Spring break for Toronto podiatrist

All winter, patients have been asking me if I’d gone away at all to get away from the cold.  The answer was no.  However, I decided to go somewhere during March break. I needed to do something other than Minimally Invasive Foot Surgery for Bunions in my Toronto Ontario Podiatry Office.

I went to Buffalo. 

I attended the 20^thannual Buffalo Masters’ Basketball Tournament held March 15^th, 16^th, and 17^that the University of Buffalo, Alumni Arena. It is billed as the North American Masters’ Basketball Championships. I attended not only as a podiatry consultant, but also as an athlete.  The player’s ages ranged from thirties all the way to seventy five and beyond.  All athletes played in appropriate age categories. There were 60 teams and approximately 550 competitors

In addition to playing four games in a little bit more than twenty four hours, I also had the pleasure of watching many other games.  The Alumni Arena is quite an impressive facility. In the main building where the University of Buffalo plays their games, one game would be going on the main court and games were going on at the same time on three separate courts that surround the main court. In addition to this, there was a separate practice facility that had four more courts.  I was able to watch games involving different age groups.  The love of the game was obvious in all age groups.  The main difference was that as you went up in age groups, the game slowed down incrementally.  I was particularly amazed by the oldest athletes.  When they put on their basketball shoes and got on the courts, they became young again.

As I mentioned, I played in four games in a little over 24 hours.  Playing the games was not really the toughest part.  The hard part was the stiffness that set in between the games.  Thank goodness for anti-inflammatory medication.

Friday was free pizza and chicken wings night courtesy of Santora’s restaurant.  I didn’t eat the wings, but the pizza was quite good.

I have the privilege of playing in the Scarborough Master’s league here in Toronto. The league was pleased to send a number of players and teams to the tournament.  Our ages ranged from mid-fifties to early seventies.  I will not tell you what category I played in.

It was a lot of fun to participate and it was amazing to be surrounded by so many grown men who have not lost their child-like love for the game.  I heard somebody ask one veteran how his team did in the last game.  His answer summed it all up for me.

“We did good. The other team scored more points is all.”