The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 187 - The History of Bowling in America

Episode Date: July 3, 2016

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the history of bowling in the US. SOURCESTOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH

When you're staying at an Airbnb you might be like me wondering could my place be an Airbnb and if it could what could it earn? You could be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. That in-law sweet guest house where your parents stay only part-time Airbnb it and make some money the rest of the year whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. You're listening to the dollop. This is a American History podcast each week. I

read a story to my friend. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about on a bi-weekly basis. I left that out. I'm covering it baby I got you. You drop it, I pick it. Boom boom bam. Don't do that. Come on team. Tag team. Best friends. We're best friends. Are you recording? Unfortunately. Do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bottle. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not going to come to Tickly podcast. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All hell queen shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to Mingle and do a

thing. Hi Gary. No. Has he done my friend? No, no. We are all in the All Things Comedy Network at allthingscomedy.com. Check out the other podcasts. They're all very good. This podcast is also brought to you by our subscribers on Patreon. I want to thank each and every one of you for subscribing. You guys are awesome. Yes. 3200 BC. Whoa. We're going before Christ. Yeah BC. Is that what that means? No. It means broke caveman. An Egyptian child was buried with nine pieces of stone set up like pins that a ball was supposed to be rolled toward. What? Bowling. Oh. So they, okay. So he was buried with bowling pins? A lot of guys from Wisconsin do the same thing. Modern bowling is traced

back to ancient Germany where it was a religious ritual. Oh boy. You would throw a stone at a kegel. The kegel was supposed to represent a heathen. You try to knock down the heathen and you'd be cleansed if you did. So you threw it at a ladies of a vagina? Nope. Wait. That's the wrong kind of kegel. Oh, okay. Sorry. The kegel evolved into pins. The stone became a ball made of wood. They were anywhere from 3 to 17 pins. Okay. Bowling continued to spread around Europe. In England in 1455, they put roofs over the top of the lanes and it became an all-weather sport. This led to new surfaces like clay and wood. In the 1500s, a bowling tournament was held in Poland and the winner was given an ox. That's a my ox, baby. Yeah,

a strike. In the 16th century, Martin Luther had a bowling lane built for his children. Wow. Yeah. Cribs must have been coming by. What's up MTV Cribs? The sport was so popular in England that Henry VIII banned it for everyone but the rich because workers were neglecting their jobs because they kept bowling. And it's never changed. That is so messed up, but we adhere to the same sort of roots today. Guys, we got to work. Let me just build this one frame. I'll just build this one. What? I got to, you know what? I was thinking the other day. And then the rich should bowl. It feels like the peasants, also I should point out that it feels like daggers are going through my feet because I've had so much

cream, but it feels like the peasants aren't doing enough of their work. I'm sorry, what was this? I eat such rich foods that it feels like someone's shoving icicles through my feet. I would like you to go away. Before you go, could you do me a favor? Hand me my gravy straw. Jesus Christ, that's the worst. Don't feel well. But the workers continued to bowl. By the time bowling made its way across the Atlantic to America, it was considered the game of the common man. Yeah. Bowling was brought to America with the colonists, the British bowled on lawns. The Dutch were also into pin bowling. Bowling was first played in America on Manhattan Island. In Europe, there were nine pin games and 10 pin games.

Both were shaped like diamonds, but Americans played nine pins. In 1733, Bowling Green in New York City was built where a Dutch cattle market had been. It became the city's oldest park that still survives today called Bowling Green. Interesting. They stuck with it. Yeah. But it would be so great, A, to take, to time travel Henry VIII to a bowling alley now. It would be the best. And also, it would be a great video to go and to bowlers, people who like hang out, what do you call them, bowl rats? I don't know. People who like hang out and bowl. Bulldogs. Bulldogs. To go up to them and be like, do you know the history of this? When it started in the 80s? No, actually it started when an Egyptian prince was buried

with nine pins. What's that? I got to go. It's my role. Yeah, I got to get a Schlitz. In the mid 1830s, nine pin bowling was so popular that, of course, it led to gambling. Of course. If you were gambling on bowling, and that became a serious problem. So serious that the Connecticut State Legislature banned, quote, the playing of nine pins, whether more or less than nine pins are used. Band, wait, what did it ban? It banned bowling. It banned nine pin bowling? Okay. And that also included using more or less than nine pins. So Dave, I'm not a lawyer. Go ahead. But it sounds like they banned bowling. Yeah, but they just use more words. Right. No, no, no, we didn't ban bowling. You just can't use the pins.

Yeah, you can throw a ball. You can roll a ball down an empty cavern all day you want. It's bowling prohibition. Oh my God. Bowl abition. But there was no stopping bowling. It flooded in with the German immigrants who were flocking to the country, settling in Chicago and Milwaukee and St. Louis and Cincinnati and Detroit. Bowling events became common as the game spread. But there was no, there were no consistent rules for the game to flourish across the country. Most locals just played each other. Different regional rules kept it from going nationwide, right? So they can't get a consistent game going. It's a very different game. And that is, that's like still a thing. Like if you go play pool in England, you're like,

wait, what do you do? Oh, yeah, mate, you scratch the tight one up. You get another shot. You're like, wait, what? Yeah, and it ball in hand anywhere you like. You're like, no, what's the line for that one at Larry? So that one at a Larry's point. And now now I've got to drink this. Oh, shit. Now Larry's got to drink the cue ball. If he dies, you owe me five quid. Oh, mate, point on me. So that happened, that kept going until 1875. That's when bowling got serious. Delegates from nine bowling clubs in New York started the National Bowling Association, the NBA. Something tells me that those delegates were easy to figure out than the ones we currently use. I would say a lot easier. Unfortunately, the rest of

the country wasn't on board with their New York ideas. And even the NBA couldn't agree on the rules themselves. But it was the first attempt to bring cohesion to the game, which is always going to be hard because of the different local rules everywhere. In 1840, the first indoor bowling alley was built in New York City. Knickerbockers was a modern. So before that, it was just, it was just like just out of the ground. Yeah, you do it out. Okay. It's outside stuff. You're rolling on long. Which isn't crazy, but it is to think of where bowling, like bowling being like, man, it's going to get better than this. Oh God, yeah. Put a roof on it, like shine it up, choose. Put a bar

