In my attempt to find something to motivate me to write another sports column, I visited my favorite website looking to find some information on the biggest sports headlines from back home. However, just like most things in life, it is often the unexpected things from which we draw our inspiration.

I came across a video clip on ESPN.com (check out, "Point missed, point made") that truly touched me. It made me take a step back to look at my role in the lives of not only those around me, but the legacy that I will leave behind once my time on this spinning globe is up.

During a high school basketball game in Wisconsin, I think ESPN's Tom Rinaldi said it best.

"It was a game where the biggest possession never changed the score, and the best shot never touched the rim."

Johntell Franklin, team captain, and starting guard for the Madison High School Knights woke up that morning expecting to be in the starting line-up for that night's game against cross-city rival, Dekalb High School. That would change when his mother, who was losing her battle with cancer, was rushed to the hospital.

The news traveled fast and soon Franklin's coaches and teammates were there at the hospital by his side. After talking with his coaches Franklin decided he wanted his teammates to play; not to cancel the game on his account. So leaving Franklin behind at the hospital, his teammates arrived at the gym and prepared to play

During the second quarter of a highly competitive, two-point game, a "buzz" of energy circulated the gym with the arrival of Johntell, who had suffered the loss of his mother earlier that day. He came to support his team. He had come to play.

However, rules stated that any addition to the roster submitted ten minutes prior to tip-off results in a technical foul; affording the opposing team two free throws. The Dekalb High head coach and players told the referee that they understood the rules, but given the circumstances, did not want the free shots during such a close game; a tribute of sorts to the competitive spirit of Franklin.

"I turned to him and said, 'Coach, I am sorry. Our job is to enforce the rules and we can't compromise the integrity of the game,'" said Ron Flancher, who officiated the game.

After a discussion between the coaches and players on the Dekalb bench, senior and Co-captain Darius McNeal volunteered to take the shots, knowing Franklin and his team were watching. So, with two from the line in a two-point game, McNeal stepped to the stripe for his free throws.

"All the sudden the kid just takes the ball... he doesn't even shoot it... he just," said Flancher, mimicking a half attempt at the shot.

McNeal had purposely blown two-free throws by tossing the ball just a few feet in front of him. Twice. In front of a gym full of spectators.

"And after he did that the spectators started to cheer, and it was just the strangest thing," remembers Flancher.

It was an unspoken moment of respect between the two head coaches, who exchanged a nod amidst a gym full of on-lookers and players standing and applauding the pure class and show of sportsmanship the Dekalb High team had just displayed. But for Johntell Franklin it showed him something so much more.

"Love, that's all there was that day. It was love," said Franklin.

Franklin and the Madison Knights would go on to win the game by 15 points. However the win wasn't on the court it was in the lesson taken away from it.

"Vince Lombardi is right. The most important thing is winning," said Aaron Womack, Jr., Madison High School Boys Basketball Coach. "However, I hope he meant the game of life, because that's what we did that particular day."

Sometimes it hard to see past the blinders we all wear; to look past ourselves and see the other faces in the crowd. So sometimes we need to stop, look around and ask ourselves, "Have I reached out to someone today' How can I make a difference' "

The answer could be as easy as missing two free throws.