Are footballs really made of pig skin?
Football
In Europe, early footballs were made out of animal bladders, more specifically pig's bladders, which were inflated. Later leather coverings were introduced to allow the balls to keep their shape. However, in 1851, Richard Lindon and William Gilbert, both shoemakers from the town of Rugby (near the school), exhibited both round and oval-shaped balls at the Great Exhibition in London. Richard Lindon's wife is said to have died of lung disease caused by blowing up pig's bladders. Lindon also won medals for the invention of the "Rubber inflatable Bladder" and the "Brass Hand Pump".
Kit (association football)
Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. In the twentieth century, boots became lighter and softer, shorts were worn at a shorter length, and advances in clothing manufacture and printing allowed shirts to be made in lighter synthetic fibres with increasingly colourful and complex designs. With the rise of advertising in the 20th century, sponsors' logos began to appear on shirts, and replica strips were made available for fans to purchase, generating significant amounts of revenue for clubs.
SMU Mustangs football
TCU and SMU fans began the tradition back in 1946. During pre-game festivities, an SMU fan was frying frog legs as a joke before the game. A TCU fan, seeing this desecration of the "frog", went over and told him that eating the frog legs was going well beyond the rivalry and that they should let the game decide who would get the skillet and the frog legs. TCU won the game, and the skillet and frog legs went to TCU. The tradition eventually spilled over into the actual game and the Iron Skillet is now passed to the winner.
Humane Society of the United States
In late 2006, HSUS broke the story of its investigation into the sale of coats trimmed with real fur but labeled "faux" or fake. Laboratory testing found that the fur came from purpose-bred raccoon dogs in China that were sometimes beaten to death and skinned alive. The story of fur animals beaten to death and skinned alive is disputed by a fur industry trade group. The investigation reportedly prompted several retailers including Macy's and J.C. Penney to pull the garments from the sale floor. Legislation was introduced in the U.S. Congress to require that all fur jackets be properly labeled, and to ban raccoon dog fur.
Mitre Sports International
Muhammad Ali wore Mitre in his 59th professional fight against Leon Spinks in New Orleans, and Stuart Pearce wore Mitre football boots in 1977. Mitre was also the official ball supplier to the 1987 Rugby World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In 1992, Mitre became the official ball supplier to the newly formed FA Premier League, introducing its synthetic footballs instead of leather balls, which had been used previously. In 2003 the Mitre ball was used in the Netball World Championships held in Jamaica. The England national netball team also appeared at the tournament wearing Mitre apparel.
Football boot
Depending on the type of surface, kind of sport and even the wearer's position or role in the game, different cuts of boot and particularly stud arrangements are available. For hard pitches, amateur participants may wear a sneaker shoe or a plastic-stud boot (known as a "moulded sole"); in most sports and positions this is adequate, although on a well-grassed or sodden field, screw-in studs are recommended for more grip; these may be metal, rubber or plastic. When playing on this kind of pitch, some players favor using a boot with screw-in studs in their non-dominant (supporting) foot to provide grip, and a boot with short rubber or plastic studs in the dominant (kicking/passing) foot to provide accuracy. Presently, boot designs are based on the "criteria" of speed, power, touch or control with some boots offering a combination of these. However, these specifications matter little on the player's actual playing ability and are actually a marketing strategy.
Football pitch
Grass is the normal surface of play, although artificial turf may sometimes be used especially in locations where maintenance of grass may be difficult due to inclement weather. This may include areas where it is very wet, causing the grass to deteriorate rapidly; where it is very dry, causing the grass to die; and where the turf is under heavy use. Artificial turf pitches are also increasingly common on the Scandinavian Peninsula, due to the amount of snow during the winter months. The strain put on grass pitches by the cold climate and subsequent snow clearing has necessitated the installation of artificial turf in the stadia of many top-tier clubs in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The latest artificial surfaces use rubber crumbs, as opposed to the previous system of sand infill. Some leagues and football associations have specifically prohibited artificial surfaces due to injury concerns and require teams' home stadia to have grass pitches. All artificial turf must be green and also meet the requirements specified in the FIFA Quality Concept for Football Turf.
Ugg boots
Traditional Australian ugg boots are made from sheepskins with fleece attached. The fleece is tanned into the leather and the boot is assembled with the fleece on the inside. Some ugg boots have a synthetic sole, commonly made from Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). The stitching is often prominent on the outside of the boot. The natural insulative properties of sheepskin gives isothermal properties to the boots: the thick fleecy fibres on the inner part of the boots wick moisture and allow air to circulate, keeping the feet at body temperature and allowing the boots to keep feet warm in cold weather and cool in hot weather. Produced by a number of manufacturers, they come in a variety of colours, including black, pink, blue, chestnut, and fuchsia. They are available in both pull-on and lace-up varieties and their height can range from just above the ankle to above the knee.
Ball (gridiron football)
Since 1941, Horween Leather Company has been the exclusive supplier of leather for National Football League footballs. The arrangement was established by Arnold Horween, who had played and coached in the NFL. Horween Leather Company also supplies leather to Spalding, supplier of balls to the Arena Football League. Despite the moniker "pigskin" sometimes used to refer to footballs, cow leather is used.
Sherrin
Sherrin footballs are manufactured by Spalding, owned by Russell Corporation, in Melbourne, Australia from cow hide lined and machine-stitched, but other sized models are often made in India or China, using synthetic rubber.
Fetal pig
Along with frogs and earthworms, fetal pigs are among the most common animals used in classroom dissection. There are several reasons for this, the main reason being that pigs, like humans, are mammals. Shared traits include common hair, mammary glands, live birth, similar organ systems, metabolic levels, and basic body form. They also allow for the study of fetal circulation, which differs from that of an adult. Secondly, fetal pigs are easy to obtain because they are by-products of the pork industry. Fetal pigs are the unborn piglets of sows that were killed by the meat packing industry. These pigs are not bred and killed for this purpose, but are extracted from the deceased sow’s uterus. Fetal pigs not used in classroom dissections are often used in fertilizer or simply discarded. Thirdly, fetal pigs are cheap, which is an essential component for dissection use by schools. They can be ordered for a little more than $25 at biological product companies. Fourthly, fetal pigs are easy to dissect because of their soft tissue and incompletely developed bones that are still made of cartilage. In addition, they are relatively large with well-developed organs that are easily visible. As long as the pork industry exists, fetal pigs will be relatively abundant, making them the prime choice for classroom dissections.
Football (ball)
The oldest football still in existence, which is thought to have been made circa 1550, was discovered in the roof of Stirling Castle, Scotland, in 1981. The ball is made of leather (possibly from a deer) and a pig's bladder. It has a diameter of between , weighs and is currently on display at the Smith Art Gallery and Museum in Stirling.
