Glory Road tells the story of Don Haskins who led Texas Western University to the NCAA national basketball championship in 1966 (college basketball is really popular out here). the uniqueness of the feat was not only that he turned an unknown team into a national champion, and that he took on Adolf Rupp, arguably the best college coach in history, but he did all this with the first all-black starting line-up (there was no looking back after that!).
where was i? right, well, in the movie, the coach tells the players not to “showboat” but play disciplined defensive basketball. And they do not start winning until the players start to play their game (a.k.a showboating). proof that showboating works. i decided to prove the hypothesis by applying it another sport. like bicycle riding. so on my way home from a lovely afternoon bike ride with J and S, i selected a parking lot between Pearl Street and 9 West, identified the section of the raised sidewalk (pavement, if you will) that looked amenable to accepting me, and my bike, when i jumped up onto it from the road, and off i went..
pumping hard, i raced to the sidewalk… at this point i have to take issue with manufacturers of all terrain bikes.. they ought to write out a disclaimer that rusty bicyclists ought not to showboat with these on Brookline sidewalks… i hit the sidewalk and was hoping that my earlier momentum (mass X velocity – i have a ton of that!) should take me over the top, what with me on a mountain bike and all!
well,what do they say about the irresistible force meeting an immovable object? i’m pretty irresistable, but in this meeting, the immovable sidewalk won. i was brought up short rather rapidly, the back of the bike lifted up and were it not for my infinite body weight, it might have turned over. that has its uses after all. anyways, my first thought was a radial styloid fracture, but i have now downgraded myself to a tendon tear… pipetting will be a b**ch tomorrow.
*sigh* “That’s another fine mess I’ve got me into!”
Update: X ray showed no fracture or dislocation. I now have a wrist splint, and I “embrace” this handicap. hahaha…
I have also been advised to stay away from showboating.