The Ball

[cobbwebb0710]

Fun Facts: UT started using GST "orange" colored balls in 2002. Casey Clausen fumbled it in the wet v UF 62 times in a row, to complete yet another inexplicable meltdown v the Gators. From the point we adopted that ball, our FB program decended into the dark ages of our proud history. Balls matter.

TWSS.

 

[cobbwebb0710]

It's from the mudding process the poster above referenced. I'm guessing they used to just use wax which doesn't discolor the balls as much, but mudding is much better. It's not surprising that Butchy boy and company didn't know/think about mudding. CJH being very sensitive to the nuances of the QB position would obviously value the mudding process.

I wonder if there is a staffer, solely responsible for waxing balls?
Is Butch still employed down there in Arkansas?

 

[Golf freak]

Being at the game,here's a kind of cool Oklahoma tradition that tv wouldn't show.After every made field goal or extra point by the opposing team,OU fans start tossing the ball upwards until they eventually throw it out of the stadium.Since we won it was fun to watch.

 

[volinSmyrna]

I wonder if there is a staffer, solely responsible for waxing balls?
Is Butch still employed down there in Arkansas?

That would definitely be a job for the managers, although some QBs insist on doing it themselves. Plus, it can be a QB preference. Some QBs like the feel/tack of the wax only, and some like the softer feel that you get from mudding.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Its the breaking in process, wax, rubbing and heat will change the color. The area where the ball gets touched the most will turn darker.

Kicking balls are broke in a different way vs throwing balls, this causes them to look different from each other.

Balls matter and every player that uses them likes them differently broken in.

Interesting. I never thought much of anything about breaking balls until I met Sue Ann, an old college classmate of mine. I know about breaking in a new car, but beyond making sure the ball was properly inflated, I didn't know football required it. On the other hand, I recollect that Tom Brady and the Pats doctored ball pressure during a game a few years back. So thanks for the new to me, info. Hmm, not that Shirley would tolerate my asking, but I wonder whatever happened to Sue Anne after graduation. Maybe back homer to Montana.

 

[UT97Vol]

We used to use the Wilson ball and it's not quite as dark as the Nike ball (or at least it isn't discolored as much by the breaking in process).

I believe Tenn switched to Nike footballs after we switched from Adidas to Nike for our apparel deal about eight or nine years ago.

 

[Vol865]

View attachment 680532
Heres a comparison to last time we played there

One is Nike. One isn't.

 

[dobre_shunka]

IDK how they found the actual game ball. When Nico first gave him the gameball after the game, Josh gave it to a GA, then the GA gave it to another GA who tossed it in the ball bag.

There's trainers tape around the middle of the ball Heupel is holding. Likely that was used to mark it