1954 Championship Bowling - Kawolics vs. Salvino

[mailmankp]

729 with rubber. That's amazing.

[CRPULSE300]

You'll notice the pin boys climbing into the pit to reset after each shot.

[wiiman0001]

Rubber ball, real wood, everyone playing the same line and to average between 225 and 240 for 3 games back then is amazing. Pros back then did not average over 200 for a season. 190 back then was VERY good, now you have to average between 220-240 on sport patterns to even have a shot at being a successful pro bowler. Game has gotten a lot easier since then. My dad and grandfather tell me about it all the time.

[bowlingmaniacs]

I love the feet that pop out of the back after every ball. Gotta love the ol' days.

[Starcastle2009]

BTW: Eddie Kowalics bowled with a two finger grip. Try that sometime!

[Starcastle2009]

Okay, I started bowling in 1956. It was a totally different game, but Carmen with his exaggerated wristing was really the first power player, long before Mark Roth. Incidentally, for many years he held the high series title for broadcast television with an 846 on Bowling Stars (1960). That with a rubber ball.

[LeakyWicks]

wow carmen salvino has a real high backswing

[20alphabet]

Btw, in the GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball tournaments they alter the cover by sanding it, which was not legal in the 70's, and the drill patterns utilized allow the "pancake-weight" in the plastic ball to act as a flip-block, which also wasn't legal in the 70's.

[20alphabet]

@MusicMindAssault They wouldn't because they couldn't. Many of these comments are from people that didn't bowl prior to urethane. The move to "synthetic" lanes (to cut costs for proprietors) made changing ball material necessary just to stay close... which it didn't. Then the USBC began approving balls that were illegal only two years before. Now oil is used to compensate for the juiced balls on so-called sports conditions, but just furthers the error.

[gamemeister27]

@MusicalMindAssault The best bowler's would mostly still be up there, old days favored accuracy over power due to the limited ball technology.

[misterbillylicious]

how boring is this ?

[bearzfan61]

love carmens backswing

[WhatTheCucumber]

This is pretty cool. First Carmen is using rubber equipment, and now he's designing state of the art equipment. If he uses his own equipment, he'll be pretty beast.

[TyRTi]

Oh man this is awesome!

[Turtle3000GT]

Whats funny is the pinboys dropping pins, setting the machine on the deck and they just bowl right through it, hell someone breathes too loud now on the show and the pro's screaming at the audience

[bowlerman258]

they have to be so accurate back then

[sololegit]

For all the people hopping on Ed's dick 50 years later, he sprays the ball everywhere all through the match. That being said I don't want to hear anything about how these guys are just leaps and bounds ahead of today's bowlers. Carmen threw the ball really well, and would do well today if he was a young man, but get over your selves' people. The top competitors in any sport from any era simply do whatever it takes to win. Go ask Carmen how good these guys are today, get real people.

[Darinw40]

I agree with stitchergary...I also miss those days of the Black Beauty Rubber and Crown Jewel polyester bowling balls...back in those days (early 70's) you had to have talent to play "down and in"... it was all in you...not the equipment...I admit I use the new "resin" equipment...but I am lazy compared to back in the days when you needed accuracy...now all you got to do is just throw it in an "area and it will come back...not much challenge

[cman7711]

Where did the sportsmanship in bowling go? Salvino was patting eddie on the back after every strike. These days, someone in Salvino's position would be cussing on national t.v about how the pins were off spot on his shots or something of that nature.

[LuckyBoy628]

why does the bowling balls look smaller?

[FancyGapClawhammer]

Look at Salvino's release...he would have a gutter to gutter hook with today's equipment.

[50dcoop]

You can bet that almost with exception, good players used a 16 lb bowling ball back then. Anything less made it nearly impossible to carry. If you used the "cup and collapse" release that so many use today, the ball would have hooked into the left ditch (righthander) before it got past the arrows. However, great players of any era will learn the methods needed to excell, no matter what the scoring environment.

[ChesterMolested]

It seems like most of the people in this comment section can't deal with innovation. Although, I do respect the players of this time; That doesn't mean they are any better than players of today. Sure, a typical house shot isn't really that difficult but try and play sports shot and you will see a difference. New technology has made the game better. Stop living in the past man.

[iamzbacku]

Today's crankers wouldn't know how to bowl with the conditions and ball of the past.

These guys are pioneers.  We should be thanking them every time we bowl.

[trphbk13]

Check out Carmen ripping the cover off the ball! Ed's release was sooo spot on everytime

[JCHONDA2NR]

there are ppl in the back picking up the pins hahaha

[timjiminez]

@JCHONDA2NR This was before they had automatic pinsetters.

[pborrellij]

The game is far too easy for many bowlers today.

