This week i "celebrate" the 12th anniversary of destroying my knee. When i was younger i fancied myself a basketball player and figured that would be my way of life. I went to university pretty much to make the basketball team, and never really took the school part of it seriously. I came close to making the university team but fell short in the end making the junior varsity team. I pretty much coasted out the rest of the year in the school department and took a "year off" to work and think things through. In my head it was time off to get in better shape and take another crack at the basketball program. During this time i got a job at Blockbuster and moved in with some friends still taking classes. One day that summer i played a pick up game of ball with my friends and some local kids that were at the courts that day. At some point during the game one of the opposing players under cut me and i landed awkwardly while still spinning around trying to land. I heard a crunch sound and hit the ground. Being in sports a long time, you hear all kinds of great crunching sounds come from your body and move on. Only this time when my friends helped me to my feet, my lower leg slid into the upper leg and i hit the deck again. They rushed me off to the hospital with my leg completely dislocated and sticking out sideways. Upon arrival to the ER i was put into a "temporary" cast until i could return the next day and see a real doctor. That night i cried myself to sleep with the notion that i'd never play basketball again. I was told the next day that i had torn my ACL, MCL and ruptured my meniscus, the cartilage wasn't doing so great either. The doctor i saw was convinced that i could rehab this injury without surgery, only if i promised never to play sports again. This was a bold statement for a 22 year old at the time, but i assured him that i could do it. I moved back home with my parents and started the long rehab process, and never once did they question what had happened to me. They probably noticed me crying once again on the way home as I had hit what i felt at the time was rock bottom. The next three months i spent in a cast from hip to toes and feeling sorry for myself. I can't thank my parents enough for being supportive and never letting me get too down on myself during these times. I returned back to my roomates months later, and also had my job waiting for me too. It was a rough transition to being a "part time" athlete, which also lead to a follow up surgery 6 months later when the knee finally had enough.
All of these years later i have distanced myself greatly from basketball and rarely watch it. This is a far cry from my obsessive youth where i knew every player and watched every game on TV. With the condition of my knee i barely take party in sports at all, for fear of it failing me again. I believe the doctors exact words were "you can take part in a light game of tennis occasionally". At the time he told me that, you may as well of shot me.
I lead a nice sportsless life now, and a smile comes to my face when my young son dunks his basketball on his mini hoop.
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