Rose's Thorn

The dream that was the start of the playoffs has turned into a nightmare. And it's not just one of those nightmares that you wake up from in a cold sweat and then it's over; this has been a nightmare that has replayed over and over and over, and won't end anytime soon. It seems like every time I turn on the TV I see another replay of it. Derrick Rose was attacking like he always does, like few others can, and then something went horribly wrong. His knee just gave out and he slowly lowered himself to the court, holding his left leg. I couldn't believe it was that bad at first. I immediately assumed that he had just tweaked his ankle again and would be fine in a couple of days. Marv Albert was freaking out. He wasn't helping. Shut up, Marv! It's not that bad! Stop making a big deal out of it! A pause came, and the trainers came out to check on Rose. A hush came over the United Center, and his teammates looked on in disbelief.

I still couldn't accept that it might be serious. A close-up of Kyle Korver's face told the whole story. He - like the rest of the Bulls, like the city of Chicago, like Bulls fans everywhere - had just had the wind knocked out of him. The "Windy City" was wind-less (lame, I know, but I couldn't resist; consider it a little bit of comic relief). Then Derrick got up, supported on either side, and walked off the court and into the locker room. Ok, at least he wasn't carried off. He might be okay.

The Bulls won, but whatever. For the next few hours I got texts from my two older brothers and some friends expressing their condolances. Now that I have started coming to terms with what happened, I appreciate them more, but at the time I was still convinced that he was going to be fine. I was doing some homework. I decided to take a break and turn on the TV for a minute. ESPN was buzzing with the news. The nightmare came into full swing. My favorite player had torn his ACL. He was done for the rest of the season, effectively dooming the Bulls' hopes for a championship this year and probably next year as well. I was depressed, and I still am depressed. I'm sad for Derrick Rose, for the Bulls, for Chicago, and for the NBA in general. He is one of the league's brightest young stars, the youngest MVP in NBA history. I've never enjoyed watching someone play the game of basketball like I enjoy watching Derrick Rose. Here's to hoping (and praying) that he will make a full recovery and we'll get at least most of the same Derrick Rose back again.

I don't care if you're a Bulls fan or not. If you're a basketball fan, you should be feeling some of the hurt from the events of yesterday's game in Chicago. I sure am.

Check out Mike Wilbon's article about it.