[GlorifiedTruth]

Man, Kawalics must've had precision to spare, because his form is lame!

[dbd1353]

..I came up in the '60s, and these were the guys when I was a kid really looked up too..as well as others..Kowalics bowled like my old man had ..Maybe it's my age, but I just think the bowlers had a nicer style to look at..Todays bowlers are very good, but something is lacking for me..I remember in the '60s-70s when the big hooks came in..something about the game changed for me..great stuff here..Classic style where they are only using one ball, not the 15 each bowler uses today.

[ForeverYoung58]

Can you imagine anyone bowling a 673 series and losing? Those two cats were doing some serious bowling. A 729 series, that's pin demolition. Today's hotshots couldn't hold a candle to these guys.

[bobby8168]

stich your right about that i would love to see the guys use my dad dick weber 5star and carrie a 220

[stitchergary]

I'd like to see today's hotshots averaging 220+ give up their new technology bowling balls and pins and go back to the oiling of lanes in that era. It would be a very humbling experience and they'd complain to high heaven. I remember in late 60's and 70's when getting a 600 series was something to be proud of. A 700 was almost unheard of. Now they get multiple 700's every week. Do you think today's bowlers are any better than back then. I DON'T Think So!!!!!

[GlorifiedTruth]

@stitchergary - I don't know. These pins seem to go down mighty easily. You really have to smack the pins they use in my league... and smack 'em we do! This Kawalics guy bowls pretty well, but I doubt he could even hoist a 16-pound ball. Today we're bigger, stronger, and better... that's my opinion.

[TheBrassHole]

@GlorifiedTruth Those pins were heavier and did not bounce like they do now. I promise you, if your "league" was forced to use a 50's crown pattern with rubber balls, your league would fold... lol

[cv73501]

I can't agree more. I once was a competative amature bowler, back in the 70's but gave it up when I got marries. As you said, a 700 series was rare. I just read in my local paper about a 17 year old high school bowler who rolled an 886 series during the high school tournament. How can any bowler today feel proud of their accomplishments when it is so easy to reach these levels.

[gregbails4]

@cv73501 Thats why i dont use a reactive resin ball, it feels like cheating... Im happier using my skill to hold a 190 avg with a plastic ball than i am using technology to have a 220 avg. Its more about the game for me, and less about buying the next new $400 ball to pull my avg up a few pins.

[cv73501]

I haven't bowled in over 20 years. I can't imagine spending $400.00 for a ball. I think the last ball I purchased was a Dick Weber Powerball, and it sold for about $50.00.

[CCGeorgeWashington]

@cv73501 If you buy a ball online and get it drilled its only about 150$, but the ball doesnt make the bowler, the bowler makes the ball.

[CCGeorgeWashington]

@stitchergary Meh I understand that most are shitty but with the new balls are good. Given the fact im 16 and have bowled 700s with an old don carter ball, and given a house ball here and there, id have to say it does take more skill to get the carry you would get out of new tech.

[wiiman0001]

@stitchergary I could not agree more. I am only 18 so all I have known is synthetic lanes and new age technology bowling balls, but my dad has been bowling for over 40 years and he tells me that one day he and I will need to find a couple of old rubber bowling balls such as the ones used in this video and find a bowling alley with REAL wood lanes, and see who could beat who lol, hopefully I will get to do that soon, not sure there are too many REAL wood lanes around nowadays though.

[aello465]

@wiiman0001 My place has real wood lanes. A place a few miles away does too. NW Indiana. Hit it up. Westchester Lanes in Chesterton.

[wiiman0001]

@aello465 That's cool, I live on the other side of the country lol, I have checked for real wood lanes in Ca, but the closest one to me is 83 miles away, unfortunately a little too far to be traveling just to bowl lol

[mikniks24]

@stitchergary And I'd like to see yesterday's hotshots keep up with the power players of today. I hate the comparison across generations.. it can't be made fairly.

[pborrellij]

@stitchergary I absolutely agree--the game is much too easy today.

[Fukkensaved]

@pborrellij

Much too easy? In terms of score, sure, on a house shot you can average higher than ever before. In terms of sport competition, though, the game is as hard as it ever was. The hook potential on balls these days makes the sport shot even more difficult than it used to be, especially with the high rev rates tearing up the oil pattern and forcing you to make constant adjustments.

[pborrellij]

@Fukkensaved

Oh, I don't disagree with that--the house shot is what I meant. I'm sure competition is a different story. When I was a kid in the 60's, here in the Rochester, NY area, there was maybe one 300 game a month in the house leagues. Now it seems there are 2-3 a week. A guy not far from here had an 879 series two weeks ago. This was remarkable because this took place at a house with wooden lanes!

