed Kingpins card authenticated by PSA/DNA, a couple of Dick Weber signed pins, a 1949 BPAA All Star Tournament signed pin. Biggest name signature on it is Andy Varipapa. I bought quite a bit of memorabilia from the Chuck Lande ebay auctions last August.

bowlarama

Such a small world... I didn't know you were a sportscard collector too. Hope you're enjoying the bowling memorabilia. I too love collecting vintage bowling memorabilia. You can really get some awesome vintage bowling stuff for pennies compared to what baseball memorabilia goes for. I intend to organize another bowling auction later this year too.

chuck lande

MiniDuff

I loved the Saturday finals telecast growing up. It really did have a charm to it. It is mind boggling how the game has changed from a polite, almost golf like setting to loud music and louder characters as well.

The best part of the tour growing up was all of the action after hours when the tour would come to town. The guys you saw on tv, bowling the locals with what seemed like the whole town betting on it. Couldnt think of another tv sport where you had that kind of personal access. I don't know if it is still the case today, but many of the best bowlers in the country never went pro, they just couldnt afford to and there could be more money on the amateur side.

flash2

earl,RIP

packCollector

Duff, you're a new yorker so you must know all about rudy revs. bringing up action matches brings back some great memories. I can remember many a night staying up all night bowling action. in the 90's there was definately more money staying amateur, not sure about now. the high roller in vegas was the only way you could earn 100k in a tournament. then all the other tournaments like the veripapa where guys would get in 100 or 200 brackets and could bring in some serious money on any given weekend.

bowlarama

I used to be involved in lots of action against Rudy when he made his way through Texas . Last I heard he was living in Biloxi, MS and manging a center there.

mtcards

<< <i>[

Did you ever win any regionals or cash on the National tour as a PBA Member?

I'm also a big bowling fan and collector. People don't understand why I collect it since its not worth a lot of money. But I just love bowling. I have an Earl Anthony signed Kingpins card authenticated by PSA/DNA, a couple of Dick Weber signed pins, a 1949 BPAA All Star Tournament signed pin. Biggest name signature on it is Andy Varipapa. I bought quite a bit of memorabilia from the Chuck Lande ebay auctions last August. >>



Unfortunately, bowling was not my full time job, but from 2002-2008 as a member, I cashed in 29 of 42 regionals, finishing high as 5th and bowled in one national stop back in 2004 before the exempt tour was instituted (See Link: http://www.pbatour.com/Tournaments/FullStandings/2 ) Thats me in 56th place. As for regionals, my highlight, at least for me, was being able to cross with Pete Weber in a few tournaments....really a different guy than portrayed on tv.

Saw mention of Rudy "Revs" Kasimakas and yes, he has moved to Mississippi. He finds his way to Tennessee for some of our scratch events up here.

Stone - Yes, I was referring to the Chris Scheinkel/Nelson Burton telecasts of the 70's and 80's.


Edited to Add: Over the years of bowling, I got to get a lot of personally signed items from the "legends" that still bowled. Got to meet Anthony and bowl with him in the Bowlers Journal tournament in Reno back in 1988.

sportscardstop

<< <i>Such a small world... I didn't know you were a sportscard collector too. Hope you're enjoying the bowling memorabilia. I too love collecting vintage bowling memorabilia. You can really get some awesome vintage bowling stuff for pennies compared to what baseball memorabilia goes for. I intend to organize another bowling auction later this year too.

chuck lande >>



I actually heard about your auctions when you posted it on this forum. It was fun going through everything that I won. I'm still trying to find a good way to display all of the different medals/pins.

Stone193

This has been a fun discussion!

As I said - I was a bowling nut from the 70s thru the 90s. I bowled in city tournaments where my handicap made it easy to cash. I'm more of a "house bowler" - so I'm not talented enough to bowl anywhere and make the quick adjustments.

If anyone has any cool stuff to post? That would be cool!

I've got some auto pics somewhere.

Does anyone remember Jackpot Bowling or Make that Spare?

Or Championship Bowling?

