USBC and Storm Products have agreed on a national tournament exclusion rule and ball exchange program for six Storm Products manufactured ball models. The agreement comes after USBC identified the models having a percentage of balls produced below USBC minimum 73D hardness specification. Read more: https://bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622337509

USBC's investigation showed a percentage of these ball models measured below the USBC-required hardness level of the approval samples submitted by Storm. Storm collaborated with USBC after being notified of this testing.

The affected models include: Storm Phaze 4, Storm Electrify Solid, Storm Trend 2, 900 Global Altered Reality, 900 Global Wolverine, Roto Grip UFO Alert

Effective March 30, 2022, these balls models are prohibited from use in USBC national tournaments, including but not limited to, the USBC Masters, U.S. Open, USBC Open Championships, USBC Women's Championships, all PWBA Tour events, USBC Junior Gold and Youth Open Championships, USBC Intercollegiate Championships, USBC Team USA Trials, USBC Senior Masters and USBC Senior Queens.

These ball models remain USBC approved. Each USBC competition, whether tournament or league, has the option to adopt USBC's national tournament rule prohibiting use of these balls or to continue to allow their use.

USBC has shared this national tournament rule with Storm and has Storm's support. Storm will offer owners of the affected balls the option to exchange their balls for a new product. Information about the exchange program will be published later this week on StormBowling.com.

Chris Barnes used 3 balls, including a Phaze 4 when he took the Doubles and All Events lead. Yep, he is still leading today and going forward, those scores will stand. However, I will not be able to use the Phaze 4......so.....

What is unfortunate is the fact that I just dropped in weight(finally) because of physical issues from 16 pounds to 14 pounds and in the 6 weeks since doing so have picked up 10 or 11 new and used 14 pounders so far, one being a used electrify solid that just had plugged and drilled this week and tried it out for the first time today. I already had the pearl version--one of the first 14's I bought and liked that...hopefully they don't come after that one too.

Brad

What's the over/under on these 6 balls making it to the show?

I mean, the Masters is still going on, and per everyone's talking from 2 weeks ago, while the Masters is a USBC event, the telecast is a PBA event. Would this then mean that the PBA's rules hold sway for the show, making those 6 balls eligible for an appearance, despite the USBC's ruling?

If so, then this latest incident has already become a farce for both the PBA as a private company, and the USBC altogether.

BL.

The show is still a USBC Event, PBA just honors it as a title. You won’t see them on the show.

Quote from: bradl on March 30, 2022, 04:10:14 PM

What's the over/under on these 6 balls making it to the show?

I mean, the Masters is still going on, and per everyone's talking from 2 weeks ago, while the Masters is a USBC event, the telecast is a PBA event. Would this then mean that the PBA's rules hold sway for the show, making those 6 balls eligible for an appearance, despite the USBC's ruling?

If so, then this latest incident has already become a farce for both the PBA as a private company, and the USBC altogether.

BL.

The show is still a USBC Event, PBA just honors it as a title. You won’t see them on the show.

Quote from: bradl on March 30, 2022, 04:10:14 PM

What's the over/under on these 6 balls making it to the show?

I mean, the Masters is still going on, and per everyone's talking from 2 weeks ago, while the Masters is a USBC event, the telecast is a PBA event. Would this then mean that the PBA's rules hold sway for the show, making those 6 balls eligible for an appearance, despite the USBC's ruling?

If so, then this latest incident has already become a farce for both the PBA as a private company, and the USBC altogether.

BL.

The Masters is a USBC event, so the balls aren't allowed.  The PBA stated such in their statement.

"To review Tuesday’s United States Bowling Congress announcement, the USBC prohibited the following six previously-certified bowling balls from use in USBC national events (including this week’s USBC Masters)...

The timing of Tuesday’s USBC ruling, during the USBC Masters, prompted the PBA to grant its members complimentary drillings on the player services trailer for bowling balls replacing the newly prohibited equipment. While the USBC Masters is a PBA Tour major championship, the event is conducted by the USBC under USBC rules."

If any of these balls end up on the show, someone will have some serious explaining to do...

So if that is the case and it's a USBC event all the way through, then a Fab Blue or Burgundy Hammer should have no problem making the show, let alone a 5 year old Pitch Black.

I mean, I personally don't have a dog in this fight unless I try to enter the US Open or the Masters, but I'm trying to point out the ambiguity of the separation of rules here. Do both the PBA's rules and the USBC's rules hold sway here? If it's a USBC event, then does the rolling 2-year urethane ban get overruled?

There is so much confusion here, that neither entity can have things both ways for this tournament.

BL.

Quote from: Bowler19525 on March 30, 2022, 08:57:18 AM

If a ball is illegal, it's illegal.  Either ban it in all sanctioned competition or don't ban it at all.  Keeping them certified, but then excluding them from certain events makes no sense.

I suppose that begs the question why would USBC do this? So I can throw my Trend 2 in league, but not Nationals. That's a head scratcher

Another head scratcher is that the banned balls are ok for the PBA tour, but NOT acceptable to use on the PWBA tour.  Then again this is the USBC that we're talking about here where many of their decisions are very questionable.  It makes me wonder in some cases if the USBC is actually botching testing.

Way past my competitive days so none of this directly impacts me anymore.  However as a guy who bowled 29 nationals several Masters and a few PBA regionals this has gotten totally out of hand. 

Quote from: avabob on March 30, 2022, 08:24:44 PM

Way past my competitive days so none of this directly impacts me anymore.  However as a guy who bowled 29 nationals several Masters and a few PBA regionals this has gotten totally out of hand.

Not just in regards to this decision but many others like the balance holes, just to name one.....Chad Murphy and the USBC are a bunch of idiots!

Maybe Chad is trying to make up for lack of hardness somewhere else.