My Personal Sports/College World - 1948 – 1950 - Continued

The Servicemember’s Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the G. I. Bill of Rights was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22. 1944. This act offered Federal aid to help veterans adjust to civilian life. For me it provided college tuition, an income, books and supplies, equipment, and counseling services so that I could begin my college career.         

“Our boys”, as all of us who were serving in our armed forces were called, came back to a nation that was 100% behind us. In that small town of La Salle, Illinois (13,000 population), we represented six different immigrant groups. We were greeted with “Thank you”, ‘Glad you’re back’, waves, smiles, and other forms of appreciation for our services.           

In 1946 my pin setting job at the Westclox Bowling Alleys was waiting for me and I had been promoted to assistant manager. There were four alleys (lanes) there with a men’s team match every weekday after working hours. I got to bowl with friends after the matches. One evening my brother Joe, who was then working at the Westclox, stayed around and bowled with me and two friends. In one of the three games I rolled I came up with this on my score sheet; a 268 game; the highest game I ever bowled:

 Frame 1      2     3     4     5    6     7     8    9      10             

X     X   8/    X    X    X    X    X    X    XXX

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Bowling and Television – An Historical View The Sport of Bowling - 1940s and 1950s         

During these years, bowling was the largest participation sport for both men and women.

Bowling Centers         

Large bowling centers – 32-48 lanes (no more “alleys”) were built to host large bowling tournaments and included facilities for the entire family. With both men and women frequently taking part in league bowling, bowling centers furnished childcare services. a playroom,  and a nursery so parents could enjoy their game with a peace of mind.

Awards, pins and patches, were given to women who rolled a 200 game and men who scored 225. 

American Bowling Congress (ABC) - March 3 to May 12, 1942       

In Columbus, Ohio, more than 5,000 teams and 28,000 individuals competed in the American Bowling Congress (ABC) Tournament. Tod Maskai, from Saginaw, Michigan, took first place in the all events with a total score of 1,973. John Stanley of Cleveland, Ohio, won the singles title with a score of 756.       

After this event, the ABC tournament paused for three years during World War II, and returned in 1946 to Buffalo, New York.

Bowling Teams         

Five-men teams were formed at different times and in cities including Chicago, New York, Detroit, and were sponsored by breweries. The most famous at the time was the Budweiser team of St. Louis captained by Don Carter, considered to be the best bowler of them all.  

Television and Bowling - 1945           

Bowling alleys were an ideal place for the cameras and lighting of television. There still was no replay or slow motion so the spectator had to stay alert. The five-person team and three game series was too long in time, so TV’s Championship Bowling was developed. A pair of women, such as Marion Ladewig would oppose Merle Matthews or a pair of men, such as Joe Wilman would oppose Buddy Bomar.  They bowled a regular three game series. The winner got $1500 and returned the following week and the loser got $500 and went home.         

In the current college bowling contests, you will note that each contestant has a shoulder patch such as 1 – 6, which means that she will bowl the first and sixth frames - or the 2 -7 patch indicating that she will be the second and seventh frame bowler, and so on up to 5 - 10 – so each of the team members bowls one-fifth of the game and a series of 3 games would be achieved.

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My Junior College Days 

In 1946, I started my college life at L-P-O (La Salle-Peru-Oglesby Junior College). I had no plans for my future world of work – maybe an architect.           

My brother Joe already had plans for a softball team, the La Salle Merchants, to play in the local league, under the lights at Hegeler Park. He was the manager and the catcher. He signed me up as his 3rd baseman. Somehow the manager of the Utica Yanks semi-pro baseball team heard about me and invited me to be their new 2nd baseman. The Utica Yanks played on Sunday afternoons so this didn’t interfere with my softball evening team games (soon to be 2 softball teams).         

One evening I watched the L-P-O basketball team play and as we watched I said to myself and to the friend who was with me, “I could play on this team.” He said, “Why don’t you try out for the team next year?” So I did try out even though I would be there for only one more year. 

I don’t recall how many players came out to the tryout session(s). Anyway, I made the final team list - I was one of the guards on the L-P-O basketball team. Other teams in the  conference were Joliet Junior College (the first junior college - founded in 1901), and Chicago area schools, including Wilbur Wright Junior College.

I was now playing in an entirely different offense from my run and gun team in the Navy. On offense, my major task was getting the ball to the center and the forwards. This was OK because I was feeding Dale Eiten, the best player I ever played with. On defense, I was usually given the task of guarding the opponent’s point guard; a task I really enjoyed. My highest score in a game was 12 points.

One interesting event occurred during that season. Several Notre Dame football and basketball players, including George “Moose” Connor and Johnny Lujack* made an after season “barnstorming” tour and came to play a game with us. We gave them a good game and lost. I had the honor of having a tied ball with Moose. I lost the jump ball that was part of the game at that time.

Next week I’ll tell you about going to a big college. 

*Connor and Lujack were All-Americans and future stars in the NFL.