The Walking Wounded

Well, it happened again. A sports injury. First my neck injury from baseball, and now the Severely Strained Quad in soccer. The baseball injury was much better because I could walk easily, it was just a bad bruise, and I could still play sports a few days later.

However, this soccer injury is a nightmare, not the injury itself, but what it entails. I had to use crutches from Sunday-Friday, which was really annoying. They rubbed against my side and gave me rashes. Also, I felt really slow and incapable.

And that week was just really boring. I couldn’t stand or participate in any activities after or during school. So all I could basically do was crutch around and sit, and be bored. No sports, no after school stuff. Boring with a capital B.

Anyway, you are probably thinking, “Well what happened?” I am getting there. I was playing in my soccer game, and I caught the ball, playing my normal position: goalie. I decided to punt it so as I struck the ball, I felt a huge searing pain, as if my thigh had torn in half. It was horrible pain, and I won’t forget it.

I knew immediately something was really wrong, so I yelled to my coach, to let him know, then fell to the ground. I tried to get up but it started to hurt like crazy, so I fell back down and started banging on the ground, writhing in pain.

Finally, the ambulance came and I went to the ER. By then, the pain had gone down, but I hadn’t moved it yet, so I was kind of scared to see how bad it was. In the X-ray room, I got a little hint. I was instructed to “skootch” over to the X-ray table from my bed, and I literally couldn’t move my leg without a bad searing pain.

I was not happy. I got the crutches and medicine and we went home. The next week was rough as I already discussed, but it definitely got better. I have no crutches and I can walk fine.

But, I can’t run, like at all. I did have a catch with my friend Avery yesterday, and I could throw the ball a good distance with little to no pain. But, in game situations I might have to jerk it certain ways or make harder throws, and that will hurt, badly.

See, I don’t really know what to do now. I don’t want to re-injure my quad, because that would be horrible. I am kind of scared now to kick a soccer ball with full force, with this memory in my head.

There are certain things I can do, and certain things I can’t. I desperately want to feel no pain, and be able to go all out in all of my sports. Most people are expecting me back really soon, and I have high hopes. But, I am NOT optimistic. I feel like this needs more time to heal, and I need more time to mentally heal.

I need more time to get this out of my head, and play sports with full intensity, not holding back because of this injury. I want to get back this week, and most people think I will, but most people also don’t have the pain I do. I wish I could have some doctor give me an MRI or something that can look at my muscles in my quad and see the problem.

Because, I know for a fact that I won’t be back in sports for at least another week, unfortunately. There is a problem, and although I can do some things, I can’t run, which is applied in all sports. And any severe bending or jerking of my quad hurts.

I have tried to run a few times since then, to try to speed up the recovery. However, I am holding back when I run, afraid, and I feel awkward, lopsided when I run now. I can’t run fast at all, and when I try to push it I fall because it hurts.

It’s bad timing because my baseball team has two other kids who have injuries, one sprained wrist, and one fractured wrist.  Hopefully I will be able to get back on the diamond, soccer field, and hoops court soon!

Bright Future for Maize and Blue

Well, we had a pretty sick run, right?

Mitch McGary played out of his mind, averaging ridiculous numbers in the tournament, especially for a freshman who didn’t start all year. Trey Burke made some HUGE shots, and led us all the way to the championship.

Everyone else on the team that played contributed greatly to an amazing March Madness run. That shot that Burke hit against Kansas was unbelievable, and it was crazy that we even sent that game to OT, let alone win. Michigan was the youngest team in the entire tournament, and we still made it to the championship.

Sophomore Trey Burke’s ability to consistently score from various places on the court, and be clutch, while leading a very young team to the finals, got him to #6 in the NBA Draft. So, I honestly doubt he would pass up this chance to be a very high pick in the NBA, especially after winning the Player of the Year and Wooden Awards in 2012-2013, and beating Michael Carter-Williams in the Final Four, who was ranked ahead of Burke in the draft before that game.

I had faith that Burke would stay, realizing the potential that his Michigan team possesses. However, even if I were him, I wouldn’t pass #6 up.

And, neither would Burke, he declared for the draft today, unfortunately. Also, due to a breakout performance in the tournament, Mitch McGary is now #12 in Chad Ford’s mock draft, making a huge leap into the lottery picks.

I strongly doubt he’ll go, though. Additionally, Glenn Robinson III moved up to #15 in Ford’s mock draft, probably because of his athleticism, size, and range. Again, just as McGary, I think he’ll stay for at least one more year.

Tim Hardaway Jr., a tall shooting guard is a junior. He was supposed to enter the NBA draft this year but has slipped out of the first round. If he returns, it’d be great to have a talented senior like him to lead our young team, full of freshman and sophomore talent.

Oh, and yes, we do have more freshmen. We have the #13 recruiting class right now, and we’ve signed standout guards Zak Irvin, and Derrick Walton who will give us more young talent and depth.

Despite a rough loss against Louisville that I refuse to get into detail about, we will be back strong again next year! Go blue!