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Float Ball

By Keith Cowing on October 31, 2008 9:14 AM

8 Comments

For Ex-N.F.L. Star, a Dream of Sports in Space, NY Times

"The game would be called Float Ball. It would combine elements of basketball, football and the Lionel Richie video for "Dancing on the Ceiling" into a sort of free-for-all, compelling weightless players to bounce off walls, obstacles and one another while herding weightless balls of various colors to either end of the playing space, which would be placed inside the cabin of a zero-gravity plane or, possibly, on the moon. Eventually, one day, if all went well, some sort of custom arena would be constructed. On Mars."

Sports in Space, Challenger Center

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8 Comments

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John Cody | October 31, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply

How exactly would this work on the moon or Mars?

Patrick | October 31, 2008 10:59 AM | Reply

I guess we could ask Ed Michell about how it works, he was on the moon with Alan Sheppard when he hit the golf balls...He probably could explain how the balls acted....

Ray | October 31, 2008 11:51 AM | Reply

Talk about your expensive season ticket!!!! And here I am in LA still waiting for an NFL team I can buy season tix to, and we are planning "floatball"?

John Dorsey | October 31, 2008 12:30 PM | Reply

Zero-g is where you want to be. And the first participant sport should be Quiddich (if you haven't read Harry Potter and don't know what that is, check with your kids). The brooms could be powered by compressed air, it would be totally awesome, I think people would sign up by the thousands. And you would want to do it in LEO, shortest trip to zero-g, inside the Van Allens for radiation protection, and when Musk and Bigelow are successful, the adventure might end up costing less than a one week trip to Disney.

coach | October 31, 2008 12:52 PM | Reply

To make things more interesting, have fans lining the
playing area. Have them randomly turn on at different
velocities, and at different angles.
This would be a great use for Bigelow habs.

Jeffrey W. Barbour | October 31, 2008 1:07 PM | Reply

Brings back memories of Battle School in Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game".

Brian Bernhard | October 31, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply

It would be unexpected if one of the motivations for industrializing space was to conduct spectator sporting events. Personally I don't watch sports, but the concept has merits that are actually better than trying to emulate sci-fi fantasies such as Star Trek in that it is at least based on reality and real human activities that are financially supported by large numbers of people.

Brad | October 31, 2008 6:07 PM | Reply

If you're into science fiction, there's a great (and free!) audiobook from Scott Sigler called "The Rookie." I'll let the book's synopsis hook you:

"The Rookie" is set amongst a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future. Aliens play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that -- literally -- want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed and rival players are assassinated.

I had a great time listening to it: Link. Frankly, I thought it would be hokey, but I was pleasantly surprised.

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