Fur clothing
Fur clothing is clothing made of furry animal hides. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used as hominids first expanded outside Africa. Some view fur as luxurious and warm; however, others reject it due to moral concerns for animal rights. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a coat, wrap, or shawl made from the fur of animals. Controversy exists regarding the wearing of fur coats, due to animal cruelty concerns. The most popular kinds of fur in the 1960s (known as the luxury fur) were blond mink, silver striped fox and red fox. These were mainly bought by the rich. Those who could not afford this wore pelts of wolf, Persian lamb or muskrat. It was common for ladies to wear a matching hat. However, in the 1950s, a 'must have' type of fur was the mutation fur (naturally nuanced colours) and fur trimmings on a coat that were beaver, lamb fur, Astrakhan and mink. To this day, some people consider fur as a trend and wear it.
One World Futbol
The One World Futbol is a soccer ball designed to be very difficult to destroy. It is made with a specialized foam, related to the material used to make Crocs shoes, that allows the ball to re-inflate after being punctured. The One World Play Project, which manufactures and distributes the One World Futbol, was founded in California in 2010 to manufacture, sell, and donate the balls.
Cleat (shoe)
While many cleats manufactured today for football can be used on artificial turf or natural surfaces, many molded cleats are designed and better served for use on artificial turf. The molded cleats tend to provide better traction on artificial surfaces, whereas detachable studs on cleats tend to be too thick for artificial turf and do not provide adequate grip on such a surface.
Kidskin
Kidskin or kid leather is a type of soft, thin leather that is traditionally used for gloves (hence the phrase 'kid gloves,' used since at least 1888 as a metaphor for careful handling). It is widely used for other fashion purposes such as footwear and clothing. Kidskin is traditionally made from goatskin - more specifically, the skin of young goats (or 'kids'), although equivalent leathers such as lambskin and chickenskin (actually a form of calfskin) give the same effect.
Fake fur
Fake fur is used for all purposes where otherwise real fur (of animal origin) would be used, but also for stuffed animals, fashion accessory and home decorations like pillows, bedding and throws. It is also sometimes used for craft projects because it can be sewn on a sewing machine. Real fur is generally thicker and requires a special machine, hand sewing or an awl to sew it. Lately, fake fur has been increasingly used in the mainstream teen fashion, for example the stores Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle use it for trapper hats and jackets. In the Soviet, and now Russian Army, "fish fur" is used as a slang term for the fake fur used on winter clothing and the ubiquitous ushanka hats. Similarly, fashion design labels such as Ralph Lauren and Chanel have promoted the use of fake fur in their collections.
In a test by the Humane Society of the United States, coats labeled as having faux-fur trim used actual fur. In the United States, up until 2012, a labeling loophole allowed any piece of clothing that contains less than US$150 of fur to be labeled without mentioning that it included fur. This is the equivalent of thirty rabbits, three raccoons, three red foxes, three domestic dogs, or one bear.
Artificial turf
In the 1990s, many North American soccer clubs also removed their artificial surfaces and re-installed grass, while others moved to new stadiums with state-of-the-art grass surfaces that were designed to withstand cold temperatures where the climate demanded it. The use of artificial turf was later banned by FIFA, UEFA and by many domestic football associations, though, in recent years, both governing bodies have expressed resurrected interest in the use of artificial surfaces in competition, provided that they are FIFA Recommended. UEFA has now been heavily involved in programs to test artificial turf, with tests made in several grounds meeting with FIFA approval. A team of UEFA, FIFA and German company Polytan conducted tests in the Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim in Salzburg, Austria which had matches played on it in UEFA Euro 2008. It is the second FIFA 2 Star approved artificial turf in a European domestic top flight, after Dutch club Heracles Almelo received the FIFA certificate in August 2005. The tests were approved.
FIFA originally launched its FIFA Quality Concept in February 2001. UEFA announced that starting from the 2005–06 season, approved artificial surfaces were to be permitted in their competitions.
Adidas Predator
Footballer Craig Johnston retired from the game in 1988 to return to his native Australia to help care for his seriously injured sister. Whilst coaching a group of schoolchildren in Australia, he came across the idea of using rubber instead of leather to build ridges on the top of a football boot to, theoretically, aid control of the ball.
Girdle
In American football, a girdle is worn under the football player's pants to keep the hip, thigh, and tailbone pads in place, making the process of putting on the tight football pants easier. Older girdles resembled chaps, in that they covered only the front of the leg with pads, that snapped on. Modern girdles are essentially a tight pair of compression shorts with pockets for the pads. The girdle was also used in the Mesoamerican ballgame and is used in hockey (National Hockey League).
Pig bladder
Historically the pig bladder was used in sports, as the airtight membrane ("bladder") inside a football. In the early 19th century the inventor William Gilbert used pig bladders in the manufacture of rugby balls. Decades later, Richard Lindon did the same. (See also Mob football, Medieval football, and La soule.)
Ball (association football)
Many companies throughout the world produce footballs. The earliest balls were made by local suppliers where the game was played. It is estimated that 55% of all footballs are made in Sialkot, Pakistan, with other major producers being China and India.
Winlock, Washington
The first egg was covered with plaster but after 20 years in the elements the egg had deteriorated and was replaced by a plastic version made by a new company to the area, the Johnny Simpson's Plastic Company. This version also lasted about 20 years when it fell from its platform and cracked. A fiberglass replacement was made that some people thought looked more like a football than an egg. Then in 1991, a new replacement egg was part of the Egg Day Parade before it was placed in the Vern Zander Memorial Park. After the 9/11 attacks on the world trade center the egg was painted as a red, white, and blue American flag. In 2014, the Seattle Seahawks logo was painted on the egg after they won the Super Bowl.
Skinny pig
The Skinny Pig is an almost hairless breed of Guinea pig. Skinny pigs typically have hair on their muzzles, feet, and legs, but are hairless over the remainder of their bodies. Some of them have a thin covering of fuzzy hair on their backs as well. A healthy Skinny has skin that is mostly smooth with some wrinkling around the legs and neck, the body is full with no appearance of spine or ribs. Skinnies can come in a variety of colours and patterns, such as Dutch, Tortoiseshell, Himalayan and many others. "Skinny" is the term used for hairless guinea pigs to describe the illusion of their visually thinner appearance, or coloquially referring to the exposed skin of the animal. The modern Skinny Pig breed originated with a cross between haired guinea pigs and a hairless lab strain. The hairless strain that it is most likely related to was a spontaneous genetic mutation that was first identified at Montreal's Armand Frappier Institute in 1978, in a colony of Hartley lab guinea pigs. In 1982 they were sent to Charles River Laboratories to be bred for laboratory use and are commonly used in dermatology studies today. They are an outbred strain that has an intact thymus and normal immune system.