[Fukkensaved]

@pborrellij

I'll agree with you. As far as the average bowler is concerned, on the house shot, the game has become quite a bit easier. People that bowl a 200 on a house shot think their doing good, and it's fun watching them cursing playing on PBA patterns for the first time. Everyone should play a PBA experience league if they have the chance. It's humbling and brings you back to the difficulty of the days before reactive balls.

[Fukkensaved]

Ever heard of the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship? They play PBA patterns with a plastic ball and they still average in the 220's.

[TyRTi]

@Fukkensaved It is a modified sport shot. Not even close. These guys used rubber balls. Plastic is a huge upgrade.

[DethRail]

thats bowling at its finest

[dtr2racerVLR18]

dang, were they even using a finger tip ball back then lol

[ReventonF22]

They actually used the 2 fingertip grip back then for extra accuracy, but it lacked in power.

[derekli04]

I don't think fingertip grip was developed until the 1970's. They did understand the concept of hook though (and, later in the 60's or 70's, different lane conditions and oil patterns), but until the 70's they only hooked a few boards. Hooking the whole lane didn't come until the 80's.

[phredl]

I was using a fingertip by 1958. It was well known even back then that a fingertip hooked and carried much better that a conventional or semi.

[mordanai]

Bowling was so pure back in the day. They drove back all ten in the pit with the technology of the 50's.

[Ibanez3456]

you can see a small arch once in a while

[82centsforacoke]

Wow Salvino has the sickest backswing ever....Next to Miceal Fagan.

[bowlchamp411]

i cant beleve carmen still bowling and hes 75 or 74

[redsoxbruins12]

Not only bowling, but bowling pretty well for a man his age.

[zewek420]

very cool......That was a very hard game back then too.

[OlympicGamesTV]

Awesome footage!

[deesyphrr]

Hand installed Shellac covered boards + topical imperfections on said boards + hard rubber balls with a uniform core + 4 pound pins = a bitch of a game. This is great stuff.

[bigkellyr]

Yeah a person really had to know how to bowl in those days. I loved watching the pinsetter guy back there. I keep looking to see if there is any video showing human pinsetters at work in bowling alleys but can't find any.

[holiholiho]

Thank god no hambones.

[fathead3381]

Its crazy to watch how little these bowlers attempt to hook. I understand that the equipment today is much better, but you look at today's up and comers, and they want to hit as many boards as the can, lol

[bigkellyr]

It was completely different in thos day. The idae of a hook ball was not as prevelant as it is today. A good straight ball with the proper projection and strength was all you needed.

[bacharles]

This is really a treat. My Dad would have loved to watch this -- he & my uncle would routinely drive 2 or 3 hours (each way) to tournaments in the 50's.

I especially enjoy Kawolics' style. I'll stick with my ball rotation, but I've always been jealous of the way a spinnerball holds pocket. If I let up on my ball speed slightly, I'm in danger of going full on the headpin.

[upliftmofo00]

Bowling was definitely a different game back then - You had lanes with imperfections, and very neutral bowling balls that did nothing to help the bowler hook. Nowadays, we have synthetic lanes which are near perfect, and bowling balls that have fancy coverstocks and cores to help us hook. Despite this, I don't think it's incredibly easier - If you've ever tried bowling on a PBA sport shot even with a newer reactive ball, you'd find it requires just as much accuracy as it did back then.

[zebnkee]

Not to take away from either of them., but hard to compare by today's standards. Lanes were easier then although equipment was inferior compared to today. i like Carmen's approach and swing better.

[BIGGREENLEAF1]

Are you nuts??? "Lanes were eaiser then" bowling lanes have never been so easy as of todays walled up phony ass lanes with the rocket flying surlyn pins and bowling balls on steroids. Even the worst bowlers still look good today with the easy ass junk they bowl on. Why even throw it 60ft. just go kick em over that is how easy it is today compared to then. Back then a 300 game meant something today it is a joke, just as is the 800 and 900 series, and all the inflated avgs. by 20-60 pins a game.

[Tata996]

Excellent points.

[BIGGREENLEAF1]

Thank-you.

[gpstevo]

id agree with you on everything BUT the 900. theres only been what? 17 bowlers? not a lot of people have bowled it even with the walled up shots and great bowling balls.

[dbkparm]

729 was a HUGE score back then.

Hell, 673 wasn't chopped liver, either.

[rstp354]

Great roll on Kawolics ball

[monsterbowler]

Carmen had a heck of a backswing back then.

[altfactor]

Didn't "Chanmpionship Bowling" air in first-run syndication for almost twenty years??

I seem to recall watching an episode of the show in color around 1972 and the announcer claimed this was the 18th season of the series.

[partyingdonut]

they still had pinboys? i thought they stop in the 40's not the 50's. becasue guddfard shmit invented the first actual pinsetter made from suction so why do they have pinboys

[deesyphrr]

Some places didn't get them until later...

