Bad bad ball boy

Naughty ball boy returns ball too fast, President cries foul.

Were the Palermo defenders asleep when the corner was taken? One can understand that rules might be broken by the ball boy, but the entire blame can't be laid upon him for conceding a goal. Coming from a representative of a top-flight Serie A team, the President no less, this accusation is quite absurd.

Speaking of ball boys, I've seen quite a few Premier League matches where the boys from the home team are rather lazy in returning the ball to opposition team players.

Ball boys are present in cricket too, though strangely we see them only in matches played in India. Their sole purpose is to retrieve the ball when it crosses the boundary and throw it back in. You have to marvel at the foresight of the BCCI in having these ball boys, because the Indian players take full advantage of their services. Our lazy infielders will give just a token chase to a ball headed for the ropes, knowing they can save energy by waiting for the ball to be thrown back!

Tennis too has ball boys, but here they also serve as towel boys. Life must be hard for a tennis ball boy on duty: Run hard in between points not just to retrieve the balls but also to hand over a sweaty towel to the player! When a game is completed, run from the baseline to the player's seat, again with a sweaty towel in hand. I wonder if, after losing a match, a player will ask for a replay because the ball boy wasn't fast enough in giving him his towel!