I can remember sitting in class on Tuesday night, slightly nervous at the thought of the presentation I was going to have to deliver later on in the evening in front of my classmates. It was the good nervous, because I knew I was going to kill it. We had an intermission in class and that's my boy Patrick blurted out the news:
"Man, Derrick Rose hurt his knee again."
In an instant, all the nervousness left my body and the only thing I could feel is emptiness. Which was strange for a few reasons. One, Derrick Rose doesn't play for my team. Two, Derrick Rose isn't where I'm from. Three, he isn't kin to me at all.
Except...I feel like he is kin to me. Not in a way like we're blood, but he's the type of person I could never see myself hating as a player. I openly root for him at all times, almost like he's family. Now, at time where he's once again down for the count, all I can do is strongly encourage him to do is get up. Fight again. Keep ya head up.
In the vein of #KeepYaHeadUp, Powerade recently paired Tupac's legendary four-word phrase with a short vignette about a kid who grew up in Englewood, one of the hardest neighborhoods on Chicago's southside. The message? We are the roses that grows through the concrete, and we are all that kid from somewhere. Courtesy of 2Pac.com, the words are almost eerie to hear, as Pac's familiar voice sets the tone, but it's a message we can all take something away from.
Get well soon Derrick, get well soon.
Related: The Parallels Of Derrick Rose And Penny Hardaway
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”
