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Authors: Chris Leslie-Hynan
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scent faintly wet my knuckles. I looked into its eyes to see if it saw trouble; it stared back at me blankly. I folded up the flyer and slipped it into one of his pricing guides, protruding like a fat bookmark.
When I crossed to go out back, I saw he had her in his arms. They were dancing. I stopped in the doorway, and I could not look away. She reached both her hands up to his face and ran her thin, splintered-looking fingers through his beard. Then she reached up again and pulled on his ears to make him bend down, her face flushing with the quick, childish assertion of need. It was adorable, and bending down he was so swelled with pride and calm he looked bored, as a lion looks bored. I watched their lips meet once more.
Swaying to the songâs tender mope, she drew away, and their dance became goofy, and entirely unselfconscious, and when they began to kick up their feet and shimmy at one another, I knew Iâd been forgotten. I didnât know whether to break something minor so they would look at me, or grit my teeth and try to forgive them, or just to go away, and then Calyph pivoted, as if to give a specially strong kick, and his knee gave way beneath him, and as he crumpled to the ground I heard a little pop, as if a jar had been unsealed.
4
The next morning was cloudless again . In a breeze sweet with the smell of pines baking in the sun, I took my laptop to the window, found an unsecured connection, and looked across the Internet for Calyph. I found him on the ESPN sidebar, with the secondary news:
WEST TO UNDERGO MICROFRACTURE
SURGERY, MISS SEASON
Portland, Ore.
Less than a week after agreeing to a five-year, $32 million contract extension, the Portland Trail Blazers announced that forward Calyph West will undergo microfracture surgery on his left knee, and is expected to miss all of the upcoming season.
West, the 14th overall pick in the 2004 draft out of North Carolina, was expected to compete with Travis Outlaw for a starting spot at the small forward position. Last year he averaged 10.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in 21.5 minutes a game.
âCalyphâs been a great addition over the past three years,â Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said. âObviously, we believe heâs a core part of our team, and fortunately we think heâs young enough to make a full recovery. In the meantime, we do feel we have great depth at the position.â
West is scheduled to fly to Birmingham, Ala., where the surgery will be performed by Dr. James Andrews. He is expected to be on crutches for up to eight weeks. Full recovery likely will take six to 12 months, the team said. The Trail Blazers would not comment on the status of Westâs new contract.
It was a distant, ignorant thing, and I wanted to pour more life into it. Never having been close to an event worthy of the sporting news, itâd never occurred to me that every dry summary must be backed by a weight of intimate and unprintable detail, the meows and dances of a private life. I was there, I wanted to shout, I know about it all. But what was Calyph to them? The next year would be the worst of his life, his career could be in jeopardy, and yet all the people open to that page at the same moment as I, what did they feel? A distant satisfaction. They had gone hoping for news and there was some. The world was going round. Even if they were fans, theyâd say, âWell, that clears up the rotation.â
It was hard to know whether to feel responsible. I went back and forth about the sculpture a thousand times. Heâd seemed fine afterward, had worked himself out and been satisfied. Still, I remember the look on his face when he leapt away from the ice. With knees sometimes itâs the smallest thing.
After we heard the pop, he lay there a moment, looking only perplexed, like heâd tried to sit in a broken chair. I could see Antoniaâs face go gaunt with uncertainty, frozen in the last moment when denial was still
When I crossed to go out back, I saw he had her in his arms. They were dancing. I stopped in the doorway, and I could not look away. She reached both her hands up to his face and ran her thin, splintered-looking fingers through his beard. Then she reached up again and pulled on his ears to make him bend down, her face flushing with the quick, childish assertion of need. It was adorable, and bending down he was so swelled with pride and calm he looked bored, as a lion looks bored. I watched their lips meet once more.
Swaying to the songâs tender mope, she drew away, and their dance became goofy, and entirely unselfconscious, and when they began to kick up their feet and shimmy at one another, I knew Iâd been forgotten. I didnât know whether to break something minor so they would look at me, or grit my teeth and try to forgive them, or just to go away, and then Calyph pivoted, as if to give a specially strong kick, and his knee gave way beneath him, and as he crumpled to the ground I heard a little pop, as if a jar had been unsealed.
4
The next morning was cloudless again . In a breeze sweet with the smell of pines baking in the sun, I took my laptop to the window, found an unsecured connection, and looked across the Internet for Calyph. I found him on the ESPN sidebar, with the secondary news:
WEST TO UNDERGO MICROFRACTURE
SURGERY, MISS SEASON
Portland, Ore.
Less than a week after agreeing to a five-year, $32 million contract extension, the Portland Trail Blazers announced that forward Calyph West will undergo microfracture surgery on his left knee, and is expected to miss all of the upcoming season.
West, the 14th overall pick in the 2004 draft out of North Carolina, was expected to compete with Travis Outlaw for a starting spot at the small forward position. Last year he averaged 10.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in 21.5 minutes a game.
âCalyphâs been a great addition over the past three years,â Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said. âObviously, we believe heâs a core part of our team, and fortunately we think heâs young enough to make a full recovery. In the meantime, we do feel we have great depth at the position.â
West is scheduled to fly to Birmingham, Ala., where the surgery will be performed by Dr. James Andrews. He is expected to be on crutches for up to eight weeks. Full recovery likely will take six to 12 months, the team said. The Trail Blazers would not comment on the status of Westâs new contract.
It was a distant, ignorant thing, and I wanted to pour more life into it. Never having been close to an event worthy of the sporting news, itâd never occurred to me that every dry summary must be backed by a weight of intimate and unprintable detail, the meows and dances of a private life. I was there, I wanted to shout, I know about it all. But what was Calyph to them? The next year would be the worst of his life, his career could be in jeopardy, and yet all the people open to that page at the same moment as I, what did they feel? A distant satisfaction. They had gone hoping for news and there was some. The world was going round. Even if they were fans, theyâd say, âWell, that clears up the rotation.â
It was hard to know whether to feel responsible. I went back and forth about the sculpture a thousand times. Heâd seemed fine afterward, had worked himself out and been satisfied. Still, I remember the look on his face when he leapt away from the ice. With knees sometimes itâs the smallest thing.
After we heard the pop, he lay there a moment, looking only perplexed, like heâd tried to sit in a broken chair. I could see Antoniaâs face go gaunt with uncertainty, frozen in the last moment when denial was still
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