Antedating(1906) "Brooklyn side" (bowling) and a theory

[Laurence Horn]

At 4:01 PM -0400 6/26/11, sclements at NEO.RR.COM wrote:
>"Brooklyn Side" is a bowling term meaning to strike the left pocket
>(1-2 pins) rather than the normal 1-3 pocket.
>I traced it back to an apocryphal sounding story told in a 1911
>article, best read on Barry Popik's  web site --
>http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/brooklyn_side_new_york_side_tenpins/
>
>The article referred to an 1899-1900 championship match in NYC
>between the Chicago team and the NY team.  Supposedly, a Chicago
>roller, Frank Brill, noticed the alleys were worn on the right side
>of the lanes and one got better results by hitting the left side of
>the head pin ("Try the Brooklyn side").
>
>Antedating that 1911 cite, and offering new evidence that Frank
>Brill may have indeed originated the term, I found a 1906 cite in a
>bowling column written by Frank Brill.
>_Duluth(MN.) News Tribune_   section 4(sports), page 2, col. 4
>"When you're hitting the one, three, or crossing over to the
>Brooklyn side just about the way you want to, and then find a bad
>split or a bad bunch of wood standing up, you wonder what's the use."
>

There's also "Jersey side" with the same reference, as I believe
we've discussed here.  Is that a newer and/or more regionally
restricted formation?

LH

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