Here we go round the prickly pear

"We tried to help him up and he just said, 'It's over, it's over,' " Miami's Udonis Haslem said. (From ESPN.)

Much like Roland Barthes, Mourning's career has (likely) ended, not in a blaze of glory, but in a moment of near-irony. After all, this is the same player who came back after a kidney transplant and played a fairly significant role in the last Miami championship.

But it shouldn't be that unexpected, really.

For a while. I was "against" "endings" in my "stories." I always tried to finish them on a somewhat-ambiguous, open note. More like real life, I'd say. The only problem is, that's not like real life either.

The actuality of any event can be surprising. But, ultimately, what makes an ending either satisfying or dissatisfying is the story you put behind it.

Sweat and a misstep, perhaps, ends a career.