WELL,

  Can you say RUSTY?

  LOL, evidently, I have neglected my bowling skills far too long, and it is showing in MY ability to perform. The one saving grace I have had, has been in the performance of the equipment that I am using.

 My plan was to drill the ECHO and the ESPIONAGE first, to gauge their performance, before putting holes in the TREASON. I am glad I waited.

 Like many other brands I have used in the past, the OOB finish was very suspect for me. The ECHO was just too skiddy, and the ESPIONAGE was rolly, but weaker than I had anticipated. This all began to change shortly though, as the surfaces got some play on them.

 The ECHO has turned out to be quite the house shot killer. On the fresh 43ft shot here, the ECHO is very clean through the fronts (VERY clean), but now that it has a few games on it, reads the breakpoint very well, and turns the corner with the strength of much more well known equipment. The ECHO has an attitude about it now that it didn't seem to have directly out of the box, and the carry rate has gotten better as well.

 I WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM PUTTING THIS BALL UP AGAINST ANYBODY'S BALL DESIGNED FOR LIKE PATTERNS!

 The ESPIONAGE was a bit different. In the OOB finish, the ball was rolly, but seemed to be quite a bit weaker on the backends than I expected. I went with a 5 X 4 drilling (which put the pin in my middle finger), so I wasn't expecting a monster backend, but after having seen video of it, I was a bit confused. That has all changed now with some games on it.

 Maybe it was the surface prep, maybe it was the shelf time, or maybe it just needed the surface "awakened". Whatever it was, the weakness and "iffyness" it had in the beginning is gone, and I now have the piece I was expecting.

 The ball is clean. Not as clean as the ECHO, but it isn't intended to play the lane the same as the ECHO. The cover/core combo is stronger, so I am able to now move inside the ECHO's line with it. Thing is, now that it is "awake", it is turning the corner from in there with PLENTY of punch. I think this is actually my favorite of the two right now, because it is letting me start in my "comfort" zone, then the ECHO is letting me stay there longer than I had been once the transition comes.

 The ECHO, with the 5 X 4 pin up drilling, is a really good match with the ESPIONAGE with a 5 X 4 pin down a bit further. I can start with the ESPIONAGE on my favorite line, then, as the lane transitions, and the ESPIONAGE starts to check early, I can move to the ECHO and finish out a three game set with only having to make some very basic and minimal foot and speed adjustments.

 Now that I see where I am with these two, I am going to be seeing my driller soon to get my arsenal rounded out.

 So far, I have been very pleased with the performance of the equipment. If I could just get the rust shaken off the operator, we might be talking some honor scores here before the year is over!