Out of the smoke, back on the court

Well it's already been over a week since I wrote last and I have two games to catch you up on. Unfortunately, my ankle was swollen and not in the best shape after I played limited minutes in our game on Saturday the 13th. Therefore I didn't play in our game that following Wednesday. The team we played wasn't supposed to be very good so coach wanted me to sit and rest for our game against a strong opponent the next Saturday. It was a strange feeling because I can't remember the last time I missed a game (maybe high school). And to top it off I had to leave the game early for a doctor's appointment that could not be rescheduled. The game was taking longer than expected so to not make a scene and walk across the court during the game I didn't sit on the bench for the second half. I sat in the stands near the exit to be able to make a quick exit. Maybe because I had never experienced it before but watching my teammates from the audience was a weird experience. It took me out of the teammate role and more into the fan role. The guys rolled past the team by about 30 points so they handled business.

The doctor appointment was the same old hazy office visit. I don't really know if the treatment was helping that much since this ankle injury was taking much longer to recover than it should in my opinion. I missed about four days of practice and it was starting to get frustrating. After the first two days of quick recovery, my ankle seemed to hit a wall in the healing process. Some of my teammates were also starting to make jokes that I was faking so that didn't help the process either. So finally last Thursday I did some shooting and it seemed to feel strong. I came out on our road game last Saturday and I couldn't miss so I guess my ankle was feeling pretty good. I finished with 21 points although we lost the game. We were in the game up until the middle of the fourth quarter and we just let it slip away. It's frustrating because we mostly just beat ourselves.

It was my birthday this past Friday, but it wasn't anything too crazy with practice and a road trip. I received many birthday wishes though and I really appreciated that. I am blessed so many people thought of me. All of my teammates came up to me and did their birthday tradition, which consists of a hug and a kiss on both cheeks. To be honest, I was a little uncomfortable, but that's the way they do it.

We have another game this Wednesday at home against another team at the top of the league standings so it should be a good one.

I hope all is well with you and you are enjoying the winter weather of the Midwest. It was 60 here yesterday so I'm not looking forward to the cold weather that is expected to hit here soon.

Take care and God bless