Bowling Video of the Day--3/19/10

Yesterday I posted a video of legendary Don Carter winning the 1952 BPAA All Star tournament in the men 's division. I'm following that up today with a video of the equally legendary Marion Ladewig winning her fourth consecutive All Star title in the women's division that same year.

Marion was the Bowling Writers Association of America's Female Bowler of the Year a record nine times between 1950 and 1963, and, in the video, you'll hear announcer Fred Wolf say that she was so dominant at that time that there was serious talk of her competing in the men's division next time around. Her 205 average for the tournament was the second highest among the women AND men that year. Here is the YouTube description of the video:

"The great Marion Ladewig at the height of her bowling career as she wins her 4th straight All Star title back when the All Star was the biggest tournament in bowling, for both men and women. Legendary bowling announcer Fred Wolf on the call, years before he would become known as the voice on Championship Bowling."

I love this stuff, and I kind of wish bowling was as simple today as it was back then in terms of equipment, oil patterns, and other ways. Rightly or wrongly, I have the impression that it was more about how well a person executed over many games than it was about having the right ball rep help you choose the right ball layout and surface and praying that your ball, axis tilt, and rev rate matched up better than everyone else's with the particular conditions in play that week. It just seems to me, rightly or wrongly, that bowling is less about the bowler's pure skill today than it was in 1952.

We can't go back to those times, but I sure enjoy watching them.