Post by: admin on December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM
Post by: Brenton Davy on October 22, 1999, 02:00:00 AM
Post by: Jesse James on May 17, 2001, 01:24:43 PM
and the orange pearl to compliment one another. We have a strange house that
changes the shot from week to week. Most people hate it.I luv it!! A different
challenge every week. I shoot inside on heavy, long oil. I shoot outside on
lite to medium shot oil. I vary my speeds accordingly. The green Mess is very
forgiving as long as I keep my speed up. It makes a sharp turn on the backend
when I crank it shooting inside.(box condition) And destroys the pocket when I
go direct with it polished.I've got it drilled with the pin right next to my
ring finger, and the cg in my palm. It supposed to go long and snap at the end,
and boy does it ever, as long as I use the right release.A very versatile ball.
For the money ya can't beat it. Always the first out of my bag.
Post by: Sniper206 on July 07, 2001, 05:09:26 AM
Post by: ColumbiaBowler on August 08, 2001, 01:42:20 PM
HOUSE CONDITION
2-3 INCH PIN
Messenger is drilled with leverage axis. Pin is about 2 1/2 inches to the right of my ring finger. Med. hole on the side of the ball. I've had this one for about 2 years now. Overall, a very solid ball for the price. When I originally got it, this ball was excellent for a fair amount of oil which suprised me becasue I wasn't expecting much hook out of this one. I have well over 200 games on it, but I've gotten it resurfaced once and it hasn't seem to have lost much of its drive. I know it's old, but It's a great ball for the price. Can't go wrong with Columbia!
Post by: BowlingJunkie6 on November 16, 2001, 04:14:37 PM
I recently purchased a 16lb. Black Messenger, because we have some wicked wet/dry lane conditions, and I wanted a smooth arcing ball. This ball does just that. Throwing it from 15-5, I get a nice reaction, without the over/under of some of the reactives. The ball keeps the pins low, and really drives them into the pit. Very hard hitting ball.
Not a big hooker by any stretch, but that wasn't the reason why I purchased the ball. If you want something very controllable, pick one up.
Now, as far as the last review, when I get on this web site, I expect a professional type of review and attitude, which 99% of the time is followed. However, and this is to you Bowlingman33, I doubt very much you are Brett Taylor, and if you want to embarrass someone, stick to some sleazy chat room, DO NOT BRING IT IN HERE. Find another site, and get out of this one.
Post by: tonygee on December 11, 2001, 11:52:40 PM
Ball has strong arcing motion. Expected a little less backend. This ball with this drilling is surprisingly usable from outside first arrow to fifth arrow swinging it to the gutter. Even but strong arc, its a surprising l'il firecracker. I like to keep it in the bag. When I'm loss, this puppy always come up as an option goto ball.
Post by: ColumbiaBowler on December 29, 2001, 01:09:31 AM
When I reviewed this ball before, it was dulled to a low grit, I'd guess about 300. With this surface, the ball was able to roll earlier and arc into the pocket. Recently I've shined the ball to 1500 grit polish. With this surface the ball goes VERY VERY LONG and has a less than snap but more than an arc reaction, I guess that's what we'd call a hook reaction. Anyway, I've established that this is great for a drier condition. I took this ball to a JBT at Mid-State Bowl in November. The lanes there were lightly oiled. I couldn't get a clear idea on the exacty pattern but the heads and midlane were dry and the backends had a moderate amount of oil. Thus, something that went long and had a nice "pop" in the back was ideal. After playing with the Rock Star and Classic Rock for the first 3 games. I found myself at -14 with the field being well over +30. I picked up the Messenger in the 4th game and played 20 out to about 12 or 13. The ball rolled beautifully and my 298 game got me back in the cut. (Everything pocket except a brooklyn strike on the 1st ball of the 10th frame and the last ball, I pulled it and it hooked a little early.) In short, when this ball is shined it's great on a light oil shot! This is the ball I use in my school league at Plaza Lanes.
Post by: briana300 on January 22, 2002, 12:55:49 PM
Brian
Post by: PSUfan11 on February 10, 2002, 12:49:59 PM
Post by: BrianN on March 21, 2002, 03:55:52 PM
Summary: Early, mild, extremely controllable, hard-hitting ball for short oil and reverse block. A solid 8.
I bought it to play on one particular condition in one house - a short oil/flying backends condition that's too flippy for a high RG resin. It's wood, 35 units inside, 28' buffed to 32' and stripped daily. Everyone gravitates outside, so the house track burns up quickly. Speed control is important; the wood surface plays like synthetic, and rapid carrydown make it easy to throw the ball through your breakpoint. So far, Messenger Black seems to be a good solution to these backends and breakpoint issues.
I redid my TFlash in a strong drilling and missed having a low-flare urethane. I agonized for a couple of weeks over what to do with the ball, and ultimately went with the advice of the Columbia rep, which was to put pin above the ring, CG stacked, placing the mass bias just right of the thumb. It's a 5 1/2 x 5, and for anyone who's interested, it has a pinout of 3 1/8, final weight is 15.2, 3/4 side, 7/16 finger, 1 1/8 top.
