It all begins with a ball and a child. The ball is usually some kind of plastic/rubber compound (leather is for the big kids) and, these days, it originates somewhere with cheap labour. The child, of course, is flesh and blood, yet he or she is drawn to the artificial object, mesmerized by its shape and unfamiliar smell. It looks solid and inert but as soon as it's nudged, a wonderful thing happens — it moves!