Djab wurrung
It has been argued that a traditional ball-kicking aboriginal game such as Marn Grook had some influence on the formation of Australian Rules Football. Ashley Mallett suggests the form played among Wimmera tribes might have been one influence, and cites a passage from the pastoralist and aboriginal rights activist James Dawson on how the Djab Wurrung played the game, using a stitched possum skin for the football:
'One of the favourite games is football, in which fifty or as many as one hundred players engage at a time. The ball is about the size of an orange, and is made of opossum-skin, with the fur side outwards...The players are divided into two sides and ranged in opposing lines, which are always of a different class-white cockatoo against black cockatoo..Each side endeavours to keep possession of the ball, which is tossed a short distance by hand, and then kicked in any direction. The side which kicks it oftenest and furtherest gains the game. The person who sends it highest is considered the best plater, and has the honour of burying it in the ground until the next day.'
2010 FIFA World Cup
The ball was constructed using a new design, consisting of eight thermally bonded, three-dimensional panels. These were spherically moulded from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU). The surface of the ball was textured with grooves, a technology developed by Adidas called GripnGroove that was intended to improve the ball's aerodynamics. The design received considerable academic input, being developed in partnership with researchers from Loughborough University, United Kingdom. The balls were made in China, using latex bladders made in India, thermoplastic polyurethane-elastomer from Taiwan, ethylene vinyl acetate, isotropic polyester/cotton fabric, and glue and ink from China.
Ball (gridiron football)
From 1941 to 1970 and from 2005 to the present, the official game ball of the National Football League has been stamped with the nickname "The Duke" in honor of Wellington Mara, the longtime owner of the New York Giants, who was named after the Duke of Wellington by his father, Tim Mara, founder and first owner of the Giants. Wilson Sporting Goods, the manufacturer of the NFL ball since 1941, named the ball after Wellington Mara at the urging of George Halas, the owner of the Chicago Bears, to reward Tim Mara for arranging the contract that made Wilson the official supplier of footballs to the NFL. The nickname was originally used until 1970, when Wilson changed the game ball upon the merger of the NFL and AFL. Wellington Mara died in 2005, and Wilson returned "The Duke" to the game ball the following year in his honor.
Cleat (shoe)
Football remained a popular sport in England throughout the ensuing centuries, but it wasn’t until the emergence of The Football Association in 1863 that the sport of football emerged as an actual organized game in England. With this, the sport took off in popularity, and understandably a demand for equipment began to emerge to ensure player safety and comfort. More importantly, technological innovations during this time period played a key role in new methods and materials used for production of cleats. In the 1840s, a method of hardening rubber and stopping it from decaying, called vulcanization, was developed in both England and the United States. Vulcanized rubber is used in the production of all types of shoes, but is especially beneficial in the production of cleats, in that one of the primary purposes of football cleats is to protect the player's feet. Technology continued to improve in the coming decades, and by the 1890s studs are first used to make football cleats. The concept of spiked and studded shoes for other sports began to emerge as well in the late 19th century. In the 1890s, a British Company (now known as Reebok), developed the earliest known spiked leather running shoes.
Ugg boots
Being one of many clothing products made from animal skin, the production of sheepskin boots has been the subject of criticism by the animal rights movement with producers responding by improving animal welfare. Animal rights groups call for the boycott of sheepskin boots and their replacement with synthetic alternatives. In 2007, Pamela Anderson, realizing that the boots were made of skin, called for a boycott on her website. In February 2008, the Princeton Animal Welfare Society staged a campus protest against the fur industry, particularly attacking the sheepskin boot industry.
Football boot
Screw-in studs have been banned in some Australian rules football leagues since the 1990s due to the frequency of severe injuries to players as a result of contact with the metal. In football, referees must now check all boots prior to kick off to check for damage to studs, to prevent injury. Before this time, preference between the screw-in stud was based primarily on weather conditions.
Ball (association football)
Footballs have gone through a dramatic change over time. During medieval times balls were normally made from an outer shell of leather filled with cork shavings. Another method of creating a ball was using animal bladders for the inside of the ball making it inflatable. However, these two styles of creating footballs made it easy for the ball to puncture and were inadequate for kicking. It was not until the 19th century that footballs developed into what a football looks like today.
Leatherheads
The team itself is loosely based on the Duluth Eskimos. Clooney later explained that "We wanted to call them the Eskimos, but because we were drinking in the movie, the NFL said we couldn't use the actual names." The Canton Bulldogs was the first successful pro football team, which is why the Professional Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton, Ohio.
Car coat
From the 1980s on, the men's car coat started to symbolise a particular character or walk of life on British TV and in the press, especially when worn in sheepskin or camel hair. Sheepskin was the style favoured by Del Boy in "Only Fools & Horses" and by football managers. It was also worn by detectives in "The Sweeney". Later, the "Life on Mars" detective series, in which the hero is transported back to the 1970s, would reprise the car coat by giving DCI Gene Hunt a scruffy version in camel wool. More celebrated still are the trademarked sheepskin car coats worn by BBC football commentator John Motson – he wore his first in 1972, acquired from a furrier he met at a party in Chelsea, and subsequently had them made on Savile Row. It had become such a shorthand description for British football pundits by the late 1990s that a "Times" feature about the warm-up for the 1998 World Cup began with the description: "Paul Sexton, our man in the sheepskin car coat, on the tournament for the World Cup". 
In the late 1990s the car coat attracted attention as a fashion curiosity when Liam Gallagher wore a sheepskin model to the Brit Awards; Craig David wore a similar design in 2001. The car coat length has remained popular since 2008 – with "GQ" citing the ""Mad Men" effect" as a contributor to the revival of more formal and retro styles.
Chris Mortensen
On January 21, 2015, Mortensen reported erroneously that 11 of the 12 footballs used in the American Football League (AFC) Championship Game on January 18, 2015, between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts were 2 pounds per square inch (PSI) under NFL regulation.
Parchment
Today the term "parchment" is often used in non-technical contexts to refer to any animal skin, particularly goat, sheep or cow, that has been scraped or dried under tension. The term originally referred only to the skin of sheep and, occasionally, goats. The equivalent material made from calfskin, which was of finer quality, was known as vellum (from the Old French "velin" or "vellin", and ultimately from the Latin "vitulus", meaning a calf); while the finest of all was "uterine vellum", taken from a calf foetus or stillborn calf.
Button football
Hand-made buttons were usually made from coconut shells, horn or bone sections and similar materials. Industrial buttons often went through some extent of "tuning", such as scraping or slicing off layers or trimming playing edges. The same was done to pieces such as bus tokens, atop which clothes buttons were glued. Goal tenders were most often than not matchboxes about 6 by 4 cm filled with molten lead slabs for stability.
Rugby ball
Rugby league is played with a prolate spheroid shaped football which is inflated with nitrogen. A referee will stop play immediately if the ball does not meet the requirements of size and shape. Traditionally made of brown leather, modern footballs are synthetic and manufactured in a variety of colours and patterns. Senior competitions should use light coloured balls to allow spectators to see the ball more easily. The football used in rugby league is known as "international size" or "size 5" and is approximately long and in circumference at its widest point. Smaller-sized balls are used for junior versions of the game, such as "Mini" and "Mod". A full size ball weighs between . Rugby league footballs are slightly more pointed than rugby union footballs and larger than American footballs.