The simplicity of bowling - IMO - is what made is a fun and popular spectator sport. Of course many may have had no idea about oil patterns, lane condition changes, inside vs outside line etc.

relaxed

Bowling has sure changed since I started in 1964. The first ball I got was a rubber ball from White Front dept. store. After a couple of years a Don Carter Gyro. Bowling wa fun those days because shooting a 200 game was considered good. Bowling balls never really hooked much those days and there wasn't really any coaching but that was ok. I pretty much bowled adult leagues up to about 7 years ago. I decided about 5 years ago to try a PBA sport shot league similar to what the pro's bowl on. What a rude awakeing to realize how difficult it was to make really good quality shots consistency. After that pretty much decided to just practice with friends. Even though I have had 16 300 games in practice ( only 2 sanctioned in tournment play) I realized bowling outside my comfort zone was not pleasant. Been working with a senior bowling tour player for about 6 months trying to work on my game. Needless to say I have a real appreciation for pro bowlers as competition is really tough and they play for so little money.

mtcards

<< <i>they play for so little money. >>




This was one of the main reasons I stopped competing. I never envisioned being a full time professional, since in the end, i still looked at bowling as fun and never wanted it to get past being that serious. When I started bowling regionals in 2002, the entry for a weekend regional tournament was $180 and once you figured out the shot, it was pretty easy to cash for $400 if you made the cut to Sunday. The cost for the weekend was about $100 split four ways, when we used to travel together, so a $400 payday meant a profit of $120 and if you made it higher, it was usually $600 for the top 8, going up to around $3000 for first.

However, with gas higher, entries are now $220-$250, motels are higher and they still pay the same $400. Just not worth it anymore. I still bowl and travel to tournaments, just not to PBA events, although there is one about 35 miles from me in Ft Campbell, KY later this year. Plus, not to mention, I'm not as young as I used to be. Bowling 20-40 games in a weekend would kill me now.

footlong

championship bowling was on saturdays. late afternoon. shortly after a new bowling center in our area, billy G, the one in the youtube film clip, was there giving lessons. he just walked around stopped at your lane, and gave you a few tips. that was 50 years ago. time flies.

Rudedawg

My kind of thread!!

I'm 33, but have been bowling since I was 6 years old. I ate, slept and breathed bowling until I was about 20 and started working as a cop. I quit that a few years ago and started to bowl again. Great sport and glad to be back at it. Just bowled a nice paying, talented-field tournament in Waterloo, Iowa this weekend.

OK, so many things to comment on.......

ABC telecasts on Saturdays were highly anticipated. I had Saturday morning Junior League and then the PBA Tour in the early afternoon. Loved waiting to see who made the Top 5. My uncle taped virtually every telecast from 1987-1992. I still have a few. YouTube has opened up a huge world to the bowling of the 50s and 60s, which is so much fun to watch. It's a WHOLE different atmosphere from now. Personally, I think today's set-up is a mess overall. But, that's a whole other discussion. Dick Weber, Carter, Welu, Bluth, Salvino, all great to watch.

When I saw Rudy Revs in this thread, I knew it was legit I watched him win the High Roller in 1988?? on YouTube a few months ago.

As for collectibles, I only have a set of the Kingpins from 1992? But, that is my peak time of interest so I know all the players. I previously watched the auction referenced above and there was a TON of great items in it.

@mtcards- That's really impressive to cash that many times in regionals. Too bad you couldn't keep going, but, I know it's tough because of costs. Thanks for the link, too.

I'll try and post a few of my pieces of memorabilia later.

GB5HOF

Interesting thread. I was also a huge fan of the Saturday afternoon ABC telecasts with Schenkel and Bo Burton. It was must see TV for all of the serious bowlers in my junior league back then. League ended around Noon. Eat lunch, and then wait for the 3:30 telecast. I remember when Roth made the 7-10...I couldn't wait for my Dad to get home to tell him what happened since we usually watched together.

My grandfather bowled for the famous Stroh's teams here in Detroit in the 50's 60's and into the early 70's. I stopped into the National Bowling Stadium HOF last Summer and was really touched to see a great display on all of the famous beer teams (Goebel, Pfeiffers, Strohs, etc)

He also bowled for the Detroit Thuderbirds in the short lived NBL. We've got some great photos that I'll try an post at some point.

Stone193

I cut school in the 7th grade with my best friends - Jeff Nelson and Johnny Smith. We went bowling - took the bus to Jamaica and had the time of our lives - I was hooked!

