http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
Isn't this the whole point? o_O]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
Unless you want it to curl into on of the top corners.]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:26AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Its like a knuckle ball in baseball. A pitcher practices and gets good at it, yea it is made to go straight, but it is also made to do other crazy things. You can do the same thing with a soccer ball, this ball apparently is just making it easier. ]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
Until what normally would have been a perfect goal scoring kick instead results in the ball veering off into a teammate's face.]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:58AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 11:07AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
I'm not complaining, as this helped my country get to the finals, but there is still a slightly butter aftertaste that this was a bit more due to luck than the game usually is.]]>Jul 7th 2010 11:54AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Of course they would disapprove, USA SUCK and now they want something to blame it on -- typical Americans. NASA worry about your own shit. ]]>Jul 7th 2010 12:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/The ball is doing it of its own will, rather than that of the footballer.
This confuses goalkeepers as the trajectory of the ball is basically random, rather than the predictable path it usually travels.
Anyway id be interested to know whether NASA did tests on any other ball. All balls become unstable at speed, maybe the jubulani has a lower tolerance??
]]>Jul 7th 2010 12:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
When it's not the ball, it is the referee. When it's not the referee it is the Vuvuzelas. When it's not the Vuvuzelas, it is the thin air. When it's not the thin air, it is the bad green. (...)

http://www.youtube.com/user/davidhenson44#p/u/1/arfUBkPOK3w]]>Jul 7th 2010 1:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/If you saw the Netherland's goal by Bronckhorst, you can see that it is capable of traveling straight. Still, this ball is designed to exaggerate any spin that is put onto the ball by a skilled striker - it is more likely to fool a goalkeeper and provide shot angles that were not possible in the past.]]>Jul 7th 2010 4:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 6:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 8th 2010 3:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 8th 2010 5:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
No. Its kind of like the physics of throwing a curve ball in baseball. Put a certain amount of a spin and speed on the sphere and it'll deviate off of a straight course. Soccer players, like pitchers figure out how to manipulate the ball in such a way to use those spins. But if the ball behaves completely differently then they can't "bend" the ball like they normally would, and the players suddenly look like fish out of water. And that's just unfortunate when it occurs on the world's largest stage. The goalies are like batters in a way who need to predict what sort of pitch (or in this case "bend") the opposing pitcher (striker) is going to throw at them. But it shouldn't be unpredictable to the pitcher/striker, and it is and that's the whole point behind the controversy.

Adidas clearly screwed up and Nike is probably licking their chops at the thought of the day when Adidas's contracts come up for renewal with FIFA.]]>Jul 8th 2010 3:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
Players with a proven goal-scoring technique struggled with it, including Lionel Messi, the current best player in the world, no less. These players wouldn't all of a sudden just 'forget' how hard to kick a ball if the ball hadn't changed behaviour.]]>Jul 9th 2010 5:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
I imagine Adidas probably know a little bit more about football aerodynamics then NASA. Just a guess.]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/The same NASA that plowed a multi-million dollar rover into Mars because they couldn't convert feet to meters and still doesn't use the Metric System as a standard? That one?

NASA isn't the be all and end all. What I'm saying however is that I would imagine that Adidas would have someone on the payroll to do this kind of research. Also, it's 'instability' better to reduce drag and make the ball be able to curve more? Isn't that the whole concept behind any modern jet fighter?

Just sayin']]>Jul 7th 2010 10:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.lboro.ac.uk/service/publicity/news-releases/2009/169_adidas-jabulani.html

]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
The inherent instability designed into modern jet fighters is generally limited to the pitch axis and is intended to make it easier for the pilot to point the nose in a different direction as quickly as possible.

Those fighters also have computers that make millions of tiny control inputs per second, to make sure that the plane doesn't become a very large lawn dart. Soccer balls, generally, lack flight control computers. ]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Lufbra: sports & science together? that can only result in the abomination that are those in the purple track-suits.
Not that I'm bitter or anything ;-)]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
I seriously think, regardless of how much Adidas knew and still knows about aerodynamics, things like this continuously happen when you try to make special designs. The NBA accepted a re-designed a basketball (I think from Spalding), maybe 5 years back, guess what...they tested it, and tested it. You know the problem? They didn't test it in a real game scenario where people put their *blood, sweat & tears* into the game, so the ball wasn't as slick as it would've been in real games. Therefore, they quickly, after much contraversy brought back the old balls, ok, not quickly but I think they did after enough of a protest...

...sheet/mistakes happen in both private & public sectors...]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/The country/ies where it will be held get to Automatically qualify. But they must prepare the country services, stadiums and THE OFFICIAL BALL partnered with Adidas (Official ball provider and partner of Fifa).
For instance, Germany had the Teamgeist which was designed by Germany/German boards collaborated with the Adidas team.

I remember they thoroughly test EACH ball with advanced computers. Sometimes they announce the results of the tests compared to previous balls used. This year they did not, probably cause it didn't score well, but still MET the requirements.

In 2006, Teamgeist had the most perfect score: weight, size, shape and accuracy wise, in the history of Fifa balls. If the 2010 was superior then the self-loathing South Africans would've most likely boasted about it, eh?]]>Jul 7th 2010 11:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 11:25AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
The World Cup balls are designed by Adidas & the Molten Corporation, and then tested by Loughborourgh University. The only time actual footballers get to test it is long after the production process, hence all of the complaints from the footballers themselves.]]>Jul 7th 2010 11:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 12:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Um, plenty of people say loogabrooga including me and plenty of people I know who live there. Even if he did just assume, it's still valid.]]>Jul 7th 2010 1:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
NASA top brass: "Okay guys, who likes soccer?"]]>Jul 7th 2010 3:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
Right?]]>Jul 7th 2010 8:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 9:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 8th 2010 1:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
Are you saying the imperial system doesn't work? The reason why that messup happened is because they were working with the European Space Agency.
It's no excuse but that's why it happened.]]>Jul 8th 2010 9:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
He's not saying the imperial system doesn't work, he's saying it fails miserably.]]>Jul 21st 2010 2:00AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 11:26AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/sure this ball moves. But every Ball in every tourney has been different, every ball grabs a diff effect on air. This one just does it more =P
But the players have to get used to it! and stop making excuses!]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Even though you said first, I will give a +1 for the latter part of the comment. It is all a part of the game and they need to get used to it. They are professionals getting paid a lot of money (granted nothing close to many other sports.) If that was my job, I would just have to work at it more.]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/Jul 7th 2010 10:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/world-cup-ball-gets-nasas-official-mark-of-disapproval/
Hey Nasa.. don't you have some Space to be exploring or something....?]]>Jul 7th 2010 10:05AM