Medieval football
The oldest surviving ball that might have been used for football games dates to about 1540 and comes from Scotland. It is made from leather and a pig's bladder. It was discovered in 1981 in the roof structure of the Queen's Chamber, Stirling Castle. Whilst other uses for the ball, such as pallone, have been suggested, most notably by the National Museum of Scotland, due to its size (diameter 14–16 cm), staff at the Stirling Smith Museum and researchers at the Scottish Football Museum have attributed its use to football, citing the description of the ball used in the Carlisle Castle game of 1568.
Ada, Ohio
The Wilson Sporting Goods NFL football manufacturing facility is located in Ada, and is the only leather football manufacturing facility in the United States.
Adidas Etrusco Unico
The Etrusco Unico was an association football made by Adidas in the early 1990s. It was the official match ball of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, the UEFA Euro 1992 in Sweden and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. The name and intricate design took their inspiration from Italy’s ancient history and the fine art of the Etruscans. Three Etruscan lion heads decorate each of the 20 Tango triads. It was the first ball with an internal layer of black polyurethane foam.
In Adidas tradition, there was also an accompanying football boot of the same name, which incorporated some of the design elements of the ball - the triads of the ball with the lion heads, along with the Etrusco Unico script were reproduced on the tongue.
Atlanta Agreement
Adidas was among the large brands which pledged to only purchase footballs from manufacturers who were in good standing with the agreement. Though world cup balls are no longer manufactured in Pakistan, Adidas buy some hand-sewn balls from Sialkot. There are 5 other brands which take part in the agreement. 5% of all footballs sold in the west are 'fair trade' footballs. The main charities which were originally involved with the agreement were IPEC, UNICEF and SCCI. Since being founded, the agreement now has support of the Save The Children.
Shirts versus skins
Alternatively, or at greater female-to-male ratios or when a balance between male and female layers is sought, players in pinnies can be recognised by teammates and opponents as 'skins', should such pinnies be available. At least one prominent charity football event uses blonde versus brunette hair color as an alternative to shirts and skins, with competitors allowed to dye their hair to match their respective team.
Canepin
Canepin is a fine leather made from the epidermis of sheep and goats. It is used to make women's gloves and to test the quality of scalpels. The word comes from the French word canepin [kanəpƐ˜], meaning "skin".
Artificial turf
There is evidence showing higher rates of player injury on artificial turf. In a study performed by the National Football League Injury and Safety Panel, published in the October 2012 issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine, Elliott B. Hershman et al. reviewed injury data from NFL games played between 2000 and 2009. "...the injury rate of knee sprains as a whole was 22% higher on FieldTurf than on natural grass. While MCL sprains did not occur at a rate significantly higher than on grass, rates of ACL sprains were 67% higher on FieldTurf." Metatarsophalangeal joint sprain, known as "turf toe" when the big toe is involved, is named from the injury being associated with playing sports on rigid surfaces such as artificial turf and is a fairly common injury among professional American football players. Artificial turf is a harder surface than grass and does not have much "give" when forces are placed on it.
Skin gambling
Similar black markets and gambling sites exist for games in the "FIFA" series by Electronic Arts, starting with the FIFA Ultimate Team feature in "FIFA 2013", where players would use virtual coins, purchased with real-world funds, to create a team based on real-world FIFA players. Though players are able to trade virtual athletes with another, the mechanisms of behind the coins and players has led to third-party gambling sites that operate on the same principle as "Global Offensive" skin gambling. At least one such case against the sites that offer this type of gambling has prosecuted.
Parkapzuk
The Parkapzuk is made of sheep or lamb skin, which has been gutted and hardened. The size of the 'bag', depends on the player's comfortable size. The pipes are made of wood. Wood was the original material, preferably wood from an apricot tree, but today some of the pipes have been made of plastic, as it is cheaper and less difficult to make.
A Barefoot Dream
Kim Won-kang (Park Hee-soon) is a former football prospect whose life did not turn out quite as he had hoped. He heads to East Timor, where he thinks there will be plenty of opportunities for him. One day, he sees a group of street kids playing football with bare feet. Thinking he can score by selling football shoes, he opens a sports equipment store, but realizes none of the kids can afford those fancy shoes or jerseys. Again, despaired, he is about to close up the store. Then, he decides to teach the kids how to play football. Penniless and still without shoes, they decide to compete at the International Youth Football Championship in Japan.
Leather
Leather's flexibility allows it to be formed and shaped into balls and protective gear. Subsequently, many sports use equipment made from leather, such as baseball gloves and the ball used in American football.
Football helmet
One of the first instances of football headgear dates to 1896 when Lafayette College halfback George "Rose" Barclay began to use straps and earpieces to protect his ears. It is not certain who invented the football helmet. Many sources give credit for the creation of the helmet to James Naismith, while other sources credit U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman Joseph M. Reeves (later to become the "Father of Carrier Aviation"), who had a protective device for his head made out of mole skin to allow him to play in the 1893 Army-Navy game. Reeves had been advised by a Navy doctor that another kick to his head would result in "instant insanity" or even death, so he commissioned an Annapolis shoemaker to make him a helmet out of leather. Later, helmets were made of padded leather and resembled aviators' helmets or modern day scrum caps. At least in professional football, they were optional. Some National Football League players, notably Hall-of-Famer Bill Hewitt, played all or most of their careers without a helmet.
Yup'ik clothing
Children's clothing ("mikelnguut aturait") was made of soft skin of younger animals. Reindeer fawn and dog puppy skin parkas, with the fur inside, were made for babies ("irniaq") and small children ("mikelnguq"). Puppies one and two months old were killed for the purpose. Fawn and puppy skins were turned inside out, scraped, hung out to dry, and then put away. When needed the skins were taken from storage, rubbed between the hands with a rotary motion, and chewed as necessary to soften and loosen tissue that had not previously been removed. For a sealskin parka, one skin was required for a three-year-old, two for a five- or six-year-old, and three for a child of 10 or 12 years. A small child's sealskin parka was often decorated with tassels of the same material stitched to the upper center of the back. A baby's boots were always made with the fur inside but otherwise were similar in construction to adult boots. In former times, babies wore long boots and no pants. When a child was toilet trained, pants separate from boots were put on a boy, while girls were given trouser-boots like those worn by women.
Football helmet
More recently, in 2003 Schutt sports introduced their football helmets which contained TPU, or thermoplastic urethane. They would argue that this helps cushion the head more than any other helmet in the market. Schutt also believes that TPU makes the helmet less prone to mold and easier overall to clean and keep sanitary.
