Ebonite man

The 2011 season is mercifully over after a roller coaster ride. Had 31-32 again this week for the sweeper pot and just can't seem to get motivated to do real well this week as all the standings had been final with the exception of the 2 teams that won the halves. Not to mention, the aches and pains that have accumulated over the last 4-6 weeks have taken a toll. Tried the usual straight up 6 line and this seemed to look good. Had a slower ball speed tonight as the right knee was giving me issues not allowing for a strong pushoff. As a result, had one of the worst nights of carry all season. Left more than a dozen single pin spares of which 10 were 10 pins. Only 2 of the 10 were weak 10s. The spare ball will be hitting the showers in the off season as I fanned 3 of the 10. The thumb was really causing me to come over the top of the ball and resulted in errant shots. After missing the 3rd one, I thought I would try using the Big One to shoot the next one I left. I had not done this in the past thinking that this ball would bite when it got near 5 board and miss left. Made sure I kept the ball in the oil as long as possible and the result was making every one from this point on. Couple the poor spare shooting with a few splits and the result was a 584. Even though scoring was poor, I did manage to win the mystery pot for only the second time in 6 seasons with a 184 game. Another bright spot was not leaving a single 7-10 split in the final weeks after going back to the Ebonite stuff. Was thinking about a short PBA experience summer league, but I think I will stick to just practice every other week. I will probably bring the Virtual Energy and Mutant Cell out for some sport shot practice in a few weeks. I'll be going back to the Hoinke in the fall, so this would be a good experiment to see how the new stuff performs on heavier oil. If anyone who reads this could give me some feedback on new equipment out on the market, that would be of great help. I would be especially interested if you are a stroker with fairly slow ball speed (13-14 mph) and more of a spin versus heavy roll. If the VE/MC don't work out for summer practice, I may look into getting something else before the start of next season. My next entry probably won't be until sometime in May, so I'll be keeping an eye out for any responses.