The CFL is known for its fully striped balls. This year the stripes are sewn in. Why not just do away with them and have a clean ball, like most leagues.
the stripe is used to determine measurements when the ball is close to the first down marker. paint it onn is my opinion
NO WAY!!!!!! OUR BALLS ROCK!!!! WE DON'T WANT TO COPY OTHER LEAGUES, WE WANT OUR OWN DESIGN TO STAY!!!
leave the balls the way they are.
i agree the stripe makes are balls different from the NFL and other leagues
The stripes are used at little league, high school and college levels which makes it easier to teach youngsters how to catch the ball. When looking at the ball coming at you with the stripes, it gives the player a "traget" to catch. Do the CFL balls really stripes? Some games and some players I would say yes, but watch any football game in any league and they could use them.
The CFL used to have the plain ball decades ago like the NFL now uses but I hate the plain balls, difficult to see on TV. The stripes are well, just so cool and so Canadian (but like I say we never used to have them and I think the NFL did at one time).
Absolutely no character at all to a plain looking no stripes ball.
I like the stripes. I 100% agree with what Earl said in his last sentance. "Absolutely no character at all to a plain looking no stripes ball"
plus, I might add if I may, the white gives the ball a hint of the Rugby game it evolved from, and characteristics it still has, although with the somewhat Rugby dimensions of the ball.
Okay.
Mark7: Only the NFL uses an unstriped ball.
Kanga: This has nothing to do with rugby.
I wouldn't care either way between a striped ball or an unstriped ball, but the striped ball IS part of the CFL logo now...
Maybe the CFL should develop a stylized ball like the AFL has? Just a thought.
I haven't heard any more bitching about the sewn on stripes since the beginning of the season. Why change something that's not broken.
they should ask the qbs in the league…do you like the new ball or the old…
Hey arjoel, some people like to break things for the simple reason to just make everything more the same, and in this case, just everything more the same Americanized. It's just sort of wired into some people's brains at birth I think.
Article about the sewn on stripe.
[url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Columnists/Toth/2006/06/20/1643107-sun.html]http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Columnists/To ... 7-sun.html[/url]The CFL used to brag about having bigger balls. Now the league can boast about its pigskins for another reason -- innovative stripes.
The new stripes are wider, made of the same synthetic material as the laces and sewn right onto the ball instead of painted.
While fans in the stands or watching on TV won't notice the difference, the new ball gets a thumbs-up from Calgary Stampeders quarterback Henry Burris.
"The new stripe -- I have two fingers over it -- for me, it provides a better grip," Burris said.
"I have a better feel now. With two fingers on the laces, it's almost like throwing a baseball. Now there's two seams (under his index and middle fingers) that weren't there before."
Although Burris and quarterbacks around the league are slowly adapting to the new ball, some centres have complained the stripes become slick when wet.
"When it gets wet the football itself will shrink and the stripes stay the same size, so then you feel it a lot more and it's one more obstruction in there when you're throwing," Burris said.
"You just have to make the adjustment."
Wilson Sporting Goods, the CFL's supplier, approached the league during the winter after making the modifications. Stamps equipment manager George Hopkins received the ball in February for some test throws.
Hopkins said CFL teams agreed to make the change because of problems with the painted stripes wearing off or becoming slick.
"They sent one out to us and Geo told me to take it out and throw it around for a couple of weeks. I didn't have any problems with it," Burris said.
Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo, one of the league's top passers in the past decade, initially struggled getting comfortable with the new ball.
A similar ball has been used at the U.S. college level for more than a year.
Wilson has been manufacturing CFL balls for the past decade, allowing CFL quarterbacks to work with the same ball they throw in U.S. college.
The NFL also uses a Wilson ball but without stripes.
I posted this before but here is the football's from the different leagues
NCAA
http://www.jjsportsballs.com/pics/wil_f1001r.jpg
NFL
http://www.weplay.com/Wilson/footballs/nfl.jpg
CFL
http://www.homerunsports.com/miva/graphics/00000001/Football/WI-F2000.jpg
CIS
http://www.homerunsports.com/miva/graphics/00000001/Football/WI-F2000G.jpg
XFL
http://www.anacondasports.com/images/content/cust/SHEET10_3_sml.jpg
Arena League
http://www.wizardkicking.com/images/arenagame.jpg
NFL Europe
http://www.us-sportshop.de/shop4/images/medium/wilson_nfleurope.jpg
I am a little confused, the Burris article seems to confirm what I thought that the strip they were talking about was the "laces", not to two circles near the end of the ball.
Which is it?
It's the two circles near the end of the ball that are sewn on, which were previously painted on.
can you kick with that though, kicking game is a huge factor in the CFL. (just like Rugby :roll:)
here a pic of a WFL ball, but it wasn’t used, balls the same as the NFL were used, but with WFL logo on them.
http://wflfootball.tripod.com/photogallery.html