Gaelic football
The game is played with a round leather football made of 18 stitched leather panels, similar in appearance to a traditional volleyball (but larger), with a circumference of , weighing between when dry. It may be kicked or "hand passed". A hand pass is not a punch but rather a strike of the ball with the side of the closed fist, using the knuckle of the thumb.
Football (ball)
Leather panels are typically tanned to a natural brown color, which is usually required in professional leagues and collegiate play. At least one manufacturer uses leather that has been tanned to provide a "tacky" grip in dry or wet conditions. Historically, white footballs have been used in games played at night so that the ball can be seen more easily however, improved artificial lighting conditions have made this no longer necessary. At most levels of play (but not, notably, the NFL), white stripes are painted on each end of the ball, halfway around the circumference, to improve nighttime visibility and also to differentiate the college football from the pro football. However, the NFL once explored the usage of white-striped footballs – in Super Bowl VIII.
Kirza
Kirza () is a type of artificial leather based on the multi-layer textile fabric, modified by membrane-like substances, produced mainly in the Soviet Union and Russia. The surface of kirza imitates pig leather.
Body Bag Game
The Body Bag Game was a "Monday Night Football" game that was played on November 12, 1990, between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins at Veterans Stadium. The Eagles defeated the Redskins, 28–14. Its nickname comes from the fact that nine Washington Redskins players left the game with injuries, and an Eagles player reacted to one of those injured Redskins by yelling, "Do you guys need any more body bags?"
Football boot
For indoor football, indoor boots are used. These come with rubber soles, meant to maximize grip on the floor. Some are built on the design of firm-ground football boots, and some are specifically designed for the indoor game. For football on turf or artificial grass, some players wear regular firm ground football boots. But wearing regular football boots on turf greatly reduces the life of the boot, so companies such as Nike have developed football boots for artificial grass (AG).
Snag (textiles)
In clothing, snags can also occur in coarse textiles like sweaters, or in certain types of sport jerseys such as for soccer (football). These are common in synthetic fabrics like polyester, which have extremely fine fibres even when they are used to make coarser fabrics.
Goatskin (material)
Tanned leather from goatskin is considered extremely durable and is commonly used to make rugs (for example in Indonesia) and carpet binding. It is often used for gloves, boots, and other products that require a soft hide. Kid gloves, popular in Victorian times, are still made today. It has been a major material for leather bookbindings for centuries, and the oldest European binding, that of the St Cuthbert Gospel in the British Library is in red goatskin. Goatskin is used for a traditional Spanish container for wine bota bag (or called goatskin). Traditional kefir was made in bags from goatskin.
Garbage ball
A garbage ball is a football associated with street football and other informal games where manufactured footballs are not available. Garbage balls consist of various types of garbage, often discarded plastic which are held together with twine. Seattle Sounders FC player Handwalla Bwana, who spent six years of his childhood at a refugee camp in Kenya, said "We used to make a garbage ball. We used to go through the garbage cans and make as much soccer ball as we could" and attributed use of the garbage ball to being better with his feet.
Penny football
Penny football (also coin football, sporting coin, spoin, table football, tabletop football, or shove ha'penny football) is a coin game played upon a table top. The aim of the game is for a player to score more goals with the pennies ("Spucks") than their opponent.
An electronic version of the game has also been produced.
The game has been in existence since at least 1959.
Ball (association football)
Early footballs began as animal bladders or stomachs that would easily fall apart if kicked too much. Improvements became possible in the 19th century with the introduction of rubber and discoveries of vulcanization by Charles Goodyear. The modern 32-panel ball design was developed in 1962 by Eigil Nielsen, and technological research continues today to develop footballs with improved performance. The 32-panel ball design was soon overcome by 24-panel balls as well as 42-panel balls, both of which improved performance compared to before, in 2007.
Pigging
One of the most common and versatile is the foam pig which is cut or poured out of open cell polyurethane foam into the shape of a bullet and is driven through pipelines for many reasons such as to prove the inner diameter of, clean, de-water, or dry out the line. There are several types of pigs for cleaning in various densities from 2 lb to 10 lb foam and in special applications up to 20 lb. Some have tungsten studs or abrasive wire mesh on the outside to cut rust, scale, or paraffin wax deposits off the inside of the pipe. Other types are fully or criss-cross coated in urethane, or there are bare polyurethane foam pigs with a urethane coating just on the rear to seal and assist in driving the pig. There are also fully molded urethane pigs used for liquid removal or batching several different products in one line.
Workington
Workington is home to the ball game known as Uppies and Downies, a traditional version of football, with its origins in medieval football, mob football or an even earlier form. Since 2001, the matches have raised over £75,000 for local charities. An Uppies and Downies ball is made from four pieces of cow leather. It is in circumference and weighs about . Only three hand-made balls are produced every year and each is dated.
Domestic pig
The skin of pigs is used to produce seat covers, apparel, pork rinds, and other items.
Harrow football
Harrow football is a code of football played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more bases (goals) than their opponent. Harrow Football is played predominantly with the feet, but players may use any part of their body including, in certain circumstances, their hands and arms to propel the ball. The leather ball is shaped like a giant pork pie, about 18 inches in diameter and deep. It tends to soak up mud and water and become extremely heavy.
Cleat (shoe)
In the United States of America, college football coach Joseph Pipal has been credited as one of the creators of "mud cleats" for football shoes. Some of the first manufacturers of football cleats were Gola in 1905, Valsport in 1920 and Hummel in 1923 and are still in business today. in the year 1925 two brothers named Adolf and Rudolf Dassler developed a football cleat with replaceable metal studs for American football. The two brothers that created the first replaceable metal cleats had a falling out after WWII and they both went on to create two major football cleat manufacturers in Puma and Adidas. In 1929 the company Riddell made huge strides in the football cleat industry. They modeled the cleats differently featuring an "action last", meaning its sole had a steeper angle for "snug fit, proper support and maximum traction." In today's game more players prefer to wear molded cleats because they are more comfortable, but don't allow for changing during certain field conditions. Depending on the type of field, grass or artificial turf, players may opt to wear molded or removable stud cleats, since studs can vary in length and give more traction on grass than molded cleats do. There are different Protective equipment in gridiron football, cleats being a major aspect. Some of the major brands that players wear today are Nike, Adidas, and Under Armor.
Button football
Button football continued to grow in popularity, especially during the early 1950s. In that era, various materials were used for linesmen, some industrial, some hand-made. Industrial buttons could be ten-piece sets, uniform in size and color, or sold as individual pieces, varying in size according to function (larger ones for defenders, mid-sized ones for midfielders, smaller ones for attackers) and in several layered color combinations usually but not necessarily patterned after the more popular soccer teams; of the latter, the most prized ones were made of galalite, although several other plastic materials were also used such as the covers of discarded watches.
SMU–TCU football rivalry
Two different versions of the story. In recent years SMU's website has claimed the following.
