How About a Comeback?

Well, I finally have a full day off work... and I finished up my holiday shopping -- without setting foot in a mall (not that I'm afraid to, in fact I was in a mall in Kearney two days after the shootings in Omaha -- looking for a sports store for skate laces... no luck there).

But instead of writing my (semi-)annual Christmas letter, I'm blogging. I mean, it's four days from Christmas, no chance cards will get there in time. And what am I going to tell people? I graduated from college... still looking for work... still looking for 'the one'. I think that about covers it.

Instead, I am here, talking about something that has me feeling like a kid again. After a 20-month layoff, I have started the ball rolling on a hockey comeback.

Never fear, Maverick fans -- we haven't found a way for me to get another year of college eligibility. I'm just strapping the pads on for the hell of it.

For those of you who don't know, in May 2006 (Mother's Day... a week before my brother's wedding) I suffered a knee injury while playing soccer. A partial tear of the meniscus in my right knee. I actually gutted it out for the rest of the game, but was in visible pain.

Not to strut around, but gutting it out should be no surprise to those of you whole know me well. The fact that I missed any time, let alone allow it to keep me out for 20-months is more of a shock than anything else. Looking back at my 20-plus years of hockey and soccer, and my 10 years in baseball I think the number of games I missed due to injury is in single digits.

I suffered a concussion during a soccer game in 7th grade, only to return to the game in OT, and then face a PK shootout (which we lost in 12 rounds). Broke my nose the next year, and came back for the second half... once the bleeding stopped. I even broke my finger at a hockey practice my junior year of high school, then played the next night. Of course those are minor injuries. Well, a concussion isn't -- we know that now -- but not something that keeps you from functioning.

I even broke my foot in eighth grade and played soccer through it. Maybe I'm just too dumb to stop... but then again, for most of those my coaches were my parents -- my mother a school nurse -- and if they thought I was going to hurt myself more, they wouldn't have let me play.

So, I'm thinking back trying to think how many games I've missed due to injury. And I honestly can't remember missing one game, until I left the world of competitive sports. I missed one game after injuring my knee 20 months ago (though, I was helped out by a bye week and a holiday weekend where there were no games)... and I actually played the Tuesday after at indoor (the injury occurred playing outdoor) before missing time.

There were a couple other games that I was injured and didn't play, but I was available when needed -- one my freshman year at Iowa State where I was held out for precautionary reasons after suffering two concussions in a week (one in my second career game at South Dakota State -- a game I don't remember all the details of, but apparently got a shutout... and the next week when I got kicked in the head against Drake), and Games 2 and 3 of the playoffs my first year of juniors in Landmark (concussion and groin). However, I was dressed for all three of those games, and ready to play if called upon.

I'm sure somewhere, someone is going -- what about the story from your first year of juniors in Winnipeg (prior to being loaned to Landmark) where they had the line brawl, you were out with a pinched nerve, and Andrew got jumped.

I don't count that as a game missed due to injury, because we knew ahead of time that it was my turn to sit for that game. I would have been a healthy scratch, anyway. Besides, we all know that it didn't prevent me from participating in the evening's festivities. :)

Back to the story, it was about three weeks after the injury that was the last time I strapped on the pads -- as a counselor at a week-long goalie camp. Three weeks wasn't enough, as I was in incredible pain working with goalies on lateral movement. The pain got to me enough to know that I had to take time off. You can't play not knowing if your knee will be there when you need it.

Under the advice and direction of a physical therapist, I was back to playing soccer with a knee brace right away. Soccer became my major rehab activity, where the movements are a bit more controlled. So, technically, I was out for three weeks, but missed just one game.

The other game I missed was last week, when I sat out Thursday after getting kicked in the eye on Tuesday.

But now, the time has come for me to return to the ice. My knee is pain free, and my friend has ice time, where I won't have to extend myself -- a nice, controlled environment where everyone will know I'm rebounding from an injury and the extended layoff.

So that's what's new in my world.

Happy Holidays.