I know a lady who was walking past mosaic stadium today when a field goal football was kicked out of the stadium. Her child picked up the ball and was soooo happy with his "catch". He was then stopped by 4 security from the stadium and told he had to give the ball back because it was cfl property.
Why can't he keep the ball. This is a chance to solidify the start of a new generation of fans, publicity would be great but the cfl can't eat the cost of a ball.
If there is a really good reason for taking a ball from a kid that I am missing then maybe there needs to be something in place to not make kids feel like crap when their bright moment is destroyed by the league of evil. lol
I heard that even if a player decides to keep a football after a touch down or throws it to a fan, that the money is deduced from his salary. I'm not sure if that's accurate or not, but if it is seems incredibly bush league on the CFL's part.
Footballs aren’t cheep. Remember Willard Reeves when he playing for the Blue Bombers. He would always give the ball to someone in the disabled section after scoring a touchdown in Winnipeg Stadium. Since he scored a lot of touchdowns, it started to cost the Bombers a lot of money. They eventually gave him cheep substitute balls to hand out instead.
Whenever I see a ball making it's way to the stands whoever catches it keeps it, but since this happened at a Riders game they probably only brought 1 ball. :lol:
I agree I have heard on broadcasts when players gave balls to fans in the crowd after a TD that it comes out of their salary several times, mostly in the 90’s but I think a couple times in the 00’s I heard it as well on the ol’ CBC
Me, too, I had heard that. I understood that it started in the dark days of the 90s. Not sure it is a wise policy nowadays. Maybe it has already changed and we just don't know it.
It was still in place as of last year, though teams do have the option of covering this cost. a gameplay ball was about 300 bucks a few years back. gameplay balls cost a bit more because there is a more quality control.
i think it was mid 2000's i remember a stegall interview where irving or someone asked him how much they were charging him for footballs (milt regularly tossed them into the stands during his biggest years) and milt replied with something like, "i spend a few hundred here and there but hey its worth it" not an exact quote but something along those lines
i think those balls are 2-300 each... for a small league i guess it kind of works? if its occasional i think they should let it go, esp in this case for kids and stuff.... but if players were constantly throwing them up into the stands like milt did it probably makes sense
and yeah as mentioned above cbc talked about it awhile back too... i think the paycheck deduction thing is true
in the B.C. - Sask. game last night a ball was punted into the stands and a fan caught it. The TSN crew made a comment about it being a nice souvenir, but then cut away to the action on the field. After this thread it made me wonder if he got to keep it. I don't suppose they would show the ball being repo'd. and the sad look on the guy's face.
There were 2 balls that were kicked in the stands in the forth quarter (point after) both fans got to keep the ball.
Drinking myself into a stupor - $150
Getting face slammed into a metal bench loosing 3 teeth - $1500.
Catching a $50 game ball at a Lions game - Priceless. :lol:
My understanding, the last I heard, was this:
If a player throws or kicks the ball into the stands during play (e.g. on a punt or a sideline pass) the fan must return the ball.
If a player throws or kicks the ball into the stands INTENTIONALLY after scoring or getting an interception, the fan may keep the ball, but the player is charged for it.
At Ivor Wynne, kids always hang out on the grass under the scoreboard, and they go after every ball thrown or kicked that way. Someone always comes up to them, and gives them some sort of gift package (worth nowhere near the value of the ball, I'm sure) in exchange for the ball. The kids seem to love it and are thrilled when they're given this free stuff.
The kid who caught the ball should have been given something in exchange for it.
At Mosaic Stadium, they’d be giving away a ball every single convert (on both ends), half the field goals and some of the errant punts that I fear we’ll be seeing from the Roughriders kicking team. That’s too many balls. If a player gives the ball away, the player pays for the ball, otherwise deal with it. It’s a sad reality in life.
At Empire Field, the Lions deliberately did NOT install a net to catch footballs after converts and field goals. This was meant to be a little perk for the fans while BC Place is renovated. I believe the Leos foot the bill for all kicks that go into the stands.