Slippery, New Balls?
Yeah, the title was on purpose.
But, someone said that Tate was complaining that the footballs were slippery and not prepared properly. And, that they did not bring any footballs that were older/properly prepared so M was stuck with the footballs they had.
Anyone have any insight on this? Is it just rumor? Who would be responsible for this -- equipment manager?
October 12th, 2009 at 4:58 PM ^
Maizeman.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:00 PM ^
there are so many funny places this thread could go.....
October 12th, 2009 at 5:04 PM ^
to finally show up when the topic turns to balls.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:05 PM ^
Can we do it in binary?
October 12th, 2009 at 5:17 PM ^
GREAT pick up line for a coder. not very effective, but great line.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:57 PM ^
Did its title get changed?
October 12th, 2009 at 6:10 PM ^
I'm about 75% sure Brian deleted it. Wasn't Paul, Tim, or myself.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:27 PM ^
And there are so many other places for you to go Irish, like an ND blog or how about following a rainbow to catch up with your buddy the leprechaun and his pot 'o gold.
PS - Glad you have a sense of humor
October 12th, 2009 at 5:30 PM ^
I would much rather have a MGoOpposingFan then an MGoIdiot. Think that one over...
October 12th, 2009 at 5:33 PM ^
MGoIdiot? Interesting conclusion. Educate me please
October 12th, 2009 at 6:06 PM ^
He has been a frequent and a very insightful poster since he's gotten here. We appreciate his input and his humor and consider him to be an important contributor since he's gotten here, or at least I appreciate it. Criticizing him for doing nothing (other than being an opposing fan, yet not a troll) is idiotic.
October 12th, 2009 at 8:41 PM ^
So you are a Michigan fan and you appreciate Irish's input and humor? Go back and read his post before the ND game - he stated that ND was going to "tear Michigan apart" on both sides of the ball. Then he ripped on one of our best players (Donovan Warren). That isn't insightful it is insulting. Saying he has done "nothing" is idiotic. Check your loyalty and check your own philosophy about being a "fellow Michigan diehard so insults aren't appropriate".
October 12th, 2009 at 10:01 PM ^
Just so you know
#2 ND is going to tear UM’s defense apart, still too harsh? :) ......If your still still reading you shouldn't take that #2 statement too literally, it was just meant to weed out the undesirables.http://mgoblog.com/diaries/irish consider yourself weeded :) lol
October 12th, 2009 at 11:21 PM ^
Please Carrot Top stop you're killing me
October 12th, 2009 at 5:06 PM ^
but this is what I heard during first half Saturday night: the sideline reporter said that Tate's fumble was due to a cold, slippery ball. She said M had brought three balls from Ann Arbor, from which I inferred that while on offense, one ball was chilling in use, and the other two were being warmed. I don't know how this is accomplished, however.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:23 PM ^
Can this be right? We bring a 16 wheeler full of equipment and only 3 footballs?
Could we have lost a football game because of this?
I feel sick.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:31 PM ^
See my reply to the OP...there are at least 8 legit game balls in circulation during the game with a back-up bag of 10 or so that have been checked and approved by the refs.
October 12th, 2009 at 9:13 PM ^
Before the game on Big Ten radio,(XM), the Iowa color guy was saying that he watched Tate warming up and commented on how small his hands were, and that when the temperature dropped at around nine o'clock, Tate would be having trouble holding on. Sure as shit, he fumbled at 9:00 almost on the dot. Of course that was 8:00 Iowa time, but it was spooky.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:12 PM ^
I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure that the balls are warmed up by guys who stuff them in their coats and rub them with towels/blankets. Like I said, I could be wrong but I'm fairly certain.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:18 PM ^
"the balls are warmed up by guys who stuff them in their coats and rub them"
Ahh, I love innuendo.
Ahh, I love innuendo.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:19 PM ^
Sigh, everyone knows that they warm their balls in a sack.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:29 PM ^
OK, here we go....I know way more than anyone ever should on UofM footballs and their preparation for game use due to my occupation during college. I will do this in bullet form.
- I guarantee that there was nothing more (legally) that could've been done to those balls on Saturday night to make them better for game use. This is because of the borderline insanity of Jon Falk (head eq. mgr.) and how that insanity forces his staff to treat our game balls as national treasures.
