The World Cup is winding down (that psychic octopus has predicted a Spain victory, by the way), which means there will be a very real void in my life once again. I don’t even know of the Champions League or La Liga will be able to fill it. Sigh. I guess we should savor these last remaining moments while we can. One of those moments? As you know, Nike has pretty much taken over downtown Johannesburg, installing giant video screens and having Kobe Bryant throw down challenges left and right. Today’s note: presenting Ball Man! The name alone is a win.
The installation is located inside a Johannesburg mall, and took a full three weeks to physically put together. It’s 21 meters (nearly 70 feet) tall, weighs 4.75 tons (!), and is made of some 5,500 individual skill balls. (A skill ball is a slightly smaller ball than a standard soccer ball.) More than 10 kilometers (around 6.2 miles) of wire hold everything together.
And while I have zero proof that Nike scanned Cristiano Ronaldo’s body for Ball Man, I will say that it sorta resembles that little knee kick he does while at full flight.