{"id":180,"date":"2011-08-31T00:53:40","date_gmt":"2011-08-31T00:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deadreal.com.au\/dead_things\/?p=180"},"modified":"2022-03-09T15:18:02","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T04:18:02","slug":"when-balls-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deadreal.com.au\/dead_things\/when-balls-die\/","title":{"rendered":"When balls die"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

I found these dead balls sitting in a polystyrene box like so much wizened fruit.<\/p>\n

What to do with old balls? Look, I\u2019m trying to be serious here. Straight face. This is a real problem. It\u2019s not unusual, over the course of a lifetime, for a person to collect a number of balls of different shapes and sizes, round and oval (or prolate spheroid to be precise), large and small, hard and soft. They all share a common drawback, however, in that, once punctured they become practically useless. The bounce is all gone. The ball-owner is left feeling decidedly deflated. Indeed, that moment when a ball goes from being lively, bouncy and fully-inflated to being nothing more than a caved in sack of plastic or leather is both poignant and depressing.<\/p>\n

I once punctured a ball by hitting it with a stick. I\u2019ve regretted it ever since. It was one of my favourite balls as well, one that I\u2019d had for a long time. The hours I spent kicking that ball. It had grown grey and furry with me, scuffed and scratched, but in that instant when I hit it with a stick (why, oh why) it gave up the ghost with barely a murmur. Pfft. That\u2019s how easily it can all come to an end.<\/p>\n

I suppose it is possible to repair punctured balls but who can be bothered? There\u2019s always another ball rolling around somewhere. There\u2019s no point in becoming too attached to them.<\/p>\n

But what if these balls are not punctured but merely flat? Let down through neglect and lack of use. That\u2019s a tempting thought. It raises the prospect that they can be revived, brought back to life and made good for a few more games of passing and touch. It\u2019s always a gamble though to pick up a back lane ball and take it home in the hope that, with a few pushes of the pump, it will be restored to its former shape. Somebody will be tempted, there\u2019s no doubt about that, but this time I decided to pass. I already have my own box of balls, some punctured, others in various states of deflation, without adding to them. These balls are on their own for now.<\/p>\n