"Sorry, son. We can fix most of this up, but not without putting you
into "Augmented," under the rules of the CBA."

"What? I thought I got, like, 2 joints grace. Do the back and hip,
I'll rehab the knee without intervention."

"Two joints is for a player with three years service on the eligible
roster, or four with up to two years on the taxi squad."

"So the vets get two, but I don't."

"That is correct."

Don't say it isn't fair. Don't say it. Don't say it.

"Guess who votes on the CBA, kid."

"Yeah. I get it." Players union is always giving away rookie rights.
It's the one place they can compromise without pissing off the voting
members.

Of course it's not fair.

*

In the second game of the regular season, Evans gets a compound
fracture of the femur. The highlight shows play it a dozen times,
from every different angle-the sickening backwards bend, the glint of
bone poking up through meat. Every single time they warn the viewers
not to watch. It's his fifteen minutes of fame, far eclipsing his
only other highlight show appearance, a holding call that cost the
team an opening round playoff game in his second year.


He draws a 20% pension for eighteen months before dying in
an "alcohol-related gun accident."

*

Four years later, Mike's the same age Evans was at the moment he
ended Mike's career. At 6'9", 315, he doesn't fit easily into cars.
He thinks he's managed to erase his Texas accent, but somehow the New
York women can still hear it and don't seem to find it charming.
Michael Royal, Second Team All-American and the 29th overall pick in
the '38 draft, is working a dead end security job with no prospects.
He has arthritis in his damaged hip because he doesn't have the money
the repair job would cost. He walks with a slight limp, and will have
back pain for the rest of his life.


He is twenty-six years old.