back there. Have holes in the ball, whole thing. Right. So Knickerbockers was a modern indoor alley. It was a huge hit. Indoor bowling alleys then began to crop up all over the country. In 1880, the Brunswick corporation started making bowling balls, pins and wooden lanes to be installed in taverns. As the 1900s approached, bowling alleys were small, dingy, mostly male only establishments. Changed finally. They were often no defined rules. The balls had different weights and the pins were different sizes from club to club. But the more bowling there was, the more gambling and racketeering came with it. It became so associated with crime that nine pin bowling was banned in several states. Can I ask why? Why was nine pins so

specifically, why was that so attractive to a gambler? That's what they played in America as nine pins. So it was just, basically what they were doing is they were, they're banning nine pin because that's what the game essentially was. So they're just outlawing bowling in a way. Right. Right. Well, they're outlawing nine pin. Nine pin bowling. But that was what everyone was using. Right. But they didn't do the more or less language like Connecticut. But still, they're like, whatever you're doing now. So people just added a 10th pin to avoid committing a crime. That was crazy. I was just thinking that is so, that's great. That's what I'm saying. Go to a bowling alley right now and be like, you know, it used to

be nine pins, but they had to outlaw it because of gambling. That's why they added the 10th later, buddy. Ten pin was a great loophole to avoid the law. Ten pin bowling became common at most states from New York to Illinois, but still arguments over what the rules of bowling were continued. Though this was mostly New Yorkers against everyone else at this point. Then along came Joe Thumb, who is known as the godfather of modern bowling. Joe owned a restaurant and he loved bowling. He brought together representatives from different regional bowling clubs on September 9, 1895 at Beethoven Hall in New York City. It's basically a bowling sit down. He's having a bowling commission. A bowling sit down. Hey, come on guys, let's

talk this out. All right. In this room, we have some of the greatest bowling minds of all time. Now, Jimmy, you got a problem with what? I don't like the way the ball rolls. I don't like having three holes or whatever. You got to have three holes. You got to have three holes. Jimmy. All right. I give up three holes. He gives me the olive oil business. We can part with the olive oil business. Okay. Three holes it is. Three holes. We have an agreement. Yeah, you put your fingers in. Bowling commission reaches agreement. The American Bowling Congress was founded. The ABC. But they have a higher approval rating than these sexes. We got sit in our congressional buildings. Am I right, America? This led to standardized

rules and equipment. The game of bowling was finally organized nationally, which helped the sport grow even more. The amount one could score and how many balls one could throw during a game were agreed upon. It's amazing that that wasn't agreed. It only took about 200 years. Nothing. Technology improved. Up until 1904, balls were made of a tropical wood that lasted a decent amount of time but would chip and lose shape. Then in 1904, a hard rubber ball called the Ever True was introduced. It didn't chip or lose shape, allowing more people to buy a ball that would last. In 1950, the Brunswick Corporation developed a ball using a substance they called mineralize, which they promoted by saying it had a mysterious

rubber compound. This was another advancement in ball technology and the game expanded more. Tournaments were begun in 1901 by the ABC. Jimmy Smith was the first champion. The ABC was for men only. Women formed their own Congress called the Women's National Bowling Association in 1917. Both men and women playing with standardized rules so the game exploded more. So women were shut out of bowling. Yeah, so they made their own bowling. And it was the same bowling? Yeah, but it's just ladies throwing balls. So that was fine. They're like, boy, they really loop-pulled us by continuing to bowl. You know the problem? They didn't listen. That's the issue. They're still bowling. So in 1913, the Bowlers Journal was founded.

It's a magazine. It is still published today. Dear diary. It's the first bowling magazine. Gentlemen, I think we've made it. I think we're a legitimate sport. Absolutely. Got a magazine now. Absolutely. Oh, you check out page four? Yeah, a bowling pin. It's fucking great. It's crazy. It's a whole, it's a bowling pin. It's a fucking pin. Do you see page nine? You talking about the bowling pin? Yeah, it's a great picture of a bowling pin. It's the number nine pin. Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's what I think it's great that it's a nine. It's a fucking great pin. Oh, wait. What? Do you see the centerfold? That bowling pin? Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Fuck, I love bowling. I love the stories about them. Yeah. I love knowing. Can't believe how young

they are. I love hearing how they fall over. Yeah. I love hearing how they get back up. It's amazing. I think this magazine is really good. When prohibition came and then the Great Depression, bowling moved from mostly being in taverns to family venues. It was no longer just a dirty city sport. This brought even more women into the game. Bowlers started wearing fancy looking shoes and shirts with their name on them. Wow. So that just kind of organically happened? Well, it's not organ, I mean, it happened because bars were shut down. Yeah, but putting your name on a shirt is not. Yeah, no, they started to make it like a fessing night. Yeah, so like the shoes and the shirt

with your name on it. Yeah. Some psycho was like, hey, look what I did and some other psycho was like, that's genius. Holy fuck, Bobby has his name on his shirt. And look at his weird shoes. My name's Booby. Look at Booby's weird shoes. So bowling alleys now would have more than one lane and would be above ground instead of in a basement drinking hall, although a bar was still attached always. Pinboys were used to reset the pins. I kind of I think I've seen like footage of pinboys at some point. They were teenagers and they would or kids and they would sit behind or to the side of the pins. After the ball knocked down the pins, they would jump down and remove the

down pins or reset them, then roll the ball back. It was a difficult job and they were paid per game. Pinboys. Starting in the 1930s, beer were the pinboys. That's right. You don't want to mess with the pinboys. There's a band called the pinboys. Really? When I was doing research, I was like, oh, look at that. The pinboys. Starting in the 1930s, beer leagues began to dominate bowling. Bowlers were recruited by beer companies and then they played against each other in tournaments. Why is that world not around still?

Hold on, honey. It's Miller Genuine Draft. You want me to bowl for you? Great. Yeah, I can do that. The first stars of bowling were born. Buzz Fazio, bowl for Stroze. Dick Webber, bowl for Budweiser. Dick Webber, what year is this? This is the 30s. Oh, Pete Webber is a famous bowler. That must be his dad. And more technology changed the game. In 1936, an engineer named Fred Schmidt took a bicycle chain, flower pots, and different machine parts and created the first automatic pin spotter. His invention was manufactured by the American Machine and Foundry Company

in 1946. Pinboys had been replaced. It's the same thing we have happening with Cole right now. It's exactly what's going on with Cole. Wait, what? It's the exact same thing with Cole. I don't think you know what's happening. We're getting rid of the pinboys. I don't think you understand what's happening. Because we have now a pin resetter. We're just using less Cole or not. But what about the jobs? What about the unemployed? They're losing jobs. Bingo. Pinboys.

