WE FINALLY stumble into a month with a slight downward bump in new releases.

The new arrival this month is the Track Triton T.K.O. This one gets a full shot, while we have performance updates on the Jade Tour Quantum, TiBoss II and the Zone Pro. The Michael Jordan balls from AMF should show up for November review.

Brunswick Technology Ventures: Jade Tour Quantum
While our reported tech skinny was on target for the core, the cover used on the production version of the Jade Tour is a milder version of the Axiom Proactive urethane used on the Jade Quantum and the Zone Pro.

Thanks to Bill Wasserman for a pair of Jade Tour balls to drill up. We applied a strong layout to both balls. One was for our old bones, and the other for the pups to play with.

The Tour model delivered 12 to 15 feet more length than the Jade on house and light-oil conditions, with a smoother backend. The Tour model plays drier conditions much cleaner than the "regular" Jade Quantum. While the Jade Q-ball tends to go early as the heads vanish, the Jade Tour allows the bowler to stay in the comfort zone with excellent length, smooth, continuous arcing hook, and great carry. If your heavy hand needs a handle on the break point, or your slow-ball speed needs help to get down the lane, try this one.

We stacked this ball against the Jade Quantum on fresh wet/dry and late-night dry. When we had head oil, the Jade was obviously the better choice. Later in the shift and late-night conditions gave the edge to the Tour model, because of the ease with which this one travels the lane and the very readable backend. Dry heads on late shifts can make distance difficult. This is the condition where the Jade Tour really flexes its muscles. The Jade Tour allowed us to stay on line with expected length, break point and a smooth arcing recovery that was very playable in the heart of the dry. On heavier oil, the Tour model requires a tighter line to play the small arc to the pocket. This one stayed in box condition and for saving our bacon on late toasted heads. The length, arc, heavy backend roll and hit will make this one a keeper for light patterns.

Brunswick: Zone Pro
We had one Zone Pro to shake out - this 4-inch pin out 15-pound ball was drilled with the pin 2 inches off PAP and at 2:30 to grip center. We expected this one to roll up very early with the low pin, but with head oil, the ball still goes 38 to 42 feet. This higher Rg core (than the Jade Quantum) with higher Rg differential than the Jade or Tour Quantum will flat turn the corner on the big end. The Blue Axiom Proactive cover comes with the same polished look as the new Quantum balls, and scuffs/sands easily, but is a bear to polish back up.

We quickly discovered that even on fresh lanes, these old bones needed to be 8 to 10 boards left of center, and the Zone Pro had to play 16-to-8 to stay on the right side of the headpin. The Zone Pro is a borderline boomer on the backend. While it doesn't give a monster flip, it has a very quick, strong arcing recovery. The difference in moves between the Jade Quantum and the Zone Pro reminds us of the different look between urethane and the early reactives: the Zone Pro covers more boards quicker. The ball delivers a strong hook, heavy mid-lane roll and hard hit and mix at the pin deck.

We applied Kwik-Cut, Ultimate Polish and Control-It in an effort to slow this one enough for the heavy hands to use. The Zone Pro was still too much on any kind of house shot for the young lions - too early and too much backend. We liked the surface on league patterns, and the pups had some success when they left the building and found "tournament" oil. With the added polish, the pups still needed oil, but the old guy could get three games from the ball with a little effort the last few frames. The Zone Pro is very usable for two league games, then big moves are the norm, or the ball is bagged for something less responsive and cleaner up front.

The core in the Zone Pro lacks nothing in power relative to any Zone we have used, and the Axiom cover delivers an aggressive-readable hook with all the pocket power we have come to expect from the Zone line.

Columbia: TiBoss II
Thanks to Dale and the folks at Columbia for a TiBoss to use. We label-drilled this 2 1/2 inch pin-out comp and were very pleased with the ball's performance. This medium/high Rg ball has a medium/high Rg differential, and delivers length somewhere between the Tour Boss and the Pit Boss, with more hook than the Boss or Tour Boss.

