to undertake an effort that may be draining or thankless but is sometimes necessary; this expression has its roots in generic ball sports, in which the rapid and partly unpredictable movement of the central object means effort and diligence are needed to track and control it; this is especially true when there are opposing factors at work, such as in soccer; can be used in a negative sense, referring to a line of inquiry that is not worth pursuing further, as in “Sure they expressed some interest in sharing data, but do we really want to chase that ball?”, or more positively as a gauge of energy or enthusiasm, as in “Now we have to make sure we get time on the VP’s calendar this week, who wants to chase the ball?”