Okay. This is probably a good thing because pinboys weren't the best. They were usually filthy street-mouth kids who were hired by the... Fuck your pins! And they took a beating doing the job. Their bodies were bruised and broken and their shins were often bleeding. They must have stood too near and then the pins would hit them. Well, you know what it is. It's that you're paying them per game. That's what it is. To give them an hourly rate, they would probably be like, fine. It's the idea that if you go crazy, you might make a nickel more that day. Yeah, exactly. When World War II broke out, a lot of the pinboys went off to war.

Quite a few bowling alleys had to cut their hours and just close down. But with the invention of the automatic pin-sitters, things were looking good again. That's terrible though. These pinboys go off to the army boys. They come back. They want to be pinmen only to find they've been replaced by a machine and the Mrs. is banging the neighbor. Just sitting there in a foxhole. Oh, Jimmy. I cannot wait. You know what I'm going to do when I get back? What did you do when you was home? I just... I got behind the pins again. You know? That's all I ever wanted to do. So when you get back, you think they're

going to have your job for you still? Yeah, man. You know they are. I just wrote the bowling captain. And what about Rebecca? You think she'll still be waiting for you? I can't remember her. How could she turn down a guy who's a pinboy? Boy, I tell you, I wish I had someone. Doesn't matter, man. I'm stuck working in electronics. Boy, that'll probably go nowhere fast. Plenty of ladies who want a pinboy. I don't really care about Rebecca. I know. Wish there was a way for me to do something like that. Shut up, you loser. Sitting over here with my huge penis just working in electronics.

I'm never going to end up with nobody. What just happened? The future's dark for this guy. The Bear League stars continue to get bigger until 1948. They're like, who? Oh man, what a list. Jimmy Stewart. Until 1948, when the big moment came, the first televised bowling match. What year? 1948. Called Bowling Headliners aired on ABC. There's no recording of the event, but that's when it all changed. People saw bowling and they wanted to bowl. It exploded. The pin setting machines were selling faster than they could be made. We were in the middle of a bowling boom. An alley was built in every city and the sport was perfect for television. Guys like Buzz and Carter went from being live beer tournament stars to TV stars. In 1958, the professional

bowlers association was formed and the pro bowlers tour became the big TV event. Now millions of viewers were watching guys knock down pins on Saturday from their homes. Wow. Have you ever watched bowling? Oh, I used to watch it all the time with my grandparents. It is kind of okay to watch all the time with my grandparents. Yeah. And with the good side of something comes the bad side and that's exactly what bowling had. They started in New York in the 1940s and they were called the action bowlers. They're mostly Italians from the working class. They would go to bowling alleys, bet each other and strangers in bowling matches, 50 lanes going at once, everyone gambling. The matches would kick off at midnight when the regular customers left the alley and the action

would go on till 7am. They would bet two to 300 a game at first and by the time they became good, they could make 2000 a game and these guys were mostly 17 years old. Wait, so were they hustlers or they were just like hustlers and they would go against each other. Wow. So just like their action bowlers. You picture it like a cock fight but instead of cock fighting, it's bowling. Yeah, a lot like that. Right. Nobody dies. Well, these guys were more into action, the gambling than the actual sport, though they still had to be good to win. They were often found hustling unsuspecting bowlers. They threw 16 pound balls like the pros but didn't deal with the same rules. That was because guys like Johnny Vargo who ran the Vargo Classic in New York City, he made the pins harder

to knock down by filling them with lead. That made the pins weigh about four pounds and were very bottom heavy. Four pounds? What are they? They must weigh like a pound now. I think you have to throw the ball so hard. I mean, you'd be like, what is going on? I mean, I really cracked that from one. My ball shattered. What do I get for a shattering ball? Some pins would seem like they were nailed to the floor. Four pounds. And it wasn't just the action bowlers betting against each other. There was also a big crowd of bowlers called the back who would place their bets on who they thought would win. Thousands of dollars would be riding on one match. If you bet and lost but didn't have the money to cover, there were shylocks there to loan you the cash. Not a good scene. Oh yeah,

let me just borrow money. Cool deal. The big action bowlers wouldn't bowl unless the action was enough. One day a group of kids approached an action bowler, great Kenny Barber, and asked a bowl for 200 bucks. Barber laughed at him and responded, quote, I don't pick up a ball for less than a grand a game. But a bookie saw what it sounds like his heart was still in the game. A bookie saw what had happened and offered to put up money for the kids. He had seen one of the kids roll before and the kid was 17 years old. Oh, boy, from the kid, quote, we bet 1000 and we won. Then 2000 and we won. Then 4000 and we won that game. We kept winning. And Kenny and his guys quit. I just turned 17. I was 145 pounds. That night we left with six grand between us. I had 2000 in my pocket

and I knew that I was now going to make a living at this for the rest of my life. That kid would go on to be PBA Hall of Famer, Larry Lickstein. That's amazing. And the rules change. Imagine the only thing you've ever really done is bold. Oh my god. It's weird. Could you imagine? It would be great. And the rules change with each game. Sometimes the guys would only be allowed to use two fingers. Other times just their thumb. But just their thumb. Yeah. That's a real weird one. Yeah. Well, you put in the hole and you're fucking. Yeah, you're just like my thumb hurts. Sometimes they were blindfolded. What guys would throw their balls between their legs or around chairs in the middle of the lane, whatever they

could think of they were doing. They're getting bored. They really are. Allies were everywhere in the city. You'd find a couple in a neighborhood. The biggest was Manhattan Lanes, a 63 lane gigantic bowling alley. One kid who made his way to Manhattan Lanes was Ernie Schlegel. Ernie had flirted with the life of crime, but his German father yelled at him that because that was ill Schlegel. Stick to the Schlegel activities. Don't do anything is Schlegel. Okay. His father yelled at him that no Schlegel had ever got a jail. It's a Schlegality. One day his father pulled out a shotgun and pointed at Ernie yelling, you see this gun? It's got a two round load, one free child blow your fucking brains out if you ever touch drugs.

