the DMZ afternoon: a seed, barring an ankle-relapse
And Hal is looking at getting a Third or maybe Fourth Seed in 18’s Singles; he’s definitely going, barring some sort of cataclysmic ankle-relapse against either Port Wash. or Québec.
Context
Hal's place secured by his number and threatened only by his body: he's a lock for a "Third or maybe Fourth Seed," going to the WhataBurger "barring some sort of cataclysmic ankle-relapse." The seeding is destiny, but the one variable that can overturn it is the chronic ankle — the same joint tracked from 034 through 165 to 179. The ranking machinery and the failing body are the two forces that decide the athlete's fate, and here they're weighed against each other in a single sentence: the seed says yes, the ankle could still say no.