Prolate spheroids and the law

The Heisman Trophy is named after John Heisman who died in 1936.  It is thought that the game of football might not have flourished if it had not been for him.  This New York Times article reveals some interesting things about Coach Heisman:

"Despite an Ivy League education in law, Heisman never became a lawyer, but he instinctively honed a talent for commanding, melodramatic locker-room oratory.  Heisman, standing before his players when he first met them, would hold aloft a football and ask, “What is this?”   Answering his own question, Heisman said: “It is a prolate spheroid in which the outer leather casing is drawn tightly over a somewhat smaller rubber tubing.”  Heisman would pause and add: “Better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this football.”

Sounds like he would have been a formidable presence in a courtroom.  Especially from behind the bench.

Comments

[Mojave Joe]

Alas, in court, I have fumbled many a "prolate spheroid in which the outer leather casing is drawn tightly over a somewhat smaller rubber tubing.”