TCU and SMU fans began the tradition back in 1946. During pre-game festivities, an SMU fan was frying frog legs as a joke before the game. A TCU fan, seeing this desecration of the "frog", went over and told him that eating the frog legs was going well beyond the rivalry and that they should let the game decide who would get the skillet and the frog legs. SMU won the game, and the skillet and frog legs went to SMU. The tradition eventually spilled over into the actual game and the Iron Skillet is now passed to the winner.
Football
In 1855, the U.S. inventor Charles Goodyear – who had patented vulcanised rubber – exhibited a spherical football, with an exterior of vulcanised rubber panels, at the Paris "Exhibition Universelle". The ball was to prove popular in early forms of football in the U.S.A.
Ball (gridiron football)
In Canada and in the United States, a football is a ball, roughly in the form of a prolate spheroid, used in the context of playing gridiron football. Footballs are often made of cow hide leather, as such a material is required in professional and collegiate football. Footballs used in recreation, and in organised youth leagues, may be made of rubber or plastic materials (high school football rulebooks still allow inexpensive all-rubber footballs, though they are less common than leather).
Adidas
Adidas makes referee kits that are used in international competition and by many countries and leagues in the world. The company has been an innovator in the area of footwear for the sport, with notable examples including the 1979 release of the Copa Mundial moulded boot used for matches on firm dry pitches. It holds the accolade of the best selling boot of all time. The soft-ground equivalent was named World Cup and it too remains on the market.
Since 1970, FIFA, the world governing body of football, has commissioned specially designed footballs for use in its own World Cup tournaments. The Adidas Telstar was the first ball commissioned for the World Cup in 1970. The balls supplied for the 2006 World Cup, the "Teamgeist", were particularly noteworthy for their ability to travel further than previous types when struck, leading to longer range goals. Goalkeepers were generally believed to be less comfortable with the design of the ball, claiming it was prone to move significantly and unpredictably in flight. Adidas introduced the Jabulani for the 2010 World Cup. The ball was designed and developed by Loughborough University in conjunction with Bayern Munich. The Adidas Brazuca was the match ball of the 2014 World Cup, the first World Cup ball named by the fans.
Adidas is one of the official sponsors of the UEFA Champions League, and the Adidas Finale is the competition's official match ball. Along with the aforementioned Adidas Predator boot, Adidas manufactures the adiPure range of football boots. Adidas named an official match ball of the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament the Adidas Beau Jeu which translates to "The Beautiful Game" in English. Adidas provides clothing and equipment for all teams in Major League Soccer.
Football helmet
Face masks for football helmets today are multibar. The multibar facemasks are typically constructed out of metal, such as titanium, stainless steel, or most commonly carbon steel. Each facemask is coated with Polyarmor G17, a powder coating that is resistant to impact and corrosion. The Polyarmor is a thermoplastic coating used on a number of surfaces. While some organizations purchase new face masks every season, others have their equipment reconditioned.
Cattle in religion and mythology
In religiously diverse countries, leather vendors are typically careful to clarify the kinds of leather used in their products. For example, leather shoes will bear a label identifying the animal from which the leather was taken. In this way, a Muslim would not accidentally purchase pigskin leather, and a Hindu could avoid cow leather. Many Hindus who are vegetarians will not use any kind of leather.
Boots, Boots, Boots
Meanwhile, Walker proposes some foot salve for Pike and Frazer. Frazer is none too keen on the idea, but when Walker announces that they don't have to pay for it if they don't like, he assents. Mainwaring and Wilson reappear and inspect the men's feet, and it is revealed that the foot salve is in fact a felt tip pen. Mainwaring isn't impressed with the men's feet and proposes route marches and games of football in bare feet.
Iowa–Minnesota football rivalry
Since the two schools could not continue wagering a live pig, Governor Olson commissioned Saint Paul sculptor Charles Brioschi to capture Floyd's image. The result is a bronze pig trophy, long and high. Iowa and Minnesota have played for the Floyd of Rosedale every year since then. The winner of the game is entitled to keep the trophy until the following year's contest.
Football boot
1940–1960: After the Second World War, the designs of the football boot changed dramatically. The South Americans designed a lighter and more flexible boot. This design was focused on increasing good control and better kicking power rather than a more protective boot. In 1954 Adi Dassler introduced screw-in studs which gave the German team a tangible advantage during a rain-lashed World Cup that year. That Dassler was the first to come up with screw-in studs is disputed by his older brother, Rudolf Dassler, founder of Puma.
FieldTurf
Studies of the safety of FieldTurf are conflicting . A five-year study funded by FieldTurf and published in the "American Journal of Sports Medicine" found that injury rates for high-school sports were similar on natural grass and synthetic turf. However, notable differences in the types of injuries were found. Athletes playing on synthetic turf sustained more skin injuries and muscle strains, while those who played on natural grass were more susceptible to concussions and ligament tears. In 2010, another FieldTurf-funded but peer-reviewed study was published in the "American Journal of Sports Medicine", this time on NCAA Division 1-A football, concluding that in many cases, games played on FieldTurf-branded products led to fewer injuries than those played on natural grass. However, the NFL’s Injury and Safety Panel presented a study finding that anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries happened 88% more often in games played on FieldTurf than in games played on grass. In 2012, the NFL Injury and Safety Panel published an independently funded analysis of actual game data over the 2000–2009 seasons. Their statistically significant findings showed a 67% higher rate of ACL sprains and 31% higher rate of eversion ankle sprains.
American football
The football itself is an oval ball, similar to the balls used in rugby or Australian rules football. At all levels of play, the football is inflated to to pounds per square inch (psi) and weighs 14 to 15 ounces (397 to 425 grams); beyond that, the exact dimensions vary slightly. In professional play the ball has a long axis of 11 to inches, a long circumference of 28 to inches, and a short circumference of 21 to inches, while in college and high school play the ball has a long axis of to inches, a long circumference of to inches, and a short circumference of to inches.
Football helmet
By the 1950s, the introduction of polymers ended the leather helmet era. The last leather helmet manufacturer, MacGregor, ceased production of leather helmets in the mid-1960s. The NFL also recommended face masks for players in 1955, reducing the number of broken noses and teeth, but also necessitating new rules prohibiting opposing players from grabbing the face mask. By varying accounts, either Pat Studstill or Garo Yepremian was the last to forgo the facemask; among non-kickers, Tommy McDonald was the last to do so.
Pillow Pets
An ordinary Pillow Pet is made with chenille fabric. Underneath it is a velcro strap. Given that it starts in pillow position, its strap fastens to the other side in order to transform it into a stuffed toy. If the strap is unfastened again, the Pillow Pet can again be used as a pillow.
