Mrs. Lo's First Football Injury

MRS. LO's FIRST FOOTBALL INJURY - For two years, Big Coach has been saying, "I broke every finger in both hands, so many times, if you want your kid to be a surgeon, you better forget about football." Football is not a Sport for Life, he always said, but Rowing is. As is Swimming. That is true. What is not true: Mrs. Lo did not actually get injured. Christian may have broken a finger, he may not, he may have just jammed it and it's swollen. He's getting checked out right now. But remember, this is MRS. LO'S Saturday Morning Blog, so this is about my experience with a possible injury to a child who has never been injured despite playing sport for 10 years. This is about my initiation into this new sport he has chosen. I should add, this is club football, and he hasn't even had a scrimmage yet, just a lot of practices. We called Bourne last night, who is studying to be an Athletic Trainer, and he said to ice and buddy tape it. Then I told him what Big Coach said about breaking all his fingers. "Yeah, that happens, Mrs. Lo, I broke every finger in my hand too." Then I remembered what his Bourne's Dad said, about his son having played through the States game with a dislocated thumb. I worked out with my personal trainer, David Diggle, at Planet Fitness this morning. Diggle was a Defensive End for VC, then UConn. Can you believe the coincidence, I asked him! Both Big Coach and Bourne broke all of their fingers! Diggle just looked at me. "Yeah, Mrs. Lo, I broke all my fingers, most of my toes and ripped the ligaments in this finger, it still doesn't bend all the way. It's kind of part of the game." Part of the game? Maybe an unfortunate, unintended consequence to playing the game but you don't mean it's an integral part of the game. "Oh yeah, I do mean that," said Diggle. I also had a feeling, they were all holding back on telling me everything. Like when you hear someone's trying to start a family and the last thing you want to do is tell them what childbirth is REALLY like, because there's an unwritten "code" about that kind of thing. Bourne and Diggle both said, broken, not broken, you suit up, and whether you practice or not depends on the situation. "It's not like he's getting ready for States," they both said. But you don't understand my son. Every crew meet, he's getting ready for States. Every crew practice, he wants to win the races they set up. Every football practice, he wants to be the first up the Hill. I am on my way to take Michael to swim lessons, to tune up his butterfly so he can be ready for the Swim Team. A sport for Life, Big Coach would say. And I am waiting to hear about Christian's finger. Broken or not broken, he just wants to get back out there. Whether he sticks with this sport, goes back to crew, or takes up Handball, Anthony and I will be here to support him. I'm learning about this sport every day. And I'm willing to put my most precious resources, my boys, into the two most dangerous sports, football and Crew. Michael is now a full fledged member of the Newburgh Rowing Club, and Christian will be back for Spring Season. In a sense, it goes against the grain of what it means to be a mother, the desire to protect and cocoon your child. But as my dear friend, who is now a College Football Mom said, "Julie, let them train him up to play the right way. Otherwise, he will go out to the park and play without pads, with kids who know what they're doing, and that's how he will really get hurt." So, actually, football is a Sport for Life in the sense that there will always be that pickup game, that backyard touch football game, and that Thanksgiving Day game when he has kids of his own. God Bless all the Football Moms and Grandmoms, I have a new and enduring respect for you all! Have a great day everyone and remember to Count Your Blessings -- TWICE!  Mrs. Lo (No. 56 Bourne and Christian doing drills)