Monday, July 23, 2007

Fingers

I was struggling to make baskets (once again) at the weekly basketball game held in the basement of the Columbia Tribune. At least this week I wasn't struggling for breath, and my defense was solid. Then, in a scramble on the floor for a loose ball, I felt my finger jam (like it's done since 7th grade), but the pain suddenly went away. As the ball came into my possession, I caught a glimpse of my right ring finger sticking out in a forty-five degree angle towards the pinkie. I pushed the ball to a teammate and asked for a moment.

Once the finger was back in place, we resumed. However, every time I shook my hand or pulled on my shorts, it popped back out of place. I've never dislocated or broken anything, so I was a little stunned.

Luckily, the game ended soon after the finger incident. I wasn't sure I should keep going, but it didn't hurt that badly. There was a first aid kit on the wall with no tape but lots of band aids. Six of those bandages were used to tape my ring finger to the pinkie.

The crazy thing is that I came out of my slump. My D was still good, but now I was scoring points. Since I was unsure of my shot, I just kept taking it to the hole and converted several fast break buckets. I was even able to consistently post up my man (a feat for anyone 5'9" or shorter).

I'm not really sure what my point is. As stated before, I've never broken anything before, so this is weird (and hard to type). I just wanted to record the event for posterity's sake. Tomorrow, I will have to see a doctor. Hopefully this doesn't get in the way of my game now that it's hot.

3 comments:

KR said...

Oooo, that's not good for business. I can't believe you kept playing, dude! I've broken more bones than anyone I know, but I'm still a pansy.

comoprozac said...

Thanks for the sympathy. I should've titled the post "Dislocated".

ATR said...

Bad news on the finger, man. However, the good thing about a dislocation: just tie it up to the finger next door and keep playing!

I hope you heal quickly, and I am glad to hear that you are back down at the Trib (and that your game is heating up (as the number of your fully functional fingers drops)). Tell the boys and girls I say, "Hi," the next time you get down there.