I’m sure you’re right that there are more tennis balls per capita in the US than Ireland to be discarded in the first place, but that probably emphasises my point rather than refutes it.

And I should stress that it’s away from courts (and baseball diamonds) that I am talking about finding balls so the dozens that go over court fences are irrelevant.

In fact when you consider that many balls in KC must have disappeared down drains big enough to swallow small children (in contrast with Ireland where drainholes even big enough to swallow a tennis ball are rare) I was likely only ever finding a small percentage of what was lost.

Also, when I was a kid we would have used tennis balls playing football (soccer), rounders, and tennis on the street, and often smacked them around with a hurl too, if only for a dog to chase, so we were probably just as likely to lose them in gardens as Kansas City kids. And with homes in Ireland being more tightly packed on even narrower streets I imagine we might be liable to cause more damage than kids in KC.

If balls from street games in the US do go into neighbours’ gardens never to be seen again well they can’t be the ones I’m finding in plain view on the street.

And yes you’re right - it is wrong to equate KC with all of America because it is different to so much of the US, especially the parts on either coast, though generally I have found it to be fairly representative of much of the middle of the country. So yes I’m guilty of going for the snappier title for the series of differences between Ireland and the US but I think the content of each individual post makes it clear that I’m relating personal experiences in KC.

I like the sound of your dog. Thanks again.

Well, how many tennis courts are there in Ireland and how many in the US? If you play tennis or baseball with it, it’s far more likely that you will lose a ball than if you play handball, etc…where you usually have just the one with you. I would guess that there are more courts in the US = more tennis balls to go astray in the first place. If you play street baseball - some are bound to go into neighbors yards, never to be seen again, or to cause damage - in which case you run, abandoning said tennis ball.

Seems a bit off to equate the net balls (heh heh…sorry) found in KC with being average for all of America. I find quite a few myself, but I am in always sunny California, (we’re a sporty state) and my dog is very keen on T balls, no matter how disgusting the state of them. Technically my dog finds them, not me so much, usually curbside.

I have put way too much thought into this…

Joe - Alas my dog is very adept at finding things I don’t want to even think about, and not just the menus from the nearby chippers. Carry on with the KC GAC and in time somebody’s dog in KC will eventually find a sliotar.

PCB - You haven’t seen me sporting a dagger in my swimming shorts, have you?

Rua - You didn’t ever play a game of tennis using hurls instead of racquets? I’d say you were popular at that court anyway.