[Aztlan] Ballgame questions

[Craig]

Listeros:
   
  I have been researching the Mesoamerican ballgame and I have 2 questions that don't seem to be directly addressed by published research.
   
  -> What is the purpose of the "wings" (to coin a word) in the I-shaped ballcourt endzones?  It's hard to envision a situation where the ball would enter the wings of the end-zone -- and if it did, it would seem unlikely the defending team would be able to return it.  And yet it seems that most Classic era ballcourts featured these wings.
   
  -> Based on the huge size of the balls in some Maya works (e.g. Kerr's fine oft-reprinted photo of the Dallas vase), some authors (e.g. Heather Orr) state that "some scholars propose . . . " that these balls really were that large but were hollow.  It seems instead that most researchers consider such images to be an "exaggeration" (to quote M Coe).  Has any serious researcher ever seriously suggested (as opposed to "wondering" or "speculating") that the Maya used large hollow balls on occasion??
   
  Thanks in advance for any help,
  Craig Fisher

       
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