How great. I mean, how great. Why don't they do that anymore? What about that for an anti-drug message? Don't break laws or I'll kill you. You fucking animal. Yeah, I love you though son. What did you learn about drugs, Jimmy? Doesn't matter. I'm going to put one in between each one of your eyes. Little prick, don't do drugs. Well, Ernie didn't, but Ernie did wear long sleeves to make those he was hustling think he did heroin. He was also missing many of his teeth due to a gum infection he had as a child. Hey, you're only playing the part further. So that did fit right in. He also had a weird eye. Boy, this guy, he is the ugly gift that keeps on giving. In order to bully, he had to squint. That's, it really sounds like he didn't

need the long sleeves. He really looked like a crazy hobo bowling and he smelled like one too because he'd rub bourbon on himself before a match. Who hasn't done that? Well, before I bowled, I had one drink and threw a shot of bourbon on my head or down my neck. Two shots, one for my mouth, one for my body, sir. Go ahead, hit me in the face with one. That way, when I got to the bowling alley, I smelled real good. Then I bowled guys who was sure I was drunk and I'd crush them. But even with that, he was the best bowler in New York. And his marks usually didn't realize they were being hustled until they had lost 200 bucks or more. Ernie soon moved out of his parents' house because he had become such a successful hustler. His roommates would often send him down

to the bowling alley when they were out of money. It's just amazing. In one of the more famous matches, Ernie and another man, Johnny Campbell, took on well-known, feared team, Fats and Deakin. Oh, you don't want to mess with Fats and Deakin. Which one's the skinny one? Deakin. The match lasted 12 hours and at dawn, they found themselves in a tie. They put all their money in a pile for one last match. Ernie finished the match with three strikes and they took the money home. Ernie was making a name for himself and he started hitting the road to find Fish who didn't know his name. But this is 1962 and it turns out the 50s were a bowling bubble. I made that term up. A bowl bowl? A bowl bowl? All of the alley owners couldn't sustain. There were too many bowling

alleys. Wow. That is insane. Bowlers weren't loyal to one alley. They'd split time at different alleys. They'd seven, 10 split time. Little bowling fun for the kids at home. Oh, I got it. Bowling alleys began to shut down. The Brunswick Corporation repossessed almost 20,000 pin setters and over 15,000 lanes between 1962 and 1966. The pin boys were like, what does this mean for us? Nothing. You're still useless. You're not coming back. Oh, come on, mister. I found a wall. I'm 51 now and I'm still a pin boy. Look, I can pick them up. I can pick them up. Look. Oh, I'm so tired. There's nothing else I can do. Hold on. Let me reset the pin. There's nothing else I can do. One guy nicknamed Fishface ran an alley in Brooklyn on that. Get him water.

All right. He's land drowning. He was called Fishface because he had so many pock marks on his face. But what about not calling him that? Yeah, how about like a nickname coalition? No, no, vicious. Rejected. Rejected. We're called Fishface. On the count of his face is gross. What about we call him Grossface? Hey, what a fucking animal head. No, no, none of these. Hey, what about a shit bag of face guy? No, no. Hey, how about you fucking animal? No. No. Now, come back when you understand the premise of what we're here to do. Okay, but what about this, you're a fucking piece of shit face guy. I say we go with it. I really want to get lunch.

When business took a downturn, Fishface decided to lean into action bowlers. He talked to a pair of bowlers named Mack and Stoop to set up his alley. Hey, Fishface is talking to Mack and Stoop. Yeah, we're worried about fats and that other guy coming. Deacon. Deacon, yeah. We're worried about deacon and fats. So Fishface is dealing with this. Mack and Stoop set up at the bowling alley to take on all comers. Word got out and suddenly every wise guy in New York knew about Mack and Stoop. Ready? Birdie Bananas came down. Okay. Hey, I heard there was going to be some kind of a match going on. Who are you? Hey, me. It's me. Bernie Bananas. What? Me, Bernie Bananas.

Why do they call you Bernie Bananas? Hey, take a banana. Don't worry about a kiddo. Also, I'm fucking crazy. I know you are. Yeah. Why? Because of the bananas? Because of the bananas mainly. And one time I shot a bird. But it's mainly the bananas. I carry a bunch of bananas on me at all times. Also, Fred of the Ox came down. Hey, I got my buddy coming down in a minute. You're going to love him. Why's that? He's a cow. And Joe the kangaroo. Hey, you're going to also, you're going to want to make a little room when my third friend arrives. Why's that? Well, he's got a baby in his pouch, and he mainly fights with his legs. And he's a hopper, right? He doesn't take steps. He never goes backwards either. He's always going forward, and he has a baby in his

pouch, and he hops. Joe got his nickname because he would do three hops as he approached the lane. One night, Joe the kangaroo bowled against Freddie, Frankie the leaper. What? Who was like, you're an idol of mine. This is an honor. This is a real honor. Frank would fall down after he bowled and then leap up. So, okay. All right. So, to be fair, people really wanted nicknames. Really? People really wanted just nicknames. They also wanted a unique style. They would get them a nickname. So my thing is, I'm going to fall down and jump back up. My name's Dave Pansdown Anthony. What do you do? I take my pants down and I bow.

That's cool. It's pretty great. It's great. My name's Tom Punch-a-Lady Strikeman. Jesus, really? Yeah. Every time I bow. You punch a lady? No, what? Well, I thought that was unique, baby. No, that's my real name. It's Russian. Unbelievable. My apologies to your family. Well, as you should. Punch a woman. No, my whole thing is that I drink a glass of water, then I bowl. Nobody's come up with a nickname yet, probably because of that middle name. Waters. Excuse me? Waters. No, thanks. I just drank. Most of these guys weren't very good. They averaged 130, so they needed a gimmick. They were also the cheating bowlers. I'm going to be terrible. I'm going to hop and he hop and he

hop and roll the ball because I suck. I'm going to bring a sailboat down and roll from that. Are they going to say, roll, roll, roll your boat? Okay. What? I just don't, I don't like anybody anymore. Hey, I get it. I bring a boat here. They were also cheating bowlers like Goldfinger, Tommy Sideweight, and one finger, Benny. What the hell? I feel like Tommy Sideweight, he just, like everyone knew, everyone knew what his deal was. Tommy Sideweight and Goldfinger would put lead in their bowling balls to give it more of a side weight. Hey guys, I'm thinking we should change my nickname because people are starting to ask if I weight my balls. Yeah, I feel like every time I introduce myself to someone, they don't want to bowl against me.