- There are upwards of 8 balls that are in the "Game Ball" bag deemed appropriate for game use, so lack of options was not a problem. There were most likely 4 UofM ball boys each with two footballs split between the sidelines to rotate balls in almost every play.
- These game balls (and the back-up game balls) are treated (see "roughed-up") prior to departure for Iowa City, on Friday when unpacking the truck, and immediately before the game to make them easier to grip. This is at the very minimum (with a night game this could've happened 10 more times on Saturday just because) and does not include the random times these balls are treated during the week.
- The footballs UofM uses (Wilson because Nike balls are horrible) are in best condition with a little moisture on them. In cold, bone-drying weather like Sat. night in Iowa City the footballs were slick I'm sure. (This is why you saw student managers rubbing the footballs with heat packs on the sideline).
- It was practice when I was working to bring a brush (basically a large stiff-bristled toothbrush) with you at all times to keep the balls as tacky as possible (see "treatment" above) and keep the balls free of mud.
This is getting long, and I hope my point is made. The balls weren't the issue. Tate may have had an issue with them, but this was most likely Tate's first time playing in dry 30 degree weather. He just wasn't accustomed to how the ball would feel. Put on a glove.
Keep the questions coming...I'm here all night with useless facts.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:35 PM ^
Whew, thanks. I was hoping this was the answer. The alternative was just too horrible to consider (i.e. that we could have lost a game because of such a ridiculous mistake).
October 12th, 2009 at 5:51 PM ^
Anytime, the over preparation of our equipment staff is legendary I assure you. I would be willing to bet that we also brought our 'CoolZone' fans with us to Iowa. Just in case... I kid you not, we packed those awkward pain in the ass things for the trip t0 OSU in 2004. Gotta be prepared for the November heat wave.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:51 PM ^
Where else can you get an authoritative response so quickly. I'm so much smarter because I read MGoBlog.
I'm pretty sure I heard the sideline reporter say three balls, and the camera was showing two ball boys. She probably got it wrong.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:57 PM ^
No problem. I heard that as well and laughed a bit. There are two ball boys on each sideline....look for two college-aged guys decked out in UofM gear in enemy territory next week.
Not all teams do this (about 75% of the BigTen does) so for home games we end up doing the visiting team's footballs for them a lot of them time.
We refuse to let another team's staff touch our balls!!! Yup, I said it.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:08 PM ^
Wasn't it one of our ball boys on the Northwestern sideline in 1997 who detected NW stealing M signs in the first half and let Lloyd know at halftime? Unsung heroes; warming balls and more!
October 12th, 2009 at 6:44 PM ^
That is how the story goes. Pretty cool, I've actually met the famous manager in person. He's a rockstar in the world of student/equipment manager lore.
October 13th, 2009 at 4:40 PM ^
It's mind-boggling to think that we had only one player sending in plays until then. We were a bit behind the times.
October 14th, 2009 at 8:41 AM ^
mind-bottling? Like when your thoughts get trapped, like they're in a bottle?
October 12th, 2009 at 6:08 PM ^
I'll be sure to tip the waitress. You have CD for sale in the back?
:-)
Seriously, that's the kind of insightful post I wish we had more of.
October 13th, 2009 at 9:47 AM ^
Man when I saw this topic I was hoping I could show my expertise a little bit but I am clearly a day late and a $ short.
I was a student EQ manager at FCS Illinois State 3 of my 4 years there. Everything you said is exactly correct Vector. And you are very correct about the Wilson balls being better then the crap that Nike puts out there. I cannot believe teams use those Nike balls.
We would bust out 10-12 or so new balls in practice on Thursday and the walk-through Friday just to break them in a little bit. The starting QB would pick out his favorite 8 and they would go in the game ball bag. We would brush them and use a tacky spounge on them a few times on Friday, pre-game Saturday, and at half time. We also brushed the balls during the game but did not use the tacky spounge.
You have to give the balls to the ref's pre-game and they take them in their locker room to make sure they are legal (pressure, size, etc.) and they put a unique mark on the white strip of the ball (blue X, red dot etc.) and any ball without that mark is not allowed in the game because they have not been checked and approved.
