Because of a shoe , a game was lost at DUKE

There's an old proverb that goes : Because of a nail, a  war was lost.  (does anyone know how that goes?)

We saw a version of that the other night when in the first  few minutes of play the heralded ZION WILLIAMSON  fell down with his knees akimbo and his left  foot peeking through his Nike sneaker.
Nike stock dropped the next day, but  more immediately  conjecture  flew about the future of the player from Duke who  was expected to be the number one draft choice in the NBA.
Since then Duke play has been more erratic.  But they are having the  experience of  creating a new game plan that does not include ZION TO THE RESCUE and the talents of the other rookies on the team are developing and on better display.  Best of both worlds?? Zion returns to a more confident and seasoned team and they get to the FINAL FOUR.

THEN AGAIN THERE IS THE DEBACLE IN BOSTON

The Celtics have  not yet  recovered from the  much awaited return of  Kyrie Irving and  Hayward.  But there is no joy in Mudville--oops wrong sport--but same outcome.
Kyrie looked last night like he was too bored to play against the  Raptors.  There seems to be  a great discord and  nothing people in and outside of the team say seems to heal it.  I guess the players who were so great and heralded last year thought that they would still be that way when the best player returned..  But that did not happen--of course Kyrie is their best player--but the other players want to be given some  part where they can shine   in the play and not  just be a supporting cast waiting in the wings--or on the bench in this case.

Of course this is where the coach usually can help, but not if it is true as reported that Coach Brad "rarely intrudes into the locker room."  If he doesn't, then there is no one moderating the discussions or actions there.  
Well, I  fear it is too late for this  season unless the formidable LUCK OF THE IRISH  falls down from the rafters and grants them a Leprechaun's rainbow to lead them to the  NBA finals. 
It is a LONG SEASON.

SAVOR The VICTORY

  Today is a happy day for me.  I can rest on the laurels of Al Horford and  LeBron James for a full day.  Tonight it all begins again as the Celtics go into the first game of their  battle against the 76ers.  So in that brief interim of victory for both my teams I am  also free of pain--rare--and the day is sunny.
Yash and I  decide to put together a little gift package  for our one and only grand daughter Rowan.
I have stayed away from talking about her because I did not want to  see my prose dissolve into saccharine  praise.  But she is my delight.
My mother Margaret  and my mother-in law Hilda both adored  my son Joey.  At the time I did not understand the intensity of that devotion.  Now in retrospect I understand and feel how much it must have hurt them when  Joey's father and I departed  Pawtucket to venture  out to Illinois for graduate school. Joey was only  two and a half and neither of us had  ever  even visited Urbana, Illinois.
Now I see how the Holy Spirit must have guided us -- so ignorant and provincial as we were.
The University of Illinois is a TEMPLE OF EDUCATION and  I felt it the moment  I stepped on campus and saw the glorious quad.
The amazing library holds millions of volumes and changed the whole  experience of writing a research paper.
I made a great choice without  knowing it, and it was a lucky place to be.  I have been grateful  for the last  50 years and I had my first and best  experience of what a University could be when  I went there in 1966.  I had finally found my people .

So we drove to the post office near Saint  Teresa's  Church and Yash went in to mail the package.  After we left we stopped at BK on Newport to get what Yash calls the 3 dollar lunch--their 2 Whoppers for 6 dollars.  Then into Slater Park where we  ate the  burgers and watched the geese while listening to Leonard Cohen --one of my favorites.  I decided to take a leisurely tour home so I drove back via Columbus Avenue and  down Pond Street.
 When I passed the old Memorial Hospital, I  stopped the car to look at the  building that once housed the  Nurses Residence. It is a lovely late Victorian style, gracious and a little ornate. I remember as a child watching the student nurses coming in and out in their capes and lovely caps. Whenever I watch CALL THE MIDWIVES I think of those crisp and lively young women.  I do hope that  they preserve that  building.

 Once I am in that nostalgic mood, I  want to go downtown. In my mind I am walking it.  There once was a drugstore at the corner of Prospect and Pond Street and it was a perfect stop on the way  to shopping on Main Street. Now there is just a vacant lot. 
 Continuing down  Prospect Street just before the intersection  with Division Street,  I would come to a  small grocery store.  If you know what to look, for you can still see on your right the entrance  and  window of the store--the first  floor of a three-decker. They had a well stocked candy counter, and the  girl who was the  child of the owners often  waited on me behind that counter.  How I envied her that job!
 I gave her a  nickel and pointed to the  varieties of  penny candy that I  wanted,  and she  gave me a nice selection in a  small bag.  That would keep me happy for the rest of the walk to the  downtown.  Once I got to the Main Street  Bridge I would stand there and watch the waters foam beneath until I had finished the candy,  I was exactly where I wanted to be. I still feel that flush of pleasure when I cross the Bridge and look over to the Slater Mill perched on the Falls.  
I am in a Pawtucket state of mind.