Hoops Withdrawal

We’ve been a bit antsy lately, waiting for the return of our favorite basketball player. Not Lebron James, the subject of our cover profile earlier this year. As great as he is, the Chosen One ranks only #2 on our list of favorite hoopsters. He comes in well behind my son Michael, a mobile, rangy forward on the St. Ignatius High School varsity hoops team (the photo of #52 is actually from last year's JV season). We were ready and waiting for the season’s opening earlier this month. We had our seats picked out, our throats prepared for some vigorous cheering. And our guy didn’t let us down: in his inaugural game, the season opener, he got in some quality minutes, seemingly ignoring the traditional opening-game jitters by smoothly coming off the bench to pour in five points and a couple of rebounds. And then it happens: with about two minutes to go in that first game, he dove for a ball, got tangled in a knot of players, and tore his MCL ligament (not to be confused with the far-slower-healing ACL). Diagnosis: he’ll be out till mid-January at least. We're left to cool our heels, continue to cheer for the team, and look forward to his return whenever it comes. The time to get injured, if one must, is when you're 17. At least that's the mantra I keep repeating to myself, in hopes it will make the time go more quickly. To view more of Al and Larry's splendid sports photography, you can check their first-class digital gallery. Who says wily old veterans can't keep ahead of the best technology in their field? (Apologies to the pair for this temporary bit of digital piracy. We'll be sure to purchase the photo and replace the image ASAP).