Doc, I think something is broken

Last week I played futsal with my futsal friday group. Barely 15 minutes in the game, one of my friends got injured. He was going for a 50-50 ball, and the impact of the collision threw him and he landed akwardly. When he said he can't lift his arm, I knew something was wrong. We suspected a dislocated shoulder. So me and another friend sent him to the hospital. He went for an x-ray, and it appeared his collarbone was broken. The doctor showed us the x-ray, and lets just say, it was pretty much graphic. The doctor injected him with painkillers and such, to ease the pain. He was scheduled to see an orthopedic for further treatment. He will be out for 3-6 weeks, and has pondered retirement from futsal. Even the doctor that treated him mention he gets at least one futsal injury related patient a week.

This is not the first injury i witness. Last year another friend broke his arm due to a malicious tackle and a bad fall. And the state of Florida would probably need to re-count the number of ankle related injuries I've witness. There's too many, and even I myself am a victim of multiple ankle injuries. I have been lucky, as none of my injuries are major. Usually ice and a night off, and I be back on the field, as good as Windows Vista.

Which brings me to realize, how much longer can I play futsal or basketball for that matter. The flagging sense of immortality is waning. Gone are the days when as a kid I would be unleash into the parks without fear of pain. The rush of nothing can hurt me was what drove me. To play every game like its your last.

Now, I play at a much careful pace. I avoid rushing in 50-50 balls. I seldom tackle the ball now, only shadow my defender and go for loose balls. But as they say, you can only be too careful. Somehow, someday someone will just come and whack you till kingdom come.

Previously I was damn competitive. I wanted to win every game. If my team was down, I wanted to carry the team to victory. Inspire to perform above ourselves until the Gods have no choice but to grant us victory. I realize I've never made friends when I was in my 'doing-everything-to-win-by-losing-myself-in-the-game' mode. But like everything in life, winning comes with a price.

So now, I play for the love of the game. Because i still want to play tomorrow, next week, next month and so on. And hopefully, I be able to teach my kid the game. Maybe challenge my kid to a game of one-on-one basketball. Wonder who will win that one?