(My) Photo(s) of the day

As promised yesterday, today I'm presenting a series of photos taken on the Henry Fitzgerald McCracken Football and Cricket Arena (HFMFCA). It features a young man in his formative years stepping out on the hallowed turf for a bit of training before his inevitable ascension to the big league.

Buoyed by his beloved Bombers' return to form in their crushing of the Carlton Football Club, Henry took to the arena with a renewed sense of vigour and the intensity of ten Bengal tigers!

However, the first shot that I've chosen is not one of action, but one of introspection. In many ways, elite athletes are no different from elite philosophers. Just prior to this shot, Henry and I were discussing Kant's notion of the categorical imperative and it's relation to the banana kick from the boundary line. Henry gazed off into the distance, reflecting on the shadow cast by the goal posts at the western end of the ground and confirmed that Camus was indeed close to the mark in his observation that "All I know most surely about morality and obligations, I owe to football."

The second photo was taken just after Henry had launched a booming torpedo punt over my head. Henry stopped and ruminated upon the kick as it sailed between the uprights. Just after his goal, he said to me "Behind every action, there must be a thought. Behind every kick at goal, one has to think about kicking the ball."

The last of my pictures is an action shot. Without warning, I attempted a quick stab pass that shot off target over Henry's right shoulder. Like a cat, the little bloke shot out his right hand and took a splendid mark. A smile broke out on his face as he concluded: "True happiness can be found in the unanticipated one-handed grab." How right he is!

As we trudged back home after the training session, I couldn't help but think of who this young man reminds me of.