The original release of Pillow Pets included merely six varieties. Now, more than one hundred varieties of Pillow Pets have been sold by CJ Products. Current varieties range from scented to body pillow pets, they even have a North Dakota State University pillow pet available as one of the licensed Pillow Pets. Available as one of the licensed Pillow Pets that exist for MLB, NFL, NHL and NCAA sports teams. There are also themed Pillow Pets based on Disney characters. Stuffed toys based on Thomas the Tank Engine, Scooby-Doo, Dora the Explorer, and SpongeBob SquarePants are being produced as well. CJ Products has also licensed Pillow Pets for three English Premier League football clubs for release in September. Besides stuffed animals, other products bear the Pillow Pets name, such as blankets, slippers, hats, and print pajamas. Three Pillow Pets books and two board games are also available. In late October 2011, a Pillow Pets video game was released for Nintendo DS. Recently, Pillow Pets World online has been created, featuring interactive, Pillow Pet related games for children to play for free online.
Canceled NFL games
Mike Silver of NFL.com reported that on the morning of game day, officials discovered the logos at midfield and in the end zones had been painted using paint which was not intended for use on the newly installed FieldTurf. Subsequently, the paint had not fully dried, and officials heated the field to speed up the drying process, causing the turf's rubber to melt; the affected areas were described as being slick and "like cement," making it impossible to get decent footing. Stadium officials attempted to address this by applying paint thinner to the turf, but a Packers employee noticed a label warning that this substance could result in burns when exposed to skin, and alerted them to the discovery.
Adidas Finale
The Adidas Finale is a brand of football made by Adidas. It is the current official football of the UEFA Champions League, after Adidas took over the contract of official supplier from Nike in 2000. The internal and external design of the ball changes reflecting improvements to football technologies taken from other Adidas-produced footballs. The external design is the "Starball" based on the stars of the UEFA Champions League logo. Each year's ball keeps the branding name of "Adidas Finale", excepting suffixes to designate the year.
American football
Football is a full-contact sport, and injuries are relatively common. Most injuries occur during training sessions, particularly ones that involve contact between players. To try to prevent injuries, players are required to wear a set of equipment. At a minimum players must wear a football helmet and a set of shoulder pads, but individual leagues may require additional padding such as thigh pads and guards, knee pads, chest protectors, and mouthguards. Most injuries occur in the lower extremities, particularly in the knee, but a significant number also affect the upper extremities. The most common types of injuries are strains, sprains, bruises, fractures, dislocations, and concussions.
Ball (Gaelic football)
A football, gah ball, or Gaelic football () is the spherical leather football used in the sports of Gaelic football and ladies' Gaelic football and international rules football.
Shire Foods
Shire Foods is a manufacturer of pies, pasties, and sausage rolls based in Warwickshire, England. Due to growing demand for their products, the company moved in 2004 from Warwick to a new facility in the town of Leamington Spa. 
The company is family-run and was founded in 1970. It currently employs over 100 people at its factory and is the only major pie manufacturer in the United Kingdom to be EBLEX certified.
Shire foods is most notable for creating the chicken balti pie. Bescot Stadium, home ground of Walsall Football Club, was the first sporting venue where these pies were sold. They are now sold at over 60 clubs including Newcastle United Football Club, Coventry City Football Club, Aston Villa Football Club and many more. This type of pie has gained cult status among football fans, and as a result is now also produced by other British pie manufacturers including Birds Eye.
Artificial turf
In 2002, CenturyLink Field, originally planned to have a natural grass field, was instead surfaced with FieldTurf upon positive reaction from the Seattle Seahawks when they played on the surface at their temporary home of Husky Stadium during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. This would be the first of a leaguewide trend taking place over the next several seasons that would not only result in teams already using artificial surfaces for their fields switching to the new FieldTurf or other similar surfaces but would also see several teams playing on grass adopt a new surface. (The Indianapolis Colts' RCA Dome and the St. Louis Rams' Edward Jones Dome were the last two stadiums in the NFL to replace their first-generation AstroTurf surfaces for next-generation ones after the 2004 season). For example, after a three-year experiment with a natural surface, Giants Stadium went to FieldTurf for 2003, while M&T Bank Stadium added its own artificial surface the same year (it has since been removed and replaced with a natural surface, which the stadium had before installing the turf). Later examples include Paul Brown Stadium, which went from grass to turf in 2004; Gillette Stadium, which made the switch in 2006; and NRG Stadium, which did so in 2015. Today, 12 NFL fields out of 31 are artificial.
Football (ball)
In the United States and Canada, the term football usually refers to a ball made of cow hide leather, which is required in professional and collegiate football. Footballs used in recreation and in organized youth leagues may be made of rubber or plastic materials (the high school football rulebooks still allow the inexpensive all-rubber footballs, though they are less common than leather). Since 1941, Horween Leather Company has been the exclusive supplier of leather for National Football League footballs. The arrangement was established by Arnold Horween, who had played and coached in the NFL. Horween Leather Company also supplies leather to Spalding, supplier of balls to the Arena Football League.
Football (ball)
The game is played with a round leather football made of 18 stitched leather panels, similar in appearance to a traditional volleyball (but larger), with a circumference of , weighing between when dry. It may be kicked or "hand passed". A hand pass is not a punch but rather a strike of the ball with the side of the closed fist, using the knuckle of the thumb.
Ball (association football)
In the year 1863, the first specifications for footballs were laid down by the Football Association. Previous to this, footballs were made out of inflated leather, with later leather coverings to help footballs maintain their shapes. In 1872 the specifications were revised, and these rules have been left essentially unchanged as defined by the International Football Association Board. Differences in footballs created since this rule came into effect have been to do with the material used in their creation.
Rugby shorts
Rugby shorts must be able to withstand punishment and should be thick enough to provide some protection while playing. Most have pockets and many have a drawstring to prevent them coming down when tackled. While the most popular material has been cotton, modern shorts can also be made from higher grade polyester with reinforced seams. The use of these shorts is increasing as they are lighter, more durable, more comfortable, and better retain their color compared to traditional cotton shorts.The use of hard plastic padding of any kind, including jock straps, is forbidden in most leagues. However, in the United States, the high-padding of American football has influenced some junior leagues to allow, or in some cases require, jock straps.
Football helmet
According to Andrew Tucker, football helmets adequately protected players from catastrophic brain injuries, but helmet manufacturers were motivated to design helmets that decrease the risk of concussions. Vin Ferrara, a former Harvard quarterback, accidentally discovered a new way to cushion football helmets. One night, Ferrara was looking for an aspirin when he saw a squirt bottle in his medicine cabinet. As he pumped it and then punched it, he realized that the bottle withstood the blows of different forces. Ferrara immediately came up with the idea to encase football helmets with a number of inflatable pockets in order to cushion the blows a football player receives and reduce concussions.