There's not a lot of data about this ball on the web. After what I'd read and heard, I half-expected MB to be a junk ball. Nothing could be further from the truth. My expectations were very low, and I have been positively surprised on all counts.
After 40 games, my feeling is that MB is a super nice, mild, arcing ball that goes where you put it with no surprises. In box finish (600), the best phrase for its arc-set-roll reaction is "disturbingly early", more so even than a TFlash. On short oil, it goes into a roll just past the arrows, maybe moves 3 - 4 boards all the way to the pin deck - without burning up. Very strange look to it; disconcerting even for someone used to urethane. With its mild backend reaction, you give up any chance for recovery on a miss outside; conversely, perhaps a miss inside will hold. About a 10-board ball overall, it sits between your spare ball and your weakest resin.
I would strongly advise against drilling it early roll - it's early enough as it is. BTM characterized it: "Out of the box (dull), good length on medium/dry conditions". I really disagree. I would hate like hell to see what a half-axis would do. It would probably want to go into a roll on your second step.
So far, the biggest surprise is how well the MB carries on fresh backends. I threw it in a house where you really have to steamroll the pins, and it hits like you'd expect of a Messenger, which is to say very well. You think of a 5 1/2 x 5 as something to play inside, but I got good reactions out of it from pretty much everywhere between 1st and 4th arrow. On messier backends or longer oil, it doesn't carry as well as a ThunderFlash, but on fresh ones, it unquestionably carries better.
What this is for: Short oil/stripped, reverse block, and not much else. It's as good an answer to short oil as I've seen. In the reverse block case, the core is strong enough that I would have no concerns about the carry deep inside. No good in box state without some head oil, nor on very dry lanes. Every surface is different, but just as a benchmark, I'd say it's ideal for something like 30 - 35 units in the middle, but not enough for, say 50 units where Thunder Flash is in its sweet spot.
I'll also be trying it on what's being billed as a short-oil sport shot in about a month (late April, 2002).
Who will like it: an accurate, end-over-end player. It will tend to cover problems he may have throwing through his breakpoint.
Who will not like it: The early start will kill the player who only likes to come around the ball. I had to bring my track up to within 1/4" of the fingers before I had success with it. The person who wants a GLSH ball will hate it, as it does neither. Maybe a cranker could use it polished like a steel marble, but he has many better choices.
For someone who's shopping for urethane, the natural comparison is to the Storm Thunder Flash. They are very different. My advice would be to get the Thunder Flash as your first urethane. The similarities and differences I've noticed include:
1) All else equal, TFlash is several (5 - 6) boards stronger and can handle a bit more oil in the midlane.
2) TFlash is a much more general purpose ball.
3) All other things equal, TFlash goes longer
4) Neither can handle dry heads
5) MB hits better on clean backends, not as well on spotty or oil.
6) MB is a better control ball
Rating: Solid 8 overall
Control: 9. Great predictability and control. The second best control ball I've thrown, right on the heels of the Track Magic. I'm capable of getting dialed in with it on some challenging conditions.
Versatility: 6. Frankly, most people buy urethane as a spare tire anyway. MB in particular is a condition- and style-specific arsenal ball at best. Most people will not want or need it.
Hit: 8. Hits like a Messenger, compares favorably to TFlash on dry backends.
Post by: Lima_Bean on June 22, 2002, 11:08:15 PM
Post by: JrBowler300 on December 19, 2002, 03:01:21 PM
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"PUNISH THE PINS All 9 of them"
Post by: ItsJustMe300 on April 11, 2003, 08:44:22 AM
Post by: louie on August 24, 2003, 08:38:45 PM
I use it as a practice ball since I believe this drilling is illegal even though the static weights are legal. The ball is clean through the heads with an arcing backend and above average hit. Nothing special good or bad about this ball. The solid green Messenger should have its picture next to medium condition ball in the dictionary. It is very predictable. You'll most likely get what you deserve on any given shot. On most house shots I don't see how you could go wrong with this one.
I actually like this ball much better than the Messenger TI because the Ti tended to hook more violently for me leaving many solid ten pins and even pocket 7-10 splits.
Too bad its not legal to throw in league because I like this ball a lot.
Good Bowling.
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Why does everyone laugh when I bowl?
louie
Post by: Jesse James on April 08, 2008, 10:37:41 AM
1" pin
Ball is drilled 3x3 stacked. This ball was actually sold to me used by a woman PBA bowler.
I pulled this ball out of the closet, on a lark, because I was having problems with over/under reactions in a league where we bowl third shift, after two other leagues have bowled. Synthetic lanes, but fried heads, and a ton of carry down. I remembered when I first threw this ball, that it was extremely consistent in reaction, and gave me a nice slurve at the end.
Knowing that, I recently threw this thing in my above mentioned league, and absolutely loved the reaction and carry from it. The ball carried flush, it carried light, and it carried brooklyn off-hits. What the heck.....I actually recorded my first 300 game with this dinosaur!!! Who knew?!!
Great ball, and it definitely gets re-added to my arsenal. It also gives me a completely different look from the variety of pieces I normally use these days.
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