Game ball?
- Thread starter setts1984
- Start date
Football, basketball, and I believe volleyball all must use Spalding balls during the playoffs. The state provides them.
Football playoffs the home team is provided (and subsequently charged for) 3 Spalding J5V footballs.
Spalding is the nearly exclusive ball used for Iowa playoffs...as a result of their large contribution to the Iowa Hall of Pride.
Spalding is the nearly exclusive ball used for Iowa playoffs...as a result of their large contribution to the Iowa Hall of Pride.
Then I would have to say it's awesome that the state seems to have an exclusive deal with Spalding if their products are substandard. I'd bet there's money coming in there from somewhere. Better the state makes sure the student/athlete doesn't have the best equipment available so they can keep lining their own pockets...like every other way they've figured.
I can't speak for what soccer teams do during the year, but every school I encountered as a player or a coach used either Diamond or Rawlings baseballs during the regular season. Both are high-quality and very durable. Spalding's baseball scuffs and cuts VERY easily, which makes it even more ridiculous that the state provides just one dozen of them to last for 6 games. Host schools have to go out and buy at least another couple dozen every year just to have enough to get through districts, because you throw them out left and right.
When I was still involved in high school ball, we usually started using Spaldings in practices and Saturday tournaments as district play got close. But we used Diamonds at least 80% of the time.
For basketball, it's no big deal, since Spalding makes a great basketball and nearly everybody uses it year-round.
I've never seen a soccer team use the official Spaulding soccer ball during a regular season game either. They come out for the State games. With soccer it's even more obvious what brand of ball they are using, due to the patterns and coloration.
Ive never even seen a Spaulding soccer ball 'in the wild'.
Many, if not most, schools use Wilson or Nike footballs. Some will use the J5V because of the playoffs, but many like to ue superior balls. The J5V turns into a pumpkin after getting wet about three times. I've heard Spalding baseballs are junk. I have yet ot find a team in my umping days that uses them regular season.
As far as the money, I made it pretty clear in my first post. $5 million was given to get the Iowa Hall of Pride off the ground. That's why we are using Spalding.
As far as the money, I made it pretty clear in my first post. $5 million was given to get the Iowa Hall of Pride off the ground. That's why we are using Spalding.
The Jv5 is fine. A bit more narrow than the Wilson. I've noticed the Wilson gets slick after being wet then dry. The Jv5 not so much.
During regular season the Off. asks for a game ball from each team. Playoffs, a different matter, but if both have the same ball it should be fair?
During regular season the Off. asks for a game ball from each team. Playoffs, a different matter, but if both have the same ball it should be fair?
Doesn't matter if they have different balls in the regular season. The officials use the offensive team's ball.
Ah, yes. I see what you are getting at now. I've been around a couple different programs and they handle it in different ways. There are some that went with the J5V for just that reason. There are others that have passed on the J5V during the regular season and used their preferred ball, then switched come playoff time. Both have won state championships. Certainly the balls have a little different feel, but at the end of the day a football is a football.
I'd wager that's probably true for football. I never played in the playoffs and we used Wilson footballs during the season (as did nearly every team we played against), so I didn't know what kind of quality the Spaldings are. But I do know that a lot of soccer players/fans don't like the Spalding soccer balls used in the postseason, and I know the Spalding baseballs used in the postseason are terrible and actually do have an impact on the game because the seams are a lot higher than the Diamond and Rawlings baseballs used in the regular season.
All true. Here's what I know about the J5Vs, or at least my opinion. They are very tacky when you first get them, and like the baseballs, their laces are very prominent. They shed water decently the first two or three times getting wet, but they start getting water logged easily, after which they turn into pumpkins. By that, I mean they are great for kicking. Nice and bloated and springy.
Similar threads
