Comments on: When Missing Your Free Throws is a Good Thing

By: Ray Fowler

Ray Fowler — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 13:53:28 +0000

MaryBeth – Wow, that’s another great story. Thank you for sharing it with us.

By: MaryBeth Fleming

MaryBeth Fleming — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 13:25:47 +0000

I thought you might like to hear about this story. Recently one of my son’s friends was hit head on on his way into school. He did nothing wrong the other driver (a 50 yr. gentleman) suffered a medical emergency and passed out crossing the centerline and hitting him. That night the varsity basketball team, which my son and his friend were on, was to play against Shepherd a very good bball team. Our team had been struggling all year with injuries etc and we knew before that day that it would be a tough game. We never dreamed how tough. The Shepherd team heard about the accident and the game was postponed until the next Thursday. The young basketball player was critically injured and in a medically induced coma. Thursday came and when we entered the gym there were the Shepherd fans dressed in our school colors with the teen’s name and number on their shirts. The players on the team wore sweatbands with his name and number to match our teams. We played great we lead for a lot of the game which was a miracle. In the previous game we lost by 20. Shepherd picked up their game a lot (they are good) and we lost by 9. However, I feel that the team looked at it as a win. It felt like their teammate was sitting there routing them on. All I can say is that the Shepherd school is a classy school and this was a game we will never forget. We have pictures of our student section and their student section standing shoulder to should under a sign for the player and wearing his name and number proudly.

By: When to miss your free throws: sports and character « Strengthened by Grace

When to miss your free throws: sports and character « Strengthened by Grace — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:52:58 +0000

[...] February 26, 2009 by strengthenedbygrace I have seen this story in several places recently. A story of what true sportsmanship is all about. Perhaps you have as well. If not, you can read about it and watch the video clip here. [...]

By: Ray Fowler

Ray Fowler — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:24:35 +0000

Dave – I agree. This is where sports and coaches can really make a difference in a young person’s life. None of those kids will ever forget that game.

By: Dave Jaspers

Dave Jaspers — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:21:03 +0000

What a powerful example of sportsmanship, compassion, and love. Thanks for sharing this! May more of our coaches, athletes, and parents embrace this kind of character development.

By: Ray Fowler

Ray Fowler — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:22:28 +0000

Karen – Madison ended up winning the game by 15 points, so the two missed free throws didn’t really make a difference in the outcome. Either way, both teams felt great about the decision and after the game shared a pizza dinner, “four kids to a pizza, two Madison kids and two DeKalb kids,” Womack told the Journal Sentinel. (“And now you know the rest of the story” – in my best Paul Harvey voice.)

By: karen

karen — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:46:34 +0000

Ray, keeping in mind the adage “it is not whether you win or lose, but how you play”, still I must ask, who won the game?