Yeah, how about just Tommy Cheats at bowling? Extra Sideweight turned the ball so sharply toward the headband that it obliterated the pocket in a way no ordinary ball could. One night, Goldfinger won four consecutive matches with his loaded ball before the gangsters in back realized what was going on. He's throwing a loaded ball, said one. One, they took the ball to the pro shop and waited. It had nine ounces of extra side weight. They took Goldfinger out on the lane. One held the bowling ball up over his head and brought it down and smashed Goldfinger's hand with it. Goldfinger never bowled again. Oh my god. But that didn't stop other guys. There was too much money in the game. Oh my god. Steve Harris

said he would drill a hole in a ball, pour mercury in it, then plug the hole with a liquid that hardened overnight. Did he understand? Okay, good. I'll pour it in there. I'll drink some, rub some on my face. It's poison. Hey, yeah, but it's rolly poison. Yeah. As the ball rolled, the mercury would shift in the ball and it would go sideways and kill the pins. I would also get lead sinkers from the fishing store and do that, but you couldn't control them. So why would you use them? What is he doing? Sorry, I said lead. It's lead. So he just has like a pendulum ball? Yeah, I don't know why he would put lead sinkers in there. The mercury liquid makes more sense to me. Because it's hardened on one side. But I also think when

something like that's going, like it's almost like, like you think like sometimes like if a beach ball has, and again, I'm a genius, but like when a beach ball have like sand pocket in it and you roll that ball, it's almost like as it gets over, it like picks up some steam. Again, I don't think you know anything about what you're talking about. Again, my degree is in theater. Over a short period, Fish Faces Alley became the place to be. Guys came from all over New York City, then from Long Island, then New Jersey, Chicago, Philly, Providence and Boston. They came to bowl and they came to bed on bowling. Action bowling became such a thing that some guys were so good. They found they couldn't get anyone to take them on. That led to some guys becoming

what we're known as dumpers. One dumper was named Iggy Russo. Iggy would bet against himself, then throw the match. Iggy actually was the guy who invented a game called low ball. In low ball, you would try to get the lowest score, but with each throw, you had to hit at least one pin. Wow. I would like to play that. Yeah, I would like to play that too. A gutter ball counted as a strike. Iggy often bowled a 20, which meant he clearly had a lot of talent. Lenny the Cane made serious cash when he started working as Iggy's bowling partner. He went from making 55 a week to thousands. Quote, I was bowling pretty good and out of the crowd at 3 a.m. comes Iggy and asked to be my partner. I said, okay, Iggy walks out at the end of the night with 3500 and his partner in crime,

who was in back, betting both ways, made 10 grand. That night, Iggy and his partner made over 12 grand. Wow. One night at Fish Faces, Iggy found himself in a match with another guy. He just lives in an aquarium, right? A Fish Faces? Yeah. Okay. Iggy found himself in a match with another dumper. Both were trying to lose. The problem was they both had guys betting on them, and at this point the guys who came to Fish Faces to gamble carried guns. So you have two guys diving? Yeah. Two guys both trying to lose and then guys and realizing that their lives they've both been bet on by guys who will kill them if they. So you're trying to be the worst and your life is on the line? In the last frame,

Iggy had an easy spare to pick up, the old 2-4-5. He knew if he hit it, the guy backing him would shoot him, but the guy backing his opponent said he would shoot him if he missed the shot. So he was a bit of a pickle. So he did what any hero would do. He picked up his ball, walked to the line and pretended he was having a heart attack. That's my thing. Hey, that's my thing. Heart attack Harry's in the back. No, no, no, buddy. No, no, no. I'm the one who fakes a heart attack. I fake a heart attack every seventh frame, pal. He's got a nickname over here. Come on, dickhead. You can do a stroke. Have a seizure if you must. Yeah, what about a seizure? What about a kidney infection? Be rabid. I don't know. Just don't have heart attacks.

Iggy was in his 40s, so he was one of the few action bullers who could get away with faking a heart attack. An ambulance came and Iggy was taken away. The fake heart attack worked for the most part. He didn't get shot, but the two gangsters did set his car on fire. I gotta start doing that. Just whenever you're in a predicament, just hold your test and drop. Could really get you out of a lot of stuff. A lot of shit. Still, Iggy. An audit. Well, I have my receipts. Still, Iggy now had a way to get out of a tight spot, and he would have many more heart attacks over his action bullying career. But he really has got to change his diet. He just keeps going down every week. But he was the rare old bowler back then. Most of the action bullers got hooked young,

like Johnny Petraglia, who started because some gangsters noticed his skills and told them they would bring some guys to take him on. Johnny would get 10% of the winnings at the time he was 14 years old. Wow. Johnny would just be hanging around on a street corner with his buddies when a cat of luck would roll up. Time to bowl, they'd say. He'd be taking to a match to go up against a guy twice his age. His first match, he made $200, soon he was making thousands. His dad was making $63 a week. Hey, son, no, this is a little awkward, but I kind of wanted to take your mind for a nice stake. You're 12. You're 12, so. You're a little lower. Your dad. But there was a coming problem for the best action bullers. Everyone started to know who they were. Soon no one would take them

up on their offers to bowl. There were no more fish to be had. So the best started looking where the money was now, the PBA. This caused a domino effect as more and more bolted for the PBA. Johnny Petraglia was one of those who did. There was good money in the PBA, but not like action bullying. Action bullying made their blood pump, and the PBA was a step down in the fun category. But one by one, they left action bullying for the legit PBA world. It wasn't the worst. In one match in 1961 on ABC's Make That Spare, Don Carter won $19,000 and a brand new Ford. In 1965, the entire PBA tour was being televised on ABC Sports. Coke and Ford were sponsors from Sports Illustrated. This year, the PBA will put on 38 tournaments and give away more than $1 million in prize money.

