# Jabulani - will the new world cup soccer ball cause celebration or sadness? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 9, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jabulani-will-the-new-world-cup-soccer-ball-cause-celebration-or-sadness/542567 "2010-06-09T19:11:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jabulani-will-the-new-world-cup-soccer-ball-cause-celebration-or-sadness/542567/21 "2010-06-12T08:54:02Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Btw, in case you haven’t seen it, here’s the buttock-clenchingly awful official unveiling of the new ball. Highlight is Sepp Blatter’s hilarious “joke” towards the end, so good that he milks it for about 20 seconds. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRODQF8H6Oo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRODQF8H6Oo) Why is that “buttock-clenchingly awful”? I mean, the fog machine was a bit melodramatic and the song was annoyingly enthusiastic but I thought it was funny. It’s the unveiling of a fricking soccer ball - what do you want, the Academy Awards? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jabulani-will-the-new-world-cup-soccer-ball-cause-celebration-or-sadness/542567/22 "2010-06-12T09:12:01Z")
It’ll be funny if it is the lowest scoring tournament in history… hang on, no it wont! ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jabulani-will-the-new-world-cup-soccer-ball-cause-celebration-or-sadness/542567/23 "2010-06-12T10:01:58Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Why is that “buttock-clenchingly awful”? I mean, the fog machine was a bit melodramatic and the song was annoyingly enthusiastic but I thought it was funny. It’s the unveiling of a fricking soccer ball - what do you want, the Academy Awards? Because it illustrates the ludicrous commercialisation of football now. And because it prominently features Sepp Blatter. Like you say, it’s just a football. Why do they need a ceremony for it? Why do they even need a new ball every time? Answer: because Adidas like it that way. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jabulani-will-the-new-world-cup-soccer-ball-cause-celebration-or-sadness/542567/24 "2010-06-16T16:32:30Z")
I bought the official match ball the other day, and can testify that it is garbage imho. Having played with the last 3 world cup balls, and several other high quality ball, this one stands out as being extremely hard to play with. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jabulani-will-the-new-world-cup-soccer-ball-cause-celebration-or-sadness/542567/25 "2010-06-16T16:42:18Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Ask the goalies what the problem is. I saw a story on ESPN and the goalies all hated it. The only soccer ball a goalie would like would be one made entirely of lead. Hope the goalies are at least starting to change their tune after the opening games of the tournament. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jabulani-will-the-new-world-cup-soccer-ball-cause-celebration-or-sadness/542567.md?page=1)