# The "foot"ball **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 1999, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-foot-ball/3871 "1999-10-11T19:01:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-foot-ball/3871/1 "1999-10-11T19:01:00Z")
I don’t much care for sports generally and football specifically, but where I live (ground-zero for Huskermania) it’s impossible _not_to know something about it (through osmosis). Here’s the question: Why do football announcers always refer to the ball in football as the _foot_ball? Not just “the ball?” I don’t hear about passing the basketball, teeing off with the golfball, or serving the volleyball–then it’s just the ball. Is football really that big of a deal (dumb question, given my location) that its balls need to be distinguished from the balls of other sports (no snide comments on that last sentence, please)? ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-foot-ball/3871/2 "1999-10-11T19:19:00Z")
You are _waaay_ off base here, whc! (Note the mixed metaphor!) They don’t _always_ refer to it as a football. Sometimes they call it a _pigskin_! It hadn’t occurred to me before, but you’re right. They do use the word “football” a lot more often then announcers do in baseball (the ol’ horsehide) or basketball, etc. I, too, wonder why? ## OTOH, we do know why baseball managers where uniforms. It’s because they look so good in them. Strangers have the best candy. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-foot-ball/3871/3 "1999-10-11T19:27:00Z")
You’re obviously forgetting the literary _tour-de-force_ enititled Just Give Me the Damn Ball! : The Fast Times and Hard Knocks of an NFL Rookie ## by Keyshawn Johnson, Shelley Smith “The world ends when I die. And as far as I’m concerned, the rest of the universe might as well call it a day too.” – Matt Groening ---
**Author:** ![SpoonsJTD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpoonsJTD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoonsJTD)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-foot-ball/3871/4 "1999-10-11T20:39:00Z")
They use the whole word because they realize that if they just call it a ‘ball’, it will draw attention to the fact that a football isn’t even a ball, giving us soccer enthusiasts more ammo. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-foot-ball/3871/5 "1999-10-11T22:06:00Z")
It is referred to as a ball all the time, actually. Which makes sense, since oblong spheroid is not the kind of word that rolls off the tongues of former linebackers and tight ends… * * * Yer pal, Satan ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-foot-ball/3871/6 "1999-10-12T22:31:00Z")
I watched Monday Night Footbal last night and tried to keep track of references to “ball” and “football”. I couldn’t. I kept watching the game and ignoring the announcers. Sorry. And it wasn’t even a very good game. ## Did I mention that a football field is 53-1/3 yards wide? Strangers have the best candy.