Quote:
Originally Posted by Rita C
There had been a foul and the shooter had shot the first of two free throws when it was noticed that she was bleeding.
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Rita C: This is not a hijack, but a slight detour. I hope that you don't mind.
Girls varsity. Team A is getting clobbered by Team B. One player on Team A stands out, a freshman point guard, who is, by far, the best player on the court for both teams. Scoring, assists, and several steals. She plays the entire game with a band aid on her upper arm, that on a few occasions starts to peel off, but she keeps on getting it re-taped during timeouts, and intermissions. Late in the game, her team is twenty points behind, and she has played every minute up until that point. With 1:30 left in the game, I note that she is no longer wearing a band aid, and I think, but I'm not sure, that there is a very small, wet looking, red, open wound on the upper arm where the band aid was throughout the game. At this point, everything is in transition, and I figure that, since I'm not sure, maybe the clock will run out and I can get out of Dodge. Of course that doesn't happen, a foul is called, and while lining up for free throws, I can't help but notice that there is a very small amount of wet blood on her upper arm. The Team A coach is right there, so I tell him that we will need a substitute for his bleeding player. He looks at me like I'm from Mars, or something, so I offer that he can also take a timeout to keep her in the game, never thinking that, down twenty points, with 0:30 left, he would continue to play someone who has just played 31:30, with lots of eligible substitutes on the bench. You guessed it, he took the timeout, and kept her in for the remaining 0:30. Once you think that you've got coaches figured out, you realize that there's no figuring out coaches.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled program. Thank you for your patience.