There were 65 pros, 65 men making a living bowling. Quote, the minimum any one of the makes is 10,000 a year. More over 15 of the bowlers are in the 30,000 a year bracket, and there are four or five, including Don Carter, the most famous name in bowling, and Harry Smith, who earns up to $75,000 annually. That's a good money for the time. To use it as a comparison, bowler Harry Smith made more than the Major League Baseball MVP and the NFL MVP combined. Wow. Don Carter became the first athlete of any sport in America to get a $1 million endorsement deal. That would be $7.6 million today. A bowling ballmaker paid that to Carter to be allowed to put his signature on their bowling ball. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. You want

it? Yeah. I'm signing balls. A million to put my yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm signing balls. Yeah. I'll sign you a fucking ball. We signed balls. This was this was 100 times what Joe Namath got for endorsing Schick Razors. Wow. And Carter was making $100,000 from his other bowling activities, which included bowling. He also had an endorsement deal with Miller, Viceroy's, Wonder Bread. Bowling was the sport in America, and he was the real deal. He was voted bowler of the year six times, 53, 54, 67. Oh, sorry, 57. What's it gonna say? 60, 62. By 1965, the hall for winning the PBA tournament of champions was $100,000. Across the country, 12,000 PBA sanctioned bowling alleys were built in the 60s. It was the sport. But guys from the action bowling world

brought some flash to the pro league. When Ernie Schlegel hit the league, he called himself the bicentennial kid and listed his hometown as USA. Oh, my God. It's like wrestling. And the preliminary rounds, Ernie would dress the same as everyone else in slacks and a pole. Which says that he's not gonna for long. In slacks and a pulling shape. But if he made it to the finals, which were televised, he brought the fashion up a notch. He would wear white slacks and a white shirt with red, white and blue trim. And on the seams were silver stars and the sleeves would billow. Am I competing against the flag? The PBA had no objections to the flash. Ernie, having come from the action bowler world, thought PBA bowlers were dull. And they should at least

have a gimmick. In 1973, he made $22,000 in 30 tournaments. But the 60s turned out to be peak bowling. There were groupies at that time who would pop pros after tournaments. Pop pros. Paw. Paw pros. And casinos gave pros free show tickets to try to get them into the casinos. TV ratings often drew more than baseball and golf. It's crazy. Carmen Salvino, a PBA bowler, in the 60s and 70s said, quote, we were like rock stars. Oh my God. That is so insane to think. But the sport really started to fade in the 80s. By 1979, ABC slash WIBC membership peaked at a little over nine million. That was the same year 20th Century Fox released a bowling drama called Dreamer. It started Tim Matheson. Tim Matheson? Wait, Tim Matheson? Oh, I have Matheson here.

The guy from Animal House. Matheson. Okay. Yeah. They must have corrected it. The musical score was done by the guy who did Rocky. Wow. He wrote the song Reach for the Top for this film. Oh gosh. He really, he really liked to condense positivity. Motivational songs. A 20th Century Fox publicist, quote, there's never been a big feature about bowling before. The movie's being featured on the cover of all the big bowling magazines. Oh yeah. You've got bowlers monthly. Any other ones that might exist? Pins. Rollin. Splits. Gutter Weekly. The lane. Fries at the bar. Yeah. Fries at the bar. Yeah, there's a lot of them. And those are not invented. Parking lot joint. Dry your hand on the weird hand dryer. Why is that there? Who had that start?

Why do I keep doing it? Why is that just wiping on your shorts? This is weird. Okay, here's the plot of the movie. An optimistic young athlete named Dreamer, nicknamed Dreamer, aspires to be a champion bowler. While working in a bowling alley in a small Midwestern town, Dreamer becomes friends with Harry, a cranky former professional bowler who never became a champion player. Recognizing Dreamer's potential, Harry trains the novice for competition. After winning a regional tournament, Dreamer convinces officials to let him enter the national championship. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Karen feels neglected and complains about his devotion to bowling. Although Harry passes away before the championship match. What? He dies? Well, Harry, not the bad or the guy he's going up against.

The coach. All right, the coach. I was listening. Okay, ready? Oh, God. What? Oh, sweet God. Oh, I was so good. I mean, I am overwhelmed on a couple of levels. The movie looks so bad. It's crazy. The whole thing's up on YouTube. The whole movie. Makes sense that nobody'd be like, illegal. But also, what movie previews used to be? That was like, show up, four, eight second scenes and make sure you introduce everybody. What? It wasn't great, but you got the gist of it. Yeah. Yeah. As far as like, showed him winning the trophy. Listen, if you're, if you're in that movie, you do dream of better

things. Well, Harry passes away before the championship match and dreamer must overcome a thumb injury and he surprises the veteran players and wins the national trophy. See, see there, that right there is an issue with that movie. When you go to like, like a football movie or like a baseball movie or a basketball movie, these are the like leg or arm injuries. These are really the idea of a guy being like, do you think I could bowl over your thumb? This scene where he's at work and he's hammering something and then he just smashes his thumb. No! Not, not now. No, not now. God damn it. I was just starting to dream. I told you not to work, kid. I had to. I told you not to work. I'm probably going to die before

the end of this. And I believe the guy who he goes up against in the final bowling match is Dick Weber. Really? Yeah, the actual Dick Weber. Sure, I'll do it. What the hell is this? The production budget was $2.9 million and marketing costs were $3.9. $3.54 million. So that's a good amount of money. Basically over $6 million. It made less than $1 million in box office. Roger Ebert called it dumb. Bowling continued to decline in popularity on TV through the 80s and 90s. The Pro Bowlers Tour was canceled by ABC TV in 1997. It was the first time since 1961 that the tournament finals were not broadcast on network TV. Now it was relegated to cable. By 2000, the PBA was in such poor shape that Microsoft employee Chris Peters and two of his coworkers bought it for $5 million.

Peters revamped the website and set up a stream for every PBA tour event live and he kept pitching the PBA to major networks. I don't know if you guys can hear the sirens, but they're probably going to the fire. No, no, I called. Oh, my bad. Quote from Peter. There was a time that NASCAR was just a bunch of Southerners turning left. We think the PBA can become the next NASCAR. 50 million Americans bull. A good number of them are watching now with no promotion. No major effort in marketing. Oddly, it never took off like Peter thought it would. But that's not to say they didn't try to shake it up and modernize it. They added spectacle. They encouraged a more in-your-face style of bowling. What? They encouraged that? Yeah.

