George Ferguson Column: We all should know, there's more to life than winning

Saturday was not an easy day for the Montana State University-Northern football team.

Spirits may have started high, both on the field and in the stands at Blue Pony Stadium for Saturday's homecoming game between the Lights and the UM-Western Bulldogs, but because of how good the Bulldogs are, it didn't take long for spirits too be dampened a bit.

However, no matter how tough it is on the football field, everyone in attendance Saturday should have gotten an emotional lift before the game even started.

And that lift came from a courageous and truly inspiring young woman — a woman who happens to be a big part of Northern Nation.

Before the game, and to the surprise of many of us there, Skylight volleyball player Taylor Woolman was escorted by her teammates to the middle of the field for the coin toss. Woolman was an honorary captain for the Lights Saturday, and she received a heartfelt and warm standing ovation from the entire stadium.

And after all that Woolman has gone through, and will continue to go through, not only should we all be inspired by her, but we should all remember that sports isn't everything. That winning isn't everything.

We all need a reminder once in a while that life is precious and that sports are just a fun, entertaining part of our precious lives.

Woolman was severely and critically injured in last May’s horrific stabbing in Havre. Woolman, a Belgrade native, was a breakout player last year for the Skylights and was set to be a

major contributor this season before the senseless attack happened this spring. And while she continues her long and tough recovery and won’t be with her teammates this season, MSU-N head coach Bill Huebsch said she is very much still with the team in spirit and that her toughness and courage inspire the Skylights daily.

“She’s still a huge part of our team, and she inspires these girls every day,” Huebsch said earlier this fall. “Taylor saw substantial time as a freshman last year and was having a great offseason and was doing great in spring ball before this senseless act happened. And she’s an inspiration to us all, and she’s getting better every day. She is fighting and working so hard to recover and get back to where she was before, and even though she has a long way to go, the way she’s working so hard, how tough she is and her attitude towards all of this, she’s just a huge inspiration to these kids, and to me, and she’s very much still a huge part of this team.”

And Woolman was back with her team for homecoming weekend. She was back in Havre and she gave everyone inside Blue Pony Stadium and everyone inside the Armory Gymnasium Saturday night an emotional lift, because after what she's endured since May, it was emotional and inspiring just to see her back here again.

It was a truly special moment of Saturday's game against Western, and it's one we won't and better not, forget.

We better not forget everything that Taylor has gone through, and we especially better not forget just what a small part of our lives sports really are.

We shouldn't forget, that life is what matters. We shouldn't forget why they call sports games, because that's exactly what they are ... games. They are supposed to fun, entertaining, they are supposed to be about competition, and honor, integrity and fair play. Sports are about giving and doing your best, and seeing where the chips fall at the end of the day.

But when the chips have fallen, when the games are over, life goes on, win or lose.

I know, with how big of a sports nut I am, that I need that reminder sometimes. I have favorite teams that frustrate the hell out of me. I play golf and that's maddening sometimes. I coach a sport and that can be difficult, too, sometimes.

But then, when I see someone as courageous, tough and brave as Taylor Woolman is, I do realize that sports are just games. I realize that the things that happen on the playing fields and basketball courts aren't that courageous and brave at all.

Not at all compared to what Taylor has unfairly, and inexplicably had to go through.

No. I don't need to look to the football field or golf course for heroes. I don't need to look any farther than Taylor Woolman to find a true hero.

And no matter what the scoreboard said Saturday, it was a special day for Taylor, and for all of us who were there.