Albany Times Union, N.Y., Pete Dougherty column: Albany is birthplace of PBA

Oct 26, 2008 (Albany Times Union - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- DIS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The Professional Bowlers Association was a fledgling organization that was trying something new when a player named Lou "Wrong Foot" Campi won its inaugural tournament. Fortunately for the PBA, Campi's nickname wasn't indicative of the direction it was headed.

May 22-24, 1959 -- Memorial Day weekend -- Schade's Academy on Ontario Street in Albany was the birthplace of the PBA, which debuted with the Empire State PBA Open. The association is celebrating 50 years during this 2008-09 season, which began with the World Championship that concludes today (ESPN, 1 p.m.) in Wichita, Kan.

There were plenty of pro bowlers before the founding of the PBA. Men such as Don Carter, Dick Weber and Dick Hoover toured the country doing exhibitions and competing for money on beer-sponsored five-man teams. "At that time we did a lot of exhibitions," said Carmen Salvino, 74, a Chicago bowler and charter member of the PBA. "It was hard to go out and tell a person you were a professional athlete. Eddie (Elias, the PBA founder) was putting that headline out for us. The Professional Bowlers Association. For the first time we had credibility in the name."

Eddie Elias was a lawyer and sports entrepreneur, and the man most responsible for developing the pro tour.

"He had been the host of a TV show, and over the years he had bowlers," said Chuck Pezzano, a New Jersey-based bowling historian. "He was amazed that they had no organization."

When and where Elias, who died in 1998, initiated the discussions that led to the PBA varies by the source. Carter, voted the greatest bowler of all-time in 1970, recalled he and Hoover meeting with Elias after taping a bowling exhibition in Akron, Ohio., which later would become PBA headquarters.

"There were a lot of people who had been wanting to do that for a long time, but nobody came to the front and did it," said Carter, now 82 and living in Miami. "We went out after the show and spent about three hours with Eddie. He took all the notes and he said, 'I'll get back to you guys in about a month.'?"

Salvino, a Hall of Famer whose 17 PBA tour titles include the 1961 Empire State PBA Open, said seven bowlers who represented the nation's major bowling teams -- Carter, Weber, Hoover, Ray Bluth, Buzz Fazio, Steve Nagy and himself -- met with Elias in the spring of 1958 in a New Jersey hotel room. "Eddie Elias was talking, and some of the guys were talking," Salvino said. "I had a Coke bottle in my hand, and I stomped it on the desk. I said, 'Hey, guys, shut up. Let's hear what the man has to say. He's got something good."

Those conversations, wherever they were, led to a meeting in late May 1958 in conjunction with the American Bowling Congress Masters tournament, held that year in Syracuse, where Elias mapped out his plan.

"He got 33 guys, and he asked each to put up $50," Pezzano said. "That's how he got started."

More than two dozen Capital Region bowlers were among the 139 who competed in that first tournament at Schade's, which closed down in the late 1980s. A packed house in the Schade's balcony watched Campi, a right-hander from Dumont, N.J., whose nickname came from the fact he slid on his right foot, win the $2,500 top prize.

The late Joe Donato, who later built Sportsman's Bowl in Schenectady, was the top local finisher, earning $1,000 for fourth place. Larry Cassera of Albany was eighth.

The tournament owed its success to luring the sport's major players -- including Carter and Weber of St. Louis, Buzz Fazio and Ed Lubanski of Detroit, and Salvino of Chicago -- and their teammates.

"It was so good," said Joey Schmidt, 96, who was one of the 33 PBA founding members and still lives in Albany. "The house was packed. What helped us was Carter's team, they all bowled in it."

"I remember bowling it," said Salvino, who finished 11th, "and later on, I played gin rummy with a guy by the light post over there. That was a hell of a tournament. People really were great there."

Morris Cramer, who still lives in Cohoes, was the tournament director. He also ran the 1958 Empire State Open -- before it became a PBA event -- and apparently impressed Elias and the bowlers enough that the first tournament was given to Albany.

"I had an expense and income statement from the (1958) tournament, and we gave away $2,500 in added money over all the entry fees," Cramer said. "It was the first time in history anybody ever ran a tournament like that, gave more than the bowlers put in. The PBA liked it so much, that probably had a lot with the PBA getting started. They wanted more tournaments like that."

The tour moved to Paramus, N.J., the following week, and held a tournament in September in Dayton, Ohio. That was the entire first-year schedule.

"It was very optimistic in the beginning," Pezzano said. "As they got into it, it got tougher. You're talking about basically a participant sport, and to reconvert into a real professional sport, and nothing was spectacular, but there was a good steady growth there. I had to attribute most of that to the fact that Eddie was a good organizer."

The tour grew to seven tournaments in 1960, 11 in 1961 and 32 in 1962. A Capital Region tournament remained on the schedule through 1963, including two in 1962: the first "Pro Bowlers Tour" telecast Jan. 27, 1962, at Redwood Lanes, and the Labor Day Classic Aug. 31-Sept. 3 at the Bowlers Club in Latham.

The fifth and last Empire State PBA Open was held at Boulevard Bowl in Schenectady.

"We more or less ran out of money," Schmidt said. "The thing got so big, we couldn't support it. It was good while we had it."

Laura B. Northrup contributed to this report. Pete Dougherty can be reached at 454-5416 or by e-mail at pdougherty@timesunion.com.

PBA national tournaments held in the Capital Region

Date / Event / Site / Winner

May 22-24, 1959 aEUR Empire State Open Schade's Academy Lou Campi

May 13-15, 1960 Empire State Open Schade's Academy Dick Weber

March 3-5, 1961 Empire State Open Schade's Academy Carmen Salvino

Jan. 24-27, 1962 aEURiEmpire State Open Redwood Lanes Fred Lening

Aug.31-Sept.3, 1962 Labor Day Classic Bowlers Club Dick Downey

June 20-23, 1963 Empire State Open Boulevard Bowl Earl Johnson

Feb. 14-17, 1999 Empire State Open Bowlers Club Parker Bohn III

Feb. 9-12, 2000 Empire State Open Bowlers Club Pete Weber

Feb. 8-11, 2001 Empire State Open Bowlers Club Parker Bohn III

Feb. 14-17, 2002 Empire State Open Bowlers Club Robert Smith

Dec. 5-8, 2002 Empire State Open Bowlers Club--Doug Kent

Nov. 20-23, 2003 Empire State Open Bowlers Club Ryan Shafer

Dec. 14-18, 2005 Empire State Classic Spare Time-Clifton Park Mike Wolfe

aEUR -- First PBA tournament aEURi -- First televised PBA tournament

-- Championship round at Siena College Times Union

About this series

Part 1 of 3

TODAY: How things started.

NEXT: The "Golden Years" of the PBA.

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