Nathaniel Garland

Sports does certain things.  First of all, it lets you know that, “I can do what he does,” or, “I can do what you do, and if I can’t, I can watch you, and I can learn.” That allows me to grow, it teaches me organization, and it teaches me to work within a framework of a team.  I become a part of something.  And it also -- this is the thing that sports does -- teaches you that you can do more than you think as a part of something larger than yourself.  You see, I played with a broken hand, fingers that were busted. When we were playing in our last game, I watched that same kid -- Tito, John Sandborn -- kid stepped on him and spiked him, and you could see that he literally did like this.  And they said, “Come out of the game.”  He said, “No.”  They took these fingers and taped them together.  You saw them stick that bloody hand up in the air.  We marched down the field and scored with ten seconds on them.  Last undefeated season at Albemarle High School.  I was a part of that team.  You don’t teach that.  That come from camaraderie, a team effort.  “We’re going to win, we’re going to go forward, and I am a part of this just as much as he is.”  And no one can separate you from that.  That experience is yours; it’s unique.  That’s why when you see those guys out there winning Super Bowls and winning NCAA championships, flag football -- I hear my daughter, to this day, talk about, “Yeah, I played with the girls.  I played football.”  I’m like, “Really?”  I say it like that, but I understand.  That was her and her girlfriends.  Boy, and they was out there doing it.  And it’s the same thing anywhere; there’s something about it.  It’s like when you’re in church and the same things -- man, I used to sing in the choir.  Well, I’m a part of this or that.  And even when Jesus sent the disciples out, he sent them out two by two. He didn’t say, “You go over there, and you go over there.”  We support each other; it’s imperative.  It’s how human nature works.  It’s just how it works, and when you got a part to be on that team, your blood runs red just like theirs do.  When somebody hits you hard enough, it hurts, and you remember that.  It’s internal.  It happens physically, but it’s intellectual at the same time.  And to answer directly what your question is, yes, it can be a vehicle because what happens is people that you normally wouldn't speak to or associate with, you find that you will become a teammate with in sports, whether it’s on the track or whatever.  And even when you and that person aren’t the greatest whatever, when you see him running down that runway to do the long jump or the pole vault or whatever, it’s a part of you that’s rooting for him to do it, to succeed, and it’s just natural.  It’s in us.