Ron Clifton showed me an old video of a tv bowling show before the pba that had two of the better bowlers at the time (I can't remember who it was, I came in late and it had already been introduced and I don't think I even heard their names). In that match they were both playing straight up the second arrow using rubber balls, one guy was throwing a full roller and the other guy was throwing a semi or 3/4 roller, (not with TJ or modern revs on it however). The match seemed to go on and on and they had some miss room either a board or two from side to side, they were on their way to a 300 to 300 tie when the 3/4 roller guy's ball went a little bit too long and the ball came in behind the head pin and left a bucket.

They both missed again when the lane dried up a little, the full roller guy just threw the ball harder, the 3/4 roller guy had to move out of the Track and swing it back to the Track and it was just over for him, the ball would not stay in the Track and wouldn't bite the lane anywhere else.

It would be interesting to see how a modern bowler with old equipment would do on old school lanes, but it is hard to compete against 279 every game regardless of the equipment used. The modern guys shots would bite the lane too early and they would have to play inside the Track or outside the Track, the break point was so early that I don't know if they would be able to find a line to the pocket outside of the Track. Bill Taylor said Junie McMahon could rev the ball up as much as any of the guys these days, but had limited success because he couldn't play the Track, but he was far from being as versatile as modern pros are. I have never seen Junie bowl I have always been curious to see his style for comparison.

Ron shows this video for several reasons:

1. to show that a full roller type release has it's place and why it was so popular back in the day.

2. to show that the lanes were still pretty easy back then. How many of us would like to just bring one ball and play the same line all night?

3. to show how the lanes were oiled all the way down to the head pin, the ball wouldn't move if it was outside the Track, and if it didn't bite into the lane the 5 pin would be standing there waving at you even if you hit the pocket.

I will ask him where he got that footage from it might be on youtube if I knew who it was it would help.

I've seen Junie McMahon bowl on Fred Wolf's Championship Bowling series. If I remember correctly he didn't do too well. Junie did throw a lot of hook but he didn't have the market on being able to bend the ball. Bill Lillard was tops in that category. Lillard put his fingers into the holes up to the 2nd joint (conventional) but only inserted his thumb up to the first joint. Lillard was the Tommy Jones of his era in that he set the ball down left of center and could bring the ball back from the gutter to rip the pins on light hits. There was one show that featured Dick Weber when he was still a member of the Budweisers. Back then Dick threw a sweeping hook (index finger spread) unlike later in his career when he cut his hook down with his fingers jammed together.

As far as modern bowlers using rubber balls on shellac alleys, I am fairly sure that most of them would adapt to the equipment and lane conditions and average about the same as the old time greats. By the same token I am confident that if the old timers could find a fountain of youth, they could blend right in with the great bowlers of today.

With regards to videos of pre-PBA bowling shows, I may be wrong, but I think that they are available at the ABC Hall of Fame in St Louis. Right now the Hall of Fame is in a state of flux and the powers that be are trying to move the hall to a new location.

Here is a good example of what might happen, look at Carmen Salvino's style, it is very similar to the modern way of bowling, the other guy is tossing a spinner, which was the other popular way to bowl back then. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36F--r2ra_M

This might also explain why Carmen Salvino was successful through out the different technological changes through the years.

And to think, Carmen was considered to have a big bender for the times. Kowaliks reminds me so much of my father when he bowled.

You don't even see someone looking for a breakpoint in that film. All shots were straight up 10 +- a couple of boards either side.

I love watching those old films. In today's world, wouldn't the pinboy have to have been paid, since he appeared on TV a couple of times? I loved the shot where his leg was hanging down in the back.

By the way, I am bowling in a doubles tournament on Saturday with Al Jordan (79) who used to bowl in the Chicago Classic league with Salvino. Al still carries a 190+ average.

Coach,

Carmen Salvino was certainly one of the all-time greats and an innovator too. Carmen early in his career was one of the first bowlers to assume a cranker's hand position with his thumb at 2 o'clock. Later in his career he simplified his delivery by hanging the ball by his side and bumping it forward similar to Marshall Holman except Carmen was upright while Marshall was bent over. His short lived CS bowling ball company was among the first to experiment with --was it some variation of reactive resin?

With regards to Eddie Kawolics - I am not convinced that he threw a spinner although it appeared that way in the video you supplied because of the way his hand came around the ball. I saw Eddie in a later Championship Bowling show in the early 1960's. If I remember correctly, at the time, Eddie was using an AMFlite Magic Line, the AMF ball with the 3 white dots. The camera would show closeups of Eddie's ball entering the 1-3 pocket and making the 10-pin spare. The 3 dots made it easy to see the ball's rotation which appeared to have the ball rolling when it hit the pins.

I remember the way Salvino bowled, it was more like Wayne Webb than Holman though. I like his old style better, I think he would have been better off if he stayed with it.

Carmen developed balls for Brunswick right before I quit bowling back in the mid 80s, it was a soft polyester ball called the Mark X it was very brittle and didn't last long before it cracked or got out of round, mine would rumble all the way down the lane, it had light and dark swirls that would eventually become hills and valleys. I was not aware he had his own company, it must have been when I was away from the sport for six years.

I wish I could find that clip that Ron has, I will have him burn it for me on a disk this summer when I see him. I don't know if it will help jog your memory, but the guy that won was puffing away on a big cigar the whole time he was bowling.

The only bowler that bowled with a cigar in his mouth was Johnny King. He'd get a strike and then take a big puff on the cigar which would glow red. It was like the red light in hockey which would come on when a goal was scored.

Johnw1 is right, Johnny King had the cigar. Great tradition. Like Red Auerbach and the Celtics.

I knew if I described him, John would know who it was, Thanks.

I did a google search and couldn't find anything. I am 100% sure the show was Championship Bowling the lanes were the same as in the Salvino video. I guess I will have to wait until I get a hold of Ron. Let me know if you guys find it.

Here is an article documenting some of the history of Championship Bowling. My first contact with the show was when Whispering Joe Wilson was the host. I knew about Johnny King because I attended a promotional/demo he did in my area with AMF as the sponsor.

http://www.bowlersjournal.com/current_issue/display_article?id=74