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Bo Levi Mitchell takes photo of CFL ball prototypes, but no changes are planned

Bo Levi Mitchell takes photo of CFL ball prototypes, but no changes are planned

Changes to the CFL's look often draw plenty of attention, as we've seen with the 2012 uniform revamp, the 2014 signature look uniforms, the 2015 new logo and branding strategy and the anticipation for this year's new uniforms. Thus, it's not suprising that Calgary Stampeders' quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell's tweet Thursday with pictures of what appeared to be new game balls (on the left and right above, with black sewn stripes rather than white painted ones) sparked a large amount of reaction from players, fans and more, both positive and negative. (In fact, the surprising thing might be how many positive responses it got, considering that there's often substantial resistance to CFL change.) However, CFL director of communications Paulo Senra told 55-Yard Line Thursday that these balls are just prototypes the league regularly receives (illustrating different manufacturing possibilities) that Mitchell was impressed with. He said they're not contemplating any changes to the game balls right now.

"We get prototypes all the time," Senra said. "Bo just happened to be in our office early and sent out this photo. ...Nothing's being seriously contemplated right now."

The reaction to this is worth looking at for the league, though. First, Mitchell's arguments about these balls being better for players (with the white stripe being distracting, and without paint that can chip off) should be considered, and if other players share his thoughts, maybe a change is worth contemplating down the road. It's notable that many fans received this pretty well, too. Of course, there was plenty of opposition too, but if the CFL ever does elect to make a change like this, it looks like it would get some support. Here are highlights of the Twitter conversation Mitchell sparked, both in favour of and against the new balls:

While the league didn't intend to start a ball-change discussion here, it's going to be interesting to see if Mitchell's comments spark one. From this corner, the stiched-on black looks solid, and anything that could improve the game for players is worth considering. Mitchell says many players are on board with the idea, and that may help to give it legs. It's hard to get large numbers of CFL players to agree on anything, though, and if a change is made, you can bet there will be some who complain about it too. Similarly, while the proposed new look has received significant support on Twitter, it's also taken significant criticism. Like the players, though, CFL fans are a wide enough group that they're not going to completely agree on anything. We'll see if the league thinks it's worth exploring this further or not, but for now, there aren't any actual discussions about changing the ball.