The NBA's foray into synthetic basketballs is over. The old leather ball is back. "There will be some initial getting used to," Grant Hill told the Washington Post, "but in two months, it will be old news, just like New Coke is old news." Hill—perhaps showing that he has a future in sportswriting—is onto something. The New Coke analogy pervaded many types of articles about the switch:

One-Liners

Associated Press
"The NBA's version of New Coke"

Adam Hofstetter on SI.com
"Basketball's version of New Coke"

USA Today
"The New Coke of athletic equipment"

Deseret Morning News
"Welcome to the sports equivalent of New Coke."

Los Angeles Times
"Will Spalding's ill-fated new NBA composite ball be remembered as this decade's New Coke?"

Comedians: Several articles mused on other short-lived or poorly-received products.

Fort Worth Star Telegram
"The NBA's much-maligned 'new' basketball…will follow the Edsel, the pet rock and New Coke into oblivion on New Year's Day."

Toronto Star
"[The new ball] apparently was the worst invention since New Coke or the Edsel."

Southern Utah Daily Spectrum
"Open up the storage closet where they put all the failed attempts at improving on the original and make room for the NBA synthetic ball that was introduced at the beginning of this season. While you're in there, move over that six-pack of 'New Coke.' Move the DVD of The Year Without a Santa Claus to a different shelf. Go ahead and put it with the CD of the band Queen touring with a new lead singer after Freddie Mercury died. What's this that fell off the shelf? Yo Adrienne, it's the collection of Rocky II through whatever number it's up to now."

Pooh-Poohers: Some focused on how both the new ball and New Coke could be considered huge flops.

The Globe & Mail
"The New Ball may not be the colossal blunder of the New Coke, but marketing experts predict it will nevertheless hurt sales for Spalding, and linger as a cautionary tale for others."

Boston Herald
"The controversy is not unlike when New Coke's introduction met with resistance, said Rich Krezwick, managing director of the Massachusetts Sports & Entertainment Commission and former CEO of TD Banknorth Garden. New Coke went down as one of the great product flops of all times."

Conspiracy Theorists: Most interestingly, some writers think that New Coke helped Coca-Cola in the long run—and the failed ball could do the same for the NBA or Spalding—by increasing demand for the original.

Fort Worth Star Telegram
"Like New Coke, however, the new ball has created much publicity for the NBA, so in a sense, it has been successful. When Coke Classic returned, it was more popular than ever. The same will be true for the leather ball, and that should help the NBA."

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
"The final result was a positive one for Coca-Cola: The public believed that it had compelled the company’s management to reverse a bad decision, thereby generating a sense that Coca-Cola was responsive to its customers. More important, sales of the original Coca-Cola beverage increased because of all the positive publicity about its presumably wonderful taste. Ultimately, Spaulding [sic] may find that sales of its leather basketballs will increase because NBA players have voiced their preference for this product."

Vail Daily
"Does this remind anybody of 'New Coke?' Coca-Cola rolls out a new formula for its soft drink which makes everybody gag. Then the company brings out 'Coke Classic,' ditching the 'New Coke,' and Pepsi is left in the dust. It was brilliant marketing. Now the old, er, new basketball is better than ever, and everyone likes it. The NBA starts selling the 'classic' ball like crazy. David Stern is not dumb.

Related in Gelf

•Gelf talks to Mark Cuban about media coverage of the ball.

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