# "It's Just a ball", umm, no it isn't **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320 "2011-07-08T15:37:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/21 "2011-07-08T19:21:47Z")
Forget the ball. People are paying money and spending hundreds of hours watching juiced up meat heads play a children’s game. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/22 "2011-07-08T19:33:26Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Forget the ball. People are paying money and spending hundreds of hours watching juiced up meat heads play a children’s game. I was going to call you out for being a douchey, irrelevant threadshitter but then I remembered what forum we’re in. Carry on. . . ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/23 "2011-07-08T19:36:38Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Forget the ball. People are paying money and spending hundreds of hours watching juiced up meat heads play a children’s game. > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I was going to call you out for being a douchey, irrelevant threadshitter but then I remembered what forum we’re in. Carry on… Carry on? My, you really did forget what forum you’re in if you’re not even willing to call an obviously ignorant fucknugget an ignorant fucknugget. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/24 "2011-07-08T19:38:09Z")
This is like smashing your car into a tree to avoid running over some stupid squirrel. Then again, I once accidentally killed a man in a fist fight over a Steve Balboni rookie card. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/25 "2011-07-08T20:15:04Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Forget the ball. People are paying money and spending hundreds of hours watching juiced up meat heads play a children’s game. Oh god, the “sports are stupid and you’re stupid for liking them” argument! Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/26 "2011-07-08T20:32:39Z")
[Oddly related video?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyCboRcT9IE&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/27 "2011-07-08T20:32:48Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Oh god, the “sports are stupid and you’re stupid for liking them” argument! Yes. Sports are stupid and childish, only idiots watch them and only retards pay money to watch them live at a stadium..\* \*Unless it’s a sport I like. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/28 "2011-07-08T20:32:55Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Then again, I once accidentally killed a man in a fist fight over a Steve Balboni rookie card. Yeah, but that’s a _card_! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/29 "2011-07-08T20:47:52Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Including the idea that foul balls are only for kids. I caught my first (and to date only) foul ball at a minor league game a few years ago. Yes, it wasn’t the majors and I have no idea who hit it, but it was special because I’d been waiting 20 years to catch a foul ball. The fact that going to the game was an anniversary present from my wife just made it all the more awesome. > > It’s not just a ball. I simply don’t understand this. I’ve never caught a foul ball or a home run or any other kind of ball at the stadium. I have no trouble with people trying to catch the ball, as long as they don’t go crazy and run over other people to get it. If one ever comes straight to me, i’m sure i’ll do what i can to catch it. But the idea that a foul ball is special is just strange to me. If i ever do catch one, the first thing i’m going to do is look around for a kid to give it to. Not because i have any great love for kids (i have none of my own), or because kids are somehow special, but because i can understand a 12-year-old finding some special significance in getting a ball from the ballpark. I don’t understand the same sentiment from a grown man. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/30 "2011-07-08T21:02:48Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > But the idea that a foul ball is special is just strange to me. If i ever do catch one, the first thing i’m going to do is look around for a kid to give it to. Not because i have any great love for kids (i have none of my own), or because kids are somehow special, but because i can understand a 12-year-old finding some special significance in getting a ball from the ballpark. I don’t understand the same sentiment from a grown man. Because I wanted one when I was 6. If I still want one when I’m 26 (and I did), then that makes pretty damn special, don’t you think? I was literally waiting 20 years for it. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/31 "2011-07-08T21:51:58Z")
But isn’t the majority of the reason people go crazy trying to catch them is because there’s such a low percentage if it actually happening (yeah, I know that certain areas of the stadium are more apt to get balls hit to them than others)? I mean you’re in a group of thousands of spectators, and even if the ball is hit in your direction, you still have to be the person who comes out on top of all of the people that are seated around you. Then you get to have the whole stadium look at you hold up the ball in triumph. If you’re lucky, you might even be on the JumboTron. If there was a guy outside the stadium after the game handing out game balls, would those balls hold the same mystique? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/32 "2011-07-08T22:56:59Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Oh god, the “sports are stupid and you’re stupid for liking them” argument! Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. But it’s true. Even if you like a sport it’s no reason to lose perspective. I like basketball, but I recognize I’m watching genetic mutants play a kid’s game. They’re often wildly misogynistic alpha males who aren’t too bright or personable or have any interest in anything outside marketing their image. But people lose their shit over it. It’s just another form of escapism entertainment to numb you to things that actually matter. Plus its form is completely arbitrary. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/33 "2011-07-08T23:34:28Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > If you are a father, it is the opportunity to be Superman for your kid, to provide a memory of the day you spent together … Acomplished, no ball required. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/34 "2011-07-08T23:42:17Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Acomplished, no ball required. Technically, I’d say the dad dropped the ball on this one… Damn, between this, the dead helmetless motorcycle guy, and the lady dieing from dog fucking I am soo working on that first class ticket to Hell these last few days. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/35 "2011-07-09T00:19:56Z")
> [@wisernow](#): > > I think it has something to do with being in a crowd. > > I have seen people who are otherwise well off, jostling and pushing each other to grab cheap 3 dollar t-shirts being thrown into the crowd from the stage. > > It is the crowd that creates that effect. If it was only 5 or 10 people in the audience, I am sure no one would even get up. Or the recent video of the dad who dropped his little girl from his arms - only to the floor next to him - so he could catch a baseball. (She was apparently unhurt but **pissed** at Daddy.) Most parents seem to think they’d give their lives to save their kids, but throw a baseball into crowded stands and that could have been a little kid going over the side accidentally when their dad made a stupid decision. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/36 "2011-07-09T00:21:03Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#): > > If there was a guy outside the stadium after the game handing out game balls, would those balls hold the same mystique? This. No one caught a foul ball in this situation. Even if dad didn’t plummet to his death and HAD caught the ball, he STILL wouldn’t have caught a foul ball. He’d have just managed to catch a ball tossed to him from a guy 20 feet away. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/37 "2011-07-09T00:22:51Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > the lady dieing from dog fucking I am soo working on that first class ticket to Hell these last few days. There’s a thread about that? Where? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/38 "2011-07-09T00:32:03Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > There’s a thread about that? Where? I assume [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=615504) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/39 "2011-07-09T00:32:33Z")
MPSIMS you pervert 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/40 "2011-07-09T01:09:16Z")
I hope his son ends up with that ball, as I am sure he will. You idiots tell HIM its “just a ball”. The one his Daddy died trying to get for him. I am sure it will resonate. Anyway, this guy wasn’t some douche fighting for a foul ball with half the stands over ownership of it…just some kid’s Dad that leaned the wrong way and died trying to get a ball for his kid as a memento. You guys need to quit besmirching his memory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320.md?page=3)