In today's game between Duke and Louisville, a player -- Kevin Ware-- on Louisville's team went really high up to block a shot but then came down and broke his leg in the process. It was both surreal and painful to watch. His bone broke in two places and came out his skin 6 inches on national tv. The image was so horrific it sent his teammates and coach squirming in mutual pain then falling apart in tears. It was devastating. But during the whole time while he was being stabilized and taken away by paramedics he kept telling his teammates through his clenching desire yet incredible pain "win this game!" win this game!" It was such a display of courage and hope. His teammates then went on to win the game and all pointed to their teammates game shirt #5. They posed in official trophy picture shots with the trophy right above his shirt. I got all excited and emotional. Not a dry eye on my sofa. This cancer fighter is rooting for Louisville to take it all -- and for Kevin Ware to heal quickly and with strength over this next year.
Highlight video:
Regarding immediate successful surgery:
The other basketball fairy tail story came out in this morning's paper: UCLA found its coach in Steve Alford and offered him a 7 year, 18.2 million dollar contract which he accepted only shortly having accepted a ten year 20 million dollar contract with New Mexico (my home for three glorious years while I trained at altitude back in the day). One reporter of the paper kind of made it look like he was a flake for having changed his mind so quickly from UNM to UCLA. Another painted him as such an underdog unworthy of the invite. But I saw something different. Something no one in the news seems to be focussing on and yet it's the humanity part, the meat and potatoes of a childhood dream that spans outside oneself part: he not only went to John Wooden's (the winningest famed and influential UCLA coach of decades past) alma mater for high school -- he played basketball there. His dad coached there. High School games of over 10,000 fans per game sold out and sell out there. He had a choice to take a fairly cush and easier pressure job at UNM but instead he chose high pressure UCLA. Like all Fairytails he's bound to have some wicked witch breathing down his throat the entire time -- and even try to poison him. But, there obviously must be some Top Gun ghost he has been chasing his entire career. He's never gone far in the March Madness tournament as a coach -- but he's made it there and he's won it all as an athlete under famed Bob Knight. He's also a 1984 Olympian! As a mom I get that a child needs to chase his dreams. I get how badly he not only wants to do this but needs to do this. And come this fall, his first season, his player roster will include his son, Bryce. I can't help but cheer this guy on in this fairy tail of a story -- it's not only great ammo for my chemo sessions but it's a piece of passion that will feed my desire to being a different kind of athlete: a survivor.
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