Victory - of a sort...

After two very carefully edited emails, the DC has acquiesced and our dodgeball league will be adhering to a slightly modified version of the NADA (National Amateur Dodgeball Association) rules.

Because of my adamance, there has been a suggestion that we change the name of our team from the "Ball Dodgers" (with all the queer jokes that implies) to the "Rules Nazis." We jokingly discussed black t-shirts with the name silk-screened in the Waffen SS font (for those of you who aren't WWII historians, a tastless example can be found here). Flynn, our resident Jew, would likely have problems with that design...

While I'm pleased to claim this victory on behalf of rules lawyers everywhere, it is somewhat bittersweet. She already hates our team, and now it's almost certain that she will seek retribution of some sort - possibly by voodoo. She may have already started...

Last week at dodgeball I hurt my elbow by throwing too hard - nothing serious, just a little strain. I let it rest until Friday afternoon, when I was scheduled to play handball with Vanilla Fresh, Squid, Flynn, Troy, and Maggie. I got about 5 or 6 rallies into the first game, and my elbow began to throb. By the time our scores were in the low teens, I was holding up my right forearm with my left hand between serves. Once the game ended, I said my goodbyes and headed home.

I have had broken bones and fairly severe joint injuries before, and I can honestly say that this was one of the most acute owies I have ever had. When I reached my car to drive home I was nauseous from the pain, and I nearly fainted coming up the steps into the house. G-Fresh hooked me up with her cryocuff and 8 Ibuprofen but the cold actually seemed to make it worse. After about 20 minutes of that I was seriously contemplating going to the emergency room - the pain originated in my elbow but it was shooting up the front of my bicep and into my shoulder joint. I figured that I had tweaked my elbow enough to pinch a major nerve in there, and I was just about ready for some serious pain meds. I decided to give the vitamin i a little more time to work, and I switched from the cryocuff to a heat wrap instead. In just a few minutes the pain began to subside and eventually I drifted off to sleep for about 2 hours.

When G-Fresh woke me, I was amazed to find that the pain was almost completely gone. I'm puzzled how something could hurt that badly and then be fine just a few hours later. My elbow is slightly swollen, but it's only painful if I try to pick up something heavy - in normal use it's fine.

It was while we were at the handball courts that the DC sent out her email, accepting my interpretation of the rules. Coincidence? I think not. I can only surmise that the she is actually a voodoo priestess, and she has a little Black Pope doll with a bunch of pins in its right elbow.

I need counter-magic - STAT.