Okay, now it's time to throw in a twist.

I went by the proshop today and talked to our resident pro... the first thing he said when I started explaining what I was looking for was "Let me say one thing right off the bat, all these balls are the same." (referring to everything in the shop).  The point he was making was that although each of the balls has a different potential, 90% of what the ball does is attributed to the bowler and how the ball is set up.

As luck would have it, he had just gotten in a shipment of Hammer balls (I guess they stock more than I thought), and had both a Blue Vibe and a Pain in the back room.  He also has a Doom on order which should be received in a couple of days.  His opinion was that I should get a ball that will grow with me, rather than getting a ball I would outgrow in a few months, and thus he recommended either a Doom or Pain in the class of ball i was looking for.  He then said he could tailor the ball as the need arises, though he recommended a maximum flare drill and the stock rough polish to start, then we could try different polishes to add length if needed.

He quoted me about $120 for either the Doom or Pain with drilling, thumb slug, etc., which sounds pretty good to me considering they're about $100 online... so I think that's the direction I'm leaning now.

I will say that the Vibe felt really nice, and you can definitely feel the difference between that ball and the Pain as far as cover construction.  The Vibe was a very shiny polish, and the Pain was a very rough matte finish (almost 'sticky' feeling).

Thanks again to all of you for your input.

Yeah, I thought the 'all these balls are the same' comment was rather odd too.  I think he was mainly referring to the fact that he could set up each ball to perform pretty close to the same depending on how he drilled and polished it, but of course I'm not privy to his private thoughts... just my best guess.

LOL.

Well, I would consider intermediate somebody that already knew how to hook the ball, but was looking for something to fit their particular style.

A beginner would be somebody just learning how to bowl.

Since I fell in between, and there doesn't seem to be a word in the English language that falls between beginner and intermediate, I figured 'advanced beginner' would suffice... but you're right, in normal English that would indeed be an oxymoron.

In other words, adding the word 'advanced' in front of 'beginner' makes me feel like less of a schmuck.