As I sat there watching the end of the Seahawks-Chiefs game, holding my breath, waiting for the results of the replay challenge of the Deion Branch strip and recovery, I got to thinking, is it time to change the color of the ball?Looking at the images repeatedly as they flashed across my TV screen, it was clearly evident when the ball was in the possession of Jared Allen, due to the high contrast between the colors of the ball and his exposed forearm. However, it was very difficult to determine exactly when possession transferred to Deion Branch, whose exposed forearm is strikingly similar to the shade of the Wilson Official NFL Football.
(to comment, click the green number to the right of the title above)
Good idea, but this falls under the 'who do you replace Holmgren with?' categories.
ReplyDeleteChanging the color...might be bad since the color red would blend in with the Chiefs, and etc...unless of course, you have a rainbow colored ball! However, this is the entire USA, not San Francisco. Green is out because of the grass. Smart fans could bring signs to the game shaded of the color of the new ball and throw it up everytime the road team's offense is playing...just to screw with the WRs' heads.
Good idea, though it would take serious thought. With basketball changing its ball, and the reaction players gave it, im not sure what would make everyone happy. Bball's new ball pissed of everyone, and will probably hurt passers and shooters badly.
Metallic gilded balls! Ain't no team got metallic gold uniforms, and it's supremely cost-prohibitive to print up signs in a solid Pantone Metallic Gold ink, large enough to make a confusing backdrop for the receivers. Plus, that'd require a hemp of a lot forethought and organization. For example, even the relatively simple task of matching their face paint with their mascara is beyond the typical Steelers fan. The NFL could even use golden balls as a ploy to improve the overall play in the league. One special ball is electroplated in 24k gold, and whichever receiver catches that ball gets to keep it. Guys would be so intent on making every catch, that dropped balls, like butt rock, would become obsolete, a thing of the past. (The trick is, it wouldn't be revealed until the end of the season which catch was made with the 24k ball. That way, they'd try hard right through the final weekend, even if their team is 2-13 at that point.) I see this being a huge boon to offenses, especially that of the Seahawks.
ReplyDeleteI don't think golden balls are that unique. Not if you were born with them, like yours truly.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, natural leather is the way to go, for a million reasons.
A million reasons? How about you just jot down a few?
ReplyDeleteButt rock is not obsolete...
ReplyDeleteIn case anyone else is as old or tragically un-hip as I, and doesn't know what Butt Rock is...
ReplyDeleteJust a few:
ReplyDelete1. Part of the success of the NFL is it's connection to tradition, and the ball itself is a fundament. Change the ball, alienate some traditionalists like myself.
2. The game would lose some glorious association with great NFL moments of times past. When you look at today's ball, it is visually the same ball as the immaculate reception, Steve Largent's 100th TD, etc..
3. Check out the ABA's old ball. Then chack out the ABA.
4. You don't stray from natural leather for the same reason you don't want an outdoor staduim. The elements are part of the game. It provides mystique, unpedictablity, and seperates the men form the boys. The natural ball respondes differently to different conditions, and the player must adapt to that as part of the game. He who does it best has the advantage. Changing the color of the ball will effect the way the ball responds to these conditions, and affects the game.
5. Ever open the box of a regulation NFL ball in a quiet room? Grip it. Feel it. Squeeze it and give it a good high friction rub. Smell it. Note the stitching, the laces, the logo. Put it in your arm like you're going to lower your shoulder and run through someone for a touchdown. The natural surface makes it primal. The craftsmanship makes it modern and elite. It roots is back to the lost epochs of hunter-gatherers that fought over carcasses, skins, and territory. To color the ball will taint this link with manly urges, of which the NFL is the greatest exponent.
And you want to ruin that for a better camera view?
Alba: LOL, you thought it was an arcane reference to Jessica, didn't you?
ReplyDeleteActually, I thought it was a drug reference.
ReplyDeleteHowever, given the graphics I've been hiding in my Dark Angel posts, I'd rock Ms. Alba's butt, that's for damned sure!
BUMP
ReplyDeleteAlba, I went through all the trouble of getting just a few reasons, and you ignore it? Humph. AOL SNOB!