So even if Tate was getting fed up with the 8 or so balls in play, they would not be able to get new balls into the rotation.
Being a ball boy is kind of fun because you do not have to stay in the designated "team box" on the sidelines (between the 20's I believe) so you have the best "seat" for almost every play.
Hope this helps!
October 13th, 2009 at 9:57 AM ^
Good to see a fellow ball boy out there. Definitely wouldn't trade my seats for those 4+ years. It was always fun being in the action, and even better on the other team's sideline. You get to experience the classy (Penn State, Texas) and a$$-hole (Illinois, Washington) teams alike.
We usually kept the same game balls in circulation throughout the year (replaced as needed) so they were weathered and better for game use. We also guilted the refs into checking-in a second "back-up" bag of balls for every game.
Did you get to travel to any FBS schools while you were there?
October 13th, 2009 at 1:08 PM ^
I was actually a filmer first when we played at Iowa State on 2005. That was a fun game that we competed in and lost 31-21 I believe.
Then in the 06 season we out-played and lost to Kansas State in Ron Prince's first game after Snyder retired. Lost 24-23 and went for a 2 pt conversion with around 3:00 mins left. Our All-American WR (and current STL Ram who just broke his leg) Laurent Robinson, was out the enire 2nd half after a cheap shot that caused a sprained ankle. He had two TD's in the 1st half.
The place was packed because they were honoring Snyder at halftime.
Our equipment room at ISU was literally the size of a small bathroom. Seeing KSU's was incredible as it was 15 times the size and my boss had been all over the country and said KSU was crap compared to alot of other schools... ahhh the wonders of FCS!!!
October 13th, 2009 at 1:09 PM ^
Were you there in Seattle 2001 or in Ann Arbor 2002?
October 13th, 2009 at 3:02 PM ^
Both actually, but only on the Washington sideline for the Brabb's kick in 2002 (ahhh memories). They were not a friendly group, but remember this is when Slick Rick Neuheisel was in charge.
October 13th, 2009 at 10:05 AM ^
Very insightful post. Thanks for clearing that up.
October 13th, 2009 at 4:46 PM ^
Did Lloyd actually pass out the game ball to players after a win?
October 13th, 2009 at 4:57 PM ^
In my 4+ years in the locker room after games I never saw him do this. Lloyd said a couple words and the captains got up on chairs and led the team in singing The Victors. No game balls were ever given out.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:36 PM ^
It was cold. When it is cold you lose your grip. Tate is from California. Correlation?
October 12th, 2009 at 5:41 PM ^
Correlation != Causation (or > if you prefer)
October 12th, 2009 at 5:42 PM ^
Guess where Tom Brady (a pretty good cold weather QB) is from?
Caleeeeforn-I-A.
Tate may have smaller hands though (anyone know)?
October 12th, 2009 at 5:47 PM ^
Brady's great now, but I don't know how he felt the first time he tried to throw in that weather. Since he didn't play much until later in his career - after a few winters in Ann Arbor - he probably got used to it. This was Tate's first try. He'll figure it out.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:18 PM ^
Brady: 6-4
Forcier: 6-1 (?!?)
I can say with a high degree of certainty that Brady has larger hands than Forcier and that this does have a large impact when the ball is not as tacky as it normally is.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:07 PM ^
and how the UM staff prepares....I feel like I neglect my own pair.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:12 PM ^
Then make up for it. First, go get a steel brush....
October 12th, 2009 at 6:15 PM ^
followed by a brisk rubdown with alcohol.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:13 PM ^
Never, ever, pay attention to what a sideline reporter is saying, as they are the single most useless things in all of sports, at any level. The "color" they provide is the same hue that my dog's turds are.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:42 PM ^
They add nothing.
The one covering our game Sat said that RR and Tate got into an argument that apparently didn't happen.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:49 PM ^
It's ridiculous how much speculation they throw around. They see RR yelling at Tate for a mistake (common in every program in America) then see Tate concussed later in the game on the bench...from there "Sideline Reporter Logic" or SRL says that an argument occurred. SRL...an oxymoron of epic proportions.