Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Taylor Brown and the TAMK game.

I missed the first official game of the season against D-II opponent the Texas A&M - Kingsville Javelinas as I was taking a long overdue vacation with my wife.  Anyway, because I am who I am she got to listen to the second half of the game over internet radio (courtesy of WMBD) on my cell phone in the hotel room.  All things considered, it sounds like the Braves adjusted to circumstances well and put TAMK down, 66-55.  It's hard to have any useful impressions without having seen the game, but I'll take a win considering circumstances.  In other news Walt Lemon, Jr. had a sweet breakout game. 

The circumstances I keep mentioning darkened my little vacation significantly.  We were spending a few days in Sarasota and had just an incredible lunch at the locally recommended out-of-the-way Star Fish Company.  Well stuffed with delicious fresh seafood, we'd retired to our hotel room for a midday siesta.  I woke up, and checked Bradleyfans to see a developing story/rumor regarding Taylor Brown.  It sounded like something was up, and the mods at Bradleyfans had started pulling posts.  I worried it was injury or suspension for bad behavior, and that's the way the rumors were tending.  I decided to go back to sleep, and drifted off a little angry.  I woke up a few minutes later and saw the official story broken, TB out for season with some kind of heart problem. 

What terrible news, for all involved.  The fan's prerogative says I was worried about Bradley going forward, and I sure am.  All that aside though, what terrible news for a talented young basketball player.  The story starts with the tragic death of Bradley baseball player Phil Kaiser a few weeks ago.  Phil died of a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and as a result the university decided to check all their players at the Mayo Clinic for any unknown heart issues.  Turns out Taylor Brown has one... Not sure even what it is, but it entails him engaging in no sports activity for three months before he can be retested.  I hope it turns out he's got nothing or can be treated for whatever the condition is.  At this point, it's uncertain if Taylor can ever play basketball again, so I wish him all the best however it all turns out.  I feel very sorry that he has to spend a season on the bench cheering on his team instead of playing.  Good luck and get well soon, Taylor!

No comments:

Post a Comment