On the Ball . . .

 My wife's a  football tragic (Aussie Rules, of course), and a devoted fan of Essendon team, and that means that I watch lots and lots of footy on TV. I can  recognise at least a dozen players on screen these days.
Footy was just "work" for me, back when I used to visit country matches each Saturday afternoon to take pics for the paper, and then race home to develop the films. Nowadays, what with being sympathetic to Essendon and barracking  (a) for Adelaide Crows and (b) for Port, we're not short of  conversation points over the (expanding) weekends, and I don't have to work.
Football was a compulsory subject back in my High School days, and I hated it - until I discovered that being a boundary umpire was easy (because kids weren't expected to really keep up). 
Fair Dinkum footy's big business these days. My father, who used to drive to Adelaide  with mates to watch  State matches, would be amazed at the AFL - the skills, the promotion and the money involved. Every one of the players is earning big money, and the best of them demand and receive millions. And I don't blame them a bit!