Columbia's Big Shot is designed to be a ball around which bowlers could build an arsenal.
By Now, We All Should Be Aware Of Ebonite International's Purchase Of Three Of Columbia 300's Brands. This is a huge undertaking for Ebonite which should help define each company involved. It not only owns the rights to the Columbia brand, but also Dyno-Thane and Track. All three of these brands have a long history of innovation behind them, and their imprimatur has appeared on some break-through products (as well as on some which fell short of expectations).
Ebonite has been riding high these past few season with tremendous success both on the PBA tour and with many amateurs across the country. They employ some of the brightest and most creative minds in the industry, and hopefully, will create distinction among their five major brands (Columbia, Dyno-Thane, Ebonite, Hammer and Track). Circle was part of the deal, but ebonite has no plans to manufacture that line. AMF300 products were not part of the agreement at this time, and it will be interesting to see what transpires regarding their future. I personally wish them the best and hope they keep new releases at a minimum (makes my job easier), and at the same time produce unique and needed products in the marketplace. We definitely don't need just another "ball of the month," which performs almost identically to 20 or so already on the shelves.
On to this month's orbs ... The feature ball is Storm's new pearl particle called The Shift. This ball offers bowlers a long and strong reaction for heavier oil. By the way, this is what most bowlers who walk into their neighborhood pro shop ask for, as in: "I want a ball that goes long and turns left on heavy oil." Well, it's now available. The next Sphere is from Brunswick, The Fury, and boasts an all-new core and cover. The design promotes fast revs with an earlier strong arc motion... also for heavier volumes of oil. Next in line is The Ogre from Visionary. The bright orange ogre delivers medium length with a controlled hook motion at a lower mid-price for those on a budget. Our fourth entry from Insite provides bowlers with less hook and a controlled arc ball for lighter volumes, all in the color of money; it's called The Prophecy. Ironically, The Big Shot, our last entry, is Columbia's last release from its plan in San Antonio. The Big Shot is designed to be their benchmark ball, a ball bowlers can build an arsenal around. I would like to thank everyone at Columbia who have helped me do my job better for their friendship, kindness and know-how this past year. Special thanks to Chad Murphy, Danny Speranza and Kelly Griffin.
Our guest tester this month was Jeff Reukert of Waukesha, Wis. Jeff is an accomplished bowler with many city and state titles. Jeff's game is that of a power tweener, possessing a 370 rev rate with 17+MPH ball speed. Jeff's approximate tilt is 45 degrees. We bowled at our home house is Oak Creek, Classic Lanes, for the wood test. There we bowled on the house shot with 8-1 ratio with 27 ml and oiled 40'. We also tested on the PBA Viper pattern, oiled to 37'. Our synthetic testing was performed in Waukesha at Fox Run Bowl, with AMF HPL-5000 lanes installed just a few years ago. There we bowled on a modified Scorpion pattern oiled at 36', as well as the House shot, which is 6-1 ratio and 25 ml in volume. Thanks to both centers for oiling the lanes especially for us and making our visit very enjoyable.
