Duke,

i haven't read any of the followup posts (so someone may have suggested this already) but after you clean the mouse ball, I'd suggest a NEW mouse PAD. Some of them can tend to hold lint and oils from your hands. then the ball picks it up from the mousepad. Get a HARD mousepad, not a foam or fabric one... and clean the mousepad occasionally with Windex.

later,

Steve in Albuquerque