On heavier oil patterns, the polished (600-grit compound polish), deep blue TiBoss II is more aggressive than the Boss, and has a stronger, heavy-arcing hook than the Pit Boss. On choppy and spotty conditions, the TiBoss plays easier than the Pit Boss. On a fresh house shot, the TiBoss is 3 to 4 feet shorter and a couple of boards less than the Pit Boss. The TiBoss flexes its muscle as head oil dries up. This Boss is very clean in the heads, and makes a very aggressive arc hook back to the pocket on oil, on a house shot and on lighter oil. The core delivers playable length on anything short of carpet, and the core/cover combo produces a smoother hook. The TiBoss II does not have the tendencies to go too early (Boss and Tour Boss), squirt on oil or overreact to dry (a la Pit Boss). The TiBoss II has become our preferred Boss; it plays well over a wider range of conditions and delivers a roll and reaction which are very comfortable. We passed this one on to the "Thumbless Wonder" (who can turn the devil out of a ball). He and other power players have been very impressed with the clean length and aggressive-heavy arc finish and explosive hit. The dominant comment from the users on this pass-around has been the length and strong/playable hook and hit of this latest Boss.

The core and cover versatility should make the TiBoss II (with a retail in the $240 range) a good choice from Columbia to suit a variety of players.

Track: Triton T.K.O.
The new Track Triton is a Technical Knock Out. Let's start with the new cover (tires) on the T.K.O. The PowerPlus Gold is Track's newest high-performance Reactive cover. Track has taken its Mica technology to a new level with the smaller particles of Gold Mica in the T.K.O. While the granules of Mica are smaller than used in the Elite Pearl, the amount used is much greater, putting more Mica per square inch into the cover than ever before. The increased amount of Mica offers more grip area between the ball and the lane surface. The polished Plum T.K.O. has a look of gold sparkle, and this tunable cover is enhanced nicely by the yellow/orange logos and pin.

At the heart of the T.K.O. is a more powerful version of the Core2 technology from the Elite and the Elite Pearl. The T.K.O. has the addition of a dense ring around the flip arm of the Core2 tech core. This ring increases the flare potential of the core, for increased hook potential. The ringed-core technology will be available in the 12- to 16-pound T.K.O. balls (drill as two-piece), with pin-in and up to 5 inches pin-out available. The 10- and 11-pound models will be traditional three-piece construction and should be drilled as such.

This medium Rg core (with medium Rg differential) will offer lots of flare potential, and the new cover will allow plenty of movement on the backend.

A tip of The Bowler's Shop hat to Phil and Steve at Track for a T.K.O. to drill. We label-drilled this 3-inch pin-out 15-pound ball and had label leverage. Each succeeding Track ball of late has moved the preceding release down in the arsenal; the T.K.O. is no exception.

On fresh conditions, this one plays very well from anywhere on the lane. All you have to do is stay in your game, line up your feet and let it go. We went from the shop to a league set with the T.K.O. - no practice - and had all the area we wanted to play. We could move deep in the head oil (deep for us is the 20 board), stroke the ball out to 10 and let the ball do its thing on the backend with strong hook and hit. We moved outside the 8-board into the light part of the lane, and had excellent length with an extremely sharp hook angle. This line left us too many corners, so we moved left and played 15-to-10 with great length, excellent recovery and a great mix. Several three-game sets on fresh heads showed us that the T.K.O. can stay in the same area for a set. On each occasion, we moved a total of three boards. This one clears the heads as well or slightly better than the Elite Pearl, and delivers 3 to 4 boards' sharper hook with pin-punishing hit. On a 48-foot flood, this one needed some sanding (320-grit) and a slow/soft release to turn the corner. We worked the ball back to 800-grit and polished it for use after a double-shift league. The T.K.O. was playable if we really leaned on the ball, but a higher Rg drill on the Triton Heat would be preferred on drier conditions.

Look for a retail in the $240 range on this new boomer from Track.