On Saturday ABC bowling - I looked forward to it more than FB! Hard to admit it - don't want anyone to think I'm a bigger geek than I already confess to.

wrongleg

I lived for Saturday afternoon bowling in the late 70's through the mid 90's. Bowled competitively in juniors in Southern California in the 1980's. Was good enough to bowl regionals as a donator but never did. I managed for Brunswick in the mid 90's. My name "wrongleg" is from bowling. I'm right handed and slide on the right foot a la Lou Campi. Still friends with Mike Haugen Jr and Robert Smith. Now a 220-230 house bowler but no significant tournaments. Have also known Scott Norton since he was about 4-5 years old, love what is doing this year. He should make Bowlers Journal first team and has a chance for Bowler of the Year. He lists his home center as Westminster where I am the junior director. (weekends only, couldn't do that full time or I wouldn't be able to buy my baseball cards. ) I don't have any significant bowling cards but I have 3 collectible undrilled bowling balls wish there were a market for these. I have an undrilled Edge. Brunswicks first urethane ball which came out in 1981 I believe. I also have a limited edition Olympic Ball that was made by Brunswick and given to 3 winners in each Brunswick operated house. These balls were never for sale to the general public. I ended up with the house display ball. My final ball is a Laker ball from the mid 80's from the first time that Brunswick put out the Team Sports Balls, I think they are a little more common now but back then there wasn't too much of that type of ball.

wrongleg

My 400th post was a bowling post, cool.

Stone193

<< <i>My 400th post was a bowling post, cool. >>

Cool!

And thanx for sharing your experiences.

Another thing - notice that every week these great bowlers would compete - down to 5 - appear on TV Saturday afternoon - and there's no reference on ESPN about the results?

relaxed

Truly was a sad day when ABC televised the last PBA bowling show the Saint Clair Classic with Christ Schenkel and Bo Burton on June 21, 1997. I taped the program at the time and when I watched it a couple of years ago it made me sad but I do remember all the good shows that they produced.

MiniDuff

This just became my favorite thread in years. Spot on Duncan and those who followed. Yes, I knew Rudy and he was my primary thought with the action. He used to take out ads in the LI Bowling News when the tour would come challenging the pros. I bowled in a number of leagues with him and other top bowlers, but the Deer Park Monday nights probably took the prize for best action. They let us bowl and gamble til the sun came up. I grew up with Chris Viale, who if anything was an even better bowler than Rudy at the time and bowled a 300 in the high roller when there was a mad bounty for it. When we were kids, he broke his right arm, so to pass the time, he taught himself to bowl lefty. He was on my team when he shot a sanctioned 300 lefty to become one of the first to do it with both hands.

I remember one night where there was something of a grudge match between Rudy and Bob Vespi at Deer Park, they alternated between 11/12 and 15/16, with Rudy winning every game on 15/16 (the harder pair as a local would know) and Vespi winning every game on 11/12 (easiest pair in the house). I made a LOT of money that night... It did get interesting when Rudy threw a ball at him...

I loved to bowl back then and honestly preferred action to league (though the mention of brackets brought back great memories). Peaked out at 210 around 1995, without ever shooting a sanctioned 300, which always bothered me, or a sanctioned 800 which I wanted even more. I won a couple of local tournaments including a keggler or two and made the cut at the Varipappa one year shooting the high series of my qualifier (that was a nice pot). The funny thing was showing up Sunday in shorts and a wild shirt and seeing all these lunatics dressed like normal people. A couple friends pulled me aside and gave me a heads up that it actually a classy tournament.... woops.

Digging through the scrap book, I came across a cool pic of myself with Andy Varipappa in 1983. He passed away a year later at the age of 93.

GB5HOF

This is really great. Thanks for sharing all these great stories. I also remember going to watch my Dad bowl on Monday nights, and the youngest guy in the league at the time was Johnny Mazza...you could tell pretty early on that something was special. He went on to have a pretty nice professional career.

Scottiec2288

This is a great thread! I found a certificate when there was a pro-am tournament held by Johnny Petraglia. I bowled with 3 pros Frank Ellenbury Tony Marrese and Mark Thayer [not sure the names are right}.As you can see I crushed 1 pro and lost by 2 pins and 9 pins to the other 2. I was only 16 at the time and just missed cashing in by 12 pins. I remember the lanes were dry and the pros could not control thier hooks as I only had a slight hook so it was nice for me.I also remember going to Atlantic city to see one tournament at the Showboat casino, I got Roth and Holman autos and a few others but have not found that program yet. I hope you enjoy the pick of the certificate and any help with the names would be great. Thanks Scott

Stone193

Thanx for sharing Scott and James!

Does anyone remember Falcaro's? I bowled there some when I was a kid - didn't get serious about bowling till I was in my 30s.

MiniDuff

that form looks so familiar...did a couple of pro ams and bowled in the qualifiers for the li stop a few times as well. The LT-48 ball I mentioned earlier was he Johnny Petraglia signature.

My dad Worked for Pan Am and it seemed like half the airline bowled at Falcaros. Didn't Mike Kilgannon have the pro shop? I got my first ball there as a kid.

wrestlingcardking

What a bowling thread? Just kidding guys, glad that you are able to share on here. The more diversity on here the better!