They were like, we need ratings, be dicks. Yeah, basically. That's so funny. But that did happen a little bit, right? Now instead of quietly returning to a seat after bowling a strike, the pro would shake his fists in the air and yell or trash talk it as opponent. They put seating down the sides of the lanes and bands played between matches. It almost feels like the sport might not be working for us anymore. Just put a band and then actually at the half have them play another sport entirely. I would watch bowling if a monkey returned the ball. Yeah, or a pin boy. Or a pin boy. Yeah, put pin boys in like old 1800s outfits. Yeah, watch them get all bruised and banged up.

Can I get your ball back for you, sir? Yeah, you can. And if you give me any more guff, you'll see the back of this glove. They even went as far in 2007 to hold the championship in Miller Park, the Brewers Baseball Stadium. What? They held a, how? They just laid a lane in the middle of Miller Park? They built lanes on the right field grass, and the championship was held in front of 2,712. Oh, that is so. In a giant state. That is so few. That is so sad. That might be the lowest. I mean, even for Brewers games. Oh, you're gonna get more than 2,700. Many more. But like that many people come out of Bernie Brewer is going to slide into a beer. Bowling championship. 2,700. That's just terrible.

It's awful. I mean, it's awful. It's so bad you cancel it. The plan was and still is to make bowling NASCAR, to make bowling cool. They hired Steve Miller as president and CEO of the PBA. He's known to be a loud, profane, swaggering, and very charismatic. His catchphrase is, either we're in this together or you can kiss my ass. Well, is that? You know what? Are those options? What about if we get a fucking dick to be CEO? Are those fake options? Hey, how about this? We're working together. You can go fuck yourself, you animal. Okay. I'm the CEO of Shitfuck Company. Okay. Let's go fuck you. All right. We're good. Hey, welcome to Douchebag Incorporated. Are you on my team or you're gonna fuck yourself

nine ways? You run a place called Douchebag Incorporated? I'm the CEO of Douchebag Incorporated. How about you be on my team or you go shit in your mouth? Okay. I'm gonna have to say that I wish I had this whole conversation back. All right. Well, the interview's over. You are hired. No, I don't want the fucking job. Hey, either you're on the team or you can suck your own dick. I'll take it. I'm the CEO. Honey, something really crazy happened. Yeah, I worked for bowling now. I said no and I didn't even think it was an interview. If he doesn't hire me, then I have to suck my own dick. I guess it's legal. Hey, are you on the phone? No. You're either off the phone or you're going and you're fucking an animal. I mean, I think he's gonna have me have sex with

a goat. I'll call you in a bit. Their ultimate bowler did come along. His name, Pete Weber. Ah, I knew it. He was 39 when Peters and friends bought the PBA. He spent the 80s and 90s constantly getting in trouble with the PBA because of his drinking cocaine problems. See, right there, that's a ratings grabber. Bowling on cocaine. Why would you ever go bowling on cocaine? I mean, the worst. Okay, but now he was exactly what they wanted. When he missed a perfect game in the 2000 and the 2001 tournament by a single pin, he crawled into a fetal position on the floor and started squealing like a pig. This got him and bowling on Sports Center. Yeah. Later that year, he unveiled his signature move, quote,

a violent karate-like hand gesture called the crotch chop. Yeah, right? Where he like sort of pounds both sides. That is dick. Aggressive. Pro bowling had a bad boy. Chris Peters loved it. He told the LA Times, the show isn't so much about bowling as it is combat. It's the victor versus the vanquished. Perfect. Hey, it's about the sport. Yes. Listen, I'm a fucking nerd who got lucky with Microsoft and now I'm really rich, but I don't know dick about the world. Bowling's wrestling. That's exactly what it is. Bowling is wrestling. It's about the victor and the vanquished. What are you talking about? Bowling. I'm a nerd. I'm talking about bowling. He also revealed the long-term goal was to build up the PBA and sell it for 70 million. So literally, I mean, he's just

like inflating his stock as much as he can quickly. That's what happened, but that's what happens when people work at a fucking company and make a bunch of money, then they think they can do it all over the place. X's and O's and he's just like whatever it takes to get people to buy it for a second and then I'll sell it. But bowling wasn't becoming more popular. Membership in the U.S. Bowling Congress continued to drop as bowling became less popular. It declined 36% from 2000 to 2010. In 2007, the LA Times wrote a story about the life of the not top pro bowlers on the tour, the middle guys. Motel Six was now the official lodging partner of the PBA. If they hated so much, they should strike. Pro bowlers. I'll be in the car. Say a prayer.

Pro bowlers would share rooms at motels two or three to a room. Oh, God. First place jackpots were slashed from $40,000 to $25,000 and then to $15,000. Oh, God. Major tournaments were now being held in places like Cheek to Waga, New York and Trustville, Alabama. Trust us, it sucks. Pollers would carpool across the country. Oh, God. At a tournament in Fountain Valley, California, 12 guys chipped in to rent a house. That's so weird. See you out there. I hate you. Good night. We're sharing a twin bed with you, but we got to save money. Yeah, save money. Save money. Focus on the game. Save money. The average bowler was spending five months on the road a year and earning around $75,000

before expenses. That's terrible. Not good. Although the biggest names still make a lot up to $300,000. During the off season, the middle of the pack guys, they make trade show appearances and they train for the year. In 2007, there were 58 pro bowlers on tour, all trying to make the tournament of champions in Uncusville, Connecticut. Uncusville? UNCASVIL. Uncusville? Sounds like a Willy Wonka laboratory. Then the housing crisis hit. And bowling got hit hard as the economy tanked. There were fewer tours, fewer events. Live TV broadcasts dropped. In 2009, the only championship was aired live on ESPN. The rest

were taped. In 2010, after sinking millions into the PBA to get it going, Chris Peters scaled back his involvement. Then in 2012, for the first time, the PBA World Championships did not air live. They were taped. In the 2012 PBA season, Sean Rash was at the top of the list making $248,000. Considering that in the 1960s, top bowlers made twice as much as top football stars, that's not really good. Today, the top bowler makes less than an NFL's minimum base salary of $375,000. Wow. In 1982, the bowler ranked 20th on the PBA's money list made $51,000. Today, 20th ranked bowler makes $26,000. Geez, I mean, maybe it's time to find out about other sports. Maybe you do bowling for fun? Yeah, maybe it's not fun. Like a Thursday? Yeah, and you got a job.

