Why Jackalopes Don't Play Soccer

Temporarily ice-bound in this Midwestern storm, Ace read a story about how British soccer icon David Beckham is coming to play for a US team, the Los Angeles Galaxy. Wondering if he might enjoy the sport, Ace discovered two things:

1. Ice is slippery.

2. Antlers would not be a great asset.



It's not the first time I've seen a ruined or lost soccer ball. This one found a quiet and dignified place to rest by a tombstone in London's Highgate cemetery, having probably been kicked over a nearby retaining wall. I looking into the design history of soccer balls and discovered that this one is an older design and predates today's "Buckyball."



This is a Buckyball, and it represents one of those delightful times when peoples' different interests meet. If you like 20th-century architecture, you've seen the geodesic domes designed by American architect Richard Buckminster Fuller. If you're into roadside attractions you may have seen a few of these, like the one at Meteor City, Arizona. The Buckyball is a soccer ball designed by Fuller himself of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons. I shot this one floating down the Thames River in London while we waited to board a river tour last October.



A couple days later, I happened across this deceased Buckyball at rest in the holly of Highgate cemetery. It was just a few feet from the other one; they were so abundant among the decrepit tombstones in one area that I stopped shooting them. (My apologies to my British readers. Yes, I know it's called "football" where it holds sway.)


Because the soccer balls were shot there, this has been a small installment of

An American Jackalope In London:
More Easter Stuff - Easter Island moai (stone statue) in The British Museum
Good Friday - Crucifix tombstone in Highgate Cemetery and a crucifix at a church in London.
St Patrick's Day Megapost - Celtic crosses in London's Highgate Cemetery.
Red, Gold and Almost Gone - Includes photos of London's Chinatown.
He Belongs to the Ages (but you can still buy a souvenir) - We run into an Abraham Lincoln statue in, of course, London
Why Jackalopes Don't Play Soccer - Battered Buckyballs litter London.
Christmas Leftovers - An October shopping trip through Harrods, Selfridges and Hamley's, with lots of Christmas decor pictures.
Spamalot - We go to the Monty Python-based play and meet Tim Curry
London Trader Vic's - A visit to London's oldest tiki bar
Where is Ace Jackalope? (episode 13) - The game is afoot!
Werelopes of London - Lycanthopic jackalopes stalk places mentioned in the Warren Zevon song, plus a few pictures of the London Underground.
Dracula's London - A Halloween tribute to Bram Stoker using London locales implied in "Dracula"
Where is Ace Jackalope? (episode 9) - Mind the Gap