Chapter 26
Aimee was right – from the moment the whistle blew, I was completely in the game, and it was fast, furious and rough. I don’t know where the time went, but it flew. Our first two-quarters were great and I’ve no doubt the excitement of the huge home crowd and playing together again helped; I know I was super pumped. I took a few hits and a few dramatic falls and slides; in my peripheral vision I could see The Russian bracing, as if he wanted to come on court and save me. Luckily, Mia was sitting next to him, being the voice of reason I imagine. When I did get the occasional breather to look at him, his eyes shone with love and I just soaked it all in. Tia on the other side of him was decked out completely in Suns gear and was her own cheer squad. It looked like she had made friends with the kids next to her, and they were having a great time –that’s what it was all about.
As for my knee, I could feel it – I knew I would be lucky to see this game out, my days in the ‘Sun’ were definitely over. Aimee was having a blinder of a game, Steffi was out early with an injury, but I thought she was going to be okay to come back on later and the girls were just knitting together tightly. It was so good to be back, even if I only had one more shot at it.
At halftime the Seattle Sky were trailing us by 10 points, which was great, but we didn’t want to get complacent. Coach delivered one of her shortest halftime speeches – I don’t know what had gotten into her, maybe she was happy with how we were progressing! She did however hit the nail on the head with her choice of words:
“Look around at what this team is made of and made up of,” Coach said, and we all looked into each others’ faces. “Some of you won’t be here next season, some of you will finish your careers today, but this team is made of passion and loyalty.”
We all agreed and I tried not to get misty eyed. Coach continued. “This is our last game of the season as a complete team before we head into the final series, and yes, while we’ve already secured our place in the finals, think about this game ... how do you want to go out?” That was the perfect motivation ... we all knew how we wanted the game to end, how we wanted it recorded in history.
I heard later that security had had to rescue The Russian and Tia from crowds to get them back to their seat when Tia had wanted to go to the toilet. Luckily, there was no shortage of ladies prepared to take her in as The Russian waited some distance outside. Next time, Mia took Tia ... yep, three trips she made ... way too much to drink and I imagined Lana was going to give The Russian a serve for the sugar hit later.
We were back on for the final half and I felt the overwhelming significance of it for me. I had been playing since I could walk, it was all I knew. I was so grateful for the commentary job ... I couldn’t imagine the grief I’d be feeling if I was going to leave the game for good. Sure, I might have gotten to report on the game with the newspaper or online, but now, I’d be traveling to the games again with the girls from all different teams. The whistle blew.
The Sky came back as determined as we were, and we lost some ground to them. At one stage they were leading. I felt the perspiration pouring off me and saw the battle-hardened faces of my teammates.
I remember reading the press clippings days after the match, and one in particular that said “Brooker took over like a woman giving her all. As the Suns clung to a 55-53 lead in the last quarter, Brooker turned up the heat, and with the support of her team, the Suns took out victory with a five-point lead. Carla Brooker said goodbye to her on-court basketball career in style.”
It didn’t seem like that at the time; I was just playing hard like everyone else – determined to win this final match. I don’t remember the noise of the crowd or being distracted by The Russian or the Saints right on court in their VIP seats. I just remember playing fluidly with my team for that one last time, and I loved it.
As the final siren sounded, we leaped for joy – we had done it, we had won. Our fans went crazy and so did we, hugging each other. We were in the finals for sure, but I wouldn’t be playing them. This was enough for me. We shook hands with the Sky and then we did a lap of the court, thanking our fans. As I got to the VIP seats—despite being super sweaty, and let’s face it, stinky—The Russian gave me a kiss and hug that had the professional photographers and everyone with a camera phone around us going berserk. Tia gave me a hug too as she wrinkled her nose.
The Saints boys pecked me on the cheek and shook hands with the other Suns’ girls as they passed by and I thanked Mia, Tiffany and Sasha for coming along.
“It was great,” Sasha said. “I think I’ll try and get a job as media manager for the Suns and drop the Saints.”
“Hey!” Nik said.
She shrugged. “You’re right, the scenery won’t be as good for me.”
I laughed and thought there was no way I could say that comment to The Russian. It might push him over the edge. The Suns and I headed back for the presentations and as I came up to get a huge bouquet of flowers that the team had bought for me, I was walking with a slight limp. My body was cooling down and the injury was kicking in. But it had held up through the game, thank you knee, thank you body! Thank you, God!
Afterward, as I hobbled with the other girls down to the race, the Russian and Tia came over to the run and I gave Tia the flowers and asked her to give them to Lana. I wouldn’t be going straight home, and I was sure she would enjoy having them in the house.
“Will you come over tonight when you finish celebrating with the girls?” he whispered in my ear. The Russian had been invited, but it would be match day for him the day after, so he had to stay home, eat carbs and watch the other teams play.
“Only if you’re okay with that ... I can see you at the match tomorrow,” I said.
“I need you there so I can sleep.”
“I won’t be late,” I assured him, gave him a quick kiss so we didn’t make a circus of it, and leaned down to accept a hug from Tia. I waved them off. This time, there would be no social media shots of me with guys in our group ... we were not going there again.
I followed the last of the Suns’ girls into the run, to shower, get some physio and celebrate. My Coach walked beside me, her hand on my shoulder.