Deflategate
Ryan Grigson, speaking at the 2016 NFL Combine, stated that "prior to the AFC Championship Game, we notified the league about our concerns that the Patriots might be using under-inflated footballs". According to the NFL’s investigation, "Grigson, Sullivan, and other members of the Colts equipment staff referenced the Colts Week 11 game against the Patriots in Indianapolis. During that game, Colts strong safety Mike Adams intercepted two passes thrown by Tom Brady… the intercepted footballs appeared to be coated in a tacky substance and seemed spongy or soft when squeezed." A "New York Post" article noted that Grigson's claim implied that the NFL had advance knowledge of the issue and was trying to run a sting operation, contradicting Blandino's claim that it was an issue that "came up in the first half". The claim also contradicts NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent's statement that Grigson notified the league "during the second quarter of the game".
Opanak
Archeologists found footprints of leather shoes worn by Geto-Dacians dating to 2500 BC. Trajan's Column in Rome features Dacians wearing this type of leather shoes. Archeological findings show that the local population was hunting wild game: foxes, deer, badgers, wolves, bears, whose skins were later manufactured. The nobility would wear game skin shoes, the poorer ones would wear calf or swine skin. In the past the traditional shoes were handcrafted out of leather processed at home. The piece of leather had to be larger than the sole, with holes on the side so that a thin string of leather can be filled in and it wraps the piece of leather around the foot, giving it the form of some footwear. The puckered form gave it a sharp tip. They would be worn over wool stockings or white pieces of clothing. Nowadays they are often used as part of the traditional costume by folk dance groups and folk artists.
Until 50 years ago, they were usually worn in rural areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Nowadays, they are only used in folk costume, for folkloric dance ensembles, festivals, feast days or other cultural events.
Frank Girardi
When Girardi's team appeared in the 1990 NCAA Division III football tournament, his players wore borrowed shoes. Lycoming played all of its games on grass fields and advanced to the semi-final game against Hofstra, which has artificial turf. Lacking shoes to play on artificial turf, Girardi borrowed turf shoes from Joe Paterno's Penn State Nittany Lions football team. When Lycoming advanced to the national championship game, "The New York Times" reported, "Wearing shoes borrowed from Penn State and playing defense like Penn State, the undefeated Warriors of Lycoming College upset previously undefeated Hofstra ..."
Suckling pig
The meat from suckling pig is pale and tender and the cooked skin is crisp and can be used for pork rinds. The texture of the meat can be somewhat gelatinous due to the amount of collagen in a young pig.
There are many ancient recipes for suckling pig from Roman and Chinese cuisine. Since the pig is one of the first animals domesticated by human beings for slaughter, many references to pigs are found in human culture. The suckling pig, specifically, appears in early texts such as the sixth-century Salic law. As an example of a law governing the punishment for theft, Title 2, article 1, is, in Latin, "Si quis porcellum lactantem furaverit, et ei fuerit adprobatum (malb. chrane calcium hoc est) CXX dinarios qui faciunt solidos III culpabilis iudicetur". "If someone has stolen a suckling pig and this is proven against him, the guilty party will be sentenced to 120 denarii which adds up to three solidus (Latin coins)." The words "chrane calcium" are written in Frankish; "calcium" (or "galza" in other manuscripts) is the gloss for "suckling pig"; "porcellum lactantem". These glosses in Frankish, the so-called "Malberg-Glossen", are considered the earliest attested words in Old Dutch.
Mink industry in Denmark
The mink industry is important to the economy of Denmark as the country is the largest producer of mink skins in the world, producing 40 percent of the world's pelts. Ranked third in Denmark's agricultural export items of animal origin, fur and mink skins have a yearly export value of about EUR 0,5 billion. Kopenhagen Fur, located in Copenhagen, is the world's largest fur auction house; annually, it sells approximately 14 million Danish mink skins produced by 2,000 Danish fur farmers, and 7 million mink skins produced in other countries. Mink produced in Denmark is considered to be the finest in the world and is ranked by grade, with the best being Saga Royal, followed by Saga, Quality 1, and Quality 2.
Concave football boot
The Concave Football Boot is a special boot designed to increase the 'sweet spot' (the area of the boot that makes contact with the ball) by approximately four times. It has evolved the games of Australian Football League, Soccer and Rugby league. Independent testing at Deakin University has shown the boot increases power by between 8-15% and provides increased accuracy with a smaller margin of error. Concave also designed this new boot to protect the metatarsal bones. The upper of the boot contains a flexible layer of TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethane) and a reinforced cushioning foam composite called "MetaGuard". Research and development was independently conducted by Monash University and Invetech Systems Pty. Ltd. in Australia. Strategic design thinking and industrial design of the concave device and each year’s boot model range was undertaken by Melbourne-based design group, CobaltNiche who also created the brand design and related marketing material. The Concave company is globally oriented with offices in Manchester and Melbourne.
Button football
Each team consists of 11 pieces, 10 field pieces, or buttons, in the form of small circular disks, and 1 goaltender piece in the form of a rectangular block. At the opening kickoff, all 11 pieces are relegated to their respective sides. Button are always circular in shape. Lower quality pieces are made of plastic and of a wide variety of diameters. Higher quality pieces are made of fiberglass, having a diameter of typically between 35 mm and 50 mm, and a height usually no greater than 8 mm. Nowadays, in formal games and tournaments, all buttons should be of the same material, color and size. Such standardization is decried by older players, as in their view it robs teams from variety and from similitude to real-life soccer teams. Buttons can be decorated with markings and numbers typical of a football jersey, as well as graphics of famous players or team logos, but no large diversity within a given team is allowed..
Adidas Copa Mundial
The Copa Mundial (Spanish for "World Cup") football boot was released in 1979. They were designed for the 1982 FIFA World Cup held in Spain. Going through very slight changes since then, the Copa is made in Scheinfeld, near Frankfurt in Germany. It has a kangaroo leather upper. Additional leather supports are provided from the heel, which are intended to improve durability and stability. Since 2001 it has been the world's best-selling football boot. Many superb sportsmen have worn them throughout the years. It has been used by the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Diego Maradona, Franz Beckenbauer, Jari Litmanen.
AdiPure
adiPURE was a range of football boots developed by the German sportswear manufacturer Adidas. The company based the design of the AdiPure on its own boots from the 1978 World Cup. In order to remain practical for the modern game, the boot's construction included updated materials and improved manufacturing techniques, to create a product significantly lighter than its 1978 counterpart.
Trophy
Some of the world's most famous football trophies are:The original Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in Brazil in 1983 and has never been recovered. Replicas were awarded to winning nations up to the retirement of the genuine trophy. However, prior to the 1966 final, The Football Association made an (unauthorised) replica in secret in gilded bronze for use in post-match celebrations due to security concerns – the genuine trophy was made out of close to 2 kg of pure gold. This has led to several conspiracy theories regarding which trophy was stolen – the FA replica, or the real trophy. FIFA purchased the replica for £254,500 (ten times the reserve price) in 1997, with the inflated price attributed to such rumours. This trophy is held on behalf of FIFA by the National Football Museum in Preston. The current FIFA World Cup trophy inscribe the names of the teams that won the award at the underneath the base of the trophy.