Yes, the players will find some way to deal with the new footballs and minimize the number of errors just as they would find a way to make due if the NFL required every player to play barefoot on wet grass during the first half.
However, by introducing this unnecessary gimmick into the game, the NFL is diluting the quality of the product that they are selling to the paying customers who are the fans in the stands and the corporations that are paying hundreds of millions of dollars for advertising and broadcast rights. Super Bowl commercial slot prices hit $2.4 million this year.
Professional football is a business and, with the amount of money the NFL is charging for its product, the NFL needs to be putting product quality and customer satisfaction, not gimmicks, at the top of their of priority list.
Right on!
If they feel the need to have this great number of commemorative balls, why didn't they just go hog wild and put a new ball in the game on every single play of the entire game?
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post # 23 ............... Check this out. ;-)
http://sport.monstersandcritics.com/football/article_1094245.php/Super_Bowl_footballs_authenticated
DETROIT, MI, United States (UPI) -- Footballs for this year`s Super Bowl will be authenticated with a drop of synthetic DNA to deter the sale of 'game-used' counterfeits.
The real ones can be determined by exposing them to a specific laser frequency when the DNA will glow to a bright green, reports The Los Angeles Times.
'The ball can change hands a thousand-plus times, but it will never lose that DNA,' said Joe Orlando, head of the California company which marked the Super Bowl footballs. 'The chance of replicating this exact DNA sequence is one in 33 trillion, so it`s virtually impossible.'
The NFL has prepared 120 Wilson footballs for Sunday`s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks and plans to use a new one on every play of the first half, before going to a 12-ball rotation after halftime, The Times reported. Some of the footballs are donated to charities, while others are set aside for players, coaches and officials. Some players feel changing the balls so often could pose problems as new balls tend to be slippery.