A True Blue Fan

Some of you sports-minded folks might have read about the injury woes of the North Carolina Tarheels basketball team this season. Our All-American player of the year, Tyler Hansbrough, has missed the beginning of the season due to a "stress reaction" in his leg. What that means exactly, I'm not sure, but given that through last month he had only missed one practice and no games (in 3 years) it must be serious. Marcus Ginyard had surgery in Oct and will be out until mid-December. Mike Copeland tore his ACL in the spring and is out till mid-season. And now our 7-foot freshman, Tyler Zeller, is out for the season with a broken arm. That's tough. It's hard to watch your team struggle so much. We are cheering for them, hoping for quick recoveries, and anxiously reading every press release to see what the prognosis is. We're good fans. Maybe not quite as dedicated as those guys who paint their chests. But none of us hold a candle to this kid:

Apparently Nick decided the only way he could show his true, hardcore loyalty to the Tarheels was to throw himself off the trampoline and join the boys sitting on the bench. Wouldn't one of those stick-on tattoos have been sufficient? I think he is hoping he can redshirt the rest of his freshman year....
After Nick was hurt, Joshua decided it was time to step up and take care of his beloved brother. He read him his reader from school and gave him a piece of candy. He was very concerned when I put him to bed and prayed that not only would Nick's arm feel better, but that the doctors would be gentle with him. I was taking Nick to the ER around 11:30 last night (oh, did I mention this happened right after the youth group Bible study?) and the first thing he said this morning was, "How's Nick?"

Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery....

So here's where we stand: an avulsion fracture to his elbow and a severe sprain. 5 days in the splint to let the swelling go down. Apointment with orthopaedist next Tuesday to re-examine and determine course of action. Possiblities are: ligaments will help reattach the bone fragments that have been broken off, enabling him to spend his recovery in a soft splint. OR fracture requires longer and stronger stability and he'll be in a full-arm hard cast for 6 weeks. We're pulling for the first one....