[Rulrke]

crazy music

[1337ScubaTal]

lol? is there ppl at the end of the lanes setting up the pins?

[pickwickbowl]

Lanes looked pretty easy...

[syntonik]

You gotta love shellac back then. League bowlers would actually burn a groove into the lane surface, and as long as you could hit that groove, you'd score all night. Get away from it, and it was hell on earth! :)

[Curtie555]

I think Eddie thought he could fly.

[DethRail]

thats classic bowling right there

[HGJYBRANDON]

this was awsome i loved seeing a part of history

[chipmonk51264]

wat are those unusual limbs droping from behind the pins lol

[PahangDragonbird]

Pinboys.

[iraneman021]

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

[BowlerScott]

If eddie's 2nd game was 243 and his series was 729, it was a stepladder series.

[kayag11]

Carmen had a higher backswing than Eddie who had a very little backswing. Anyway Nice video!

[shiningstars109]

i live in scranton pa!!!!

omg

[stinger19er]

THe Pinsetters in this video were Brunswick B-10 Semi autmatic pisetters. Good video overall though

[TheBackwardsBowler]

I'm sure it was a rough loss for Carmen.... I have hed the pleasure of bowling with Carmen and have to say that even today he is a great bowler and show-man of the sport!

[Spudskie]

Great footage! I liked how Carmen was sitting on the bench at the beginning, Mr. Casual! I wonder what Carmen was thinking when he saw that 7-10 split?

[TubaMaine34]

i like kawolics more because his form is almost like just not quite

[BowlerScott]

this comment makes no sense.

[Brunchordie]

does anybody has some earlier footage ?

[shad0h027]

Man Salvino had a pretty nice game. I think he'd be pretty competitive on today's conditions with today's gear.

[hiervince]

in 0:42

[hiervince]

The pinsetters look like an A-2

[NipkowDisk]

IIRC the semiautomatic machines by Brunswick were "B-2" or something like that. I actually had the pleasure in 1974 of being a pinboy several times in a place that still had these machines! The fronts of them do resemble the A/A2 machines though.

[vitaphonedisc]

Actually Brunswick B-2 machines were manual. The machines you worked with may have been upgraded. The original Brunswick Semi-Automatics were indeed B-10's.

[Malibunightrider]

is it me or does the approach seem really short?

[iBaLinedancer]

Thanks.. brings back memories. I used to set up pins as a kid for 10 cents a game. Don't think I could have ever bowled in B&W (got a red ball. haha)

[NipkowDisk]

Yes indeed, this was REAL bowling. The pin balance was considerably different back then, too- in 1960 ABC changed it so they weren't nearly as bottom-heavy. Thank you for uploading this great clip!

[blakfloyd]

Damn good clip man. It's awesomely refreshing to see the game before the advent of more reactive modern pins and a game dominated by power rather than finesse. I like the pinmonkeys guffaw at 0:55 too.

[mickeyro]

This was match #8 of the first season of Championship Bowling which was then using a king of the hill format, Salvino was returning winner having beaten Bill Lillard in week #7, Kawolics would go on to win next two weeks over Don Carter and Joe Kristof before losing to Steve Nagy, matches were filmed at the Faetz-Niesen Recreation center in Chicago and was the last time one was going to be seeing pinboys as automatic pinspotters had just been introduced by AMF, soon followed by Brunswick.

[EdmDude]

Was that the first AMF Pinspotter? lol

[Riddikc]

thats all precision there

[Tata996]

Giddyup

[bigtee61]

This match took place at old Faetz-Niesen lanes in Chicago.How fitting is it to have two great Windy City bowling legends go head to head.Video clips of these remind us of bowling's glory days on television.

[stinger19er]

Good Videos. This clip was taken for a bowling show hosted by Lou Scalia in the early 90's called the 10th Frame

[mickeyro]

Thank you so much for adding this as it brings back such wonderful memories of young days watching Championship Bowling on Saturday afternoons. Two Finger Eddie was a great bowler and showman, of course Carmen continues to this day, he came to Louisiana Tech in 1965 to give an exhibition, a highlight for me. Truly amazing to see an old film with pinboys in action. Please add as many of these as you can, have any of Bill Lillard?

[thiswilldoblue]

Excellent pictures. We want to see more of these early pro's that we have all read about but have never seen the way they bowl. Are these clips taken from old cine films? Thanks for uploading them.

[Wolf12395]

Can you PLEASE telll me how you get these tapes? :D Again, you're awesome for uploading these. I'm subscribing to you. :)

[vitaphonedisc]

You can get any of the Championship Bowling shows and many others from the National Bowling Hall Of Fame and Museum in St Louis. I think you can only rent them though.