Ebonite man

This week was a repeat of last week as far as the high schoolers go. At least there were only 3 on the last pair where I would be bowling. This pair, 39-40, historically has shown 39 to be about 5 boards tighter than 40. This was the case even after the new lanes surface was put in. Someone mentioned that 40 has something like a 1/16 inch of pitch to the left. This doesn't seem like much over a 60 ft lane, but I guess it is enough to make some of the difference. Started with the Mutant Cell and right out of the gate, I didn't like the ball reaction I saw. The finish seemed a bit too late and would mean ringing 10s all night. Decided to change to the Total NV and this looked good since the backend finish was a bit weaker, but also earlier. The first game yielded a good share of single pin spares including a couple of ringing 10s, but nothing to get alarmed about. Was playing nearly the same line on both lanes which was also surprising. Guess 40 had less play than 39 with heavier oil on the heads. After punching out on 40 to finish the first game, started game 2 with a ripping 7-10. Wow, haven't seen one of those in quite a while, especially with the Total NV. Shook it off and threw a double. At this point, carry started to go downhill. Left 3 ringing 10s, a solid 8, and 2 swishing 7s and headed into the 10th needing a double to shoot deuce (whiffed the first of the 3 10 pins). Got to finish on 39, so I had some confidence that if I were to miss left, it would hold. Hit my spot with the correct breakpoint only to see the ball cut through the heart leaving a 4-7-10. A very surprising reaction on this lane even with the heavier play. Went 9 out for a 183. Decided to make a ball change back to the Mutant Cell since the skid through the heads was better. Went 2 pin on 39 and bucket on 40. Said that's it for the Mutant Cell and switched to the Big One. Struck on 39 and went back to 40 only to leave another ripping 7-10. This time, I got pissed. How can you throw a quality shot with good reaction and leave that ****? Took the 9 out and left a solid 9 on 39. WTF is going on tonight? Carry was really atrocious, and after feeling that the way I executed should have resulted in an upper 6, ended with only a 597. Decided that since we finished early, I would throw 3 more games on this pair just to see if the same crappy carry continued. Wouldn't you know it, the carry problem disappeared and I was back to throwing the Mutant Cell. May have grooved out a line for myself, but shots that were leaving ringing 10s during league were now getting slapped out by the 6 pin. No phantom 7-10s or solid 8s or any other pocket garbage either. Tonight was just a joke and I really needed those extra 3 games as a sanity check. At least I didn't lose too much ground in average last week as there were only 2 600 series shot in the entire league. Just goes to show that the garbage is not confined to the pair I'm on. Next week is off for Thanksgiving, a welcome break that hopefully will help turn things around