CLEVELAND -- In Cleveland, one of the oldest black bowling leagues in America is now 45 years old.

The Continental is a 90-man, 16-team league that includes policemen, mechanics, carpenters, welders, bar owners, ministers and retirees. The average age of the players is about 50.

Al Elder, 75, has been there from the beginning, in 1963, when the league was founded by black postal employees on Cleveland's East Side. City workers quickly joined them, including sanitation workers like Elder.

He jokes that there's a lot of "smack talking" but the league is really about fun.

Every Tuesday night, the bowlers meet at Twin Lanes, their home since 1985.