An all-star/pro-bowl AAQ to Carpe Disney...
OK, here goes with the full answer. The original menus had covers that had the look and feel of a football (ie textured-leather effect). They also had sports-related artwork in the background on each page (much larger versions of this artwork can be found inside the ESPN cafe). As you might expect, these were quite expensive to produce. They were also quite popular as "souvenirs", with large numbers being taken each week. The decision was made to replace them with "normal" laminated menus.
Mike