My son's team has their big playoff game tomorrow and they did a short walkthrough tonight.

Afterwards he and his friend ran to the drinking fountain which means I'm doing the old dribble-two-balls-while-carrying-the-equipment-bag routine towards the parking lot.

I had to cross over a walking path to get to my car. I waited for some pedestrians to clear, then kicked the first ball across. As soon as my foot made contact with the second ball, out of my blind spot came a bicyclist at high speed - head down, staring at his phone, no hands on the handle bars, oblivious to the world around him.

Immediately I saw disaster flash before my eyes. The ball was going to roll right in between his tires. With no time to react or protect himself the helmetless rider would fly over the handle bars, never knowing what hit him until the concrete did.

I cringed and attempted to yell some sort of warning. It was hopeless. "Man Killed By Soccer Dad" headlines were milliseconds away.

Then the miracle.

Somehow he sped up just enough at the last second that the ball just grazed off his rear spokes and bounced back. The dude cruised down the path none-the-wiser. He never even knew I (or the ball) were there.

I needed a second to gather myself back together, relieved that I would not be following my son's game tomorrow while under investigation for manslaughter.