Kick ball injury

Nothing is more reminiscent of childhood than a rousing game of kickball. Nothing brings back the humbling reality of age like a kickball injury. I kicked too hard and pulled a muscle in my leg. Seriously. This was the second practice of the kickball season with a departmental intramural team. Our first game (out of four) is tomorrow and it will be a real bummer if I'm unable to play due to an injury. I'm the Chipper Jones of kickball. I had such a promising beginning but I'm delicate. One missed stretching session and I'm out of the game. Sigh.

It started out beautifully. Life was tough, work was hard, and we'd all signed up for a summer of childish revelry. I had some doubts but I decided to give it my all and have a good time. Did I ever! The rest of the games and practices may never measure up to that first one. Much like the Pirates of the Carribean movies, my expectations started out low but after the first thrilling experience, I got too hopeful. It's not possible for future events to measure up but, even if it were, well, we'll see. The first practice, no one wanted to go home. Time ticked by and we left reluctantly after two hours of good times. There were blood, sweat, and collisions. I ran as hard as I could from base-to-base, looking down at my legs and imagining that I was running so fast they were blurring like the legs of Road Runner evading Wile E. Coyote. It was an experience that cannot be replicated.

During practice number two, conditions were such that I arrived late, teams had already been assigned and I was on offense. I hadn't warmed up, my muscles were cold. I came up to the plate, gave it my all and *rrrrip*. I attempted to run but my pop-fly had been caught. It was the third out. I limped into the field. The rest of the game went likewise. Three up, three down every inning. The magic was gone. There were few collisions and no blood. After just an hour people started saying things like, "One more inning and I need to go to a basketball game." I limped on to my car and spent the evening icing and heating my ridiculous injury. It's still stiff this morning so I took an Aleve. The curtain has been drawn back. I'm thirty years old and kickball is for the young.