BALLS

My posting tomorrow will feature a thought piece on READING and WATCHING because I am now transitioning from just finishing a book, and starting another, and coincidentally, ending a Netflix series, and starting another.  On this note, I follow the news, but mostly watch sport programs.  Just occurred to me that almost all team sports use some object, usually called a ball.  Here's a ranking of common sport balls from smallest to largest, based on diameter:

SPORT                            DIAMETER (inches)

Squash                            1.56-1.59

Table Tennis                     1.57

Golf                                  1.68

Jai Alai                             2.2

Racquetball                     2.25

Lacrosse                          2.47-2.55

Tennis                               2.575-2.7

Cricket                             2.80-2.86

Field Hockey                    2.81-2.94

Baseball                           2.86-2.94

Pickleball                          2.874-2.972

Polo                                  3.0-3.5

Rugby                               7.27-7.77

Volleyball                          8.15-8.39

Soccer                              8.5-8.8

Basketball                        9.43-9.51

Bet you didn't know there is a range for most.  Ball weight?

SPORT                            WEIGHT (ounces)

Table Tennis                    0.1

Pickleball                        0.78-0.935

Golf                                1.62

Tennis                            1.975-2.095

Baseball                         5-5.25

Softball (slow pitch)          5.875-6.125

Softball (fast pitch)           6.25-7.0

American Football           14.0-15.0

Soccer                             14.8-15.7

Australian Football           15.9-17.6

Basketball                        22

Some information you don't need:

• Takes 35,000 cow hides to make the 700,000 footballs used in a regulation NFL season.  Super Bowl required 216 balls. 
• More than 40 million soccer balls are made each year, most of butyl rubber, polyurethane and synthetic leather.
• 540 million golf balls are annually sold.  Why so many?  I lose a lot of them.  Who really cares, but #1 sold in Amazon is the Callaway Supersoft Golf Ball.

• 
  The Boston Red Sox order 56,000 baseball for their typical season.  Used balls are sent to their minor league affiliates.
• Remember the Wilson soccer ball found by Tom Hanks in Cast Away?  In 2018, photographer Mandy Barker requested on social media for people from around the world to send her balls washed up on beaches.  In four months, she accounted for 992 marine debris balls from 144 different beaches.

About balls, or testicles.

• The southern, right whale has the largest, around 1100 pounds, or 2200 lb/whale.  Whale is around 150,000 pounds, so 1.5% of total weight.
• The average human male has testicles that weigh 0.053 pounds.  Around 0.355% of total weight.

• 
  The tuberose bush cricket male's testicles amount to 14% of its body mass.  Why?  Evolution.  Females are promiscuous and typically mate with 23 partners.

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