Our time is short, as the sound of shoulder pads colliding has arrived and will soon be followed by the sweet sound of basketball nets swishing and the magic of vulcanized rubber flying off curved sticks at triple digit speeds.Surely, we will miss each other when we depart from the diamond, but.... oh, to hell with the soft stuff. Let’s finish what we started in March and close out this damn mission strong.On a much different note, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge what happened exactly 17 years ago on Tuesday. Those of us who experienced the horror and heroism on that day will never forget where we were and how our emotions were twisted.