Here's the scenario: You're entered in a tournament where you will bowl three (standard, non-Baker) games as a member of a 5-man team, plus three games of doubles and three of singles over a two-day period.

The tournament will be contested at two houses. All that you know about the houses or the shots is that both will be on synthetics. Team will be one place, doubles and singles the other. You don't know the age of the house, age of the lanes or the typical shot. All you know is that everyone on your team bowls with the same hand you do (i.e., all-lefty or all-righty) but perhaps not the same style you do.

You are limited to 8 balls. What do you take, and why? You can be as specific as you like (i.e., "a Brunswick Fury drilled 4x4, pin over ring, surface at 800," etc.) or just general (i.e, "particle solid drilled leverage").

I ask because I have this very scenario coming up in April. Here mine:

1) Dyno-Thane Cure: Particle solid ball, 15 pounds, drilled 4x4 win pin over and at 1:30 to the ring, box surface, no polish, no weight hole. I've bowled in this tournament before (the houses rotate) and on a couple of occasions, the shot has been just south of flooded. My Cure can handle anything from heavy down to dead medium.

2) Storm Paradigm (1): Reactive pearl, 15 pounds, drilled 5x4, pin over bridge, weight hole between thumb and the VAL, surface at 1000 Abralon, no polish. This is my go-to piece for medium-heavy, and can be used down to medium-light. I can get inside with this ball, which I can't with a lot of my other stuff.

3) Storm Paradigm (2): Reactive pearl, pro-pin, 15 pounds. Drilled 4.5x4, pin over and at 12:30 to the ring, box surface (very polished), huge weight hole right of the thumb inside the VAL, CG is on the other side of the ball. This is my get-out-of-jail card. I can use it on anything from heavy down to bone dry. It's a pro-pin ball that is drilled for extreme hook/set and does just that. No backend in the ball at all. It's for playing off the corner and is on its best behavior when the lanes are toast or late in a block. But its core/roll characteristics make it usable off the corner even on oil as long as I don't swing it.

4) MoRich Awesome Finish: Reactive solid, 15 pounds, drilled 50/4/50 on the dual angle system, pin just above and at 1:00 to the ring, MB almost in the thumb. Box surface, no weight hole. Perfect piece for mediums with decent oil in the heads. Lots of hold, which allows me to tighten up without having to constantly worry about pinching it and leaving jigsaw puzzles. Very narrow condition band, however; ball doesn't like oil all that much, and if the heads dry out it's got to go back into the bag.

5) Visionary Slate Blue Gargoyle: Urethane pearl, 14 pounds, drilled 4x4 with pin over ring and CG in the palm kicked about a half-inch right of dead center, box finish plus a little polish. This is my spare ball and also an option as a strike ball when the conditions are just right.

6) Ebonite Matrix Conquest: Reactive pearl, 16 pounds, drilled 6x6 with pin over middle, CG under middle and MB directly under the thumb. Box finish, which is about 1500 but without any polish. This actually does much the same thing my pro-pin Paradigm does but the Conquest offers better backend continuation and it's 16 pounds, which gives me a little more oomph through the pins. Light oil only, however. Probably the smoothest piece I own other than my urethane/plastic stuff.

7) Storm Thunderstruck Solid: Reactive solid, 15 pounds, drilled Rico. Surface at 600 plus very light polish. This is a gamble, as I have not used the ball on anything other than medium-dry yet, where it is way too much ball. Given how it reacts, I am assuming it's going to work super-well on medium-heavy to heavy, but that's a guess, and it's affecting what I choose for the eighth slot.

So here's what's in the running for eighth (current leader at top of the list):

* Track Mean Machine: Particle pearl, heavy 14, drilled 4.5x4.5, pin under bridge. Box finish with polish. This ball is way too strong for me on most shots and I actually score better with it on PBAX patterns. What tempts me is that I can swing the heck out of it with this ball if I need to.

* Storm Dark Thunder: Reactive solid, 14 pounds, drilled 3.5x4.5, pin over and at 1:30 to the ring, no weight hole. Finish at 600, no polish. Considering this because so far, my Rico-drilled Thunderstruck is the only other reactive solid I'm taking. But this ball needs a lot of oil.

* Track Arsenal Angular: Particle pearl, 15 pounds, drilled 2.5x3.5, pin right of ring, box finish. This is a short-pin ball with the pin closer to my axis than on most of my stuff. The ball had virtually no top weight in it prior to drilling, too. It's not "Angular" in the least; very heavy roll, can handle medium to medium-heavy.

* AMF XS: Reactive solid, 16 pounds, drilled 5.5x0, pin way up over the ring, CG on axis, big weight hole on VAL in finger-positive quadrant. Finish is 1500 plus polish. Were the tournament on wood, I'd be taking this, no questions. Right now, it's condition-specific to medium to medium-light, and I have to work the outside if I take it. It's similar to the Conquest but has a stronger backend.

I've got several other options but I've narrowed it down to these. Others include a Lane #1 Gold Nugget (mediums), Track Mean Machine (medium-heavy to heavy), Track Threat (medium-light) and a Roto Grip Retro Resurrection (medium-light) but these are the ones that made the first cut.

Feedback welcome, as well as the invitation to post your own stuff.

Jess

Edited on 3/19/2008 8:45 PM