Broken losing streaks, noses, and arms

Team Toe Bash (as my indoor team is affectionately known) finally came through with a victory last night, finishing the regular season at 1-7. We fought from behind twice, erasing 2-0 and 3-2 deficits before taking our first lead with just over two minutes left to play in the match. We held on for a hard-fought 4-3 victory. I managed to assist the game winner after narrowly missing a full volley from just a few yards out. The rebound came right to me and I placed a centering pass directly in front of the net for Christian to slam home. Christian, a former club team player for the Green Weenies in Athens, Ohio, will also be joining me on Arsenal this summer.

Minutes earlier I was drilled in the face with an attempted clearance by my teammate Chris, another OU grad. In 21 years of playing this sport, this is the first time I've ever been hit in the face with a ball. Elbows, forearms, fists, feet, the ground, goal posts....never the ball. Kinda stung a little big, but after a brief pause I continued playing and finished the game. It did start to bleed, but thankfully the referee didn't notice because I would have had to leave the match. After heading to the team's bar, Durkins, with Iowa and the team last night, I didn't really feel a thing. However, I looked in the mirror this morning and my nose is more crooked than it was before. It's also a nice shade of black and blue. It's also pretty hard to breath out of my right nostril, but I can't tell if that's because it's broken (I really don't think it is) or because the blood clotted up. A couple more days and the new medical insurance kicks in, so if it doesn't get better maybe I'll get it checked out.

Anyways...so the Buckeyes clinched a share of the Big Ten title last night with a win over Northwestern. They struggled most of the game, but Ron Lewis drove to the hoop and made the eventual winning basket with 14 seconds left. After a turnover on the other end, Lewis missed the front end of a 1-and-1, giving the Wildcats a chance with 1.5 seconds remaining. The inbounds pass went directly out of bounds and the Buckeyes Je'Kel Foster iced it by hitting two free throws with just one-tenth of a second remaining for the 56-53 win. Ohio State closes out the season on Sunday at home against last-place Purdue. A win would give them the out-right Big Ten title. Ohio State's women's hoopsters have already won the regular season title, so a men's win would make the Buckeyes the first school to win the Big Ten championship in both during the same season. Awesome.

In other news, it looks like Iowa's roommate is going to be okay. She had surgery yesterday to repair her shattered arm from her accident on Sunday. Her left arm is now plated with titanium and her wrist is made of plastic. She was getting nauseous from the pain killers, but seemed to be holding herself together okay. The word is that the passenger in the taxi that hit her is still in critical condition. They told us that if he lives, he'll probably never walk again. Sad. Very sad. I'm just glad Cailin came out okay.