Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Bum Leg & Web 2.0

Friday night, as I played basketball with my boys, I decided to prove once and for all that white man can jump. Well I certainly did it. I jumped higher than I ever had as that alley-oop pass was slung towards the iron. I don't mind telling you that I looked like Larry Bird on steroids. I jumped so high that I actually barely missed the ball - drats!

Then it happened. As I magically hung above the backboard like a floating Super Man, gravity called me home, with a crash I might add.

Yes I proved white men can jump - they just can't land well.

Trying desperately to avoid Zachary my ten year old son who had positioned below me to grab the ball I contorted my frame to miss the boy entirely. Unfortunately I landed with a thud on an ankle that wasn't ready for me and seconds later I lain on the driveway writhing in pain. Super Man apparently I am not.

The next day as I laid on the couch and watched my ankle grow to the size of a small pumpkin, I realized I had my iPhone on my hip. I snapped a picture and yelled for one of the boys to bring me my Macbook Pro. Moments later I uploaded a picture of my alienish looking ankle to Flickr and decided to Twitter about my experience. Twitter ties into Facebook and before you know it I had Twitter and Facebook messages from a legion of incredible people. Then my phone start ringing with calls from friends offering well wishes and text message after text message came in offering much of the same.

It was the oddest thing. I never in a million years would have thought anyone would care about my tiny little accident. Then again, I forgot I am a guy who is connected with some incredible people in a web 2.0 world. The power and ease in which we can communicate our "status" and keep people appraised of the happs in our lives still fascinates me.

So as I pound out this BLOG post on some powerful pain killers (I only thought I was flying on Friday night!), sitting on my couch with my leg elevated, I realize now how connected we really are. For a guy who's still in considerable pain, it's that connection that brings a smile to my face and makes that pain a little more tolerable.

Ripple On!!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yipes Steve,

I can't tell you the shivers that ran throughout my body as I read and imagined what happened. As I type this and picture the action the skin crawling feeling continues.

Having taken a spill of my own recently, I wish you a speedy recovery.

Kevin

Sue said...

Ouch. I'm sorry I didn't send you well wishes sooner!

Hope you feel MUCH better soon!

Tom Magness said...

Dude, that is one funky looking ankle. I hope that by now you have recovered and are back on the court. Next time, grab onto the rim and make sure the ground below is clear, then drop down comfortably. I've seen them do that in the NBA! Hang in there, my friend. TM