Expenses include all travel and $400 entry for tournaments. So they're not making. They're not making dick. Yeah. Many bowlers now have second jobs during the off season. Tom Hess, who was the PBA's Midwest Player of the Year in 2011, delivers sod for living. He pulls in about 24K a year from bowling. But the time put into sharp and your skills so you can make the cut is insane. One bowler who would not give up his name said he practiced six hours a day every day for 10 years before he was able to join the PBA. Wow. Why? Why? I mean, why? Why? Why? Why? Six hours a day for 10 years every day. I mean, I know you like it. He wanted it. But wanted what? He wanted it. Well, he didn't want a girlfriend. Clearly. The only holes he

needs are in the ball. A lot of pro bowlers think bowling is not popular now because bowling is getting easier with technology and better balls, et cetera. People don't think it's as hard as they used to. I have bad news for those people. That is not why. In 1968, there were 905 perfect games. In 1999, there were 34,470. Well, I guess you can't argue with those numbers. Other ex-pro bowlers blame video games on the internet. And those who may have become pro bowlers before aren't thrilled by the idea of being on the road for 36 weeks to not make much money. So they just bowl in local leagues. Peter Weber is still a pro. He has retired from the, he's retired the crotch chop. He is also the son of 60s great Dick Weber. And he is called by many

an action bowler. He's still an action bowler negatively. Yeah. Action bowling also faded as the pro bowling did. Some still kick around and try to make a few bucks. Rocky Salimo was around during the heyday and he tells endless stories about it. But today he drives the limo for his brother. Quote, right now I'm back to being a nobody. And that's exactly where you want to be as an action bowler. Never give up the dream. Does my life suck? Then I am right where I want to be. You look at me and you see nobody. And then I take you for 40 fucking dollars. Do I look like a loser? You've walked right into my trap. You're right. I am a piece of shit. You want to bowl a game of bowling? Come on. Can I play,

can I play you my favorite Pete Weber clip? Oh, you actually have a Pete Weber clip? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. If you got it, want me to finish this in 2012, the New York Times found Ricky Salimo in a bowling alley, bowling against two younger guys for $100. He's still at it. Yeah. That hurts. You got a Peter clip? Yeah. Do you want me to keep going? No, let me play this. Would you rather me wait? No, go ahead. This is when he does something great in bowling and he's celebrating and he says, he kind of, he just, his enthusiasm takes over. Yeah. And he shouts, who do you think you are? I am. It's just terrific. Strike to claim it. Strike to claim it. And he got it. That is why I did it. That's

never fun. Are you kidding me? That's right. What do you think you are? I am. Is that, is that his catchphrase or did he just, no, he just fucked that up. He's trying, he's trying to say like, who do you think you are? I'm Pete Weber, but he just gets so caught up that he just goes, who do you think you are? I am. They say that that is who Bill Murray's character in Kingpin is based on. A lot of this, if you read what I was, a lot of this, Kingpin is the guy getting his hands smashed. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. They clearly took these stories. The conning. Yeah. Yeah. But maybe the most important thing is bowling became less popular due to the loss of income of blue collar workers. As robots and globalization have come, blue

collar workers have been unable to afford bowling. Henry VIII's plan is coming to fruition. The 10 pin journal, a local Milwaukee bowling magazine. Should we go national? No, no, we're not going national. This is a goddamn bowling magazine about the greater Milwaukee area. Those people in New York aren't going to be able to understand what we're talking about. Okay. That's the problem. They're going to read this. It's going to sound like gobbledygook because we're still attached to the heart of the sport. Now hand me my hand so I can bowl. Tell me the story again about the 2007 at the Miller Park. So there I was, packed stadium. How many? Packed stadium. They say somewhere between

two to $500 parking. You can't even park the whole place a goddamn parking lot. There I am. 10th frame. Yeah. I got to do a turkey to win it. That's tree strikes, right? No, tree strikes in this tree strikes a Miller Park that day. You're in. Okay. Yeah. All right. First day of Miller Park ever where tree strikes is a good thing. 600,000 people between 600,000 and a million people there watching people on rafters, climbing over each other to watch. I pick it up. Right. I, I ball another strut on our strike. Three strikes. One it. Everybody there. Confetti. I got over $20 billion and there was between two to seven million people there. Biggest day of unbelievable. Are you going to finish that cheese? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going

to finish that. Oh, sorry. I look crazy. All right. So my life's true. The 10 pin journal, a local Milwaukee bowling magazine said, quote, factories then began to close and factory leagues began to diminish the demise of bowling almost exactly follows the demise of unions and the health of the blue collar working class. What I'm saying in conclusion is as go bowling. So goes America. This is true. Bowling might be our bees. You know what bowling is? It's plankton bowling is plankton. I've always said that I will never forget like the field because when I live, when I was like a kid, I would walk down. I would go to a place called Brown Deer Lanes. And I mean, it was, it really was so big in

Milwaukee. Like there was so little to do there and it had the, like it had a cigarette vending machine that would take quarters that I could like sneak and buy cigarettes from. Yeah. I mean, my buddies, we would just sit there. I mean, probably like 14 years old, we would just be smoking like Marforo Reds, just like bowling from like two to eight, just like, put in a good day. Just like we were blue collar workers, but it is, it really is sad that, that it is attached to something like that because that is true. Like even when you were reading that King Henry the eighth ideology, I mean, the idea that you, it is based on recreation and recreation is something you have to be able to afford financially and time wise.

And the idea is now that people can afford recreation so much less than they used to. Yeah. They, I mean, NASCAR is also plummeted at the same time. It's not a coincidence. NASCAR's died. People are like, no, it's because of the stars in NASCAR. No, it's not. It's because people can't afford to go to NASCAR. But is there something, it's just so, yeah. What is it, midnight? How long we've been here? We've been here for a long time. It's a, it's Thursday. Oh my God. All right. Well, yeah. Well, we signed balls, cars, cars, car balls, car balls, like the little things, the nutsack that go ahead, stop it.